The Great Grocery Experiment

For the past 4 years, ever since Farmer Jack closed up shop (anybody remember those?), I have been a fiercely loyal Kroger shopper. I love our Kroger. I know it in and out. I know the sales cycles and I've pretty much memorized all of the regular prices on items we buy all the time. Plus, I've noticed from the few times that I've shopped at other places that they tend to have the lowest prices on our household staples.

But, in the interest of frugality and in an attempt to offset the ever-rising food prices, I decided to try a little experiment this month.

Usually we buy the majority of our groceries for the month in one trip. This month, however, we split the monthly shopping up between two stores and I went to the store twice.

After the first trip, I was feeling a little frustrated. I didn't plan as well as I should have and didn't get as much as I had wanted. I was more focused on purchasing sales items than on the full plan for the month, which usually ends up costing way more than our normal $300-350 food budget. We spent $102. I wasn't feeling too positive about this whole experience.

On Tuesday, I started planning for the next grocery trip and actually completed my monthly menu planning. I was surprised to realize how much we really did get on that first trip. My list for the second trip wasn't as big as I thought it would be. I ended up spending only $121.

Right now, that puts us at only $223 for the month. Our pantry, fridge and freezer are well-stocked and the monthly freezer cooking has begun. We'll still have to make weekly stops for produce and dairy items, but overall we should have everything we'll need. I should also mention that we'll be out of town at my parents for 5 days, so that does kind of skew the budget a bit.

This experiment that I was ready to write off as a flop has instead resulted in some of the best grocery totals in months. I'm excited to see what happens by the end of November. I may just have to reconsider my one monthly trip plan.

I've realized that sometimes frugality means stepping outside of my comfort zone. While I am not at all willing to compromise on the quality or healthfulness of the foods we eat and serve our kids, I am willing to compromise on my normal routine.

Visit Biblical Womanhood for more Frugal Friday.

Also, if you have never stopped by typeamom.net, I highly recommend a visit. Lisa from Crazy Adventures in Parenting has a series over there entitled "Big Families Budget Challenge." Her first post in the series had some great tips on grocery budgets.

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Tackling The Monthly Grocery Trip

Last Friday we tackled our monthly grocery shopping trip. It takes some prep work to get ready for this, but it sure is nice to know that the majority of our shopping is done for the month. My husband will probably make 3 more quick stops this month for dairy and produce items. But other than that, we are all set.

The first step in the preparation process is to fill out our master menu plan for the month. I never stick to it exactly because new recipes that I just have to try always pop up. So I keep that in mind and try to choose meals with versatile ingredients. After that, I fill in my master grocery list with the correct amounts of things I will need for all of the meals. Then I go through and total up each category based on the sales flyer and the regular shelf prices so that I have a rough estimate of what our total will be.
We always need two carts for the monthly trip, so we go on a day when Eric has time in his schedule. It has turned into a fun family outing, for the most part. (Moods definitely alter the "fun" element on certain occasions.)I always start each trip trying to keep the carts organized to make the unloading easy, but that never lasts long. So the carts end up just randomly stuffed with stuff. And usually, some product ends up with Gracie teeth marks in it. (She's partial to blocks of cheese and banana skins.)
Eric always somehow manages to fit all of the groceries in our car. (Why on earth are mini-van trunks so small?) Once we get home, and after about 12 trips back and forth to the car, I then have to tackle the most dreaded part of this whole process - putting all of that food away.
Fortunately, I have four little helpers who love an organized pantry and overflowing refrigerator as much as I do.

And at the end of the day, I get to enjoy well-stocked shelves, the knowledge that this tackle is over for another month, and this 2 foot long list.
You can find more Homemaker Monday's over at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven.

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Recipes and Links From My Freezer Cooking Post & WFMW

Thanks to everyone who left comments on my freezer cooking post. I received many requests for the recipes that I posted. I had meant to link all of the recipes, but obviously I forgot to do that. So, in an effort to redeem myself, I am posting them all here.

• Chocolate chip muffins
• Sloppy Joes
• Garlic chicken & spinach spaghetti
• Vegetable lasagna
• Pizza pockets
• Tortillas

Salisbury Steak w/Onion & Mushroom Gravy
(* This is not necessarily authentic Salisbury steak. Actually, when I was growing up my mom called it chopped steak.)

• About 1 1/4 pound ground beef
• 1/2 shredded onion
• 1 T. garlic salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1 onion, sliced
  
• 1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
• 3 T. flour
• 2 c. beef stock
• 1 t. Italian seasoning

1. Add the shredded onion, garlic salt and pepper to the ground beef in a large bowl. Incorporate all the ingredients. Shape the beef mixture into hamburger-sized patties. (I usually give mine more of an oval shape for this recipe.) I make 6 - 7 patties.

2. Place the patties in a large saute pan. Flip when browned, about 5-8 minutes. Brown on the other side for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover pan, and continue cooking until meat is fully cooked. Remove patties to a plate.

3. In the pan drippings, cook onions and mushrooms until onions are translucent and mushrooms are browned. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Whisk in beef stock, bring to a boil and cook until desired consistency. Stir in Italian seasoning. Add patties back to the pan just to warm.

Florentine stuffed shells

• 1 box large shell pasta
  
• 32 oz. container Ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 lb. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1/2 t. Italian seasoning
• 1/8 t. nutmeg
• 2 c. marinara/spaghetti sauce, homemade or purchased
  
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook shells according to directions on box. Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. Mix together ricotta, egg, Parmesan, spinach, and seasonings. Stuff each shell with filling, about 3 heaping tablespoons per shell.

3. Pour 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 13"x9" casserole dish. Add the stuffed shells. Top with remaining sauce and shredded mozzarella.

4. Cook, covered with foil, in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes,. Remove the foil during the last 5 minutes of cook time. If cooking from, do not thaw first. Place in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes of cook time.

Blueberry Pancakes

• 2 c. flour
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 3 T. sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 c. buttermilk
• 4 T. melted butter
• 1 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen (If using frozen, do not thaw first.)
  

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar together in a medium bowl. Stir in eggs, buttermilk and butter. Do not over stir the batter, small to medium lumps are fine.

2. Pour about 1/3 c. batter onto a hot, greased skillet or griddle. Add blueberries immediately. Cook until edges are dry and center is bubbly. Flip and cook for one more minute. Repeat as needed.

If there are any other recipes you'd be interested in, please feel free to let me know.

Now, to answer a few questions.

1. When I freeze homemade tortillas, I've found that they reheat best if I roll them up as tightly as possible, wrap individually in tin foil, and store them all in a plastic bag. To reuse them, keep them wrapped in foil, put on a cookie sheet, and warm in a 325 degree oven for about 5 minutes.
2. We do not have a deep freezer. Everything goes on top of our refrigerator.

Doing all this extra work in the beginning of the month makes the rest of my month so much easier. I have yet to undertake a full OAMC program. I like to scatter my freezer cooking over the course of a week. Once I find my groove and get in a cooking mindset, one week of extra work is worth the 3 weeks of less work.

There are still some days when I will cook a meal from scratch for that evening. Our family still likes that option and variety. I just find that having at least 10 meals or so in the freezer reduces my stress, still allows for flexibility, and saves money and hassle on busy days when I do not have the time or desire to cook. And that definitely works for me.

You can find more WFMW posts at Rocks In My Dryer.

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Five Days For The Freezer

Last Wednesday was our monthly trip to the grocery store. As a result, I have spent the past 5 days tackling cooking for my freezer.

The cooking began on Thursday. I made 2 dozen chocolate chip muffins. We ate 9 for breakfast and the rest went in the freezer. Then I had 10 pounds of ground beef to get to.
I made 2 meals worth of meatballs, Salisbury steak with onion and mushroom gravy, 3 packages of browned meat with onions, 2 batches of sloppy joe meat, and 1 meatloaf. The meatloaf we had for dinner.I also made a triple batch of mashed potatoes. We ate one with the meatloaf for dinner, the second batch was frozen on its own in a plastic bag, and the third batch topped one of the batches sloppy joe meat for a "Sloppy Joe Shepherd's Pie" for the freezer.

As a tip, I've found my mashed potatoes freeze and reheat best when I bulk them up with a little sour cream and cream cheese. They also taste delicious this way!
On Friday, I wanted to get some of our produce taken care of before it had a chance to even think about going bad. The first thing I did was cut up all of the veggies I'd be using: 3 zucchinis, 1 green pepper, 1 onion, 1 pound mushrooms, and 1 whole head of garlic.

I made garlic chicken & spinach spaghetti, which we ate that night.
Then I made garlic zucchini & mushroom saute. I packaged that into 3 side-dish sized freezer bags and put them in the freezer.
Then I made a veggie-heavy tomato sauce. I put one bag of just sauce in the freezer.
On Saturday, I used the remaining sauce, and the rest of the spinach, to make Florentine stuffed shells, meat lasagna, and vegetarian lasagna. We ate the vegetarian lasagna on Saturday night and the other two dishes went into the freezer.

Sunday morning began with blueberry pancakes. I made a triple batch and froze all of the leftovers.Then I decided to make lots of pizza pockets for quick lunches from the freezer. This is one of favorite things to have in the freezer. Even though it takes a few hours to make 4 batches, it is well worth it through out the rest of the month.
I ended up with 24 pepperoni and mozzarella pizza pockets. I decided to try something new this month and also made 8 ham & cheese pockets. While those were baking, I made 45 Parmesan chicken fingers. We ate half for dinner on Sunday and the other half went in the freezer.

On Monday I made 2 dozen tortillas. My hope was to have some extra tortillas to freeze for quick quesadilla lunches throughout the month. But, after 4 kids snacking on them, and 2 dinners, they are all gone. Oh well, maybe next time.
To go along with the tortillas I made a chicken & black bean taco filling, which we ate Monday night. I also made some creamy chicken and cheese enchiladas for the freezer. When I pull them out to eat, I will add some enchilada verde sauce over the top before I bake them.Here is the current state of my freezer. I think I'll have to halt the freezer cooking for now until we clear out a bit more room, or until I rearrange everything to see if I can create some more room.


Update: I have linked and written out recipes in this post.

For more Tackle-It Tuesday, head over here.

For more Kitchen Tip Tuesday, head here.

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Using My Master Menu Plan and Grocery List

I am finally done with revising my master menu plan and grocery list. The grocery shopping for the month is also done. Now I get to start all the real work tomorrow with the extra cooking and baking for the freezer. Feasibly, I should be able to take the second half of the month off, if I'm able to stick with my plan.

When I am preparing for the month-long shopping trip, I first go through my menu plan and circle everything we'll eat for the month, including all meals, snacks, and desserts. I decide which things I'll double or triple for the freezer.

I'll save you from having to look at my whole circled and scribbled menu plan. But here is what I've decided on for breakfasts this month, as an example.

• Oatmeal - x3
• Pancakes (F) - x4 (so I'll make 4 batches at once and freeze all that is left)
• Bagels (F) - x3
• Breakfast cookies (F) - x2
• Peach oatmeal muffins (F) - x2
  
• Zucchini bread (F) - x1 (I'll make this soon with some of the zucchini I bought today and just have it on hand in the freezer for later in the month.)
• Cheesy scrambled eggs - x3
• French toast (F) - x4
• Cinnamon rolls (F) - x2
• Crepes - x2
• Chocolate chip muffins (F) - x2
• Banana muffins (F) - x2

Everything that has an (F) next to it can be frozen. For most things, I'll just make that meal for breakfast and then freeze the extra batch or batches. However, I'll make all of the baked goods that use fresh produce over the next few days and just freeze it all. This will allow us to keep a good variety in our meals. It's never fun to get to the end of the month and have pancakes 4 days in a row because that is all we have left in the freezer. We'll also have smoothies with breakfast at least 3 times a week. The kids and I already washed all the strawberries and blueberries we bought today and divided them up into smoothie bags for the freezer. We ended up with 12 bags, although it should have been 14 if we had been able to keep our hands off what we were bagging.

For the dinners I try to mix things up a little bit and instead of making 2 of the exact same meal (1 to eat, 1 to freeze), I try to use variations whenever I can. For example, I'll make two lasagnas - 1 meat, 1 vegetarian, or I'll make chicken and black bean tacos for dinner, make some adjustments to the filling and use that to make chicken enchiladas for the freezer. I plan on making 14 freezer dinners this month and only 8 of those are duplicates or variations of what we'll already be eating.

I also leave enough leeway in my overall plan to allow for different meals or to try new recipes. I try to buy ingredients that are widely-used so that I don't have to be stuck with the plan if I really want to make something else.

Anyhow, after I go through my menu plan, I fill out my grocery list. I double and triple check my lists, as well as what we already have on hand. I'm just too tired of the frustration of running out of ingredients and not having what I need on hand to do it any other way. As it is, I still always forget something. Today it was the carrots. I specifically remember looking at the carrots as I was picking out a cabbage. I was even debating getting two small bags or one big bag. Then I put the cabbage in the cart and kept on walking. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to pick them up at some other time.

The last thing I do is go through the weekly store ad and write down any sales prices and make any needed adjustments. Then I go through my coupons and see if there are any that I can use based on what is already on my list. I rarely will add something to my list just because of a good coupon, but it's been known to happen a time or two. I total up each category (which makes it easier to mentally calculate as I'm going through the store to make sure I'm on target), get a grand total, and then deduct any coupons. The figure I come up with always seems to be a little high because of the unadvertised sales.

Well, that's it for today. I'm saving up one more post on this for tomorrow. Then, I am done with talking about menu planning and grocery shopping until 6 months from now. (Unless someone asks a question, which of course I'll be more than happy to answer, if I can.) I'm getting a little bored with myself and all these posts this week. However, I am excited to start writing some more about our homeschooling plans for this year after we pick up our books on Friday.

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Revamping My Master Grocery List

Here is my updated grocery list. It seems like everything on the list has gone up at lest $.20-$.30 since I made this list out 6 months ago. Because of that, and because of some dietary changes we are implementing, Eric and I have decided to up our grocery budget from $300 to $360. What a blessing it is to be able to do this.

Produce ( ) 5 lb. bag Apples ( ) Grapes ( ) Strawberries ( ) Cantaloupe ($2.99) ( ) Bananas ($.48/lb) ( ) Celery [$1.99] ( ) Carrots ($.86/lb) ( ) Green Peppers ($1.50ea.) ( ) Zucchini ($1.99/lb) ( ) Parsley ($.99/bunch) ( ) Garlic [$.45/bulb] ( ) 3lb. bag Onions ($1.99) ( ) 5 lb. bag Potatoes [$2.99] ( ) Gingerroot ( ) Mushrooms ($1.99) ( ) Lettuce ( ) Cabbage ( ) Blueberries ($3.99) ( ) Peaches ($2.49/lb) ( ) Breads ( ) Wheat Hot dog buns ($1.69) ( ) Wheat Hamburger buns ($1.69) ( ) Whole wheat bread ($1.39) ( ) ( ) ( ) Snacks ( ) Wheat crackers [$1.17] ( ) Saltines ( ) Graham Crackers [$1.30] ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Cereal/Juice ( ) Quick Oats [$2.17] ( ) Apple Juice [$3.99] ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Coffee Aisle ( ) Coffee ($9.99) ( ) Tea ( ) Peanut Butter ($2.89) ( ) Strawberry preserves ($2.39) ( ) Honey ($2.65) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Beans & Grains ( ) Elbow macaroni [$2.39] ( ) Spaghetti noodles ($2.39) ( ) Lasagna noodles ($2.39) ( ) Large shell pasta ($2.39) ( ) Egg noodles ($1.24) ( ) Brown rice [$1.99] ( ) White rice ($1.69) ( ) Black beans ($1.19) ( ) Wheat berries ( ) Lentils ($1.19) ( ) Garbanzo beans ($1.19) ( ) Kidney beans ($1.19) ( ) Pinto beans ($1.19) ( ) White beans ($1.19) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Frozen ( ) Peas ($1.89) ( ) Corn ($1.89) ( ) Broccoli ($1.99) ( ) Spinach ($1.99) ( ) Mixed veggies ($1.99) ( ) Stir-fry veggies ($1.99) ( ) Cauliflower ($1.99) ( ) Ice cream ($3.99) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Storage/Etc. ( ) Gallon freezer bags ($3.69) ( ) Quart freezer bags ($2.19) ( ) Fold sandwich bags ($1.65) ( ) Tin foil ($3.19) ( ) Plastic wrap ( ) ( ) ( ) Special Notes:

Meats ( ) Chicken breasts (2.5 lb. bag - $12.99) ( ) Chicken pieces ( ) Ground Beef ( ) Polish Sausage ( ) Pork Cutlets ( ) Turkey Cutlets ( ) Italian turkey sausage ($4.59) ( ) Breakfast Sausage ($3.99) ( ) Bacon ($3.99) ( ) ( ) Ham or Turkey lunch meat ( ) Pepperoni ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Baking ( ) Maple Syrup ( ) Molasses ( ) White Flour [$1.98] ( ) Whole Wheat Flour ( ) Sugar ($2.36) ( ) Brown Sugar [$1.75] ( ) Powdered Sugar ($1.75) ( ) Corn Meal ($1.29) ( ) Yeast ( ) Vanilla extract ( ) Baking cocoa ($2.49) ( ) Chocolate chips ($1.74) ( ) Baking soda ( ) Baking powder ( ) Powdered milk ($2.69) ( ) Bread crumbs [$1.09] ( ) Olive oil ($6.59) ( ) Canola oil ($2.64) ( ) ( ) Spices ( ) Sea salt ( ) Pepper ( ) Garlic salt ( ) Cumin ($3.29) ( ) Curry ( ) Cinnamon ( ) Chili powder ( ) Italian seasoning ($1.00) ( ) Thyme ( ) Dill ( ) ( ) ( ) Canned/Miscellaneous ( ) Tomato sauce [$.69] ( ) Tomato paste ($.79) ( ) Diced tomatoes [$.61] ( ) Canned fruit [$1.29] ( ) Applesauce ($1.91) ( ) Pudding [$.91] ( ) Jell-O ($.37) ( ) Mayonnaise [$2.39] ( ) Ranch dressing ($1.70) ( ) Ketchup ( ) Mustard [$.81] ( ) Worchestshire sauce ( ) Tamari ( ) Apple cider vinegar ( ) Relish ( ) Tuna [$.71] ( ) Salsa ($1.71) ( ) Tortillas ($2.49) ( ) Taco shells [$1.99] ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) Dairy ( ) Kroger brand 6pk. Yogurt [$1.69] ( ) 32 oz. yogurt ($2.59) ( ) Kefir ( ) Sour cream ($1.62) ( ) Ricotta cheese ($4.79) ( ) Butter ($3.29) ( ) 1 ½ doz. Eggs [$2.09] ( ) Cream cheese [$1.36] ( ) Sharp cheddar cheese [$3.19] ( ) Mozzarella cheese [$3.19] ( ) Parmesan cheese ($2.45) ( ) Whole Milk (1/2 g $1.99) ( ) Cottage cheese ( ) ( ) ( ) Special Occasion Purchases:

The prices on this list are the regular shelf prices. When I make out my monthly list, I write down any sales prices next to the regular price. I also mark down any coupons I have on this list. That way, I can come up with a pretty good estimate of what the total will be.

I still have to finish up my list for tomorrow so I'll finish up my posts on this tomorrow after all my shopping is done. I probably spend a total of three hours a month making out my menu plan, filling in my grocery, and totaling up the prices and coupons. It is definitely a worthwhile investment of my time though, both in the savings and the time it saves me in the long run through out the month.

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Revamping My Master Menu Plan, Part 2

I finally finished adding and deleting things from my master menu plan. I think I should be all set until spring time now without having to make any adjustments. This plan is not all-inclusive though. I do still like to try new recipes every month so I'll add to it on paper as needed. In about 6 months, I'll readjust again. I'll get rid of meals that we no longer eat and add on any new recipes that we have decided are keepers.

I'll put the whole list into a pdf tomorrow, along with my new master grocery list, and replace the links in my sidebar. I'll also go into more detail on how I use both of these things tomorrow. I'm going to be setting up my plan for this month and my grocery list for Wednesday's trip, so this will help me too.

Here is the second half of my plan. You can find the first half here.

SNACKS Graham crackers Wheat crackers Fried wheat berries Homemade cookies: Chocolate chip Molasses Peanut butter Oatmeal raisin Oatmeal crisps Snickerdoodles No-bakes

Oven-roasted garbanzo beans Homemade hot pretzels Breads/muffins Fruit platters (w/dip) Veggie platters (w/dip) Yogurt Homemade corn chips Homemade granola bars Cinnamon bread twists Pumpkin seeds Nuts Dried fruit Trail Mix

DESSERTS Ice cream Pudding Tapioca Rice pudding Brownies Cobblers Cookie bars Strawberry jam bars Lemon bars Gingerbread cake Homemade pudding pops

Cinnamon-sugar tortilla chips Bread pudding Peanut butter-hot fudge cake White cake/cupcakes Pepsi 4-layer dessert German chocolate bars Apple pie Turnovers Frozen chocolate-covered bananas Strawberry shortcakes Apple spice cake 3-layer chocolate/pb bars

DINNERS

Poultry Parmesan chicken (F) Pretzel chicken Chicken fricassee Sesame-seed chicken fingers (F) Chicken-veggie stir fry Chicken chop suey Curry chicken & broccoli casserole (F) Chicken pot pie (F) Monterey chicken Chicken marsala (F) BBQ chicken sandwiches (F) Chicken hash Chicken & dumplings (F) Chicken & gravy (F) Chicken & black bean tacos (F) Chicken enchiladas (F) Crock-pot creamy chicken Crock-pot white chicken chili (F) Chinese chicken salad w/peanut dressing

Chicken tortilla soup (F) Chicken piccata w/ capers (F) Chicken cordon-bleu (F) Chicken Kiev (F) Chicken pasta salad w/grapes Chicken curry crepes (F) Garlic chicken & spinach spaghetti Spinach-artichoke chicken Cap’n Crunch chicken (F) Chicken fried rice Blackened chicken Chicken Francese Orange chicken (F) Turkey cutlets Thanksgiving casseroles (F) Sweet & sour chicken Cider vinegar chicken (F) Chicken wontons/cream cheese puffs Honey chicken (F)

Beef (or ground turkey) Sloppy Joes (F) Sloppy Joe shepherd’s pie (F) Beef pasties (F) Beef & potato pie Taco casserole (F) Swiss steak (F) French dip Taco soup (F) Cheeseburger pie Beef stew (F) Hamburgers/cheeseburgers (F) Salisbury steak (F) Chili mac Chopped steaks BBQ beef & bean cornbread casserole

Spaghetti w/meat sauce (F) BBQ meatballs (F) Swedish meatballs (F) Chili (F) Meatloaf (F) Meatloaf cups (F) BBQ beef biscuit cups Tacos (F) Tortilla pie (F) Beef & rice burritos (F) Taco salad Cheeseburger macaroni Lasagna (F) Empanadas (F) Ground beef & onions w/gravy (F) Shepherd’s pie (F)

Vegetarian Spaghetti w/veggie sauce (F) Cheesy pasta casserole Black bean & rice burritos (F) Spicy lentil stew Nacho platter Fettuccine w/creamy mushroom alfredo sauce Red veggie lasagna (F) White veggie lasagna Ricotta-spinach stuffed shells (F) Cheesy potato soup Quiches (F)

Lentil & potato soup (F) Taco lentils 3-bean chili (F) Mushroom & wild rice chowder Cheesy garbanzo beans Curried garbanzo beans Eggplant Parmesan Baked mostaccoli Pesto w/toasted pine nuts or walnuts Sloppy lentils Curried lentils & broccoli Cheese ravioli (F)

Everything Else Bangers & mash Pork scaloppini Polish sausage (F) Polish sausage Reuben skillet Black bean & ham bone soup (F) Italian sausage & peppers (F) Cheesy potato & ham casserole Baked French toast w/bacon or sausage Breakfast casserole Bratwursts (F) Sausage ravioli (F) Honey-ginger salmon

Ham slices (F) Pizza fondue (F) Dirty rice Ranch ham casserole Red beans & rice (F) Ham & cheese strata 15-bean soup (F) Polish sausage & cabbage soup (F) Tuna casserole (F) Sole gratin Cheddar fondue Shrimp fondue Homemade pizza (F)

Dinner Sides Sunny Paris rice pilaf Brown rice Cheesy rice & broccoli Buttered & seasoned noodles Homemade spaetzle Mashed potatoes (F) Broasted potatoes Rosemary potatoes Oven Parmesan fries (F) Sweet potato fries (F) Cheesy potatoes Pierogi (F) Wheat berry pilaf Couscous Polenta Cheesy grits Spanish rice Macaroni & cheese Potato pancakes (F) Fried onions & mushrooms (F) Zucchini Broccoli Cauliflower Peas Skillet corn (F) Black bean & corn salad Fruit Baked beans (F) Refried beans (F) Pasta salad

Crash hot potatoes Garlic spaghetti Baked acorn squash w/ honey Twice-baked potatoes (F) Roasted veggies Stir-fried veggies (F) Garlic zucchini & mushroom sauté (F) Spaghetti squash Bulgur salad Pea salad Mixed greens tossed salad Creamed spinach Spinach salad Wilted spinach salad w/hot bacon dressing Sauteed cabbage Quinoa pilaf Quinoa & black bean salad Green beans Asparagus Ginger carrots Carrot slaw salad Cinnamon apples Corn on the cob Cornbread stuffing Lazy Pierogi Egg noodles Homemade noodles (F) Maple carrots (F) Fried potatoes Zucchini cakes (F) Corn cakes (F) Onion straws

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Revamping My Master Menu Plan

I have been steadily and consistently (or slowly and begrudgingly, depending on how honest you want me to be) working on revising my master menu plan all this week. You can see the original here. So far I have tackled breakfast, breads, lunches, and lunch sides. I am happy to say that I have officially crossed off the list Spaghetti-O's, boxed Macaroni & cheese, and Ramen. Life has been just fine without them the past few months so they are gone for good!

I have added quite a few things to each category because I was getting tired of how little variety I had in some areas. I've been trying out new things more and more lately, so I wanted to incorporate them into my planning. Also, I realized there have been many things that have gotten added to the regular rotation without my ever updating this list. Obviously this task was way overdue.

Here is how it looks so far. I'm looking forward to finishing it up and revising my grocery list. I feel like this will make my life much easier once everything is more current.

The Miller’s Master Menu Plan
(F) = Can be frozen

Breakfasts
Oatmeal
French toast (F)
Pancakes (F)
Cinnamon Rolls (F)
Sunshine toast
Crepes
Bagels (F)
Baked oatmeal
Bananas foster oatmeal
Mini-blinis
Chocolate chip coffee cake (F)
Sausage, gravy & biscuits
Breakfast cookies (F)
Chocolate chip muffins (F)
Peach oatmeal muffins (F)
Bananas foster crepes
English muffin bread (F)
Banana bread/banana muffins (F)
Zucchini bread/muffins (F)
Cranberry-poppy seed bread
Applesauce bread
Apricot breakfast bars (F)
Sausage (F)
Bacon (F)
Cheesy scrambled eggs
Toast
Breakfast burritos (F)

Breads
Maple-oat bread
Tomato-basil bread
Batter rolls (F)
Whole wheat Breadsticks (F)
Whole wheat bread bowls
Honey-wheat bread (F)
Dill bread
Cheesy bread
Sourdough bread (F)
Italian breadsticks (F)
Corn bread/muffins (F)
Pita bread (F)
Tortillas (F)

Lunches
Tuna pasta salad
Grilled Cheese
Pizza grilled cheese
PB & J or PB & honey
Quesadillas
Taco Roll-Ups
Lunch meat sandwiches
Chicken or veggie wontons
Tuna salad sandwiches
Cream cheese wontons
Egg salad sandwiches
Hummus and pitas
Tuna croquettes (F)
Tuna patty burgers (F)
Leftovers
Cream cheese noodles
Pizza pockets (F)
Cheese & sausage “kabobs”
Veggie wraps
English muffin or pita pizzas
Tabbouleh
Chicken salad
Chicken noodle/rice soup (F)
Baked potato soup
Cabbage & rice soup (F)
Curry carrot soup
Lentil soup (F)
Black bean soup (F)
Minestrone (F) T
una spread & crackers
Mac & cheese

Lunch Sides
Yogurt
Carrot sticks
Chickpea salad
Applesauce
Celery sticks
Fresh fruit
Apple salad
Canned fruit
Carrot & raisin salad
Cheese slices
Mixed green salad
Crackers
Breads
Hard-boiled eggs
Cottage cheese

I decided to split my breakfast category up a bit more than I used to have it to allow for more variation and options. We have been having smoothies about 3 days/week lately and that is a trend I'd like to continue. So that's another reason why I split things up more.

I'm planning on finishing this list tomorrow, hopefully.

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