December Menu and Grocery Shopping Plan

During December, we'll continue to try to use what we have.  There will be a few things we purchase to be able to do some holiday baking for gifting and potlucks, but overall, we're really going to try to keep things well under budget.  This will be helped by the fact that Harris Teeter is doing their Super Doubles deal this weekend, and it's soup season so we'll have soup at least once a week.

There may be a few extra expenses based on my new dietary needs, but we'll take those in stride.  We'd love to keep our grocery budget this next month to around $100, maybe even under $50.  (This would allow us to put the additional $50-$100 we usually spend toward medical bills.)

So, here's the plan and our grocery list below.

Breakfasts:

• Fruit smoothies with frozen and seasonal fruit and kale
• Mini egg fritattas with veggies
• Banana bars (I usually add dried fruit and nuts)
• Crock pot overnight oatmeal
• Cranberry muffins
• "Big boy breakfast" of eggs, bacon, and sweet potato hashbrowns
• Winter squash muffins
• Christmas breakfast:  overnight breakfast casserole with eggs, mushrooms, and greens; monkey bread; fruit salad with citrus and pomegranate seeds
• Breakfast burritos with eggs, cheese, and sauteed veggies

Lunches:

• leftovers
• yogurt with fruit and grain free granola
• turkey, kale, and cheese quesadillas 
• salad with seasonal veggies and nuts/hard boiled eggs

Dinners:

• Homemade pizza with whole wheat crust x 4
• Roasted veggies (beets, asparagus, carrots, potatoes) over brown rice or quinoa
• Crock pot Asian chicken with Asian ramen slaw
• Turkey soup (wild rice, carrots, onion, celery) with salad
• Breakfast for dinner (eggs, bacon, gluten free waffles or pancakes with citrus fruit)
• Dairy free corn chowder made with coconut milk and salad
• Crock pot winter squash soup made with coconut milk, salad, and bread
• Crock pot lasagna soup with gluten free pasta
• Turkey, kale and cheese quesadillas with roasted veggies or salad
• Black beans and rice with fixin's and corn bread
• Black bean tacos with winter squash and fixin's
• Mushroom, sundried tomato, and greens quiche with fruit salad
• Beef and cheddar pie (I make it with way more veggies and 1/2 to 1 lb beef) with salad for date night
• Crock pot chicken/turkey curry soup (from America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker book)

Snacks:

• veggies and dip
• popcorn
• cheese and crackers
• bread and jam/honey
• nuts

Holiday gifts/foods:

• caramel chocolate popcorn
• homemade hot cocoa mix
• lemon nut cookies
• sand dabs (powdered sugar cookies with pecans--family tradition)
• gingerbread house

Grocery list:

• eggs
• canned coconut milk x4
• gluten free pasta
• cilantro
• cheddar cheese
• powdered coconut milk (to make homemade hot cocoa for me)
• almond milk (for smoothies)
• powdered milk
• frozen dinner rolls for monkey bread
• gluten free crackers
• herbal tea (for stockings)
• candy for gingerbread house

How do you plan to live and save green this month in the kitchen?  I'd love to hear from you!