Menu for the Week

I didn't post the menu that I'm working with this week, so here it goes...

Monday - homemade pizza with chicken on it (we make these out of flour tortillas. Of course we make these ourselves from the flour tortilla flour and make thicker, cook first and then top and bake. GREAT!)

Tuesday - London Broil (marinated with a next to nothing, if not free marinade I bought a few weeks ago)

Wednesday - Stir Fry - made with leftover london broil

Thursday - Chicken Fajitas

Friday - Burrito Casserole (the hubs favorite and cooking since he will be home, made from some of that cheap split chicken breast that was on sale at HT)

Saturday - left overs

Sunday - mother in laws house

I love sitting down and making the schedule for the week. I even put together a spreadsheet that I use. I sit down with my sheet each week and plan it all out. Then, I put it on the fridge so I can remember what to take out of the freezer and what I can pre-cook to make things easier. There is a place on the sheet at the bottom for a grocery list (since it's already on the fridge) and a place to put ideas for the next week.

Then, the next week when I make my new menu I use the previous week's menu sheet and add to that grocery list what I need to make for next weeks menu. I fold it so only the shopping list is showing while I'm at the store and there is part of the back of the paper showing so I write down the cost of things as I go along so I can keep track of how much I've spent so I know if I have left over to stock up on other things that are on sale and I have coupons for.

This has worked well for me. I have my three ring binder of coupons that has a zip pocket pencil holder in the front. In the pocket I keep a pen and calculator for keeping up with my running total as I go along and I always need a pen! I normally always have the kids with me so I throw my wallet in the diaper bag and all my pens are in my purse, in the car... not where I need it! Then, I just pull out my list and get to shopping.

I asked my three year old today what her favorite store was and she told me the "dinosaur cookie store!" Harris Teeter has a stand that is a dinosaur that has free cookies for kids, so HT is now called the "dinosaur cookie store".

FYI... if you shop HT you need to sign up for their eVic program with your VIC card. I did this and am now receiving coupons in the mail from them each month. It contains four coupons, one dated for each week in the month, for $5 off $40 purchase. This has really helped me with my grocery goal. I just make sure I give them that coupon first because it's supposed to be $40 after all coupons and VIC savings have been deducted. It's worked so far for over a month. Watch this week not work!