This week, again, we’re focusing on what we’ve got on hand. Last week I went over budget on groceries by about $20- I needed to stock up on some essentials that we had run out of, so I’m hoping we can keep the grocery budget really down this week.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian, but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day:

Breakfast: Coffee with heavy cream for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids.  I also keep sandwich ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and the Little Bit, and The Big Kid has a specially packed lunch of whatever he’s into at the time (which changes frequently).

For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked.

• Monday: Chicken soup- Made from scratch. I made bone broth in the crockpot over the weekend.
• Tuesday: Pizza from scratch. The children have been begging for “big pizza”. I make it on a cookie sheet.
• Wednesday: Pulled pork in the crockpot.
• Thursday: Leftovers
• Friday:  Dinner out- We’re going to see Endgame!!
• Saturday: Cheese enchiladas. We have tons of cheese sticks that the kids don’t seem interested in eating.
• Sunday: Chicken Chicken Schwarma, Rice, and steamed veggies.

Talk Back: What will you be cooking this week?