I’m having trouble posting links in wordpress today for some reason, so I apologize for the ugliness.
One of my resolutions for 2012 is to get back to monthly meal planning…it ties in to my other resolutions of dropping a few pounds and trying new recipes (especially vegan and vegetarian ones) all while saving money. So while we are still going to enjoy our butter and bacon, we’re going to balance it out with super-healthy dinners, too.
A few things to note: I’ve been doubling, tripling, quadrupling some things and freezing the extra…this is so there is always something in the freezer on nights when I just really, really don’t feel like cooking. We don’t buy or eat processed frozen meals, so this is our convenience food— pre-made, from-scratch dinners.
I try and piggy-back ingredients; for example, the black eyed peas and the chili both use about half a large can of tomato sauce–so I can save money buying the larger can and use it over two days rather than buying two smaller cans…turkey pot pie and clam chowder both use the same vegetables; corned beef and black eyed peas can both use up the cabbage, etc.
We don’t eat a lot of red meat. When we do, it is grass fed and organic. We will eat ground beef two times in January; beef a total of five times. That’s it. Since we don’t buy very much, we can afford to spend the extra to get the good quality stuff when we do eat it. Also, I don’t believe in lean ground beef–buy it with the fat…the 80/20 or 85/15. It tastes better and the fat drains off anyway.
We eat a lot of organic chicken. We live on an organic, free-range chicken hobby farm, so it makes sense. For the three of us, I can squeeze three dinners out of one 4-5lb bird. Costco sells organic whole chickens for roughly $10 each–which breaks down to about $3/dinner or $1/person per serving…and people complain that organics are cost-prohibitive…
Jan.1 …really, we just brunched all.day.long…
Jan.2 Black-Eyed Peas with Greens (vegan) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/recipe-black-eyed-peas-and-greens/
Jan.3 Chili in the crock pot …this recipe makes a double batch: http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/recipe-chili-with-a-little-kick-like-foosball-little-kinda-kick/
Jan.4 Roast Ham
Jan.5 Killer Quiche (using leftover ham and making a QUADRUPLE batch; three for the freezer, one for dinner) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2011/10/30/recipe-killer-quiche/
Jan.6 Split Pea Soup (using leftover ham bone and ham)
Jan.7 Turkey Pot Pie (I froze some leftover cooked turkey at Christmas…I’m making a triple batch–one for dinner, two for the freezer) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/tuesday-march-17-2009-turkey-pot-pie/
Jan.8 Clam Chowder (uses many of the same ingredients as Turkey Pot Pie, so it’s easy to do most of the prep the day before) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/recipe-clam-chowder/
Jan.9 Logan’s Stew (super easy and cheap in the crock pot) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/recipe-logans-favorite-stew/
Jan.10 Black-Eyed Peas with Greens (vegan) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/recipe-black-eyed-peas-and-greens/
Jan.11 Broiled Teriyaki Salmon (you can use this recipe–or–pick up a jar of Soy Vey Teriyaki sauce (has a white label, Asian foods section) and marinate your salmon in that for 20-40 minutes before cooking…that’s it. Thaw salmon, marinate, wrap tight in foil, cook 10 minutes or so at 400-450, serve. Really good.) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/recipe-teriyaki-grilled-salmon/
Jan.12 Roast Chicken
Jan.13 Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Salad (using leftover chicken) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/recipe-mediterranean-quinoa-with-chicken/
Jan.14 Chicken Cacciatore (using leftover chicken) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/recipe-chicken-cacciatore/
Jan. 15 Jalapeno Garlic Tilapia http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/recipejalapeno-garlic-tilapia/
Jan.16 Moroccan Chickpea Stew (Matt’s favorite) (vegan) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/recipe-moroccan-chickpea-stew-matts-fav/
Jan.17 Killer Quiche from the freezer
Jan.18 Whole Grain Spaghetti with homemade meat sauce
Jan.19 Roast Chicken
Jan.20 Chicken-Black Bean Empanadas (using leftover chicken) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/recipe-chicken-and-black-bean-empanadas/
Jan. 21 Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Salad (using leftover chicken) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/recipe-mediterranean-quinoa-with-chicken/
Jan.22 Corned Beef with potatoes and cabbage
Jan.23 Black-Eyed Peas with Greens (using leftover cabbage from corned beef) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/recipe-black-eyed-peas-and-greens/
Jan.24 Broiled Teriyaki Salmon (you can use this recipe–or–pick up a jar of Soy Vey Teriyaki sauce (has a white label, Asian foods section) and marinate your salmon in that for 20-40 minutes before cooking…that’s it. Thaw salmon, marinate, wrap tight in foil, cook 10 minutes or so at 400-450, serve. Really good.) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/recipe-teriyaki-grilled-salmon/
Jan.25 Moroccan Chickpea Stew (Matt’s favorite) (vegan) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/recipe-moroccan-chickpea-stew-matts-fav/
Jan. 26 Roast Chicken
Jan. 27 Chicken Pot Pie (using leftover chicken) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/recipe-chicken-pot-pie/
Jan. 28 Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Salad (using leftover chicken) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/recipe-mediterranean-quinoa-with-chicken/
Jan.29 Logan’s Stew (super easy and cheap in the crock pot) http://sugarmamabakingco.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/recipe-logans-favorite-stew/
Jan.30 Killer Quiche (from the freezer)
Jan. 31 Turkey Pot Pie (from the freezer)