Plan & Prep.... Kind Of | July 25th - 31st

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This July has been hot hot hot! I admit that I was burned out on the meal planning coming into this week, in large part due to the heat. We have a full fridge, freezer, pantry, and whole lack of inspiration. This week has been a great example of how much time meal prepping can save you, as I've probably spent an extra 45 minutes in the evening and 10 minutes in the morning rounding up food for work lunches.


This Week's Tiny Sunday Prep

On Friday night I canned another canner-load of bread and butter pickles (7 quarts worth). I expect to be doing another batch at the end of this week as the cuke patch is still going strong. This weekend we ate through most of the leftovers and treated ourselves out to a diner at Portland Pie. Sunday, the hottest day of the weekend, we hung out with family, had burgers, and snagged an ice cream at our favorite local spot. All that to say, I didn't prep a darn thing except cooking off a pound of chicken tenderloins late Sunday night and putting together a few yogurt and fruit cups. Meals this week are ones cooked along-side or after dinner. Thank goodness it's a four-day work week for us this week!

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins


All that to say, I did get a few things made this week so far that were on my mental list: freezer baking powder biscuits (I used this recipe from King Arthur Flour, freeze them raw, and bake from frozen), oatmeal blueberry muffins, and English muffin breakfast sandwiches. The first two items I made with the intention of using up a quart of sour milk I had stashed in the freezer, and the breakfast sandwiches to use up some starting-to-age eggs. Since bacon has been hard to find on sale lately, I grabbed the last three pound packs my grocery store had for $10 each (I bought one last week as well), baked them off in the oven, and froze the cooked slices. This bacon wasn't a brand our store normally carries, and it doesn't look like they plan to restock any at that price (bacon around here is typically $5-9/lb.).

Breakfasts for the Week
  • Freezer Breakfast Burritos
  • Granola Bars
  • Breakfast Biscuits w/ Peanut Butter
  • Egg & Cheese English Muffin Sandwiches - I finally made these, even found some marked down sausage patties at the store to throw on them
Lunches for the Week
  • Cauliflower Roasted Garlic White Bean Soup
  • Season chicken, Spinach or Green Beans, & Rice
  • Sloppy Joes (w/ pre-cooked chopped chicken from the freezer, I used this recipe for the sauce)
Lunch Snacks for the Week
  • Grapes
  • Hummus w/ crackers and cuke slices
  • Yogurt w/ Blueberries
  • Also Available: carrots, popcorn, cheese sticks, nuts, pretzels, etc
Dinners for the Week 
  • Leftover Pizza, Sausage, and Homemade Fries
  • Ham Steak, Snow Peas, Corn on the Cob, Biscuits
  • Something with chicken....
Biscuits Flash Frozen and Ready for the Freezer

Other
  • Protein Balls - still on my to-do list
  • Sausage/Egg/Cheese English Muffin Breakfast Sandwiches
  • Freezer Baking Powder Biscuits
  • Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins
  • Six Pounds of Bacon
Use it Up!
  • Roma Tomatoes
  • Granny Smith Apples
  • Cottage Cheese
  • Swiss Chard
From the Freezer, Pantry, & Garden
  • Quart of Sour Milk
  • Blueberries
  • Two Random Leftover Rolls (for sloppy joe's)
  • Chicken Breast & Tenderloin
  • Ham Steak
  • Cooked, Chopped Chicken Breast
  • Snow Peas, Herbs, Green Beans, Cukes, Zucchini and Summer Squash
Food for Sharing
  • Rice Krispie Pin-Wheels - I didn't get to these last week, so I'll keep them in the wings for this coming weekend (again)...
Check out the first post in my Budget Grocery Shopping Fundamentals to learn more about my approach to meal prep, planning, and shopping!

What are you planning and prepping this week?

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