The Heathen Homemaker’s Weekly Meal Plan
Week 8: 09/06/15 – 09/12/15

Last week was a someone-inspire-me-please kind of week, so I consulted the Pinterest board my friend Leah at The Frugal South and I collaborate on, and also rediscovered some old favorites.

This week I’m feeling cheap. Like, really cheap. Like, OMG-The-Credit-Card-Bill-Was-How-Much-? cheap. So we’re going bargain basement! I’m going with Food Stamp Diet, Use What You Have, Make It Stretch cheap. I guess this means I won’t be buying any $30/pound cheese. or wine. Both are weaknesses of mine.

What are you having for dinner?

This week

Sunday – Pork chops , Trader Joe’s spinach polenta, TJ’s balsamic roasted vegetables
Monday – Roasted chicken ^[1], carrots, green goddess rice, fresh rolls ^[2]
Tuesday – Meatball sliders, homemade fries, salad
Wednesday – Cobb Salad (Egg, Avocado, Tomato, Chicken, Onion, Bacon, Blue cheese on lettuce), fresh rolls
Thursday – spaghetti w meat sauce, roasted broccoli, fresh rolls
Friday – Chicken Gyros, Tzatziki Sauce, Homemade Rice-a-Roni
Saturday – leftover Palooza

[1] I don’t do anything fancy to make a roast chicken. I rub some salt and olive oil on it, shove some garlic and rosemary from the garden in it and throw it in the oven at 400°. I use a Thermopen ChefAlarm, so I don’t even have to set a timer!

[2] I use the ABin5 master recipe  for rolls.

---

Now it’s time to…

GET REAL!
What did you really eat last week Jenny?

• Sunday
  • Planned: Homemade pizza (the ABin5 ^[1] master recipe works great as pizza dough)
  • Actual: Yes, and everyone go to put exactly what they wanted on their pizza!
• Monday
  • Planned: Texas caviar, BLT sandwiches
  • Actual: My kids wouldn’t eat the BLT sandwiches, but they loved the texas caviar!
• Tuesday
  • Planned: Weeknight chicken fajitas, beans, spanish rice
  • Actual: I don’t know why I don’t make this every week. It’s so easy and so good!
• Wednesday
  • Planned: Pork chops, Roasted zucchini, mashed potatoes
  • Actual: We had so much leftover chicken that we ate that with the other planned items. I’ll use the pork chops this Sunday.
• Thursday
  • Planned: Cornbread tamale pie, cucumber salad, avocado slices
  • Actual: What a ridiculously easy thing to make! I don’t have a cast iron skillet, so I used one of my T-fal high-sided skillets. It can be used in an oven up to 350, so yay! We had lots leftover and I was able to make several lunches with it.
• Friday
  • Planned: Vegan Night! ^[2] Butternut squash chili, fresh rolls
  • Actual: It occurred to me as I was cooking this that we seemed to have a cumin-heavy week. Nobody seemed to mind  – certainly not me!
• Saturday
  • Planned: Hodge Podge Night!
  • Actual:  Eating end-of-the-week leftovers seems to be more satisfying to me than to anyone else in the household, but it’s got to be done!

[1] I use the ABin5 master recipe  for rolls.

[2] My oldest son is vegan, so I like to try out recipes I can use when he comes home for a visit.

Do you find that you sometimes inadvertently plan your week’s meals around a theme? Let me know in the comments!