Spring sports have started this week, and now that we live farther away from the school (15 minutes, as opposed to a 5-minute walk), I realized that I really need to start planning my meals again, especially since we have some kind of practice M-Th, all at or around dinnertime. In an effort to avoid a last-minute scramble to plan something to eat immediately before or after practices, I have decided to try my hand at meal planning again.
I usually only plan out dinners, but I will occasionally plan something different for breakfast or lunches. Otherwise, we are all creatures of habit in this house, and eat the same things every morning. I will include all three meals, just to show how they fit in with my grocery list planning.
Here is how it looks for this week:
Breakfast:
- Brown sugar oatmeal (O eats this every morning. I make up a bulk amount of this, using a whole 32 oz. canister of oats. It usually lasts him two weeks. I have tweaked the recipe from the original source. He prefers less sugar, and I don't include the maple flavoring or nutmeg).
- Marshmallow & Stars cereal a.k.a."Lucky Charms" (B eats these religiously. I know that they aren't the healthiest option, but sometimes you just have to give in a little. One box lasts about a week).
- Cinnamon Squares cereal a.k.a. "Life" (This one is for me. I portion it out into 1 cup servings and it will last me a little over a week).
- Overnight oatmeal (me)
- Mango Smoothies (me)
- Honey Grahams cereal (for MotH).
Lunch:
- Leftovers (usually for me)
- Hummus sandwich (for O)
- Any of the following for school lunches:
- applesauce cups
- natural fruit snacks
- granola bar
- cheese stick
- crackers
- apple
- juice box
Dinner:
- Tuesday: Beef tacos (practice @ 6:00)
- Wednesday: Slow-cooker sweet garlic chicken and pasta salad (practice @ 5:15)
- Thursday: Supreme take-n-bake pizza (practice @ 6:00)
- Friday: Southwestern chicken casserole (served with tortilla chips)
- Saturday: Meatloaf with some sort of potato side dish
- Sunday: Mother's Day. Not planning this one, but who are we kidding? We will probably end up eating leftovers.
- Monday: Hamburger roll-ups and french fries. (I don't use this exact recipe, only use it as a guide. Practice @ 5:15).
Extras:
Lunch leftovers from:
- Past salad
- Southwestern chicken casserole
- Meatloaf
- Pizza
And here's the $110.71 grocery breakdown (+$10.71 carryover from last week). Items marked with (*) indicate items that I only buy for school lunches. Anything that is italicized is an item that wasn't originally on my list, but I picked up because they were a special buy, or on sale this week. I am choosing to include non-food items in the budget only if they are food related.
From Aldi:
Supreme deli pizza= $5.99
1 lb. 93% ground beef= $4.87
2 lb. ground sirloin= 9.30
Lactose free milk- $2.79 x 2= $5.58
Vanilla almond milk= $2.49
Regular almond milk= $2.49
Quick oats= 2.29
Canned chicken broth- $0.69 x 2= $1.38
5 lb. baking potatoes= $2.99
1 lb. strawberries= $1.89
Shredded cheddar cheese= $3.49
Shredded taco cheese= $2.99
Shredded Mexican cheese= $2.99
3 lb. sweet potatoes= $2.29
Canned tomato sauce- $0.25 x 2= $0.50
Creamy peanut butter= $3.49
3 pk. mangoes= $2.49
Jar of salsa= $1.69
Taco shells= $0.99
Taco seasoning= $0.35
Almonds= $4.99
3 pk. multi-colored peppers= $3.29
Sliced pepperoni= $1.99
Romaine hearts= $2.89
3pk. tomatoes= $1.89
White tortilla chips- $1.19 x 2= $2.38
Spreadable butter= $2.69
Raspberry sorbet= $1.99
Mango sorbet= $1.99
Frozen extra-fine green beans= $1.49
Frozen broccoli florets= $1.09
Total= $87.22
From Walmart:
Orange juice= $1.98
Organic vanilla yogurt= $3.54
Buttermilk biscuits= $1.56
*String cheese= $6.37
Organic grape tomatoes= $2.98
Bananas= $2.85
Doritos= $2.98
8 pk. Dr. Pepper= $3.33
6 pk. Diet Pepsi= $3.00
(NY deposits)= $0.70
Total= $29.29
Grand total: $116.51 ($5.80 over budget).
Mistakes made: First of all, last week, I realized that half a gallon of milk each will not last the boys through an entire week, so this week I purchased two half gallons for O. When B runs out, he will be fine sharing my almond milk. I also made the mistake of not paying attention to the cost of items from the previous week. I picked up more mangoes today, but I failed to notice the price difference from last week. Last week they were a "Pick of the Week" item for $1.99. This week, however, they were up to $2.49. Keeping track of my weekly grocery spending will also help me keep track of the cost of items. If I had paid attention to the fact that the price was up, I probably would not have purchased more mangoes this week. Next week, I will be sure to include the previous week's prices on my grocery list so I can compare.
Impulse purchases were another mistake that helped put me over budget. I made the mistake of picking up the raspberry and mango sorbets just because they were a "Special Buy". I also picked up Dr. Pepper for myself because I have been craving it the last few days. Big no-no, as this move didn't help my budget, or my calorie intake count. If I had skipped these items, then I would have saved $7.71, and would have come in nearly $2 under budget.
Other notes: I realized that when MotH requests items (i.e. chips, soda, etc.), then my grocery bill is going to be higher. However, this will save him from making any additional trips to the store to buy items that he wants, which will save money in the long run because he never sticks to his list and always comes home with more than planned. Unfortunately, we are going to make at least one more trip to the store to pick up bread for MotH; neither one of us realized that he was nearly out of it, and I completely forgot to check this morning.
This is the first time that I have purchased ground beef from Aldi. For some reason, I have always been nervous about the quality of the meat. Ground beef from Walmart is convenient in that it comes in even 1 lb. packages (or 2 lb. etc.), but you get more for the money at Aldi. I used some for our taco dinner tonight, and no one noticed any difference between the two store brands, so I will most likely continue purchasing it from Aldi now.
So there is the outlook for this week. I may have to switch a few nights' meals around, depending on practices. I may realize that it will be more convenient to make a certain meal one night, rather than another. We will see.
Do you have to plan meals around sports? Do you have any quick and easy go-to meals for practice nights?
~Boo Boo
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