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Menu Plan: 02/13 – 02/19

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I can’t believe we’re half through the month already!  Where has the time gone?  The good news is that this week, we’re supposed to have temps in the mid to upper 60s and be sunny!  I’m so ready for spring time!  I did manage to get my menu plan done last week, but have not had a chance to post it before today.  It’s been a busy weekend.  So, here’s what we’ll be eating this week:

Breakfast: 

Lunch:

  • Sandwiches
  • Leftover meals out of the freezer
  • Leftover from the week

Dinner:

  • Sun: Homemade Pizza
  • Mon:  Creamy Tortellini with asparagus & garlic bread (this meal is carried over from last Friday – we had a change of plans)
  • Tues: Burritos using pinto beans from the freezer
    • Wed:  AWANA is serving pizza  `
  • Thurs:  Hot Dogs with oven baked fries
  • Fri:  Beef Goulash with creamy au gratin potatoes
  • Sat:  Beef taco ring and ?????

For more great menu plans this week, don’t forget to check out Organizing Junkie. 

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Menu Plan: 02/06 – 02/12 (Pantry Menu)

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Last week ended up being busy enough that I never did get around to making out a menu and, believe me, my week showed it.  We still managed to eat at home but every day I heard the dreaded question – “What’s for dinner?”.  This week, I’m determined that I will get a menu plan made for the week.  Nothing really special planned for this week so I’ll probably keep it simple, using items that I already have on hand.

Breakfast:

Lunch:

  • Leftovers
  • Sandwiches
  • Soup
  • Ravioli

Dinner:

  • Sun:  Planned dinner out for Michael’s birthday on the 4th
  • Mon: Crock Pot Taco Soup
  • Tues: Pulled Pork Sandwiches with homemade buns, baked beans, & oven baked fries
  • Wed: Leftovers
  • Thurs:  Crock Pot Ham & Bean Soup
  • Fri: Creamy Tortellini with homemade garlic bread, Ceasar salad
  • Sat: Dinner out with friends (also preplanned)

For more great menu plans this week, don’t forgot to check out Organizing Junkie!

Have a great week, everyone, and may God bless you!

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Make Your Own: Instant Oatmeal Packets

 

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These are so simple & quick to make & they can save you quite a bit of money, depending on what all you add to them.  If you’re like my family, we like all kinds of varieties.  These can be customized to your family’s tastes and preferences, AND you won’t have all of the additives and preservatives in yours that you find in the ones that you would buy prepackaged in the stores. 

My 8-year-old (very soon to be 9) son loves oatmeal but has trouble remembering what all the measurements are, so these are easy for him to grab and fix himself with a little supervision with the hot liquid (usually milk).

The ones that I mixed up today are just brown sugar and cinnamon because that I what I have on hand right now.  But you could add chopped dried fruit, or even fresh fruit after it’s been mixed up, plus any other spices or flavors that you love. 

I got the original recipe from Frugal Families, but I almost always customize it to our tastes & what I have on hand at the time.

Instant Oatmeal Packets

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  • 1/4 cup quick cooking oats
  • 2 Tbs ground oatmeal
  • pinch of salt

For the ground oatmeal, I place 2 heaping tablespoons of oats in my mini food chopper and process:

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Mix all ingredients together and store in an air tight container, label, & store until ready to use.

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A few variations:

Dried fruit & cream:  1 Tbs. dry milk or nondairy creamer & 2 Tbs. chopped fruit of choice.

Raisins/Craisins & Brown Sugar:  1tsp. packed brown sugar & 1 Tbs. raisins/craisins. 

Spiced Oatmeal:  1 Tbs. Sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and scant 1/8 tsp nutmeg

Brown Sugar & Cinnamon:  1 Tbs. packed brown sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Possible Additional Toppings: Fresh fruits, peanut butter, maple syrup, butter, jam/jelly, apple butter, etc.   The possibilities are endless! 

The cost?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  For me, the cost is  about $0.09/packet vs. $0.18-$0.20/store bought packets.   Again, with dried fruits and other toppings, the price could increase to about $0.12/packet, but it’s still cheaper than buying store bought & adding additional toppings to that, which we usually ended up doing.   This time, I mixed up 26 packets (ran out of baggies) in about 10 minutes time.  It really takes very little time to do this. 

I hope this inspires you to MYO oatmeal packets.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you do. 

 

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