July Meal Plan and Grocery List

I've told a few people about my idea to make a menu plan for a whole year.  I hate planning out my menus, but I've found that it is a necessity.  Otherwise, I head to the grocery store with no idea what to buy and end up getting a bunch of random things that I can't make into (edible) meals.  So, basically, I've been menu planning for the past 8 years and got really sick of it. I hated forgetting where I saw a new recipe, hated making the same old things all the time, and hated frantically sitting down the night before a shopping trip to decide what to eat.

So, when I saw the idea on Pinterest to menu plan for the whole year (with grocery lists and everything) I was sold.  I started working on it late last year and it didn't take long to get pretty much every meal figured out.  I did pretty well with following it and saving grocery lists and all...and then the food adversions and cravings hit when I was about 8 weeks pregnant.  So...I did away with the planned meal plan and just kinda winged it for awhile.  I ended up grocery shopping pretty much every week.  It was easy while Lane was in preschool - I only had to take Katy with me and she was really good.

Then summer hit and I quickly tired of bringing both kids with me all the time.  I tried to go at night when Curtis was home, but I was way too tired.  Then, a few weeks ago was the last straw - both kids cried/screamed the entire way through the grocery store and I vowed that I am never taking them again.  I will only take them to our small-town grocery store where they can push the kids' carts.

So, my plan now is to go to Walmart once a month and stock up on all the non-perishables and pantry staples I need for the whole month.  They are by far the cheapest place to get the basics, even though I don't always like their produce (both prices and quality).  So, my grocery list has two parts - non-perishables for the "big" trip and then a list for each week with produce/dairy/meat.  (This month I ended up buying all my chicken and ground beef at once and prepped everything that first week.  It has worked great and I will probably try to do that all the time!)

I think this idea will work out pretty good once the baby is born...there is no way I'm hauling three kids to grocery shop every week.  So...just because I'm pretty sure I like all of you who read this blog...I'm going to share July's menu and grocery list with you :).  Quite a bit of the recipes are from Taste of Home, others are from blogs (found on Pinterest) and some are from various church cookbooks.  And some are super simple meals that don't need a recipe (pizza!  spaghetti!).  Oh, and double check the recipes against the list to make sure that you have everything you need.  I left out stuff like spices and other staples that I know I always have on hand.

Wow that got really long, but I've had people ask what I do when I say that I meal plan...and so far this is working pretty good.  Now if I can only get disciplined enough to keep up with the grocery lists and put it all in a binder...and not have to do this next year :)

Menu Plan for July
Grocery List for July

A Few Good Recipes

I've been trying a few new recipes lately and thought I would share some!

Easy Macaroni and Cheese

Hamburger Vegetable Soup

Corn and Potato Chowder (slow cooker)
Pretzel Buckeyes
The Deen Brothers Lighter Macho Nachos
Parmesan Pork Chops
Buttery Sweet Potato Casserole

Homemade Goldfish "Biscuits"

When I saw homemade goldfish crackers on Pinterest a few weeks ago, I decided that I had to make some.  I just got around to making them yesterday and today (the dough has to chill, which I didn't realize until I had the dough mixed up!).

I even made my own little goldfish cutter out of a pop can (also got the idea from Pinterest).

The dough was super easy to make since it's mixed in the food processor...cutting out all the little goldfish took a lot longer!

Luckily, Katy was entertained by play-doh.  Once I had one pan full, I decided to just cut the rest in squares. I was tired of little fishies :)

Katy LOVES the finished product!  However, they turned out more like goldfish biscuits.  I don't think I rolled the dough out thin enough, so they puffed up like cute little biscuits!  They are really tasty - kinda chewy and light and really cheesy.

I tried getting Katy to pose for the camera, but she didn't cooperate very well!

Goldfish Crackers


1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder (I left this out!)

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Pulse the flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder together using a food processor.

Add the butter and cheese.  Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Pulse in 3 to 4 tablespoons water (I used 5), 1 tablespoon at a time, and only enough so that the dough forms a ball.  Remove, wrap in plastic, and chill for 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Roll dough to 1/8 in. thickness, cut out fish, and place on parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden and crisp (13-18 minutes).  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Menu Plan

Here's what we've been eating lately:

No Boil Baked Penne - garlic bread - green beans
King Ranch Chicken - salad - fruit
Peachy BBQ Chicken - rice - fruit
Ham & Cheese Casseroles - fruit - rolls
Sloppy Joes - sweet potato fries - fruit
Taco Salad - quesadillas
Saucy Honey Mustard Chicken - rice - green beans (Lane would only eat this if I called it "Bee Chicken"...you know, honey...bees...)
Pollo Loco - rice - salad
Hamburgers - fruit- cucumber pasta salad
Crockpot Lemon Chicken - egg noodles - salad
BBQ Ham Sandwiches - chips - grapes

Sunshine & Summertime, Part 2

My garden is actually growing!  I think that this is the first year my garden has produced anything worth talking about :)  Every year around May, I get ambitious and plant a garden....but then life takes over.  The past several summers I have either been pregnant or had a little baby - neither of which is very condusive to gardening.

Now, FINALLY, I could get a little bit of a garden growing (plus we actually had space for an actual garden, not just garden boxes!) and I've been able to keep it up!  I planted cucumbers, green beans, spaghetti squash, green peppers, habenero peppers, cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes.

Katy and Lane love to pick the cherry tomatoes...and I caught Katy eating one this afternoon!  Maybe she takes after her grandma?  I hate tomatoes!

I hope to have enough regular tomatoes to can some salsa and some plain diced to use in recipes.  I've been giving Bret and Laura all my cherry tomatoes...I didn't mean to plant them and I really have no use for them as we don't eat them and since they only produce a handful at a time, not worth it to make anything!

But - I've been making good use of our cucumbers (refrigerator pickles) and green peppers (dicing and freezing them).  Yum!

Menu Plan 8/1

I'm trying to get even better about planning out our meals - this last time I even planned out lunches and snacks!  It made grocery shopping much easier (I wasn't standing in the cracker/cookie/cereal aisle for 10 minutes trying to figure out what would be good/somewhat healthy) and, even though I didn't always stick to the plan, I didn't really have to think during the day about what we're going to eat.  So here's what we've been eating/will eat for the past week and the next couple of days. 

Lunches:
Turkey sandwiches/chips/carrots
Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches/mac & cheese/fruit
Egg Salad sandwiches/chips/fruit
Hot Ham & Cheese/chips/fruit
Leftovers

Snacks:
Teddy Grahams (a favorite of Katy right now!)
String cheese & crackers
Watermelon
Honeycomb cereal (neither one will even try it so I'm left with a big box!)
Vanilla pudding & Oreos

Suppers:
Chicken Quesadillas with Pineapple Slaw
Orange-Pecan Salmon/rice/sweet corn
Country Chicken Cobbler/fruit
Thai Shrimp/rice/sweet corn
Four-Cheese Baked Ziti/bread/green beans

Since we ended up going to the fair and to Casey and Blake's house this weekend, I still have to make the salmon tomorrow night - hope it's good!

I have a busy week the next couple of weeks (and Katy is sick - maybe an ear infection?) so I think I'm going to go easy on myself and try a Kraft Foods "1 bag, 5 dinners" week...they don't look the healthiest or the most interesting, but at least my grocery list and menu is all made out for me already!  I hate grocery shopping with the two little ones, so quick and easy is the goal :)

Fiesta Chicken Burritos

Taste of Home

I made these burritos last night - Curtis took two bites and said "You can throw out any of your other Mexican recipes and just make these all the time."  They were really good.  And very easy - just throw everything in the crockpot, let it cook for several hours, and eat!  I also loved only having one prep dish to wash!

Fiesta Chicken Burritos


1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
3 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Dash cayenne pepper (I left his out)
Dash crushed red pepper flakes
1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese
8 flour tortillas (8 inches), warmed
Optional toppings: sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes

Place chicken in a greased 4-qt. slow cooker. In a large bowl, combine the corn, beans, tomatoes, jalapeno and seasonings; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken; cool slightly. Shred meat with two forks and return to the slow cooker. Stir in cream cheese. Cover and cook 15 minutes longer or until heated through.

Spoon 3/4 cup chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla; add toppings of your choice. Fold sides and ends over filling and roll up.

Menu Plan

Here's what's on the next few weeks' menu:

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos - fruit salad

Southwestern Beef Stew - rolls - salad
Chili Chicken Pasta - breadsticks
Sesame Chicken - rice - egg rolls or crab rangoons
Shrimp Jambalaya - fruit
Honey-Dijon Chicken - noodles - green beans/carrots
Hamburgers - oven fries - salad
French Dip Sandwiches - macaroni and cheese
Peanut Chicken Stirfry - salad
Hearty Sausage Stew - bread
Ham and Penne Milano - fruit
Pizza - salad
Mexican Pizzas - chips and salsa