2 week menu plan

*Updated: I'm coming back through and crossing off meals we've eaten already. As you can see, (as of 2/7/13) we've gone off course a little, but still eating off menu choices. I've had to adjust some breakfast and lunches due to time constraints on my end (read: I woke up late, or was procrastinating ;) and didn't have time). Still, I feel like we are doing pretty good! I will continue to come back and cross off meals, so I can see what choices we have left, as well as make a note if we enjoyed the meal or not.*

I'm sharing here to not only keep myself accountable and to have it somewhere I can't lose it, but also to show you it is possible to plan a menu, cook good real food and stay within a budget. Typically I have about a $300-$340 budget for 2 weeks. This is for everything - food, toiletries (shampoo, soap, t.p.), paper products (sandwich/freezer bags, foil, paper plates), diapers and baby snacks for on the go, and dog food. It varies a little every two weeks, depending on if we are out of dog food since that's a large chunk of money, or in need of diapers. I try to stock up when we have a bit extra and then I'm able to stock up on other items that we may not need but will use later during the following shopping trip. Right now, I have 2 - 5lb pks of white whole wheat flour so I won't need any, but I'm using it in several recipes over the next two weeks. I will probably have to buy some next time.

So here's the menu. I will try to follow-up tomorrow with how much I actually spend. I still have to do our budget for the week and I dug in to our grocery budget a little already :(

[B = breakfast; L = lunch; D = dinner; snacks are fruit or granola bars or string cheese, typically]

Friday, Feb 1:
           B- scrambled eggs and toast
           L- oatmeal made w/applesauce, maple syrup and some raisins (in thermos') and yogurt *A gets
               pizza today because he's student of the month for his class and the school buys it.*
           D- whole wheat spaghetti w/ ground beef and garlic bread

Saturday, Feb 2:
           B- cereal
           L- grilled cheese on ww bread, pretzels and fruit
           D- homemade ww pizzas (one w/ pepperoni and gr. beef, one w/ cheese) *meh, not my favorite, but not horrible. The flavor was there, but the crust was so thick it was too "heavy". I need to split it into 2 next time and not make double the recipe.*

Sunday, Feb 3:
           B- scrambled eggs and toast
           L- waffle sandwich w/ cream cheese and organic strawberry jelly, yogurt *neither E nor A liked the cream cheese/jelly combo and opted for pb&j on the waffle instead. Baby J and Jas like the "strawberry cream cheese" though. :)*
           D- homemade cheeseburger macaroni (homemade ww macaroni and cheese w/gr beef), 
                applesauce *2 of 5 loved it, 1 really didn't, I kind of did but tasted the flour too much, and littlest one wasn't too sure either*

Monday, Feb 4:
           B- cereal
           L- lunchmeat and cheese on ww bread, fruit, yogurt, pretzels
           D- leftovers

Tuesday, Feb 5:
           B- ww waffles (leftovers in freezer) and fruit
           L- egg salad/tuna and cheese on ww bread, fruit, yogurt
           D- homemade chicken nuggets (ww bread crumbs), organic store-bought fries and tots, carrots *Big hit! We all enjoyed the chicken nuggets, and the flavor of the breading was awesome. Sauteeing/Frying in coconut oil added extra flavor and they were juicy.*

Wednesday, Feb 6:
           B - scrambled eggs and fruit
           L- oatmeal and yogurt
           D- chicken fried "rice" (using quinoa instead of rice!) <--- thanks Heather for this recipe!! *see facebook page for recipe link. This turned out amazing. I cooked the quinoa in homemade chicken stock, added chicken to the recipe and made a couple of adjustments - preminced garlic, sweet pepper instead of red bell pepper, no edamame, ground ginger instead of fresh, mild sweet chili sauce instead of srirachi chili sauce (I think it's slightly spicier?). Everybody but E loved it. I think it was more of a texture thing for him, he couldn't get past the quinoa. I am proud of him though, because he did eat half of it and didn't really complain :)*

Thursday, Feb 7:
           B - cereal
           L- ww(homemade) blueberry muffins, cheese chunks, grapes *we've had the muffins before, so I can say, without a doubt, they are delish!*
           D- breakfast for dinner: eggs, toast, organic sausage, homemade sausage gravy, ww biscuits
                (homemade!) *actually made breakfast burritos with bacon, scrambled eggs and co-jack in whole wheat tortillas, instead*

Friday, Feb 8:
           B - p.b. toast and fruit
           L- macaroni and cheese or spaghetti leftovers (in thermos') and fruit (see link above)
           D- tacos (gr. beef, homemade taco seasoning, homemade crockpot refried beans, shredded
                lettuce, cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo)

Saturday, Feb 9:
           B - scrambled eggs and toast
           L- triscuits with cheese and meat (homemade "lunchables"), fruit
           D- pork chops, pan-fried potatoes, corn

Sunday, Feb 10:
           B - ww fruit muffins (see above link) and yogurt
           L- grilled ham and cheese, pretzels, fruit
           D-quiche with ww crust (ham, cheese, peppers, onion and tomato) *yeah. Um, no. Not making quiche again. It either just didn't turn out good, or it's just not in our taste. If someone ever wants to make one for me, I'll try it. Otherwise, I will avoid like the plague!*

Monday, Feb 11:
           B - scrambled eggs and toast
           L- blueberry/fruit muffins, yogurt, fruit
           D- leftovers

Tuesday, Feb 12:
           B - cereal
           L- meat and cheese rollups, yogurt, fruit
           D- nachos (gr. beef w/ homemade taco seasoning, shredded cheese, leftover taco toppings as
                desired)

Wednesday, Feb 13:
           B - p.b. toast and fruit
           L- egg salad/tuna with cheese on ww bread, fruit, yogurt
           D- homemade ww ravioli (only using the pasta recipe - filling withricotta, mozzarella, gr.
                beef) and spaghetti sauce, salad *didn't like how these turned out. I will have to try again, if/when we get a pasta maker. I just can't seem to roll the dough thin enough. They didn't cook all the way and were very dough-y. I even cooked them for much longer than she said to...*

Thursday, Feb 14:
           B - cereal
           L- tortilla wrap (lunchmeat and cheese), fruit, yogurt, pretzels
           D- salad with grilled chicken, cheese, sunflower seeds and/or tortilla strips, strawberries if
                desired

Friday, Feb 15:
           B - scrambled eggs and toast
           L- leftover chicken (cold), cheese chunks, pretzels, fruit
           D- homemade fish sticks (ww bread crumbs), homemade french fries, salad

Saturday, Feb 16:
           B - cereal
           L- p.b. and jelly on ww bread, fruit, yogurt, tortilla chips
           D- chicken quesadillas (ww tortillas and homemade taco seasoning)