Hi Busy Moms! I am excited and ready to jump start my new Busy Mom Meal Plan subscription off with a bang! Organization and meal planning are key to sharing some wonderful meal times with your family. I’m here to help you all on the journey to continually save time and money.

Due to unforeseen events, we had to revamp the way we shop and live. I absolutely love learning and trying new ways to save and see how my family saves money. I am a huge advocate for meal planning and now found it’s easy for us to do once a month shopping trip. It truly saves us so much!  And you can learn too! I now frugally shop only once a month to keep our staples in stock and ready to use. We will of course continue to shop at our favorite farmer’s market at Denio’s in Roseville weekly, which is AMAZING! and will soon rely on our garden to supply us with a variety of  fresh veggies. I will be blogging about that soon. Promise.

We usually go to the farmer’s market on Saturday mornings and then I sit down on Sunday morning and I quickly come up with a meal plan based around the fresh produce from the market and those items we have in our pantry. I then make a list and shop for whatever else we need to round out our menu. I usually find that we don’t need to spend much, since I stock my staples at the beginning of the month and have lots of ready made meal kits handy. I’ve also try as much as possible to price match at Walmart, Winco and use coupons, which is something we’ll discuss in another post as well.

 

I will be sharing new meal plans every week with my Busy Mom Meal Plan subscribers. They will consist of seven meal ideas, with a new recipe day twice a month, recipes and a printable shopping list. Plus, you’ll have a night to use leftovers. Being organized is KEY to having a meal plan to help save you money. I just want to make it a little easier for busy moms and of course me too. Every meal plan I share with you is one that my own family has tried and loved. I will also show you what I bought each week and price matched. If you are new to meal planning, start HERE. I have some great frugal tips for just starting out in the kitchen too!

So now whether you are a monthly shopper or a weekly shopper, you will be able to have planned meals, to keep your family on budget. I will also be sharing frugal thrifty shopping/cooking tips and tricks throughout each month’s meal plan.

Let’s get cooking!

 

 

 

We were kind of lazy yesterday, relaxing, keeping cool, resting up for the week to come. I now find it a little easier to sleep in a little longer these days but not much. It was nice to stay home and not have to worry about going anywhere. I did make a favorite for dinner, Jalapeno Tequila Lime Chili. It was quick, easy and very flavorful.

So now I’m wide awake, second cup of coffee in hand and working on the game plan for this week’s meal plan. I’m not going to go overboard on the meal plan for the week. After all, it’s summer vacation. So let’s keep it simple and have a easy summer weekly meal plan.

Summer breakfast and lunches will continue as normal, keeping to the basic rotation. It’s working, so why change it?

Beverages (throughout the day):

No more than 2 cups of Black coffee (optional with 2 Tablespoons homemade creamer), unsweetened tea, juice and of course lots of  ice water.

Summer Breakfast Options:

Sunday: Breakfast Sandwiches

Monday: French Toast Sticks -will prepare extra portions for freezer for next week

Tuesday: Two eggs on an English Muffin

Wednesday: Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

Thursday:  Spinach, Feta and Tomato Breakfast Wraps

Friday: Bacon and Cheddar Breakfast Sandwiches

Saturday:  Sweet Potato Waffles

Summer Lunch Options:

Sunday:  Leftovers

Monday: Bean and Cheese Burritos

Tuesday:  Greek Chick Wraps  skipped and had an early dinner-we went grocery shopping at Winco.

Wednesday:  Salad with shredded chicken, cucumber, tomato, onion

Thursday:  Freezer PB&J’s

Friday:  Chicken Ranch Wraps

Saturday:  Ham & Swiss Stromboli, Small Spinach Salad

Dinner (recipes will post throughout the week, given time to cook and photograph  )

Note: an asterisk* means it’s from the freezer

Sunday:  Sunday Supper~Jalapeno Tequila Lime Chili

Monday: Meat Loaf Cups, Baked Mac and Cheese~Frugal and Easy!

Tuesday:  Basic Chicken Salad  Chicken Salad Sandwich Wraps

Wednesday: Pasta with Artichoke, Spinach and Feta Sauce – simple recipe to make; it’s affordable and a dollar stretching meal!

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Family Favorites Night~ Homemade Pizzas-Taco Pizzas (Our daughter is making dinner tonight)

Saturday:  Rigatoni and Turkey Meatballs (Our son is making dinner tonight)

Dessert of the Week:

Frozen Yogurt Milkshakes

Make Ahead and Meal Action Plan:

• Pizza dough will be made Wednesday night.
• Make more bread for French Toast sticks for freezer for next week.
• Breakfast sandwiches will be made tonight or tomorrow
• Will make taco meat, meatballs,  basic shredded chicken tomorrow
• Soak beans for refried beans tonight

For more great family recipes, be sure to visit my new recipe box page.

What’s cooking at your house this week?

 

Wow, I still can’t believe it’s really June, the kids are out of school for the summer and I’m busy working from home. Last week, was a productive week, we stuck to our protein week goals. Now looking at my freezer, fridge and pantry, we’ll plan our protein days around poultry and finally adding in veggies like broccoli, green beans, spinach and tomatoes. This week, we’ll work on keeping our calories under control. I’m planning for no more than 1200-1500 per day. 1500 may be pushing it. I’ll adjust as needed each day. And with summer vacation here, our schedules tend to be more laid back for dinner, meaning occasionally we’ve been known to eat later in the evening so I’m planning on keeping that to a minimum and no meals after 7:00 pm. (This of course helps keep the calories for the day under control.)

Make Ahead Instructions:

• Make more breakfast burritos for the week.
• Still have lean meats in fridge for making breakfast sandwiches, make homemade coffee creamer, and testing out a homemade energy bar recipe for cereal review I’m doing.
• I need to restock the freezer with some pre-made meal kits like Quesadillas and Chicken Enchiladas freezer meals (of course I’ll be looking at calories and how to make them lighter.)
• Shredded chicken, more turkey meatballs and pizza dough are made and ready in the freezer to prepare dinners this week. I may add in tacos.

Meal Plan

I meal plan at the beginning of each week. For me, it’s usually on Sunday mornings when the house is quiet and everyone’s still sleeping. Even though I meal plan every week, (for many reasons I do-here is how I keep it simple) 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 planning saves our family money, reduces food waste, and keeps us from the urge to say, “Let’s eat out!” If you are in need of more reasons to meal plan every week,check HERE. Cooking and eating together is a great satisfaction that often disappears with the busy schedules of families. Working outside of the home has always been a necessity for most adults these days and enjoying the food we create together is a way of connecting with one another.  Our kids cook dinner once-a-week and do the clean-up after the meal. If you want to learn how to pull that off at your house, check HERE.If you’re looking for more meal planning ideas, check HERE. My weekly meal plan and shopping list is completed and posted on our fridge:

Beverages (throughout the day):

No more than 2 cups of Black coffee(optional with 2 Tablespoons homemade vanilla creamer), unsweetened tea and of course lots of  ice water.

Breakfast options:

Breakfast Burritos (mushroom, lean bacon, spinach and cheese)

 Lunch options:

Bean and Cheese Burritos using homemade refried beans, Greek Turkey Wraps

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.

 

I have missed my organized house and kitchen.  We’ve been so busy focusing on our business and working with clients, I’m happy that things have finally settled down and are starting to balance out with the thrift store that I can be back in the kitchen more. I am also going to get back into couponing. Our stockpile is getting low and I need to replenish our shelves. This will be a fun way to see what meals will be on future menus, save money and get some great deals. We already get a lot of our pantry items like flour, oats and sugar in bulk and I like to make my own oat flour (simply grind oats in a food processor). I’m going to try out some new recipes using oat flour including a Oat Flour Chocolate Cake as our dessert for the week. I also added oat flour in the Flaxseed Carrot Apple Muffins I made.

Meal Plan

I meal plan at the beginning of each week. For me, it’s Sunday mornings (yes, even on Mother’s Day) when the house is quiet and everyone’s still sleeping. Even though I meal plan every week, (for many reasons I do-here is how I keep it simple) 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 planning saves our family money, reduces food waste, and keeps us from the urge to say, “Let’s eat out!” If you are in need of more reasons to meal plan every week,check HERE. Cooking and eating together is a great satisfaction that often disappears with the busy schedules of families. Working outside of the home has always been a necessity for most adults these days and enjoying the food we create together is a way of connecting with one another.  Our kids cook dinner once-a-week and do the clean-up after the meal. If you want to learn how to pull that off at your house, check HERE.If you’re looking for more meal planning ideas, check HERE. 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.

 

Meal Plan for easier meal times, healthier eating and spending time with the family.

Another busy week is upon us as we come to the final weeks of a school year. Our daughter qualified for honor roll this year and is attending a fun trip to sunsplash at the end of the week with fellow honor roll students. She is super excited. A great way to start a birthday weekend. She turns 10 next week.  Our son is busy putting together his poster board for his display and report on Poland. His deadline is later in the week. For us, it’s another busy week of shipping off orders for the thrift store and adding new inventory daily. We shipped off  8 orders from this past weekend today.

I want to make sure dinner is on the table and meal planning sure makes it easier for meal times. This week I evaluating our food storage items and rotating stock.  In deciding what to make, I opened the pantry and grabbed a few food storage items that I needed to use up and worked them into our menus. Don’t be surprised if I start sharing how we’re rebuilding our pantry and creating an emergency food storage. It’s something that has been on my mind for a while now.

Meal Plan

I meal plan at the beginning of each week. For me, it’s Sunday mornings (yes, even on Mother’s Day) when the house is quiet and everyone’s still sleeping. Even though I meal plan every week, (for many reasons I do-here is how I keep it simple) 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 planning saves our family money, reduces food waste, and keeps us from the urge to say, “Let’s eat out!” If you are in need of more reasons to meal plan every week,check HERE.

Cooking and eating together is a great satisfaction that often disappears with the busy schedules of families. Working outside of the home has always been a necessity for most adults these days and enjoying the food we create together is a way of connecting with one another.  Our kids cook dinner once-a-week and do the clean-up after the meal. If you want to learn how to pull that off at your house, check HERE.If you’re looking for more meal planning ideas, check HERE.

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.