February Meal Plan - Week #1

Taking it back to basics for the month of February, another great way to meal plan is to pick themes.  Each day of the week has a dinner theme.

  Last month my only theme was to cook from scratch, this left us with a ton of variety.  We tried easily over 20 new recipes.  This month I am incorporating items from my pantry & freezer in order to purge out our stockpile just a bit ~ and minimize our food budget.

Here is what I plan to feed my family this week, hopefully it will help you gain ideas in your meal planning:

Snack Options:

• oatmeal raisin granola bars Recipe Here (new to us recipe)

• corn chips and homemade salsa

• cheese & crackers

• bananas & apples & frozen blueberries.

• yogurt

• carrot sticks and celery sticks

• quaker rice chips - cheddar (my kids love these, its like their version of doritos) 

• apple crunchers Recipe Here

• pirate's booty

Breakfast Options:

• harvest pumpkin apple bread Recipe Here (new to us recipe)

• cold cereal

• homemade granola Recipe Here

• smoothies

• fruit: applesauce, canned peaches, frozen blueberries. (cleaning out the pantry & freezer) 

• homemade french toast made from Cinnamon Raisin Bread (made this last month and froze a batch)

 

Lunches:

• leftovers

•  progresso soup (cleaning out the pantry) 

• mac n' cheese (pantry)

• sandwiches (pb & honey is a fav) Or cold cuts for the husb (or hot dogs from the freezer)

• cheese & crackers (kids)

• carrot sticks, celery sticks, hummus (homemade) 

• anything else I dig out of the back of the freezer(this should be fun!)

Dinners:

Sunday: Crock Pot Night: Turkey Chili and Cornbread, This chili is always from scratch - ground turkey, kidney beans, blk beans, pinto beans, diced tomatos, diced green chiles, diced onions, and various seasonings. Topped with sour cream, shredded cheese and Cornbread on the side.  Served with Green Salad. (I will double this batch  so I can stick one meal of chili into the freezer for an easy plan ahead freezer meal)

Monday: Salad Night: Shredded Ckn Taco Salads - (ckn in the crock pot with diced tomatoes, green chiles, taco seasoning.) This will be a large batch of chicken enough for 3 more meals - I'll package it up and stick it in the freezer. (for 1 meal a week for the rest of the month) Great for tacos, quesadillas, salads, anything that calls for spicy chicken.)

Tuesday: Casserole Night: Enchilada Casserole The only change I've made to this recipe is I added crushed corn chips to the top towards the end of baking and then I added shredded cheese. It was a big hit last month. Served with carrot sticks and ranch.

Weds: Breakfast Night:  Christmas Eggs One word to sum this one up. Delish. I use 6 eggs instead of 12. Never have leftovers! Fresh Fruit on the side.

Thursday: Pantry Night: This will be a "unplanned" night - GASP! :) I have lots of odds and ends to pull from in my pantry - kids will most likely have leftovers.  The husb enjoys grilled cheese and tomato soup. We will see if this theme night sticks around for next month - but worth a try for this month :) Right? Nice to clean out the cupboards every now and then.    

 Friday: Pizza Night:  Homemade Pizza Dough

Friday night family tradition ~ pizza and a movie night. Homemade pizza is not only easy but can be a great way to use up leftovers.  Meats and Veggies are a wonderful way to top your pizza. Other options: bbq ckn pizza, taco pizza, or just plain ol' cheesy garlic...good stuff.  Green Salad on the side.

 Saturday: Freezer Night: Lasagna - I made two of these last month ahead of time and stuck them in the freezer. Served with fresh green salad and garlic bread.

Bread this week:

Whole Wheat  and Country White

Last month we quit buying bread - I was thinking this would be a difficult transition, but its been nice taking it back to the basics and cooking from scratch. 

and you can't forget.....The Sweet Treats this week:

Healthier Brownies  and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Both are new to us recipes :)