November Menu Plan & Week 4

It's can't really be November already? Right? Fall is in full swing, and that means hot cider, hot cocoa, good times with family to give thanks and celebrate, cookie-baking, Christmas shopping, house-decorating (Forrest's least favorite thing--he has something against my 9 ft Christmas tree?!!!). I am so excited for the holiday season...Christmas tunes start tomorrow morning on my way to work. Hurray!

Since it is November, I want to remind you that I have created a menu to take you through the entire month! I did take a week off at Thanksgiving to enjoy whatever gets cooked up then, and to allow some flexibility for travel and other excitement. Click on the image below to save it for future reference or print it off.

For those of you new to my blog, first of all, Welcome! I am so glad that you are here. Secondly I am really excited to give you an update on how this long-term menu planning is working out in our home. I have created a 9 week menu plan to help de-stress my life while I am tracked-in and trying to finish my super overwhelming grad school project. It has worked out really well so far. As I type this post, onions & green peppers are sauteeing on the stove for my Chicken & Black Bean Baked Quesadillas. This meal will take about 20 mins prep time and a max of 15 mins baking. By 8:00, dinner will be in our bellies and I will be settled down for a little bit of each of the following: some blogging, some felt-flowering or some grad school project writing.

You can read back to my original post about the 9 Week Menu Plan to find out more about how it works. You can also check out my Printables tab at the top of this page to download and print all of the menus and weekly shopping/menu/recipe guides. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out, but every bit of stress I was feeling about cooking has been completely lifted. I know what we will eat every night, and I know that it will only take about 30 minutes to get it done. I also have cut my grocery bill by at least $50 weekly, because I am no longer buying food that goes to waste.

This week we have some delicious meals including Chicken & Black Bean Baked Quesadillas, Baked Ziti and Breakfast for Dinner. I am probably most excited about the latter because I have been waiting 4 weeks to eat that cracked pepper turkey bacon in my freezer!

Click on the image below for this week's Grocery/Menu/Recipe Plan and print it off, or save it to your computer for future reference.

Let me know if you are into the whole meal-planning idea, and what strategies for success you have found.

Feliz Día de los Muertos!