March Menu Plan

Hello friends!  It's been a while (way too long) since I've posted.  We're moving in a couple of weeks into the basement apartment at Mom's while the house construction is completed.  This will save us some in rent (though we'll still pay her some rent to cover utilities, etc.), and will put us at least 10 minutes closer to town, school, etc. which will save on time and fuel daily.  We're excited about the move and about being able to watch the house construction daily.  It's a short move, so we're hoping to be able to do it with some friends who have pickup trucks and not have to rent a truck.

Since we're moving soon, we're focusing on eating what is in our fridge, freezer, and pantry mostly.  I'm supplementing with fresh produce, but trying to use up a lot of what we have so that we don't have to move it.  Here are some of the things we're trying to use up:

• Canned items (heavy to move!):  tomatoes, canned beans, tuna, coconut milk, olives, pickles, peanut butter
• Flours:  whole wheat, bread flour, corn meal, almond flour, paleo pancake mix
• Pantry:  dried beans, oatmeal, dried fruit, gluten free pasta, onions, sweet potatoes, dried mushrooms
• Frozen items:  popsicles, beef, frozen veggies, frozen fish, frozen fruit, nuts and seeds, broccoli, bacon
• Fridge items:  condiments, 3 dozen eggs, pie crusts, cheese

Keeping this in mind, here's our meal plan for the month:

Breakfasts:

• overnight crock pot oatmeal with dried fruit
• Paleo waffles with blueberry syrup and eggs/bacon
• Fruit and eggs
• Smoothies
• Gluten free banana muffins with eggs or fruit

Lunches:

• tuna salad with crackers and veggies/fruit
• leftovers with a side salad or steamed/roasted veggies
• big salad with hard boiled eggs
• roasted veggies and eggs

Dinners:

• Crockpot lasagna soup with cheese and steamed broccoli
• Sweet potato lentil soup with salads
• Breakfast for dinner with waffles, eggs, fruit, and bacon
• Quiche with dried mushrooms, sausage, onion, and broccoli and roasted veggies (likely sweet potatoes and onions)
• Shepards pie with beef and frozen veggies
• Beans and rice with fixin's (cheese, salsa, olives, Greek yogurt)
• Chili with black beans and corn with fixin's and almond flour corn bread

Community meals:

• Tuesday at Children's Council yoga class
• Possible Wednesday lunch at Chilren's Council group, if schedule allows
• Thursday dinner at church
• Sunday dinners with Mom

These community meals are things we look forward to weekly and really save us when it comes to cooking some nights.  It's a nice way to mix things up and make things feel special without the expense of eating out.

Batch cooking:

• make double or triple batch of waffles to freeze some for easy breakfasts
• make double batch of banana nut muffins to freeze some
• double batch of roasted veggies
• veggie stock using the veggie scraps I've collected in the freezer
• gluten free birthday cupcakes 

What are your meal plans for the month?  I'd love to hear from you!