Menu Plan. Because I haven't grocery shopped!
On Saturdays, I share my menu plan for the upcoming week along with a photo of my groceries and a tally of my spending. My goal is to spend $100/week for our food, toiletries, and cleaning products. I'm currently in the midst of trying to buy more local, sustainably-produced food while sticking to my budget. Can it be done? I don't know, but I'm going to try, and I'll share what I learn as I go along.
I'm actually going to do that at some point today, with one lone companion. My three older kids are all at sleepovers, so Zoe is going to be my partner.
I think she'll enjoy that as much as I will, actually, and I'm sure she'll talk my ear off. When you get her by herself, away from the chatter of the older three siblings, she usually has a lot to say. 😉
Breakfast options this week are granola, cinnamon bread (I have some milk that needs to be used up, so I'm going to make a few loaves today), yogurt, fruit, cereal, and eggs.
Lunches will be comprised of sandwiches made with whole wheat bread, homemade yogurt, yogurt smoothies, cottage cheese, fruit, raw veggies, nuts, cheese, and leftovers as necessary. Of course, we don't eat all of that every single day...it's just a list of the things we choose from for lunch each day. And Mr. FG eats leftovers for lunch pretty much every day.
Here's our dinner plan:
Saturday
- We're having our takeout date night tonight because we had pizza last night (thin crust, in case you were wondering)
Sunday
- Don't hate me, but Mr. FG and I are having an actual date night (with no kids, and everything!). I have a $25 gift card, so our meal shouldn't be very expensive.
Monday
- Meatball Subs
- steamed green beans
Tuesday
- Mexican Chicken Sandwiches
- Colorful Corn Salad (a new recipe)
- fruit salad
Wednesday
- BBQ Beef Sandwiches
- green salad
- Dill Cucumber Salad (I'm trying one from Cook's)
Thursday
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Cornmeal Loaves
- Spinach Salad
Friday
- Takeout Date Night
Dear me. That seems like a lot of dates in one week, huh? Really, though, I'm only getting one extra...it just looks like I have two extras because we flip-flopped our date night for this weekend.
Also, apparently I was in a very sandwich-y mood when I planned this menu. Maybe I should switch out one of those meals for something else!
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Today's 365 post: Cheese Grater
sounds like a great menu! have fun on your date nights.
I'm trying to buy more locally since I read no impact man and 100 mile diet. it is odd how sometimes the local farmers market is more expensive. This one farm was selling fresh dozen eggs for 7 dollars a dozen! that is outrageous!!!!
The Mexican Chicken Sandwiches sounds really good. Can you please post the recipe when you get a chance? Thanks!
I shop Wednesdays, so my menu runs Wed to Tues.
But, I've got left on my list this "week":
Chicken & Dumplings
Salmon - Rice - Corn -black beans
Meatloaf - bakes taters - green beans
Spaghetti - fresh baked bread
I also need to make another batch of your pudding. It's a huge hit in my daughters lunch. I put it in plastic containers and freeze it. But the time she's sitting down for lunch at school it's perfect.
Hate you? Have an awesome time- you totally deserve it.
I have been reading your blog for a couple weeks and have really enjoyed it! You have challenged me to look differently me at our spending. Thanks!
I have been reading your blog for a couple weeks and have really enjoyed it! You have challenged me to look differently me at our spending. Thanks so much!
Yay for date nights! I made your chicken tortilla soup today. It's one of my favorites!
Wow that looks good. Lots of people are having to cut back on food. I cut my budget some.
Don't hate you. Would love to have a date night. I'm a single mom and don't get out very often. How does one go about meeting people in a frugal way...??
Volunteering? But that still leaves open the question of what to do with the child(ren) while volunteering.
I'm not too much help there! I met Mr. FG at church. Along the lines of what WilliamB was saying, though, I think your best bet of meeting someone who's got a similar view on life is to do activities you love. If you have a passion for helping the homeless, you'll be more likely to meet another person like that on the soup kitchen volunteer team than at the bar.
If I were single, I wouldn't completely rule out online dating services either. The compatibility tests some of them have are really detailed and thorough, and they can help narrow the field a bit.
I met my husband via a dating website, eleven years ago. Of course that was long before the compatibility tests, it was basically an online singles bar back then. 🙂 They've gotten a lot more high tech these days!!
So glad you are able to squeeze in another date night! Enjoy =0)
Enjoy your date night - it's home-made pizza for us with the kids so will be thinking of you guys tucking in!
Don't ever apologize for having a fun night out...sometimes, I think, frugal sensibility can get in the way of just living life. Life is meant to be lived and the years go by in the blink of an eye. Enjoy!
My brother is the youngest, and even today, at age 21, he will chatter my mom's ear off like he has to get through his "list of what to tell Mom" before he can have a regular conversation!
I think it must be a youngest child thing - left over after years of getting talked over by his two older sisters!
Don't worry about not shopping - I went often enough for two. Or even three.
Saturday I went to return things to Target (and buy a few things from the dollar bins), to Goodwill for a new compost crock and ended up with something for a friend as well, to another store to return more things, to the grocery for food, then didn't go to Whole Foods after spending 6 min stuck in the parking lot. If the parking lot is that crowded I don't want to see what inside looks like. Today I went to Whole Foods, having changed my meal plan to accommodate the chill, rainy forecast for the week. In with soups, out with stirfry.