Hi! Hope you had a great New Years!
We had so much making and eating gluten and dairy free chinese food. (I'll share the recipes later this week, I managed to snap a couple half good photos before everyone dug in) My cousin, Liz, (who's blog Easy Gluten Free Goodies, is a great resource for those trying to eat healthy on an allergy laden diet, on a budget no less.) her husband, and their children who are 3 ½ and 1 ½, came over so it always takes a bit extra to plan. They don't ever want to be a pain because of her and her daughters allergies and sensitivities, but I really wanted something special. The chinese food was just the ticket and everybody adored it.
So I shared yesterday about cutting my grocery budget in half for the month, and luckily for me, on the grocery list so far is only balsamic vinegar, oil and almond milk. (I've decided that Poppa doesn't need to having whole fat cows milk in his cereal and oatmeal. He has short term memory loss, and doesn't remember that he's eaten. Because of this he has a bit of a weight problem.) I'm in the market for a blender, keeping my eye out at thrift stores, because then I can make my own almond milk. And have a heck of a time easier making smoothies for the three of us for breakfast. My immersion blender just isn't cutting it anymore.
We'll be eating oatmeal, toast, cereal and pancakes for breakfast.
Lunch is soup from the freezer (I often have a container of soup in the fridge that we eat over a few days) or leftovers. My leftover chinese food is currently heating up 🙂
Dinner is our main meal, as Cowboy works 8-4, Monday to Friday, we're on a pretty 'normal' schedule.
Monday
Ceasar Salad with leftover fried chicken and garlic croutons (I plan to cut the chicken off the bone and heat it up in a frying pan
Tuesday
More leftover fried chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes (leftover from the freezer)
When I made fried chicken last week, I figured since I was making some, I might as well make lots. I uhhh, made 12 LARGE drumsticks worth. Turns out the drumsticks weren't the best, because they are pretty much turkey size. We raise big chickens! They were still tasty, but won't be using drumsticks again for that.
Wednesday
BBQ Salmon, Quinoa and Cabbage Noodle salad
Thursday
Terriyaki Furikake Salmon Rice bowls. Cowboy goes to yoga on Thursday nights, so I like to make something that isn't time sensitive, so we can eat, and he can heat it up later when he gets home. By the way, yes, my Redneck, Hunter, Fisherman, Cut off sleeve shirt wearing husband goes to yoga. Pretty great eh? He loves it! I never thought I'd see the day where my husband goes to yoga and likes it... (See how I doubled up, I'll make lots of salmon on Wednesday, so that Thursdays' dinner goes super fast. Great tip for busy nights!)
Friday
Falafel two ways (homemade pita) with chutney, dill yogurt dip and shredded carrot apple slaw. I plan to show you how to make venison falafel two ways, so look for this recipe next week!
Saturday
Homemade pizza from the freezer.
Sunday
Family dinner (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents come over for dinner). We'll have soup as it's so easy and frugal to feed a crowd. We started these in the fall and have about 15 people each time, as not everyone can come every time.
So I hope this inspires you to try meal planning, even just a few nights a week to take the stress off. I was saying to Cowboy how I loved meal planning, how it made my afternoons and evenings easier knowing what I was going to make, and how I couldn't live without it. Then he said, (get this, you can tell he's married to me!) "Meal planning is especially important if you're on a budget". Oh honey, you're preaching to the choir.
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