I’m still on the prowl for frugal (and picky family friendly) recipes so if you have any good links leave them in the comments please!

Here’s what is on the menu for this week:

• Monday – Easy Peasy Crockpot Lasagna
• Tuesday – Lemon Pepper Chicken and Pasta
• Wednesday – Homemade Waffles, Turkey Bacon, Fruit
• Thursday – Family Casserole
• Friday -Tostadas
• Saturday – Beans, Smoke Sausage & Cornbread

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura @ I’m and Organizing Junkie!

Today for Menu Plan Monday, I’m going to do things a little bit different (I hope you don’t mind!)

Today I’m ASKING for recipes.

A lot of our meals and snacks are probably pretty frugal, but the fact is, I don’t really KNOW how much they each cost to prepare. I want to start paying attention to that and planning the meals for the day with their cost in mind. Do you know that even if I planned a dollar, per person, per meal, per day (and knowing that hubby doesn’t eat lunch or snacks with us on the weekdays) my grocery bill, FOR FOOD ALONE, would still be $585!!

I spend about $600 dollars a month right now for everything (paper towels, toilet paper, EVERYTHING) so I must be spending less than a dollar a day, per person, per meal already. Still, I need to set that as my limit, start calculating the average costs of our current recipes and start looking for new low-cost recipes to replace the more expensive ones.

So here’s where I need a favor.

I need you to send me your favorite $5 or under recipes for breakfast, lunch, snack and supper. (Bear in mind that I have a picky family, we mainly eat ground beef and chicken and some vegetarian dishes – I know, that makes it harder.)

So what your favorite low cost meal of the day?

Inquiring minds want to know!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

As far as Menu Planning for this week, I don’t really have one yet. I’m going to have to go shopping today for the rest of the week and then I have to plan for having family here over the weekend to help me work on the kitchen – those will probably be crock pot days!

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura the Organizing Junkie!

Getting back into menu planning, THE RIGHT WAY, this week. I’ve gotten to a point where all I need to do this week is grocery shop for the ingredients I don’t have on hand and then I can shop what’s on sale and stock up on those things. It’s kind of exciting getting to that point.

So, bearing in mind what I have on hand in the pantry and freezer, here’s our game plan for this week:

Monday

• B~   Blueberry pancakes, tangelo wedges
• L~   Tuna Salad with apples & pecans and whole grain crackers
• Sn~ Banana Oat Muffins
• Su~ Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings & Homemade Bread

{Have all this on hand}

Tuesday – Drama Queen’s Birthday!!

• B~   Banana Oat Muffins & OJ
• L~   Turkey Sandwiches on Homemade Potato Bread, Chips, Pears
• Sn~ Carrots & Ranch Dip
• Su~ Homemade Pizza; Dessert: Chocolate Cup Cakes

{Just need hubby to pick up some milk. We plan on spending part of the day with my mother-in-law, so meal plans for this day may change.}

Wednesday

• B~   Cereal & Fruit
• L~   Homemade ‘Lunchables’ and sliced apples
• Sn~ Potato Wedges & Dip
• Su~ Chili, Cornbread

{Need wheat crackers, string cheese, potatoes, ground beef}

Thursday

• B~   Skillet Breakfast Casserole & Orange Juice
  
• L~   Tuna Salad Sandwiches w/ Sliced Pears
• Sn~ Homemade Granola & Homemade Yogurt
• Su~ Chicken, Rice, Broccoli

{Need tater tots, ground sausage, more milk for the yogurt, and a small plain yogurt to start}

Friday

• B~   Yogurt Parfaits
• L~   Homemade Mac N Cheese w/Wienies, Veggies
• Sn~ Cheese, Crackers, grapes and banana slices
• Su~ Tacos, (Homemade tortillas), Pico de Gallo

{Need american cheese, turkey dogs, grapes, bananas, ground beef, lettuce, tomato, onion (sale:$0.39/lb), cilantro, jalapeno pepper}

Saturday

• B~   Biscuits, Gravy, Turkey Bacon, Fruit
• L~   Leftovers
• Sn~ Mini apple muffins
• Su~ Chipotle Style Burritos

{Need turkey bacon, cantaloupe, large tortillas, refried beans, shredded cheese, avocados}

Sunday

• B~   Cereal & Juice
• L~   Nacho Supremes (with all the leftover taco and burrito stuff)
• Sn~ Yogurt, granola, apple muffins (leftover snack stuff)
• Su~ Breakfast for Dinner -  Scrambled Eggs, Biscuits, Turkey Bacon, Fruit Salad

{Need tortilla chips and by this point, probably another milk, if not sooner.}

Also on my shopping list (from our local sales circular):

• (2) 4lb bag sugar, $1.37 each
• (2) 1lb carton strawberries, $1.99 each
• (4-5) Pilgrim’s Pride cut-up chicken, $1.29/lb.
• (2) Luzianne Tea, Family Size, 24ct, $1.69 each.
• 15lb bag russet potatoes, $5.99

Plus I have $4.00 off in store coupons (with their current promotion) and of course I’m going to check and see if I have coupons for anything on my list before I go. I haven’t done very well witht the coupon thing so far. I keep forgetting to go into town on Sundays and get a paper (I don’t have to go all the way into town to get to church) and I still need to sign up for those coupon sites! I’m hoping to get my printer installed and working today – perhaps the next thing I’ll do is sign up for those and go coupon hunting.

Our store releases new circulars on Wednesdays and I may go back to the store on Wednesday to stock up on ground beef if they put some on sale. I’ve been going at the end of the sale week lately and I’ve been able to stock up on chicken, but the last 2 times I went I wasn’t even able to get enough ground beef for that week b/c they were out. So I’m also learning that I need to adjust my shopping schedule to mid-week so I can catch the store sales before they run out. You live, you learn.

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura @ I’m an Organizing Junkie!

Monday~

• Cereal
• Peanut Butter & Banana Sandwiches, Apples, Chips
• String Cheese, Veggies & Ranch
• Tacos & Pico De Gallo

Tuesday~

• Bagels & Cream Cheese, Strawberries
• Tuna Salad & Whole Grain Crackers, Carrot Sticks, Ranch
• Grapes & 100 Calorie Snack Packs
• Grilled Chicken Salads

Wednesday~

• Banana Oat Muffins, Orange Wedges
• Turkey Sandwiches, Chips, Melon Slices
• Granola & Yogurt
• Porcupine Meatballs, Steamed Broccoli, Ranch Beans, Salad

Thursday ~

• French Toast, Strawberries
• Homemade Mac N Cheese w/ Wienies, Garden Salad
• Orange Wedges, Meat & Cheese & Crackers
• Homemade Whole Wheat Veggie Pizza, Salad

Friday~

• Pancakes, Cantaloupe
• Fried Egg Sandwiches, Home Fries
• Apples & Peanut Butter
• Taco Soup, Corn Chips

Saturday~

• Biscuits, Gravy, Turkey Bacon, Grapes
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & Homemade Tomato Soup
• Pretzels & Mustard
• Chili & Cornbread

Sunday~

• Cereal
• Nacho Supremes
• Fruit Salad
• Grilled Chicken, Rice, Steamed Veggies

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by the Organizing Junkie.

By the time you read this it will actually be TUESDAY and not Monday but, hey, we can’t be a step ahead of the game every week, right? Some weeks are just, one day at a time. And Y’ALL. This could be one of those weeks. I actually got more than half of my Must Do list for last week completed. I think this week’s list should look a little easier. Here’s my plan for this upcoming week:

1.) Menu Plan Monday

I’m still working on my new menu planning system in which I basically create 6 individual weekly plans, complete with shopping lists and then I mix and match. I’m hoping to move to a system of grocery shopping for 3 or 4 weeks at a time but if I do, I’ll probably have to shop for that in the middle of the month. In the meantime, here’s the menu for this week.

• Monday -Bagles & Cream Cheese; Lunch w/Friends; Cereal; Super Nachos
• Tuesday – Bacon Sandwiches, Grapes; Chicken Tenders & Mac N Cheese; Yogurt & Fruit Cocktail; Spaghetti & Salad
• Wednesday – Cereal & Orange Wedges, Sandwiches & Chips; Apples & Peanut Butter Dip; Chicken & Pasta
• Thursday – Sausage Egg Biscuits; Mini Cheeze Pizzas; Carrots & Dip; Rice, Beans & Cornbread
• Friday – French Toast, Sandwiches & Carrots, Yogurt & Granola, Salisbury Steaks & Veggies
  
• Saturday – Breakfast Casserole, Orange Wedges;  Granola Bars;  Beef Enchiladas, Spanish Rice
• Sunday – Cereal; Grilled Cheese & Chicken Noodle; Homemade lunchables; Biscuits, Gravy & Turkey bacon

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie!

2.) Bible Study: Reading through my chronological bible in the mornings. Still working on GETTING UP EARLY in the mornings to do this! Other Study: Reading through my book of the month, The Excellent Wife throughout the day as I can. I’m about a third of the way through the book. GOOD BOOK.

3.) “MUST Do” List:

• Stick to my daily schedule (as God allows) for morning devotions, taking care of the home and home-schooling.
• Get copies of bank statements from bank and enter into Quickbooks.
• Begin purging and organizing papers and filing system (Collecting 08 papers together and creating places for 09 papers.)
• Work a little more on updating the Home Management Binder.

4.) Taking Care of My Home:

Same as last week! “This week we mainly need to focus on scheduling. Making sure we eat breakfast on time, get our morning chores done on time, begin school on time, eat lunch and have naptime on time. Time Management is key to a more smoothly running home.” Only this week it looks like a Mess Monster puked all over my house (how did THAT happen?!) so you can better believe chores are going to be kicked up a notch to make sure it doesn’t get any worse and hopefully actually gets better.

5.) Training My Children:

Also same as last week:

• Training their habits by focusing on time management this week.
• Training their work ethic by involving them in chores and teaching them to do their work agreeably and well.
• Training their minds by getting the school work done.
• Training their hearts by spending time with them, loving them, reading to them.
• Training their souls by praying with them, exemplifying Christ to them, and disciplining them in truth and love.

{Please note, this is my aim – I’m not yet claiming to hit the mark on each of these targets all of the time.}

By the way, if you haven’t already, hop over to my giveaway and enter to win!

I used to participate in Monday Meanderings back when Tiany at Less of Me, More of Him used to do this regularly. I don’t think she does this anymore, but I’m going to be returning to this habit, for this week at least, to try to organize my thoughts and intentions for the coming week ahead. Let’s see how it works, shall we?

1.) Bible Study: Reading through my chronological bible in the mornings. This means I need to, you know, GET UP in the mornings. To read it. It sort of works that way. Other Study: Reading through my book of the month, The Excellent Wife throughout the day as I can. I’m about a third of the way through the book. GOOD BOOK.

2.) “MUST Do” List:

• Stick to my daily schedule (as God allows) for morning devotions, taking care of the home and home-schooling.
• File sales taxes for last quarter of ’08, by TOMORROW.
• Close down my Etsy store.
• Install Quickbooks and begin working on taxes.
• Make doctor and eye appointments for the kiddos.
• Begin purging and organizing papers and filing system (Collecting 08 papers together and creating places for 09 papers.)
• Work a little more on updating the Home Management Binder.

3.) Taking Care of My Home:

My new daily chore system is a lot easier than it has been in the past. Proof positive that if you keep working on your habits they get easier and easier. This week we mainly need to focus on scheduling. Making sure we eat breakfast on time, get our morning chores done on time, begin school on time, eat lunch and have naptime on time. Time Management is key to a more smoothly running home.

4.) Training My Children:

• Training their habits by focusing on time management this week.
• Training their work ethic by involving them in chores and teaching them to do their work agreeably and well.
• Training their minds by getting the school work done.
• Training their hearts by spending time with them, loving them, reading to them.
• Training their souls by praying with them, exemplifying Christ to them, and disciplining them in truth and love.

{Please note, this is my aim – I’m not yet claiming to hit the mark on each of these targets all of the time.}

5.) Menu Plan Monday

I’m working on a new menu planning system that I can’t WAIT to tell you about! I’m about halfway done with the prep work so I’ll plan one more week the “old” way and next week I’ll reveal the new way! It’s going to save me SO much time, effort, thought, and hopefully some cold, hard cash, too.

• Monday – Cinnamon Toast, Nachos, Peanut Butter & Crackers, Pizza & Salad
• Tuesday – Oatmeal & Raisins, Baked Potatoes, Sliced Apples & Yogurt, Rice & Beans & Cornbread
• Wednesday – Canned Peaches & Yogurt, Tuna Salad & Crackers, Carrots & Ranch, Chicken & Dumplings
• Thursday – Cereal & Orange Wedges, Bean & Cheese Quesadillas, Fruit Cocktail, Chicken Fried Venison Steaks & Veggies (I’m going to try to really cook those this time.)
• Friday – Buttermilk Pancakes & Eggs & Bacon, Sandwiches & Chips, Carrots & Ranch, Vegetable Stew & Cornbread
  
• Saturday – Biscuits, Gravy, Turkey Bacon, Orange Wedges; Pizza Pasta and salad; Apple Slices & Granola Bars;  Porcupine Meatballs & Veggies
• Sunday – Cereal; Tacos &  black beans; Chips & Salsa; Breakfast for Dinner

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie!