Weekly Menu Plan for May 10-16

This week's menu will need to consist of things that we already have because I am still working on the $30/week grocery challenge. Here are our plans:

Sunday (Mother's Day) - eat out - Mama ain't cooking today
Monday - Boston Butt slices, sweet potatoes and onions, fresh collard greens from the garden
Tuesday - Breakfast Hoagies, fruit
Wednesday - Enchilada Casserole (several of the ladies that I work with have ranted and raved about this recipe as well as this site), watermelon slices
Thursday - Grilled hamburgers, potato chips
Friday - Blackened chicken strips, corn on cob, sliced tomatoes, garlic bread
Saturday - Ribs (didn't cook this last week), potato salad, cole slaw

For more menu ideas for this week, check out Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Challenge of the Week

I am taking a hard look at whether or not using coupons might be good for us. Since I think that I only buy name brand mayonnaise (I won't touch the store brand), I don't think couponing is going to be worth the time. BUT this week I am going to take an inventory of my cupboards, refrigerator, freezer, laundry room, bathroom, cleaning closet, etc. to see exactly how many name brand items we have. The next step will be to determine if we think that we MUST have the name brand and then if coupons are available for those brands.

If you have been considering couponing, why don't you take this challenge with me? Let me know what coupons you find and at what sites. We don't have a CVS or Walgreens close by (my husband has both in the town where he works but getting him to shop AND use coupons would probably be a stretch). I would have to use mostly coupons just for the grocery store and dollar store, but other ideas are welcome here.

Challenge of the Week

This week coming up I want to challenge any of you who are up to a challenge to go to the grocery store only once. After your initial shopping for the week, don't be caught "dead" in there again. I am slowing realizing that each trip I make back to the store for bread or milk or whatever quickly turns into $20, $30, $40 or more.

I will be doing my shopping for next week on either Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Then I am resolving not to go anymore for a whole seven days.

If you decide to take the challenge, let us know how it goes.

UPDATE: My week was horrible. I was in the grocery store three times due to unexpected illnesses in my household which required items that I didn't have and an unexpected chore which sent us to get convenience items. I am seriously considering undertaking some type of freezer meal cooking project just for those unexpected times when you really want to just go grab take-out. Let me know how you did. Hopefully, better than us. I think we spent more this week in groceries than in the last few months (just due to the number of trips we made).