Menu Plan Monday - first edition!

Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday - I started following this blog some time ago in a way to find new “foods” to feed my family. I was tired of my regular routine of recipes and dinners and hoped to find “new” and “exciting” ideas that would help me start to better control our grocery budget.

This is my first time posting my weekly menu – it has been in my plans for a long time but now, as I work to get other areas of my life ‘organized’, I’m taking the plunge!

First, a little about me and where my menu planning comes from! I’ve “menu planned” for years – starting with writing on little slips of scrap paper while wheeling my cart around in the sewing supply warehouse I worked at in the late ‘90’s. I remember writing steaks in mushroom soup, green beans, potatoes. I cooked a lot with mushroom soup because it was cheap and cooking meat in it guaranteed even the toughest cut of meat would be reasonably tender after an hour or so of cooking! I know I used instant mashed potatoes as I didn’t get home until after 6 and I wanted dinner FAST! We also ate plenty of green beans – but I never minded because they are one of my favourite vegetables!

Now, 10+ years later, I have a spreadsheet outlining all the meals I cook (for all three meals of the day) and a detailed meal planning chart. I do two “big shops” a month planned around my paycheques and we do two smaller “in fill” shops on the odd weeks. I am currently working (ok, dreaming) of getting all my recipes organized in one place – I’m big on Googling a recipe, printing it, and trying it… So I have a big stack of recipes (like about a 4” high stack) plus a counter full of recipe books & magazines!

My planning works fairly well, although some weeks I’m hard pressed to get the menu posted on the fridge for my husband on Monday morning! Those are the days my cooking-challenged husband looks at me with “big eyes” and I suggest a few interesting choices off the top of my head.

He smiles and says “we’ve got lots of peanut butter, right?”

Our week's dinners at a glance:
Monday: Homemade chicken nuggets & fries
Tuesday: Spaghetti with meat sauce
Wednesday: Egg wraps with tater tots
Thurday: BBQ Steak with potato salad
Friday: Kraft Dinner & fish sticks
Saturday: BBQ Smokies with veggies & dip
Sunday: Crockpot ham & scalloped potatoes

This Weeks Menu (in detail, including breakfasts & lunches):
Click below to open a PDF file

May 3 to May 9 Menu

This Week's Recipes