Eat at Home 3!

So, I'm sticking to a Korean stew this weekend - trips to Hmart plus cool things I find makes it an easy "right after Church" crockpot dinner...this is also heavy on beef and strawberries, b/c my Safeway had stupid good deals on both

Sunday - Crockpot Beef Bulgogi and Veg Stew (2.5 lbs beef hind shank, 1/2 jar of bulgogi marinade, button mushrooms, baby bella mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, celery, carrots, jalapeno, cabbage, cornstarch slurry, s&p), Dairy-Free Naan, Starwberries
Monday - Crockpot Cocktail Meatballs (kids have never had, and I need another crockpot meal...and I unearthed some old grape jelly and heinz 57 sauce), Corn on the Cob, More Strawberries, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Tuesday - Dairy-Free Shepard's Pie (onions, celery, carrots, corn, and probably Japanese eggplant), sliced peaches, dairy-free cinnamon apple muffins
Wednesday - Dairy-Free Pancakes, Homemade Pina Colada Fruit Topping (Fresh pineapple, bananas, coconut milk and rum), More Strawberries, Bacon and/or Sausage
Thursday - Homemade Shrimp Salad Sandwiches, Iceberg Wedge Salad with Tomato, Leftover Bacon, and Fried Onions (and a dairy-free blue cheese dressing), Sliced Apples
Friday - Leftovers OR Boxed Mac and Cheese Night (I am trying Annie's Vegan one for me, since the Daiya one was eehhh...kids will get Kraft) with fresh fruit smoothies
Saturday - OUT

Was craving fish, so hit Hmart for the $4.99/lb salmon steaks...they were excellent tonight...and here's the rest of the plan...

Sun - Baked salmon steaks, homemade ratatouille, green grapes, homemade garlic bread
Mon - Chicken fajitas, homemade guac and chips, apple and green grape crisp
Tues - Homemade beef meatballs, leftover ratatouille over orzo, sliced peaches
Wed - Korean tofu and egg stew with napa cabbage and fried onions (got a Korean seasoning mix today, so gonna follow the directions with a little extra veg), banana muffins
Thurs - BLTAs, baked fries, sliced apples
Fri - Leftovers or Boxed Mac Night (we had leftovers, so I still have last week's mac) with fruit smoothies
Sat - OUT
 
VACATION WEEK!:love: Ready to get on that cruise!
Easy week for us.
Tonight is TJ’s orange chicken (SO GOOD), brown rice and broccoli
Tomorrow-vegetarian linguine pasta, dinner rolls with honey butter
Wednesday-leftovers
Thursday-bringing sandwiches, and Terra veggie chips to eat on the plane!
Friday-Sailing away!!!!!
 
I'm in the midst of a busy part of my year at work, so I won't be home for dinner much in the next few weeks. I made a huge batch of pulled pork this weekend, and had DH grill a whole bunch of chicken breasts. I stocked up on a few things at Costco, and left him a big long list of easy dinners for him to pull together for him and the kids while I'm MIA. Dinner options include

Pulled pork sandwiches
Grilled chicken as:
Burritos
Sandwiches
Buffalo Chicken Salads
Tofu Scramble & Pasta
Pasta & Meatballs
Chicken Tikka (w. roasted cauliflower and rice or naan)
Burgers
BLTs
Fish Sticks & Oven Fries (picked out by my 6 year old who wants to cook one night)

Lots of this is hanging out in the freezer and this should do him and the kids for the next 2 weeks, at least, and he can do a quick shop next weekend to replenish fruit, veggies and milk as needed (cut up veggies are the standard side dish with sandwiches for dinner in my house). I will be eating whatever kind of takeout my staff wants for dinner, and having random leftovers for lunch!

Once I get through the craziness, I will need to get serious about using up the meat from our CSA share that is taking up half my chest freezer - all kinds of good stuff, but requires planning to thaw/cook - like the whole duck we got. I've never roasted a duck before!
 


Check out that top ticker...today is SINGLE DIGIT DAY for us!!! Today is also my last grocery pick up before we leave, so I ordered enough to carry us through an extra couple of days.

Tonight:
Spaghetti
Garlic Toast

Thursday:
Salmon Patties
Mac and Cheese
Green Peas

Friday:
Chicken Caesar Salad

Saturday:
Italian Beef Hoagies
Chips

Sunday:
Chicken and Rice Bake
Roasted Squash

Monday:
Corned Beef Hash
Fried Cabbage

Taco Tuesday:
Bean Burritos
Pineapple

Wednesday: (Last minute packing and loading the car)
Take and Bake Pizza

Thursday: (light dinner before we hit the road for overnight roadtrip to Port Canaveral)
Sandwiches
Chips

Friday:
FB Cruise Group Meetup at Fishlips in Port Canaveral

Saturday:
****SAIL AWAY!!!***
 
Last edited:


Back on a frugality kick. I have a very full freezer that needs emptying and am trying to save up for airfare to Paris in May. Yesterday I spent $50 mostly on produce, dairy and bread including a bag of 6 avocados, 2# bag of honeycrisp apples, 2# Campari tomatoes, 2# baby carrots and a large tub of salad. I plan to have leftover apples and carrots to roll over to next week.

Breakfasts
DH-two eggs scrambled with salsa, two flour tortillas
Me-avocado toast w/salsa and tomatoes, 1/2 apple
DH has coffee with flavored creamer, I’ll have unsweetened iced tea.

Lunches
DH usually eats at work, I have leftovers or a salad or both. I eat a LOT of salad.

Saturday
Bunless hamburgers on the grill (gr. chuck from freezer)
Salad

Sunday
Brunch

Apple cinnamon pancakes
Bacon (freezer)

Dinner
Chicken/andouille gumbo (freezer)
Brown rice (pantry)
Salad

Meatless Monday
Homemade mac-n-cheese (uses up cheese and whole wheat macaroni)
Peas and carrots (peas from freezer)

Taco Tuesday
Steak fajitas (uses up 1 ribeye from freezer)
Pinto beans (freezer)
Mexican rice (tomatoes from pantry, peas from freezer)

Wednesday
Pasta bolognese (sauce from freezer, whole wheat pasta from pantry)
Salad

Thursday
Sliced ham (freezer)
Butter beans (freezer)

Friday
Chicken tortilla soup (freezer)
Salad
 
Last edited:
Ooops... been forgetting to post the last few weeks, just been busy. This week will be pretty simple since I'm also in busy time at work and my schedule will change based on when I feel I need to be there. Tomorrow night will likely be the last grilling night of the year. This week's menu:

bacon wrapped filet mignon with baked potatoes
grilled pork chops with apple tartlets
grilled chicken subs with fruit and chips & dip
burgers with coleslaw and baked beans
beef soft tacos
leftover "buffet"
 
October 1st i plan on going back on my freezer/pantry challenge again. I will be planning meals based on what is in the pantry and freezers. I will be limiting myself to $20 a week for things we might need like eggs, produce, bread etc.... to supplement meals or things we run out of. Glad this thread is here. It keeps me on track especially when my pantries and freezers look like they are about to explode. It also helps me not to eat out.
 
So my cousin found a good Groupon for a Costco membership. We were going to split one, but she ended up buying me my own as a surprise! So I spent this weekend cleaning out and organizing the fridge, freezer, and pantry so that next weekend I can do a stock up (as October is also a 3 paycheck month). Next weekend I am heading to Trader Joe's, Costco, Aldi, and Meijer so lots of running around.

This week though we are having:
Breakfast: Frozen sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits
Lunch: Chicken sandwiches with cream cheese, honey mustard, and lettuce with chips and fruit
Dinner:
Sunday - Wednesday: Beef stew with biscuits
Thursday - Friday: Yellow curry with chicken, zucchini, bell pepper, and bamboo shoots over rice and with Roti
 
October 1st i plan on going back on my freezer/pantry challenge again. I will be planning meals based on what is in the pantry and freezers. I will be limiting myself to $20 a week for things we might need like eggs, produce, bread etc.... to supplement meals or things we run out of. Glad this thread is here. It keeps me on track especially when my pantries and freezers look like they are about to explode. It also helps me not to eat out.

I am trying to do that too. The first week I did well, like $30. Then the second week I bombed and spent like $80. I have a hard time reprogramming my brain to not buy groceries even when we don’t need them.
 
Breakfast - cereal, oatmeal, French toast, cheese grits
Lunch - chicken, spaghetti, misc Raw vegs, Burger King on Wednesday

So I barely followed my meal plan but at least we ate at home. I went to Kroger and found six packs of marinated chicken marked down to 74 cents a pound. Pre-marinated meats are my favorite, toss them in the oven and wait. So we ate a lot of herb seasoned, and Cajun something chicken this past week.

This week I hope to do...

  1. The Chinese sticky wings from last week but on legs. We have a festival to work and these would be tasty cold.
  2. Black bean/rice/corn salad, ham sandwiches, deviled eggs (festival)
  3. Pasta salad, green salad, fruit, chicken salad sandwiches (festival)
  4. Bbq loaded mashed potatoes from last week
  5. Pork chops, broccoli, and corn
  6. Breakfast, sausage gravy biscuits, waffles, fruit & eggs
  7. Dollywood day. We will hit Sakura going in (sushi!), and Ruby Tuesday on the way out. RT has $5 salad bars tomorrow after 4 and we have gift cards 😁

I will need to buy carrots, peppers, cucumbers, pasta, brown rice, ham, bread, spinach, fruit, chicken, & sausage to complete this meal plan. In a perfect world, that is $30, but I have a hard time not buying groceries.
 
Saturday: Turkey dinner at in-laws
Sunday: BBQ Nachos
Monday: Tacos for DD/One Pot Mexican Lentils for me
Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash with roasted tomato sauce
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Frozen Pizza
Friday: Spicy Chicken Rolls, baked potatoes
 
I'm a little behind getting this up, but still cooking. We went apple picking this weekend and brought home a BUSHEL of apple (no joke, I have about 55 lbs of them:)). My kids have a goal to eat through most of them in the next 10 days, so I don't need to do a large apple sauce cook...but we'll see. We've already made scratch apple butter, scratch dairy-free apple oat cookies, and scratch dairy free cinnamon apple muffins...and today, I have dairy-free fried apples going...here's the rest of the week...

Sun - Crockpot Cocktail Meatballs (homemade dairy-free 91% all beef meatballs with heinz 57 and an all fruit organic grape spread - thank you Target for the clearance item), Strawberries and Clementines, Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Mon - Slow-baked Pork Spareribs with a homemade dry run and wet BBQ sauce, Lemon Orzo Cannellini Bean Salad, Dairy-Free Fried Apples
Tues - BLTAs, Homemade Roasted Carrot and Apple Soup
Wed - Dairy-Free Apple Cinnamon Pancakes with Apple Butter, Pork Sausage, Fruit Smoothies
Thurs - Sloppy Joes, Ratatouille, Zucchini Apple Carrot Muffins
Friday - Leftover Ratatouille turned Bolognese over Spaghetti, Apple Slices
Saturday - Out

We are making an apple pie sometime this week...and then I may try a dairy-free apple custard as another dessert (to be totally different)...
 
Haven’t posted in a while but still eating at home/planning menus.
Menu Plan - Week of Sept 29th
Monday- black bean burgers and baked sweet potato fries
Tuesday - spinach/mushroom lasagna
Wednesday- leftovers
Thursday- Cajun red beans and rice
Friday - pizza
 
We made it thru Oct first without eating out. i am going to try to do this for 90 days. During the 90 day period I will be allowing myself to eat out once a month. If we don't it will be better. For the month of Oct I will be limiting myself to $80 for the month to use up what I have. I have spent $6 so far. Tonight we had penne with vodka sauce and Italian sausage. Here are my plans for the rest of the week. Tomorrow I will be back on eating healthier/less carbs. 6 more meals for this week.

HAMSteak, cucumber salad, mashed potatoes for him

Air fryer chicken breast, frozen veggies from the freezer, rice for him

low carb cheeseburger pie using carb quick, green beans

breakfast for dinner

baked salmon, veggies from the freezer, leftover rice for him

one night of leftovers (probably cheese burger pie)
 
I’ve discovered one of my problems when it comes to my freezer. I dutifully stock the freezer with pork and beef when it’s on sale, chicken and seafood too. The thing is, when it comes time to make dinner, I tend to grab the chicken and seafood because those are the proteins I like. As a result I have a freezer full of past-their-prime pork roasts, chops and beef and no chicken or fish.

In spite of my self-imposed challenge I bought a bunch of boneless/skinless chicken breasts yesterday. They were $.99/lb and I couldn’t help myself. It took a good 15 minutes of freezer Tetris to get them in there.1B5C050B-95C7-4D35-9FA9-9B770C84812A.jpeg

When I get this thing whittled down I’m going to try to keep a better inventory!
 
I’ve discovered one of my problems when it comes to my freezer. I dutifully stock the freezer with pork and beef when it’s on sale, chicken and seafood too. The thing is, when it comes time to make dinner, I tend to grab the chicken and seafood because those are the proteins I like. As a result I have a freezer full of past-their-prime pork roasts, chops and beef and no chicken or fish.

In spite of my self-imposed challenge I bought a bunch of boneless/skinless chicken breasts yesterday. They were $.99/lb and I couldn’t help myself. It took a good 15 minutes of freezer Tetris to get them in there.View attachment 440904

When I get this thing whittled down I’m going to try to keep a better inventory!
Looks.like my two freezers!! That's why the pantry challenge. If I don't use this stuff up I'll end up throwing my food out!!
 
Back from vacation...what a great time! Ready to get back into the swing of things. What a great change of weather from FL! Here is what I have so far.
@LilyWDW they just opened up a brand new Costco right by us (the other one was about 45 min south) and it is AMAZING!!! Have fun, can't wait to share favorite finds.
---------
Tonight-baking chicken with Montreal chicken seasoning, quinoa, green beans
Tomorrow-a friend who just bought a house is having us over for dinner, we are bringing wine, of course!
Saturday-lasagna from the freezer, salad
Sunday-baked buffalo chicken egg rolls, carrots and celery with ranch
Monday-vegetable pot pie with cheddar biscuit topping (meatless Monday!)...budget bytes receive
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts

Top