What's For Dinner This Week..

I have been spending a lot of time meal planning and cooking dinners the last few weeks because it is something I enjoy and helps make sure we don't get take out or resort to the same ole things over and over again.  Though, I can pretty much say we are not a house that eats the same ole sole over and over again.  We are the masters of making things one time only even when they are amazing.  Kind of like my book re-reading philosophy, so many recipes (books) so little time!

Here is what up this week..

M- French Dip Sandwiches, mac and cheese, strawberries

I will say this is a repeater from just 2 weeks ago! I used these two recipes as my starting point and went from there.

T- Taco Chili, tortilla chips, cucumbers and dip

I am using this recipe as my base and going from there. Have you noticed a slow cooker theme already? I start working this week and I know my dinner prep time is going to be cut waaaaaaay down but I have time early in the morning so I think we will be relying on the crockpot a lot more now around these parts!

W- Creamy Black Bean Salsa Chicken, brown rice

And, yet another crockpot recipe! I am pretty much craving black beans and spicy food lately.  We eat a lot of Mexican around these parts.

Th – Brats, pasta with fresh tomatoes

We may do smoked sausage instead because we ate brats on Sunday as well, we may even do hot dogs but I will be making the side pasta and tomato salad that I got the recipe from when checking out my new favorite website www.foodonthetable.com  THE BEST help ever in grocery shopping/meal planning.

F – Shrimp and Feta Cheese Pasta, pears

I also go this recipe from www.foodonthetable.com and I am excited to check it out.  Hopefully, I will get to share some of our faves with you later. ;)

Do you do meal planning? How do you grocery shop?

I have been meal planning two weeks out with maybe a couple supplemental farmer's market trips.  If we run out in the middle of something, we run out and have to make do with what we have in the cupboards, but we will never go hungry.  I also cut coupons.  I used to do it every week but now I only grab a weekend paper the Sunday I am going shopping, or if I am out and about I will grab one.  But I meal plan using various blogs/websites/magazines, coupon and check different websites/blogs for extra savings and then make my lists accordingly.  I don't save an awful lot because I'm not hardcore but my bill got marked down almost 30 bucks today with coupons! I also stocked up enough that besides going back for milk, possibly bread and more veggies/fruit I don't think I NEED to shop for 3/4 weeks now because of stuff I stocked up on.