Menu Plan Monday ~ Week of December 6th

Okay, so I know I say this with every passing month, but really?  Is it December already?  I really cannot believe how fast this entire year has flown by! 

Last month was such a busy month for me both at home and here on the blog.  Between my birthday, the giveaways, the kitchen contest that I entered and Thanksgiving. I've been really pressed for time.  Grace decided to put herself on a brand new schedule too.  One that is not convenient for me in anyway!  For the past few weeks, she's been waking up around 2:00 am every night.  That wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that I haven't been getting myself to bed until around that time....which means I don't really get to sleep until I get her back to sleep.  It's been brutal. 

Our first Thanksgiving as a family was a huge success.  I am so glad that we let go of all of our "traditions" from the past to spend the holiday together.  Just the three of us.  We're looking forward to nice and quiet Christmas, too. 

Aside from the quality family time, I really enjoyed seeing how far I could stretch that 12-ish pound turkey!  Of course, we had the traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving.  With the leftovers, I made Turkey Corn Chowder, Turkey Noodle Soup.  I also threw together a mixture of diced turkey, stuffing, gravy and mixed veggies to make a casserole-type dish.  I still have 2 cups of diced turkey in the freezer that I plan on using in a pot pie this week.  Yum!  Oh, I forgot to mention huge pot of turkey broth that I made too. We have another turkey in the freezer that I want make over the weekend.  Grace really loves turkey and I love the challenge of finding new meals to prepare with the leftovers!  That second turkey will really help us keep our food bill low this month. 

While I took my little break from blogging, I've been using my time to shop online for Christmas.  It's difficult for me to get out shopping since I don't have a car, so I've been loving all of the online deals!  I've got more than half of my shopping done so far.  I really hope to get the rest finished up this week. 

Christmas shopping has been tough on us this year.  Money is extremely tight.  I managed to put some money aside for Christmas the past couple of months, but not enough.  I really need to start saving earlier for next year.

Luckily, we won't have to spend a lot on groceries this month and that will help us with the extra money we'll need to finish up our holiday shopping. 

After taking inventory of the freezer and pantry, this is what's on the menu for this week: 

• Monday:  Pepper Steak, rice, broccoli and eggrolls
• Tuesday:  Turkey Pot Pie
• Wednesday:  eggs, potatoes, sausage, toast

• Thursday:  Tuna Casserole, veggie
• Friday:  Barbecue chicken, macaroni salad
• Saturday:  Corn Dog Casserole
• Sunday:  Turkey dinner

I have most, if not all, of the ingredients that I'll need for these meals.  I'm sure we'll make a trip to the grocery store for the normal essentials: milk, bread, diapers, etc.  Giant is offering a 30 bonus points when you spend $50 when you use the coupon in this week's ad.  We really depend on these points since they can be used to save money at Giant's gas station.  I'll be checking out this week's flyer to see what other items we'll need to bump the total up to $50.

As always, I'll be linking this post to Menu Plan Monday.