In attempt to budget we've got to come up with a weekly meal plan. I'm terrible about going to the store and buying things, then using a little and the rest ruins. Sooo, any meal ideas? I'm trying to buy items that I can use for multiple meals and use as snacks. As in, carrots. Lj and I can snack on them, I can puree them and throw them in spaghetti sauce and I can sautee them for a side at dinner.
Right now we have half a pack of hamburger buns from our sloppy joes last night but now I don't know what to do with them. I want go to the store again until Friday and we had no plans for hamburgers this week. Any thoughts?
Olivia June BFP 12/26/10 EDD 09/01/11 Birthday 08/02/11
BFP 12/25/12 EDD 09/06/13 M/C, 01/02/13
BFP 01/28/13 EDD 10/08/13 STICK BABY!
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12
Re: Meal Planning
Freeze the buns! That is, if you don't want to use them right away. We always freeze our buns. While we're grilling burgers, we defrost them partially (just enough to split them in half) and then throw them on the grill while still mostly frozen. They toast right up!
Another idea we do is that we make ham and cheese melts with BBQ sauce on hamburger buns. Open the buns and lay them out, I do mine on a foil lined baking pan for ease. Put two slices of deli ham on one side of the bun, and a mound of cheese (we like mozzarella) on the other half of the bun. Squirt a little bbq sauce on top of the ham. Put them under the broiler for five mins, then serve. Voila! Quick and easy
What about ranch turkey burgers? They're yummy and easy and you can use a bun if you'd like. Its one package of ground turkey and one ranch packet. Mix and make into turkey patties, grill or cook in a pan.
Should we have a post on Mondays that has everyone's meal plan?
Monday - Pot Roast, potatoes, carrots, celery, mushrooms
Tuesday - Cobb salad
Wednesday - Spaghetti squash with meat sauce
Thursday - Egg scramble with spinach, mushrooms, onion and garlic and bacon
Friday - Bunless burgers -- ground beef, lettuce, tomato, avocado
There's no real rhyme or reason to the things I plan on making this week, but we buy local pasture-raised 1/4 of a cow and 1/2 a pig at a time, so we eat a lot of beef and pork.
Agreed to freezing the buns. Never had a problem thawing and eating bread products.
I love meal planning posts! I feel like we get stuck in a food rut at times, so it helps me to see what other people are cooking
Make a french toast casserole out of them. Use them for sandwiches instead of bread they make good paninis.
I never knew you could freeze bread! That will certainly save a couple dollars a month and keep me from going to the store for one thing and coming out with 20 items.
A post on Mondays would be awesome!
Olivia June BFP 12/26/10 EDD 09/01/11 Birthday 08/02/11
BFP 12/25/12 EDD 09/06/13 M/C, 01/02/13
BFP 01/28/13 EDD 10/08/13 STICK BABY!
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12
Another thing that I freeze a lot is tomato sauce. I never use a whole jar when I make spaghetti or baked ziti, so I freeze the rest until i'm ready to use it again.
I sort of meal plan based on the weekly specials. That helps a lot with our budget.
Here's a few things I like to do...
- Marinate chicken breasts in a Ziploc bag and stick it in the freezer. That way, all I have to do when I take them out is cook them - no prepping or seasoning needed.
- Spaghetti sauce and meat loaf are great ways to use not-so-fresh veggies, too
- Shepherd pie freezes well, too
- I can get a few meals out of a beef stew or a nice roast.