It’s Monday–time to share our dinner-time game plans for the week! A little effort with meal planning at the beginning of the week helps me to provide my family with nutritious, budget-friendly meals, and also allows me to get my act together when our family’s headed in several different directions.
I’ll let you in on a little secret…remember last week when I said I was cashing in on a few pre-cooked meals due to a “busy” week? Well, it was busy because we spent our days at the beach on vacation 😉 (I don’t like to tell the whole wide world that we’re out of the house for the week–hope you’ll forgive me!)
There aren’t too many restaurants in the part of the Outer Banks where we stayed, and for us it’s just easier to eat in after a day at the beach. We had a fantastic week, and even though we hardly ate out, meal prep was super simple because I’d pre-made so many meals and brought them along. Spaghetti and meatballs, taco meat, roast beef sliders only needed reheated, and we used the grill for several other simple meals with minimal cleanup (also, a big hip-hip-hooray for paper plates–this mama had a vacation from doing dishes even if we did cook!!) 🙂
Our special treat was hitting up the local seafood marked for fresh shrimp and scallops. We sauteed some in garlic & butter and grilled the rest on skewers. Oh-my-word amazing (and for way less than taking the family out for a seafood dinner!). Plus we ate in our jammies after getting showered after the beach, which was win-win for everyone!
Anyway, now that we’re home, we’ve got a week with no sports practice or extra activities before soccer starts next week. I’m hoping to replenish my easy meal stash a little, make a few other favorites, and if I’m really ambitious get a little baking done.
Here’s my plan for this week:
Monday: Out to dinner for our anniversary (postponed from last week)
Tuesday: Crock Pot Stuffed Pork Chops, green beans, applesauce
Wednesday: Honey Garlic Chicken, rice, broccoli
Thursday: Christmas Breakfast, fresh fruit
Friday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn
Saturday: Alfredo pasta with grilled chicken, salad or carrots & dip
Sunday: Cheeseburgers, baked french fries, veggie, fresh fruit
How about you–what’s on your menu this week? How do you keep food costs down on vacation while still enjoying your time away from home? Join the conversation in the comments or on Facebook!
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