Week One

Alright, so here I am trying to come up with a meal plan for the coming week. My week begins on Thursday and ends on Wednesday. Some weeks I don't have 7 dinners to plan for because I know I am going to be going out somewhere and eating away from home. This is about once a month, but it could happen more than that.

My weekly budget is $100 for two adults. For some of you that may seem like a lot, but here in Hawaii it really is not that much. I have a friend who told me that even before she had her child (nearly 10 years ago) she and her husband had a grocery budget of more than $150. So, if that is the case, and food prices have gone way up since then, I'm doing working with a pretty good budget(in the frugal sense) for two people.

This week, because of a big trip to the local health food store on Monday, I am working with 27 dollars. Because of this, I will be doing a lot of cabinet shopping and serious planning to get things to work out.

My bf and I have begun a tradition of hosting a community(friends) dinner on Thursdays. The number of people who attend varies. This week it seems that we could have at most 10 guests. (I'm wishing now I hadn't spent that extra 20 dollars on things that weren't on my list on Monday.) However, I can do this. It's a good challenge for me(it makes me think I'd do alright on Top Chef if I can make it out alive this week).

With those Thursday dinners I also have to work with a variety of diets. Two people are on Weight Watchers (one of them hates chicken), one person is a vegetarian, one person is a serious meat and starch type, and I don't eat much dairy (just starting to eat a little well aged cheese and yogurt) and I don't eat any gluten.

So, this means that I have to prepare 2 dinners. One needs to encompass the W.W. sans chicken, m&p, and GF Lactose-Free. The other is the vegetarian dish.

For the vegetarian dish this week I have asked this friend to bring a big salad, and I will provide some yummy marinated and grilled tofu for her to place on it.

For the other meal, well, I'm still working on that. So far I have one option: Mexican Potato Casserole which is about 6 points on Weight Watchers. However, it meets all of the requirements for the omnivores.

I'll let you know the outcome of that search as soon as I know it.

In addition to planning this large feast, I also have to plan out for next week. Now, as I said $100 isn't a lot in Hawaii, and $27 certainly isn't a lot either (and most of that will be going toward the community dinner).

Well, shopping out of my cabinets has begun, and I just found a great recipe on 5 Dollar Dinners for this week. I'll keep scouring their site, and Crockpot365 as well as Google and my brain for some great dinner ideas straight from my own pantry.

So, stick with me. Perhaps we'll both learn something.

***EDIT***

So, I have decided to do a Beef Teriyaki recipe that I have. I got it from a local woman. This is seriously good stuff. My bf says it's at the top of the crack list, and that it's actually the best teriyaki he's had in his life (and that's growing up on Maui). It's kind of a secret recipe, and I'm a little hesitant to put it out there on the web for everyone, so if you really want it, please comment and I will e-mail it to you under the strictest confidence. *haha*

I was afraid that the points value on this meal would be far too high, but as long as the ladies portion themselves to 4 ounces of beef and 1/2 cup of rice then they should be coming in at 5 points maximum. They can also add some salad on the side.

For my vegetarian friend I will do the same teriyaki marinade, but I'll put the tofu in it and then grill it on my little George Foreman. She is bringing the salad, so of course she can have some of that.

And the rest of us will eat the beef teriyaki without worry, and we too can have salad.

Hrm, I should probably make sure my friend is bringing enough salad for 9 people (the m&p person won't touch the stuff).

Oh, and here's this week's meal plan:

• Cowboy Beans and Rice
• Black bean, pumpkin* enchiladas (the sauce is from a link through on 5dollardinners.com)
• Crockpot Chicken and Cornbread Dumplings
• Gluten-Free White Cheddar and Onion Pizza (idea from kaitlininthekitchen)
• Crockpot Candy Chicken and Brown Rice with vegetable from the freezer
• Salmon Onigiri and Miso Soup (my idea) with edamame from the freezer

*Here's hoping the pumpkin goes okay with the tomato based enchiladas sauce

So, the things I have to shop for then are:

• 3 pounds of teriyaki cut Maui Cattle Company beef (approx. $10)
• 1 small bottle of Tropicana orange juice (approx. $3)
• Scallions (approx. $1)
• Kapalua Farm Eggs (approx. $4.50 for local free range eggs)
• Maui Onions (approx. $3 for local onions)
• Yo+ Yogurt (approx. $4)
• I think I'll have the bf's mom get the milk this time since we've bought it the last few times.

Approximate Total= $25.50

I wanted to buy some salad mix for during the week, but it won't fit, so we'll make do with something else.

I can't wait to grow my own lettuce again.

Okay, take care! I'm glad I'm done with this for the day, but Chemistry does not sound like fun.