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What if you had the time to plan weeknight dinners before the drive home from work each day, had your grocery shopping list ready for next week by this Saturday, got your grocery shopping done before the busy week started, and knew just what you were going to make for dinner? Wouldn’t that make those busy weeknights much easier and fast food less tempting? Well, let’s make it even easier. What if someone else did all the meal planning and created your grocery list for you? Nice, huh? Well, here it is - organized and ready to use for the week. And you’ll find step-by-step instructions for each day’s dinner posted every day during the week at Margie’s Easy Meals.
Weekly Dinner Menu:
Sunday
Pork Tenderloin with Applesauce, Roasted Potatoes and Sautéed Zucchini
Monday
Lemony Baked Fish with Rice Pilaf and Green Beans
Tuesday
Burgers and Coleslaw
Wednesday
Rotini with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread
Thursday
Carnitas Tacos with Beans and Rice
Grocery List (organized by grocery store departments/aisles):
Produce Department
2 small red potatoes (4 potatoes if 2 people)
1 yellow onion
1 head garlic
1 medium zucchini
1 - 2 handfuls fresh green beans
1 Roma tomato
1 small green bell pepper
1 lemon
1 bag coleslaw kit (a “kit” is the plastic bag that contains the shredded green and purple cabbage, shredded carrots, and coleslaw dressing.)
Meat & Seafood Department
1 pork tenderloin
1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 firm white fish fillet, such as snapper, tilapia, sole or orange roughy (2 fillets if 2 people)
Canned Goods & Soups Aisle
1 small (14-oz) can chicken broth
1 small (14-oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 small can/jar applesauce
Prepared/Condiments
Jar marinara sauce (my favorite is Newman’s Own roasted garlic)
1 bag long-grain rice
1 16-oz box rotini pasta (little corkscrew-shaped pasta)
Baking Aisle
Seasoned bread crumbs
Ethnic Foods Aisle
Salsa (La Victoria medium)
1 small (16-oz) can refried beans
Corn tortillas
Dairy Section
1 block cheddar cheese (cheese prices vary greatly so look for the store brand for the best buy)
Bakery
2 ciabatta rolls (4 rolls if two people for the week) (If you can’t find ciabatta rolls, kaiser rolls are a great substitute.)
The above grocery list will total about $43. This is based on shopping at a local grocery store such as Safeway, for example. Prices will vary somewhat at different stores. See my article “Twenty-somethings – grocery store tips” for ways you can lower your food total even more. There are some basic grocery items that you should stock in your pantry to avoid running to the store several times each week. The above weekly meal plan assumes you already have basic cooking items on hand such as olive oil, salt, pepper, ground sage, grated parmesan cheese and butter or margarine. See my article “Twenty-somethings, you can cook too!” for tips and links on stocking your pantry. Also see my article, “Stocking your spice rack by stalking the Internet,” for money-saving tips on buying spices.
These weekly meal plans are designed to encourage you to make use of leftovers later in the week. For example, this week you will make a pork tenderloin at the beginning of the week and then use the leftover meat to make carnitas tacos later in the week. Same ingredient – cook it once and eat it twice in two completely different ways! So print this grocery list, drive past those drive-thrus to your local market and stock up for the week. Relax because step-by-step instructions will be waiting for you each day this week for each evening’s dinner at Margie’s Easy Meals. Look for my daily dinner articles under the topic "Easy Weekly Meal Plans" that correspond with this Week One grocery list. You’ll be amazed at how easy and good DIY dinners can be!
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