Menu Plan Week of 1/1/12

This week’s menu plan is a bit whimsical in nature.  It is a break from the norm of my standard rotation.  Over the past 2 to 3 weeks, I have fallen away from making many of the meals I had planned.  We didn’t succumb to eating out over and over.  Instead, there were a lot of glorious meals made from leftovers and freezer eating.  I had avoided regular grocery trips for a few weeks and that is what happens.  It is a good thing though as it keeps you in budget and cleans out the food piling in the freezer.

This week will be another deviation from the standard rotational plan.  I found several unplanned deals on meat this weekend.  So, I will be incorporating them this week. 

Here is an idea of what our week will look like:

Sunday lunch: ham& cheese sandwiches, leftovers and fruit

Sunday dinner: New Year’s Day celebration with friends.  I am making slow cooker buffalo chicken sandwiches.

The rest of the week:

Slow Cooked Pork Shoulder Roast, a potato side , veggie

Salad and black bean & corn quesadillas

Baked ham, sweet potatoes, veggie

Sesame chicken, rice, veggie

You may be surprised that I am being very non specific with my meals this week.  After all, I preach “plan, plan” .  There are sometimes exceptions to that.  I have a lot of stuff hiding in my pantry and freezer.  Since, I have my main dishes chosen, it will be easy to find side dishes to incorporate.  I know I have plenty of things floating around.   I have beans, rice, potatoes and veggies.  That is all you need to have on hand.

In my opinion, it is ok to have a generalized plan from time to time.  As long as it does not create 5 o’clock stress or another run to the grocery store. I only have planned through Thursday night this week.  I will be doing a normal grocery run on Friday of this week and will plan my weekend meals at that time. 

It’s 2012.   If you haven’t menu planned in the past, get started now.  What’s on your menu?

Linking to Menu Monday