Food Waste & Meal Planning

I have been a long time reader of The Frugal Girl and I love her Food Waste Friday.  Food waste can creep up on you quickly and eat up a large amount of your grocery cash flow if you're not careful, especially when you have young kids.  I swear some days my kids refuse to eat what's in the fridge just because they can.  If you want a more in-dept read about food waste you should check out Jonathan Bloom over at Wasted Food.

Surprisingly this week we have zero food waste, assuming that we use up a few things today.  I have some sugar snap peas that are about to go off (I actually didn't even buy these, they were given to me by my mom).  And there is about 1/4 can of pineapple tidbits that need to be used up, I might make pizza bagels for lunch to use those up.

Now to the fun stuff - meal planning!  I have a love/hate relationship with it.  Some weeks I feel inspired, others I've got nothing.  I'm trying to keep groceries to an absolute minimum this week so 90% of what's in the plan we have in the fridge/cupboards.  I usually meal plan from Friday to Thursday because I like having fresh food in the fridge for the weekend when we're all at home together.

FRIDAY:
Tortellini Soup
Fried Boccocinni
Caesar Salad
Garlic pull-apart bread

SATURDAY:
Quiche
Green Salad

SUNDAY:
I have a memorial service to attend out of town, so Nick is home alone with the kids.  He'll probably do hot dogs or throw a frozen pizza in the oven.

MONDAY:
Thai Chili Chicken Legs
Vermecelli Salad

TUESDAY:
Chili
Cheese Buns
Cucumber Salad

WEDNESDAY:
Pork Chops
Mashed Potatoes
Corn

THURSDAY:
Salmon Croquettes
Sweet Potatoes
Spinach Salad

I will try to post some pictures and recipes throughout the week.