Menu Plan for Week of 1/15/12

I am starting to have enormous fun with my standardized menu plan. I have more time to search for recipes. We are also eating out even less than before.

Since I am more committed than ever to staying in a budget, I am adding in more cost effective meals for the week's that my bill will be too high.

What is a “more cost effective meal?” The chicken roast my friends. At Aldi, you will find them for only $.75/lb. I plan to cook mine and get creative with the cooked chicken. Plus, I need chicken broth. The chicken broth I make will almost pay for the $4 chicken. I will share with you later if I concoct anything that will rock your chicken world.

I suspect my plan will get jumbled this week. My brother and family are coming to visit! They live 20 hours away and I have not seen them for over 2 years. I haven’t figured out what I am making. See? I am not that planned. I may jazz things up a bit for the family gathering.

Here is what our plan looks like this week:

Sunday Lunch: leftovers

Sunday dinner: Cheddar ale soup in soft pretzel bowls (update: we tried this recipe. It is ah-ma-zing. My kids claimed it to be the best soup ever.)

The rest of the week:

• Enchiladas, rice and beans , salad (will use my chicken roast to make this)
• Sausage, potatoes and veggie roast
• Honey baked chicken, black bean & corn salad, cooked carrots
• Cream cheese chicken in slow cooker, broccoli
• Tilapia, mac and cheese , lima beans (I was intending to make Baked Maple Salmon but the menu plan changed at the store when I realized it would throw me over budget. Tilapia is still a wise, quality substitute)
• Hotwing chicken, homemade fries, celery

I also have the ingredients on hand to try:

• Sesame chicken, rice and veggies
• Slow cooker Minestrone soup

Do you see anything on the menu that makes you say, “mmm”?

May you have a blessed week.

I am linking to Menu Plan Monday