Thursday, January 26, 2012

Budgeting and Meal Planning

2 things that I am not very good at (well there are several things, but I'm only going to write about 2) are meal planning and budgeting. I've known since we got married that we eat out way too much, esp. pizza, and we buy wayyyyyy too much at the grocery store (that we throw away when it goes bad). Joe and I went to a class at church last week on being financially responsible. . . so we figured we should give it a try.

After sitting down and running the numbers, Joe are I are $100/month away from not having to take out student loans for living expenses. We are SOOOOO close. Enter in meal planning.

Our biggest problem is that we are semi-picky eaters and very limited in the kitchen. That being said, here is the list of meals we both like that are "easy" to make:

Lasagna
Steak
Enchiladas
Chef Salad
Tacos w/ rice
Chili - but no beans (yuck)
Pizza
Brinner
Hot Dogs
Burgers
Pulled Pork
Chicken Cassarole
Grilled Cheese
Spaghetti
Grilled Chicken
Ravioli
Fettucini Alfredo
Skyline
Pork Roast
Ham Steaks
Smoked Sausage
Rotisserie Chicken
Stuffed Pepper Stoup
Hawiian Crock Pot Chicken
Baked Chicken Parm
Spaghetti Stuffed Garlic Bread
crock pot chicken wings
twice baked potato cassarole
Lasagna Soup

I need more ideas. Please help!

4 comments:

  1. http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=603776 ben loves these crock pot French dip sandwiches!

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  2. Crockpots are the best when you're working and still trying to have homemade dinner! I've been trying to figure out how to convert some of our normal meals to the crockpot. Here's two of are favorites though.

    Crock pot beer roast- http://bakeeatrepeat.blogspot.com/2011/12/tender-beer-soaked-crock-pot-roast.html

    Crock pot BBQ chicken- http://bakeeatrepeat.blogspot.com/2011/03/slow-cooker-barbecue-chicken-sandwiches.html

    Also, this is the easiest chicken recipe ever and it's so good on the grill...just marinate in pre-made dressing over night then grill the next day! http://bakeeatrepeat.blogspot.com/2011/05/embarrassingly-easy-italian-grilled.html

    Hope this helps! Way to go for getting your budget down!

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  3. Thanks guys! I'll have to add those to my list!

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  4. I can't seem to find the condensed version of my post on meal planning, I'll send you the link. I love doing both of those things. I guess I'm a nerd that way. :) That's super exciting about your budget though!

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