My Weekly Meals February 2-8th

I’ve been posting on Facebook some of the pictures of my dinners. First, because I’m proud of how delicious my food is, and second, it’s fun. A lot of my friends have been asking for my menus and grocery list. So last night, I thought I’d give it a shot. Now, heading into this, know that I eat a lot of leftovers for lunches, I’m not a big breakfast eater and that’s okay. I also want you to be aware that my grocery list probably don’t have all of the items from the recipes on them, because I’m not going to buy something I already have in my pantry or freezer. Most of my recipes will be Paleo or Paleoish. It’s how I like to eat. Now, I don’t send my kids lunches that are Paleo, but they eat my Paleo dinners and do so without (too much) complaint! This should get you started though. Oh, and since we aren’t home seven nights a week, I don’t plan seven meals. I used to buy seven dinners worth of food, but too much was going to waste. Now it’s usually four dinners planned, and if I’m hungry when I get home from one of our activities, I’ll wing something, I’m a fan of steaming broccoli and heating up a sausage link.

I also want to add that when I’m at the store, if one of my staples is on sale, I stock up on it. I have a spice cabinet full of wonderful spices. Your grocery list, especially if you aren’t an established home cook, might have a lot more ingredients. I can generally go to the store, get enough food to feed my family of five for a week for around $150. Usually a little less, every now and then a little more. That is breakfast and lunch for a week and 4 dinners for five people. It comes to about $1.80 per person/per meal! And that includes the extras I buy at the grocery store to round out my pantry, not too shabby!

My What’s For Dinner This Week Pinterest board changes weekly and is where I pin my recipes I plan on cooking. That way when it’s time to cook, I know exactly where to find my recipes.

Alrighty, here goes nothing!

Lunches for the kids for the week:

Monday – Chicken Rollups with Fruit Skewers
Tuesday – Nuggets with carrots, dipping sauce and gummies
Wednesday – Burritos with fruit skewers
Thursday – Mac and Cheese with Broccoli and Fruit.
(Please note that none of these have actual recipes that I’ll be linking to. These are basic easy things that I make up and throw in their lunches. If you have a specific question, let me know and I’ll do my best to give you some sort of recipe!)
(Also, my big kids don’t eat lunch at school on Friday, and so I’ll just usually make Ian a PBJ with whatever we have around for his Friday lunch.)

Dinners for the week:
Sunday – Pita Pizzas with Fruit (My husband and I will be at a Super Bowl Party and so this is something easy the kids can have while my mom sits them)
Tuesday – Cilantro Lime Shrimp with Salad
Thursday – Spicy and Sticky Coconut Chicken with Steamed Broccoli
Saturday – Buttermilk Pancakes and Bacon.

I’m going to be out with friends Saturday night, so Matt is on dinner duty, and he wants to make the kids pancakes. No recipe, since everyone has their favorite. If you want the from scratch recipe we use, let me know and I’ll type it up! 🙂

So what I’ve done for the list is break it up into two parts. One will be what I need to buy for dinners (again, read the recipes to see if you need any spices or staples that I already have) and the other will be what I need to grab for the kids’ lunches this week. And, of course, when I go to the store, I grab stuff to round out breakfasts.

Dinner Grocery List:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Limes – 3
Cilantro
Lettuce
Avocado
Red Bell Pepper
Tomatoes
Green Onion
Cauliflower
Onion
Broccoli
Pita Bread
Tomato Sauce
Coconut Milk
Buttermilk
Cheese
Shrmp – 2 pounds
Boneless Skinless Chicken
Bacon

Lunch List:

Boneless skinless chicken
Baby Carrots
Tortillas
Broccoli
Bread
Salsa
sour cream

I still have a ton of fruit in my house this week, so my list is light on fruit, even though we are planning on eating a lot of it. Please let me know if you have any questions! I’d be happy to expand on any of the above! I’m just a mom who work 40 hours a week, runs her kids to multiple activities, goes to meetings for the school and service organizations, and wants my home life to be easier. By doing my meal planning, I’ve noticed I’m not frazzled when I get home trying to decide what I can feed my kids that is healthy, but I also save a bunch of money!