Squeezing in a July menu plan!

Every month, I post a week’s worth of meals + an update on our grocery spending.

It’s almost August (sob!), so I figured I’d better get this posted.

Here’s what I bought on a grocery shopping trip this month.   There’s not a whole lot in the way of vegetables here because my bi-weekly produce box has been more than meeting our vegetable needs.

(Which is good for us…it’s making me prepare more vegetables than I would otherwise. But I definitely do not need to buy many veggies from the grocery store!)

(Notice the hydrogen peroxide? I’m planning to give some clothes the homemade oxi-clean treatment!)

So far this year, my weekly grocery spending has averaged out to a little less than $150 per week.   This feeds six of us and includes toiletries and cleaning supplies.

This reminds me what a great bargain it is to eat at home.   The six of us can quickly spend $40 for a “cheap” meal out, and yet I can buy groceries for an entire week for $150.

On to the meals!

My blog loaded the food pictures in sort of backwards chronological order, but I’m just gonna roll with it.

1. Steak and Potato Salad | Fruit Salad

Instagrammers: You know the mustard vinaigrette I posted? It was for this salad.

It’s from the ATK Quick Family Cookbook, and this is the second time I’ve made it.   You cook the steaks in a skillet and brown the (pre-cooked in the microwave) potatoes in the fat left in the pan.

I’ve never had super good luck with pan-fried potatoes before, but these are delicious.   I think the pre-cooking helps a lot, and I’m sure the steak fat/browned bits don’t hurt either.

2. Chicken Pizzaiola | Watermelon

This is also from the ATK quick cookbook, and I’d never made it before.   It was a decent super-fast dish, but I think I prefer breaded and browned chicken more.   It wasn’t bad…just a little bit boring.

It would have been awesome to serve a salad with this instead of watermelon, but I was in kind of a hurry.   😉

3. Swedish Meatballs | Strawberry Orange Salad

The salad was a variation on the strawberry pear salad we frequently eat.

And the Swedish Meatballs are from Cook’s Illustrated’s big cookbook.

(My full review of that book seems to have gotten eaten in my blog migration, but that link will give you a mini-review.)

5. Pancakes | Apple Pfannekuchen

Mr. FG and Joshua went to a concert that night, so they picked up some dinner on the way.   The girls and their friend wanted pancakes, so I made buttermilk pancakes for them.

But Apple Pfannekuchen sounded better to me, so I made one for myself.   I’ve been trying to cut way back on added sugar in my diet, and I was pleased to discover that this tastes pretty delicious with only a fraction of the sugar called for in the recipe.

Although, that could be because I haven’t eaten much added sugar in the last few months…maybe my taste buds are adjusting??

I used local eggs when I made this, which is why it’s such a shocking shade of yellow.

6. BLT Salad

Not to sound like a broken record, but…this is from the ATK quick cookbook too.   😉

The photo doesn’t show it, but the salad has chicken in it too, so it’s hearty enough for a summer main dish.   I’m pretty sure we had fruit with this, but I can’t remember!

7. Date Night

We had a takeout night, but we cheated a bit.   The weather was so beautiful, instead of eating at home we drove down to a sweet little spot in our neighborhood and sat on a bench in front of the water to eat our food.

It was like a waterfront restaurant on the cheap.   😉

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I really didn’t plan to feature almost nothing but Cook’s/ATK recipes (and they certainly didn’t pay me to do that), but honestly, most weeks at least 75% of my menu includes their recipes, just because they rock.

If you’re struggling for dinner inspiration, do yourself a favor and get one of their books.

The quick cookbook might be especially helpful if you, like most of us, are trying to get dinner on the table in a hurry.

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What about you?   Cooked up anything great lately? Share!