Step 1: Find out what meat and produce is on sale for the weekThis week at Publix, Mild Italian Sausage, Boneless Pork Loin Country Ribs, and Jenny-O Ground Turkey are on sale. In the produce section onions, red peppers, green peppers, zucchini, and baby Portabella mushrooms 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 great prices for chicken broth, canned tomatoes, and frozen veggies this week and I have a bunch of whole wheat pasta and brown rice in my pantry but I don’t have any cooked brown rice, diced onions, or diced peppers left in my freezer.
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.
Step 4: Get all of the recipes together and make a shopping list of what you’ll need.Pork Ragout over Brown Rice
Classic Vegetarian Tacos
Lean Stuffed Peppers
Mushroom Ragout over Whole Wheat Angel Hair Pasta
Chocolate Walnut Zucchini Bread
Here is a shopping list for the complete menu 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 items that are on sale will have their sale price and brand (if applicable) in italics. The items with coupon matchups will have the coupon info listed just below them.
Produce
- 4 large onions (Sweet Onions, $.99/lb)
- Head of garlic or jar of minced garlic
- 4 packages of Baby Portobella Mushrooms ($1.69)
- 1 cup cauliflower florets (Eat Smart Vegetables, 10 or 12 oz, $1)
- 1 bag fresh spinach
- 2 green bell peppers ($1.49/lb)
- 3 red bell peppers ($2.49/lb)
- 1 bag fresh kale
- 2 medium zucchini ($1.49/lb)
- 1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
Sargento Shredded Cheese, Assorted Varieties, 5 to 8 oz pkg, 2/$4
-$1/2 Sargento Shredded Cheese Products 1/30/2011 SS Insert (exp 3/5/2011)
-$0.55/2 Sargento Shredded Cheese Products 1/30/2011 SS Insert (exp 3/5/2011)-$1.50/1 Sargento Classic Shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar 7 oz Publix coupon (printable) - Eggs
- 1 ½ lbs pork loin country style ribs ($2.99/lb)
- 1 package mild Italian sausage ($2.99/lb)
- 1 package Jenny-O 93% lean ground turkey, 20 oz, ($2.99)
- Olive oil
Crisco Olive Oil 16.9 oz, BOGO $5.99
-$0.75/1 Crisco Olive Oil 2/6/2011 RP Insert (exp 4/30/2011) - Whole wheat pasta
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
Hunt’s Tomato Paste 6 oz, 3/$2
-$1.50 off Publix bakery bread wyb 6 Hunt’s tomato sauces or pastes Publix coupon Italian Days Coupon Found In Store
-$5/20 Italian Days Items Publix Coupon (printable) - Chile powder
- Cumin
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Progresso 100% Natural Broth Chicken 32 oz carton, BOGO $2.59-$1/4 Progresso Items Italian Days Coupon (printable)
-$5/20 Italian Days items Publix Coupon (printable) - Bottle of dry red wine
Sutter Home Wine 750 ml, 2/$10 - 28oz can diced tomatoes
Hunt’s 100% Natural Tomatoes, 28 to 29 oz can, BOGO $1.89
-$5/20 Italian Days items Publix Coupon (printable)
-$0.45/3 Hunt’s Canned Tomatoes 1/23/2011 SS Insert (exp 3/13/2011)
-$1/3 Hunt’s Diced Tomatoes All You Jan 2011 (exp 3/27/2011)-$1/3 Hunts tomatoes 28 oz Publix coupon -Italian Days Sheet Found In Store - 3 15oz cans diced tomatoes
-$5/20 Italian Days items Publix Coupon (printable)
-$0.45/3 Hunt’s Canned Tomatoes 1/23/2011 SS Insert (exp 3/13/2011)-$1/4 Hunts tomatoes 15 oz Publix coupon -Italian Days Sheet Found In Store - 12 small corn tortillas
- Ketchup
Hunt’s Brand-$5/20 Italian Days items Publix Coupon (printable) - Large bag of brown rice
- Parmesan cheese
Kraft Grated Cheese 8 oz, 2/$5-$0.50/1 Kraft Parmesan Cheese TARGET coupon Target.com (exp 2/28/2011) (printable) - Chopped walnuts
- Small bag of chocolate chips
- Baking powder
-$0.30/1 Argo Baking Powder 12 oz 12/05/2010 SS Insert (exp 7/05/2011) - Baking Soda
-$0.50/2 Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (printable) - Sucanat (look in the organic section of the baking aisle. You can use turbinado or brown sugar instead if you can’t find it)