Summer has officially started at our house. Not according to the weather (it was only 69 degrees today which is really cold for us in Florida, LOL) but Monday was the start of my season for teaching Survival Swim Lessons. You would think I’d be used to it by now but each year I just get so choked up during the first week of lessons watching what these kids can do in the water :) Theron was barely a year old at the start of my season last year and before he could walk he could swim the entire width of our pool. Plus he had the survival skills necessary to save himself if, God forbid, all of our layers of protection between him and our pool failed and he somehow reached the water on his own. So what does this have to do with meal planning? I’m going to be an EVEN busier lady from now until October so you will be seeing my best fast-and-easy-to-throw-together-and-my-kids-will-eat-it-without-coercion recipes.
I literally jumped for joy when I saw that Portabella mushrooms, raisins, frozen broccoli, shredded cheese, honey, and chocolate chips were on sale. Sound weird? Don’t worry, they’re not all in the same recipe. But trust me, once you try the Vegetarian Tacos this week, you will do the happy dance when mushrooms go on sale too. Definitely one of the 5 best things I’ve EVER cooked. Plus, they are made with mushrooms and cauliflower, two things that Matt detests (like I mentioned in THIS post) but he INHALED these and regularly asks for them.
The raisins, broccoli, and shredded cheese go together to make the most amazing meatballs you will ever eat in your life. Ever. EVER EVER EVER! These are hands down my boys’ favorite dinner. I would say they might actually have to think about it if I gave them a choice between my famous homemade granola bars and these meatballs. And if you’ve ever tried the granola bars, you know that’s saying something :)
Finally the honey and chocolate chips make absolutely scrumptious Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Pancakes. We actually ran out this past week (horror of horrors in our house) so this is great timing for me to replenish my stash.
Oh my goodness gracious!!! There are going to be some very happy boys (all three of them) in my house this week. EEEEeeee!! (Is it weird that I get this excited over healthy food?)
Make sure you also check out the Giveaway HERE this week too because it ends on 4/9!!
Step 1: Find out what meat and produce is on sale for the week
This week at Publix Pork Ribs, Italian Sausage, and Mahi Mahi are on sale. In the produce section asparagus, grape tomatoes, Portabella mushrooms, zucchini, grapes, cucumbers, pears, and cantaloupe are also on sale.
Step 2: Take an inventory of your pantry and freezer, check out what other items are on sale, and pick several recipes that use those ingredients.
There are good prices for pasta, diced tomatoes, frozen broccoli, pita bread, almonds, cheese, Greek yogurt, chocolate chips, brown rice, honey, and raisins.
Step 3: Take a look at your calendar for the week and see which nights you’ll have more time to cook and which nights you won't and plan your menu accordingly.
This will be different for every family but, in general, I cook 3 or 4 nights a week and we eat something from our freezer stash the other nights. To learn how to build your own freezer stash go HERE.
Step 4: Get all of the recipes together and make a shopping list of what you’ll need.
Meals-
Sweet and Savory Turkey Cheddar Meatballs over Perfect Brown Rice
Pork Ragout over Whole Wheat Pasta
BEST EVER Vegetarian Tacos
Almond Crusted Mahi Mahi with Grilled Asparagus and Coconut Brown Rice
Healthy Breakfasts/Snacks/Desserts-
Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Cucumber Tomato Bruschetta on pita bread
Grape Zucchini Bread
Hot Artichoke Dip with Sun Chips
If you haven't already, make sure to try the Pear Oatmeal Cookies, Cantaloupe Bread, and Cantaloupe Crunch Bars.
Here is a shopping list for the complete list of meals (not including snacks and desserts) based on you having nothing in your pantry or freezer. You will obviously omit the items that you already have. Go HERE for an explanation of the couponing abbreviations. The top list has all of the coupon matchups. There is a second list at the bottom that just lists the items with no match-ups and is a little easier to read.
Coupon Matchup List
Produce
- 3 Onions
- Sweet potato
- Spinach
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 lb Portabella mushrooms (or cremini) ( Baby Portabella Mushrooms, $1.69)
- 1 cup cauliflower florets
- 5 large Romaine lettuce leaves (Publix Romaine Hearts, 2/$5)
- Avocado
- 1 bunch asparagus ($2.99/lb)
- 1 medium-sized lime (or 2 Tbsp lime juice)
Grocery
- ½ cup raisins (Sun-Maid Raisins 24 oz, 2/$5)
- Olive oil
Pompeian Olive Oil 32 oz, BOGO $12.09
$1/1 Pompeian Olive Oil, Any
- Whole wheat flour
- 1 ¼ cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
$1/1 Wolfgang Puck Soup or Broth Kroger eCoupon (exp 5/4/2011)
$1/2 Swanson Broth Rolling
$1/1 Imagine Broth, Stock, Soup or Gravy 1/30/2011 SS Insert (exp 4/30/2011)
- 1 ¼ cups Zinfandel or other dry red wine (Sutter Home Wine 750 ml, $5.29)
- 3 15oz cans no salt added diced tomatoes (Del Monte Tomatoes 14.5 oz, BOGO $1.39)
- Tomato paste
- 12 small corn tortillas
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds
Sunkist Almond Accents, 3.5 or 3.75 oz, BOGO $2.99
$1/1 Almond Accents Rolling
$0.75/2 All Natural Almond Accents 1/9/2011 SS Insert (exp 5/31/2011)
$0.50/1 All Natural Almond Accents 1/9/2011 SS Insert (exp 5/31/2011)
- Oats
$1/1 Quaker Instant Oatmeal or Oats 1/2/2011 RP Insert (exp 4/30/2011)
- Unsweetened shredded coconut
- Ground flax seed
- Brown rice
Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice 8.5 to 8.8 oz pouch, 3/$4
$0.30/1 Uncle Ben’s Rice Rite Aid Video Values (exp 5/28/2011)
$0.75/1 Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Product 2/20/2011 RP Insert (exp 4/17/2011)
$1/1 Fresh Beef WYB Uncle Ben’s Product 2/13/2011 RP Insert (exp 4/10/2011)
OR
$0.50/1 Mahatma or Water Maid Rice 1/23/2011 RP Insert (exp 4/30/2011)
- 1 can light coconut milk
- Coconut oil
- Whole wheat pasta
Mueller’s Pasta 12 to 16 oz, BOGO $1.39
$1/2 Mueller’s Products, any – 3/272011 SS Insert (exp 4/30/2011)
$0.55/1 Mueller’s Pasta, Any – Sign Up Required
Spices
$1/1 McCormick Product 3/13/2011 RP Insert (exp 4/24/2011)
$1/1 Frontier Bottled Spice or Baking Extract (exp 8/30/2011)
$0.50/1 Simply Organic Mini Spice (exp 6/30/2011)
$1/2 Simply Organic Glass Bottle Spices (exp 6/30/2011)
- Cinnamon
- Rosemary
- Chile powder
- Cumin
- Curry powder
- Ginger
- Kosher salt
Meat/Fish
- 1 ½ pounds 93% lean ground turkey
- 1 ½ pounds boned pork loin (I use pork loin country style ribs) (Boneless Pork Loin Country Ribs, $3.49/lb)
- 2 - 4oz links mild Italian sausage
Johnsonville Italian Sausage, 19.76 oz pkg, 2/$7
$1/1 Johnsonville Italian Sausage Rolling
- 4 4oz Mahi Mahi fillets (or another white fish like Tilapia or Cod) (Publix Mahi Fillets, 12 oz, $6.99)
Dairy
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Sargento Shredded Cheese, 5 to 8 oz, 2/$4 OR
Kraft Cracker Barrel Cheese 7 to 10 oz pkg, 2/$6
- Low-fat sour cream
Friendship Sour Cream, 16 oz, 4/$5
$0.55/1 Friendship Sour Cream Or Cottage Cheese
- 1 egg white
Egg Beaters 15 to 16 oz carton, 3/$5
$1/1 Egg Beaters (15 or or larger) – All You, April 2011
Frozen
- 2 12oz packages frozen broccoli
Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers 11 to 12 oz, BOGO $2.39
$0.50/1 Green Giant Vegetables Rolling
$0.50/2 Green Giant Veggies
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
Cascadian Farm Organic Potatoes or Vegetables 7.4 to 16 oz, 2/$4
$1/1 Cascadian Farm Organic Frozen Fruits or Veggies 7.4 to 16oz packages Publix Coupon Gentle on the Earth booklet
$0.75/1 Cascadian Farm Product Coupons.com 4/1/2011 (exp 5/2/2011)
*SNACKS*
If you are making the breakfast/snacks/desserts, here are the sale items:
Pancakes-
- Honey
Sue Bee Honey 12 oz, 2/$5
$0.55/1 Sue Bee Honey Rolling
$.50/1 Sue Bee peelie (no exp)
- Chocolate Chips
Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips 11 to 12 oz, 2/$4
$1/2 Ghirardelli Baking Products (IE) Rolling Printable (FF) (no prints left, check your coupon stash)
Cucumber Tomato Bruschetta
- Grape tomatoes (Florida Grape Tomatoes, 1 pk, $1.99/lb)
- Cucumber (Florida Cucumbers, 2/$1.29
- Pita Bread (Toufayan Pita Bread 12 oz, BOGO Surprising Low Price)
Grape Zucchini Bread
- Grapes (Red or White Seedless Grapes, $1.69/lb)
- Zucchini ($1.29/lb)
- Honey
Sue Bee Honey 12 oz, 2/$5
$0.55/1 Sue Bee Honey Rolling
$.50/1 Sue Bee peelie (no exp)
Hot Artichoke Dip
- Greek yogurt
Stonyfield Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt 4 pk 4 oz, 2/$7
$0.50/1 Stonyfield Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt Rolling
- Sun Chips
Frito Lay Baked! Snacks or Sunchips 8.75 to 11.5 oz, 2/$6
$1/1 Sun Chips, Lay’s Kettle Cooked Chips, or Rold Gold Pretzels Rite Aid Video Values (exp 5/2/2011)
$1/1 SunChips Publix Yellow Flyer, Spring Into Savings 3/26/2011 (exp 4/15/2011)
$1/1 Sunchips Publix Coupon Spring 2011 GreenWise Flyer
$1/1 Sunchips Multigrain Snacks assorted var 10.5 oz bag Publix Coupon Gentle on the Earth booklet
Non Coupon Matchup List
Produce
- 3 Onions
- Sweet potato
- Spinach
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 lb Portabella mushrooms (or cremini)
- 1 cup cauliflower florets
- 5 large Romaine lettuce leaves
- Avocado
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1 medium-sized lime (or 2 Tbsp lime juice)
Grocery
- ½ cup raisins
- Olive oil
- Whole wheat flour
- 1 ¼ cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups Zinfandel or other dry red wine
- 3 15oz cans no salt added diced tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- 12 small corn tortillas
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds
- Oats
- Unsweetened shredded coconut
- Ground flax seed
- Brown rice
- 1 can light coconut milk
- Coconut oil
- Whole wheat pasta
Spices
- Cinnamon
- Rosemary
- Chile powder
- Cumin
- Curry powder
- Ginger
- Kosher salt
Meat/Fish
- 1 ½ pounds 93% lean ground turkey
- 1 ½ pounds boned pork loin (I use pork loin country style ribs)
- 2 - 4oz links mild Italian sausage
- 4 4oz Mahi Mahi fillets (or another white fish like Tilapia or Cod)
Dairy
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Low-fat sour cream
- 1 egg white
Frozen
- 2 12oz packages frozen broccoli
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
:)
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