Alright, here is the inaugural meal set for Meals Per Month! Hope you are as excited as I am! Just to kind of let you know some things ab
out these posts: My wife and I usually plan 6-9 dinners per month, and that is what I will be sharing in these sets (along with grocery lists). Along with those meals, we usually shop for a couple of super-quick meals each month (such as hot dogs and mac & cheese, or frozen pizza) because hey, let's be real - some nights we don't want to cook, and we don't want to go out (and we don't want to starve!). We of course eat breakfast and lunch as well, but we usually keep that pretty simple, and I'll share details on those meals in other posts. The other thing you have to know to make these sets work is that you must not mind eating leftovers :)
Lastly, before the lists, I've included absolutely every grocery item you will need to make these meals. Many of the items you may already have in your pantry/spice cabinet/refrigerator and if that is the case, then no need to purchase more! I've highlighted those items in the grocery list so you can check your cupboards to see if you already have them in-house!
Enjoy!
(I substitute out regular milk for the cream and buttermilk the recipe calls for, and use all dried herbs and spices)
2. Lasagna
(Eat the breadsticks with this meal!)
3. Quiche Calzones
You will need:
1 tube of refrigerated crescent rolls
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup frozen o'brien potatoes
1/2 cup diced ham
1/2 cup shredded colby-jack cheese
salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out each crescent roll flat into a triangle.
Heat some oil in a non-stick skillet and cook the o'brien potatoes until cooked through. Add the ham and eggs, cooking and stirring to scramble eggs and make certain all items are heated through. Add salt, pepper and hot sauce as you like at this point. Take a couple of spoonfuls of this mixture and place on top of one crescent roll and sprinkle on some cheese. Top with another crescent roll and pinch shut the seams with a fork to make the calzone. Repeat with remaining mixture and crescent roll pieces. Bake at 375 degrees on an ungreased baking sheet for 11-13 minutes or until crescent rolls are brown.
(Eat with bananas or fruit of your choice!)
4. Chicken Creole
(Eat with cornbread you can prepare from Jiffy Mix!)
5. Beer and Brats Nachos
6. Tin Foil Dinners
You will need:
1 lb smoked sausage
3-4 potatoes
1 green bell pepper
1 large onion
2-3 carrots
Dice all vegetables and sausage into pieces about the size of a sugar cube. Mix desired amounts of each vegetable together onto an individual piece of aluminum foil approximately 12" x 16" and season with salt and pepper. Roll up aluminum foil and fold and seal. Repeat with remaining meat and vegetables. Bake in a 400 degrees oven for 15-25 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through (time will vary based on how much food is in each packet and to what size the pieces are cut).
7. Homemade Pierogies
Good Luck, and feel free to ask questions, or leave suggestions on what else you would like to see from this blog. Like I've said in the introduction... this is just what works well for me and my wife, and I thought it'd be fun to share with you all!
Happy Cooking!
Grocery List
Chicken-flavored soup base
Dried bay leaves
Dried thyme
2 bulbs of garlic
Crushed red pepper flakes
2 lbs carrots
1 bunch celery
Olive oil
Butter
All-purpose flour
Frozen peas
1 rotisserie chicken
Milk
Baking powder
Salt
Cayenne pepper
1 dozen eggs
Ground beef
32 oz pasta sauce (I use Hunt's - it's cheap and tastes great!)
Dried italian seasoning
8 oz lasagna noodles
15 oz ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese (do yourself a favor and don't get the crappy dried stuff in a can)
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
16 oz frozen potatoes o'brien
4 oz cubed cooked ham
24 oz colby-jack cheese (get a block and grate it yourself - it's worth the extra effort)
1 tube crescent rolls
1 package breadsticks
1 bunch bananas (or fruit of your choice)
5 lb bag potatoes
3 white onions
5 oz cream cheese
Black pepper
3 green bell peppers
Canola oil
1/2 lb mushrooms
2-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
Dried oregano
Lemon juice
Dried basil
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 box minute rice (white or brown)
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 lb smoked sausage
14 oz package fully-cooked bratwursts
1 package frozen pepper/onion stir-fry mix
Hot sauce (I like Chalula)
1 can beef broth
1 bag tortilla chips
Aluminum foil
