Another reason why I'm loving keeping track of my menus like this: It helps me keep down my shopping list.
Today I started making my shopping list by looking at the weekly sale ads, and then making my menu. I quickly realized this week will be a short week, and I really will only be cooking 3 meals. I don't count Friday or Sunday, because both of those are things that I just keep on hand and whip up in a hurry. Honestly I probably shouldn't count Thursday either by that criteria, since it's just throwing something in a crockpot. Anyway though, that meant I didn't need several things on my list even though they are on sale.
I was happily surprised that I have most of my menu ingredients already, and just need the basic dairy and produce, along with sale items that I will be able to freeze or shelf (chicken thighs, cheese, apple sauce, popcorn etc). Menu saving saves money and wasted food--yippee!
Monday
- Cheesy Jalepeno Stuffed Baked Chicken. These look delicious. I'm very excited about trying these.
- Fiesta Lime Rice. This colorful mixture of rice, corn, tomatoes, black beans, and scallions, cilantro, and lime looks like a great pairing for this chicken, and completely differs from my standard side dish!
- Salad
Tuesday
Wednesday
- Curried Chicken Saute. This is a quickie, and so yummy. I usually add some mushrooms to the peppers, and a dash of cumin, garlic, and salt to the curry powder for depth of flavor.
- Jasmine Rice
- Steamed Carrots
Thursday
- BBQ Ribs in the crockpot. It's really as easy as that. I have spare ribs in the freezer that I'll thaw on Wednesday, then I pour half a bottle of BBQ sauce on the bottom of the crockpot, and the other half on top of the ribs. Put in on low the whole day.....and, voilà! Yumminess. :)
- Mashed Potatoes
- Salad
Friday
- Chicken Salad Sandwiches, on the road as we drive to Nashville. We are going to a wine festival on Saturday with some friends, to celebrate our 4th Anniversary! Our anniversary is actually next weekend, but this is when the festival was, so who's complaining? Not me...especially when I have a couple glasses of wine in me! ;-)
Saturday
- In Nashville, no cooking for me!
Sunday
- Spaghetti. John doesn't really like spaghetti because he doesn't like tomato based sauces, so I mix half alfredo sauce and half spaghetti sauces, along with some pesto and fresh garlic and mushrooms. I also will throw in whatever vegetables I have leftover from the week. It makes it quite tasty, and John doesn't feel like it's overly tomato-y. Win-Win.
