Great Value Valentine’s Day Sweet Treats Part 2

Last week, in Great Value Valentine’s Sweet Treats, I shared a couple of easy recipes to use for Valentine’s Day. You got to see just how easy it is to make Berry Tartlets, Tickled Pink Heart Cinnamon Rolls,  and Frosted Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies using dough products found in the refrigerated section of your local Walmart.  It is so easy to great yummy treats for entertaining using Great Value refrigerated dough. So where did all of those sweet treats go?

The Frosted Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies were a planned snack for an upcoming party but they didn’t even survive the afternoon that I made them long enough to even get a picture of someone eating one. The good news is that even though they didn’t survive, they are really simple to make and I can make a dozen more with a big fuss so here was another round of the Frosted Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies !

Our kids love cinnamon rolls … OK, they love anything breakfast but, when they see cinnamon rolls, they go a bit nutty. I  have to confess that I didn’t even get one of these Tickled Pink Heart Cinnamon Rolls. Grace asked for more and well that little six year old girl has me wrapped around her finger, so I said yes. Sophie LOVED the heart shape and kept taking bites to make other shapes. Matthew was just all in it for cinnamon roll and didn’t even care they were pink. I think he would have noticed more if I  made them red since that is favorite color right now!

Last but not least, the Berry Tartlets actually made it to a Super Bowl Party instead of a Valentine’s Party. Beth was asked for the recipe four times and had to admit each time that it wasn’t written down yet. ummm … oops! She knew there was success with this recipe when she saw the last of the mini size Berry Tartlets stuffed in a coffee cup to be eaten on the way home! That is a recipe endorsement right there! Oh and this tray was full of the Berry Tartlets when it arrived at the party!

great value berry tarts

For more great holiday recipes and budget friendly ideas, make sure you check out Great Value on Twitter:  #GreatValue

What are some great dishes that you’ve make using Great Value or other store brand refrigerated dough?  Leave us a comment and let us know!

Great Value Valentine’s Day Sweet Treats

Do you remember our Great Value Thanksgiving goodies and Great Value Christmas goodies?  Well, we are back with some great Valentine’s creations using Great Value cookie and pastry dough.  I am helping Sophie’s preschool class for Valentine’s Day this year, so I wanted to try out a couple of things using Great Value cookie doughs.  Some of them worked out better than others.

 

Frosted Chocolate Chip Heart Cookies

In the end, I decided to go simple.  Using a silicone petite heart pan, I filled the molds up about halfway.  I baked them according to package directions for 14 minutes and then allowed them to cool completely before removing them from the molds.  I simply filled the depression with pink vanilla flavored cake frosting and topped with sprinkles.  Easy, right?  They turned out ridiculously cute and my little testers really loved them.

Tickled Pink Heart Cinnamon Rolls

One of the nice things about holidays with kids is that you can easily make the holiday go all day long.  Not only do they get school parties and the opportunity for cards, flowers, etc. at home in the evening, we can also have a special breakfast for them.  Great Value cinnamon rolls can be easily unrolled and then re-rolled into the shape of a heart.  You wind up with them about half-rolled on each side.  When you pinch the middle, you have a beautiful little cinnamon heart.  We up the Valentine’s Day ante by adding a little red food coloring to the icing included in the package.  When we tested it with our kids with the pink icing and the heart shape…well, let’s just say that I didn’t get to eat much breakfast that morning!

 

Great Value Berry Tartlets

Heart shaped cookies and cinnamon rolls may be great for the kids (or for sneaking after they’ve gone to bed!), but what if you are having an office party?  You need something that hints at Valentine’s Day, but that isn’t to childish.  These Berry Tartlets have the right color for the holiday and they have that lovely berry taste that you expect in a Valentine’s treat for adults.

Ingredients

2 Great Value refrigerated Pie Crusts (one package)
1 can of pie filling (We used mixed berry)
1/2 cup of  oatmeal (quick oatmeal is fine)
1/2 brown sugar packed
1/4 cup butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Let the refrigerated pie dough warm up by leaving on the counter for 30 minutes. Unroll the pie dough and spray it with a cooking spray with flour. You can make muffin size tartlets or mini-muffin size tartlets. Use a circle cookie cutter (or a glass) that is the same size as the top of the muffin pan hole to cut circles. Cut the circles out of the pie dough. The closer the circles are together the more you will get out of the pie dough!  Put the circles in the muffin tins with the sprayed side down. Scoop a small spoon full of the pie filling into each dough circle. (For the mini-muffins this was only 1-3 berries!)

Mix the oatmeal, brown sugar, and butter together in a small bowl using a pastry blender or a fork. You will have clumps of butter but that is ok.  Put a small spoon full of the crumb topping on top of each tartlet.

Bake the mini-muffin size tarlets for 22-25 minutes and the muffin size tarlets for 25-30 minutes. Let them cool complete in the pan before trying to remove them from the pans.

For more great holiday recipes and budget friendly ideas, make sure you check out Great Value on Twitter:  #GreatValue

What are some great dishes that you’ve make using Great Value or other store brand refrigerated dough?  Leave us a comment and let us know!

Eggland’s Best Eggs eCookbook, “Your Best Recipes”

You can get your own FREE copy of the new eCookbook “Your Best Recipes” from Eggland’s Best Eggs!

More details about “Your Best Recipes” …

Eggland’s Best is excited to announce the launch of our second original eCookbook, “Your Best Recipes” featuring the Top 20 recipes from the first nation-wide Eggland’s Best “Your Best Recipe Contest”.   These delicious recipes were selected from thousands of entries submitted by at-home chefs and bloggers.  Each recipe highlights a creative way of using EB eggs.

You can download “Your Best Recipes” eCookbook, a $9.99 value, FREE for a limited time. All you have to do is visit the their special promotion page on and like the Eggland’s Best Facebook page so you can click download for this eCookbook! This offer is available January 25, 2012 – February 15, 2013.

If you love ebooks and eCookbooks for your favorite eReader or even to read on your computer, this is a great eCookbook to add to your collection. We have been eating a lot of eggs lately so I am looking forward to reading the book to see some new recipe ideas that will maybe be an inspiration for a meal in our February Meal Plan!

NOTE: We were provided with this promotion information from Eggland’s Best. Passing this information along to our readers qualifies as an entry in a blogger only giveaway.

 

 

 

October 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

We often buy food based on sales at the grocery store.  When ribs or pork shoulders or chicken are on big sales, we stock up.  Unfortunately, this often means filling up our freezer with way too much meat.  Even when preserved in the freezer, the product is only good for so long.  This month’s meal plan focuses on cleaning out our freezer a little.  We hope to gain some extra space in our freezer and lower our grocery bill for the month.  We also plan on trying out a number of slow cooker recipes that we will introduce to you over the next couple of months.


October 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Week 1 (September 30 – October 6)

With a couple of busy days this week, we decided on some easy dishes.  We already have virtually everything that we need for the meals this week.  A little fresh produce to supplement the frozen components make for some healthy (and tasty!) meals.

Sunday–Check out the September Meal Plan!
Monday–Butternut Squash Gnocchi
Tuesday–Sub Sandwiches
Wednesday–Fishstick Tacos
Thursday–White Bean and Turkey Chili
Friday–Leftovers
Saturday–Spaghetti

Week 2 (October 6 – October 13)

Using some ground turkey leftover from the chili makes great use of a large package of meat.  Half-priced ribs get amazing all-day cooking taste and the Pork BBQ will be used over and over again next week.  The slow cooker gets used three times this week.  That’s great for eating well with our busy schedule.

Sunday–Pizza
Monday–Bruschetta and Israeli Cous Cous
Tuesday–Turkey Nachos
Wednesday–Slow Cooker Ribs
Thursday–Appetizer Dinner
Friday–Leftovers
Saturday–Slow Cooker Pork BBQ Sandwiches

Week 3 (October 14 – October 20)

The pork that we cooked on Saturday gets three completely different uses this week:  with peppers and onions for a yummy cheesesteak, as spicy enchiladas, and as a quick fried rice.  We don’t use the slow cooker at all for dinner this week, but every weekday meal is quick and easy to throw together.

Sunday–Ham Dinner
Monday–Veggie Casserole
Tuesday–Pork Cheesesteak
Wednesday–Pork Enchiladas
Thursday–Pork Fried Rice
Friday–Leftovers
Saturday–Sub Sandwiches

Week 4 (October 21 – October 27)

Another three slow cooker meal week!  Corn chowder, chicken and rice, and beans and rice are filling, cheap meals that our whole family will love.  Fried shrimp on Saturday will be such a yummy treat!

Sunday–Quesadillas
Monday–Corn Chowder
Tuesday–Breakfast
Wednesday–Slow Cooker Arroz con Pollo
Thursday–Beans and Rice
Friday–Leftovers
Saturday–Fried Shrimp Dinner

Week 5 (October 28 – November 3)

Extra shrimp gets double duty as a quick fried rice and the slow cooker gets another workout with lasagna and chili this week.  Pizza and candy on Wednesday is no trick; it’s a Halloween treat.

Sunday–Shrimp Fried Rice
Monday–Slow Cooker Lasagna
Tuesday–Slow Cooker Chili
Wednesday–Pizza and Candy for Halloween
Thursday–See November’s Meal Plan!
Friday–See November’s Meal Plan!
Saturday–See November’s Meal Plan!

 

As always, if you are looking for recipes or answers on monthly meal planning, please leave a comment or email us with your questions.  We can’t promise that we will have all of the answers, but we will do our best to find them!  Just send us an email at simplybudgeted@gmail.com.

Have you tried monthly meal planning? How did it go? Any tips or suggestions?  Leave us a comment and let us know.

September 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

We actually had the meal plan made up the first day of this month but we have failed to get typed up and posted. As sad as that is, we hope to impress you by noting we have followed the meal plan so far this month. So here is some meal planning inspiration for you!


September 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Week 1 (August  26 – September 1)

With a busy holiday weekend of household chores, we decided Saturday’s dinner would be an easy dinner when it came to both cooking and cleaning up!

Sunday– Check out the August Meal Plan!
Monday– Check out the August Meal Plan!
Tuesday– Check out the August Meal Plan!
Wednesday– Check out the August Meal Plan!
Thursday– Check out the August Meal Plan!
Friday– Check out the August Meal Plan!
Saturday–#DipDipHooray Chicken Nuggets and Fries

Week 2 (September 2 –  September 8)

We decided to try a few new dishes this and even experiment with some friends who came over to dinner on Thursday night. The Fry Bread Sandwiches were a huge hit and a recipe I need to get time to post soon … think homemade hot pocket!

Sunday– Spaghetti Squash Casserole 
Monday–Veggie Burgers and Hot Dogs for the kids
Tuesday–Turkey Tacos
Wednesday–Fry Bread Sandwiches
Thursday–Quinoa Appitizeters
Friday–Leftovers
Saturday– Lasagna w/ Salad

Week 3 (September 9 –  September 15)

We hope to plan a Sunday dinner after a day out and about! For the rest of the week, we went back to some basic meals that are family favorites and won’t add to the busy schedules this week!

Sunday– Pork Tenderloin
Monday–Squash Chowder
Tuesday–Macaroni and Cheese
Wednesday–Pancakes
Thursday–Fajitas
Friday–Leftovers
Saturday–Pizza

Week 4 (September 16 –  September 22)

This week combine some easy to make dinners and some comfort food dinners. We are starting to get into the school year routine which includes evening activities so we try to plan our meals around what the evening activities are!

Sunday–Spaghetti Dinner
Monday–Veggie Fajita Nachos
Tuesday–Sausage and Peppers
Wednesday–Chicken and Waffles
Thursday– Chicken Stir Fry
Friday–Leftovers
Saturday–Sub Sandwiches

Week 5 (September 23 –  September 29)

We decided to go for a nice Sunday dinner and then make it a point to use some of fresh produce with the spaghetti squash fritters and  probably the quesadillas. At the middle of the week, we decided to go with kid friendly meals and end the week off with a break for the cook … pizza night!

Sunday–Roast Chicken Dinner
Monday–Spaghetti Squash Fritter
Tuesday–Quesadillas
Wednesday– Breakfast for Dinner
Thursday–Appetizer Dinner
Friday–Leftovers
Saturday– Pizza

 

Week 5 (September 30 –  October 6)

Gnocchi is something I learned to make a few years ago and to Beth’s surprise, she loved it. Now the debate is if this meal will be potato gnocchi or pumpkin gnocchi. You will have to wait and see what I post come October!

Sunday–Gnocchi
Monday– Wait for October’s Meal Plan!
Tuesday– Wait for October’s Meal Plan!
Wednesday– Wait for October’s Meal Plan!
Thursday– Wait for October’s Meal Plan!
Friday– Wait for October’s Meal Plan!
Saturday– Wait for October’s Meal Plan!

As always, if you are looking for recipes or answers on monthly meal planning, please leave a comment or email us with your questions.  We can’t promise that we will have all of the answers, but we will do our best to find them!  Just send us an email at simplybudgeted@gmail.com.

Have you tried monthly meal planning? How did it go? Any tips or suggestions?  Leave us a comment and let us know.

August 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Summer is a time for rest and relaxation, a time when one should not be constrained by the boundaries of a monthly meal plan, right?  Well, that’s what we were thinking, anyhow.  We figured that we would try planning weekly meals, but when it came time to shop, we didn’t have a plan together to start from.  So we’d pick up a few things that we thought would be easy.  We’d sort of plan on having a meat, a starch, and a veggie, but when it came time to cook, well, no plan turned into not much cooking.  When you try to plan night to night, the tired brain just chooses pizza or hot dogs.  Sure we’ve had a few good meals over the course of the summer, but we’ve had trouble planning healthy meals that we can count on night after night.

With all of that having been said, we are back to our monthly meal plans.  The little bit of planning that goes in at the beginning of the month saves so much time and headache throughout the rest of the month.  If we slip from time to time, that’s no big deal.  If you have a plan, you can get back on track.  Without a plan, however, that slip can make it really easy to get onto the wrong track altogether.  Here is our plan for this month.  We’ll try to post some links to some of the recipes that we have already posted.  We hope that you enjoy our humble offerings and that you join us for dinner from time to time.

August 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Week 1 (July 29 – August 4)

We started out the week with some grilled chicken and brown rice, so we are just using the leftovers and some fresh farm veggies to make a fried rice.  We are using a large pack of ground turkey to make the burgers and meatloaf and are even using the leftover meatloaf to make sausage and cheeseburger pizzas for lunch one day this weekend!

Sunday–
Monday–
Tuesday–
Wednesday–Fried Rice
Thursday–Turkey Burgers
Friday–Turkey Meatloaf
Saturday–Dinner Out!

Week 2 (August 5 – August 11)

We are off to the mountains for some camping this week so hot dogs and grilled chicken are on the menu.  Pizza is easy for when we get back on Wednesday and we’ll make tacos and lasagna using another big pack of ground turkey.

Sunday–Corn Pancakes with Sauteed Veggies
Monday–Hot Dogs
Tuesday–Grilled Chicken Sandwiches
Wednesday–Pizza
Thursday–Tacos
Friday–Lasagna w/ Salad
Saturday–Leftovers:  Lasagna w/ Salad

Week 3 (August 12 – August 18)

Really easy meals this week as we work on ending the summer before school starts.  The chicken gets to serve two uses.  Cook once, eat twice!  Sausages, apples, veggies and pita will make up a nice easy dinner on Saturday.

Sunday–Breakfast for Dinner
Monday–Pasta Dinner
Tuesday–Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday–Picnicking with Girl Scouts
Thursday–Grilled Chicken Salad
Friday–Pizza!!
Saturday–Appetizer Dinner

Week 4 (August 19 – August 25)

School starts this week and we want to have a couple of nice family meals that are easy to put together after a long day for our big First Grader.

Sunday–Pork Tenderloin with Baked Apples
Monday–Mac and Cheese
Tuesday–Stir Fry
Wednesday–Chicken Nugget Parmesan
Thursday–Cobb Salad
Friday–Spaghetti Dinner
Saturday–Sub Sandwiches

Week 5 (August 26 – September 1)

We love using the grill as it starts to cool off, so grilling some chicken and veggies for the week is right up our alley.  Easy open-faced chicken cordon bleu makes a nice family meal while sausages serve double duty as an appetizer and then paired with yummy cheese tortellini.

Sunday–Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Monday–Grilled Veggies with Bruschetta
Tuesday–Chicken Cordon Bleu
Wednesday–Appetizer Dinner
Thursday–Pasta with Sausages
Friday–Nachos!
Saturday–

 

As always, if you are looking for recipes or answers on monthly meal planning, please leave a comment or email us with your questions.  We can’t promise that we will have all of the answers, but we will do our best to find them!  Just send us an email at simplybudgeted@gmail.com.

Have you tried monthly meal planning? How did it go? Any tips or suggestions?  Leave us a comment and let us know.

May 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Our monthly meal plan is a staple of our budgeting process.  We look at it this way.  We are planning meals one way or the other.  We can do it on the fly, trying to figure out each day what we are going to feed our kids; we can plan week to week, spending the time planning while we make our grocery list or letting the grocery store choose for us while we shop; or we can put in a little time at the beginning of the month and make it easier each week to just write out a shopping list and get what we need.  Since we’ve started planning month to month, we have found that we actually spend less time planning what we eat.

This month, we are focusing on a number of different comfort foods.  These are foods that we love to eat, that the kids will eat, and that pair well with large salads and multiple sides of veggies.  On several nights, we will actually be recreating that idea of a “Blue Plate Special”–a meat, a starch, and two veggie sides, served with a side salad.  We are upping the veggie quotient this month.  Why don’t you check out what we’re having and join us for a couples of meals?

 

May 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Week 1 (April 29 – May 5)

Sunday–See April Meal Plan
Monday–See April Meal Plan
Tuesday–Spaghetti Dinner
Wednesday–Veggies and Cold Cuts
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Pizza Night!
Saturday–Fish in a Pouch

Week 2 (May 6 – May 12)

Sunday–Beef Bourguignon
Monday–Veggie Subs
Tuesday–Eggs, Bacon, and Western Hash
Wednesday–Veggie Spanish Tortilla
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Fried Fish
Saturday–Picnic Dinner!

Week 3 (May 13 – May 19)

Sunday–BBQ Chicken (Beth’s Mother’s Day request)
Monday–Broccoli Rice Casserole
Tuesday–Taco Tuesday!
Wednesday–Turkey Sliders
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Meatball Subs
Saturday–Dinner Out!

Week 4 (May 20 – May 26)

Sunday–Pork Stir Fry
Monday–Quinoa and Potato Stew
Tuesday–Smothered Chicken
Wednesday–Baked Potatoes
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Pizza
Saturday–Baked Fish

Week 5 (May 27 – June 2)

Sunday–Steaks
Monday–Fried Mac & Cheese
Tuesday–Chicken Fried Steak
Wednesday–Quiche
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–See June Meal Plan
Saturday–See June Meal Plan

As always, if you are looking for recipes or answers on monthly meal planning, please leave a comment or email us with your questions.  We can’t promise that we will have all of the answers, but we will do our best to find them!  Just send us an email at simplybudgeted@gmail.com.

Have you tried monthly meal planning? How did it go? Any tips or suggestions?

4 Ingredients Gluten-Free Cookbook

We recently received a copy of the 4 Ingredient Gluten-Free Cookbook and are excited to share a couple of the recipes with you!

Seeing that I had the review task for this cookbook, I went to the dessert section. The first recipe I tried out was the Peanut Butter Cookie recipe.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg

Preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, mix all ingredients. Using a tablespoon amounts, roll into small balls and place on the baking sheets. Flatten slightly with a fork, crisscross style. Bake for 10 minutes, or until a thin crust forms on the cookie. NOTE: These will harden as they cool.

My Thoughts: I love peanut butter cookies. These peanut butter cookies were really simple to make with what I had on hand. I admit I didn’t use crunchy peanut butter but went for the Skippy Natural Peanut Butter I seriously love. These are worth making again for sure!

Next up on the test list is the Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

4 eggs, separated

1 cup superfine sugar

1 3/4 sticks (7 ounces) butter

8 ounces dark chocolate

Put a rack in the lowest position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until fluffy, then add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until fluffy, then add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, gradually beating until stiff peaks form. In a bowl set over a pan of hot water, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring regularly. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks. Fold in the egg whites. Scrape the batter into the cake pan and bake for 40 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

I can’t wait to try this recipe since I have some baking time back in my life for a few weeks!

You can find this cookbook over on Amazon for a great price!
We are excited to offer one our readers a copy of this cookbook in a giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

April 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

We are so very happy to be back to our normal meal plans.  Our little experiment went very well with both of us losing a fair amount of weight, but the draw of meat and the need to feed our kids healthy food that they will actually eat just became too much.  We did learn quite a bit about eating meat more sparingly and focusing our meals more on healthier grains and vegetables.

This month’s meal plan is almost like a “greatest hits” of many of our favorite dinners.  Some of it is time intensive (but so worth it), some things are convenient cheats, and others are just plain good.  We hope that you give some of these great ideas a try!

April 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Week 1 (April 1 – April 7)

Sunday–Chicken and Mushroom Pizza
Monday–Vegetarian Tapas
Tuesday–Pork Stir Fry
Wednesday–Lasagna
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Chicken Sandwiches
Saturday–Coffee Rubbed Beef Sandwich with Chipotle BBQ Sauce and Apple-Parsnip Slaw

Week 2 (April 8 – April 14)

Sunday–Easter Dinner!
Monday–Portobello Mushroom Sandwich
Tuesday–Tacos
Wednesday–Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Pizza
Saturday–Date Night!!

Week 3 (April 15 – April 21)

Sunday–Fish with Tempura Veggies
Monday–Pancakes
Tuesday–Chicken and Rice
Wednesday–Chili w/ Cornbread
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Chicken Pot Pie
Saturday–Shrimp Kabobs w/ Rice Pilaf

Week 4 (April 22 – April 28)

Sunday–Chicken and Waffles
Monday–Panzanella
Tuesday–Cheese Quesadillas with Corn Salsa
Wednesday–Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Subs
Saturday–Shrimp and Grits

Week 5 (April 29 – May 5)

Sunday–Fried Chicken Dinner
Monday–Spinach Ravioli
Tuesday–See May Meal Plan
Wednesday–See May Meal Plan
Thursday–See May Meal Plan
Friday–See May Meal Plan
Saturday–See May Meal Plan

As always, if you are looking for recipes or answers on monthly meal planning, please leave a comment or email us with your questions.  We can’t promise that we will have all of the answers, but we will do our best to find them!  Just send us an email at simplybudgeted@gmail.com.

Have you tried monthly meal planning? How did it go? Any tips or suggestions?

 

March 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Our Monthly Meal Plan has kind of become a staple of our budgeting process.  Rather than planning for meals from week to week, we put in a little extra time and effort and knock it out right away.  It takes a little discipline, but sticking to the plan can keep costs down and lead to a healthier and closer knit family.  Research supports the notion that having dinner as a family has a number of benefits for the kids (http://children.webmd.com/guide/family-dinners-are-important).

I’ve had a few people remark in the past that they just don’t have the time to plan a menu like this.  My response is that we don’t plan because we have time; we have time because we plan.  Taking the time to plan out our meals makes our shopping list easier to make.  We simply look at our plan and buy the things that we need for the week.  That keeps us from buying all sorts of extras and it saves us the time of planning our meals and our shopping list at the same time.  Other people tell me that they just aren’t disciplined enough to stick with it.  Here’s a “not so secret”:  neither are we!  We have a plan to keep us on the right track, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t get cravings or just not feel like cooking sometimes.  Rather than having no ideas as the default, however, we have our plan to fall back on.  This becomes one of our main rationales for keeping up with it.

March is the last month of our New Year’s diet plan.  I’ve heard that, after a few months of not eating meat, many people lose a taste for it altogether.  Let me just say that we are not those people.  We are anxiously awaiting the last week of the month when we are able to enjoy a nice thick hamburger or some fried chicken.  As it is, adding cheese and milk back into our diet have given us a lot more options for our menu.  We made it a point to go back to our Thursday night leftover plan.  Otherwise the fridge just backs up with leftovers that we wind up throwing out at the end of the week.  I hate wasting like that.

We hope that you enjoy our humble offerings.

 

March 2012 Monthly Meal Plan

Week 1 (February 26 – March 3)

Sunday–See February Meal Plan
Monday–See February Meal Plan
Tuesday–See February Meal Plan
Wednesday–See February Meal Plan
Thursday–Tortellini
Friday–Subs
Saturday–Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Week 2 (March 4 – March 10)

Sunday–Lasagna
Monday–Tortellini Soup
Tuesday–Quiche
Wednesday–Quinoa Pancakes
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Veggie Quesadillas
Saturday–Fried Calzones

Week 3 (March 11 – March 17)

Sunday–Veggie Pot Pie
Monday–Brocolli Fettucine Alfredo
Tuesday–Veggie Cheese”steak”
Wednesday–Veggies, Pita, Hummus
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Baked Potatoes
Saturday–Gnocchi

Week 4 (March 18 – March 24)

Sunday–Mushroom Risotto
Monday–Veggie Lo Mein
Tuesday–Veggie Fajita Nachos
Wednesday–Morrocan Rice
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Subs
Saturday–Polenta with Mushrooms

Week 5 (March 25 – March 31)

Sunday–Roast Chicken!!
Monday–Baked Penne
Tuesday–Caesar Salad
Wednesday–Fish with Noodles and Veggies
Thursday–Leftovers
Friday–Pizza
Saturday–Burgers

As always, if you are looking for recipes or answers on monthly meal planning, please leave a comment or email us with your questions.  We can’t promise that we will have all of the answers, but we will do our best to find them!  Just send us an email at simplybudgeted@gmail.com.

Have you tried monthly meal planning? How did it go? Any tips or suggestions?