Menu Plan Monday / Cooking Ahead

~Menu Plan Monday~

Well, it's a little late in the day to be posting this, but wanted to get it posted anyway. Life with an infant doesn't allow for much to go as planned. So, here I sit, in my PJs posting to my blog while everyone else (hubby, baby, dog) is finally sleeping!

Monday: spaghetti with meat sauce, kaiser roll with butter.
Tuesday: grilled cheese sandwiches.
Wednesday: hamburger gravy over campanelle pasta, biscuits.
Thursday: crock pot chicken, scalloped potatoes, carrots, applesauce
Friday: chicken with gravy, buttered noodles, stuffing, peas
Saturday: No Cooking Night! (we'll be away from home)
Sunday: leftover night

A lot of pasta this week. I am raiding the pantry and freezer this week and next week. Trying to cut back on groceries the next couple of weeks. So, it's a bit challenging to come up with meals, but I like a challenge.

~Cooking Ahead~

I made a big batch of meat sauce and had enough to freeze for another meal. I let it cool, then poured into a gallon sized ziplock freezer bag. It's laying flat in the freezer in my kitchen now. Once it's solid, I'll put it in my chest freezer in the basement.

I've been trying to cook ahead as much as I can. As I stated in the beginning of this post, life is unpredictable with an infant in the house. So, if I manage to make a big batch of something and freeze half for another night, that extra something can save us cash on a bad day that I don't get to cook dinner. Saving us cash by avoiding take out!

Also, today, when I made my meat sauce, I also prepared the hamburger gravy. I cooked the meat all together, added seasonings, added diced onion, celery and carrot, and a can of diced tomatoes. When it was done cooking, I divided it in half, I added brown gravy to one half and two jars of pasta sauce to the other half. (I let the meat sauce cook down a bit before serving with spaghetti.)

So, while hubby entertained the baby for about an hour, I was able to prepare dinner for three nights! More if you want to count leftovers and the lunch portions of spaghetti and hamburger gravy (one each)! That's a lot of meals for just one hour of work!

Someday, I'd like to try Once A Month Cooking. In addition to finding a day to devote to cooking, I also have to get hubby on board with this idea. It seems pretty expensive to start out, but I am guessing that is just for the first month. (?) Maybe it gets cheaper as the months go on and less needs to be purchased. (?) I'm not sure. But it would make meal time easier for me. But for now, the cooking a little extra each time is helping ease meal time pressure.