Meal Plans for week of JAN 8

Meal plans are a necessary part of groceries on the cheap.   They keep you grounded.   They satisfy the question. “What’s for dinner”.    They take a few minutes, and make your dinner hour a lot less hectic.   Most families have a list of ten or so meals that they cook on a regular basis.   The family likes them and it makes life easy.   We like to try new recipes every now and then, but basicly we tend to go for Tex mex and italian or the basic Meat, potatoes, veggie we grew up with.   Nothing wrong with the basics of a balanced meal.

• Soup:   Baked potato cheese soup ; rolls 
• Pizza
• Pork roast, mashed potatoes, green beans 
• Spaghetti with meatballs , salad 
• Pork sliders, veggie tray 
• Homemade chicken nuggets, oven fries, veggie tray 
• Breakfast for dinner.  

Notes  :   Having soup any day that you know that it is going to be heticor that people will be coming and going at different times is a good thing.   Soup in a slow cooker can be dished up at will.   Add a piece of freshly made bread and you have a meal.   

Pizza is always a welcome dish here.   Its cheap and everyone likes it.   Cheese was .99 a 8 ounce bag Saturday at Kroger.  (QFC and Fred Meyers here ) .  That’s two dollar a pound.   You can freeze cheese that has been grated.   Add a little tomato and  a pizza crust for .17 and dinner is cheap.   

Pork Roast is from a pork loin purchased for .99 a lb.   It is morphed into sliders later in the week.   That does necessitate me making rolls.  I am on a mission to find a good , easy roll recipe.   Sometimes it takes a while, but once you find the perfect recipe for your family, it makes life so easy, it well worth the experience.   Considering that the cooking of the roast meal is a piece of cake, the rolls aren't a big deal. 

Chicken nuggets take a breading of nuts, parm cheese, and bread crumbs.   Never buy bread crumbs. You are paying tsometimes upwards of two dollars and fifty cents a lb for someone elses dry bread.   Its just stupid to throw your bread heels away and purchase someone elses dry bread.   

Oven fries take a few minutes, but are well worth the time.   I have been known to buy frozen fries, in a pinch, winco is the best price on those.   The large bag isn’t a bargain.   The smaller ones most of the time are the same price per pound.   The fries aren’t perfectly , evenly, sized.  They all cook at the same time.   The ‘tater tots” are all the same size , just a bit thinner than the real thing.  

Breakfast for Dinner is a staple here.  Everyone cooks something, its a family affair.   Even the granddaughter can butter bread.     She has been known to make waffles now too with some supervision.   Eggs were .99 here this week with limits.   Sometimes chopped veggies can do double duty with pizza and Omlettes.    

Balancing some meals that are really easy with a few that take some time is a way to make good meals attainable.   Its like balancing a cheap meal or two with some that are more expensive.  It makes it feel like you aren’t on a disaster budget.   No one likes beans seven days a week.   LOL