What's for dinner?

This past month Ben and I have really been trying to stick to our budget. With the holidays fast approaching, we are determined to make it work. What we've noticed when we aren't mindful of what we are spending, it is the FOOD category that kills us the most (true for probably almost everybody, right?). Eating out during the week (even just fast food), going to the store multiple times a week and buying for 1 or 2 meals at a time really adds up. So, in an effort to cut down in that area, I have started going to the grocery store every 2 weeks.

Which is good and bad.

Good: I loathe grocery shopping most of the time. I don't know what it is. In college I loved it. It was like a shopping spree for a poor college kid. Now, everything annoys me. Not a good produce selection. People cutting you off with their shopping cart. The lady that stands in front of the milk like she can't decide what to get, blocking your access to just grabbing your 2% and moving on. I could go on and on. But, when we got married, we agreed that was one of my "chores." So I'm stuck with it. Going only once every two weeks is pretty nice. It has already cut down on our food bill and we don't eat out as often during the week as we were- a definite plus, since that was the goal of this.

Bad: It takes forever. Since I hate grocery shopping, this extra long trip is a little overwhelming. Planning for 2 whole weeks worth of meals requires a very long list (which I love making!) but it is very hard to think of 8-10 things to make, especially with my limited list of things that I make well. Without fail, I forget at least one or two things and end up having to go back for a quick trip at some point in the 2 weeks. Which, compared to the 5+ times I was going over the course of 2 weeks, I guess isn't so bad when you think about it. It is also a very expensive trip to the store, which is expected since it's 2 weeks worth of goods and the overall bill comes out a little less, but it is still hard when you see that total at the checkout.

Ok, so here is our most recent 2 week meal plan that started this past Sunday:

Sunday
Flank Steak marinated in Jim's (Ben's stepdad) special sauce
mashed potatoes
salad

Monday
Eat out cheap- Ben has school and sometimes I don't want to cook for just me- I build this little cushion into our budget, don't worry :)

Tuesday
Greek Chicken Pasta

Wednesday
Left overs

Thursday
King Ranch Chicken

Friday
Quail (don't ask- Ben went to the store with me this last time and just had to have these- I have no idea how to cook this)
Roasted Red potatoes
zuchinni

Saturday
CS for Aggie game so eat out

Sunday
Eat out both meals probably

Monday
Chicken Salad sandwiches
green salad

Tuesday
Pork chops- either oven fried or grilled
steamed brocoli
mashed potatoes

Wednesday
Spaghetti with meat sauce

Thursday
Poppyseed chicken with rice
green beans

Friday-Sunday
Ft Worth, so some combo of eating out and Ben's mom cooking for us :)

WHEW! See, it's a daunting task planning so much in advance! If anyone has any super, great, awesome, easy meals that they want to share, please do!