menu Monday – it’s fall!

It’s officially fall! Something about fall makes me want to break out the slow cooker, and I found a new recipe to try in our slow cooker. I’m actually going to be traveling later this week, but I went ahead and planned my husband and son’s menu (and will be preparing some of the meals ahead of time.)

Sunday – we ate out last night. It was somewhat unexpected, so I shifted the menu.

Monday – Fajitas. I have peppers in the garden and I hope to use most of them up tonight.

Tuesday – Slow-cooker pork and black beans with salsa. I found a recipe in my Real Simple magazine (that arrived on Friday!) I bought the pork from a local farmer and I hope the recipe turns out great! The recipe doesn’t seem to be online, so I’ll share it later this week if it turns out as good as I’m hoping.

Wednesday – Macaroni and cheese (the homemade kind.) This should make enough that there will be leftovers for the kiddo while I’m away.

Thursday – Meatloaf with a side vegetable. I’m going to make two meatloaves on Tuesday or Wednesday. One can be reheated on this evening, while the second one can be frozen for a future meal.

Friday – Pizza. We had way too much pizza leftover from the toddler’s birthday party and it ended up being frozen into 3-4 piece increments. We still have a couple of packs in the freezer, and it’s been great for quick meals.

Saturday – Spaghetti. Something simple, and something that I know the toddler will eat. I bought the beef for the sauce this past weekend (same farmer I bought the pork from.) So I know all of the ingredients are in the house.

I usually start my grocery shopping at the tailgate market that sets up shop in a parking lot about a half mile from our house. One of the farmers sells his meat there, and I’ve found myself buying a little more than we need, just so I can freeze it for this winter. (The market will close from the end of November through early April.) I also bought a few vegetables and apples this past weekend. I spent less than $30 for a pound of beef, a pound and a half of pork, a bag of lettuce, a basket of tomatoes, a basket of apples and two dozen eggs (one dozen was for my mom.) So roughly $25 was for items this week. I went to the grocery store that afternoon and I spent $47, and that included buying more organic chicken and ground turkey.

I spent less than $75 on groceries for the week. I think that’s so great looking at the amount of meat I bought. The trick for this week? I stuck to my list at the grocery store. There were no extra snacks/sodas/junk food. I only bought what I knew we absolutely needed, and it worked. (I did have frozen vegetables on my list, so I stocked up on several that were on sale. ‘Tis the season for steamed vegetables, I guess.)

What’s on your menu this week? Any other tips for saving money at the grocery store? (Note I didn’t use any coupons this week. That’s unusual for me, but I didn’t purchase many packaged items that would have had coupons.)

I’m linking up with OrgJunkie today.