Meal Planning and Freezing Ahead

I am by no means an expert at pre planning meals and doing the whole "cook one day eat for a month" thing. But this month I thought I'd give it a try. Keep in mind when reading and doing your own that you'll have to go off what is on sale, what you have in your pantry beforehand and be prepared to change your plan in the event something is not available or you find a better deal.

I started my morning by looking up all the ads for my local stores. One of the stores I planned to hit doesn't have an ad and you never know what is going to be on sale before you go. But I wrote down a few meals (found some new ones on pinterest I wanted to try) and my grocery list anyway. My budget started at $100. After getting to the end of the list it became $130. Funny how that happens.

I grabbed my master list of groceries & meals, shopping bags, and my bottled water, this may take a while. First I hit Panhandle Salvage. It's a large store in our town that sells food at a discounted price. I'm not sure how it works on their end but I don't really care since I can get some great deals. Today was no different. Bread $.79, 5lb bag of potatoes $.99, Gallon of milk $2, Boneless Tenderloins $2.30, Large bag rigatoni pasta $1.49, 2 lb bag pinto beans $1.49, Large bag tortilla chips $.25, Sausage links $.88, and tomato sauce 3/$1. Along with some other goodies here and there.

Next was Walgreens. Scored 12 ct large eggs $1.50 and Nestle candy bars 2/$1.

On to Dollar Tree for baggies to store everything in and aluminum foil. And last United. I always hit United last because I know what the prices are there. Chicken drumsticks were buy 1 get 1 free, Wheat thins $2, 2 - 5 lb rolls of ground beef $17 each (no these were not on sale), Bar S hotdogs $.88, Hot dog buns and Burger buns $.97, and shredded cheese $2/pkg.

Yes I picked up more than listed and the grand total for groceries for the family for 18 days, dog food for the week, and storage bags comes to..... $135.84!

I was a bit overwhelmed when I got home so I left most of it on the counter when I started cooking. This picture doesn't show my whole list, there is a bunch on the floor and a lot already put away like the breads and cans. Here's my menu for each day along with what I pre-cooked and froze.

Tues Sept 2nd

Dinner - Burritos

I cooked 2 lbs beef, mixed in onion, seasoning, and refried beans. This made 20 burritos. We ate 8 for dinner and I wrapped the rest in aluminum foil and froze them so my husband and I can take 1 or 2 for work this week.

Wed Sept 3rd

Dinner - Chicken Roll Ups

I will cook this tomorrow. Going to throw all the ckn tenderloins in the crock pot before I head out with half a jar of salsa (from pantry). When I get home I'll divide this in half giving me 2 meals, bag and freeze the second half. The first half I'll put with some cresant rolls, shredded cheese, and a can of cream of ckn soup for a quick meal.

Thurs Sept 4th

Dinner - Chili Cheese Dogs

Uber easy and no pre freezing.

Fri Sept 5th

Dinner - Lazy Mans Lasagna

I pre-cooked the sauce & beef and mixed together in bag then froze. I made 2 batches of this. On this night I'll cook 1.5 cups pasta and pour the sauce over the top, add some cheese and garlic toast.

Sat Sept 6th

Breakfast - Breakfast Burritos

Lunch - Turkey Wraps

Dinner - Hawaiian Ckn & Rice

I pre-cut the ckn breasts into cubes and placed in bag with bbq sauce, soy, pineapple juice and brown sugar. On Sat I'll throw it all in the crock pot before I leave. That night all I have to make is the steamed rice and green beans (both from pantry).

Sun Sept 7th

Breakfast - Oatmeal

Lunch - Sandwiches

Dinner - Leftovers from the week

Mon Sept 8th

Dinner - Spaghetti

I pre-cooked 2 batches of sauce and froze them. On Mon I'll just cook the spaghetti pasta and mix with sauce. I saved a little bit of beef to make a few meat balls for Seth since he's the only one who likes them and add garlic bread.

Tues Sept 9th

Dinner - Meatloaf

I pre-mixed 2 batches of meatloaf. 3 lbs ground beef, 4 eggs, bread crumbs, can of tomato sauce, and seasonings in a large bowl then split into 2 bags. All I have to do is pop it out of the bag and onto the pan and cook for 45 min. Paring this with mashed potatoes and carrots.

Wed Sept 10th

Dinner - Enchiladas

I pre-cooked the sauce and beef, filled the tortillas, rolled them up and stacked into a bowl pouring sauce between each layer. Then I saved the left over sauce. On Wed night I'll just place the enchiladas in a pan, pour the sauce over the top and add cheese. Bake for 30 min. Adding Spanish rice and refried beans with this.

Thurs Sept 11th

Dinner - Beans and Cornbread

No prep except morning of.

Fri Sept 12th

Dinner - Sloppy Joes

I pre-cooked the beef and froze. I'll thaw on fri and add sloppy joe mix from can. Add a handful of tortilla chips and the kids are happy.

Sat Sept 13th

Breakfast - Cereal

Lunch - Homemade Pizza

Dinner - Steak, Baked Potato, Green Beans, Rolls

GB and Rolls I already had on hand.

Sun Sept 14th

Breakfast - Fruit

Lunch - Sandwiches

Dinner - Leftovers

Mon Sept 15th

Dinner - Lemon Pepper Ckn

Tomorrow I'll pre-season the ckn drumsticks and freeze. Fixing this with some mac n cheese and zucchini fries.

Tues Sept 16th

Dinner - Spaghetti

Wed Sept 17th

Dinner - Hot Dogs and Chili

Thurs Sept 18th

Dinner - Meatloaf

Fri Sept 19th

Lazy Lasagna

Sat Sept 20th

Breakfast - Cereal

Lunch - Leftovers

Kids and I will be gone from the house through the 23rd so this is as far as I planned :)

I didn't list after school snacks which are usually cookies, fruit, or yogurt. And this doesn't account for things that I'll need to replace along the way like milk, bread, cheese, etc. I hope you find this useful. I am super happy with my day and love that I don't have to worry about this again until I get back from Dallas. If this works I'll let you know. I'm planning on doing the whole month in Oct. This month was a tighter budget than normal so we're doing a lot of beef and chicken. Next month I plan to try some pork and maybe a bit of seafood. We'll see! Thanks for checking out the blog!