Menu Planning Monday

I'll admit up front, this is not my own idea - I got this idea from one of my favorite websites, www.918couponqueen.com. But it is an awesome one! We all sometimes get in a cooking rut, getting tired of eating the same things week after week, and maybe spending too much at the grocery store in the process. What I try to do when planning my menus, is take into consideration what I have on hand from my couponing trips and plan my menu around this. If I don't have any recipes already, I will search on www.allrecipes.com, or www.kraftrecipes.com. You can type in some ingredients you have on hand, and it will bring up recipes containing those ingredients. I will try to post my menu every week, along with a breakdown of costs for the meal. Hopefully, it will give some new ideas to those "stuck in a rut!"

Sunday - Hawaiian Pizza (using Canadian bacon I got for free) I used a pizza kit from Walmart that had 2 premade crusts, and 2 packets of pizza sauce, the canadian bacon, and pineapple tidbits. We had some grapes on the side. - total cost - $5.00 or $1.00 per person

Monday - Orange Chicken, rice, and egg rolls. The orange chicken is from the Wanchai Ferry dinner kit that I got for 1.00 per box. For our family, I use 2 boxes. The rice is included in the kit. I have chicken breasts stockpiled from when they were on sale for 3.99/3 lb bag. So, total cost - about $6.00 or $1.20 per person.

Tuesday - Easy, Cheesy Zucchini Bake (search on www.allrecipes.com) got the zucchini for free at Reasor's using a $25 gift card I got with a prescription transfer, spaghetti sauce I had in my stockpile, cheese I got for about .49 a package. I plan on serving tomato and cucumber salad and some rolls I got for free from my stockpile with this. Total cost = about $5.00 or $1.00/person.

Wednesday - Breakfast for dinner! Banana pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Pancake mix and sausage from my stockpile - got for free. Total cost = about $2.00 or .40/person.

Thursday - Grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches w/ tomato soup; fruit on the side. Sliced turkey was already on hand - purchased for about .50/package, cheese and bread were free. Tomato soup (Campbell's Select Harvest) .50/can. Total cost = about $2.00 or .40/person.

Friday - Chicken Piccatta, broccoli, garlic rolls. Chicken Piccatta is a Romano's Macaroni Grill dinner kit bought for $1.00/box (I use 2), chicken from stockpile, broccoli about .30 for bag, and rolls were free. Total cost = about $3.30 or about .66/person.

Saturday - Crisp and Creamy Chicken (shake and bake chicken then mix can of cream of celery soup w/ 1/2 cup milk, pour over chicken, then sprinkle with cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes.), mixed veggies, and rice. The shake and bake I got for free (and actually got paid 1.00 per box for!) soup was free, rice was about .30 and veggies about .30. Total cost = about $2.10 or .42/person.

Sunday - Hungarian Goulash over noodles and green beans - Goulash is stew meat (got for free w/ that Reasor's gift card), diced tomatoes (.08 per can), onion, sour cream (free), and a few seasonings. Total cost = about $2.50 or .50/person.

So, there you have it - a week of thrifty, but delicious dinners, for 5 people, for about $28. If anyone wants a specific recipe, shoot me a message, and I will send it to you!