My cousin Jenny posted on her FB that she would love for someone to post a menu and grocery list because she is in need of fresh ideas. Well, I thought I'd see if I could step up to the plate and help a sista out.
A few things you should know going into this:
1. I have one child who has an egg and peanut allergy so all recipes are nut/egg free.
2. I cook for 3 hungry tween girls and 2-3 adults. Sometimes it's enough, sometimes it's not.
3. I don't cook for the family on Friday night so you'll only see 4 meals here.
4. I'm assuming you have a stocked pantry and will only be adding ingredients to the grocery list that I know I need when making a specific meal.
5. I do at least one crock pot meal a week because that's what works best for my schedule, all crock pot recipes are marked with (CP).
6. Sometimes I make double or triple a recipe and put half in freezer, but I'll note when I am accounting for this in a recipe.
7. All grocery list items will be color coded by meal so you can easily tell what you'll need for each meal. Items used in multiple meals will remain black. Click on the links for recipes.
8. I have the great fortune of working for a family that allows me to spend as much as I see fit on food. Though I make every attempt to spend their money wisely and "shop the sales" I by no means am on a budget and there are no guarantees that my menus are budget friendly.
9. I do my best to vary the types of meals we eat during the week. We only do one pasta dish, and try to hit chicken, beef and either turkey, pork or fish so we aren't constantly eating one type of meat. Also, my girls are NOT picky. For the most part, they eat what I put in front of them, and they love vegetables. We have a rule that we'll try something three separate times before we decide to cross it off the list. Each child has the ability to pick one meal a week but I have the power to veto it if its too similar to something else on the menu or we had it the previous week. I plan menus 2 weeks in advance so I'm not scrambling Monday morning to come up with dinner. I use this weekly planner page to keep track of things and paper clip the menu to the corresponding week in my planner.
10. Feel free to post questions/suggestions in the comments and I'll get back to you.
Here is my menu for next week: September 24-30
Monday: Sausages* and garlic mashed potatoes with green beans
*I get smoked Thuringer sausages from the local meet market
Tuesday: Pulled Pork Sammies (CP) with slaw and fresh peppers
My girls love fresh sliced red peppers and they are perfect for this meal.
Wednesday: Lasagna (CP) bread and broccoli
First, I double the meat and sauce mixture and put half in the freezer. Later, you can pull it out, let it thaw and quickly assemble the rest in minutes. Where the lasagna recipe calls for egg, I use a little olive oil instead. I also sautee onion and garlic with the ground beef and sometimes I'll throw some carrots into a food processor then stir that into the meat as well, never hurts to sneak in a little extra veggies! For soft buttery bread, slice bread, spread with softened butter (and garlic if you like) wrap in foil and place in oven for 10 min at 350. Frozen broccoli lightly steamed with garlic powder is a perfect and quick addition to the meal.
Thursday: Chicken Soup (x2 and freeze 1/2) Cheese biscuits
For chicken soup, I don't use a recipe, I marinate the chicken in some sort of salad dressing over night then place in large pot with stock, a whole onion, carrots and celery, herbs that seem appropriate (basil, parsley, rosemary thyme, etc) and a spoonful of minced garlic then I cook until chicken is done. I "pull" the chicken with two forks and chop onion, then at this point I put half the chicken and veggies in a freezer-proof container with only enough stock to cover. When you pull out of freezer you can add more stock and the noodles at that time. I actually boil the noodles in a separate pot and add to the stock/veggie/chicken pot, along with the zucchini, a few minutes before serving.
Grocery List:
6 Thuringer sausages
4 lb pork shoulder
2 lb ground beef (I use 97/3)
4-5lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
15 oz ricotta
Wheel shaped pasta (this is what my girls like in the chicken soup)
Kaiser rolls
Crusty bread (I use Jewel (Albertsons) french bread)
Cole Slaw or cabbage slaw (I get mine at a local deli, its red cabbage and vinegar based)
Celery
zucchini
bisquick
potatoes
fresh green beans
red peppers
tomato paste
3 onions
2 Jars spaghetti sauce
parmesan
shredded mozerella
lasagna noodles
chicken broth (low sodium)
carrots (I use baby carrots that I put in lunches)
frozen broccoli
cheddar cheese
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