Meal Plan Monday - Week of April 14th

So my goal in April was to eat up as much stuff as we could so that in May when we came back from the beach, I would try new recipes and restock the freezer and pantry with new and exciting items. To say we are in a rut...well that is an understatement!

So in the fridge we are down to 2 pounds of butter, three blocks of hard cheese, eggs, milk and grape juice. Heck I don't even have ketchup. Oh wait, I am pretty sure we have mustard and mayo too. In the freezer we are down to one veggie medley, like 5 pounds of frozen peas (they were on sale!), 3-4 pounds of chicken breast, 2-3 pounds of assorted seafood and a bag of chicken stock. The pantry is pretty boring too. We have lots of cereal, dried beans, canned beans, canned tomatoes, soy milk and rice. And peanut butter, like 8 of them, almost free from CVS. So with that in mind, here is our meal plan for the week :)

I've not made red beans and rice in years. I have the dried beans soaking now. I'll cook the rice tonight to save time. I will keep all the ingrediants separate until we eat them so I can use them for more than one meal. I'll need to pick up a few items after work tomorrow to last us the week. I'll mark those in red just for fun :)
Monday - red beans and rice (beans, rice, tomatoes, ground beef, onion and garlic)
Tuesday - chicken fried rice (chicken, veggie mix, rice, 5 spice, eggs)
Wednesday - red beans and rice but this time I'll make it with sausage to change it a little. Any leftovers will be frozen for my lunches.
Thursday - chicken and dumplings (chicken, broth, peas, and flour)
Friday - Hamburger pizza & peas (pizza dough mix, tomato sauce, cheese, hamburger)
Saturday - spaghetti and more peas (tomatoes, hamburger, onion, garlic, pasta)
Sunday - tuna noodle casserole and carrots (and you thought I'd say peas!) (tuna, pasta, soup, onion, carrots and peas)

For breakfast we'll rotate scrambled eggs, bananas, string cheese and oatmeal with frozen peaches. For lunch I really need to step it up, I haven't been taking one and I've eaten a lot of junk. I am going to take my non lettuce version of salad, cold peas, raw carrots, raw broccoli with Italian dressing for some days. PB on wheat for others. We also need fresh fruit for snacking.

I'd like to introduce my "new" pan! I have learned, if you find a great deal on a pot/pan that you love, always buy a second one right away. This pan was from Belks, $100. 3 quart, 4 inch tall anolon. It was marked down to $50. Then there was a big sale on markdowns and I got it for $18.

Pan #1 lasted for 5 years until I steamed sweet potatoes in it and the sugar goo bonded with the coating and burned and caught fire. Who knew potatoes were so flammable? Needless to say the pan was toast.

So now I have pan #2 and I am happy again. Stored away for 5 years in it's original box in the cabinets under my cooktop. Now happily cooking brown rice as I type this. You can get a similar one on Amazon right now for $89 with a different handle. All together now..what did I pay? $18, yes that's right! hee hee heeee

The baby was super cute today. She sat on my lap for over an hour (will wonders never cease?) looking at the Disney website with me. I showed her all the fun things we were going to do and read the menus to her. We looked at the Value resorts and played all the videos we could find. I also played the Disney videos I have on the blog (ever seen those? they are at the bottom!). She is so ready to see the mouse! :)

No baby pictures and she is asleep. Here is my pan missing the glass lid (which btw fits my crockpot which makes me happy too).

Night!