It’s the last week of the month, hard to believe another month has quickly gone by. As I look in my cupboard, I see that we’re finally down to the last of the foods we grew or picked this past summer ; the blueberry butter and the apple butter we made and I now start to think of how it’s time  to start planning for the next growing, picking, and preserving season.

I am all for preserving, canning and freezing. It is quite addictive once you get started and get the hang of it. I try and freeze everything we grow or pick it and freeze it to use later for jams or butters. My plan this summer is to pick up the pace and do some more canning. At the end of last summer, I picked up a large canning pot complete with a wire rack at the local thrift store for $8. If you have any great recipes, ideas or websites for me to check out, please share in the comment section below.

We still have a partially stocked freezer to work with this week, so I foresee a casserole and a chicken dish in the works and I should only need a few pantry essentials to make this week’s weekly meal plan work and next weeks.

Meal Plan

I meal plan at the beginning of each week. For me, it’s Sunday mornings when the house is quite and everyone’s still sleeping. I try and manage a decent frugal grocery budget and not go to the grocery store on a weekly basis unless we need dairy products like milk. Weekly meal planningsaves our family money, reduces food waste, and keeps us from the urge to say, “Let’s eat out!”

Here’s our plan for the week.

My weekly meal plan and shopping list is completed and posted on our fridge:

Breakfast options:

(served with fruit)

French toast casserole
Pancakes
Waffles
Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
Cereal
Scrambled, Fried, or Hard-Boiled Eggs
Breakfast Burritos
Quiche
English Muffins
Homemade Bread
Biscuits
Muffins
Breakfast Cookies
Breakfast Potatoes
Mini Apple Pies or Turnovers

 Lunch options:

Sandwiches or Wraps (Tuna salad, egg salad, chicken salad, turkey salad, leftover meats, grilled cheese, blt, pb&j)
Quesadillas
Smoothies
Leftovers from dinner
Salad
Baked Potato
Homemade Pizza Pockets

Suppers Your Family Will Love

Need ideas for your weekly meal plan? It’s time for another weekly menu.  I enjoy menu planning because of  the simplicity it provides for my life. It enables me to decrease my grocery shopping excursions to twice a month and it allows me to  have more free time to focus on my family and home. For ideas in the weekly meal plan, we’ll be focusing on a variety of family meals. You’ll find the recipes on the weekly meal plan also available on my Recipe Index page with a grocery list included.