Weekly Meal Plan ~ 5/25/20

So much cooking, cleaning, cooking, cleaning, baking, cooking, and cleaning! I feel like half of the day revolves around what's happening in the kitchen. I don't even want to look at what has been spent on groceries over the past couple months. We've gotten creative with finding protein in bulk and at lower prices to help our grocery dollars go a little further. I've found a local farmer to get eggs from since access at our local grocery store has been very restricted and we go through a lot of eggs in a week. I've rotated between pick up orders at Kroger, Amazon Fresh, and our local Nam Dae Mun Farmer's Market pick up orders to stay out of the grocery stores, and make sure we are able to access what we need for the most part. We've been helping provide groceries for a local family in need as well when we're able.

Some days I feel inspired and get lots done in the kitchen, and then other days I'm over it and we pop a frozen pizza in or just eat leftovers (which is pretty much a necessity throughout the week anyway!). I wonder how many other people are getting burned out off and on at this point! It can be hard to feel inspired to keep making fresh meals for your family when the dishes pile up, and access to groceries is so challenging. But nonetheless, here is our week of planned meals! There are several that have been on my "to-make" list for a little while; the baked goods in particular tend to get bumped frequently depending on mood and how long it's taking us to work our way through what I've already made! Right now we still have some fudge, beer bread, and coffee cake in the house, and I'm trying not to "over" bake too much, even though my daughter would be happy to bake something new every day (even though she doesn't seem to be a big help eating them, she loves to measure and mix)!

Monday
Instant Pot Ground Beef & Pasta
Honey Skillet Cornbread

Tuesday
Japanese Clear Soup

Wednesday
Maple Glazed Donuts
Chicken Salad With Almonds & Poppyseed Dressing

Thursday
Baked Pork Cube Steaks
Broccoli with Bow Ties and Peas
Whipped Coffee

Friday
Copycat Chick Fil A Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Baking this week:
Classic Crème Brulee
Strawberry Shortcake