Frugal Meal planning week of May 12th

I hope all the moms out there had a great Mother's Day. We had my husband side of the family over for dinner Saturday for mother's day.  We  did a taco bar. I kept it simple just some ground turkey taco meat, shredded lettuce, tomatoes  black beans and onions.  I had hard and soft tacos    I also had some Mexican rice on the side. 

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Sunday  We did Sunday brunch with my parents  and only had sandwiches at night  because we were stuffed! 

Monday      Mexican lasagna 

Tuesday     Bubble up pizza 

Wednesday  Meatloaf, mashed potatos, green beans   I am going to make 3 large meatloafs and added 2  to the freezer. I use both ground beef and ground turkey and hope to have extras to stretch for a pasta dinner 

Thursday   Leftover meatloaf with pasta 

Friday   Quick and Easy Chicken Parmesan Recipe

Saturday  We have a boy scout cookout potluck,  I am bringing a pasta salad. 

Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing 

Frugal Meal Planning for January 6th

Yeah made it through the first week of the year almost!  Check out our financial reviews for year end and our  frugal financial goals for 2013      Back to the challenge of no eating out again it is a better for our waist lines and our wallet.   

Sunday  Homemade pizza  since we didn't do it on Saturday night 

Monday   My husband Knights of Columbus  cooked for our church youth group only to find out that they were doing taco night.  Got to love some miscommunication so we have a ton of ziti and meatballs-enough for 30 kids)  I will bring some to my next door neighbor so it doesn't go to waste either.  I am not crazy about freezing pasta.

Tuesday More meatballs and ziti pasta   

Wednesday Cheesy broccoli soup and ham sandwiches 

Thursday  Layered ground turkey casserole Layered ground turkey in crockpot (simply layered ground turkey, brown rice, tomato sauce, and black beans and cook on low for 8 hours-very good!

Friday  Leftover layered ground turkey casserole in tortillas 

Saturday Homemade pizza (twice in one week but if I don't have it when we are home  on Saturday  it is a mutiny)


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Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky  And if you a frugal blogger please join thrifty thursday linkup!

Frugal Menu Planning week of September 16th

We are settled back into the school routine, soccer and cub scouts.  We did have one slip up on Tuesday night with my no eating out challenge.- and my husband bought the boy subs since I needed to deal with a small health issue with my Dad.  I may pick up some extra frozen pizzas because life happens   My   Dad will be ok he felt funny so we took him to the ER.    So we moved a few things around with our menu plan 


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Sunday 

Steak and eggs, green beans, butternut squash fries 


Monday  

Cheesy beef and broccoli (this fell off our menu last week) 


Tuesday 

Shaved steak over peppers, mushrooms and onions 


Wednesday  

Chili    going to be rainy deary day 


Thursday  

Chicken and pasta 

Friday 
Tuna melts 

Saturday 
Homemade pizza 


Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky  And if you a frugal blogger please join thrifty thursday linkup!

Frugal Meal Planning week of September 9th

We are starting to get into a routine with the early mornings again.  I made my big batch of  egg breakfast sandwiches  yesterday while watching the football games,  

My husband wanted to go out to eat breakfast after church on Sunday. I said no as we are in a no eating out mode. I had to remind him that they we are doing a  no eat out  challenge for September and October except for my birthday as there are a fewer bigger bills hitting us including life insurance and deposit for my son's 8th grade trip to Philly and Washington DC.   

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Sunday  Gourmet burgers, butternut squash fries and green beans 

Monday   Baked chicken pizza (use chicken breast as the crust and throw on pizza toppings) So good! May add some pasta as a side as my boys are eating more and more these days. 

Tuesday   Pork chops and baked spinach casserole 

Wednesday  Meatballs from the freezer and throw it over pasta 

Thursday  chicken and broccoli 

Friday clean out the freezer or tuna melt night 

Saturday  Homemade pizza 



Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky  And if you a frugal blogger please join thrifty thursday linkup!

Frugal Meal planning week of September 2nd

We are doing a lazy labor day  weekend at home.  Just try enjoy the last few days of non craziness!   The boys have been enjoying the pool and we have nightly fires with a few of our neighbors   Nothing like a nice glass of wine by the fire.   I also made a few batches of tomato spaghetti sauce from all of our tomatoes plus my mother in law gave a bunch as well.   So  I am making sauce for her, my mom and my older neighbor across the street and feeding the freezer a bit today. 

The craziness of school will be starting this week! Last week was just getting settled in. This week we start after school activities including soccer, social skills  and cub scouts.  Karate is year round.  

We are also doing a no eat out  challenge for September and October except for my birthday as there are a fewer bigger bills hitting us including life insurance and deposit for my son's 8th grade trip. 

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Sunday Turkey burgers, sweet potato fries and cucumbers 

Monday BLT  Bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches  so yummy! 

Tuesday  Easy lazy man cabbage rolls   click for recipe  I am subbing in some cole slaw mix which makes this ever easier to make!! 

Wednesday   chicken and pasta with my sauce  in the crockpot 

Thursday  Pork chops, rice and green beans 

Friday Clean out the fridge night  or we will do tuna melt  sandwiches if not enough 

Saturday homemade pizza 



Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky  And if you a frugal blogger please join thrifty thursday linkup!

Frugal Meal planning week of June 10th

School is out this week!  that means time in the pool, hanging out.  The boys do have some summer camps, volunteering as well as summer school.  Keeping them  busy keeps me sane  I try to do alot of free stuff with them but now that they are older doing a picnic in the playground doesn't keep them entertained for very long.  So if we do stuff, it is bit more costly but I am try to pack a picnic lunch  and water so we don't waste money on food.

Here is the menu plan


Sunday Steak, eggs, green beans,


Monday Easy cabbage rolls    (click for recipe)   I threw this in the crockpot last time and will probably do it again for 6 hours on low Browned the meat before I threw it in . I stretched out some of the meat by increasing  the brown  rice and  the cabbage.  My oldest has been requesting this weekly.


Tuesday Mexican Lasagna   (click for recipe) Yes two weeks in row but my really picky eater loved it last week and asked when we were having it again. I am doing it meatless this week.  Plus I feel I am overflowing with tortillas


Wednesday Leftover easy cabbage rolls-  may wrap them in tortillas this week


Thursday Salisbury steak, green beans and potatoes


Friday  Pizza to celebrate the last day of school


Saturday Cub scout camp out


Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky

Frugal Meal planning week of June 3rd

Spring  Soccer season is now over  and cub scouts is only a few family camping  events during the summer months. However life doesn't get any less hectic for us. We had graduation parties this weekend for some family friends and my mom's  birthday celebration.  School is out in 2 weeks.

Sunday  Steak and eggs , roasted potato, green beans 

Monday   Mexican Lasagna click for recipe love this easy recipe. I got some good deals on some Chi Chi tortillas that were  $2 for $3.00 plus I had a coupon for them as well.

Tuesday  Chicken and spinach, rice

Wednesday Meatloaf   (from the freezer-always try to make 2-3 meatloafs at a time ) , green beans, mashed potatoes

Thursday  Chicken sausage and baked spinach casserole.

Friday  Leftover meatloaf with spaghetti sauce over pasta

Saturday  homemade pizza

Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky

Frugal Meal Planning Week of May 6th

My oldest is getting his braces on this week! Luckily we have that budgeted! Here is the meal plan Sunday Steak, roasted potatos and green beans  


Monday Chicken drum sticks, baked spinach casserole (mix frozen spinach, 2 cups cottage cheese, 2 eggs and parm cheese) 


 Tuesday Ham & Broccoli quiche, roasted potatos on the side 


 Wednesday Layered ground turkey in crockpot (simply layered ground turkey, brown rice, tomato sauce, and black beans and cook on low for 8 hours-very good!


 Thursday Baked chicken pizza (use chicken breast as the crust and throw on pizza toppings) So good! May add some pasta as a side as my boys are eating more and more these days. 




Friday Fish and veggies Saturday Having my mother in law over-debating on whether pizza take out or doing a taco bar. My mother in law is pretty easy to please..  


Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky

Budget Dinner planning week of April 15th

It is spring break here! The schedule maybe a bit loser. The growing  boys  can eat me out of house and home.  We did some baking this week-pumpkin bread and brownies for snacks. I got some rice cakes, crackers and extra fruit.    I also made a ton of breakfast burritos a few weeks ago because they like those as well.

Sunday  Homemade pizza

Enter SPRINGFREE for FREE MEAL PLANNING

Monday  Ham and broccoli  quiche  (using leftover ham from last week-you will see ham on the menu over the next couple of weeks) and roasted potatoes

Tuesday Chicken and Broccoli over brown rice  (went to Trader Joes and picked up some orange chicken-hopefully this will satisfy some Chinese takeout)

Wednesday Sandwiches  ( my oldest wants to see hunger games so we will be seeing that late afternoon show)

Thursday  We are heading into Boston for the day so  I will bring some snacks and then plan on using a restaurant.com gift certificate for a late lunch early/dinner.  

Friday  Taco bar-got some taco meat in the fridge, beans, sour cream.

Yummy Tacos 

Saturday  we are at a soccer tournament for the whole day. I am packing food for the day and plan on doing a super easy dinner of Hot dog and french fries

Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky

Frugal Meal Planning week of March 18th

I got better on track without eating out even with my father having surgery last week.  I had my meal plan in place.  My husband got the boys to eat  at their normal times and sometimes I eat dinner at 4pm and had a late night snack and sometimes I had a an afternoon snack at 4pm and then dinner at 10pm.  All in all no fast food trips. Who wants pink slim.   Dad is still recovering and got moved to a rehab hospital that is closer down the road, so this week will be a bit crazy as well.

Sunday Turkey burgers, roasted potatoes and salad 

Monday   Turkey  breasts and sweet potato pancakes, green beans 

Tuesday Cabbage rolls  I am attempting to make this as in inspiration from Life as mom recipe swap last week.  Cabbage was on sale so I picked some up.  

Wed Chili 

Thursday Leftover cabbage rolls 

Friday  Fish, rice and veggies 

Saturday Homemade pizza 

Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junkie 

Frugal menu planning week of February 26th

Here is the menu plan for this week

Sunday Steak, green beans and sweet potato fries

 Monday Chicken parmigiana with whole wheat pasta (leftover from the cub scout banquet)
Tuesday Homemade beef and broccoli stir fry
 Wednesday Chili over baked potato

 Thursday Meat crust pizza with a cottage cheese top-Very good!

 Friday Clean out the fridge night plus fish sticks for the kids

 Saturday Homemade pizza

Are you looking for even more menu ideas check out  Monday meal plans at organizing junky

Frugal Meal Dinner planning Aug 21st

Here is what we are having for dinner this week:

Sun Steak, sweet potato fries, green beans

Mon Easy Mexican Lasagna with Tortillas


Tues Chicken, broccoli and pasta

Wed Mexican Lasagna

Thurs Leftover chicken and pasta

Fri Turkey burger melts, french fries, veggie

Sat Homemade pizza

Frugal Dinner planning Mar 30th

Sunday Dinner over my mom

Mom Steak stir fry ( I didn't realize I got stir fry steak on marked down we usually do not do stir fry)

Tues Chicken, veggies and roasted potatoes

Wed Pork chops (I picked up a ton of thin cut pork chops that were on meat marked down-good deal)

Thurs Fish sticks and roasted potatoes

Fri Layered Ground beef crockpot

Sat Pizza

Frugal Dinner planning Mar 23

Sunday Easter dinner

Mon Chicken, broccoli and stuffing casserole

Tues Chili

Wed Spaghetti and meatballs

Thurs Breakfast for dinner

Fri Clean out the fridge night!!

Sat Pizza

Frugal meal planning Mar 16th

My full pantry is helping keep my food bill down this week. I only needed to pick up some milk, bread and bananas plus a package of juice boxes.

Sunday Steak (got it on the marked down aisle) roasted potatoes, green beans

Monday Lasagna

Tuesday Chicken drums sticks, mashed potatoes, veggie

Wed Leftover lasagna

Thursday Taco Bar I got 4 boxes of tacos for 75 cents each because they were a little crushed! I will probably use two here

Friday Clean out the fridge night or ravoli if no leftovers

Saturday Homemade pizza

Frugal Dinner planning Mar 9th

Sunday Dinner at my mom's

Monday Layered Ground beef crockpot

Tuesday Creamy chicken and pasta in crockpot

Wednesday Pork chops

Thursday Leftover buffet

Friday Rotisserie Chicken ( I have been dying to try this and it might be cheaper than the cooking whole chicken)

Sat Leftover pizza from my son's birthday party

Frugal Dinner planning Mar 2nd

Sun Steak, potatoes and green beans

Mon Spaghetti and meatballs

Tues Mexican Lasagna

Wed Ham and cheese roll-ups

Thurs Pizza out for cub scout fundraising night

Fri Clean out the fridge night

Sat Pizza

Frugal Dinner planning Feb 24th

We went to the Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet on Saturday night and go to take home a ton of leftovers. Chicken parm and ziti from a local resturant-s0 that is giving us several dinners this week. I don't like freezing pasta.


Sunday Chicken Parm and ziti

Mon Chicken parm subs

Tuesday Chicken Parm and ziti

Wednesday Meatloaf, baked potatos, green beans

Thursday Turkey, broccoli and stuffing casserole (this is really simple a box of stuffing mixed in with cream of mushroom soup, broccoli and turkey. You can add some cheese-Swiss or cheddar works really well here)

Fri Clean out the fridge night or soup. I was able to pick up a great deal on Progresso soup

Sat Pizza

Frugal Dinner planning Feb 17th

This will be a pantry freezer challenge week-the kids are home from school for vacation and I feel like we are broke. I am really trying to get my grocery bill down and watching last minute take-out etc. March is always an expensive month for us-life insurance, car exise tax, water bill so a few times a year we try to do a pantry challenge. I only spent $30 yesterday for my weekly grocery shopping which is fairly good!! I can probably stretch it for next week as well!!

Sunday Pizza at my mom-having a small family get together for my sister's birthday.

Monday Turkey dinner with all the fixings!! Turkey is from Thanksgiving-I always buy an extra one. Stuffing mix is from then too-can beat Stove top costing 39 cents a box with coupons.

Tuesday Cheesey Tortellini in the crock pot will use ground turkey instead.

Wed Turkey enchiladas

Thurs Leftover cheesy tortellini if leftovers or soup and sandwich night

Fri Leftover turkey enchiladas

Sat Pizza

Working Mom meal planning tips

Here are some tips for the busy working mother to improve her meal planning and keep out of the fast food joints!

Organize your freezer if you cook ahead and freeze. Label the item,
date of freezing so you use up food in order. Freeze in packs of
single meals. Be sure to freeze your food in hard containers to
avoid frost bite.

Organize your shopping list to for a 2 week period. Have a column on
the family blackboard where everyone puts down what needs to be
bought. Saves you having to do all the thinking.

Make sure that everyone above 9 years in the house knows how to a)
cook rice b) make a sandwich c) cook eggs d) wash up after!


Plan the menu for the week. Put the day's menu on the family
blackboard. Say when frozen packs will be used; when you will be
cooking fresh; and when another family member does. You can check out my weekly frugal meal planning for food ideas.