Time for a meal plan challenge!!
A few times a year I make a point of challenging myself to plan a weekly menu with all the “extra” food from my fridge, freezer and pantry. These are things that I had planned to use but never got around to.
Sometimes it’s things that were on sale and I knew I would use them at some point so I stocked up.
This was the week!!
The kitchen was my “zone” for deep cleaning this week so I focused on the pantry, fridge and freezer. I usually plan these weekly challenges right before we leave for vacation, but since it was my cleaning “zone” this week, I decided now was as good a time as any!
Hot. Mess. Express! It wasn’t “horrible” – it only took me about 20 minutes to straighten it. Mostly it was just that things had been thrown in and not put away correctly. I did buy some baskets to help contain some of the mess. You can kind of see them to the left of the first ‘after’ picture. It’s not fancy or Pinterest worthy, but it works!
Done!
As I was cleaning out the fridge and freezer, I took note of all the “bits and pieces” that could be used to create meals. I thought of meals my family enjoys and made a list! I think this was one of the easiest (and cheapest!!!) trips to the grocery store I’ve had in a while!
Only 5 bags of groceries! That’s the smallest grocery trip I think I’ve made. Ever!!
I could have gotten out of the store even cheaper but, admittedly, I did grab a few “unnecessaries”.
So, here is our menu for the week:
- Zucchini lasagna with salad and garlic bread (only had to buy ricotta and mozzarella cheeses)
2. Tacos (only bought cherry tomatoes)
3. Chicken Cordon Bleu with roasted broccoli (had all ingredients!!)
4. Surf and Turf with salad (bought cucumbers and a bag of salad – I’m going for easy here!)
5. Pesto chicken with veggies (bought chicken breasts)
6. Breakfast for Dinner – (probably pancakes for the girls and homemade McGriddles with sausage and egg for hubby and me. I only bought white chocolate chips for this day because the girls like adding them in their pancakes.)
I think I might even make this list a regular in our dinner rotation because it all sounds so good and it’s all pretty easy.
Do you ever give yourself a meal plan challenge to use up those random ingredients in your pantry, fridge and freezer? I would love to know what meals are favorites in your house. I love trying new recipes!