Menu Plan 4

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Mine was very laid back; but, full of cooking, eating and visiting with friends with my little family! 

This time of the year is increasingly difficult for me to stay motivated to cook and plan meals.. I'm trying to force myself out of my comfort zone and try some new recipes and hopefully ignite some encouragement!

Also, I'm pretty terrible about crockpot meals... In theory, they sound great! They should be quick and easy, right? Well, for some reason.. finding the inspiration to get up in the morning and throw it all together is like convincing a toddler to keep their shoes on.... I truly don't know why I struggle with it so much! Anyone else?? 

Having said that, I included a couple this time around in hopes to keep me accountable!



Lighter Chicken Pot Pie
I'm going to par-bake some biscuits and then place them on top to serve as the crust instead of buying phyllo dough. Mostly because I'm cheap haha. I bake them a little on their own because they can get really underdone if you place them on top for the whole pot pie baking time. Sure, the biscuits take away from the whole "lighter" idea, but 'tis the season!

Biscuits and Gravy
I have never added butter to my gravy, but maybe that makes it that much better! I think it's totally up to you if you want to add it or not. Also, I cheat and buy the frozen Pillsbury biscuits. 1. They're cheap 2. They're easy 3. You get a lot. I also plan on using the extra biscuits as a top for my pot pie because phyllo dough is pricey!

Lo Mein (crockpot)

 *This is a new crockpot recipe for me, so we can try it together!
Or you can pick up a frozen bag of stir fry vegetables and have dinner made in 20 minutes.

Fried Rice
Feel free to add whatever meat you prefer, or omit the meat!

Roasted Vegetable Mac
This is one of my favorite mac and cheese recipes! It's kind of spicy so feel free to skip or adjust the amount of red pepper flakes! You can switch up the veggies too if you'd like!

Roasted Winter Vegetables with Chicken
I have never had a parsnip before. While I was at the store, I picked up a variety of new to me vegetables! I got some Japanese sweet potatoes (instead of yams), parsnips, purple potatoes and carrots (obviously not new to me...). This should be a colorful dinner and could easily swap out your meats!

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
This recipe goes in the oven, but I'm going to throw ours on the grill!

French Dip Sliders
New to me! But I think you can make anything small and suddenly it's even better, so I'm pretty confident this should be good!

Cheesesteaks

 I've used a lot of different cuts of meat for this recipe! No need to pick anything expensive! -Most recently I picked out some cheap round steak tip (I think that's what it was called... is that a thing?) it had some good marbling  and was super cheap! I sliced it very thinly against the grain, gave the slices a quick sear and it was great! 

Chicken Taquitos (crockpot)

These just looked good and easy and like my toddler would even eat them! 

Potato Soup

Copy Cat Chik-fil-a Sandwiches
Honestly, I've been wanting to try these for so long! Fingers crossed! I bought vegetable oil instead of peanut oil... Have I mentioned how cheap I am?

Spaghetti

Because it’s quick, cheap and easy! Especially if you just do sauce, noodles and a vegetable/salad. You can easily add ground turkey, sausage or beef if you'd like as well! 

Grocery List-

coming soon!! 

Meal Planning!

One of my most successful money (and sanity) saving tips is meal planning!

Once I started meal planning I easily cut my grocery bill in half!

For some clarity, I think meal 'planning' and meal 'prepping' are terms that get used interchangeably, when they are pretty different in reality.
Meal planning is creating a menu, grocery list and recipes to follow.
While meal prepping is actually preparing those meals ahead of time. 
Meal prepping definitely has its benefits! Busy week ahead? Meal prep! Having a hard time fixing or eating lunch? Meal prep! 

Now that we've got that out of the way, my goal with this blog is to encourage and assist in meal planning!

I am going to do the hard part for you!

Every two weeks I will share my meal plans, grocery list and links to every recipe I have planned! Just visit the blog, print, shop, save and cook! 
Typically, I try to plan a variety of options to avoid being heavy in one area or another. For example, I do a few chicken meals, beef meals, pork and vegetarian all while keeping a good balance of healthy and splurges here and there!
I set a goal to spend no more than $300 a month to feed my family of 4 (2 adults, a toddler that eats like a frat boy and a baby that's new to this whole food thing!)

In addition to sharing my meal plans, I hope to share tips and deals I utilize to keep me on budget while tossing in some mommy-centered fun!

I am excited to begin this journey and hope others find this page has helpful as I intend it to be! Check back soon for my first week of meal plans!

-Amanda
The Cheap Mama ;)