Thursday, June 26, 2014

28 Day Meal Plan Challenge - Part 1 - The Plan of Attack

uggghhh here's a short list of things I hate:

1. Living on a budget
2. Being so poor that not being on a budget is not an option
3. Spending my lunch hour staring at the coupons I have clipped (uhhhhmmm now what am I supposed to do with these? Do I clap 3 times and my magic stockpile appears? No? hmmm kay)

but alas....I have spent the time doing these things and I felt like it was my civic duty... (civic? civil? where is my proofreader??) to help out my fellow budgeters so I have prepared a sample meal plan with 3 meals a day including snacks, drinks and desserts for 28 days. I have also attempted to make these all "Clean eating" recipes since it is in fact summer time and no one wants to be fat. So here's the thing. I do not like to try out new things without knowing if it's a sure deal and since I assume that is the norm what I'm going to do since I'm such a giving person and all is to try this out and see if:

1. cutting coupons as an ammeter is even worth it.
2. we can actually stick to the meal plan
3. we can actually enjoy and dare I say look forward to our meals

That way I can report back and if it is in fact a success then you all can try it too!....Your welcome!

So let's get started. Since most people are on cell phones trying to read this I am not going to post recipes but each recipe title can literally be plugged into Pinterest and you can take it from there. If you are the only person** in the universe who doesn't know how to Pinterest then please feel free to ask for my help in getting you a specific recipe. **Even my dad and husband who were voted "Least likely to Pinterest" are Pinteresting these days so really there is no excuse.

Here is the official menu. I like how it's set up because I feel like I'm at a restaurant and I can choose what I want. I think my plan is to sit down once a week and chose the weeks meals and write them on this handy meal planner menu (http://www.passionforsavings.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/menu.pdf) and I will cross those choices off of my master meal plan menu so the next week we can chose something new. The only area I feel like I'm lacking on is lunch. Four choices might get old but then I forgot that some days we will have leftovers to work with.

28 DAY CLEAN EATING THAT YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO EAT MEAL PLAN

Breakfast Ideas:
Scrambled egg pitas with spinach and tomato
Oatmeal with Greek yogurt peaches and almonds
Scrambled eggs with salsa and cottage cheese in whole wheat tortilla
Yogurt with blackberries and granola
Waffles
Cereal

Lunch Ideas:
Balsamic tuna sandwich
Capreses sandwich
Skinny pizza wrap
Tuna Pasta Salad with peas

Snack Ideas:
Pretzels
String Cheese
Rice cakes with PB and banana
Edamame
Hard boiled eggs
Celery with reduced fat cream cheese

Drinks:
Infused waters
Blackberry mint
Lemon cucumber
Strawberry mint
Raspberry lime
Coconut water
Almond milk

Dinner Ideas:
Turkey chili
Burrito bowls
Salmon and roasted veggie bowls
Pork tenderloin, salad and sweet potato
Turkey burgers, sweet potato fries
Grilled Shrimp Served Over Lemon Tomato Pasta
Balsamic Chicken Served With Quinoa Salad
Grilled Pork Chops, Couscous & Asparagus
London Broil Over Arugula Salad With Corn on the Cob
Crock Pot BBQ Honey Pineapple Chicken over rice
One pot pasta with sausage and tomatoes
Chicken Strawberry and Avocado Spinach Salad in Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
Herbed Chicken, Orzo, and Zucchini
Grilled tilapia with mango salsa, mashed potatoes, veggie
Chicken enchilada quinoa bake
Chicken Broccoli quinoa casserole, salad
Fish tacos, lime rice, beans
Turkey Italian sausage bake
Roasted Chicken and Potatoes
Turkey spaghetti
Chicken and asparagus penne
Pesto pasta with sundried tomatoes and roasted asparagus
Ricotta and ham stuffed chicken breast, broccoli
BBQ chicken Cobb salad
Chicken gyros, rice, zucchini
Greek Roasted Talapia with rice pilaf
Mango Chicken beans and rice bake
Chicken with Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Parmigiano-Reggiano

Dessert Ideas:
SF Jello/Pudding
Frozen yogurt
Creamsicle cake

Grocery List

Canned 
black beans (2)
chili beans
corn (3)
crush tomatoes
diced tomatoes
enchilada sauce
green chilis
kidney beans (2)
peaches
pineapple
pinto beans (2)
chopped tomatoes (2)
tuna (2)
Bread
pita bread
rice cakes
tortillas
whole grain bread
whole wheat tortilla
Meat
andouille sausage
bacon
chicken (13)
chicken drumsticks
chicken pieces
ground turkey (3)
London Broil
pork chops
pork tenderloin
Salmon
turkey italian sausage

Boxed 
brown rice (2)
cereal 
couscous
granola-lowfat
mashed potatoes
orzo
pasta side
penne
pretzels
quinoa
refried beans
Rice pilaf (2)
ricearoni
shells
spaghetti (3)
white rice
Whole Grain swirl pasta
popcorn
Deli
ham
turkey pepperoni
Drinks
coconut water
fiji water
almond milk
small reg. milk
diet orange crush
coffee
Coffee filters

Frozen
broccoli (2)
corn on the cob
edamame
frozen yogurt
light whipped frozen topping
onion
peas
strawberries (sweetened)
Sweet potato fries
tilapia (2)
veggie side
waffles
Shrimp
Jar
Salsa
balsamic vinegar
BBQ sauce
garlic
lowfat pizza sauce
mango salsa (2)
mayo
Parmesan (3)
peanut butter
pesto
raspberry vinaigrette
salad dressing (kens $1 off)
spaghetti sauce
sriacha
sun dried tomatoes
syrup

Produce
arugula
asparagus (3)
avocado (2)
bananas
basil
blackberries (2)
carrots
celery (2)
cucumber (2)
grape tomatoes
green pepper (3)
gold potatoes (2)
lemon (4)
lettuce (4) 
lime (3)
mint
olives
onion
oranges
raspberries
spaghetti squash
Spinach
squash (2)
Strawberry
Sweet potato
tomatoes (9)
zucchini (3)


Dairy
butter
coffee creamer
cottage cheese
egg substitute
eggs
feta
Greek yogurt
light sour cream
LF cream cheese
mozzarella (3)
plain yogurt
ricotta
sf jello
sf pudding
shredded cheese
string cheese
Baking
almonds
chicken broth
chives
flat leaf parseley
flour
ginger
Honey
olive oil
oregeno
pecans
SF yellow cake
sugar or substitute
thyme

Now Obviously since we just moved we need to purchase items like flour and spices but chances are you already have a lot of things in your pantry that you would not need to re-buy. Also, something to note is when there is a # next to an item it indicated how many meals it's for so I can get an accurate amount. I haven't actually made it to the store yet to buy these items but when I get there I'm going to probably substitute an fresh veggies I can frozen just so they stay good the whole 28 days. I clipped my coupons from the Sunday paper and then I also went to coupons.com to print off some more.

** Update:
Ok so here is my list. As you can see by the highlighted portions, I forgot a large amount of my items and spent $381!! My coupons only saved me about $20 which is great and all but for all the time and effort I spent finding them and clipping them it was probably not worth it. My advice is this...DO NOT TRY TO SHOP WITH A TODDLER IF YOU WOULD #1 LIKE TO STICK TO A LIST AND #2 WANT TO STICK TO A BUDGET.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Garage Sale Leftovers...

You don't say. Hard to believe this little gem was left behind. Maybe it's me. Perhaps I've seen one too many scary movies where pictures are possessed or are a clue to a life taken long ago in a cruel way and it's now up to the person who finds it to avenge their death. And these are children...even more creepy. Who wouldn't want their ancestors children's pictures and would sell them to strangers for mere pennies? and now just like a sick form of a chain letter I now have to live in fear wondering if the ghost spirit of these children will be haunting me for not trying to help solve their 180 year old murder.