So, I had great plans of publishing this weeks ago–it was complete in the particulars–but I wanted to finish/polish a few things and life has not exactly cooperated! Hopefully this will be better (and earlier) in future months.
Here’s the plan (DOC), based on two Bountiful Blessing boxes and one fresh fruit and veggie box:
Download a PDF.
The main thing I had hoped to accomplish before publishing it was to come up with a good ordering to the meal plan in order to use the fresh ingredients (celery, onions, potatoes) before they went bad. Instead, just keep that in mind and pick the meals off in the order that makes your family happy! I’ll try to get this all straightened out by next month. Edit: just FYI, I’m beginning with the chicken fried rice tonight and the slow-cooker black-eyed pea soup tomorrow to use up a good chunk of the produce without going to the grocery store yet.
Unlinked recipes:
- Mom’s Sausage Stovetop Casserole — this is my mom’s recipe. Basically… if the sausage/hamburger is raw (it’s supposed to be, but I’m using cooked this month because that’s what’s in the AF box, just going to dice it and toss it in), then you cook it, drain it, and mix all the ingredients together on the stove. (It’s also supposed to be made with noodles and Velveeta, not mac-n-cheese packages, but I think this will turn out to be quite good and use lots of the mac-n-cheese which is otherwise a bit of a mammoth on this month’s menu.) Adjust proportions according to whimsy; the recipe also handles substitutions well. Onions are good too.
- Chicken de Provence — My recipe. Rip up / dice the chicken, season quite heavily with herbs de provence, cook it on the stove in lots of olive oil, then add alfredo sauce (1/2 a jar or so), a dash (1/3 c) of tomato sauce, and maybe 3 oz of cream cheese. Stir till all melty and bubbly, serve over rice. This is not a giant recipe, but it’s very easy and yummy and we almost always have all the ingredients on hand–this is one of my what-am-I-going-to-make-in-10-minutes recipes.
January Angel Food boxes:
I’m very excited about next month’s boxes; they look like they rely even less on pre-prepared food and are generally healthier. My current plan is to order:
- 2 Bountiful Blessing boxes ($41)
- 1 S2 box (steak and chicken, $23)
- 1 S3 box (fruit and veggie, $23)
That’s probably more than we can eat in a month, but the S2 box is too much in line with what we like to have on hand in the freezer to pass up! Maybe I’ll shift some of that to dinners and use some of the more lunch-like items in the Bountiful Blessing boxes for lunch and extras!
Thank you so much for posting this menu! I wish I had the time to put this together. 🙂 I’m looking forward to putting this plan into action. I got all, but the fruit and veggie box, but we get WIC and I can get what I need with that. God bless you in the birth of your new little one.