Menu Plan Monday ~ January 3rd

I had planned on posting this earlier today, but it seems that the first Monday of the new year isn't going as planned!  I cannot seem to get myself motivated today.  It's really a good thing I didn't have to deal with getting the kids off to school like so many of you had to do this morning! 

It's been a while since I posted.  Grace's sleep schedule hasn't gotten much better.  She is still teething and wakes up every night to be held and snuggle with me.  Last night, she fussed a couple of times when she lost her pacifier, but didn't wake up fully.  She just rolled over in her crib and fell back to sleep.  As always, if I don't have to deal with the baby, then I have to deal with the dog.  It never fails.  If Grace sleeps through the night, then Remmy wakes me up to let her out at 2 in the morning.  What the heck?  I can't get a break!  LOL! 

I'm so excited to be posting my first menu plan for 2011!  I just wish the meals I have planned for this week were a bit more exciting!  Instead, I'm using January as a bit of a challenge for myself.  In order to "recover" from the over-spending we did while preparing for Christmas and catch up on our bills, I decided that for the entire month, we'll be using what we have in the freezer and pantry.  This will help us keep our spending down for this month.  I wish I could say the money saved from groceries was either going into the savings account or used towards something fun (like new furniture), but no, we really do need to catch up on some bills.  It may not sound like fun, but I'll feel better about it in the long run! 

I'm sure I'll need an ingredient or two to complete some recipes for the month and that's okay by me.  I just hate that we seem to spend so much on groceries SEVERAL times a WEEK!  Especially, when I know we have enough food in the house to feed us for a month...or more! 

I will confess this, Giant had a sale on bone-in split chicken breast last week.  10lbs for $10.  I sent Joe to pick up 20 lbs.  That, in addition  to the rest of the stuff in the freezer should really last us a while.  The only meat we may buy this month is ground beef.  And that's only if there is a decent sale! 

Here's my menu for this week: 

• Monday:  Leftover spaghetti with All Day Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce, garlic bread
• Tuesday:  Chicken a la King over rice, asparagus, biscuits 
• Wednesday:  Navy Bean with Ham Soup, grilled cheese sandwiches
• Thursday:  Eggs, potatoes, sausage, toast
• Friday:  Crock Pot Ravioli with meatballs, garlic bread
• Saturday:  undecided
• Sunday:  Turkey Dinner, Sweet Potato Casserole, veggies, biscuits

The week between Christmas and the New Year had me in the mood to cook.  It may have been the sale on chicken that I mentioned earlier.  Or it could have been the fact that I have 2 new crock pots!  Joe talked me into getting a crock pot a couple of weeks ago and then my parents gave us one for Christmas!  Woohoo!!!  I love crock pot cooking!

I used one to cook some of the on-sale chicken, then later made broth with the bones and juices.  And the other I used to make the All Day Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce!  I also made a huge crock pot of Navy Bean Soup!  Lots of stuff to fill that freezer and make my pantry/freezer challenge much easier for this month! 

Be sure to check back, I'll be posting a bunch of new recipes this month! 

Click the MPM button at the top of the post to go to this week's Menu Plan Monday over at I'm an Organizing Junkie!