Meal Planning Options
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| Delicious open grilled sandwich in Athens |
I tried meal planning last week by day. It was hit or miss, but did help me maximize food on hand. I did a top off shop after my breakfast out with my MIL. By the way, it was fine. I just went with the flow of her talking in depth about people I didn't know and her experiences 15, 25, or more years ago. She appreciated that I brought her a little something back from my trip. To relate to this post, I noticed breakfast is no longer an affordable option for going out any more so than other meals. I had a breakfast sandwich and hashbrowns, no beverage but water. She had just a simple two eggs, ham, and toast with coffee. With tax and tip, it was $35. It's getting insane and will continue to be so and I doubt things will go back down. Prices never do on groceries. Anyway, here's the meal options for the week, trying to go for healthy and tasty so I dont miss restaurant meals. Most yield leftovers for my son and/or for lunches or his late dinners when he has evening jobs. I like to think about 10 meals so I've flexibility in options.
- Chicken and dumplings, rice, and mixed vegetables
- Turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli
- Spaghetti and meatballs
- Baked beef ravioli
- Grilled cheese and tomato/red pepper soup (Trader Joes)
- Flat bread sausage, onion, spinach, and artichoke pizza
- Tuna hotdish with peas
- BBQ Chicken drumsticks, broccoli pasta side dish, sautéed green beans
- Sliced sausage, rice pilaf with creamy spinach
- Lental and chickpea dal with rice
I should easily get through the week with proteins and fresh vegetables. There's also several cans of chunky soups, a few frozen soups, plus more chicken in the freezer. I might not quite lower my grocery spend by 20%, but 15% is realistically doable. In April, I'll focus on shopping loss leaders, sales, and restocking both pantry and freezer at lowest price points.
That is a beautiful open grilled sandwich you had in in Athens! $35 to eat breakfast out certainly shows breakfast is no longer the cheaper option like you said. Sluggy said, when the pandemic was happening, that prices would not go back down and she's been right on that, I don't see them going back down either. Bailey read this week that grocery stores are still making record profits and I don't see them moving away from that anytime soon, unfortunately for us.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anyone who isn't having eye pops atvtge grocery store.
DeleteGrocery stores are raking it in here too, with outrageous profits. We all know how much it costs to make breakfasts so we know they are gouging us! I would rather pay for an upscale, interesting meal than go out for breakfast nowadays.
ReplyDeleteBreakfast was the time that worked. Io had suggested bringing pastries abd just having coffee at her house but she wanted to go out.
DeleteNowadays, I focus on recreating at home what would cost me a fortune to eat out, with very few exceptions. Your menus sound really good!
ReplyDeleteI've been googling recipes for some vacation meals. Eating out must be a rare treat these days.
DeleteI can't believe I haven't done a menu yet for the week. It's been a total scramble this week, as we don't know if we will have 2 people eating or 4. ;-) Nick heads back tomorrow, so will get a bit more predictable, but I'm traveling Wednesday-Sunday, so M & Sam will be on their own.
ReplyDeleteAnd that sandwich looks incredible! I'm already very excited for the food in Greece!
- Hawaii Planner
Hard to plan when you don't know numbers. I loved the freshness and we were still technically in Greece in the winter.
DeleteI don't do weekly menus (but I do 2-3 days worth of mental menus, looking in the pantry and freezer first!) so kudos to you (all of you) who do! I am watching grocery store prices carefully though; I blog about my quarterly grocery costs and, as we near the end of the 1st quarter, I can already see some hits and misses and winces!
ReplyDeleteI try to have options planned. If not, I get weird ingredients and not the right combinations.
DeleteI love your "weird ingredients" comment. My mind is mulling the possibilities!
DeleteI hear ya on food. I'm doing 1 week of: eat solely from pantry/freezer, and at the end of the week deciding what to buy fresh alternating weeks to add to freezer proteins (I keep a well stocked freezer of salmon/chicken/gr beef). I think I have another 8 packages of frozen veggies from the fall CSA. Spring CSA starts in 8 weeks so nearly perfect timing as each package is generally 3-4 servings.
ReplyDeleteWe shared a meal this afternoon, added 1 side, 1 ice tea, 1 cocktail. $50. A news article on our local station yesterday said that the younger generation is going without cocktails and restaurants are having issues with the bottom line-alcohol is their best margin.
It hurts servers wages too. I rarely have mirecthan a single glass of beer or wine when out with friends. Just too expensive.
Delete$35 for breakfast is mind boggling! Today I made bbq chicken legs, coleslaw, mashed potatoes using potatoes that were on the verge of going soft, and also cornmeal mush for breakfast, which I ate with honey. I also ate my baked beans and hot dogs I had made earlier in the week. I guess this week I have some more bbq chicken legs to eat, and I am going to finish off the mashed potatoes . I will probably make tacos, green beans , more coleslaw, probably greens such as turnip greens and maybe a fried rice dish in there somewhere using up vegetables I had on hand. I didn’t eat the frozen pumpkin chili last week so probably will pull it out of freezer and eat it this week. Cindy in the South
ReplyDeleteMy son ate a lot of chicken drumsticks when I was gone. Freezer finds are a gift.
DeleteIt's interesting to read your menu; tuna hotdish! What can that be? I shall look it up. English breakfast- eggs, sausages, grilled tomatoes, bacon, mushrooms, baked beans and a round of roast, plus 2ccorrees was about £25 for the two of us at a village cafe yesterday in England
ReplyDeleteAh. Tuna and pasta bake. I tend to avoid using condensed soups as they are so salty, I always make a white sauce.
DeleteHotdish is what we in Minnesota call casseroles. I often make my own sauce and not cream of something soup. Ingredients typically on hand all the time. I add much more garlic and onion for flavor.
DeleteI have SO gone off cooking. This time, though , I have also gone off grocery shopping. Not only are prices obscene, but selection is sparse. Recently, I made the obligatory corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, with a Guinness cake for dessert. I whipped up a pot of penne with meat sauce, and the following night made a risotto with chicken breasts that fell out on me while I was searching for the ground beef for the penne. Tonight is oven fried chicken from some $1.69/lb boneless, skinless breasts. I didn’t need them but I couldn’t say no at that price. Boys are NO help with meal suggestions. Since our 6 chickens are laying A LOT there has been a lot of egg salads and poached eggs. I have also made several pound cakes to tuck in the freezer. If it were just me, I would live on hard boiled eggs, salads and grilled chicken with the odd meal out. Dinner was the EVENT my husband worked up to during the day, and now I can hardly bear to sit at the table. I have eaten more than a few meals sitting on the hearth, my plate in my knees while I watched a tv show.,.something absolutely FORBIDDEN to the kids when they were young. (And I still don’t allow them to eat in there unless I am as well because it’s my house , that’s why. Heh.)
ReplyDelete-Meg B.
Tables have become obsolete othervthan to collect crap. Im trying to cook and enjoy meals, but quote frankly if I didn't think of my son or meal prep to send my daughter, I'd eat minimal prep needed food.
DeleteThat looks like a lovely sandwich!
ReplyDeleteYou need a Wetherspons. A small vegetarian breakfast (veggie sausage, egg, baked beans, hash browns and a grilled tomato) costs £2.99 and includes unlimited coffee! xxx
We do, but the closest we have are Perkins, and no longer an inexpensive breakfast. I loved my little open grilled sandwich.
DeleteI am cutting back on purchases as well, including the # of times I order out or eat out. I see this in my lunch spots when I go there: few customers therein these days.
ReplyDeleteEveryone I know are stretched or just reprioritising necessities first abd very little treats like eating out.
DeletePrices have gone up and will stay there because we all need to eat and corporations love to take our money :'( even $35CDN is pushing it in some areas. I use the Flipp app, and go where the prices are lowest. TooGoodToGo is using dynamic pricing now which also stinks! I did my meal prep yesterday - fish, chicken breasts, pasta - cucumbers for lunch veg, mushrooms for dinner. I got the mushrooms off the shelf where they put bruised fruit/veg - each stem had mold, lol but it was worth the price! Your meals sound delicious.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have much for reduced price groceries
DeleteMy best bet is meal prep with whole ingredients.
I do weekly meal plans - some meals easier than others to prepare and then I tweak the days as I go along depending on what's going on and (frankly) how much I can be bothered to cook. Prices, ug, don't get me started. I have cut out certain foods entirely as they are too expensive.
ReplyDeleteI like having a list of options. It might change, but at least a possible game plan. When I hear people treat ground beef as a luxury buy, it just feels wrong.
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