Weekly Meal Plan and Challenge to myself!

With Easter and several other events coming up as the school year winds down, I am having to stretch my grocery budget more and more to account for all of the "extras" that come up this time of year. So my goal and challenge to myself for this week was to plan an entire menu for a week using only things I already had in my freezer/stock pile/pantry. I was able to do it (other than the fresh produce for a couple of meals) and devote my entire weekly grocery budget to adding items to my stock pile plus fresh produce and milk for this week!!

Here is my meal plan for the week:

Saturday - Blackened Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, *Caesar Salad, French Bread
Sunday - Easter Brunch -Out with the Family
Monday - Baked Chicken, Creamy Lemon Risotto, Mixed Veggies
Tuesday - Parmigiano Reggiano Crusted Chicken Picatta with angel hair pasta, Green Beans, Garlic Bread sticks
Wednesday - Texas Steak House BBQ Beef Sandwiches (meat was cooked and frozen, ready to throw into the crock pot for Wed night!) French Fries, *Corn on the Cob, *Sliced Watermelon
Thursday - Spaghetti Ham Bake (already in the freezer, ready to be cooked), Garlic Bread, Peas
Friday - Cornbread Casserole (1 lb hamburger for this already cooked and frozen), Cottage Cheese, Peas and Carrots.

Some of this I already had prepared and in the freezer for busy weeks like this that I need some extra time that I would normally be cooking. And everything else (except for the few fresh produce items) I already had in the house! So my grocery budget went this week to stock up on produce, milk, eggs, yogurt, diapers, granola bars, more cereal etc.

Obviously I've been working on my stock pile for a while so this was possible. If you are just starting out you might not have quite enough to be able to do this. I challenge you to see how many meals you can make with what you already have in the house, or how many meals you can make without having to buy much for them!! Having this much set aside and ready for crazy months is a wonderful way for us to stay on budget and not worry about spending more money to eat out if I just don't have enough time (or hands) to cook.
Happy Menu Planning!!