October Meal Plan || Hello Fall!

little piggy and cabbage 

Fall is here! I was traveling for a week and a half, when I returned fall had hit. The weather is crisp, leaves are turning, and my mums are blooming! I like summer because of my garden and the excitement of watching things grow, but I'm always ready for fall when it comes...ready for soups, lots of baking, and delicious fluffy adding foods.

flowering moss balls 

OCTOBER

1: Monthly Costco trip - eat there  

2: BBQ meatballs  

3: Veggie rice bowls 

4: Slow-cooker honey sriracha barbecue chicken sandwiches, green salad 

5: Grilled cheese, raw carrots, sliced apples 

6: Leftover clear out 

7: Date night 

8: Saturday 

9: Pork loin with spicy honey glaze, green salad, rice 

10: Mac and cheese, raw broccoli, berries

11: Sesame chicken, rice, raw carrots 

12: Tacos with leftover spicy honey pork loin, sliced cucumber 

13: Leftover clear out 

14: House guest  

15: House guest   

16: House guest  

17: House guest  

18: Chicken BBQ pineapple quesadillas {using frozen leftover rotisserie chicken}, green salad

19: Soup, homemade biscuits, green salad 

20: Leftover clear out 

21: Date night 

22: Saturday 

23: Grilled burgers, baked beans, raw carrots 

24: Cereal, bacon 

25: Black bean taco soup {homemade from freezer}, green salad 

26: BLT {use leftover bacon}, fruit 

27: Leftover clear out 

28: Date night 

29: Saturday 

30: Homemade chili, corn bread muffins, green salad 

31: Leftover chili and corn bread, sliced cucumber 

• SIDES - I typically cut up fresh fruit and/or raw veggies each night. 
• Leftover clear out, anything that is a leftover is pulled out of the fridge and you make your own creation. 
• Saturdays I leave open, then if anything gets switched up during the week whatever I had planned for that night we can have on Saturday. 
• As with any meal plan it's always subject to change, but planning the month out doesn't take me much longer than planning a week out AND it cuts my grocery shopping down by more than half! I'll get all non-perishable staples for the whole month the first week, then do a quick fresh items trip the remaining weeks. 
• Staples {not listed above} on my weekly/monthly list are {as needed}: Milk, eggs, peanut butter, jelly, sandwich bread, carrots, broccoli, apples, fresh spinach, bananas, yogurt, seasonal fruit, seasonal vegetable, coffee, cheddar cheese block, oatmeal, cereal, tortillas, tortilla chips, ramen, and peanuts. These items we pretty much always have in house, so for example, if there isn't something leftover on a leftover night we can make something using items from this list. Or if we really don't have something for the Saturday night, then we make something from this list.  
• Monthly grocery budget: $300 + $20 each Friday for Date Night.

Happy meal planning! 
If you have a recipe favorite, please post in the comment section. 

xoxojolleen

{you are beautiful and wonderfully made} 

January 2016 Monthly Meal Plan || Cutting the budget and clearing it out!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's celebration and a delightful Christmas with loved ones.

As part of my love for meal planning, organizing, and cleaning out stuff. In January I like to do a major freezer, fridge, and cupboard clear out. My goal is to use as much as I have on hand and spend as little as possible on groceries.

Our normal grocery budget is $300 a month, I'd like to cut that in half for January. It always feels great to do this especially after December, since it's filled with so much splurging. I start by looking through everything and make a list of all the items I have on hand then plan my month. {I do this too for my regular months, but in those months I'm fine with not using stuff if it's not going to waste and will leave it for another month. Where in January, using up everything is the goal.}

January's meal plan
1: Fridge leftovers from New Year's
2: Fridge leftovers from New Year's
3: Cereal (S)
4: Grilled cheese (S) and hash brown patties (S)
5: Buffalo chicken pizza (S) and green salad
6: Bean and cheese burritos (S)
7: Leftovers (S)
8: Date Night
9: Saturday
10: Sloppy Joe's (S), corn (S), and hash brown patties (S)
11: Baked chicken (P chicken breasts), mash potatoes (S), and biscuits (S)
12: Biscuit french toast (using leftover biscuits), blueberries (S), and bacon (P)
13: Pot stickers (S) and rice (S)
14: BLT's (using leftover bacon) (P tomatoes)
15: Date Night
16: Saturday
17: Pork chops (S) with pineapple fried rice (S)
18: Birthday dinner with family
19: Birthday dinner with hubby
20: Leftovers from birthday dinners
21: Leftovers from birthday dinners
22: Homemade chicken tortilla soup (S) and salad
23: Saturday
24: Burgers (S) with roasted red peppers (S), green beans (S), pasta salad (S)
25: Veggie rice bowls (P fresh veggies)
26: Chicken BBQ quesadillas (S) (use leftover roasted red peppers)
27: Homemade chicken noodle soup (S) and salad
28: Leftovers
29: Date Night
30: Saturday
31: Mini cheese pizzas (S)

• S = Stocked, I have on hand all items needed to make the item or it's already made and in the freezer
• P = Purchase
• I typically cut up fresh fruit and/or raw veggies each night as well 
• Saturdays I leave open, then if anything gets switched up during the week whatever I had planned for that night we can have on Saturday. When I first started meal planning I would plan for each night, so many times something would get switched or we both just wanted mac and cheese or cereal for dinner, so then I started only planning for six nights and it worked out way better. 
• As with any meal plan it's always subject to change, but planning the month out doesn't take me much longer than planning a week out AND it cuts my grocery shopping down by more than half! I'll get all non-perishable staples for the whole month the first week, then do a quick fresh items trip the remaining weeks. 
• Staples {not listed above} on my weekly/monthly list are {as needed}: Milk, eggs, peanut butter, jelly, sandwich bread, carrots, broccoli, apples, fresh spinach, bananas, yogurt, seasonal fruit, seasonal vegetable, coffee, cheddar cheese block, oatmeal, cereal, tortillas, tortilla chips, ramen, and peanuts. These items we pretty much always have in house, so for example, if there isn't something leftover on a leftover night we can make something using items from this list. Or if we really don't have something for the Saturday night, then we make something from this list.  

I'll do a follow up post and let you know how everything went! Try it out, let me know how it goes! Pretty much always a good idea to not waste, clear out, and save money. 

To a joyful year filled with less stuff! 

xoxojolleen

{you are beautiful and wonderfully made} 

Homemade tacos & some garden love

Our summer meals are typically light, fresh, and simple. We love tacos, so this is usually my go to for any leftover meat. 

Chicken tacos using leftover rotisserie chicken, black beans and you can never go wrong with homemade pico de gallo and guacamole.

Fresh from the garden for taco toppings: cilantro, lettuce, and a garlic scape. Garlic scapes taste like a rich garlic onion, it was delicious on tacos. Cutting ingredients from the garden for fresh eating brings me so much joy. 

CAN'T wait for tomato season... 

Happy summer eating! 

xoxojolleen 

{you are beautiful and wonderfully made}

Oven Broiled Parmesan Garden Tomatoes || Yum!

Do you love that crusty toasty parmesan cheese taste? Love tomatoes, warm tomatoes? If yes and yes, these are for you! 

Yesterday somehow I stumbled upon this recipe and it caught my eye, I think it might have been in someone's FB feed, whatever it doesn't matter, I wanted to make them. I checked the ingredients and I had everything, it was added to my dinner plans! 

Weekly Menu || Number Seventeen {Summer Edition}

My weekly menu, number seventeen ~ Summer edition. 

Up this week - Two MUST MAKE items! Avocado, cilantro, lime sauce/dip/dressing and grilled chicken with peanut noodles and a cucumber sambal. {Both are lick the bowl delicious!}

Craisin Almond Chicken Salad

The sweet from the craisins and the crunch from the almonds equal awesome. I'll defiantly make this again, chicken salad is a regular on our summer menus. 

Weekly Menu || Number Sixteen

My weekly menu, number sixteen ~ Summer edition. 

Up this week - Simple and easy; a scramble, mac and cheese with a delicious fruit board, and a fast any night pantry seasoned grilled chicken.

Weekly Menu || Number 15 {Summer Edition}

My weekly menu, number fifteen ~ Summer edition. 

Up this week - The rest of the homemade BBQ sauce in use, deli sandwiches, and individual cherry almond crisps!

Super Simple Bean and Cheese Burritos

I love simple bean and cheese burritos, delicious and budget friendly!

Weekly Menu || Number Fourteen {Summer Edition}

My weekly menu, number fourteen ~ Summer edition. 

Up this week - Easy homemade BBQ sauce, bean burritos with a pocket of cheese, a delicious one skillet dinner, and the perfect summer dessert!

Weekly Menu || Number Thirteen

My weekly menu, number thirteen ~ Summer edition. 

Up this week - Grilled Corn, Jalapeño, Cream Cheese, and Bacon bites, and Coconut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies!  

Weekly Menu || Number Thirteen 

Weekly Menu || Number Twelve

My weekly menu, number twelve ~ Summer edition. 

Last week was awesome! We had a friend visit us from Colorado. She was going to be here for two and a half days. This is what I planned for her visit and how I use up all the leftovers when she departed. Also, a delicious local preserves and a brown sugar caramel sauce you have to try!

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>> Guest Menu >>

Weekly Menu || Number Eleven {Summer Edition}

My weekly menu, number eleven ~ Summer edition. 

This week BBQ Pineapple Quesadillas, a super quick dinner under a $1, and Salted Caramel Frosting!

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>> Weekly Menu >>

Weekly Menu || Number Eleven
{Summer Edition} 

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>> Monday >>

BBQ Chicken Quesadilla with Pineapple and Jalapeños

Weekly Menu || Number Ten {Summer}

My weekly menu, number ten ~ Summer edition. 

Summer time is all about simple delicious dishes that don't heat up the kitchen! This week we had Chipotle Chilies in Adobo Sauce two ways, I love this stuff.

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>> Weekly Menu >>

Weekly Menu || Number Ten {Summer Edition} 

Weekly Menu || Number Nine ~ Summer

Happy June! 

We've been planting, weeding, mulching, and seeding for the last three weekends. Now it's time to keep up the watering and weeding and hopefully things grow! 

I'm trying a garden for the first time and am super excited! I'm doing a mini container garden to test it out. 

My beginner container garden 

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>> Weekly Menu >>

We eat light and easy during the warm weather months, I'll be featuring my favorite recipes and trying some new ones.  We also have a bunch of house projects we'd like to do, so I'm attempting to cut our food budget for June, July, and August from $300 to $200 a month; as close as I can get will be wonderful, all extra money will go to the home project fund! 

Here's my weekly menu for the first week in June.

Weekly Menu || Number Nine ~ Summer 

Weekly Menu || Number Eight

My weekly menu from the third week in May. 

I'm changing the name of my weekly plans to "Weekly Menu", I think meal plan sounds like a diet and if you've followed any of my posts you defiantly know we are not dieters. I like simple delicious foods, I do a lot homemade but will use boxed or other options if it tastes good! We have a monthly food budget of $300, so all my weekly menus fall within that dollar range. Majority of the recipes are not mine, I'm not a chef, I just love food and love to cook and bake; I'm an excellent recipe follower! I'll link to all recipe that are a must try, so you can make them too!

Weekly Menu || Number Eight 

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>> Monday >>

Veggie Rice Bowls 

Meal Plan || Number Seven

My Weekly Meal Plan 

Double header this week...here was my weekly meal plan for the second week in May. Wednesday I'll post for the third week. Two of my all time favorites roasted mini peppers and blueberry shortbread crisp. 

Weekly Meal Plan 

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Meal Plan || Number Six

My Weekly Meal Plan

Must make fajitas and a Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe taste off! 

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Meal Plan || Number Five

Hi Everyone! Here is my weekly meal plan from last week. Buffalo Pork Chops, Lasagna, Tacos, Black Bean Soup, and for dessert S'mores! 

Weekly Plan || Number Five 

Meal Plan || Number Four

Meal Plan || Number Four