Meal Plan 24!

I took a little break from meal planning over the Thanksgiving holiday {and the week prior}. I'm such a horrible blogger. I do really well for a few weeks and then I slack off - I always find my way back though. :)

I'm going to try a little something just for this week and next - meal planning two weeks at a time? Just to see if it works. We've been doing this new budget {that's A LOT harder than I ever imagined} and to make our gas budget work I need to make less trips to the grocery store.. or anywhere. I'd prefer to shop once a week but if I can cut out that extra trip maybe I can find myself with something left over in my "gas" envelope?! =/

I hate budgeting.
If anyone has any tips/suggestions for making a budget work I'd be happy thrilled to hear them in the comments!

Anyway.

December 5th - 11th

• Orange Chicken - I'm pretty sure this is one of my all-time favs!
• Cheesy Meat Loaf
• Buca Di Beppo Chicken with Lemons - we went to Buca Di Beppo today for the first time and had this chicken... I'm drooling thinking about it again. I'm SO glad that I googled and found the copycat recipe!
• Pizza - As always, I'll be making the crust :) Adam likes this white sauce, sauteed onions, mushrooms, bacon and either chicken or steak. You're welcome! :)
• Chicken Divan - I was looking for a broccoli casserole... this one made me drool - dang Paula Deen! At least the butter is minimal?!

December 12th - 18th

• Crispy Cheddar Chicken
• Easy BBQ'd Ribs
• Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops - one of my new favorite blogs!
• French Dips - do you really need a recipe? :)
• Chicken Pad Thai - this was a good one from a few weeks ago but Adam was out of town or something. Since I can't get Adam to eat Thai or Chinese food out, if I make it home he at the very least has to try right??? :)

The Grocery List {this is really jumbled... usually I try to put them in order by recipe?!}
Bean Sprouts
Sriracha
Rice Noodles
Swiss Cheese slices
Roast Beef
Au Jus
Sandwich Buns
Ranch Dressing packet
Pork Chops {2 or 4}
2 cans Cream of Chicken
2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Parley {bulk}
Ritz Crackers
Whole Chicken {I'll cook for another nights meal - not included above - and used leftovers on the pizza and Chicken Divan}
Bread Crumbs
Cayenne {bulk}
Curry Powder {bulk}
Sour Cream
Broccoli {calls for frozen, I'm buying fresh}
Chicken Breasts {I need 5 for the two weeks}
Mushrooms
Bacon
Parmesan
Butter
Lemons - 4
White Wine
Velveeta
Ground Beef - 2lbs
Green Onion
Orange
Oil {vegetable and peanut if the container isn't huge}

I think that's it?! Weird... because my list isn't much longer than normal, however my cupboards are so bare that I need almost everything on the list?! Stay tuned for how this goes!!! I'll try to update next week to see where I'm at...

Meal Plan #1!

March 6th - 12th

Here's attempt 1 at my weekly meal plan! I'm going to try to do this post weekly and on Saturdays (yet another task to be completed during Landon's nap or meal times). It was SO much fun to hunt down these recipes so hopefully I'll be able to stick to it! 

Sunday: Chicken and Herb Dumplings

Monday: Stuffed Peppers

Tuesday: Aloha Pork Chops

Wednesday: Arroz Con Pollo

Thursday: Cheesy Meatloaf

Friday: Chicken Fiesta Salad

Saturday: Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Now for the grocery list! I've taken the main ingredients from all the recipes to make sure I have everything I'm going to need so there's no last minute trips to the store! I've excluded spices and things like milk, flour, etc. because generally I'll already have all that. For my personal reference, I've bolded the things I'll actually need to go buy (not too much eh?) ;)

Shopping List: 

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

2 chicken thighs
Carrots
Celery
Frozen whole kernel corn
Chicken Broth

3 bell peppers

2 lb ground beef

4 Yellow onion

2 can tomatoes

5 cups long grain rice

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 can tomato soup

2 pork chops

Sweet & sour sauce

1 cup pineapple chunks

1 Red onion

Stir fry sauce

Velveeta

Fajita seasoning packet

Black beans

Salsa

Lettuce

Tomato

Cubed stew meat

Cream of mushroom soup

8 oz can of mushrooms

Mushroom gravy packet

There you have it! Our menu for the week! I'm so excited about it and I hope Adam and Landon enjoy it all!