Meal Planning Confessions

I need to confess my meal planning shortfalls.  I fail at it, I fail miserably which leads us to frequent McD's, Pizza Hut, Culvers, BK, Taco Johns, Arby's...well you get the idea.  Worst thing is this happens way too often.  I honestly think having kids would make it easier to plan but when it's the two of us with crazy days that are different from one day to the next with really no set routine it's just so easy to go to the fast food plan especially when I think my hubby is going to do dinner and he thinks I'm going to dinner & we realize neither of us really has a plan or ambition to cook and the heat we've been having lately really doesn't help either.

Hubby and I got married in our 30's so we also had quite a few years of bachelor/bachelorette habits.  I recently decided I need to get a handle on this whole planning thing....AGAIN (I go through spurts but it doesn't ever stick).  Recently I have gone from a 40+ hour a week job to working at home and my husband has gone from unemployed to starting his own business plus a job that requires him to be on call 24 hrs 3 days a week along with managing our 2 duplexes.  This is going to be a HUGE adjustment for me and I've decided I don't want my hubby eating junk food from gas stations on the road while he's working (I'm not sure why it's ok for us to eat fast food all the time though lol).  So somehow I need to plan meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner) around wacky scheduling & on the go snacks for my hubby that he will eat and all on a budget.  See this is all overwhelming to me but I'm determined to get it figured out.  And somehow I need to do this without spending a day a week at it because in the past that's what I've done.  I will surf the internet for recipes I'd like to try because I like trying new things, then I get lost in cyber world lol.  Then I compile my grocery list which leads me to searching the grocery store ads (which I should've started out with first) then I search coupon sites thinking I'm going to find a coupon for every thing on my list...not reality.  At this point I hit the store(s) and let me tell you, I despise grocery shopping which is probably one of the reasons I fail miserably at this whole planning thing.

So there it is, my confessions in a nutshell.  Now, I'm hoping to blog this journey in hopes that it'll help me stay on track.

Dill Potato Salad

I have one word for this recipe YUM!  I have never made potato salad before, I guess I always had this perception of it taking a long time to make & that it was difficult.  Besides I'm not a HUGE fan of potato salad since there are so many varieties out there and some just aren't good.  But this one I had to try.  I was in Door County in May and had lunch at The Cookery and they serve a potato salad on the side with their sandwiches and it is so delish!  I had to hunt down the recipe when I got home and this is what I found.  I'm not sure if it's the exact recipe they use, it says it's theirs but I think their's was better.  This recipe was super easy with not a lot of ingredients, I challenge you to give it a try especially if you like dill.

The Cookery's Dill Potato Salad

3 pounds new red potatoes

1/2 cup tangy Italian dressing of your choice

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions

2 teaspoons dried dill weed

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Thinly sliced green onions and/or freshly chopped parsley (optional garnish) Boil the potatoes until tender. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients except the garnish.While the potatoes are warm, cut them into small chunks and toss them in the dressing. Top with thinly sliced green onions or freshly chopped parsley.

Couponing/This Week's Savings

I have recently decided to see what I can do with saving more with our grocery bills. Today was double coupon days at Copp's, so I browsed their flyer and compared what I had in coupons. I was able to double up to 5 coupons with my bill totaling $25 (before discounts). I initially planned to take advantage of their Kellogg's/Keebler 1.68 deal with some Rice Crispies and Mini Wheats coupons which would've made my cereal .68 a box. Apparently everyone else in town had the same plan because there wasn't anymore of those left in the store. Since I had to buy 8 boxes to get the 1.68 deal I wasn't going to do that without being able to use any coupons. So, here's what I ended up with. I'm still new to this whole couponing thing but my bill was over 50% off so that's not bad.

Roundy's Chocolate Syrup

Reg. 1.69

Sale 1.50

Savings .19

Total Paid 1.50

Creamette Lasagna

Reg. 2.15

Sale 1.50

Savings .65

Total Paid 1.50

Nestle's PB/Chocolate Morsals

Reg. 4.98 (for 2)

Sale 4.00 (for 2)

Coupon Doubled 1.00 (for 2)

Savings 1.98 (on 2)

Total Paid 3.00 (for 2)

Total Paid 1.50 ea.

Nestle's Semisweet Chocolate Morsals

Reg. 4.98 (for 2)

Sale 4.00 (for 2)

Coupon Doubled 1.00 (for 2)

Savings 1.98 (on 2)

Total Paid 3.00 (for 2)

Total Paid 1.50 ea.

Progresso Chicken Broth

Reg. 2.89

Sale 1.69

Coupon Doubled 2.00

Savings 3.20

Total Paid -.31 Yes that's a negative, I got paid to purchase this item

Carnation Evaporated Milk

Reg 2.58 (for 2)

Sale 2.00 (for 2)

Coupon Doubled 1.00 (for 2)

Savings 1.58 (for 2)

Total Paid 1.00 (for 2)

Total Paid .50 ea.

Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup & Cream of Mushroom Soup

Reg. 5.45 (for 5)

Sale 4.00 (for 5)

Coupon Doubled 2.00 (for 4)

Savings 3.45 (for 5)

Total Paid 2.00 (for 5)

Total Paid .40 ea.

Buddig Deli Beef

Reg. 2.55 (for 3)

Sale 1.77 (for 3)

Savings .78 (for 3)

Total Paid 1.77

Sweet Potatoes

Reg. 1.49 (1.25 #)

Sale .99 (1.25 #)

Savings .50

Total Paid .99

Russett Potatoes (I screwed up and must've grabbed the wrong bag)

Reg. 2.29 (5 #)

Total Paid 2.29

Roundy Whipping Cream

Reg. 1.25

Sale .99

Savings .26

Total Paid .99

Roundy Large Eggs

Reg. 1.65

Coupon 1.50

Savings 1.50

Total Paid .15

Morning Glory Milk

Reg. 3.39

Coupon 3.25

Savings 3.25

Total Paid .14

Total Bill Regular Price

37.34

What I Paid

18.41

Menu week 9/10/10

Well I'm going to give this a go again :) Whenever summer hits my menu planning just goes down the drain but once fall hits I get into the cooking & baking mood again.

So here's what my menu plan was for this last week with the recipes.

-Mexican Potatoes

This one's easy just use a baked potato instead of a taco shell. They're yummy & very filling

-Honey Balsamic Chicken

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Honey-Balsamic-Chicken

served with either some seasoned potatoes or pasta

-Applesauce Bbq Chicken

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Applesauce-Barbecue-Chicken

served with Maple Baked Beans

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Maple-Baked-Beans-4

-Ravioli

just adding spaghetti sauce to it with maybe some sausage, served with a tossed salad & garlic bread

-Apple Glazed Pork Chops

I don't have the recipe yet for this on

Since this week is over, I'm going to update what I actually cooked :) and my reviews. We did have the Mexican Potatoes and they were good as always. My husband decided to cook some steaks on the grill one night and I was all for him cooking :) We did eat out a couple nights, I made homemade pizza one of the nights too which I thought was pretty yummy.

And then this evening we had the Applesauce bbq chicken with some maple baked beans and mashed potatoes. The chicken was pretty good, it had just a smidge of sweetness and some bite from the bbq sauce and the baked beans were a nice little touch from the plain canned beans. This meal is a must make again and will stay in my favorite recipes book. I whipped this entire meal up in probably 20 mins! I love quick meals. It was helpful that I had some canned chunky applesauce from last year that I used in it, not sure I'd make it using anything different.

Weekly Meals 3/14/10 - 3/20/10

Well I've been slacking on my weekly meal plan and I really need to get back on track with it.

Here's what we've had so far this week

Sunday

Lasagna (the frozen kind! lol)

Monday

Chicken Nacho Bake

Spanish Rice

Week 2/28/10-3/6/10 Recipes

I realized that I have two classes this week so my hubby will be in charge for two evenings this week then his bday is saturday and Im sure we'll be going out to eat friday or saturday then.

Sunday

Totinos pizza & sundaes

Monday

Chicken Fajitas

Tuesday

Pasta with Tuna & Capers in White Wine Sauce

Garlic Bread

Steamed Carrots

Wednesday

Class so whatever hubby surprises me with :)

Thursday

Class so whatever hubby surprises me with :)

Friday

Out to eat (?)

Saturday

A Chicken Pasta of some sort I think

Week 2/21/10 Menu

With my hubby's recent job loss I have decided that I really need to clamp down on our meal planning to help with our food budget. So, I am hoping to post my weekly meal plan to share and have something to look back on too. I've found we've had plenty of leftovers for the next day's lunch which is a bonus! Right now Im just tackling dinners but occasionally I'll post snacks, breakfasts & lunches too.

Sunday
Chicken Burgers with light briche burger buns
Monday
Hamburger Stroganoff with egg noodles
Tuesday
Schwan's Penne Gratin Pasta
Wednesday
Tater Tot Casserole
Thursday
Salmon Patties with side salad, french fries (for hubby), sweet potato fries (for me)
Friday
Totinos Pizza
Saturday
Chicken Fajitas and chips & salsa