Half Price, Full Pantry

So…things are running a little late around the homestead this week. Things have been crazy busy in general; October through…well, today…have pretty much been a blur of activity. Between the holidays and the wedding, then our cat becoming ill and passing away during surgery…it’s just been all I can do to keep up with daily stuff, you know?

Sadly, menu planning has fallen by the wayside. And it’s never been more apparent to me than recently how very much those few minutes of weekly planning help so much to first of all keep me sane, but also to keep both J and I from going, “Meh, let’s just hit Taco Bell for dinner.” Not only is that not the greatest stuff for us to be eating, but it gets more expensive and affects other areas of life.

J takes lunch to work every day now, it’s been a great habit for him to get into, and it’s easy for me to do in the mornings as long as there is something quick and easy to tuck into his lunch bag for him. Leftovers have been our best friends in that endeavor! And no leftovers usually means me scratching my head at 6:30 in the morning to figure out something great for J to have for lunch that won’t leave him starving before it’s even time to come home.

This Sunday, I took a quick mental toodle through what we’ve got on hand, and came up with a quick, down and dirty menu that will serve us well this week, I think. Some old favorites, and some easy things to keep me grounded and give me a fighting start for next week’s menu plan.

Monday - boneless ribs (in a teriyaki, white wine marinade with some salt, pepper and garlic powder - browned them quickly in the dutch oven with some olive oil, then baked for about 40 minutes. Very yummy!), veggies (happened to be garlic cauliflower - very into the garlic yesterday!), and some Pasta Roni (doesn’t sound all that formal, and it isn’t, but it’s yummy, and man do the folks at “whatever Roni” know what they’re doin’.).

Tuesday - ham and pasta one dish casserole (flying by the seat of my pants on this one; hopefully it will turn out yummy and I’ll remember to write down the recipe to share!)

Wednesday - spaghetti with meat sauce

Thursday - spanish rice casserole

Friday - Soup and hot sandwiches

Saturday - leftover night!

Sunday - TBD; ran out of steam…but hey, I’m ahead of the game for the week, and by Sunday I’ll have a better idea what to have then, and for the next week!

For other great menus, head on over to the Organizing Junkie!

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