Thrifty Thursday--Menu Planning

I confess that I'm actually not the greatest at meal planning, but I do usually have some type of idea of what I'll be making.  One of my goals for the New Year is to be a better meal planner and here's why:

• A menu plan saves money. Reducing trips to the supermarket, a menu plan reduces impulse spending. Using leftovers efficiently cuts food waste.
• A menu plan saves time. No dash to the neighbors for a missing ingredient, no frantic searches through the freezer for something, anything to thaw for dinner.
• A menu plan improves nutrition. Without the daily dash to the supermarket, there's time to prepare side dishes and salads to complement the main dish, increasing the family's consumption of fruits and vegetables.

So, I'm changing things up on Monday's.  I'm hoping (okay, not promising yet) to post my meal plan for the week on Mondays.  I also hope to put some recipes on there too.  I might be biting off more than I can chew here, but it's worth a try.  Oh, and I'm only posting my DINNER menus.  I won't be posting breakfast or lunch because we usually have cereal or oatmeal from all my coupon deals for breakfast and lunch is generally leftovers from dinner or sandwiches since it's just me and 1 child eating.

Here's what we're having/had this week for dinner:



Sunday:
Leftovers from last Friday and Saturday.
I had two get-togethers at my house and we had lots of leftovers to consume.  It was mostly party type food...nachos, crackers, cheese, salami, meatballs, deviled eggs.  The kids thought they were in heaven!  They all love "party" food!

Monday:
Impossible Cheeseburger Pie, salad, broccoli medley, chocolate cupcakes
This is a recipe that I got out of my Bisquick cookbook years ago.  However, I make my own homemade Bisquick!

Tuesday:
Potato Soup (I'll be posting this recipe later today), crackers, Chicken Salad sandwiches

Wednesday:
Homemade Pizza, flavored noodles, corn
I make my own dough and just put whatever topping on that I happen to have.  This is a great way to use up leftovers.  I still had meatballs leftover from last week that I had froze.  I just thawed them and put them on top with cheese for a meatball pizza.  I also had cooked shredded chicken that I had cooked when I made my Tuesday's dinner.  So my second pizza was a BBQ chicken pizza.  I love making pizza because I can put just about anything on a pizza and my kids will eat it. :)

Thursday:
Salisbury Steak & gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, homemade bread (thanks to my bread machine!)
I'm also making homemade focaccia bread and pita pockets on this day for hubby's lunches.  I might take pics and post them at a later date!

Friday:
Egg Casserole w/Ham, pancakes, apple wedges, clementine slices

Saturday:
Leftovers

Sunday:
Yet to be decided....when I figure it out I'll post it here! It'll definitely be something in my crock pot as that is a busy day for us!