Grocery haul and finalizing a meal plan
Yesterday I made a rough draft of a menu plan and started a shopping list. Today I went to Fresh Thyme and a local Asian market for the first part of my haul. The photo does not include 4-pounds of wild caught shrimp that I put away in the freezer. The total on all of this was $160.
Time and energy prevented me from getting to Aldi yesterday but I was able to purchase enough in my other stops to finalize my 2-week menu plan. I purchased 6 pounds of 93% lean ground beef on sale. The first recipe I have planned is Korean beef bowls. (insert link here). This is so quick and easy and makes a nice change from tacos or spaghetti. I also have a recipe for Cincinnati chili that I prefer to make when I have extra lean beef. Instead of browning the meat first, it is cooked in a flavorful liquid, so that the fat is retained. I will use 4 pounds and make a double batch. We love leftovers of this! Having a “loaded baked potato night” is a great way to use of smaller amounts of leftover chili.
Meal planning tip 1: To help save money, choose recipes that utilize ingredients from your store’s weekly sales ad
Sirloin steak was also discounted, so I purchased 2 large steaks. One of them will go in the freezer for a future meal plan. With the other I am going to make beef kebabs. Fresh Thyme had whole chickens as well as chicken thighs on sale so I stocked up on both because I had no more frozen chicken in my stash. I was planning to use some of the chicken thighs to make apricot glazed chicken, but as I was compiling the list, I realized that many of the meals utilized rice as a side dish including the kebabs and the Korean beef bowls. I decided to substitute a new pork noodle stir fry recipe instead. Last week I made 4 new recipes, which takes a lot of extra planning and mental energy, so this week I limited myself to one new recipe. I have lots of pork in the freezer because this has been a frequently discounted item over the past few months. I will use some pre-cooked diced pork to make the recipe come together quickly. I will still make extra rice to save even more time on a busy weeknight.
Meal Planning Tip 2: Make double of a side dish to use for more than one meal to save time in the kitchen.
Tonight I will be roasting a chicken. I have perfected the technique of air fryer roast chicken. I love any recipe that does not require my turning on the oven during the summer heat, but I make chicken this way year round because the skin gets extra crispy and gives a rotisserie chicken vibe. I own an air fryer topper for my instant pot. It is mostly useless as an air fryer because the surface area is so small, but it does such a great job with the chicken that it has earned it’s keep in my kitchen. I make roast chicken at least once or twice a month. Season the chicken generously and place in a rack in the bottom of the instant pot breast side down. Cook at 400 for 45 minutes. Carefully turn breast side up and cook another 40-45 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken.
Whatever chicken goes uneaten tonight will be used to make a curried chicken salad, also known as Coronation chicken. This is another easy dish I don’t follow a recipe for, but here is a link to something similar.
https://chefsavvy.com/curry-chicken-salad/#recipe.
We enjoy ours with dried cranberries and chopped green onions. I have not added mustard before, but it sounds delicious. Tomorrow I will be sharing my plans for the rest of my week.
Meal Planning Tip 3: Use leftovers as the base for a second meal to save money, reduce food waste and prevent boredom.
Here is the meal plan so far:
Thursday Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, tomato salad
Friday Beef and vegetable kebabs with rice
Saturday Cincinnati chili spaghetti
Sunday Chicken curry salad sandwiches
Monday Korean beef bowl with rice and broccoli salad
Tuesday Pork noodle stir fry and leftover broccoli salad
Wednesday Blackened fish tacos
Let me know what your dinner plans are for the week.