Weekly Menu 8/14/15

This week's menu is going to look a bit different because I'm trying to spend AS LITTLE MONEY at the grocery store as possible this week.  I've got a big project coming up soon and I'm trying to put aside as much extra money as possible in the next two weeks.  I do this whenever I have an unexpected large purchase (like new brakes on the car) or when I'm trying to put aside money for a project or save for vacation.  It's genius!  As a result, I'm going to be planning meals based on what I already have in my freezer stockpile and pantry.  We call this our "No Grocery Store Shopping Challenge" and it can be super fun to try and get creative and it's a great way to use up those less than desirable food items.

Alright, so....what am I going to be making?  What am I going to be buying?

My freezer is well stocked with yummy homemade meals and while I have enough meals in there to eat one every night, I do want to try to save them.  Plus, I have a few odds and ends that I need to use up!  A quick look in my pantry and fridge is all it takes to put together this week's menu.

Evening Meals

• Pasta with Mozzarella, Basil and Tomato and Green Salad.  I was going to make this last week but never got around to it so that means that I've already got all the ingredients on hand.  I'll probably do a double batch so I have lots leftover for lunches during the week.  You can add just about any veggie you have to this recipe as well.  Items to Buy: Salad Mix

Photo Courtesy MyRecipes.com

• Crock Pot Refried Beans.  I'll use this for lunches as well as a couple of dinners  One bag of dried beans makes a huge batch of refried beans.  Add in some yummy tortillas and a little cheese and you're in business!  *Here's a tip for you- I buy bell peppers whenever they go on sale, chop them up and stick them in the freezer.  Then, when I've got a recipe that calls for bell peppers or I want to throw in a little bell pepper to something, I'll simply take a handful out of the freezer.  This saves me time and money!  Items to Buy: Cheese

• Hot dogs and fresh corn on the cob.  Super easy and quick weeknight meal- who doesn't love that!  I already have the Applegate hot dogs sitting in my freezer as I try to always stock up when they are on sale.  Items to Buy:  Hot dog buns, corn.

• Crock Pot Tortellini Soup.  I've already got the tortellini in the freezer- PSST....did you know you can freeze packages of fresh tortellini/ravioli?  I buy these whenever they are on sale and simply pop in the freezer.  Genius!  I will also be making this recipe without the sausage because we simply don't eat that much meat and there's really no need to add it in.  In addition, this recipe calls for spinach but I'm all out.  However- I do have a ton of kale to use up, so I'll simply be substituting the spinach for the kale.  Easy peasy!  Items to Buy: Cream Cheese

Photo Courtesy
RedStarRecipe.com

• Freezer Meal.  I'll be working all weekend long (what else is new!) so for one of those nights, I'll simply grab something out of the freezer for my boys.  Having a fully stocked freezer with homemade and healthy foods is much easier than you think!  Just make a double batch of one recipe once per week and in no time, you'll have a fully stocked freezer!  Items to Buy:  None

• Lentils and Rice.  I always have a bag of lentils and rice in my pantry and the two go great together!  There's tons of recipes for cooked lentils so just find one that works with whatever ingredients you have on hand.  The key here is to buy as little as possible!  Items to Buy:  None

  

  Photo Courtesy of BrittanyCooks.com

Breakfast Meals

• Pumpkin Bread.  Once the summer weather starts to turn a bit, the husband starts begging for Pumpkin Bread.  It's his favorite and I make a batch just about every week during the Fall and Winter months.  He can't get enough!  Items to Buy:  Eggs
• Cinnamon Rolls.  One batch actually makes two pans of cinnamon rolls.  So I'll pop one in the freezer for another week.  Also- important to note, I do NOT add a powered sugar icing.  No need for the extra sugar.  Items to Buy:  Eggs

This week I will not be making any desserts.  Mainly because I'm making some "sweet" breads for breakfasts so we simply don't need more sugary items.  Even though we won't eat JUST the sweet stuff for breakfast, I do try to balance things out each week.  I will probably make up a batch of my Black Bean Hummus though as I've already got the black beans and limes and it makes a great snack!  Items to Buy:  None

In addition to this week's menu, I will also need to buy a few staples, fruit, milk and coffee.  But that's it!

Here's the weekly grocery shopping list so you can see how little I will be buying this week.

• Salad mix
• Cheese
• Hot dog buns
• Fresh corn on the cob
• Cream Cheese
• Eggs
• Fruit
• Milk
• Coffee

Been following along on My Weekly Menu?  Want to see previous weeks?

• My Weekly Menu
• Weekly Menu 7/10/15
• Weekly Menu 7/17/15

My Weekly Menu 7/17/15

Alright, so I'm a weekend late in posting this, but that's a pretty big improvement mmkay....

I typically start a new "week" on Fridays because this is when the husband's work begins their work week.  So many times, we think of Fridays as Mondays around here.  I know....that's pretty awful.  Fridays are CLEARLY not Mondays.  However, since the husband and I work most weekends, we've found that this way of thinking works for us and my menu planning is no different!  Just do what works best for you.

This week I'm planning 6 meals, 2 breakfasts and 2 desserts.  Normally I only do one dessert but I was working on a new recipe for cobbler so I planned another one just in case the new cobbler recipe was a total disaster.  Here we go!

Evening Meals

• The Pioneer Woman's Au Grain Potatoes.  Alright, so I make scalloped potatoes THE EXACT SAME WAY except that I layer in the white sauce between the potatoes.  However, these au gratin potatoes are made even easier by just cutting up the potatoes into chunks and pouring the sauce over the top.  Serve with a big salad or oven roasted veggies and you've got a great and easy meal!
  

• Crock pot Vegetarian Chili and Grandma Janice's Mexican cornbread.  The crock pot recipe is new but the cornbread recipe is a family favorite.  Sorry folks- it's a secret recipe!

Photo Courtesy of TriedandTasty.com

• Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas with Spanish Rice.  The kiddo LOVES "Taco Tuesday" so I try my best to make a yummy Mexican dish on Tuesdays.  This week, I'll be making up a double batch of these healthy enchiladas and popping the second pan in the freezer for another night.  Since our schedule is much slower in the summer time, it's a great opportunity for me to build up my freezer stockpile!  *Please note, this is a personal recipe of mine that I have yet to post to the blog.  I will update here once it's up!

• Mini Lentil Shepard's Pies.  Another original recipe that I will do my best to put up this week.  These are SO simple and ridiculously cute!  If you can make a shepards pie, you can make this!  Just substitute your meat for lentils- that's it!  Here's a photo to give you an idea of how simple these are to make.  I'll prep my crust a day ahead of time and then when it's time to assemble, just pull it out of the fridge and roll out.  You can also make your mashed potatoes a day or two ahead as well.  Easy Peasy!
  
  

  

  Photo Courtesy of Tablespoon.com
  
  
  

  
  

• Kale Pesto Pasta and salad.  This was on my menu last week however the kiddo wasn't feeling well, so I subbed out this pesto pasta with a plain Orzo and Veggie Soup.  So I've still got all this kale to use up!

  

  You can easily make this pesto ahead of time
  for a quick & healthy weeknight meal!

• Cauliflower Fried "Rice" bowls.  Cauliflower is perhaps the most wonderful veggie of all!  Did you know that it can make a fake "Alfredo" sauce, a base for a cheese sauce, works great as "taco meat" and now....well, now you can use it to make fried rice!  Add in a ton of veggies to your cauliflower rice and it's a guilt free meal.  Seriously- it's just all veggies!

  

  Photo Courtesy TheKitchn.com
  
  
  
  

  
  

Breakfasts

• Pancakes and fresh fruit.  I will mix up a HUGE batch of pancakes in my super large mixing bowl and then whenever the kiddo wants a pancake in the morning, he'll just pull out the bowl, stir it up and pour it into the pan.  Super easy!
• Strawberry Banana Bread Muffins.  These are made with yogurt to reduce the sugar content and I'm going to try making them with my frozen bananas since I seriously have a butt load of them!

  

  Photo Courtesy Juliasalbum.com
  

Misc

• Roasted Garlic Parmesan Hummus.  This week I'm trying out a new recipe in the hopes that I can convert the husband to loving the hummus.  He likes my black bean hummus but let's be honest- it's not a true hummus since it doesn't have tahini.  I've made a few other dishes from this site so I'm excited to give this snack a try!
  

• Blueberry Peach Cobbler.  I posted above about working on a new cobbler recipe, well this is the final result.  The husband has labeled it "damn good" and I'm pretty impressed with my awesome self.  It turned out great!
  

• Brownies.  I am on the eternal quest to find THE PERFECT brownie recipe.  It took me years upon years to find the best chocolate cake recipe so now I've moved on to finding just the right brownie recipe.  This one is pretty close.  I do not make with the frosting and just sprinkle the M&M's right on the top before baking.  If anyone has a favorite brownie recipe to share, I'd love that!

  

  Photo Courtesy AverieCooks.com

Ok guys, that concludes this week's menu.  Have you been following along the previous weeks?  Given any of the dishes a try?  I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments!

My Weekly Menu

I've had several folks reach out to me and ask for help in what to feed their family.  Meals that are fairly easy to prepare, mostly healthy, homemade, full of fruits and veggies and limited on meat and animal products.

So Wow.

I'm just so honored that you would consider me a good person to ask.  Please know that I don't take this lightly- feeding your family is such a personal thing and I'm so privileged to share with you all I've learned thus far.

In case you're just now stumbling across my blog- We Are Flexitarians!  We eat a mostly plant based diet with limited meat.  That means LOTS and LOTS of fruits and veggies, healthy grains and such.  We also try to eat all organic foods and have everything be homemade.  There's not a lot of processed foods in this household y'all!

So here begins the first installment of "My Weekly Menu".  I'm super excited to share with you what a real family eats.  Whenever possible, I will provide links to recipes and because I love looking at pictures of food (yeah- I'm weird that way!) I will also try to slip in as many photos as possible.

Each week will consist of 6 meals, 2 breakfasts, one dessert and other miscellaneous items like homemade snacks, dips, party items etc.  Since we tend to eat our leftovers for lunch- I don't typically buy "lunch" foods and this is why it's missing from the weekly menus.  Another thing to note is that I try to keep our meat consumption to just one day per week and of course this is ALWAYS organic (and local when possible!) meats.  Since I do all the cooking, I like to give myself one day off per week and on that night- we go out!

Alright- let's go!!!!


Evening Meals

• Leftover Quinoa, Bean & Veggie Burgers with "fried" Zucchini sticks that are actually oven baked.  The burgers were made 2 weeks ago- I simply cooked up a double batch and threw the other half in the freezer.  

"Fried" Zucchini sticks- photo courtesy
DamnDelicious.net

• NW Salmon Chowder and homemade biscuits.  I made salmon last week and popped the leftovers in the freezer.  This is an excellent way to use up a small amount of leftover salmon.  My tip when making any cream based soup like this one is to use milk or chicken/veggie stock instead and then simply finish the soup with cream.  So I will substitute the 2 cups heavy cream in this recipe for milk and then use about 1/4 cup heavy cream at the very end to give it a rich taste without all that added fat.

Our favorite biscuits!!!

• Macaroni and Cheese served with garlic green beans.  The kiddo has been asking (ok- begging) for a big bowl of this homemade Mac and Cheese for the last month!  Since we are having meat later in the week and leftover salmon, I will be making this recipe without the added bacon.  
  

• Southwest Chop Salad with cilantro lime dressing.  I love making a big salad for dinner in the summertime.  While we've done many southwest/mexican salads, I've never made this dressing before so I'm super excited to give it a try!

Photo courtesy
DamnDelicious.net

• Hot Dogs (Applegate organic) and cilantro corn on the cob cooked on the BBQ- this will be our special Father's Day dinner per the husband's request.  And you guys- this corn is simply the BOMB.COM!

• Lentil Cakes, steamed carrots and a large salad.  Another new recipe this week- looks so yummy and I can't wait to give it a try!

Breakfasts

• Pancakes and fresh fruit.  I will mix up a big batch of pancakes this weekend in my super large 8 cup measuring bowl (see photo below) and it will last for several breakfasts.

• Leftover homemade biscuits served with jam.  Sometimes I will make egg and cheese biscuits or for the husband- sausage and cheese.  YUM!!!

Desserts

• Apple Pie per the husband's request for Father's Day.

Misc.

• Yogurt Berry Smoothies
• Black Bean Hummus

So- my goal is to post our weekly menus for you all, every single week.  But let's be honest here- I'm a super busy Wife and Mother, so I would say that this probably won't happen.  I'll try my best and hope that this will provide some inspiration for you.  It's completely possible to feed your family homemade, healthy and vegetarian food.  If I can do this, I know you can too!

Looking for more inspiration?

• So What Do You Eat?
• Tips For Food Shopping
• Eating Well When You Don't Have the Time