Menu Planning for the Week of July 14th through July 20th

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Kchurchill5
Posts: 16044
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:55 am

Menu Planning for the Week of July 14th through July 20th

Post by Kchurchill5 » Fri Jul 13, 2012 5:53 pm

Another week has passed. Where has the summer gone!
This upcoming week is really about using freezer ingredients. I have some soup; frozen meat, cooked chicken; also some frozen dishes, taco meat, pasta dish, etc. So, my goal is to really use up those ingredients over the next week or 2 before buying anything else.
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SAT ...
Spinach Salad w/Sweet Potato, bacon and fried egg (I have put off 2x) fruit; roll
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SUN ...
No bread or soup this week
Dinner: Chicken spaghetti using some of my frozen tomato sauce and cooked chicken, maybe some olives, veggies, etc, served over pasta; classic salad
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MON ...
Lady #1 and Lady #2: Seafood Pot Pie; mixed greens w/citrus vinaigrette; baked custard w/berries
Me: Work evening; freezer (chicken with a peanut noodle salad, and fruit)
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TUES ...
Me: Work again, leftovers (freezer soup or spaghetti from Sun; salad/tomatoes)
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WED ...
Lady #1 and #2: Eating together with their gentlemen friends
Fillet mignon wrapped w/hickory bacon, bourbon glaze; creamy potatoes w/spinach (recipe to be posted); grilled portabellos; stuffed tomatoes with Feta
Me: g/f over. Pizza on the grill; salad (I have frozen cheese pizzas, we'll add whatever is in the fridge and throw them on the grill)
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THURS ...
Lady #3: vacation
Me: Work again; taking (freezer again) hot dogs and kraut; pantry baked beans; fries or I may make a spud salad
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FRI ...
Lady #1 and #2: Ladies luncheon - so, I'll take over a pot of soup, loaf of bread, and a bowl of chicken salad in case they get hungry
Me: Beach BBQ with a former co-worker, her company BBQ. They got the day off; lucky them. I may take my cheesy corn dip; not sure
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Happy Cooking Everyone!

Make sure to clean out your fridge, freezer and pantry!

HeatherFeather
Posts: 2558
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:07 am

Re: Menu Planning for the Week of July 14th through July 20t

Post by HeatherFeather » Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:14 pm

Had a huge pantry clean-out this week, tossing outdated stuff and moving things around so I could get a better idea of what I need to use up. Have to go through the fridge and freezer too, although they aren't too bad right now.

My meals focused on things I wanted to use up from my supplies:

Meal #1: Sausage, Apples, & Kraut (or with red cabbage), (by request from DD)
Meal #2: Fish night (fish already prepped in the freezer) with peas and potatoes, ramen instead of fish for BF
Meal #3: Man Pleasing Chicken (saw on Pinterest, basically marinated in Dijon and Maple Syrup), with carrots and side salad (my choice)
Meal #4 Homemade Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizzas, so everyone can pick their own level of cheese and types of toppings (BF requested)
Meal #5: Eat out or leftovers, whichever we feel like
Meal #6: Soup Night, with salad or sandwiches (maybe Chicken Noodle Soup)
Meal #7: Leftovers or maybe Swedish Meatballs (I have a seasoning packet to use up)


Dessert: Chocolate Chip Cookies (already made), possibly a Limoncello Bundt Cake for later in the week
Breakfast Items: planning to make some pancakes, freezing some, maybe baked French Toast or cinnamon buns
Lunch: possibly some chili dogs, salads for me, egg salad for dd, leftover soup

Something new I have tried and that has been working is to post my menu list on the fridge and then ask DD & BF to pick one of the meals for me to make the next day. I don't care which order I cook my meals in, as long as everything on the list gets made.

Kchurchill5
Posts: 16044
Joined: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:55 am

Re: Menu Planning for the Week of July 14th through July 20t

Post by Kchurchill5 » Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:57 am

I like your list idea; it makes everyone happy and it makes you use up items before they go bad. I hate having things go to waste. I just lost a few strawberries because I forgot them and they got stuck behind the juice.

Sounds like you got a good plan HF, my pantry is pretty good - but the freezer is my goal. It really helps to clean it out once a month just so you don't loose things :)

HeatherFeather
Posts: 2558
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:07 am

Re: Menu Planning for the Week of July 14th through July 20t

Post by HeatherFeather » Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:21 pm

Kchurchill5 wrote:I like your list idea; it makes everyone happy and it makes you use up items before they go bad. I hate having things go to waste. I just lost a few strawberries because I forgot them and they got stuck behind the juice.

Sounds like you got a good plan HF, my pantry is pretty good - but the freezer is my goal. It really helps to clean it out once a month just so you don't loose things :)
They seem to like the list so far - hope that continues.

I really want to use up as much as I can out of the freezer so that I can make some OAMC meals to stash in the freezer. My freezer is so narrow and doesn't hold as much as I'd like, so I have to clear out a lot of stuff just to be able to fit enough advance prep meals in there. I like having some homemade meals already prepped to pull out on lazy or busy nights, and lately, I haven't had any space for that. I keep finding myself with nights when I am too exhausted to deal with cooking, and since there haven't been enough meals frozen in there, I have been relying on too many meals out.

I only really want to eat out (this includes delivery/take-out or restaurants, I count them all the same) once per week maximum.

The hardest part right now is cleaning out the freezer because there is a bunch of stuff in there my bf won't eat and I can't eat (carbs). I don't mind making him a separate piece of chicken sometimes, but it would be a lot easier if I could always make something all three of us will/can eat.

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