Menu Plan Weekly for April 19-25

These are the plans for this week.

Sunday: Ham, rice with pork backbone (my mother-in-law cooked this for us), leftover potato salad, sliced tomatoes

Monday: Baked flounder, cheese grits, baked beans, fresh pineapple slices

Tuesday: Spaghetti, cucumber slices, garlic bread

Wednesday: Grilled pork chops, speckled butter beans, stir-fry mushrooms and onions, fresh sliced strawberries and bananas

Thursday: Hamburger casserole with potatoes and carrots (I'll post the recipe later as an update - this is something a lady at work cooks and she's going to get me the recipe early in the week)

Friday: Grilled chicken breast sandwiches, potato logs (oven fried), marinated tomatoes and cucumbers (the tomatoes at our local produce market have been wonderful)

Saturday: Fried venison steak, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, steamed baby okra

Oh my! My mouth is watering already!

To see other wonderful meal ideas for this week, visit Menu Plan Monday at Organized Junkie.

Menu Plan Weekly for April 12-18

This week is going to be a bit of a struggle for us. We are starting t-ball and have several practices and games coming up. I also want to try and stay out of the grocery store. I've scoured the frig, freezers and cabinets and here's what we'll be having.

Sunday lunch - Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, cookies
(we had lunch with the grandparent and decided grilling would be easy for after church)
Sunday dinner - Grilled chicken fajitas, homemade pico de gallo, tossed salad
Monday - Leftover hotdogs, chips, sliced cucumbers
Tuesday - Pork chops and consomme rice with mushrooms, field peas, corn bread
Wednesday - French's Crunchy Onion Chicken, broccoli, baked potatoes
Thusday - Blackened salmon, stir fry veggies, leftover coleslaw
Friday - BBQ pork sandwiches, oven fries, fried okra
Saturday -Spiral sliced ham, pasta salad, green beans

If you'd like more meal planning ideas, visit Meal Plan Monday.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY!

I'm extending it to Friday, April 24th.

Menu Plan Weekly for April 5-11

Here's what we'll be having this week. I picked the Chicken and Pork Bag 1 from Kraft Foods 1 Bag 5 Dinners - see earlier post. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home from church for some milk and a few other items and found pork chops and chicken on sale. Hence, that is what we'll be eating this week. Since the Kraft site only gives 5 dinners, I had to come up with 2 of my own.

Sunday lunch: Hamburger steaks (from leftover grilled hamburgers), gravy, rice, steamed cabbage, garlic toast

Sunday dinner: Steaks, oven fried potatoes, salad

Monday: Saucy Italian Pork Chops, brown rice (tomatoes and mixed vegetables are included in pork chops)

Tuesday: Creamy Chicken Macaroni with broccoli, apple slices

Wednesday: Stove Top One-Dish Chicken Bake with Mixed Vegetables, fruit salad, relish tray

Thursday: Quick and Easy Pork Chop Skillet, scalloped potatoes, green beans

Friday: Digiorno Thin Crust Spinach, Mushroom and Garlic Pizza, salad

Saturday: Smoked ham (got on sale from our Sunday morning grocery visit for $6 - originally $21 - was marked down), sweet potato casserole, collard greens, creamed corn

If you want more menu planning ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie. And don't forget to check out my giveaway that was added this week.

Share Your Frugal Links Again

I want to do another sharing post for frugal links. I know I have found so many out there and would of course be interested in more. Add your link below and be included in my recipe ebook giveaway. Be sure that your site is about frugality and/or saving money. No Adult Content, please!

Free Recipes Giveaway

I have two e-books that I have added to my site for purchase, but this week I am going to be giving both of these e-books away to two lucky winners!

To enter, you may do any or all of the following:

1. Comment on this blog post

2. Subscribe to the blog. If you're already subscribed, you have already been entered.

3. Add your link to my Mr. Linky for frugal sites (the new one for today). Please be sure that your site is a frugal or money saving site. If not, it won't count.

I will choose the winner on Friday, April 24th. Good luck.

Update: This giveaway is now closed and we have two winners.

Dying Produce? Nearly Out of Date Leftovers? Use them NOW!

Do you have produce in the frig that is nearly dead? Maybe you have leftovers that have one more day before they need to be tossed. Go through your frig each day and find these things. Use them up NOW! They are already paid for and will only fill up the landfills if they go unused.

We have used this tactic this week. It has modified our menu plan somewhat but no drastically. We actually had dessert one evening because the strawberries that I bought a week or so ago were starting to mold. Not all of them, mind you. Just a few on top and in the middle. I threw the bad ones out (or to our chickens and they just loved them) and served the rest with whipped cream.

We grilled hamburgers today for lunch and the leftover burgers are going in the crockpot on Sunday with some gravy to make hamburger steaks. I'll add a few side dishes and Sunday lunch will be a snap.

Think of all the ways you may be able to use up some of those dying, decaying, nearly rotten things in your frig. We all have them so save a little money this week and use them up. Your budget and the trash guy will thank you.

One Bag and 5 Dinners from Kraft Foods

If you are in a money crunch and/or menu planning crunch, try the 1 Bag 5 Dinners at Kraft Foods. There are 4 choices of types of dinners: Chicken and Beef, Chicken and Pork, Chicken and Seafood, and Healthy Living.

Once you choose which types of dinners you want, then you have several samples within that choice. Five dinners are included with recipes and a shopping list for Monday - Friday. Everything that you need should fill one grocery bag.

We've used this before and most of the meals are good. Best of all, the service is free and you know that when you leave the store you have everything you need to cook for the week. If you're in a money crunch, try to pick dinners that include things you already have on hand.

I am going to use this site for my next week's menu planning. Check out their site and then back here on Sunday to see what we'll be eating this week.