Somehow it is Monday again. I’m not sure how that happened. Last week was a serious blur. It was AWESOME both personally and professionally, but man did it go FAST! The Princess and My Sweetie survived me being gone, but they did miss me. I got lots of love and cuddles from both of them upon my return. And, the Princess and I spent some quality time together at the mall today. She loves to window shop. Crazy kid. Gets that from her dad – not me.

This week proves to be another busy one, but with more meals at home. Here’s the plan for the week.

Monday: Small Group (I’m not cooking – so thankful)

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie

Wednesday: Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Zucchini and Squash

Thursday: Pork Loin, Salad, Roasted Potatoes

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Hot Dogs, veggies and dip, chips

Many of you have been following the Eat From the Pantry Challenge that many, many, many bloggers are doing around the country globe. I outlined my goals at the beginning of the month and tried to adhere to them throughout the month. Here we are at the end of the month, and I can say that everything in the plan above is still coming out of my pantry and freezer with the exception of the fresh produce.

However, I added meat to the freezer during the month. There were some great deals on pork loin and pork chops, and I cooked another turkey at the beginning of the month. So, that didn’t help keeping to the budget.

I also did a major cook for meals for my freezer this past week. Three batches of ziti – with the majority of the ingredients NOT coming out of the freezer or pantry. Ya,that ain’t cheap either. Now, knowing the majority of the ziti (if not all of it) will go to families who need help makes the pocket not hurt as much. However, it throws off my numbers.

So, as I’m thinking through how I did on the pantry challenge, I think I did OKAY. Just okay. I see a more detailed post coming later this week. Keep a look out.

I’m going to be checking in on the others who were participating in the pantry challenge over at MoneySavingMom.com.

I’m also going to be checking out Orgjunkie.com for some addition menu plan ideas.

What are you cooking this week? Anything new?

Mommy here got a cold last week so needless to say the end of the week did not have as much cooking in it as planned. We were unable to have the guests we wanted to over on Friday because I just wasn’t up to cooking and being social. Anyone who knows me well knows that I must have felt pretty bad to cancel dinner plans. We’ll have to reschedule.

This week, I’ll be at a work retreat at the end of the week. The Princess and My Sweetie will not starve as all their meals will be prepared and ready to warm up before I leave. I get kinda crazy about it. Lots of sticky notes involved. I hate disrupting the household routine in any way, but I’m really looking forward to retreat too.

Here’s the plan:

Sunday: Brinner – Breakfast for dinner. It’s been on the plan twice, but we haven’t done it. We are tonight!

(So – that totally changed when The Princess called to see if she could spend one more night at Grandma’s with the cousins. Another night to ourselves. NO problem. I picked up some wings at Publix, and we watched football. Marital bliss at the House of Hills.)

Monday: Small Group – I’m not cooking. Wahoooooo…

Tuesday: Chicken Quesadillas, salad, fruit

Wednesday: Bratwurst, noodles, green beans

Thursday: BBQ for My Sweetie and Chicken Nuggets for the Princess, fruit

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Either leftovers or Chinese depending on if Mommy is home yet

For those of you following along with my eat from the pantry challenge that I’m doing over with Money Saving Mom along with hundreds of others, it’s not going so well. Well, that depends on how you qualify well. We’re eating from the pantry and freezer. However, I REALLY have a hard time not just stopping at the store for one thing which then turns into several things. Do we absolutely NEED what I’m buying? Well, no. Is it nice to have? Well, yes.

Our big purchases this week were pork loin that was on sale at Publix (My Sweetie loves pork loin). I bought several and put them in the freezer. Then My Sweetie was out of ingredients to make his morning smoothie. Hadn’t planned on buying that huge bag of frozen strawberries.

**Sigh**

I am proud to say that I’m spending less this week than previously on groceries. However, I had hoped to spend even less than I am. It’s a learning process – right?

Check out Orgjunkie.com for more menu plans and lots of great recipes.

Visit Life As A Mom to see how other bloggers are doing on the Pantry Challenge. They’re all doing better than me!

When I made my January meal plan, I knew I’d have to change it. I mean, seriously, things are gonna come up right? I remember looking at my calendar on January 2nd and thinking, “I do NOT have all the invitations for the month yet.” And, I didn’t. We added two birthday parties for the month this week plus several other events that we will be attending. That means the plan needs to change. That’s one of the things I love about planning. It gives you a basic framework, and then you move things around to make them work for your current circumstances.

This week’s plan (now that all events are scheduled):

Sunday: Spaghetti (made w/Italian sausage), salad, breadsticks

TOTAL FAIL on Sunday – forgot to make the breadsticks in time. Was too busy playing Polly Pockets and Little Pet Shop with the Princess. Bummed. I was looking forward to those. Wonder if I can fit them in anywhere else.

Monday: Small Group – Somebody else is cooking – wahoo…

Tuesday: Leftovers – we’ve still got stuff in the fridge from last week that needs to be eaten

Wednesday: Roast, Noodles, Green Beans

Thursday: Leftovers – now we’ve added spaghetti and roast to the mix – gotta eat that

Friday: (Company Coming) Fried chicken, wheat rolls, salad, steamed veggies, blackberry cobbler

Saturday: Brinner (Breakfast for dinner) or leftovers – depends on what’s left

I’m taking the Eat from the Pantry Challenge and one of my goals was to only buy milk and produce for the first two weeks of January. Well, that didn’t exactly happen. I bought some meat. It was on sale. And, I bought a turkey. It was on sale. The cool thing about the turkey is that it was huge and gave me lots of leftovers with which to make no less than four casseroles for the freezer. So, I’m not feeling too bad about that.

Last night I made two pans of Turkey and Rice (recipe to be posted this week) and two pans of Cheesy Broccoli and Rice with Turkey. All four went into the freezer for when somebody needs a meal – or I want to eat one. I was also able to freeze four cups of chopped turkey meat. Love how much you can get out of one turkey!

This week, I’m trying to only buy the basics. I need milk, eggs, lettuce, and chicken for Friday. We’re having company, and I really want to make the chicken I made the other day for them. I know they’ll love it. Everything else on the plan, I have in the freezer or pantry.

So, I’m giving myself $30 for the week. That will get me back on track. Some of you will think this is a huge amount. However, compared to what I normally spend in a week. It’s so not. Baby steps folks. Baby steps.

How is your pantry and freezer? Making anything yummy this week?

To see how folks are doing on the pantry challenge head on over to moneysavingmom.com.

For more great recipes, visit I’m an Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday.