Weekly Meals 8/10-8/16 and 8/17 to 8/23

I decided to take stock of what I have on hand. I know I've been buying meats regularly on sale over the summer. Good side is I get them on sale.. bad news is that my grocery bills are always higher then they should be. For the family size that we are, our grocery bills are terrible. Partly because Joe goes shopping because he can't make anything.. or so he claims. (This is not a Joe rant.. just the way some men .. or women are) Joe likes foods that are easy to prepare (microwave or cold cuts) and because he's picky I let him do his shopping. This past week that resulted in total spending of somewhere around $200.00 with other incidentals tossed in (diapers, flexible cutting mats I want for working with meats, and a few other things) My goal this week is to have the smallest shopping bill I can. I want it to be under $50.00. I do NOT need meat even if it's on sale, lol. I have 7 meal size pckgs of boneless chicken breasts, one pkg of bone in chicken breast, 1 london broil and ...NINE packages of ground beef, lol. I am NOT buying any meats unless its $1.50lb or less. Plus I have several boxes of rice mix in the pantry, so they can be used with the meats.

Sunday - lasagna based off of this recipe, but not exactly like it-making 2 small lasagnas - tossed salad - and maybe the homemade italian bread experiment I'm determined to win, lol
Monday - chicken enchiladas - this was a really good recipe and I'm going to double or triple it to make meals ahead. - red beans and rice. steamed squash
Tuesday - moo shu beef - not multiplying this - spring rolls? maybe this time?
Wednesday -Frogmore stew - I have to try this , lol
Thursday - spaghetti and meatballs - again making multiple batches of meatballs for future use - tossed salad
Friday - malaysian fried chicken - can you tell this is a favorite in this house? - spanish rice and misc veggie
Saturday - No clue as we're at Sesame Place all day - will most likely be takeout of some kind if we're home for dinner.

seems i went over my budget goal for the weekly meals. However I forgot that I needed to get some ingredients for doubling some meals and I also picked up some lunch foods for Joe and JP.

I decided to go ahead and plan the following weeks meals so that I know I don't need to pick up more than a couple of things. For 8/17 - 8/23:

Sunday - My 'Gourmet' Beef Stroganoff , lol over buttered noodles w/ misc veggies
Monday - Boo's Apricot chicken
Tuesday - Shake and Bake chicken breasts (nuggets?) 1 italian flavor, 1 hot and spicy
Wednesday - Joe's choice - frozen enchilada's or lasagna
Thursday - Homemade pizza
Friday - sandwiches from favorite deli
Saturday - freezer restaurant specials (AKA leftovers)

Weekly Meals 8/3 - 8/9

Sunday - MB's Chicken Stuffed Shells (see recipe below) with green beans and brussel sprouts (Joe hates brussel sprouts and I hate green beans)
Monday - Southern Fried Chicken and tossed salad
Tuesday - Steak tips in marinade with fresh corn salad
Wednesday - Meatloaf with steamed carrots
Thursday - Chicken enchiladas with beans and rice
Friday - malayasian fried chicken over salad
Saturday - misc sandwiches - Joe is now working a 16 hour shift on saturdays. he'll grab something at work and I just want something easy


MB's chicken stuffed shells:
Cook stuffing shells, use leftover baked chicken or broil, bake or boil some chicken - or even use the canned stuff (but I think the canned stuff makes it way too salty), mix it with Stove Top stuffing (instant stuffing/dressing), stuff balls of it into the shells and pour cream of mushroom soup over it all and bake.

Time for a minor soapbox vent. I look for a lot of recipes online, specifically Allrecipes.com. No particular reason except that I tend to end up there all the time. Some people that write reviews are just not making sense. They will review a dish as terrible... or say they didn't care for it.. then go on to explain how they altered the recipe! You can NOT critique a recipe properly unless you have made it as directed. It's ridiculous to say something is terrible because it wasn't made as written.

Weekly Meals 7/29 - 8/2

Sunday - Swedish Meatballs over buttered noodles - tossed salad
Monday - Boo's Apricot Chicken
Tuesday - Indonesian Satay
Wednesday - pizza bagels
Thursday - Crepes with turkey and swiss filling
Friday -homemade chicken nuggets
Saturday - Moo shu beef? chicken? with spring rolls

Boo's Apricot Chicken:

4 chicken breast fillets
french onion soup mix
14oz can of apricot nectar.
flour
frozen stir fry veggies
2cups cooked rice

cover chicken in flour. Mix soup mix and nectar together.
spray oven dish with oil
place chicken, veggies and rice in dish and cover with nectar soup mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40min or until chicken is cooked thru.

I ended up serving the rice on the side as I wanted to get this cooking in the oven. All I can say is you have to try this recipe! If you're worried about it tasting too fruity, it's not. In fact you don't really taste any fruit, Just a delicious sauce. I almost wish I had doubled the sauce. Mental note for next time. Thanks for the idea and recipe Boo!

Weekly Meals 7/21 - 7/28

Sunday - Stuffed shells with tossed salad or broccoli rabe and mushrooms and homemade cherry pie
Monday - grilled chicken and nectarine salad - going to make this one up as I go, lol
Tuesday - raw chili - fruit slices drizzled with agave nectar and cinnamon
Wednesday - chicken salad wraps with cucumber/onion salad
Thursday - spaghetti and meatballs with tossed salad - homemade italian bread - try #3, lol
Friday - malaysian bbq chicken with spring rolls and ginger dipping sauce
Saturday - take out or leftovers

I'm also doing something different this time. I'm doing all the heavy cooking today so the oven is run once. I'm tired of overheating the house, lol.

weekly meals 7/6 - 7/12

So last week I was lazy and didn't plan .. or at least adhere to my menu plan. I'm back this week to write it down.

Sunday: homemade pizza's. 1- pepperoni and mushroom 1- onion and pepper
Monday: spaghetti and meatballs - recipe below
Tuesday: Pierogi casserole see review below
Wenesday: malayasian fried chicken - recipe below
Thursday: arepas with an italian shredded beef and cheddar filling
Friday: taco bake
Saturday: Moo shu chicken

Meatball recipe:
1.5lbs ground beef
1cup breadcrumbs
1Tbsp Parmesan cheese
1Tbsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 egg

mix well with hands, form into desired size meatball and bake. I usually make them slightly larger then golf balls and bake for 20-30mins.

Malaysian Fried Chicken
3lbs chicken - we use bnls chicken breasts
4Tbsp Oyster sauce
2Tbsp curry powder
6 cloves garlic -minced

mix oyster sauce, curry powder and minced garlic, place in dish with chicken and marinate for 30 min minimum. Saute, broil or grill till done.

Peirogi Casserole - I was hoping for a different vegetarian type dish for a change. Granted it's not figure friendly and I knew that, but I was in the mood for something different. I just did not care for this that much. It basically seems like a mashed potato deluxe type thing... with some pasta thrown in. Next time I'll just make the pierogi.

Weekly meals 6/22 - 6/28/08

I started doing this via email with some friends a few weeks ago, then thought hey.. let me share with the few wandering souls that read my blog, lol. This started as a way to cut down on costs of food and to really cut down how much we ate out. It's been really successful and I'm glad I'm taking the time to do meal planning. I got off track last week with Joe being in the hospital, so it's time to get back on track.

Sunday - Steak Tip Marinade
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Steak-Tip-Marinade/Detail.aspx
Monday: leftover steak over tossed salad
Tuesday:Yummy Honey Chicken Kabobs
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Yummy-Honey-Chicken-Kabobs/Detail.aspx
Wednesday: Simple Malaysian Fried Chicken
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Simple-Malaysian-Fried-Chicken/Detail.aspx
Thursday: Moo Shu chicken w/ purchased wonton soup and egg roll
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Moo-Shu-Pork/Detail.aspx
Friday: chicken pot pie made from rest of roast chicken used on Thursday
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Pot-Pie-I-2/Detail.aspx
Saturday: Take out