So baby boy #3’s birth month has arrived. Sorta hard to plan around a birth. But I’m gonna try.

Cause that’s what you do when you are a Type A!

2- We’ll see what’s on sale this week and make a “bargain meal!”
3- Apricot Chicken
4- Spinach and Lentil Stew
5- Chicken Marengo
6- Ham and Cheddar Waffles
7- OUT (I’m planning one last Stock the Freezer Day!)
8- Spaghetti or Leftovers

9- Soup
10- Bow Tie Pasta with White Beans and Ham
11- Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan
12- Pizza
13- Roasted Tomato Soup with Homemade Bread
14- Breakfast for Dinner
15- Spaghetti/Leftovers/Out

16-22 Start Freezer Eating!

23- Creamy Pumpkin Soup
24- Freezer Meal
25- Light Supper
26- HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
27- Leftovers
28- Leftovers
29- Let the Boys Pick!

Want to know more about why I plan my menus out each month? Read more here…

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It’s coming down to the wire.  I’m trying to get the freezer fully stocked…and trying to make plans for baby’s arrival in mid-November!

Here’s the plan for October:

28- Lemon Chicken
29- Tomato and Olive Pizza
30- Grilled Tilapia
1- A1 Beef Stew (Double for the Freezer!)
2- Chicken Posole
3- Breakfast for Dinner
4- Grill

5- Beefy Mac Soup
6- Cranberry BBQ Chicken
7- Beef Roast with Garden Carrots
8- Baked Chicken Fingers (Double for the Freezer!)
9- Out for Dinner
10- Spaghetti
11- Sandwiches or Leftovers

12- Beef Fajita Salad (Using leftover beef from beef roast and green peppers from the garden)
13- Crockpot SPECIAL!!!
14- Steak and Salad
15- Sweet and Sour Chicken (Double for the Freezer!)
16- Waffles and Fruit
17- Spaghetti
18- Preschool Cookout

19- Bachelor Stew (Recipe idea from Kristie!)
20- Baked Italian Chicken
21- Black Eyed Pea Casserole (Recipe from Jeannine!)
22- Taco Mac (Double for the Freezer!)
23- Breakfast Tacos
24- Soup (Any suggestions???)
25- Leftovers or Sandwiches

26- Beef and Black Bean Burritos (Recipe from Lisa!)
27- Balsamic Chicken with Carmelized Onions
28- French Toast with Fruit
29- Mexican UnStuffed Shells
30- Rice and Beans
31- Spaghetti
1- Leftovers or Sandwiches

And then just 2 weeks until baby arrives!!!

It’s time to start working on the official “stock the freezer” list! My goal is to double up a meal every Thursday, with the hopes of filling up the freezer in the next 10 week!

Tricia from Once a Month Mom just posted some  very useful information about what types of “containers” to use for freezing…so head on over and check it out!

31 – End of Harvest Summer Soup
1 – Scallops with Herbed Raw Tomatoes
2 – Beef and Zucchini Tacos
3 – Coconut Beans and Rice
4 – Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia
5 – Leftovers or Picnic
6 – BBQ

7 – Labor Day – Pasta Primavera
8 – Curried Egg Salad Sandwiches
9 – Tuna Macaroni Salad
10 – Make Freezer Meal
11 – Baked Italian Pork Chops, Homemade Rolls
12 – Spaghetti
13 – Leftovers or Grill

14 – Grilled Chicken Penne al Fresco
15 – Lentil Brown Rice Casserole
16 – Asian Chicken Salad Sandwiches
17 – Make Freezer Meal
18 – CARBO LOAD for Hubs’ marathon!
19 – Picnic/Potluck
20 – Bloggers Day at the Reds Game

21 – Tuna BLTs
22 – Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad from Mom Advice
23 – Surprise Meal
24 – Make Freezer Meal
25 – Baked Chicken Spaghetti
26 – Leftovers or Sandwiches
27 – Out for my birthday

That’s “the plan” for the month of September! We’ll see how it plays out each week…and more importantly each day! This plan is just to keep me from the inevitable “what’s for dinner?” dilemma every day!!!

I get asked a LOT why I make monthly meal plans.  Here’s the short of it.  Because I stock up on meats when I see them for reduced prices (who wants to pay full price for chicken breasts in between sale cycles…not me!), I find that my freezer fills up quickly.  I run a quick freezer inventory at the start of each month to be sure that I have plans to use what is in there.  The most expensive part of a meal is typically the protein cost (unless its a vegetarian meal of course!), so by filling my freezer with the LOWEST cost meats, I know I’ll be able to continue making meals for less than $5!

And it’s a “plan”…in that I know I had most of the main ingredient items on hand and can get them used up quickly. To be honest, I’m having a hard time planning this month, as I’m not sure what, how much and when things will be coming out of the garden. Mainly tomatoes, peppers and eggplants! But I’ll sketch out a “plan,” and we’ll see where it takes us!

I want to thank those who send me recipe ideas!  I’m trying out a few this month!!!  Keep ‘em coming!

5- Italian Chicken and Bowtie Pasta
6-  Dairy Free “Hamburger Helper”
7- Garden Marinara Pasta
8- Breakfast for Dinner
9- Grill with Grandma!

10- Grilled Mojito Chicken and Cornbread
11- Spicy Bean Cakes Thanks Julie!
12- Spaghetti
13- Chicken Fajitas
14- Pork Chops with Peach Salsa Thanks Monique!
15- Out for Dinner
16- Sandwiches and Fruit

17- Black Beans with Tomatoes and Roasted Corn Thanks Kate!
18- Angel Hair with Sauteed Cherry Tomatoes
19- Taco Pasta Thanks Beth!
20- Mini Meatloaves
21- Taco Salad
22- Spaghetti
23- Grill Burgers

24- Apple-Cranberry French Toast Casserole Thanks Andrea!
25- Eggplant Parmesan (Using eggplants from the garden)
26- Green Chile Chicken Thanks for the inspiration Cathy!
27- Rice and Beans Casserole
28- Breakfast
29- Spaghetti
30- Grill Burgers

Well, I can’t believe June is almost over!  I’m proud to say that I survived and will be turning in the manuscript shortly!  {wipes sweat from brow}

Here’s what we’ve got happening in July…Grilling over the 4th Weekend, Family in town the following weekend, and yes, I’m going to BlogHer!  (Please let me know if you’ll be there…would LOVE to meet you!)…and before I know it, it’ll be August!

Guess what happens in August…$5 Dinners turns 1…and I’m cooking up some surprises to celebrate the big day (August 22nd)! 

29- Beef Roast
30- Scrambled Eggs, Toast and Fruit
1- Pasta Salad
2- Beef Stroganoff
3- Grill with Crockpot Baked Beans
4- Festival and BBQ
5- Dinner at Church

6- Black Beans and Rice
7- Chicken Tetrazinni
8- Crockpot Meal
9- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Waffles (make an extra batch or two for the freezer!)
10- Pork Chops
11- Out with Family
12- Grill Steaks or Shrimp

13- Out with Family
14- Birthday Party…haven’t asked the birthday boy what he wants yet!
15- Leftovers
16- BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
17- Pasta Primavera
18- Chicken Spaghetti
19- Grill Burgers

20- Chicken Fajita Pizza
21- Skillet Beef and Pasta
22- “Garden Meal” Surprise…we’ll see what I’ve got in the garden that needs eating!
23- Spaghetti or Leftovers
24- BlogHer Conference
25- BlogHer Conference
26- BlogHer Conference or Out

27- Baked Chicken
28- Grilled Steaks
29- Basil and Tomato Quiche (crossing fingers that I can use a tomato from the garden!)
30- Rice Casserole
31- Backyard Picnic…sandwiches, fruit

Will post weekly meal plans and the recipes with cost breakdowns and deals on the night that I make the meal!

Ok, so I’m on deadline for the cookbook now.  Which means that I am intentionally planning in a few extra “take out” nights!  I might just have to pop into one of those freezer kitchen places for a few frozen entrees.  They cost about $10 a piece and would be MUCH cheaper than going out to a restaurant each night and dropping $25-30 on a meal!  We RARELY eat out or do take out, but I’m going to cut myself some slack this month and just go ahead and plan it in.  Cause I know there are some CRAZY (15 hours of editing each day) DAYZ coming my way!  (I know…lots of eating out!  Not ideal, but I’m just trying to be realistic here! Will get back on track in July!)

1- Homemade Chicken Nuggets
2- Dinner Out with MommySnacks, the ladies from MomminitUp and AmyinOhio… and then to see Yanni Voices!
3- Sloppy Joes
4- Fettucini Alfredo
5- Out
6- MckPancakes
7- Grill or Burgers

8- Pork Chops
9- Out
10- Fish
11- Out
12- Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza
13- Surprise or Leftovers
14- Burgers

15- Pot Roast
16- Chicken Tetrazinni
17- Out
18- Beef Stroganoff, using leftover pot roast meat
19- Healthy Hot Pockets
20- Leftovers
21- Grill

22- Chili
23- BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches
24- Eggs/Breakfast
25- Crockpot Recipe???
26- Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza
27- Out
28- Out

Monthly meal planning is not what I have always done.  I started out as a weekly meal planner…basing the meals around each week’s sale prices.  (I recommend starting out this way!  Bargain Meal of the Week can help you with that!)

After a month or two of buying my favorite cuts of meat when they were at their lowest prices, and freezing them, I noticed that my freezer space kept shrinking and shrinking.  It was then I realized that I needed to “shop out of my freezer,” as I knew the meats in there were as cheap as they could be!  So one month, I took inventory of what was in the freezer and made a plan based on the items in the freezer.  Then throughout that month I’d “restock” the freezer as my favorite cuts went on sale again.  Over the months I have found a balance of shopping from the freezer and using fresh meats.  (Remember, if you do freeze meats, it is important to use them within 3 months if in a regular freezer, or 6-12 months if in a deep freezer!)

Here is my “plan”…I can’t guarantee that I will post every single recipe listed here.  I will post weekly plans and then post recipes as I make the meal.  For a complete list of recipes that I have made in the past, check out the Recipe Index. 

(Many items on this month’s menus are coming from last month…with all the travels and morning sickness, I never got around to making many of the meals!)

4 – Spaghetti Broccoli Bake
5 – Tuna Quesadillas
6 – Baked Oatmeal and Scrambled Eggs
7 - My 2 year old’s Birthday Party…menu undecided!
8 – Costa Rican Rice and Beans
9 – Church Picnic
10 - Grilled Pork Chops

11 – Cinnamon Chicken
12 – Pasta Salad
13 – Meatloaf and Potatoes
14 – Homemade Chicken Nuggets
15 – Lentils Dinner
16 – Spaghetti
17 – Burgers

18 – Shrimp Scampi
19 – BBQ Pork Roast
20 – Bean and Cheese Tacos
21 – Honey Dijon Salmon
22 – North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches
23 – Salad and Homemade Breadsticks
24 – Grill – Memorial Day Party!

25 – Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken
26 – Homemade Veggie Pizza
27 – Greek Pasta Salad
28 – Steaks
29 – Date Night!
30 – Breakfast for Dinner
31 – Burgers

(Notice the Sunday night burger tradition…that will run through the summer months!)

Monthly meal planning works well for our family and our budget! If you are new to meal planning, I’d just start with a weekly plan of 5 or 6 meals. A few weeks later make the plan based on the grocery store ads and sale items. This will help cut your budget down significantly! Helps you pay closer attention to how much you are spending!!!

Another month has come and gone.  Again!

This month has a few meals from March, as I did not get to make them!

30- Meat and Rice Casserole (Thanks PhD in Parenting!) with Cucumber-Dill Salad
31- Spaghetti and Meatballs
1- Leftovers
2- Baked Pineapple Sweet Potato Chicken
3- Whole Chicken with Brown Rice and Frozen Veggies
4- Mexican Chicken Skillet
5- Burgers, Oven Fries and Apples

6- Grilled Chicken and Salad
7- Tilapia on Corn Salsa
8- Crockpot Honey Mustard Chicken
9- Pork Fried Rice
10- Lasagna Soup
11- Honey Mustard Chicken Salad Sandwiches (Use leftovers)
12- EASTER Sunday!!!

13- Egg Casserole and Fruit
14- Lentil Burritos
15- Sour Cream Enchiladas
16- Pork Loin
17- Cinnamon Chicken
18- Honey Dijon Salmon
19- North Carolina Pulled Pork Sandwiches

20- Italian Sausage Ziti
21- Breakfast Tacos
22- Rice and Beans…Perhaps Costa Rican style this month?!?
23- Apple Dijon Sliced Pork
24- Steak Salad (Note to self: Be on the lookout for a reduced for quick sale steak!)
25- Spaghetti
26- Tuna Quesadillas

27- BBQ Chicken and Cornbread Casserole (Recipe from A Year of Crockpotting!)
28- Pork and Sweet Potato Stew
29- Tex Mex Chicken and Rice (Recipe from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures)
30- Black Bean Soup with Corn
1- GF Chicken Nuggets
2- Shrimp Scampi
3- Grilled Pork Chops

This is my plan for this coming month.  And it is just that…a plan!  Details and recipes to come!!!

Like I said Wednesday.

I blinked. And it’s almost March! I can hardly believe it!

It will be cold around here for a bit longer, so I’m trying to squeeze in a few last minute soups and stews that I’ve been wanting to try! I can’t WAIT for the grilling and pasta salad season to be upon us

2- Chicken and Rice Salad
3- Tilapia with Brown Rice
4- Cuban Black Beans
5- Crockpot Chicken Fajitas
6- Moussaka
7- City BBQ (local BBQ joint, found a $5 off $25 coupon! This cook is taking a night off!)
8- Chipotle burritos (Free…If we choose to brave the lines! Goody. Another night off!)

9- Mini Meatloaves
10- Tuna with Olives Pasta Salad
11- Italian Turkey Burgers
12- Bacon Wrapped Pork
13- Pumpkin Soup
14- Pork and Beans
15- Tex Mex Chicken and Beans (Thanks Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures!)

16- Kusherie
17- Lasagna Roll-Ups
18- Honey Lime Chicken
19- Beef Roast with Sweet Potatoes
20- GF Chicken Nuggets
21- Spaghetti
22- Beef Soup

23- Tuna Quesadillas
24- El Burgos
25- Some sort of Chili concoction
26- BBQ Chicken and Cornbread Casserole (Thanks Crockpot Lady!)
27- A Fish Dinner, yet to be decided
28- Chicken and Wild Rice
29- Meat and Rice Casserole (Thanks PhD in Parenting!)

I’ll stick to this plan the best I can. I’ll post a weekly plan each week as part of Menu Plan Monday. Then I’ll share the recipes with you each night as I make the meal

I’m sharing this over at Frugal Friday at Biblical Womanhood.

It’s that time again. Here’s my plan for the month of February!

2- Sweet Potato Crusted Chicken
3- Fish with Rice
4- Chicken Pot Pie Bowls
5- Cranberry Pork Chops
6- Spaghetti (I will be at Blissdom!)
7- Leftover Pork Roast (I’m still at Blissdom!)
8- Blueberry Pancakes (Made by Daddy!)

9- Cowboy Beans and Rice
10- Hamburger Soup
11- Spaghetti Squash and Chicken Bake
12- Apple Dijon Pork Roast
13- Huevos Rancheros
14- Home Cooked Valentine’s Dinner
15- Pulled Pork Sandwiches

16- Beef Roast
17- Pork Chops and Oven Fries
18- Veggie Tacos (Inspired by Big Mama!)
19- Beef and Lentil Experiment!
20- Spaghetti (I’ll be in DALLAS teaching a workshop! Email me if you’re local and want details!!!)
21- Homemade Mini-Pizzas (I’ll still be in DALLAS!)
22- Freezer Diving for Leftovers

23- Chicken and Rice Salad
24- Breakfast Tacos
25- Hamburgers
26- Crockpot Ribs
27- Ginger Chicken Stirfry
28- White Bean and Ham Soup

I’ll post the recipe each night as I make the meal.