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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Family Meal Planning (1-16-11) and Freezer/Pantry Checklist

Click here to see previous week's Family Meal Planning! 

The weeks are just flying by and my weekly grocery shopping is going perfectly with my new $150 dollar per week budget (feeding a family of 6, soon be be 5)! This week I hit Costco ($62.93) and Vons ($64.00) = Total $126.93; and the rest I will spend at the Farmers market for fresh fruit and veggies. We covered what we needed and a few treats (4 gallons of ice cream; everyone likes a different kind, but 4 gallons is ALOT cheaper then one evening out at Dairy Queen, so we are doing GREAT). I also stocked up on Hamburger and Turkey Meat from Costco. I buy the large packs of each (I divide the hamburger by 8 and divide each of the 4 packs of Turkey meat in half which gives me 8 sections, then I add the half hamburger and half turkey meat to a ziploc bag and freeze for later). We now have 8 packages of hamburger/turkey meat (uncooked) in the freezer. With eating hamburger meat only about once or twice a week, this will last at least 4 to 6 weeks until I have to buy it again! Next week, I will do the same thing with chicken (I will buy a couple big packages and then separate them into 4 to 6 pieces of chicken per ziploc bag). 

I also took on the challenge and actually COMPLETED my freezer/pantry checklist. I was shocked. Not just shocked, but amazed and a little overwhelmed, that I found 16 cans of peas. What in the world am I ever gonna do with 16 cans of peas (please leave me recipes if you have ideas for peas). I am still wondering how that happened. But, I made my check-list and it is helping me be more creative. I am truly excited about the recipes I am dreaming up. A random can of Cheddar Cheese soup (lookin' at making Corn Chowder), some left over meatballs in the freezer, 3 bottles of Terryiaki sauce (I know we will be making my grandma's Pineapple Terryiaki Chicken soon) and a few other crazy things you'll have to wait and see what recipes I come up with.

Here are the two challenges I am following Frugal Follies and Good Cheap Eats
I am also having my first-blog giveaway this week. You could win 10 bottles of SPIKE Magic Seasoning. Make sure to click on over to the original post and comment to win!

Here is my PLAN for this week...I pre-made a few of these things on Sunday to save me some extra time during the week. Good luck with your own Family Meal Planning. I'd love to hear if you have any short cuts, tricks or tips.
Check back and we will link the actual recipe!
(not all recipes will become reality so if there is not a link, we haven't made it yet)



Also don't forget our linky party

3 comments :

  1. Go you, this is awesome! I love doing challenges like these - we are eating our way thru our pantry as well. I'm also working to stockpile though...

    Favorite recipe in my house:
    Drain 2 cans peas.
    Add approx 1/2 cup mayo
    Then some cubed cheddar cheese; 1/2 a brick or so.
    Salt and pepper to taste.
    Best if you let it refrigerate 30 minutes - 1 hour.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haha...16 cans of peas! We just like to eat peas as a side (no frills), and I only frozen peas in my recipes. Sorry, no recipes from me! I have seen recipes for guacamole that use crushed peas in place of some of the avocado...sounds strange, but it actually tastes just fine and saves you some fat calories.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I would love to make a similar schedule/meal calendar how did you make yours? Word,excel ??

    ReplyDelete

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