*Weekly Menu Plan*

*For more on how and why I plan my weekly meals (which saves my family even more money each week), click HERE to read a previous post. Also, at the end of the post, there's a fun little tidbit of info you might find interesting. :)

This week, as usual, I will be planning my menu around items in my stockpile and items I picked up for super cheap last week or will pick up this week at Albertsons.

:BREAKFASTS:


Cereal w/ milk
Oatmeal, toast, OJ
Ham and egg scramble, bagel, apple juice (all I do is cook a scrambled egg until about half way done and throw in small pieces of chopped up lunchmeat. Lol. I prefer it with chopped ham steaks, of course, but this is a fast, easy, and cheap way to use what I have on hand.)
Bisquick mix waffles, egg, bacon, OJ
Breakfast burritos (egg, hashbrowns, sausage, cheese), milk
Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, milk

:Carnation Instant Breakfast Strawberry-Banana Shake:

Ingredients:

1 pouch or 1/3 cup plus 1 tbl. Carnation Instant Breakfast, any flavor (I prefer vanilla)
1 cup milk
1 cup unsweetened strawberries, frozen and unthawed (I still have some frozen strawberries left from when I got them super cheap this summer)
1/2 small banana

Directions:
1.)Blend all ingredients for 1 - 2 minutes and enjoy!

:LUNCHES:

BBQ chicken wraps (you still have a ton of that Kraft bbq sauce we got free this summer, right?), apple slices
Tuna fish sandwiches, chips
Grilled cheese, Progresso soup
Lunchables, carrot sticks w/ ranch
Leftover spaghetti

:SNACKS:
Cheese stick and Goldfish
Fruit snack
Apple slices and peanut butter
Chex Mix (we're still eating this up from when I got it super cheap a few months ago. Lol)
Cream Cheese tortilla wraps (spread a thin layer of cream cheese on tortilla, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar to your liking and enjoy! My kids LOVE these)
Banana

:DINNERS:

Teryaki chicken stir-fry (I had this recipe in a previous post and now I can't find it! :( Bummer.)
Hormel Chili-Master chili mac, crescent rolls
Tuna Helper, peas, cottage cheese (you got this super cheap last week, right?)
Macaroni Grill Dinner kit
Cheese quesadillas, knorr Spanish rice side, refried beans
Special outing to Golden Corral (my hubby is treating the family...YUM)

:Spaghetti:

Here is how I make my spaghetti sauce. Not exactly homemade, but we still love it!

I brown 1lb of hamburger, drain, then I simply add 1 jar spaghetti sauce (I prefer Prego, but I have Ragu currently that I got for dirt cheap) and add a can of diced tomatoes (do NOT drain). I like the kind that already has basil, orego, and garlic, but if it's just plain diced tomatoes (which is what I have currently, because I previously got the Albertson's brand for a good price) then I add a sprinkle of dried basil to the sauce (basil is my FAVORITE herb to add to all kinds of foods). I also add a tsp of minced garlic (I ALWAYS have this on hand in my fridge, just in case). That's it. Cook over medium-low heat until warm. Simple and yummy! I will serve this over my Ronzoni SmartTaste pasta I got for FREE a while back. We also serve cottage cheese and garlic cheese toast. :)

:BBQ Pork Chops:

(can you tell I'm craving a bbq? Lol)

I make these so simply, but they taste SOOO good. My family loves them.

Ingredients
Pork Chops
Bbq sauce
brown sugar
Season Salt
Pepper

All I do is first trim the pork chops of excess fat. Then place the pork chops on a broiler pan, sprinkle season salt and pepper on them, and put them in the oven at about 375 degrees. I let them cook for a few minutes, until they're starting to warm up and look white instead of pink, then I SLATHER bbq sauce on the side that is facing up and sprinkle with brown sugar. Then put them back in. I let them cook for a while, flip them over and again sprinkle with season salt, pepper, and SLATHER in bbq sauce. (You really can't put too much) Again sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook until juices run clear. I can't even give you an approximate amount of time I cook these for in total because I never time it. Sorry! I just keep an eye on them and check them occasionally. They really don't take long to cook at all. The brown sugar adds a yummy sweetness and by using the broiler pan, the juices and extra bbq sauce is allowed to run below the pork chops so that they don't sit in all that fatty juice. Putting the bbq sauce on early helps it to really thicken and adhere to the pork chop. ENJOY! YUM!  I will serve these with garlic mashed potatoes and corn on the cob (that I froze this summer when I got it super cheap)

:DESSERTS:

Popcorn
Marie Callendar's Apple Crisp (I still have a couple left from this summer...lol)
Rice Krispie treats and milk
Pillsbury Simply Cookies (peanut butter) and milk
Banana Splits (with Breyer's ice cream, of course)
Whole Fruit bars (yep, still trying to eat those up from this summer, too! lol)
Banana pudding, chocolate brownie a la mode, carrot cake, coconut cream cream pie....ok, I won't be having ALL of those...I'm just trying to decide which dessert I'll have at Golden Corral...:) Mmmmm....

*To give you an idea of how amazing it is to shop from your own food storage at home and to also save money by planning my meals around what I am getting for free or cheap that current week, here is a list of the only things I actually have to go out and buy at full-price (or whatever sale price they happen to be at) to make all of the meals listed above:

*bread
*milk
*bananas

That's it! The rest I already have in my stockpile or I am purchasing this week at a price I am willing to pay! Neat, huh?