Meal Planning

Kristin did a post on meal planning recently that made me interested in doing it myself!! I started off last night looking at the Kroger ad for this week and writing down everything that was on sale. That way, it might just help me think of meals using the on sale items!! Then after that, I picked out 4 meals that I wanted to make and listed all the ingredients that I didn’t have on hand. I then made a grocery list and placed everything into sections of the grocery store ( like produce, meat, dairy, etc.) so it would be really easy and quick to navigate the store. I also added the staple items that I would need for breakfast, lunches, and snacks! Simple right?? Well the planning was a little more time consuming than normal, but it was definitely easier to navigate the store! I really kinda had fun doing it this way! Haha. Here’s what I got:

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Here is a lot of the miscellaneous items I got. Sugar, eggs, clif bars (they were only $1 each!), butter, yogurt, tea bags, whipped cream cheese, almond extract (I put this in my oatmeal!), milk, frozen mangoes for smoothies, mini ww bagels, Kashi Go Lean Crunch and Mountain Dew and Gatorade for Al.

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Here’s the produce: Honey crisp apples, bananas, tomatoes, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, 2 onions,carrots,  kiwis, peaches, celery, and red potatoes.

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This is the meat and canned goods. I got a pot roast, a rotisserie chicken, salmon filets, black beans, baked beans, jiffy cornbread mix, tomatoes, tomato sauce, alfredo sauce, and pepper.

 

Got a lot right?? Well I spent $115.88 which is less than I normally spend. Usually it’s around $125. I don’t know how some of ya’ll only spend $50 a week. I think I would starve. Please enlighten me on the money saving skills! I already use coupons and buy sale items and store brand.

 

Here are the meals for the week:

1. Pot Roast with Red Potatoes, Carrots, and Onion

2. Chicken Chili with Cornbread

3. Spicy Chicken Alfredo with a side salad

4. Brown Sugar Salmon with Brown Rice and Broccoli (this is the meal Al requested, he loves it!!)

 

I am also making Chicken Salad for just myself tonight with some of the rotisserie chicken and the rest of it will be used in the chili and pasta dish. For lunches, I will be having salads, bagels with cream cheese, and leftovers. And for breakfast, my normal, cereal or oats. So I think everything will get used up! I would love any more tips ya’ll have for meal planning and grocery shopping!!

 

Here are my eats for today so far:

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For Breakfast I had 1 slice of ww toast with butter, a small piece of pumpkin bread (it’s about gone) and a chai tea latte made with skim milk.

 

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For lunch I had leftover chunky tomato soup and 2 mini ww bagels with whipped cream cheese. Loving the whipped cream cheese! Have ya’ll ever tried it??

 

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And for my afternoon snack/ study break, I had 4oz of blueberry oikos yogurt with 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch.

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And some Black Tea for a little pick me up!!

 

I will be back later to post dinner and my week 6 training recap (including today’s run)! Hope ya’ll are having a GREAT Sunday!!

3 comments:

  1. You have some great meals planned!

    Two tips for saving on groceries (we spend about $70/week between the 2 of us):
    1. Not everything listed as 'on sale' in the circular is actually on sale - a lot of them are actually sponsored placement (deceitful big business!). If you keep a few circulars to use as reference, it'll be easier to learn what normal prices are, so that you can make a fair comparison on price. It takes a while, but it's definitely worth learning costs!
    2. Meat is expensive! If you can cut down the meat that you use, it helps a lot. If you do want to use meat frequently (or Al wants it!) you can but it in bulk when it's on sale and freeze it in single portions for when you're ready to use it.

     
  2. I have been doing meal planning too and I love it. I feel so much more organized. I find myself saving money by stocking up on the basics that my recipes call for. I also use the Kroger ads, coupons, and store brands. I also try to make meals stretch. When I'm running really low on food, but don't want to go to the store yet, I'll get REALLY creative with the stuff I can find!

     
  3. I do the meal planning and shopping for my family of four, because my parents are both very busy with work and my brother would rather eat out than go to the store, so I usually have to go to the store once a week and spend around $120!! That sounds like ALOT, but we only like certain brands of foods and we eat alot of organic meat and produce!!