Monday's menu plan

It's January 13, nearly half way through the no/low spending month. Last week didn't go exactly as I expected but we ate most meals at home.  I baked bread for us, made homemade rolls for a wedding reception, baked muffins instead of buying donuts for a class treat for Jake, and stayed out of the store and fast food restaurants. I fought and conquered a nearly irresistible urge for a diet Dr. Pepper. It's been 6 or 7 weeks since I've had any diet soda, but I still feel kind of sad when I think about how I'll never have it again. For dinner this week we'll have:

• leftover beef stew with cornbread muffins
• the turkey tenderloin and mashed potatoes that we didn't have last week
• bean burritos and mexican-style rice
• baked citrus-herb chicken with steamed broccoli and roasted sweet potato
• turkey salad on crackers (made from some of the leftover turkey tenderloin, some chopped celery, craisins, onion, and a bit of mayo) with raw veggie dippers/ranch dressing and a sliced pear
• smoked sausage with macaroni and cheese and a green salad

My shopping list for this week should come in under $25 and includes:

• milk x 2
• a dozen eggs
• 2 bottles of apple juice
• 10 flour tortillas
• 1 box of crackers

I continue to be amazed at the amount of food we already have in the house and how long it takes to eat it up. I got a Bountiful Basket last week and that, combined with the home-canned and frozen food that's still in the kitchen plus the long-term food storage items we have on hand, makes me feel like we're eating like kings over here!