The kids have off today for MLK Day, so we’re planning some socially distanced shenanigans (shell collecting at the beach, picnic lunch, and picking up our Dream Dinners order). The past few weeks have been so busy, and this week plans to be jam-packed as well.
My friend Brooke recently hosted a Dream Dinner Virtual Party, and I took advantage of one of the deals- 6 dinners (each dinner serves 2-3 adults) for $99.00. I’ll be posting more info and details in the coming weeks, but for those of you who want to meal plan, but don’t know if it’s for you, Dream Dinners is a great resource.
I did my weekly trip to the store yesterday for bread, milk, salad, and ice cream. The kids have requested chocolate chip cookies, I’ll try to make a batch tomorrow.
I’m trying hard to stick to our budget of $100/week for groceries and prepare dinners that are filling and hearty. It can be a struggle, but I shop sales, discount grocery stores, and use my cashback apps.
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.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for a kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. The kids are nuts about pancakes. The Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.
No school tomorrow, but I think we’ll have a picnic while we’re out and about. The rest of the week it’s 1/2 days for the littlest bit, and full days for the big dude. This afternoon I need to pop over to the store and pick up some lunch goodies. Big kid takes his lunch to school, but little bit has lunch at home after school.
Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.
- Sunday: Veggie Burgers on Salad (that’s what we ended up having, I had planned to do smoothies and caulifries too, but nah…)
- Monday: Pasta, Salad, and Garlic Bread
- Tuesday: Frozen Entrees & Salad
- Wednesday: Protein shakes/smoothies, toast, and fruit
- Thursday: Dream Dinners Meal & Veggies
- Friday: Pizza Night!
- Saturday: Dream Dinners Meal & Veggies
Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.
Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?
It’s the middle of January, and if one of your goals for the new year is to save money, check out the coupons below! I’ve been printing and clipping coupons for years (decades really0, and while the coupon values have dwindled over the past few years, I still manage to find some good ones to share with you a few times a month.
My Favorite, the Cecilia comes in 8 
I’ve written about the San Diego Food Bank’s Neighborhood Distributions before. It’s a great way to stretch your food budget on what is usually the most expensive part of any family grocery trip: Fresh Fruit and Vegetables.
If you are like me, you love to read. With our local library closed for the foreseeable future, I need some outlet to read. I can order books through the library online to pick up, but I don’t know what I want to read until I can read the back of the book or look at it.
