confessions

In a conversation with my SIL, I mentioned that I was menu planning today.  She asked if I was going to post my menus.  It's been awhile since I posted menus or grocery shopping results.  It's been awhile since I've even thought about menu planning or trying to save on the grocery budget.  My spending in this area shows this, unfortunately. 

Truth be known, I haven't felt overly great over the past few months and I haven't done much of anything.  The house, the blog, the budget, etc. have all shown the effects of this.  But I am slowly getting back on track and "back in the game."  So I'm going to go back to the beginning and start again.  I've had successes already; my exercise program has become more consistent the last couple of weeks.  I'm putting the house back in order.  And I know how much I spent on food in August so far so that I can begin to work toward lowering that amount in the weeks and months to come (and no, I'm not telling the amount.  It's embarrassing). 

However, I'm hopeful.  There's plenty of room for improvement here!  :) 

I haven't really assigned specific days to any of these meals; I was just trying to get down ideas of what I could make with what I have.  And some of the meals listed might not get made this week at all; I was giving myself some options and some wiggle room, so there are a few extras here to choose from. 

Breakfasts:
Muffins
Toast
Smoothies
Pumpkin waffles
Cereal and milk
pumpkin pie oatmeal
donuts

Suppers:
Cheesy chicken and rice (thanks, Tara!)
Barbecue chicken pasta bake (thanks again, Tara!)--this one's iffy--not sure I have all the ingredients
Pasta carbonara
lentil tacos
burgers and fries
potato soup or taco soup
beef, black bean, and Spanish rice burritos or black bean burritos
macaroni and cheese