Meal Plan & grocery list – busy moms / wives

This is a meal plan designed to provide dinner for a family of four 6 nights and breakfast on the weekends. It will also provide some leftovers for lunch depending on how much your family eats during the evening meal. I wrote this for a loved one who works Monday – Friday and is struggling with meal time after a long day.

You will need to start cooking after you get home from church on Sunday. You can use Saturday as your day of rest. Have hubby get take out for lunch and you can cook. Either you or your hubby can shop on Friday night before for groceries. You need to be home for 6 hours on Sunday to do this. You will not be working the entire time, but must be home. I tried to use as few dishes as possible and simple ingredients. This will make cleanup and shopping easier. The meals take less than 30 minutes to assemble, but you do have to do prep work on Sunday. It is also good to do on Sunday so the food is freshest for the week. I think this will cost less than $85 assuming you don’t shop sale items or use coupons. It would be much better with sales and coupons but many busy mom’s don’t have time to run everywhere getting the best deals and combining with coupons.

Also note there are lots of potatoes on this menu. The person who requested this menu has a family who likes potatoes, does not eat rice or creamy pasta casseroles. When you cut out rice and casseroles from cooking ahead, potatoes are an easy starchy side that can be prepared in advance. I did include enchiladas because in Texas this is a food group, not a casserole!

Menu:
Sunday: Roasted chicken, baked potatoes, garlic bread and salad.
Monday: Chicken enchiladas, roasted Cajun potatoes and raw red & green sliced bell peppers.
Tuesday: Sauteed skillet chicken, potatoes on the half shell, green beans and rolls.
Wed: Bacon cheddar onion Hamburgers, steak fries and raw carrots
Thursday: Chicken and dumplings, raw veggies and rolls.
Friday: French bread BBQ pizza and salad.
Sat morning: Breakfast tacos
Sunday morning: Breakfast tacos

Grocery list:
2 whole chickens
4 pounds of ground beef (don’t care how lean)
10 lb bag of russet potatoes
2 lemons
hamburger buns
one can of sloppy Joe’s (mamwich)
Italian seasonings
tony’s or Cajun seasonings
dried parsley
flour/shortening to make dumplings (or buy 10 extra flour tortillas if you don’t make dumplings from scratch which are great this way)
16 oz container of sour cream
8 oz container of sour cream
1 package of margarine (4 sticks)
2 16 oz cheddar cheese blocks
1 8 oz Monterrey jack cheese
one can diced green chilies
one dozen med or large eggs
One package of bacon
20 count flour tortillas (does not include count for dumplings, buy 10 extra if not making dumplings from scratch)
1 bag raw carrots
2 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
2 bags salad mix
1 bottle salad dressing
one can green beans
one bunch green onion
frozen ready bake rolls
two yellow Onions
1 jar sliced jalapenos
One french bread from bakery dept.

Assuming your pantry has olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder.

Step one: cook chicken
First cook chicken. Remove from plastic, trash stuff from inside, wash and dry with paper towel. You need one really large pan or two dishes. You don’t want to crowd them. I pour a little olive oil, lemon juice and I sometimes sprinkle balsamic vinegar (it is sweet) if you have this in your pantry. Then season with your favorite spices. I use garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and a variety of other herbs depending on my mood. Put the leftover lemon in the cavity. Cut an onion in half. Save one half. For the other, cut it in half and put one section in each chicken cavity.

Roast in oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours.  This is long enough in my oven, but you’ll need to check your chicken w/ a meat thermometer to verify.

Step two: cook bacon
Put package of bacon on a large cooking sheet (that has edge) and place in oven with chicken. Place each piece of bacon flat and try not to layer, each piece needs its own space if possible. If you have to overlap some, that is fine.

Step three: prepare dumplings
If you bought extra flour tortillas for your dumplings, skip this step. Make dumplings and put on a cooking sheet. Put in your freezer on the cooking sheet. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag.

Stop four: grate both blocks of cheese, place in fridge for use later in food prep. Wash and chop green onion, including the white part at the end… but toss the root strings. Wash and slice bell peppers and place in fridge to eat as raw veggies.

Step Five: Prepare potatoes.
While you have your oven hot, you can also prepare potatoes. Pick 8 nice potatoes, wash, and wrap in foil for baked potatoes. 4 will to be used Sunday night. If you have room, add to oven.

Select 6 smaller potatoes from the back and wash. Cut these into cubes. About the size of the end of your pointer finger. You can peel or leave peel on. Put in a casserole dish and add olive oil. You want enough olive oil to coat them, not to drench them. They should not be swimming in oil. Add like you would salad dressing on lettuce. Season with Cajun seasoning. Be careful not to over season b/c they will be too salty. Cook these for about an hour while the chicken is roasting. Remember the leftover 1/2 onion from the chicken??? It is good in this dish also, but optional. If you like onion, chopped and toss with the potato mixture. Take them out of oven and let cool. Take out one cup of potatoes for breakfast tacos. Cover dish with plastic wrap and place in fridge.

Next check on bacon. It does not have to be super crispy, but fully cooked. If it is cooked, take out and put on paper towel to absorb grease and cool. Once cooled, save 4 pieces, and then chop into pieces for potato topping and breakfast tacos.

Save the pan with the bacon grease. You can use to make steak potatoes. Take 5 potatoes and slice into large fries. You can peel or leave skin on. Leave enough bacon grease in the pan to give the steak fries a light coating. Or you can totally clean the pan and use olive oil to coat the potatoes which is a healtier option. You don’t want them swimming this this stuff (bacon gease or olive oil), just nicely coated. Season with salt and pepper or you could use tony’s/cajun seasoning for spicy fries. Put pan back in oven and roast for about 20 minutes then get a fork or spatula and turn these babies over so they can roast on both sides. You’ll cook these again later in the week, so take out once they are cooked enough to eat, but be careful not to over cook. At 300 degrees, it should be about 40 minutes. Then take out and let cool. Put in a covered dish or large baggie and store in fridge until Wed. Wipe the pan with a paper towel and save for burgers.

Once potatoes are baked, save 4 for dinner. Take the other 4 and cut in half. Scoop out potato and put in your favorite mixing bowl. Add butter (about 1/2 stick or more if you like), sour cream (two heaping big tablespoonfulls or more if you like), 1 tablespoon dried parsley and about 1/3 cup of chopped green onion. Season with salt and pepper. I mix with a hand mixer so it is creamy in texture. Put potato shells in a casserole dish. Fill shells with potato mixture. Take half the bacon pieces and sprinkle on top of the potatoes (leave remaining bacon for breakfast tacos) and one cup of cheddar cheese to top potatoes. Cover with plastic wrap and place into fridge for Tuesday’s dinner.

Step 6: hamburgers
Take out 1/2 of ground beef, . Season with your favorite. I use salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder, Worchestire sauce (option if you have in fridge/pantry) and one egg. Make four patties. Put on baking sheet you used to cook the potato fries. Take one half of the last onion and cut into thick slices. Add to baking sheet and cook with burgers. Bake burger until almost fully cooked. (while cooking get started with step 7) You’ll fully cook on Wednesday. Let cool and and put in quart freezer bag. In a large freezer bag, add quart bag with meat, 4 buns being careful not to mash bread, a baggie with onions and a baggie with about 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese.
Quick hand wash the baking sheet.

Step 7: Prepare bbq pizza
Brown rest of meat in a skillet – 2 lbs. Drain and add sloppy Joe mix from the can, but don’t reheat. While mixture is cooling, take french bread and cut in half down the middle and lengthwise. You’ll have four pieces. Put in a large freezer bag. Add one baggie with 2 cups grated cheddar cheese and one baggie with 1/3 cup of chopped green onion. Put meat in freezer quart back and add to large freezer bag. Put in your freezer.

Step 8. Sunday dinner. Turn oven to 350 degrees. Put large pot on your stove filled with water and start to boil. Take 2 hamburger buns and spread with margarine or butter. Sprinkle with garlic powder and dried parsley. Place bread on baking dish you quick washed earlier. Take out chicken from oven (if you haven’t already) and add garlic hamburger buns to oven. You will serve one chicken for Sunday dinner and let the other cool while you are eating. Once bread is toasted, take out and turn off oven. Serve with chicken, baked potatoes, and salad. Have butter, 8 oz container of sour cream, one cup grated cheese, and 1/3 cup of chopped green onions for potato fixings.

Step 9. Prepare breakfast tacos. In a skillet, scramble 11 eggs. Season with salt and pepper. You should have 10 tortillas left in package. Divide egg mixture, potatoes, bacon, remaining cheddar cheese, and remaining green onions into tortillas. Wrap individually with plastic wrap and place in large freezer bag. These are good microwaved for on the go or great for weekend brunch breakfasts.

Step 10. More chicken work…. Take leftover chicken from Sunday dinner and debone for any leftover meat. Place leftover chicken bones into boiling water. Put any leftover deboned chicken in a freezer bag and in freezer to be used in broth for chicken and dumplings. Remove the leg parts from the other chicken and debone into small pieces to be used for enchiladas. Remove the chicken breast in large parts and add to baggie and place in cold part of fridge for Tuesday night.

Step 11. Prepare enchiladas. In a bowl, mix small pieces of chicken with one cup of sour cream. Season for kids with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. One one baking dish, make 4 enchiladas for the kids. Wrap chick mixture in 4 tortillas, place in dish sprayed with nonstick stuff and top with 1/2 of Monterrey jack cheese. cover dish with plastic wrap and place in fridge. Add the small can of diced chilies to the rest of your chicken mixture and add a little red chili powder if you have in your pantry. Wrap this mixture in 6 tortillas and top with cheese. On top of this sprinkle with any remaining chopped green onions. You can also top with sliced jalapenos if you want more heat.

Step 12. Prep work for chicken and dumplings. Remove bones from your boiling water and strain to get out pieces. Place liquid in a bowl in fridge to cool. Or you may want to put in a cold water bath in your sink to cool faster. This will heat up your fridge and could compromise your other food. Once cool, skim off fat and freeze for Thursday night’s chicken and dumplings.

Food assembly:
Monday night: when you come in the door, turn on oven to 350 degrees to preheat. Once hot, place the kid’s enchilada dish, the adults’ dish and the roasted potatoes in the oven. Don’t put enchiladas on the top rack of oven b/c cheese will burn. Potatoes are fine at the top. Once heated through, serve with raw veggies. Save leftovers for lunches the next day.

Tuesday night. when you come in the door, turn on oven to temp per instructions on dinner roll package. Once oven is heated, put 4 rolls in a baking dish. Important to only allow one roll per person because kids will fill up on bread and not eat other stuff. Also place potatoes in oven. In a skillet, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Saute large chunks of chicken you have in the fridge. You can also slice up onion and add to the skillet if you like cooked onion. Season to taste with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Heat green beans at the same time. Save any leftovers for lunch on Wed. While you are cleaning the kitchen, place the hamburger bag you have in your freezer into the refrigerator.

Wednesday. when you come in the door, turn on oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray. Place steak fries in oven and heat for about 15 minutes. You can heat up the burgers in the oven or on your grill. The grill will give them the cooked outside flavor, but is more work. So if you’re pressed for time, use the oven. If you use the grill, you’ll still need the oven to toast the buns and heat up the bacon and onions. Sprinkle burgers with cheese while they are in the last minute of cooking to melt cheese. Place burgers on bun and top with bacon and cooked onion. Serve with steak fries.
While you are cleaning up, place baggie of deboned chicken and broth from freezer to fridge for use tomorrow in chicken and dumplings.

Thursday. When you come in the door, put broth in a large pot on your stove and start heating. Take prepared dumplings out of fridge. Or if you are using flour tortillas, cut them into strips about one inch wide and two inches long…doesn’t need to be exact. Turn oven on to heat up frozen rolls. Take out one roll for each person and place on baking sheet and cook according to instructions on package. Once broth is boiling add dumplings (or tortillas) a few at a time. Once they are in add chicken. Do not over cook. Serve with raw veggies. Take any leftovers for lunch next day. While cleaning the kitchen, take freezer container with french bread BBQ pizza fixings and place in fridge.

Friday. When you come in, turn on oven to 350 degrees. Heat up sloppy Joe meat mixture in a bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes. If you use a plastic bowl, spray with nonstick spray to keep mixture from staining your bowl. I prefer to microwave tomato based stuff in glass for this reason. You don’t want meat mixture super hot, but need it warm before it goes into the oven. Place the 4 pieces of sliced/halved french bread on cookie sheet, flat with sliced side up. Top with meat mixture. For kids’ pieces, top with cheese. For adults, add green onion and jalapenos and then top with cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. Serve with salad. If you want the breakfast tacos on Saturday morning, put the number you plan on eating in the fridge and save the remainder for Sunday’s breakfast.