Assignment 2 in my meal planning adventure

Okay, assignment two in my meal planning and grocery shopping course is to write out a one week menu plan and grocery list, including snacks.. This is not the same as the last lesson, which was just a list of good meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

This meal plan is specifically designed for a one week period, enabling me to use ingredients on multiple days, incorporating leftovers into the plan, and balancing the amounts of different types of foods we eat.

Note that my breakfasts are a little fancier than cereal and milk, mostly because my gluten free cereal is really expensive, I am not supposed to have cow dairy, and Lucas isn't eating cold cereal yet. Ryan eats regular cereal almost every day so his breakfasts may be a bit different than listed here. Also, I am going to be making Ryan's lunches so I tried to note those in here as well. I will need to allow extra fruit, veggies, chips, cheese, and dip in the shopping list to add to his lunches.

I tried to balance protein and carbs as best as possible and include plenty of fresh veggies and fruits in the meal plan. Lucas is still a beginner eater so there are a few things that won't work for him, like celery and carrots, whole nuts, etc. He also needs two snacks a day in addition to his three meals and whole milk so that is all included.

I'm going to have to wait at least 3 more weeks before trying out this plan, since I am in my first trimester and never know what I am going to be able to eat, and mostly can't stand the sight of food or thought of cooking. In the meantime I am working on these lessons, and I am very happy with this meal plan. It was so much fun I think I'll try to make up a few more weeks worth to have ready.

Here is it!

Monday
Breakfast: Yogurt and banana with nuts
Lunch: Tuna lettuce wraps with apples and corn chips
Dinner: Slow cooker pork with jalapeno, grn pepper, onion with corn tortillas
Snacks: Cheese/crackers, fruit leather and nuts
(Start dinner at lunch time, make extra tuna for Ryan's lunch tomorrow)

Tuesday
Breakfast: Soft boiled eggs, toast, and fruit (also hard boil eggs for egg salad tomorrow)
Lunch: Leftover pork and tortillas from yesterday
Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan with green salad
Snacks: Sliced cucumber with home made hummus, apple slices with peanut butter
(hard boil extra eggs at breakfast for tomorrow's egg salad, cook extra eggplant slices and make sandwich for Ryan's lunch tomorrow)

Wednesday
Breakfast: Rice pudding
Lunch: Eggplant/Mozzarella sandwiches, grape tomato salad
Dinner: Egg Salad Sandwiches and tomato soup
Snacks: cheese and crackers, fruit leather with nuts
(Make extra egg salad sandwich for Ryan's lunch tomorrow)

Thursday
Breakfast: Leftover Rice pudding
Lunch: Leftover eggplant Parmesan and salad
Dinner: Seasoned Beef Tacos with cheese, tomato, lettuce, avocado, and salsa
Snacks: leftover tomato salad, yogurt with fruit
(Don't have to make Ryan lunch for tomorrow, eat out on fridays)

Friday
Breakfast: Cereal with fruit
Lunch: Leftover tacos
Dinner: Home made pizza with peperoni and leftover veggies, green salad
Snacks: cucumber and hummus, apple slices with peanut butter
(make pizza crust ahead of time and store in fridge or freezer)

Saturday
Breakfast: blueberry pancakes and yogurt with sliced almonds
Lunch: Leftover pizza, veggies, and salad
Dinner: Grilled fish with steamed broccoli and rice
Snacks: fruit leather and nuts, cheese and tomato quesadilla

Sunday
Breakfast: Toast with peanut butter and honey, apple slices
Lunch: Eat out for lunch today
Dinner: Minestrone soup with home made bread
Snacks: Celery and Carrots with ranch dip, corn chips with home made bean dip



And here is the grocery list.... many of these things I won't have to buy because I always have them stockpiled in the pantry. I am also trying to keep to a grocery budget (includes toiletries, cleaning products, etc) of one hundred dollars a week. Once I try out this menu plan (about a month from now) I will post my spending for these groceries and see if it will work in my budget for the future.

Meat/Fish
Pork shoulder
Ground Beef
Fish (something on sale)

Deli/Dairy
Pepperoni
Mozzarella Cheese (regular for ryan and lucas, and buffalo or goat for me)
Parm/Romano Cheese
Dozen Eggs
Cheddar Cheese
Plain goat milk yogurt
Milk (whole and nonfat)

Produce
Lettuce for wraps and 2 bags of salad mix
Tomatoes (one large slicing tomato and box of grape tomatoes)
Cucumbers
Green peppers
Jalapeno
Avocado
Carrots
Celery
Onions
Broccoli
Spinnach
Apples
Eggplant
Bananas
Berries (get these frozen if cheaper)

Canned
Jar of salsa
Peanut butter
2 cans white beans, 2 garbonzo beans, 1 can kidney beans
Diced tomatoes
Chicken Broth
Tomato puree
Tomato soup

Other
Rice
Corn chips
Bread (regular and gf)
Ranch dressing
Honey
Bread Mix
Pancake Mix
Pizza crust mix
Fruit Leather
Nuts
Tuna
gf crackers
Corn tortillas
Taco sized flour tortillas (for Ryan)


Thanks for reading!