Midweek Meal Planning 1/28 — What’s for dinner?

Welcome back to Midweek Meal Planning! I know it’s more traditional to meal plan on the weekend, but since our grocery ads here in Chicago flip midweek, and since Wednesday hump day is when many of us start running out of steam, I’m going to buck the trend and start standardizing these meal planning posts on Wednesdays. Here’s how my week is going — how about yours?

• Saturday: Kale & Polska Kielbasa Soup. (I’d planned to make this last Thursday, but we had more leftovers than expected and then evening school events, so it got pushed to Saturday.)
• Sunday: Carryout (bad us).
• Monday: Leftover soup, and since MashupDad picked most of the hearty carbalicious stuff out of his, he supplemented his with a sandwich on one of his Low Carb Cauliflower Rolls.
• Tuesday: Perfect Pot Roast in the Dutch Oven. I stopped by one of the Jewels that had them $3.77/lb last week and picked one up for $7-something — it’s been forever since we had pot roast!
• Wednesday: We’ll have leftover pot roast, salad + the last of the soup that keeps on giving.
• Thursday: I may punt with Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken, unless inspiration strikes — I have some clearance guacamole from ALDI to use up.
• Friday: MashupDad is working late, Junior High Guy is eating at a friend’s, and Mr. 7 and I will probably have leftover salsa chicken or something easy like grilled cheese.

Matchups meal planning

Let’s put together some affordable meals from some of the main grocery ads this week. For instance, if I were shopping just at…

ALDI

• I’d make Cherry Tomato Avocado Grilled Cheese. Avocados are $.49 each, grape tomatoes are $.99 a pint, sourdough loaf $2.69. Their shredded cheese runs under $2.00, and you could use $1.39 Carlini cooking spray or $1.89 mayo to spread on the outside to brown, if you don’t have butter in the house.
• You could also make a nice veggie fajita. El Milagro corn tortillas are $.35 every day, and flour tortillas $.89. Pick up 1 lb mini sweet peppers for $1.49, 8 oz mushrooms for $.69, a bag of onions (probably around $1.29), some of those $.49 avocados and $.99 grape tomatoes for guacamole. Use some of the $1.69 organic salsa + your own spices to flavor the veggies.

Jewel

• Perdue oven stuffer roasters are BOGO (I’m guessing around $1.99/lb) and fresh jalapeños are $.79/lb. Do you still have some of the $1.29 10 lb bag of potatoes from last weekend? Roasted Chile Lime Chicken & Potatoes is great spicy winter comfort food. On the side, salad: Fresh Express tender leaf or traditional salad blends or vegetable medley blends, BOGO at $2.99. Use two of the $1.00/1 manufacturer coupons from the January Big Book of Savings to get two for $.99, or just $.50 each.
• Use up your other roaster and the rest of the potatoes by making My Big Fat Greek Chicken.

Ultra Foods

• Boneless skinless chicken breast is $1.78/lb, while Kraft dressing is $1.18 on the buy six instant savings deal and 8 lb russet potatoes are $2.29. So, why not make easy Italian chicken & potatoes in the Crock Pot? Pour about 1/2 cup Italian dressing in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add 2-2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast. Season with some Italian seasoning, salt, pepper. Add about 2 lbs sliced potatoes on top, pour on another 1/2 cup Italian dressing, and add a little minced garlic. Cook 6 hours on low.
• Johnsonville Italian sausage is 3/$10.00 limit three total, and you can use $1.00/2 in the 1/11 SS2. So use up some more of that bag of potatoes and try one of the multiple copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana recipes floating around. (That’s on my bucket list of things to try one of these days!)

Yeah, we’re heavy on the potatoes this week

But it’s COLD. And they’ve been on sale a lot. 🙂

Your turn

How’s your week of dinners going? Are you inspired by any of the ads — I know they’re heavy on Super Bowl convenience food this week, but there’s always something we can scratch up.