I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 27 years, disabled daughter, college-aged son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!I have a goal of no eating out for the next two weeks and then will hopefully continue that for the whole month. I'll take it one step at a time, though, and the first step was planning out all the meals for the next two weeks. Part of me wanted to do the eat from the pantry challenge that some of my youtube buddies are doing, but part of me did not want to add that on top of my recovery. I am still weak from that illness and still very tired. I don't think I should make things extra difficult at the moment so I'm not.
I will need to pick up a few items at the start of week two, like plain Greek yogurt and dill for the Tzatziki sauce, more organic iceberg lettuce, and more potatoes. I usually only buy 13 pounds of potatoes a week, because that is all that will fit in the storage bin and since we eat a lot of potatoes, that usually doesn't make it the full two weeks. It might make it ten days, but sometimes only a week. It depends on whether or not I make hashbrowns or potatoes O'Brien for breakfast or not.
We don't eat much in the way of bread, and two of us can't eat beans or lectins (inflammation for me, gasteropaeresis for my daughter), so potatoes are one of our main carbs around here, along with rice, and sweet potatoes, with the occasional pasta.
Day One:
Chicken and Green Beans Stir-fry (has onions)
Rice
Home Canned Pears
Day Two:
Ribeye Steaks
Baked Potatoes
Broccoli
Canned Pineapple
Day Three:
Spaghetti with Ground Beef
Salad
Oranges
Day Four:
Pork Carnitas
Cole Slaw
Apples
Day Five:
Air-Fried Chicken Legs
Roasted Potatoes, Bell Peppers, and Onions
Green Beans
Oranges
Day Six:
Chicken Tater Tot Casserole
Broccoli
Home Canned Nectarines
Day Seven:
Beef Pot Roast
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Broccoli
Oranges
Day Eight:
Homemade Pizza with Pepperoni, Sausage, Ham, Yellow Onions, Bell Peppers, and Spinach
Cole Slaw
Canned Pineapple
Day Nine:
Pork Roast
Baked Potatoes
Home Canned Pears
Day Ten:
Chicken Zucchini Alfredo Bake
Apples
Day Eleven:
Fried Codfish
Fried Potatoes
Cole Slaw
Home Canned Nectarines
Day Twelve:
Chicken Shawarma
Homemade Pita Bread
Homemade Tzatziki
Cole Slaw
Home Canned Pears
Day Thirteen:
Cheeseburgers with Homemade Buns
French Fries
Salad
Oranges
Day Fourteen:
Sausage with Bell Peppers and Onions
Salad
Apples
Two Week Meal Plan
January 1st, 2019 at 08:57 pm
January 1st, 2019 at 11:33 pm 1546385638
January 2nd, 2019 at 01:48 am 1546393731
I think that is my biggest obstacle to planning more then about a week.
I know it helps with shopping and knowing what you need. I just gave up after my DH tries to "help" working alot he sometimes gets home early and starts something he feels like usng items that were suppose to go with another option.
or like I said I have a craving for a something other then the PLANNED item and I keep some options available for days i am not wanting to cook much at all.
January 2nd, 2019 at 05:33 am 1546407210
I post the meal plan with the ingredients lists under each meal on the fridge so they know what not to use. This is also helpful for when someone else makes dinner for me, though that is rare. They know exactly what to put together. That might be helpful for you to do and make sure your husband knows about it. You might even sit down and make up the meal plan together so he can be on the same page together and also contribute his choices.
I also have days where I just say screw it and make pancakes or waffles and ham for dinner. I have an alternate list of easy meals for when I am exhausted like fish and chips or Instant Pot penné pasta or Thrive Life chili which just involves measuring out the freeze dried ingredients, adding hot water, and letting the electric pressure cooker do its thing. I usually have a stash of homemade TV dinners, too. Right now we have 4 leftover Thanksgiving dinner meals, and a half dozen chicken and broccoli stir-fry with rice meals that we can just pull out and nuke. We do have a big pantry so I can easily throw things together off the meal plan if I am super resistant to something or it just isn't what I am in the mood for, but I have a list of those back up meals.
January 2nd, 2019 at 06:15 am 1546409721
Or like tonight, DH made his BFF who lives around the corner dinner since he had knee surgery yesterday and his wife left to go out of town to take care of their granddaughter for the rest of the week, so DH was tired of cooking so he made himself a grilled sandwich and I had leftover chicken again.