As I mentioned in a previous post, I prefer to do one big grocery shopping trip a month and small trips each week. I also hit up Sam's once a month to replenish the items I like to purchase there such as bread, meat, veggies, and fresh fruit. During my big grocery shopping trip, I buy all the ingredients I need for all the dinners I plan to cook during that month. How big the list is, depends on what's in the pantry, fridge, and freezer. I like to buy in bulk. Things I always like to have in my freezer are: individual boneless chicken breasts (Sam's), cooked cubed and shredded chicken (Bilo when they have $.99 split chicken breasts) cooked ground turkey (Sam's and Walmart), Salmon (Walmart), Tilapia (Walmart), Shrimp (Harris Teeter's, my grandma gets this for me when it goes on sale in Nashville), pork tenderloin (Sam's), and frozen vegetables (Sam's-mainly broccoli and green beans, but others as well). These are the things I buy in my big shopping trip to Walmart and Sam's. I also buy the things needed to fix each meal and sides to go with them: rice, potatoes, pasta, etc. Sometimes, I stock up on these items on my weekly trips to grocery stores such as Bilo and Publix. So, sometimes I don't need much of these items. I always stock up on cereals, snacks, etc. when they are on sale, so again, if it's in the pantry, I don't have to buy it during this big trip. I call it my big trip because I'm buying everything I need to cook dinner for a month. There is no way I could only go shopping once a month, we go through at least 4 gallons of milk a week, and we must replenish that or my 3 year old will have a breakdown in front of the fridge. All this to say, I like to plan. When I say plan, I don't mean plan a meal for each specific day, I make a menu. I put it on the fridge, and we choose what we want for dinner off of the menu. I know that I have enough stuff to fix what's on the menu, plus a lot more, because like I said, I like to plan. If I start to get low on ground turkey (which means I only have 2 bags of it left, I buy more. I don't like to not have something when I need it.) I am able to do this because we do monthly budgeting. A lot of people I know, do weekly budgeting. Being able to have all of these meats in my freezer, ready for me to prepare, helps me significantly. I don't have to worry about going to the store, or thinking what's for dinner. Well, I do have that thought each night, but at least I know I have food to cook, always. I am thankful for that! I'm going to start posting my monthly menu for our family. I will put the number of meals for that month, but that doesn't mean we will cook them all. We may go out to eat, I hope we go out to eat. I love to eat out! Which is probably why I'm always trying to duplicate something I had at a restaurant. Any who, here is what I plan on cooking for the month of February. I will link to the recipe I'm cooking if it is already on my blog, and if it isn't, I'll post it once I prepare it. Hope this helps you and didn't confuse you. I'm really good at confusing people! There are 28 days in February, so here are my 28 dinner options on our family menu below.
February Menu
*Disclaimer- If I choose to add a recipe that isn't on here this month, I have the right to do so!
Sweet and Sour Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, and Easy Fried Rice
Pecan Crusted Tilapia in Rum Butter Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, and Veggies
Baked Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
Tender Grilled Salmon, Pasta/Rice, and Veggies
Spicy Oven Fried Chicken, Potato Wedges, and Green Beans
Alice Springs Chicken, Potatoes, and Veggies
Marinated Flank Steak, Hot Crash Potatoes, and Broccoli
Crock pot tenderloin with potatoes and carrots
Shrimp and Grits
Jambalaya with chicken and sausage
Chicken Enchiladas with yellow rice
Meatloaf with roasted potatoes and green beans
Crab cakes with veggies and macaroni and cheese
Kung Pao Shrimp and Scallops with fried rice and steamed broccoli
Chili with homemade french bread
PW's Ranch Style Chicken with Potatoes and Veggies
Tacos with Homemade Seasoning
Lasagna with homemade french bread and salad
Dirty Rice and Green Beans
Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Chicken
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup with homemade bread
Hamburgers with potato wedges
4 comments:
Wow. Thanks, Amber. Helpful!
TY for linking up. Your menu looks great. The S & S chicken, shrimp and grits and the baked spaghetti sound really good.
Love it! We do weekly menu-planning and it is a lifesaver. I would love to see your Kung Pao Shrimp & Scallops recipe - we made that the week before last and the recipe I found online was just "eh." :)
You are the ONLY other momma I've met that does once a month grocery shopping! Us too! Except I hate it enough that I don't go back once a week. LOL :)
http://4littlefergusons.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/go-big-go-home/
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