Pondering Menu Monday

When I first tried to start a food blog last year, I participated in one of the Menu Monday linkups. Long trained by my retail manager past start, I organize our calender with our weeks starting on Monday. And I am an obsessive menu planner. So it seemed like a perfect fit.

But it stressed me out. I wanted to be able to go back and report on what we enjoyed from the planned menu. But I rarely ended up making everything on the list, especially when I thought I would. And that is when I learned that the trick with menu planning is not to become too attached to the menus.

Think of them as more general outlines of what you could eat. It serves two purposes: you don't become overwhelmed when it's 5:30 and you have a meal planned that takes an hour to make and you don't end up buying ingredients that put you over budget.

A whole separate post on how menu planning saves you money is in order. But in honor of Menu Monday here is my loose menu plan for the week, along with notes on how it adjusts.

M: pesto pasta - A few weeks back a bunch of fresh pesto was on clearance at my grocery store so I snagged it all and froze it. It makes the perfect last minute meal
T: pizza out (for a post on my local blog)
W: black beans and rice with salad - This is a Tambo Bamba mix which I am so excited about trying. I like to have a good stock of healthy mixes on hand. I pump them up with veggies. If I get lazy and make a frozen pizza instead, they keep until the next meal.
T: spinach korma - Again, there are amazing natural mixes and canned goods out there. So now I can add tofu and frozen organic spinach and eat better Indian than I can get at the two restaurants in town. This particular simmer sauce is from Seeds of Change.
F: edaname, quinoa, and shitake mushroom dish (aka the clean out the pantry meal)
S: tuna garbanzo salad see above
S: jambalaya w/salad

Dreaming of New York Eating

On this dreary Sunday morning, I am dreaming of eating out in New York City. In just a few short weeks I will be winging my way to the Big Apple for the crazy blogging conference known as BlogHer. There's so much going on with the conference itself that I am worried I won't have much of a chance to see the city. Luckily I tacked an extra day and a half for non-conference activities.

And on those days, eating is on the top of my list. Of course most of it will be done on the cheap but there will be a splurge here and there. Good food is always worth it. There are only three meals that aren't provided by the conference or events: lunch and dinner on Wednesday and dinner on Sunday. So I've got to plan my time (and dollars) wisely.

For dinner Sunday, I am pretty determined to eat at one of the Momofuku restaurants. A friend made some meals from his cookbook a few weeks back and I seriously wanted to lick the plate. In fact I think I might have. This will probably be my splurge meal.

I've bookmarked the Find NYC Food Trucks site. Shockingly the food truck craze has not made it to my small city so eating from some of them is a must. I culled some favorites from this post by Brooklyn Nomad. This place is right by the Hilton so I think I better add a late night meal to my eating out list. I will probably need to it to soak up all the alcohol from the free drinks.

Though I am not sure I want to waste my New York eats on mac and cheese, S'Mac sounds like what the restaurants must be like in heaven. "Mac-n-Cheese for the "upper crust". Creamy Brie, roasted figs, roasted shiitake mushrooms & fresh rosemary" or "A Swiss Mac that keeps you coming back for more. Gruyere coupled with its partner in crime, slab bacon. Hard to resist!". Yes, please! Plus the "nosh" portions are under $10.


What else? What else? A classic New York bagel? A slice of pizza? Lunch at the Carnegie Deli? Pastries at Bouchon Bakery?

And in my dreams? I am eating at Masa.

Frugal Foodie vs Frugal Food : An Introduction

Frugal food: the phrase just makes me shudder. It brings up images of planning meals of casseroles and free prepackaged food. I just love food way to much to ever do that.

And boy do I love food, as does my husband. That's why there will always be money in our budget for eating out. I don't think we could survive without the occasional food splurge whether it's a four star meal once a year or our favorite ethic foods once a week. When we travel we often stay in the cheapest room possible so there is more money for eating the local food and drinking the local wine and beer.

So instead of eating frugal food, I consider myself to be a frugal foodie. I work to get the best quality food on the table within the limits of our budget. Which is $300 and includes alcohol. I haven't made it to that number yet but it is my goal and I am getting closer every month. FYI: this is for myself, my husband, and our three year old twins who I count as one adult since TwinB eats almost as much as we do and TwinA lives on air. My husband also makes (excellent) beer as a hobby so that keeps our alcohol costs down.

Some of the things I do to keep the bill down:
-plan dinners a month at a time and shop off of those lists
-eat plain whole food as much as possible. My girls eat plain yogurt with cinnamon or frozen fruit. Ditto for oatmeal. Costs about a fourth of the price of flavored pre mixed and is much better for them.
-am not a slave to couponing... I look out for coupons on the food we eat but otherwise try to avoid ones that will tempt me into products we don't need. I do use coupons to gather free products for our local food bank.
~shop our farmers market when it is open
~buy marked down veggies, fruits, and meats and adjust our menus to include them or and freeze them until I can use them

I look forward to sharing tips, recipes, and generally gabbing about food with you!