Meal Planning 2015-30 days of meals revamp

I have started my list for February. I have about 24-26 recipes, and have left out 2-4 day's for takeout or leftovers etc.
While I was planning an actual calendar, with assigned meals each day of the month, (and I actually had a pretty good rotation going as far as splitting up 6 chicken days lol) you don't always know in advance what you want to eat, or how you are feeling and how long you want to cook.
So I printed & boxed all of my recipes and I will have the kids pull the meal out the night before, if it is something I am not up for, we will repick.
The few meals that are the exemption to this "pick at random planning", especially if you are doing a one time shopping haul-is the stuff that needs to be eaten fresh. In this case, I will make the Italian grill cheese sandwiches with the garlic breadsticks on day one, a nice easy quick meal while I am sorting and putting away all of the groceries. Day two, will possibly be the stuffed cabbage rolls- to avoid the fresh cabbage spoiling, and then the pinwheel steaks with the spinach on day 3. Everything else that requires peppers, onions, garlic, etc. I have previously peeled, chopped/diced onions and peppers in single containers and froze them, so that I just have to throw them in the pot on cooking day. (you can also buy them frozen buy the bag and just pull out what you need)
I took one day to go through all of the recipes and sort out how many pounds of hamburg I would need, how many pieces of chicken etc, and I ballparked a number of $228.00 for everything I had on the list, so I would say $250.00 to be sure. That's a whole month of freshly prepaired, home cooked meals, with leftovers for about $200.00 a month. (because some items such as throw away pans, cooking spray, tin foil etc don't really count into the food total. as well as I factored in some items such as sauces and spices that I already have and don't need to buy.) PLUS some of the recipes are multiple day recipes, like the traditional Italian meatball recipe is for 50-60 2inch meatballs, or more if smaller. you can pull out 20 for dinner and freeze 40 for two more meals, or put away meatballs for appetizers or pizza toppings! (or divide the total to make only what you need and save some $$ there too)

HINT: if you make on bulk shopping list, that lists everything you could possibly ever buy at the market, you can laminate it or put it in a sheet protector and use a highlighter dry erase board to fill in how much you need, or erase what you already have, and you can reuse the same shopping list each month.

EDIT** i did NOT list the items for the toasted italian cibatta sandwich as I will buy the deli meat fresh when we are going to eat it. I also added mini pepperoni, an extra cup of cheesex a rotini pasta, and a sauce to the list to make the pasta posted below. I did noy make a recipe csrd foe this pasta but it can be found in pinterest**.

SHOPPING LIST:

also on the list there are "staple" items, such as instant potates, rice, and canned veggies for serving with the recipes (bacon wrapped chicken with rice, cabbage rolls with instant potatoes, etc. my family has found a brand of instant that tastes just like the real thing without all the extra prep-we like the baby reds instant potatoes in the foil pouch)

GROCERY ITEM, FOLLOWED BY ESTIMATED COST

MEATS

HADDOCK 1 frozen package usually contains 5-6 fillets for $10

(also usually on sale buy one get one free)

HAMBURG 12lbs needed, $30

BONELESS CHICKEN 16 pieces $20

BACON 40 pieces 3/packages $10

STEAK 6 grill size pieces + 1 large flank $20

GROUND SWEET SAUSAGE 1lb $4

GROUND CHICKEN OR PORK 1lb $3

HAM 1lb/diced $3

SCALLOPS (aprx 16pieces) $8

PORK CHOPS 5 chops $10

BONE-IN CHICKEN 3lbs/10 pieces $5-$10

SMALL COCKTAIL SIZE SHRIMP (handful/20pieces/small bag) $5

VEGGIES/DRY PRODUCTS

BABY SPINACH 1 bag $3

LETTUCE: 1 head $1

CABBAGE: 1 head $1

WHOLE POTATOES-8/1bag $3

FROZEN PEAS 1bag $2

ONIONS-6 $3

CANNED CORN-5   $5

CANNED GREENBEANS-5  $5

SPAGHETTI- 1box $1

ELBOWS-1 box $1

TRIOLE OR ROTINI PASTA-1box $1

INSTANT RICE MIX-3 $3

INSTANT POTATOS MIX-3 $3

BOIL IN BAG RICE-1box $3

BOXED STUFFING- $2

BREAD CRUMBS-2PKS $4

SAUCES

BBQ $1

ITALIAN DRESSING $1

SPAGHETTI SAUCE-7 $7

JAR GRAVY-2 $2

FRIDGE/FROZEN

SHREDDED CHEESE-12-14CUPS $20

PIZZA DOUGH-2 $4

MEAT PIE/EMPANADILLA DOUGH-1 $2

**recipe for the meat pies is not shown, its a regular dish in our home so we try to have it once a month or so on our lazy cooking day, the hamburg and cheese is also tallied in the counts**

RICOTTA CHEESE-1 $3

SOUR CREAM-1 $1

FRENCH FRIES-$2

EGGS 3 DOZEN $8

LITE/HEAVY CREAM 4CUPS $4

PEPPERONI-1bag $3

 

HOUSEHOLD ITEMS YOU MAY HAVE

BUTTER

OIL

TINFOIL

ZIPLOCK BAGS OR STORAGE BAGS

COOKING SPRAY

 

Total estimated cost $228.00 without taxes, I'm going to plan on $250 to account for drinks and other snacks we grab.

 

 

 

 

 



Stuffed Porkchops

I was looking for ideas for stuffed porkchops...most of which included apples, mushrooms, or some type off odd and end that I'm not interested in trying. I'm all for apples, but in a pie where they belong, and not smothering my pork chops.
My second issue is we are not huge stuffing fans, mushy globs don't appeal to us, SO my thoughts on stuffing the sides, turned into layering on top.

For the actual recipe,
I decided to keep things simple.

I used
-1 large frying pan & 1 baking/casserole dish
-a box of stove top stuffing, I used turkey.
-4 porkchops (1 actually used 3 and a diced one because I didn't  have 4)
-A few tsps of oil
-salt, pepper, adobo (optional)
-1 jar of gravy, I had turkey on hand.
-1.5 cups of water (for stuffing)
-Diced onions (for stuffing)
-Diced peppers (for stuffing)
-other optional stuffing toppings such as diced celery, ground sausage, pork, etc.
** usually use celery & onions with ground sausage but because I didn't have any I decided to dice a piece of extra pork.

1.Warm your frying pan over medium heat with a few tsp of oil. Add in your diced vegetables and saute for a few minutes. Scoop out the veggies into a bowl leaving the oil in the pan. (This would be easier as a second step, i did it first so the flavor would cook into the pork chops when they brown next)

2.Season your pork chops on one side, and place them seasoned side down in your pan, then season the top. Allow them to brown on both sides. They wont cook through, just get a brown coating. They will cook in the oven.

3. Remove browned pork chops from the pan, add a slice to the center and place them in a lined or cooking sprayed baking dish.

4. Add your vegetables back into the same oil. Also add any extra meats or fillings at this time. I added diced pork during this step because I had a few extra cubes. I simply cut them into small onion dice size pieces with household sizzors or kitchen shears.
After any meats have cooked or warmed, add 1.5cups of water, and your bag of stuffing and mix it thoroughly. You do not need to add the butter, the oil replaces it.

5. Scoop round spoonfuls of stuffing onto the center if your chops, drizzle with gravy, and cook on 350 for about 45 minutes.

**I appologize if any photos are out of order mobil isnt the best version for posting.