Here’s what’s on our menu plan this week:
Breakfasts
Breakfasts are a big deal at our house. Not necessarily because of what we eat, but because this is the one meal we’ve committed to eat together around the table pretty much every single day.
Dinners are often somewhat grab and go or brown bagged — especially on the nights our kids have activities. But breakfast, it’s a given. We eat, we talk, we read together, we pray together, and we linger around the table. It’s been a beautiful addition to our schedule + a great way to start the day!
Choose from:
- Smoothies
- Cereal
- Oatmeal
- Special breakfast for Presentation Day at school: Brown Sugar Biscuit Twists, scrambled eggs, bacon
Lunches & Snacks
Our extra refrigerator is 100% devoted to lunch items. We’re making up a big batch of freezer-friendly PB&J on the weekends and, in addition, there are 4 different bins of items that the kids can choose one from — cheese sticks, snack packs, veggies, fruit, applesauce, chips, cookies, etc.
Each bin has something different so that when they choose one item from each, they have a well-rounded lunch.
Kathrynne helped me set this up and she took the initiative to write a board with details on how to put together the lunches. So far, I have literally done NOTHING for lunch prep other than help set the system up and make sure we had the items on hand for Kathrynne to get everything into baggies in the extra refrigerator.
And then the kids have been entirely in charge of each making their own lunch every night. I haven’t had to remind anyone and no one has yet to forget their lunch. I’m pretty excited at how well this has worked so far — especially because the kids seem to be loving it!
Jesse and I are in charge of our own lunches and I’m going to have items on hand to choose from: fried eggs, toast, chips & salsa, yogurt, refried beans & cheese, salads, fruits, veggies, and/or leftovers.
Dinners
- Smoked Chicken, Broccoli, Rice
- Crockpot Taco Soup, Muffins, Fruit
- Ground Pork/Onions/Potatoes Hash, Salad, Fruit
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole, Fruit
- Crockpot Taquitos, Fruit Salad
- Breakfast for dinner: Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit
- Dinner Out
Freezer Cooking
I’m doing a Freezer Cooking session on Wednesday where I’m combining dinner prep with freezer cooking. This means that I’ll really only have to bake/cook one day this week. I’ll be making Homemade Bread, Crockpot Taquitos, Pancakes, and Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole. Look for more details on how that goes later this week!
Look for my post tomorrow with full details on what all the groceries we bought for this week plus how much we paid for everything!
What’s on YOUR menu plan this week? Share the link to it in the comments or tell us what you’re most excited about cooking!
Related Menu-Planning Posts:
3 Recipes I Made Recently Using What We Had on Hand
Why I’m Back to Menu-Planning, Grocery Shopping, and Freezer Cooking
Why We Stopped Making Family Dinners a Priority
YEARS of Past Menu Plans We’ve Shared Here
6 Ways We’re Keeping Our Grocery Budget Low
Why We More Than Doubled Our Grocery Bill
I’m curious for your lunch prep, you mention fruits, veggies, chips, cookies. Do you cut up fruit and veggies on the weekends and have them separated and ready to go in little baggies or is it already cut up when purchased? I am trying to minimize the amount of time spent on lunches! Thanks
The kids take care of almost ALL of the lunch prep. We rarely buy these pre-cut, but the kids often do put together little baggies for their lunches on the weekends.
You mentioned “Presentation Day at school” and your kiddos making their own lunches the night before. Does this mean you and Jesse are no longer homeschooling? Just curious!
Yes! Our kids are going to a small Classical School here this year! I wrote a little about it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BJK77OzD8CT/?taken-by=themoneysavingmom
Do you think the crockpot taquitos recipe would work with chuck roast? So it would be like shredded beef taquitos?
I think it might! Let us know if you try it!
Wow…that’s so exciting and inspiring that your kiddos are in charge of their own lunches. Sounds like the system you have is really working well! Love the idea of having all lunch items in extra fridge. Thanks for the ideas!
You’re so welcome!
We opted out of our weekly Plated box so I needed to get creative this week. I’m at a stage where I rarely do all day cooking sessions but this past Sunday I opted to. Soups and chili always taste better after sitting a bit!
Here’s a link to my menu. Thanks for the share.
http://www.wonderwomanimnot.com/2016/10/weekly-menu-77.html
Out of curiosity, I know you say you budget $125/week for groceries and then buy personal care products and some other grocery items on Amazon with credit. How much do you think you’d budget for groceries if you were paying for it all out of pocket instead of using swagbucks for a chunk of it?
I’m pretty sure we’d spend the same. 🙂 The Swagbucks $$ gives us a little wiggle room to spend on things that are fun and more splurges, but I wouldn’t buy them (or I’d find another way to get them almost for free) if we didn’t have it.
Recently, we’ve rarely been using our full $125 per week, so it’s been nice to have breathing room in our budget!
We just got over some sickness at home and our this week menu plan (mostly Indian Asian) is super simple.
Now, only if I get one more day off.. Already tired 😐
I’m sorry you had sickness at your house! 🙁