Grocery Challenge - Menu Update

As an extension of yesterday's check-in, I'll pick up where we left off with our menu over the past week or so.  We have deviated from the plan a bit, which is why I do menu planning the way I do -- to allow for flexibility!

{Wednesday}
B:  Muffins, yogurt, cereal
L:  PBJ for Dan, ham & cheese for Bob, and a lunchables type pack for Ash & Eli with chips and juice.
S:  Animal crackers from the bread store -- free!
D:  Breakfast for dinner - eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, cheese, english muffins and chocolate milk
Late night snack:  Cinnamon bread toast, cucumbers & ranch for Bob

{Thursday}
B:  Cereal (yogurt for Elijah)
L:  Ham & cheese sandwiches with strawberries & popcorn
S:  Grapes
D:  Chicken lettuce wraps, potstickers & crispy zucchini fries
S:  Cinnamon toast

{Friday}
B:  Cinnamon toast & cereal for the kids, plus a yogurt for Elijah.  Hard boiled eggs for Bob.
L:  Mac & cheese, strawberries & chips for kids.  Strawberry/banana smoothie for me.
S:  Marshmallows, chocolate chip cookies from the store for free.
D:  BBQ pizzas - one pepperoni and one zucchini basil.

{Saturday}
B:  Cereal (and grapes for Elijah)
L:  Left over zucchini pizza for D & E, peanut butter sandwich for Ashlyn with snack mix
     Egg & ham sandwiches (Bob and I)
S:  Grapes & apple slices
D:  Beef & broccoli with rice (used the asian salad dressing as a marinade, out of teriyaki/soy)
S:  Bob - macaroni & milk (his weird occasional snack/lunch)
     Carrot/zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting

{Sunday}
B:  Cereal & toast for kids, breakfast in bed for me!  Egg, toast, ham & cake.
L:  Picnic!  PBJs, cantalope, pretzel thins, water & juice boxes
S:  Ice cream ($11)
D:  Chili (went with chili in the crock pot instead of the mexi pasta meal I was going to try)
S:  Cake

{Monday}
B:  Cereal (seriously.... it never gets old)
L:  Cheese slices, pepperoni, pickles & chips
      Ham & cheese for Bob, last english muffin and breakfast leftovers for me.
S:  Marshmallows
D:  Chicken pasta bake, mozzarella cheese & green beans (another deviation from our menu plan, but we had all the ingredients to throw together and the kids all had seconds and Dannon even had THIRDS!)
S:  Finished off the carrot/zucchini cake.

The fridge/freezer/pantry is down to pretty slim pickins and we've got a few days to go until payday.  I had planned on doing another breakfast for dinner meal, but we've eaten eggs along the way and I don't think there are enough left for a meal for all of us.  Trust me, I'm not complaining.  I got breakfast in bed out of the deal!  I may do hardboiled eggs with the remainders and possibly potato salad or egg salad sandwiches.  We definitely have enough of the chicken pasta bake leftover for lunch, so sandwiches for dinner one evening are a definite possibility.

Another good by-product of this challenge is that not having a TON of food choices in the house is helping us to really use what we have without making much waste or throwing things out.  I like that!

Stay tuned for at least one more post on this grocery challenge subject, I'll do a wrap up/recap on Friday or shortly thereafter.