Sep 9 | Menu Planning
Homemade flavoured coffee cream
Can you believe we’re already into the second week of September? We’re still enjoying great weather for the most part, so I’m okay with fall being around the corner. Actually, I quite enjoy Fall, I think it’s the cozy feeling I get from the warm drinks, sweaters and falling leaves.
Since it’s a new week, that means a new menu plan! Here’s what we’ll be eating this week:
Dinner at my parents
Taco salad
Chicken Stir-fry
Sesame Chicken in the slow cooker, rice, steamed veggies
San Francisco Chops, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies
Slow Cooker Corn Chowder
What will you be eating this week?
Sep 2 | Menu Planning
Homemade Raspberry Sauce, for dessert!
Since we were away last week, I didn’t get a menu up. But we’re back and ready to cook this week! I’m quite excited about the meals I chose this week! Jesse will be especially happy about the BBQ pork chops. That’s one of his favourite meals.
Here’s what we’re eating this week:
Taco salad
Chicken Stirfry
Pork Chops in slow cooker with BBQ Sauce, corn on the cob, roasted potato wedges
Melt in your Mouth Chicken, pasta, steamed veggies
Roasted Red Pepper Goat Cheese Alfredo (I’ll use cream cheese instead of goat cheese), veggies
What’s on your menu this week?
By the way, I forgot to take a picture of the groceries. There were crazy child things going on 🙂 I did however spend $40.83 on produce, meat and a few dairy items.
Aug 19 | Menu Planning
Hello everyone! Happy mid august! How has your summer been so far? Not long before it’s back to school time for many of you! We’ve still got pretty great weather so I’ve been taking advantage of it by going for daily walks with Sienna. We both love to get out of the house!
On Friday I was invited for an appy night with a few girlfriends so I brought tomato, bocconcini and basil on toothpicks with a balsamic dressing. It was great because I used the tomatoes from my container garden!
Here’s what I’ve got in mind for this week:
Rustic Chickpea Stew with Apricots and Turnips, Baked Brown Rice Pilaf
French Toast, bacon, fruit salad
Cheesy Chicken Orzo, steamed veggies
BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches (Slow Cooker), corn on the cob, Southwest salad (minus the chicken)
Leftovers
Out to eat
Once again, I did my grocery shopping first so you can see what I bought and paid!
Here are the groceries I bought this week from Real Canadian Superstore:
- Crushed tomatoes $0.95
- Milk $4.56
- Apricots $0.73
- Frozen corn (not pictured) $1.97
- Apple Juice $1.48
- D’Italiano bread (good brand for French toast!) $3.27
- Bacon $4.48
- Broccoli $1.27
- Turnip $1.34
- Huggies diapers (not shown) $30.60 – $2 coupon
- Goldfish crackers $1.99 (for a road trip next week)
- Fruitsations $2.00 (for a road trip next week)
- Mott’s apple pouches $2.00 (for a road trip next week)
- Marshmallows $2.28 (Rice Krispie squares!)
Total paid: $56.19
What’s on your menu this week?
Aug 12 | Menu Planning
Someone loves corn on the cob!
Most of the meals actually got made last week! I only have one meal that I’m carrying over and the cheesecake dessert. You know what else I love about menu planning? Impromptu guests. We had Jesse’s Dad over for dinner one night and I didn’t even panic because I had plenty of food to feed us all and knew exactly what I was making. That also, makes menu planning worth it!
Here’s what I’ve got in mind for this week:
Pesto Pepperoni Pizza, salad
Cheesy Chicken Orzo, steamed veggies
BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches (Slow Cooker), corn on the cob, Southwest salad (minus the chicken)
Cheesy Beef & Rice, steamed veggies, salad
Out for Dinner
Dessert: Lemon Cheesecake Bars with Raspberries
Once again, I did my grocery shopping first so you can see what I bought and paid!
Here is what I bought from Walmart this week (no coupons were used):
- Ground Sirloin (2) $10
- Cheerios $5.00
- Triscuits $2.00
- Catelli pasta (3) $3.00
- Pizza sauce $0.77
- Pesto sauce $3.77 (ouch, I was going to make my own but didn’t have enough basil)
- Sour cream $1.86
- Pizza pepperoni $1.05
- Cheese $7.97
- Watermelon $3.97
- Cantaloupe $1.97
- Grapes $4.96
- Blueberries $2.97
- Bananas $1.50
- Avocado $1.27
- Green Pepper $0.43
- Garlic $0.57
- Lettuce $0.97
Total paid: $56.52
What’s on your menu this week?
Aug 7 | Grocery Saving Tips, Frugal Living, Menu Planning
The Importance of Menu Planning
Ever since my husband and I were married 15 years ago, I’ve been planning our weekly menu. Even if I don’t take the time to write things down, I still have a few meals in mind that would get us through the week. It’s in my nature to be a planner so planning a menu was obvious for my own sanity.
But, even if you’re more of an impromptu cook, today I’d like to touch on the importance of menu planning, or why planning a menu is important, no matter what your situation is. We’re all busy people so the power of a plan can help each of us tremendously!
Here are four reasons on the importance of menu planning:
Our health
Our health should be one of our main concerns and one way to ensure good health is to eat well. Having a menu plan in place helps you avoid take out and those quick pre-made meals that may not be well rounded. With planned meals, you’ll end up with a more balanced and nutritious diet.
Keeps the budget in check
Groceries cost a lot. Save yourself some financial stress by planning your meals and your shopping list based on what’s on sale and what you already have in your pantry. With a menu plan in place, you only have to purchase the ingredients you need create the meals you’ve picked. That’s how I only spent about $33 this week on groceries. (Though, I’m anticipating a quick trip to buy more milk and fruit later in the week.)
Your time is important too
Whether you work outside the home or you’re a stay-at-home parent, we’re all juggling a ton of activities on a daily basis. While planning a menu in the first place takes a little bit of time, it will definitely save you time in the end.
You will always have the ingredients you need to create a meal from your planned menu. No running to the store for a last minute item or opening the fridge and cupboards 500 times to figure out what to make for dinner.
Or realizing it’s 5pm and you just spent an hour trying to find a great recipe when dinner could have already been on the table. With a plan in place, all you have to do is pick a meal from the list and make it!
Reduces waste
Have you ever bought food from the grocery store thinking you’ll use it for something, but end up throwing it out instead? If you stick to the grocery list that you created based on your planned meals, you won’t be purchasing anything that you won’t use. In turn, you’ll be creating less waste, both in the food sense and financial sense!
I believe that the importance of menu planning cannot be stressed enough. Menu planning has made my life so much easier and I’ve heard the same from many others! Sometimes, the menu plan is the only thing in the day that goes as planned!
If you really struggle with menu planning, then try out $5 Meal Plan. It happens to be my favorite meal planning service. It’s just $5 a month (the first two weeks are free!), and you get menu plans sent straight to your email along with the exact shopping list you need in order to create the meals. Each meal costs around $2 per person or less. This service allows you to save time because you won’t have to meal plan anymore, and it will save you money as well! If you are interested in joining for free, click here.
What are some other benefits of menu planning that can you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Related menu planning articles:
Aug 5 | Menu Planning
It’s menu time! I’ve got a few new recipes to try out this week that I’m looking forward to. I seem to go through these spurts of being okay with the same old meals then wanting to try new recipes all.the.time.
Chicken Satay with Peanut Noodles
Turkey Burgers, steamed veggies
Beef Tacos with all the fixings
BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches (Slow Cooker), corn on the cob, Southwest salad (minus the chicken)
Out for Dinner
Dessert: Lemon Cheesecake Bars with Raspberries
For fun this week, I thought I would do my grocery shopping then post the pictures and prices so you can see what I needed to create this week’s menu!
Here’s what I bought and what I paid at Walmart Canada:
Royale bathroom tissue (12 doubles) $4.88 – $1 coupon from GoCoupons = $3.88
Honey Nut Cheerios $4.47 – FREE coupon = freeOld El Paso dinner kit $4.00 – FREE Coupon = free
Dairy Milk Bubbles $1.50 – FREE coupon = free
Astro yogurt $2.97
Black beans $1.15
Catelli pasta $1.00
Mushrooms $1.77
Ground Beef $5.25
Dempster’s hamburger buns $3.97 – $1.00 rebate from Checkout 51 = $2.97
Pitas $3.83
Cream cheese (2) $4.94
Celery $1.27
Spinach $1.47
Broccoli crowns $0.75
Lime $0.25
Cucumber $0.97
Bananas (5) $1.51
Corn on the cob (3) $0.99
Sour cream $1.86
TOTAL: $33.83
Obviously not everything is for dinner this week. Included is stuff for snacks/lunches/breakfast. I was also hoping to buy some chicken breasts but Walmart didn’t have any of the sale packages left. I anticipate another quick grocery trip to buy some milk once we run out.
What’s on your menu this week?
