Weekly meal plan

(Salmon burgers)

One of my goals for this year is to be more organized when it comes to meal planning.  We are really trying to be good stewards of what we have, so I feel like this will help me to do a better job on saving time (at the grocery store) and money.

Another goal we have is to eat healthier.  This has been a process of slowly making changes to our diet.  We are making changes where we can and doing what we can afford.  I know everyone says that eating healthy is so expensive (and I agree) but I think there needs to be some sort of balance.  If you don't eat right it will effect your health therefore I think it could cost you more in the end. If they makes any sense.

I am trying to make as many things from scratch as I can (and be reasonable about it).  Things like instead of using a can of cream of mushroom in a recipe I make my own sauce, or instead of buying tortilla shells that are loaded with hydrogenated oils I make my own using olive oil in place of bad fats. I am using dried beans instead of canned.  I am also going to start making my own salad dressings.  I haven't been buying cereal for the kids because one, they are usually full of sugar and two,  they don't fill my kid's tummies So I have been making breakfasts also.  Lunches are where I struggle to come up with ideas so I'm working on that one. 

All of this is a lot more time consuming and requires me to be more organized and prepared.  There will still be nights where I might have to throw in a bag of chicken nuggets (yuck) because we are pressed for time, but for the most part I am really excited to be back at this again.  Meal planning was something I did years ago but somehow in the busyness of life it got shelved.  So here we are and hoping to stick with it. :)

I am always interested to see what other people have planned for meals so I thought I'd share mine for the week.  I might even share some of these recipes if anyone is interested. :)

Breakfast
Glazed cinnamon scones x 2
Waffles
Apple coffee cake x 2
Granola x 2
Blueberry muffins (if needed. might save this for next week)

Lunch
Octopus hot dogs (James and Claire's unit study is on the Octopus right now)
Hard boiled eggs, bread with butter, carrots, applesauce
Quesadillas
pb&j, apple slices, pretzels
Mini pizzas- cheese and sauce for kids, hummus and vegetable for Bill and me
Buttered noodles


Dinner
Salmon burgers, sauteed vegetables
Lasagna, salad
Scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, orange slices
Pizza, salad
Lentil rice casserole
Crock pot chicken, rice, mixed vegetables
Biscuits and gravy