#mealplanning 8/4 thru 8/10

Brand new to Meal Planning?

Start by reading all about Meal Planning (scroll down to "A Day in My Life" on the right-hand side of this page and click Meal Planning: How To Get Started or just click here) in order to familiarize yourself with the steps! There, you will find a link to a detailed example of my own weekly meal planning where I walk you through step-by-step.
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The first thing I do on Saturday mornings is to look back over the week to see if we did indeed eat everything on my meal plan and adjust my inventory, reducing it by what we ate and increasing it by anything I purchased and/or made-ahead. We did eat everything on our meal plan last week so I reduced my inventory accordingly. I also increased my inventory by the items I purchased this week.

Inventory
3 portions ground turkey breast
3 portions ground brisket
1 portions colossal shrimp
3 portions boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 portions sweet Italian sausage
1 portions Beer Brats
1 portion made-ahead shredded chicken thighs
2 portion made-ahead chicken enchiladas Verdes
1 portion made-ahead spicy, shredded pork
1 portion lobster tails
1 portion Mahi Mahi
1 portion Halibut

Next, I shop my pantry, freezer and fridge for ingredients to come up with some meals off our Master Meal List, looking at our family calendar to ensure I wasn't planning on something we had recently eaten. I scan the weekly ad as well as the coupons and Just4U deals from Safeway via the iPhone app to see what was on sale that might complement and/or substitute for what I had come up with and of course, how to stretch ingredients over enough meals to use them up.

Weekly Meal Plan

Brisket burgers with balsamic potatoes

We were having friends over for a BBQ on Saturday and with Just4U offering a $5off your $20 purchase of Rancher's Reserve meat, it was an easy choice to have some brisket freshly ground ($12 worth) to make burgers. Buns were also on sale ($2.99 plus a $1.00off Just4U deal) leaving me only needing to purchase Romaine lettuce (will use later in the week), a tomato (only purchased a small one so we would eat it all), mild cheddar slices at the deli (on purchased the 8 slices we would need) and baby red new potatoes for the side dish (I had all the other ingredients and condiments on hand).

Chicken enchiladas Verdes with chips & queso

With Zoo camp and two play dates this week, I decided to pull out a made-ahead meal from my freezer. I can easily whip up a side of queso with the Velveeta, chilis, and other spices I have on hand. This meal cost me nothing this week.

Grilled chicken salad with roasted corn, zucchini & tomatoes

David grills an entire package of chicken each week (1 portion for us for a meal and the other 2 portions for his & my lunch for the week). With spring mix only $1.99, corn offered 8@$2.00, zucchini only $0.79/lb, and Organic cherry tomatoes 2@$6, and me having all the ingredients for my home-made herb vinaigrette dressing on hand, this meal was an easy and cheap one to add to this week's plan.

Leftovers

Dinner out with Emily - Back-to-School dinner and shopping 

We have a babysitter lined up to stay home with Nolan (thank you, Sabrina!!!) so David & I can take Emily out to dinner (her choice) and then, to do some shopping for school supplies, clothes, and shoes. Our parents both did this with us, it was something we always looked forward to, and we are excited to pass the tradition on. 

Fried Halibut sandwiches with shredded lettuce & carrot slaw

I'm going to quickly fry the Halibut I purchased last week then, finish it off in the oven to make a fish sandwich. I'll top it with a shredded lettuce (using up the Romaine I purchased) and carrot slaw. We will have baked tator tots that I have on hand.

Grilled Lobster tails with roasted potatoes and corn

Since I learned how to split the backs of the tails and pull the meat out over the top of them, having David grill Lobster is one of my favorite things! Too bad it's so expensive and our stores sell out of them so quickly! I'll serve them with the remaining roasted corn and potatoes.

What did I purchase this week?

I spent $192.25 for $276.01 worth of groceries this week. For every $75 spent, I earned a $10 coupon, which I applied to the next transaction. I also had a $10 Safeway gift card given to me by a Oscar Mayer Rep who interviewed me for 15 minutes about hot dogs (I also got free hot dogs!), $5.00 off instantly for the $20.00 I spent on Rancher's Reserve meats, $5.00 off the $15.00 in frozen foods I purchased (ice cream, not pictured above, and hashbrowns), and I had $11.00 in coupons. 

The Just4U deals just keep pouring in for me! Major scores this week include:

Nature's Pride buns/breads - $1.00off no limit

Lucerne 18ct eggs - Buy1Get1Free

Primo Taglio deli mesquite turkey - $3.99/lb

Avacados - 4@$5

Red, seedless grapes - $0.99/lb

Cherries - $1.99/lb

Safeway carrots - $1.00

Fresh pineapple - $2.00, limit 2

Blueberries - Buy1Get1Free

I stocked up on Cascade dishwasher detergent because it was on sale $2.99 (normally $6.99!), limit 2 and I had to purchase foil for our BBQ this weekend but at least I had a $0.55 coupon for it. I also purchased a loaf of French toast bread, half-and-half, and the extra 18ct. of eggs to make french toast. I am experimenting with freezing it to heat up in the toaster for a quick breakfast. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. I'm also hard-boiling eggs to offer Nolan and to eat myself (healthy, quick snack or over a salad for lunch!) to use them up this week.

The majority of what I spent this week consisted of our weekly fresh produce, deli meats, milk, and yogurt for the week.