Menu Plan - January 2011

Whew!  Are the holidays over yet?  Is it me, or did Christmas come way too fast this year?  I only got half of my Christmas cards out and felt disorganized most of the holiday season.  I did have some success as almost everyone on my to-bake-for-list received homemade Cinnamon Buns though. 

We also ate very well during the holidays.  I was able to whip up healthful meals at a moment's notice as I'm becoming a skilled cook and tend to have a well stocked pantry.  I guess all this practice cooking-from-scratch for the last 2 years is starting to pay off :)

One of my goals for the New Year is to become better organinzed. To start, I spent Sunday planning our meals for the month of January.  Although it took me most of the day, it was worth every minute. 

I began by selecting all the recipes I needed for the month and put them together in one folder.  I even scanned and printed those cookbook recipes I was using so I'd have them ready in the same folder.

When I purchased our groceries for the month, it only took 45 minutes to shop and totalled only $177.00.  Not bad at all!

Below is our January Meal Plan.  I couldn't find any meal plan templates that I liked online, so I created my own in Microsoft Word.  I didn't include many breakfast options as we tend to eat oatmeal in the mornings or plain yogurt with homemade granola.  For lunch, we eat leftovers or sandwhiches.

Slow Cooker Meals
Spicy Vegetable Chili
Vegetable Pork Soup
Sweet & Sour Chicken Wings


Freezer Meals
Lasagna (back of the box recipe)
Tarragon Chicken
Savoury Chicken Pot Pies with Cream Cheese Pastry Dough
Pumpkin Waffles
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Whole Wheat Individual Pizza Dough


Soups
Curried Sweet Potatoe Soup
Pumpkin Barley & Sage Soup
Split Pea Soup with Barley


Chicken
Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

Tuna
Lemon-Dill Tuna Salad

Pork
Pistachio Crusted Pork Chops

Turkey
Turkey-Thyme Meatloaf Patties


Shrimp
Shrimp Curry


Side Dishes
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Steel-Cut Oats “Polenta”


Baking
Anytime Oatmeal Cookies
Fresh Apple Cake
Buttermilk Pudding
Banana Blueberry Muffins

Happily submitted to:

Menu Plan Monday over at the OrgJunkie
Works for Me Wednesday over at We are THAT Family
The Pantry Challenge over at Life As Mom

Enjoy!

from "The Golden Book of Little Verses"

by Miriam Clark Potter

Pictures by Mary Blair

1953, Golden Press Inc.

This was my husband's book when he was a boy.

Menu Plan Monday

Oh I am so nervous because this is my first Menu Plan Monday.  Why am I so stressed out?  Remember I wanted to do this.  It's not like we have to eat exactly what I've listed.. right? 

I am a "mood cook" and love to explore recipes and try new things.  So will having a meal plan still give me the freedom to cook what I want?  Yes, and no.  What my plan will be, is to stick to the plan as much as possible, but give myself the freedom to choose to change-it-up once a week.

MONDAY
Breakfast Pumpkin Waffles from freezer
Lunch Leftover Pizza
Dinner Panko-Breaded Pork Chops, Leftover Apple Coleslaw, Leftover Banged Potatoes

TUESDAY (slow cooker)
Breakfast Oatmeal with Applesauce Granola
Lunch Sandwiches
Dinner Hearty Potatoe Soup

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast Cinnamon Chip Scones
Lunch Leftovers
Dinner Rosemary Baked Chicken with Potatoes

THURSDAY (slow cooker)
Breakfast Pancakes
Lunch Leftovers
Dinner Turkey Pumpkin Chili

FRIDAY
Breakfast Breakfast in a Muffin
Lunch
Dinner Thai Chicken Soup

SATURDAY
Dinner Let's Go Out!

SUNDAY
Dinner Pork Loin with Pears

WEEKLY FREEZER COOKING PLAN
- Lasagna
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Meatloaf
- Pancakes
- Breakfast in a muffin
- Zucchini Bread

WEEKLY BAKING PLAN
- Oatmeal Cookies
- Applesauce Granola
- Cinnamon Chip Scones

Whew!  I did it!