Meal Plan Monday (includes recipe links)

Today begins Hayden's first full week of school and Emerson's first day of school. E has afternoon kindergarten so he goes from 12-3:30pm. Half day school is one of the things I hate about Colorado. Full day kindergarten isn't funded. In NC, 1/2 day wasn't even an option and I had never heard of it in public schools. Oh well, Emerson is bummed but he will just have to wait until first grade to be a full-time student.

One thing that I am going to take advantage of this afternoon is grocery shopping by myself. I know I can go alone in the evening or on the weekend because Clayton is home but it is so much less crowded during the daytime on the weekdays. I already have all my coupons clipped and my list made. FYI-I paid $104.10 for $346.65 worth of groceries last week using the grocery game list to do my shopping. That's a savings of $242.55!! Everything was brand name, no generics.

Now that my kiddos are both back in school, I am ready to get more organized and back into a routine. My first plan of attack today is to create our weekly meal plan. Having a plan makes the week go smoothly since I know what I am making for dinner each night. So here's our menu for this week:

Monday-taco night

Tuesday-beer butt chicken (lol), roasted potatoes, fruit salad, beer bread

-The chicken was good but nothing to brag about. I prefer to roast chicken in the oven without using a beer can as a prop, lol.

-We didn't care for the fruit salad as it was too sweet. It would have been better without adding the pie filling.

-The beer bread was too die for!! Next time I will make it without the Italian seasoning though. The crust turned out super crunchy from the butter. This bread is best right out of the oven because the crust will soften if wrapped up.

Wednesday-spaghetti, French bread with garlic spread

-The spread was amazingly good but it will make you stink, lol. It has a lot of garlic. We tried it cold on sliced bread and we broiled it on top of hot bread. It was excellent both ways.

Thursday-easy and quick swiss steak, rice, sautéed zucchini

-Not good at all. We didn't like it.

Friday-homemade pizza

Saturday-famous pork chops, buttered noodles, green beans

-We didn't make this because we had too much going on but it is an awesome recipe.

Sunday-hamburgers on honey wheat sandwich rolls

-Holy cow, these rolls were the bomb! The texture was amazingly soft and they really were impressive. I don't ever want to buy buns again.