Menu Plan Monday

I was able to spend my budget this week of $75 and still make a decent menu for us!(I spent about $48 dollars at Sprouts and will use the rest for milk, produce and a couple of other things during the week)Keep in mind, I had some things in my pantry/freezer and will be making some things from scratch today during my kitchen day (actually sort of a bulk cooking day when it comes to baking, so I am joining in with Moneysavingmom on her bulk cooking day). Here's what we are having (with Nourishing Traditions preparations in mind for the most part).

Breakfasts:

• Oatmeal x 2 w/apples & walnuts or Maple syrup and butter
  
• Eggs x 2 (any style) and WW toast
  
• Soaked Blender Pancakes w/ fruit and whipped cream
• Cranberry/orange muffins w/smoothies

Lunches:

• Egg Salad on WW bread, baby carrots w/ HM ranch
• Leftovers x 2
  
• Curry Chicken Salad on HM pitas
• PB&J on WW w/ apple slices, walnuts, HM yogurt
• Out (on errand day)

Dinners:

• Israeli Salad on HM pitas, Baked Salmon (for hubs & kids)
• Shredded Beef Tacos
• Spaghetti w HM marinara, green salad, HM Artisan Bread
• Steak Chili w/ HM cornbread
• HM Pizza (using the artisan dough), salad, cinnamon breadsticks
• OUT
• Roasted Sticky Chicken, Rice w/gravy and veggies

Like I mentioned before, today is my "kitchen" day, so I will be spending most of the day baking for the next week and scrubbing whatever needs to be scrubbed.
Have a great day!

Menu plan Monday.

Some of you may remember when I was on a low fat diet due to being sick. I stayed on it for quite a while. I did lose about 15-20 lbs during that time....but have since then gained it all back. I think all I lost was lean muscle anyways....so I'm not discouraged..I'd rather weigth more and have my
muscle back than be skinny and less energetic.
I constantly felt tired and weak. I need energy to keep up with 3 children! As a result, I have been doing a lot of researching on eating low carb and decided to do a modified low-carb diet. I will not be doing the "induction" phase of Atkins (which limits carbs severely and your body goes into a process called Ketosis) I don't think it would be healthy to be so limited while breastfeeding. Not to mention the toxins that may be released into my milk with such rapid weight loss. I also have been slowly switching over to an organic diet. There are some fruits and veggies that I make sure we have organic and soon will be buying free range chicken and beef. Most of our dairy is organic already but have recently started buying organic butter as well. We definitely notice a difference in taste and quality...so as long as I am able to budget these things in I will buy this way. I have had to cut back elsewhere...but the things I cut back on (snacks, breads, etc) are being replaced with much more healthy and homemade food.

Here is my menu for this week. The family will be eating the same as me for the most part...but if they desire some toast, potatoes, or rice I will add them in with their meals.


Tuesday:
B: Crustless Quiche, cantaloupe Coffee w/ cream or unsweetened Almond Milk & stevia
L: Egg Salad(eggs and mayo) roll up in romaine, Green tea
D: Chicken Parmesan(made with NO breadcrumbs), (spaghetti), HM Tomato sauce, HM Sauteed Zucchini in butter, Green Tea, Salad
S: Kefir smoothie w/ berries, Handful of nuts, Iced Coffee (mid afternoon)

Wednesday:
B: Crustless quiche (leftover), cantaloupe, Coffee with almond milk or cream & stevia
L: Tuna on salad w/ cucumbers, tomatoes, dressing, Iced Green Tea
D: Taco Salad w/ shredded Beef, refried beans, avocado, salsa dressing, cheese
S: Kefir smoothie w/ berries, handful of nuts, Iced Coffee

Thursday:
B: Scrambled Eggs w/ cheese, Turkey Bacon, honey dew melon, Coffee w/ Almond Milk or Cream
L: Leftover Taco Salad (tortilla chips)
D: Grilled Steak, w/ sauteed fresh from the garden veggies (green beans, zuchinni, tomatoes) (potatoes), salad
S: Kefir smoothie w/ berries, handful of nuts, Iced Coffee

Friday:
B:Cheese omelet with bacon, honeydew chunks , coffee w/ cream or Almond Milk
L: Tuna roll ups (tuna w/mayo in Romaine)
D: Chili Dogs( HM chili and all beef nitrate free hotdogs), (french fries), salad
S: Kefir smoothie w/ berries, handful of nuts, Iced Coffee

Saturday:
B: Low carb Zucchini nut bread w/ cream cheese, hard boiled eggs
L: Chicken Ceaser salad
D: Crock pot Chicken, garden veggies sauteed, salad
S: Kefir smoothie w/ berries, handful of nuts, Iced Coffee

Sunday:
B: Fried Eggs, Bacon, strawberries
L: Chicken Roll Ups (leftover chicken, mayo, romaine)
D: Grilled Cheeseburgers (no bun for mom), salad, organic froz corn
S: Zucchini nut bread, Iced coffee, handful of nuts

Menu Plan for week 10/15-10/21

I decided to start keeping track of my menuus so I can better stay on a budget. I also am part of a grocery budget challenge for Oct. My goal is to spend $200 for the month of OCT and so far I have only spent $73.01. I will have to do a pretty big shopping at the end of the month (well maybe dh will..lol..we'll see how that goes) but so far it's been kinda fun trying to stay on budget. I went to the store today and bought alot of convenience foods which is not normally something I would do but I need things to be easy for me this week and next..

Here's my menu plan for this week ( I am going to just post for Wed-Sun since I am behind in posting)

Wed-
~Marinated London Broil, Mac n cheese (velvetta), mixed veggies, garlic bread

Thurs-
~Beef and bean burritos, spanish rice

Fri-
~Broccoli and Cheese potatoes with sour cream and garlic bread (leftover from Wed)

Sat-
~leftover day (i have decided to try and bake on Sat. so to accomplish that this is what is easiest...no cooking=more baking!)

Sun-
~Roasted Chicken (crockpot), stuffing & gravy, veggies, dessert baked on Sat.


Our rotating breakfasts for this week will be:
~cereal w/ milk (sometimes we have fruit but usually just cereal fills everyone up until snack time)
~eggs w/ grits and turkey bacon
~homemade pancakes w/ real butter and real maple syrup(this is going to be a budget buster when I run out!)
~oatmeal or cream of wheat w/ brown sugar and butter, juice

And every sunday i make a big breakfast before church of fried potatoes, eggs or homemade waffles, turkey bacon, grits and toast. If we have the waffles I will not make the eggs or the toast. But my dd only likes grits so I have to make that no matter what!

As far as lunches I bought a bunch of frozen things to just pop in the microwave....froz burritos, fish sticks, fries, chicken nuggets, and of course we always have sandwiches.

I normally make things from scratch for most of our meals but this month is a little different and I am choosing convenience over health for the first time in a long time. The real challenge is going to be organizing my time and money next month to be able to cook from scratch and have a newborn in the house!