May 13 - Weekly Meal Plan

I mentioned back in a previous blog post how organization and some tools I learned early on in my marriage were going to help us during a time when money is beyond tight.  Meal planning and efficient use of our home pantry (stockpile as some call it) will help us eat, and eat well, for at least 3 months. 

Many people who do meal or menu planning for their families do weekly plans.  Well, we live a hair shorter than an hour from the closest military commissary.  Even with sales, shopping here with coupons can not be beat.  But, it is a drive that is a bit longer than I would like to make weekly with the cost of gas.  Instead, I make a list of 15-20 main course meals for the month to coinside with our commissary road trips and what I have in our pantry.  I also take into consideration sales at our little local stores and what fresh produce should be in season and in abundance, ie.....cheap.

Considering one or two meals per month eating out or at someone's home and leftovers, we don't need much more than the 15-20 for the month.  And we have standing options in the house all the time for breakfast and lunches as well as veggies and fillers for the main meals if needed. 

For this week, here is my list of meals:

-Margarita Chicken Quesadillas
-Beef and Spinach Gyros
-Pineapple and Mango Chicken
-Thai Chicken
-Fried Round Steak

My moods and what I crave change all the time.  So, as you will see, I do not do a list such as, on Monday, we will each Thai Chicken...and on and on.  What I do have is a small dry erase board on our refridgerator.  The top half is where I list my 4-5 main courses for the week.  When I write them up there, I take out whatever meat we need and put it in the fridge to defrost.  Then, as I cook it, I just wipe off that meal.  When they are all gone as well as the leftovers, I start the process over again. 

It is what works for us.  Since all of these recipes are new to our family with the exception of the Thai Chicken, I'll let you know how they turn out.  Let me know if you would like any of the recipes.  I'll post them after I make them because honestly, I rarely ever follow a recipe 100%. 

In case you are looking for cheap produce....around here right now we are getting mangos, pineapple, asparagus, sweet corn and strawberries dirt cheap.  One good thing about having a deep freezer is that we can stock up on them, blanch and freeze them at dirt cheap prices for later use.  And produce frozen from fresh packs a higher nutrional punch than anything you can buy that is canned.

4 Days And A Wake-Up

And......my husband will be riding away on a bus to begin his deployment. This past week and a half has been full of good times and strong emotions regarding the upcoming separation of our family.


Mother's Day was fine. We went to church and then to my in-laws home for dinner and a visit. It really is fun to watch them enjoy our son so much. In a few short days our baby boy turns 7 months old. People always said the time would fly by and to try to not look ahead but enjoy each day. I have been taking that advice to heart and I'm so glad! He is beautiful, handsome, smart, funny and a blessing to be a mommy to.


We then left for a few days to go to a nearby state park for a little family R&R. We rented a small cabin for two nights. The best part? The fireplace. Nothing like letting my inner pyro out to play. It was cold, damp, rainy and stormy for the majority of the time but that did not stop us from enjoying each other and making memories.

We were able to get a little bit of hiking in on the first day. The park boasts of a "waterfall." Not exactly what I was expecting, but it was easy enough to explore being that the drop is maybe 5 feet. Baby Derrek did well on his first hike (and first diaper change out in the middle of the woods). I was able to do some dutch oven experimental type cooking in the cabin. Next time I think I'm going to use an actual iron dutch oven and not the kind you use on top of a stove. Gotta love just throwing stuff in a pot and letting it cook itself. I sooooooooo wish we had a wood burning fireplace here at home. I suppose that is just something we will have to look for whenever we look for our next home.

Speaking of our home, WEEDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On the next few sunny days, my yard is not going to know what hit it! Now, we just need a few sunny days and no more of this "global cooling" stuff. That's all I have to say about that.