Menu Plan Monday - July 19th - Penny Pinching Menu

I have just recently gotten back into menu planning and really need a penny pincher menu this week. We just got back from 10 days at the Rhode Island shore after spending 7 days at our family’s house on Long Island Sound. I am dog tired, yet I have to climb Laundry Mountain and feed everyone this week. After vacation expenses and upcoming bills, I really need to try to stay out of the grocery store until after payday. So in between washer cycles I put together this menu for the week:

Sunday – Pantry Scrounge

Monday – Steak Kabobs, Grilled Zucchini, Yellow Squash and Onion (with the exception of the onion these are from my garden!!), Bread Maker Bread

Tuesday – Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs, Rice, Green Beans (also from my garden)

Wednesday – Crock Pot Cubed Steak, Mashed Potato, Corn

Thursday – Birthday Girl’s Choice – My daughter turns 7 and gets to choose dinner. Right now it sounds like she wants pancakes or French toast. Easy, yummy and budget friendly – I’m not going to complain!

Friday – BBQ Keilbasa, Baked Beans, Sweet Cucumber Salad (cucumbers are from garden)

Saturday – Sandwich Night, chips, carrots and celery sticks (above mentioned 7 year old is having a Chuck E Cheese party with her girlfriends this afternoon so keeping it simple)

Sunday – Afternoon Family Birthday Party – Appetizers, Cake, Ice Cream. I still need to figure out a few appetizers. I’m trying to keep it easy and inexpensive. The party is at 2pm so it’s between lunch and dinner.

Lunch options for my husband are tuna, chicken or egg salad sandwiches, leftovers or tossed salad. The kids will have peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, soup, macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets. Snack choices are goldfish crackers, jello, ice pops, gogurts, applesauce or animal crackers. We really need fresh produce around here. Thankfully the garden has provided a few things.

Grocery day is Friday so in order to make this work I need to do a little bit of scratch cooking. My ‘wish’ list to accomplish is:

Hard Boil Eggs – DONE
Bake Bread
Make Cucumber Salad
Make Jello - DONE
Plan Sunday Appetizers
Bake Cookies (?)

I also need to plan out my grocery trip and should probably draft out a menu for next week based on any good deals I can get on Friday.

For more great menu and recipe ideas check out this week's Menu Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie. Have a great week!