Soccer season has started up this spring for our boys. I even have a slight sunburn to prove it. Justus had his first games this weekend, and although we lost both games, it sure was great to be back out at the field again. (This is easy for me to say since the weather was gorgeous!)
Last week, I spent some time filling our freezers with some healthy convenience foods to help keep me sane during soccer season. I’ll share more about my experiences in a few days. Ah, but I love a full freezer!
Here’s what we’ll be eating this week:
Sunday, March 25
Oatmeal, fruit
Roast, carrots, potatoes, gravy
High School Huddle – Creamy chicken and rice casserole, green beans, dinner rolls, trail mix
Monday, March 26
Whole wheat pancakes, turkey sausage
Bison brats, fruit salad, carrots with ranch
Baked three cheese chicken pasta, tossed salad, steamed broccoli
Tuesday, March 27
Honey whole wheat bagels, apples
Popcorn chicken, ranch potato wedges, peas
Italian roast wraps with venison roast, steamed carrots
Wednesday, March 28
Creamy orange coolers, scrambled eggs
Chicken chef salad, toast
Pasta with alfredo sauce, tossed salad
Thursday, March 29
Easy breakfast casserole, oranges
Nacho dip with chips, fruit
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans
Friday, March 30
Giant breakfast cookies, bananas
Pigs in a blanket, carrot sticks with ranch, strawberry-orange smoothies
Hamburgers, homemade fries
Saturday, March 31
Whole wheat donuts
Leftovers
Swiss steak with rice
Have anything fun planned to eat this week?
Amber says
You really are a blessing to me. I have been a coupon blogger for almost 4 years and although my “lowest” budget was never as low as some, it got pretty low. Over the last year I have really been trying to work out eating healthy whole foods and it has been a slow journey. I almost have felt like I am turning against the “saving ways” as I slowly begin to spend my full budget (max budget is and average of $400 a month) rather than being way under it.
Yes I still coupon for household items and that is where my main savings come from but I almost never coupon for food anymore. This weekend my husband and I decided to slightly up our budget (average of $500 a month) so that we could make most of our food choices organic.
I am excited for my family and almost nervous to announce this on my blog. However this saving money journey has taught me to save in every single area of our lives. Which means I should be able to spend more of food which is more important anyway.
Sorry to ramble, but every time I read your blog it just gives me that much more motivation to feed my family the best I can regardless of the monetary cost.
Amber
Laura says
Thank you so much for sharing this – I’m so glad my menu plans are encouraging to you!
N says
I love the idea of menu planning to save money and have tried it a couple of times, but I got overwhelmed and gave up. I want to try it again because it’s a good way to know what is going to be cooked for the whole week instead of trying to figure it out when everyone is hungry. I enjoy cooking from scratch and have lots of cookbooks and tons of recipes papers and I think that it can be a bit stressful to look through all of the recipes that I have to try and figure things out. I’m the type of person who can throw things together on the fly, but I think that menu planning would be awesome. One question Laura, do you plan out breakfasts and lunches for your family too? I really want to be able to know what I’m cooking ahead of time so that I can get ahead of my housework and other important things, but I could use some advice on this subject. I’d really appreciate some suggestion from you if you can give me any because I know that you have it together. Thank you.
Laura says
Menu planning is not for everyone – if it works for you to cook on the fly – go for it! Yes, I do plan my breakfasts and lunches. If you look at my above menu you’ll see that I’ve got all three meals planned for each day. I don’t always follow this plan exactly for each day, but it at least gives me some ideas to go with!
N says
Now I see that you plan all meals, but I guess I didn’t pay attention.
Laura says
Here’s a link to a post I wrote that might answer more of your questions about how I plan my meals: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/why-my-whole-foods-menu-plan-might-be-overwhelming. Really though, if meal planning doesn’t work for you, that’s okay. I do it because it does help me to stay more organized and I post them here because many people like to look at my weekly plan for ideas. But some find that overwhelming, which I understand!
Amber says
N,
I personally find it overwhelming to try and plan each meal of the day.
So instead I plan my dinners for the week and then will have a list of
options for lunch and breakfast.
For instance, my breakfast options are usually eggs, bacon, sausage, oatmeal,
fresh fruit, toast, cold cereal
So when we wake up that morning I determine which we will have by how tired I
am and how much time we have.
Then I do the same thing for lunch.
Brianna says
I have also struggled with meal planning. It is hard to sit down with blank paper, a gazillion recipes, and then say, “OK, what should we have on Monday….” (mind blank) TOO many options sometimes!
So what I’ve been doing recently is have a “master plan” that is like this:
Mon: Eggs with Muffins or pancakes
Tues: Spaghetti
Wed: Rice and Beans
Thurs. Chicken pasta hotdish
Fri: Pizza
Sat. Soup
Sun. Burritos or Enchiladas
My husband does not mind at all having somewhat of the same weekly menu. And there is so much room for variety within that plan, and whenever I have a recipe I want to try, I just sub it in.
It is a huge relief to just have something to start with!
Kristin @ Fiskerelli Bellies says
I’m making your Swiss Steak recipe for the third time tomorrow. We have tons of organic rice that was marked down to .50/lb. when our grocery store decided not to carry it anymore. Good deals are possible even when you quit playing the coupon game! I’m always so thankful for the healthy menu inspiration I find on your blog!
KK @ Coupon Crocodile says
Do you still bake with coconut flour? Any new recipes to share? I don’t trust other recipes I’ve found using it online- they always come out with the texture of a two by four. I like your recipes as they are kid and teen tested- ha.