Eat at Home 3!

Hello Everyone! I am so glad that I found this thread! I sometimes feel like the only person on earth who eats almost all my meals at home...so to find this group with so many ideas and meals plans is awesome!!!! We really have no healthy takeout options near us and everyone in my family is trying to eat healthy for one reason or another so I really try to plan our meals and stick to them!

Quick overview of my plan this week:

Breakfasts: combo of oatmeal’s, yogurts and jimmy dean delight microwave egg white sandwiches...DD eats mini bite muffins (only breakfast item I have found she will grab and go on school mornings)

Lunches: I take leftovers everyday, DS eats leftovers between his work/school break, DH has to eat on the road and DD eats school lunches

Monday: Garlic butter chicken, sautéed broccoli with garlic and white rice

Tuesday: Zesty chicken in crockpot over rotini with broccoli

Wednesday: leftovers combo of Monday and Tuesday

Thursday: sautéed chicken breast with homemade Mexican rice, queso and black beans

Friday: Taco pizza

Saturday; having a birthday party for my MIL...ordering chicken nuggets, potato wedges, chicken salad and Pizza Hut pizza (all her favorites)

Sunday: leftovers from Saturday

Good luck everyone with your meal plans this week! I will be following along!
 
Good morning everyone. On top of eating at home this week I am also doing a monthly grocery challenge starting today. I will be allowing myself to spend $20 on groceries a aldi s this week. If I don't spend anything that money will carry over to the following week. I will be doing this until March first and might continue. My freezers are so packed that I can barely fit anything in them or close them. my pantry is also very well stocked. Here's my week! Wish me luck.

Sunday leftovers
Monday low carb taco pie and green beans
Tues baked teriyaki salmon frozen veggies baked or mashed potato
Wednesday chilli and cornbread
Thursday burgers with lettuce pickles etc. homemade Mac salad
Friday leftovers
Saturday crockpot chicken adobo, rice, salad
 
@lisam427 I love this idea of a freezer/pantry challenge but still allowing $20 for that one missing ingredient, etc. I might try it, too. I do not have multiple freezers, but the one at the top of my fridge is very full, as is my pantry and after this morning's big shop, my fridge is too.

When I examine my monthly budget, the only continual piece of waste I see is in grocery shopping. For years! I need to meal plan from what I have on stock before just firing up that grocery list with the usual "staples." I will buy another bag of steamable broccoli only to find I have three of them exactly packed into my freezer.

Thanks for posting your plan. I am done shopping for January, but I think I will give this a go for the four weeks of February and see how much food I have left after that point. Good luck to you!
 
Learning still that flexibility is key, lol. Between two teenagers and hectic work schedules for DH and I, some planned meals get turned into something much quicker.

Last week, the first two nights went as planned:gumbo on Sunday, meatballs and pasta on Monday (made enough to freeze two more servings). Tuesday was supposed to be leftovers, but the meatballs were eaten at lunch by DH and I ended up freezing the gumbo. Made Thursday's sheet pan dinner on Tuesday instead. Wednesday went as planned with soup, cheese and crackers. Thursday we went as planned to the pantry/freezer and had pasta with peas and bacon. Friday was a pantry night again with tomato soup with tortellini and garlic bread. Saturday I went grocery shopping for this week, but turned to the pantry again for dinner because I was tired...so twice baked potatoes with salad (the kids love this meal, and it's quick and easy).

This week: Sunday, frozen meatballs from last week with pasta and salad. Monday, chicken and wild rice soup with toasted baguette. Tuesday, pork tenderloin with potatoes and carrots, salad. Wednesday, instant pot lentils with kale and Italian sausage. Thursday, snack dinner! The kids love this. We have cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, raw veg with a dip (hummus or a veggie dip), and will add another protein-based snack like sliced pepperoni or ham, deviled eggs, or steamed shrimp. Friday, I have chicken breasts to do tacos, stir fry, or a sheet pan dinner dinner, just depending on our schedule and mood. ANY of these meals can be changed at the last minute, and if so, I'll just freeze the extra meat and turn to something easy from the pantry.
 


Saturday: Baked Chicken legs, green beans, baked potatoes
Sunday: In-laws invited us over for dinner - potato soup and shredded beef sandwiches . It was so good and I didn't have to cook!
Monday: DD will eat leftover potato soup from grandpa and I will have zucchini lasagna
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Cilantro lime chicken, brown rice, black beans
Thursday: Meatloaf, cheesy potatoes
Friday: Homemade pizza

I made ham and cheese quiche for my breakfast all week and flourless peanut butter, banana, chocolate chip mini muffins for snacks.
 
Saturday - Vegan lentil stew, home made bread
Sunday-Everyone had leftovers or something easy they made themselves
Monday- Crockpot Chili Mac
Tuesday- Breakfast for dinner (bagels, eggs, bacon for ds, fruit smoothies)
Wednesday- Chickpea and veggie curry over rice
Thursday- Perogies , roasted veggies
We are doing groceries Thursday after dinner so I will make the menu for the rest of the week once I see the flyers and plan
 
Our Daniel Fast marches on. I am going to go ahead and confess now, that we will be having a cheat day for Super Bowl Sunday. :rolleyes1

Wednesday:
Veggie Loaded Spaghetti Marinara
Broccoli

Thursday:
Grilled Chicken
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans

Friday:
White Bean and Kale Soup
Vegan Cornbread

Saturday:
Hopping John
Roasted Okra

Super Bowl Sunday:
Gametime Snacks (haven't decided on what to make yet)

Monday:
"Creamy" Corn Chowder
Leftover Cornbread

Taco Tuesday:
Bean Burritos (no cheese) on Whole Grain Tortillas with Salsa and Guac
Diced Cantaloupe
 


Home from the funeral...and letting kids have the TMobile Tuesday pizza/cheesestick/cinnastick deal with some blueberries I brought home from the funeral trip. Trip went about as well as funeral trips can go...and the kids did enjoy the Whole Foods trip we did (we NEVER go here at home, but it was my mom's favorite grocery, so we went in honor of her...and if we spent almost $99 on foods, well, we did turn them into 3+ meals for 6 people, desserts for 3 nights, AND my morning fake milk and butter for the breakfast buffet, so I also didn't get sick for the 1st trip since my allergy was diagnosed...so I'll take it:). Now, I'm settling down to plan the rest of the week...

Tuesday - Crockpot spiral sliced ham (79 cents/lb today...got smallest one, so we'd only have to eat this a few times:)), dairy-free mashed potatoes, strawberries and mango
Wednesday - Dairy free and dairy-filled mac and cheese bar with leftover ham, bacon bits, and roasted broccoli, more strawberries and bananas
Thursday - Ham and white bean stew (mushrooms, onions, tomato), white rice, clementines
Friday - Spaghetti with Dairy-free bolognese sauce with veg, fruit smoothies
Saturday - OUT (or leftovers - with the questionable weather, we may move this outing to next week and do an Aldi's Chicken Fries, Baked Fries, and Bagged Salad night)
 
Last week the meal plan got all thrown off since BF was sick and basically had soup all week. which left tons of leftovers for me..so some are rolling over from last week

Tonight: slow cooker chicken Caesar salad, Alexa fries, raspberries
Tuesday: Chicken n dumplings
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: Yellow rice and black bean burritos, chips with guac and salsa
Friday: White chicken chili from the freezer and salad
Saturday: We are going to a wedding!
Sunday: Frozen pizza with the rest of the salad from Friday
 
I don't post much in this thread, I mainly lurk, but i'm curious as to what kinds of appetizers everyone is doing for the superbowl on Sunday? (If you are doing anything at all.) We got "volunteered" to host the Superbowl party since the 49ers won (I personally don't like football, but my DH is a big fan). I have a good little list of appetizers going, but i'm maybe looking to do one more thing.

So far I have:
  • Bbq pulled chicken w/ Hawaiian rolls
  • Mini tacos (frozen from Costco and already in my freezer)
  • Egg rolls (frozen from Costco and already in my freezer)
  • Chips and assorted dips
  • Cookies (I have take and bake cookies in my freezer and a tub of cookie dough in my fridge)
  • Celery and carrot sticks w/ ranch
  • Wings (that one of our friends is bringing)
 
I don't post much in this thread, I mainly lurk, but i'm curious as to what kinds of appetizers everyone is doing for the superbowl on Sunday? (If you are doing anything at all.) We got "volunteered" to host the Superbowl party since the 49ers won (I personally don't like football, but my DH is a big fan). I have a good little list of appetizers going, but i'm maybe looking to do one more thing.

So far I have:
  • Bbq pulled chicken w/ Hawaiian rolls
  • Mini tacos (frozen from Costco and already in my freezer)
  • Egg rolls (frozen from Costco and already in my freezer)
  • Chips and assorted dips
  • Cookies (I have take and bake cookies in my freezer and a tub of cookie dough in my fridge)
  • Celery and carrot sticks w/ ranch
  • Wings (that one of our friends is bringing)

You could just do a chili...even a vegan and top 8 allergy free one, so you cover absolutely anyone who shows up (I have a pumpkin sweet potato black bean chili that I do for my fam and for donations when they need the "tasty but clean/safe" meal - it's great b/c the only "fresh" produce is onion and sweet potato - everything else is canned, so it's pop and dump).

The Super Bowl falls on a birthday here, so I honestly don't know what I'm doing yet...but I think we're pushing the birthday celebrating to Monday, so it will be chips, chili, homemade guac, and homebrew here (chili will be meat-filled, but dairy will only be in the toppings:))...
 
I'd like to jump in, if you all don't mind. I've lurked on the Disboards for a while now, and am hoping that posting my menu plan encourages me to not only stick to it that week, but to hold myself accountable and motivate me to keep menu planning. That last part is the biggie :).

A little about us, I work full time out of the home, with about an hour commute each way. My significant other is a truck driver. He's home every night, but never at the same time. We have two little girls, 3 and 18 months. The 3 year old eats just enough (of the 6 foods she likes🙄) to survive and not a bite more, and the 18 month old hasn't stopped eating since she was born. Need to eat out less so we can build our savings and pay things off.

I also do our menu planning a bit differently. I write out 7 dinners for the week (Monday through Sunday), and then the night before we'll decide on the next nights dinner based on our schedules and/or what we're in the mood for at that time.

So, the plan for this week - 1/27 - 2/2 is:
1. Macaroni and cheese/leftovers. I worked late Monday night, so this was easiest here.
2. (crock pot) Smothered pork chops with mashed potatoes. Ended up having this Tuesday.
3. Nacho bar at home
4. Roast, rice, and broccoli. This will be Saturday's dinner, since I'll be home to cook it.
5. Pasta and garlic bread. Having this tonight.
6. (Crock pot) chicken thighs, rice, carrots
7. Superbowl party at my sisters.

My hope is to become consistent with planning our dinners. Once I can accomplish this, I can then work on planning lunches, snacks, healthier options, etc. One step at a time!
 
I'd like to jump in, if you all don't mind. I've lurked on the Disboards for a while now, and am hoping that posting my menu plan encourages me to not only stick to it that week, but to hold myself accountable and motivate me to keep menu planning. That last part is the biggie :).

A little about us, I work full time out of the home, with about an hour commute each way. My significant other is a truck driver. He's home every night, but never at the same time. We have two little girls, 3 and 18 months. The 3 year old eats just enough (of the 6 foods she likes🙄) to survive and not a bite more, and the 18 month old hasn't stopped eating since she was born. Need to eat out less so we can build our savings and pay things off.

I also do our menu planning a bit differently. I write out 7 dinners for the week (Monday through Sunday), and then the night before we'll decide on the next nights dinner based on our schedules and/or what we're in the mood for at that time.

So, the plan for this week - 1/27 - 2/2 is:
1. Macaroni and cheese/leftovers. I worked late Monday night, so this was easiest here.
2. (crock pot) Smothered pork chops with mashed potatoes. Ended up having this Tuesday.
3. Nacho bar at home
4. Roast, rice, and broccoli. This will be Saturday's dinner, since I'll be home to cook it.
5. Pasta and garlic bread. Having this tonight.
6. (Crock pot) chicken thighs, rice, carrots
7. Superbowl party at my sisters.

My hope is to become consistent with planning our dinners. Once I can accomplish this, I can then work on planning lunches, snacks, healthier options, etc. One step at a time!

Welcome to the thread! I think you'll find, like a lot of us, that putting your plans down does make you more accountable and likely to follow them. I also do my planning for the week and then decide during the week what to make now. I used to work different shifts so I'd plan differently but now that I'm home to cook most nights but DS works some nights, I alter things based on that, or what DH and I feel like having. Looking forward to seeing your plans!
 
I totally forgot tomorrow is the SuperBowl. LOL. I don't really care. BF wants 'party food'-jalapeno popper dip, chips and dip, boneless wings, mini tacos. Leftovers for that on Monday.
Tuesday: Meatballs (I will have mine as is, BF will do a sub), oven fries
Wednesday: Chicken seasoned with greek seasoning, greek salad, hummus and pita.
Thursday: I work late, I'll have leftovers there, BF will have leftovers here
Friday: Cheese gnocchi and salad
Saturday: Feta and red pepper turkey burgers, broccoli
 
So... today is one month of being on this diet. 1800 calories a day to lose 1lb a week, lots more fruits and veggies, and even decreasing the amount of meat I eat on a weekly basis. I have only gone over day day all month. Which I am super proud of because my stress and anxiety levels have been THROUGH the roof due to work and an ailing grandmother.

Breakfast: My normal oatmeal with assorted toppings. I LOVE almond butter, blueberries, and banana.
Lunch: Assorted frozen meals from the store (all under 500 calories and all the expensive "real" food ones) plus roasted broccoli and brussels (I am too dang tired to meal prep this weekend and need to rest)
Dinner:
Saturday/Monday-Wednesday: Black bean, corn, and spinach enchiladas topped with light sour cream and guac
Sunday: Chicken wings with mustard BBQ sauce, "skinny" spinach dip, and "fried" pickles
Thursday-Friday: Veggie fried brown rice with a runny egg on top
 
So... today is one month of being on this diet. 1800 calories a day to lose 1lb a week, lots more fruits and veggies, and even decreasing the amount of meat I eat on a weekly basis. I have only gone over day day all month. Which I am super proud of because my stress and anxiety levels have been THROUGH the roof due to work and an ailing grandmother.

Breakfast: My normal oatmeal with assorted toppings. I LOVE almond butter, blueberries, and banana.
Lunch: Assorted frozen meals from the store (all under 500 calories and all the expensive "real" food ones) plus roasted broccoli and brussels (I am too dang tired to meal prep this weekend and need to rest)
Dinner:
Saturday/Monday-Wednesday: Black bean, corn, and spinach enchiladas topped with light sour cream and guac
Sunday: Chicken wings with mustard BBQ sauce, "skinny" spinach dip, and "fried" pickles
Thursday-Friday: Veggie fried brown rice with a runny egg on top


Rooting for you!! :)

Delete if not allowed, but I LOVE skinnytaste.com for recipe ideas. She doesn't use any kind of 'weird' or 'fake' ingredients and she always post calories, if something is KETO, WW points, carbs, etc.
 
I’m back to planning by the week because the month thing doesn’t ever work out 😁

Sunday - chicken pot pie
Monday - brats stir fry with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and peas
Tuesday - mex rice with roasted vegs
Wednesday - they’ve requested a second pot pie
Thursday - Kung pao chicken and carrots
Friday - we are headed to Nashville for a meet. We are eating Thai for lunch and pub subs for dinner. Saturday - the meet is during lunch so we will probably pub sub it again on the way home for dinner. We don’t have a Publix and love their subs.
 
Did pretty good last week staying on our plan: Sunday, homemade frozen meatballs as planned. Monday, black bean and sweet potato chili (forgot to plan for this the week before but meant to...the potatoes really needed to be used). Tuesday, had Monday's chicken and wild rice soup, lol. Froze the planned pork tenderloin for another day. Wednesday, instant pot lentils with kale and italian sausage as planned. This was not that good. It was a cook's illustrated recipe, which really disappointed me. The kids ate it with rice, but they'll eat anything with rice, so it worked. Thursday, we ended up ordering Chinese with coupons due to unexpected extended family things taking up a lot of my day. Friday, used the chicken as planned...made gnocchi with a pesto cream sauce and the chicken. Saturday, snack dinner that had been planned for a weeknight. All fruit eaten during the week and most veg (except some greens, which I'll use this week). It's really nice to not have to throw out a ton of food every week!

This week: Sunday, Italian sausage (locally made and wonderful) with pasta and salad. Will make a green gumbo to eat during week. Monday, gumbo. Tuesday, chicken wraps with Mexican rice and black beans. Wednesday, butternut squash soup and gumbo (we'll have both, as sometimes the kids like the squash soup, sometimes they don't). Thursday, Something from the freezer or pantry with a salad. Friday, youngest DH will be at a party, so I might do salmon as a treat for oldest DH (youngest haaaaates salmon) with roasted potatoes and veg.
 
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So, went shopping at HMart and Safeway today...and I learned a valuable lesson. Don't buy something sight unseen. If you spent $50 at HMart, you could get a box of nappa cabbage for $1. And I thought - 10lbs of cabbage for $1. Score, I'll take one. So, I asked for and paid for it at the register and then got my paid sticker to go grab the box...and I couldn't lift it off the top of the pile. The darn thing is at least 50lbs and stuffed to the brim. And it's right from the farm, dirt and all. So, I told my husband that I'm gonna use my idea of 10lbs...and then he can screw around with making some kimchi, which he's always been dying to do...and then I might give some to my neighbors. And by next Sunday, I will declare the rest as compost and let the earth re-swallow it for my garden:)...but now, I have way more cabbage in my plans:)...here's the plan...

Sun (birthday kid picked) - BBQ Pork Nachos with Cheese (except me), Sour Cream (except me), Lettuce, Homemade Guac, and Salsa, Fresh Bread with Olove Oil Dips, Sliced Watermelon
Mon - Crockpot Jalfrezi Cabbage and Veg (Carrots, Enoki Mushroom, Bell Peppers, Onions) served with Rotisserie Chicken, more Fresh Bread, and the rest of the Watermelon
Tues - Homemade Meatloaf, Homemade Coleslaw, Mashed Potatoes, Diced Mango
Wed (Lunch out for birthday, so light dinner) - Beef Tacos (with rest of all of Sunday's toppings), Clementines
Thurs - Spaghetti and Meatballs, Roasted Balsamic Cabbage
Fri - Leftovers or Homemade Pizza (with Onion, Mushroom, Peppers, and Pepperoni...and using the last of my Vegan Mozz for me)
Sat - OUT
 

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