Monday: (If I can get to the store) Crispy Parmesan Crusted Chicken Cutlets with green beans, recipe from another planner, The Six O’Clock Scramble.
reality: Well, I did get to the store, but it was much later than I prefer to shop and there was to be no cooking by the time I got home.  We had a combination of Subway, Sonic, and a local diner.

Tuesday: Hot ham sandwiches with coleslaw
reality: I wasn’t able to get panko bread crumbs or pumpernickel bread at either of the stores I was at yesterday, nor the little one here in town, so both Monday’s and Tuesday’s dinners are out of the question.  Tonight is the chicken cutlets from Monday except plain instead of crusted, and a broccoli rice casserole from the freezer.

Wednesday: Cheddar Cornbread Casserole with Avocado Salad, recipe from The Six O’Clock Scramble.
reality: I made the casserole, and it was decent.  Very similar to a corn dog casserole I’ve made in the past, the recipe for which escapes me at the moment.  It wasn’t great, but we ate it, and sometimes that’s all I can ask.

Thursday: Hot dogs with baked beans
reality: This was as easy as can be – especially since I forgot to heat up the beans.

Friday: Lemon Pepper Pork Chops with broccoli and baked potatoes, recipe from The Six O’Clock Scramble.
reality: We all went our separate ways.  I think I had a burrito from leftovers.

Saturday: Cheese-stuffed smoked sausage with chili
reality: Mom bought Subway sandwiches.

Sunday: Fried rice with carrots
reality: Did it.  Actually, I sort of did it.  I don’t have a big enough pan to do enough fried rice for everyone, so I stir-fried everything but the rice and served them together.  Carrots, snow peas, asparagus, egg, and diced turkey (lunchmeat) went on top of the plain rice.

*Even though I didn’t use a pre-made planner, The Six O’Clock Scramble allows you to easily swap out meals and automatically generates a shopping list for the new selections.  You can add as many or as few meals to the plan as you like, so I made one with just these 3 recipes and only need to add a couple of things of my own for the other, more basic meals.  One of these days I should review and compare the several meal planning services I use…

Visit OrgJunkie for more menu plans.

Monday: Cream Cheese Chicken Pockets, potato chips, fruit
reality: Weeeeell…I overslept from my nap (didn’t get much sleep last night and wasn’t able to go back to bed in the morning thanks to a son who shall remain nameless) and by the time I got the chicken poaching I realized that it would be far after “dinnertime” by the time the meal was done, so I turned to one of my emergency pantry meals: Banquet Homestyle Bakes Cheesy Ham And Hashbrowns

Tuesday: Tacos, corn
reality: This week just went south right from the start. I figured I’d carry over the chicken pockets, since now I had chicken cooked for it.  Went to roll out the crescent roll dough, and it was not cooperating in the least.  Shredding, tearing, sticking, there was no making sense of it.  I was already in a bad mood and I just threw my hands up and walked away from the whole thing.  People ate what they could find.

Wednesday: Sausage and Cheese Muffins, spinach salad, sweet rolls
reality: Sometime Wednesday it dawned on me that no one was going to be home for dinner except me, mom, and E.  Well the heck with that, why cook?  I made some rice, turned some into rice pudding for mom, and ate that for dinner.  Not the best, nutritionally, but filling and better than, say, jelly beans.

Thursday: Layered Supper Salad, baked potatoes
reality: Wow, I’m really batting 1.000 this week.  I got distracted watching The Chew and made Mario’s Asparagus Milanese for dinner.  It was really, really good, even though I overcooked the eggs some.  It’s a keeper.

Friday: Coconut Shrimp Bake, rice, asparagus
reality: I went with Tuesday’s tacos, and then I saw Adam Richman eat a sweet roll the size of a tire so I fixed those too. 

Saturday: Balsamic Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, carrots
reality: With frozen shrimp, frozen pork chops, and frozen hamburger looking at me at 4:00, I decided to forego defrosting and went straight for an emergency meal: Bertolli Chicken Parmagiana and Penne and New York Garlic Knots.  Worked for me.

Sunday: Skillet Stroganoff, noodles
reality: Well duh, it’s Easter.  Note to self: think about the week before planning a menu, shall we?  So I made a ham, some frozen mac & cheese from Tender Filet, biscuits from Schwan’s, and a repeat of Thursday’s Asparagus Milanese because asparagus went well with the rest of the meal and it was just so darned good.

Visit OrgJunkie for more menu plans.

This post contains affiliate links.

Monday: Chicken with Lemon Sauce, rice, cucumber salad
reality: Well….. The chicken was fine. Rice was ok. Cucumbers, eh.  Lemon sauce, ICK!  So basically we had plain chicken and rice with soy sauce.

Tuesday: Tortellini Soup
reality: It pays to read recipes before 4:30. This is a slow-cooker recipe, and not only was it way too late, my new slow-cooker is still in the box.  So I made cheesesteak sandwiches (Schwan’s ingredients) instead.

Wednesday: Dijon Lime Chicken, ?, salad
reality: 

Thursday: (Slow-cooker) Asian Pork & Snow Peas, egg rolls, rice
reality:

Friday: Quiche Cups, smoked sausage, fruit
reality:

Saturday: Spinach Artichoke Farfalle
reality:

Sunday: Cheese Enchiladas, Mexican rice, beans
reality: 

]]> http://abczoohome.com/2012/03/monday-menu-plan-march-26-april-1/feed/ 0 http://abczoohome.com/2012/03/monday-menu-plan-march-19-25/ http://abczoohome.com/2012/03/monday-menu-plan-march-19-25/#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:38:30 +0000 amanda http://abczoohome.com/?p=414 I’ve decided to use my pre-made menus again, mostly because it made yesterday’s shopping much easier to use the given shopping lists.  For this week I decided to combine two plans, one from 5 Dinners 1 Hour and one from The Organized Cook.  Each of these is for 5 days and there are a few freezable meals, so I plan to use 7 this week and freeze 3 for another time.

Update: It pays to actually check the freezer before setting up a menu and shopping rather than assuming what you thought you saw the last time you opened it bears any resemblance to reality.  I barely found enough boneless chicken for 2 of the 5 dishes calling for it.  I also found a HUGE surplus of pork chops and more hamburger than I thought.  Go figure.  Adjustments noted below.

Monday:
Pita Pockets with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce and Mediterranean Potatoes
reality: The potatoes morphed into packaged couscous…sorta kinda from the right area, right? At any rate it was much faster. The pita pockets fell apart and most of the kids wouldn’t go near the cucumber sauce.  It was a nice try though and the meat had a nice flavor.

Tuesday:
Lorax Pasta (This is really cute. You cook the pasta in 3 pots with food coloring to make it pink, orange, and yellow, add broccoli and asparagus for “trees”, and color alfredo sauce blue for a river.)
reality: A comedy of errors. Didn’t have food coloring; decided to just make it without. Didn’t have broccoli; made it with just asparagus but there wasn’t much. Alfredo sauce turned out to be out of date *blush*. Butter and parmesan are tasty, but buttered noodles and a sparse sprinkling of asparagus does not dinner make. Went to fix pork chops; they were still frozen. Our final salvation was a package of Oscar Mayer Carving Board turkey, chopped, mixed with noodles, asparagus, butter, seasonings, and fresh parmesan cheese. 

Wednesday:
Chicken Enchiladas with Tex-Mex Rice (becomes cheese enchiladas)
reality: Mom sent us to the diner for dinner.

Thursday:
Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup with Polenta Cakes (becomes hamburger tortilla soup)
reality: A very simple soup of hamburger and black beans with the polenta. Nummy, if not fancy.

Friday:
Lemon Chicken with Steamed Rice and Asian Cucumber Salad
reality: I don’t remember (it’s now Monday) but I guarantee it wasn’t anything on this menu.

Saturday:
Spinach Artichoke Farfalle with Green Salad and Dinner Rolls
reality: Chris was going to make the Bertolli dinner but Mom disapproved and paid for Subway.

Sunday:
Slow Cooker Asian Chicken and Snow Peas with Steamed Rice and Egg Rolls (becomes Asian pork)
reality: Sometime in the middle of the week it was decided that I was taking 3 of the kids to OKC to the science museum, so we ate up there.  Mom, Chris, and E were on their own here.

I also have 2 quick & easy emergency meals on hand just in case: Bertolli Chicken Parmesan and Penne, and Homestyle Bakes Ham and Cheesy Hashbrowns.

Meal Deal (Breakfast) 3/7-20 (all locations)

• Buy Smokehouse Ranch bacon, 24 oz.
• Get 1 Pan-Kits pancake mix free.
• Get 1 Food Club syrup free.

Meal Deal (Barbacoa) 3/14-20 (Amigos)

• Buy 1 lb. deli barbacoa.
• Get 1 lb. salsa de cilantro free.
• Get 1 pint beans free.
• Get 1 pint rice free.

Buy 1, Get 1 Deals (locations as noted)

• Buy 10 Powerade, 32 oz. @ $.77, get 5 free. (all)
• Buy 1 6pk. Elations, get 1 free. (UN, MSWT)
• Buy 1 lb. deli side, get 1 free. (MSDFW)
• Buy 1 lb. deli guacamole, get 1 bag deli chips (AM)
• Buy 1 Top Care allergy medicine, 24 ct., get 1 free. (AM)
• Buy 1 Top Care children’s allergy liquid, 4 oz., get 1 free. (AM)
• Buy 1 Top Care extra strength pain reliever, 24 ct., get 1 free. (AM)

Coupon Matches (locations as noted)

• Kraft Fresh Take – $2.50 (UN, all MS)
• $1/1 Kraft Fresh Take Cheese & Breadcrumb Mix, exp. 3/31/12 (SS 02/26/12 R)
• $1/1 Kraft Fresh Take Cheese & Breadcrumb Mix printable
• Freschetta pizza – $5.00 (UN, MSWT)
• $1.50/2 Freschetta Pizza, exp. 6/30/12 (SS 03/04/12 R)
• Hershey’s Easter miniatures or Kisses, 18 oz. – $4.47 (UN, all MS)
• $1.50/2 Hershey’s Miniatures Assortment, Hershey’s Kisses, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures or York Peppermint Patties Family Bag, exp. 3/15/12 (SS 01/22/12)
• Betty Crocker Helpers – $1.25 (UN, MSWT)
• $0.75/3 Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, or Chicken Helper Home Cooked Skillet Meals, exp. 3/31/12 (GM 02/05/12)
• $0.75/3 Hamburger Helper Home Cooked Skillet Meals, exp. 5/5/12 (SS 03/11/12 R)
• $0.75/3 Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper printable
• Mt. Olive pickles, 24 oz. – $1.67 (UN, all MS)
• $1/1 Mt. Olive Pickles, Peppers or Relish Product, exp. 4/8/12 (SS 01/22/12 R)
• Pop Tarts, 8 ct. – $2.00 (UN, all MS)
• $1/3 Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts, exp. 4/15/12 (RP 03/04/12)
• Hormel refrigerated entree – $4.99 (UN, all MS)
• $1/1 Hormel Refrigerated Entree, exp. 4/9/12 (SS 02/12/12 R)
• $1/1 Hormel Refrigerated Entree printable
• $1/1 Hormel Refrigerated Entree printable
• Totino’s pizza – $1.00 (MSDFW)
• $1/4 Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza Product, exp. 3/31/12 (GM 01/08/12 R)
• $1/4 Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza, exp. 4/21/12 (SS 01/29/12 R)
• $0.75/3 Totino’s Crisp Crust Party Pizza Product, exp. 5/29/12 (SS 02/26/12 R)
• Splenda sugar blend, 32 oz. – $5.75 (MSDFW)
• $1/1 Splenda Sweetener Product, exp. 3/24/12 (SS 02/26/12 R)
• $1/1 Splenda Essentials No Calorie Sweetener Product printable
• $1/1 Splenda Essentials No Calorie Sweetener Product printable
• $1/1 Splenda Essentials No Calorie Sweetener Product printable
• Toaster Strudel – $2.00 (MSDFW)
• $0.50/2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel, Toaster Scrambles Pastries or Pancakes, exp. 3/31/12 (GM 01/08/12)
• $0.50/2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel, Toaster Scrambles or Pancakes, exp. 4/28/12 (GM 02/05/12)
• $0.40/2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel, Toaster Scrambles Pastries or Pancakes, exp. 6/2/12 (SS 03/11/12 R)
• Smart Ones entrees – $1.97 (MSDFW)
• $3/10 Weight Watchers Smart Ones, exp. 4/30/12 (SS 08/07/11 R)
• $1/4 Weight Watchers Smart Ones Product , exp. 3/31/12 (Weight Watchers, Jan ’12)
• $1/5 Weight Watchers Smart Ones printable
• Brawny paper towels, 6 big rolls – $6.45 (UN, all MS)
• $1/2 Brawny Paper Towels, exp. 6/4/12 (RP 03/04/12)
• All liquid detergent, 28-40 loads – $5.00 (UN, all MS)
• $1/1 All Mighty Pacs or Liquid Laundry Detergent, exp. 4/15/12 (RP 03/04/12 R)
• Fab Toss-ins, 20 ct. – $3.99 (UN, MSWT)
• $1/2 Ajax, Fab, Dynamo, Final Touch or Niagara Product, exp. 5/27/12 (SS 02/26/12)
• Kleenex tissues, 68-174 ct. – $1.57 (UN, all MS)
• $0.30/3 Kleenex Tissue Packs or Boxes, exp. 4/22/12 (SS 03/11/12 R)
• Speed Stick deodorant – $.99 (UN, MSWT, AM)
• $1/1 Speed Stick or Lady Speed Stick Antiperspirant or Deodorant, exp. 3/17/12 (SS 02/26/12 R)
• Afrin nasal spray, 15ml – $4.79 (UN, MSWT)
• $2/1 Afrin Product printable
• Alka-Seltzer original, 12 ct. – $1.99 (UN, MSWT)
• $1/1 Alka-Seltzer Product, exp. 3/31/12 (RP 12/04/11)
• $2/1 Alka-Seltzer Regular or Plus Product, exp. 3/31/12 (SS 01/01/12 #2)
• $1/1 Alka-Seltzer Product, exp. 4/30/12 (SS 01/29/12)
• Beneful Baked Delights – $3.49 (MSDFW)
• $2/1 Purina Beneful Baked Delights, exp. 3/31/12 (SS 02/05/12 R)

Meal Deal (Breakfast) 3/7-20 (all locations)

• Buy Smokehouse Ranch bacon, 24 oz.
• Get 1 Pan-Kits pancake mix free.
• Get 1 Food Club syrup free.

Meal Deal (Carnitas) 3/7-13 (Amigos)

• Buy 1 lb. deli carnitas.
• Get 1 lb. salsa de cilantro free.
• Get 1 pint beans free.
• Get 1 pint rice free.

Buy 1, Get 1 Deals (locations as noted)

• Buy 1 lb. deli smoked sausage, get 1 free. (UN, all MS)
• Buy 1 Mi Patria kitchen gadget, get 1 free, equal or lesser value. (AM)
• Buy 1 smoked turkey leg, get 1 free. (AM)

Coupon Matches (locations as noted)

• Charmin bath tissue, 12 double rolls – $6.96 (UN, MSWT)
• $0.25/1 Charmin Product, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 03/04/12)
• Bounty paper towels, 6 big rolls – $6.96 (UN, MSWT)
• $0.25/1 Bounty Towels or Napkins, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 03/04/12)
• General Mills cereals (Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch shown) – $2.50 (all)
• $1/3 General Mills Cereal, exp. 3/17/12 (GM 02/05/12)
• $1/3 Select General Mills Cereals printable
• $1/2 Select Cheerios Cereals printable
• $1.10/2 General Mills Cheerios Cereal printable
• $1/2 General Mills Cereal printable
• Nature Valley bars – $2.50 (UN, MSWT, AM)
• $0.50/2 Nature Valley Granola Bars, Granola Nut Clusters or Granola Thins, exp. 3/31/12 (GM 02/05/12)
• Fiber One bars – $2.50 (UN, MSWT)
• $0.50/2 Fiber One Chewy Bars, 90 Calorie Chewy Bars or 90 Calorie Brownies, exp. 3/31/12 (GM 02/05/12)
• $0.50/2 Fiber One Chewy Bars, 90 Calorie Chewy Bars or 90 Calorie Brownies, exp. 4/21/12 (SS 02/26/12 R)
• Egg Beaters, 16 oz. – $2.67 (UN, all MS)
• $0.50/1 Egg Beaters Product, exp. 4/1/12 (ALL YOU, Feb ’12)
• Yoplait Greek yogurt – $.87 (UN, MSWT)
• $0.50/2 Yoplait Greek Yogurt, exp. 3/17/12 (SS 01/22/12 R)
• $1.50/5 Yoplait Greek Yogurt, exp. 3/17/12 (SS 01/22/12 R)
• $0.50/2 Yoplait Greek Yogurt, exp. 3/31/12 (GM 02/05/12)
• Tide liquid detergent, 24-32 loads or Stain Release, 18 ct. – $5.96 (UN, all MS)
• $0.50/1 Tide Detergent, Stain Release, or To Go, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 03/04/12)
• $1.50/2 Tide Detergent, Stain Release, or To Go, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 03/04/12)
• Cascade Action Pacs, 60 ct. – $12.96 (UN, MSWT) or $10.96 (MSDFW)
• $0.25/1 Cascade Product, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 03/04/12)
• Clorox wipes, 150 ct. (2 x 75 ct. pkgs.) – $6.96 (UN, all MS)
• $1/2 Clorox Disinfecting Wipes Canisters printable
• Duracell batteries, AA/AAA8, C/D4, 9V2 – $4.96 (UN, all MS)
• $0.50/1 Duracell Coppertop, Ultra Power, Ultra Photo Lithium or Specialty Batteries, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 03/04/12)
• Old Spice deodorant – $2.96 (UN, all MS)
• $0.50/2 Old Spice Product, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 03/04/12)
• Secret Flawless deodorant – $2.96 (UN, all MS)
• $1/1 Secret Product, exp. 3/31/12 (RP 02/12/12)
• Mach 3 disposable razors, 3-4 ct. – $5.96 (UN, all MS)
• $2/1 Gillette Mach3, Sensor3 or Custom Plus3 Disposables, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 03/04/12)
• Fixodent adhesive – $3.96 (UN, all MS)
• $1/1 Fixodent Adhesive, exp. 3/31/12 (RP 02/12/12)
• Prevacid or Prilosec OTC, 14 ct. – $9.96 (UN, all MS)
• $3/1 Prevacid 24Hr Product, exp. 4/14/12 (SS 03/04/12)
• $3/1 Prevacid Product printable
• $2/1 Prilosec OTC Product, exp. 3/31/12 (P&G 03/04/12)
• Zyrtec, 30 ct. – $15.00 (UN, all MS)
• $5/1 Zyrtec Product, exp. 4/8/12 (RP 03/04/12)
• $4/1 Zyrtec Product printable
• Pedigree dry dog food, 30 lbs. – $19.96 (UN, all MS)
• $1/1 Pedigree Dry Dog Food, exp. 4/15/12 (RP 03/04/12)
• $1/1 Pedigree Dog Food printable
• Cheez-it crackers – $2.50 (UN, all MS)
• $1/2 Keebler Crackers or Sunshine Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers, exp. 3/25/12 (RP 01/29/12)
• Kettle chips – $3.00 (MSDFW)
• $1/1 Kettle Brand Chips, exp. 3/11/12 (RP 01/29/12 #2)
• Blue Diamond almonds, 6 oz. – $3.00 (MSDFW)
• $1/1 Blue Diamond Almonds, exp. 4/30/12 (SS 01/29/12)
• Pepsi 12 pks, various types – $3.97 (AM)
• $2/2 Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Mountain Dew, or Sierra Mist, exp. 3/17/12 (Pepsi Moments 02/26/12)

• Buy Rosina meatballs, 32 oz.
• $1/1 Rosina Meatballs, exp. 2/29/12 (ALL YOU, Dec ’11)
• Get Food Club spaghetti, 16 oz. and Pepperidge Farm garlic bread free.

Meal Deal – Fajitas (AM) 2/15-21

• Buy 1 lb. deli chicken fajitas.
• Get 1/2 pint beans, 1/2 pint rice, and 12 ct. corn tortillas free.

B1G1 Deals (locations as noted)

• Buy 1 lb. deli smoked sausage, get 1 free. (UN, all MS)
• Buy 1 Melitta basket filters, get 1 free. (UN, MSWT)
• Buy 1 Top Care foot care product, get 1 free, equal or lesser value. (UN, MSWT, AM)
• Buy 1 pkg. fresh catfish nuggets, get 1 free, equal or lesser value. (UN, MSWT)
• Buy 1 deli salsa, get 1 free, mix or match. (AM)

Monday: Tomato soup & grilled cheese sandwiches
reality: Nobody’s feeling all that great around here this week.  Most people fended for themselves but I did get up and make a few grilled cheese.

Tuesday: Beef enchiladas & guacamole
reality: We had to go to town in the afternoon anyway, so we ate out (Chinese buffet) for Valentine’s Day.

Wednesday: Aloha Chicken Fingers & rice
reality:

Thursday: Stuffed Pork Chops & random vegetable
reality:

Friday: King’s Arms Tavern Peanut Soup & spoon-bread
reality:

Saturday: Mixed fried rice
reality:

Sunday: Spaghetti & meat sauce
reality: 

• About 9 lbs. pork chops – $8.90
• 2 lbs. strawberries – $2.50
• 10 Knorr pasta/rice sides – $1.25 each
• 2 Sara Lee pound cakes (to go with the strawberries, of course) – $4.19 each
• 2 large boxes Toaster Strudel with bonus Totino’s pizza rolls – $6.19 each
• 2 lbs. butter – $3.99 each
• 2 loaves bread – $.88 each
• 12 pk. diet A&W – $4.29
• M&Ms (C’s purchase) – $.79
• package of hinge screws (this store has a mini hardware store in it – odd, I know) – $1.19

Free coupon for A&W
$.50/2 Toaster Strudel
$3 off any meat wyb 10 Knorr sides

Total before: $60.83
Total paid: $53.04, 13% coupon savings
As you can see, some things are really good prices (pork, strawberries, bread) and some are really not (pound cake, Toaster Strudel).  True savings are hard to calculate compared to my regular grocery store.

I also went to Dollar General for a few things:

• Angel Soft 12 double rolls – $6.00
• 2 Little Debbie Valentine cakes – $1.50 each
• toys C spent her allowance on – $4.50
• dog collar – $4.00
• 2 Finish Quantum 25 ct. dishwasher tabs – $4.00 each
• Disney Valentine cards – $1.00
• store brand disinfecting wipes – $1.85

$5/$25 Dollar General coupon
Free coupon for Angel Soft
2x $1/1 Finish Quantum

Total before: $30.33
Total paid: $16.41, 46% coupon savings