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Septembers One month of dinners.

With the start of September comes school and soccer. I have been working on getting my family on a strict budget and planning more dinners with the off chance that we never have to eat fast food again. Not to mention, fast food is KILLING our checking account. So, I decided to put all my internet surfing to use and my addiction to Pinterest to good use. I planned an entire month of dinners complete with the shopping list. So here is how it went down.

I got the great idea to plan a month ahead from Fellow blogger Sarah She has a specific way she does it so I tweaked it. Saturdays for us are spent on the soccer field and B and I are on a kickball team so we are gone all day. Sundays will be my Pinterest/Internet blog surfer recipe find days. We will try a new recipe each and every Sunday. So for this month I picked 10 meals.

1-Chicken Alfredo (Learned years ago from a friend)
2 Creamy Chicken Tacos 
3-Balsamic Chicken
4-Chicken Pot Pie ( I did 2 bags one for the crock pot and another for the veggies to be added the last 45                   minutes) 
5-Homemade French Bread Pizza
6-Italian Chicken, Red potatoes, green beans and rice.
7-Healthy BBQ Chicken **Mommababylove**
8-Goulash **Also from momma and baby love
9-Ranch Pork chops, Corn and Mashed Potatoes   *Found via Pinterest to Living laughing and Lovingblog. 
10-Turkey and Cheese Sliders

If its underlined please click the link it will take you to the recipes.

My Sunday picks were
1- 2 Bean Southwestern chicken (OMG it was SO GOOD)
2 Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken (Pinterest)
3 Cream Cheese Chicken (Pinterest)
4-Linguine Lemon Shrimp (Pinterest)
5-Bread Bowl Chili (Not a new recipe but my hubby's favorite for football)

Saturdays are free days....Most likely sandwich/sub snack days.

WEEK ONE was recipes 1-5
WEEK TWO was recipes 6-10
WEEK THREE was recipes 1-5 again
WEEK FOUR was recipes 6-10 again. Now you mix them up but keep the recipes the same...i just kept it the same....it was easier.

Now by doing this you are just doubling the shopping list so you have 2 nights of dinners worth.

I then placed the recipes on my white board

Then I made my shopping list....

MEATS
16 pork chops
25-30 Chicken Breasts
1 pound Shrimp
2-3 lbs of Stew Beef

PRODUCE

4 bags baby carrots
3-Sweet Potatoes
4-Large Green Peppers
2-large Red Peppers
2-Zuchinni
4-Onions
3-heads of Garlic
4-large beets
Corn on the cob
Green Beans
Red Potatoes
4 baking Potatoes
Chives

Canned Goods
4 jars Bertolli Alfredo Sauce
2 cans Rotel
3 cans Pinto beans
1 can Black Beans
2 cans cream of Celery
2 cans cream of Broccoli
4 can cream of Chicken
1 can Diced Tomaotes in juice
2 cans Peas
4 Tomato Paste
2 cans tomato sauce

Chip isle
2 jars Salsa
2 bags of Tostitoe chips (Dips)

Dairy/Refrigerator
3-Cream Cheese
2-Mozzarella Cheese
Mascarpone Cheese
Milk
Yogurt
Bagels
2-Biscuits

Seasonings
Brown Sugar
Garlic Powder
Minced Onion
Sesame Seeds
Wheat Flour

Condiments
Dijon Mustard
2-Ranch Seasonings
Bag of Rice
Balsamic Vinegar
Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2-Italian dressing
2-Pizza Sauce
Macaroni noodles
Angel hair pasta

Deli
Turkey
Ham
Swiss
Provolone
pepperoni


***NOTE GROCERY LIST WAS MADE BY RECIPES AND I REMOVED ITEMS I HAD IN MY HOUSE ALREADY****

I also did not place all the fruits that I bought on the list because its always the same
Bananas
Apples
Strawberries
Blue berries
Black berries


Here is what I spent...

Farmers Market-35.00 (Almost all of my produce)
Target-149.00 Groceries
BJ's 50.00 (Paper towels, dish washer detergent and some food)
Giant- 103.00 for remainder and chicken is on sale 1.99lb

GRAND TOTAL- 337.00!!!! Because I pack fresh fruit and veggie lunches I cannot buy all my lunch material...I have 63.00 left in the budget for fruits/veggies and milk. I think I can do it!!!!!

After I returned home I spent the rest of the day cutting, sorting and placing all the crock pot meals in Ziplock bags marking the outside with the dinner date, what was in the bag, and cooking directions...

I will admit...it was TIME CONSUMING. But, I spent a day of my life shopping and preparing so i can have evening and time with my children when they get home from school...no more stressing about what to make for dinner. Its just that simple! :)

If you are following this blog for the first time please "Like" my Facebook page for more ideas and recipes.
The Crush Family


Thanks for reading and let me know how this works for you! :)


Supermomof3!