What's For Dinner??

I have been struggling with something lately. Each week we have a budget for groceries and we try and stay within that allotted amount. Eating out, diapers, wipes, and all paper goods (i.e. toilet paper, paper towels...) are included in this budget. It's not a large amount of money but with good planning it should suffice. I usually make a menu at the beginning of the week and plan on actually using the groceries we buy. Our big issue is we will buy food and then something else will sound better so we eat out instead. (Jet's Pizza, Pan Pan, Jimmy John's, Bates Hamburgers, etc. etc. etc.) We end up going wayyyy over budget with all the eating out we do. So this week I am going to try and stay strong and just cook all week. So far, so good. Last night we made these chicken sandwiches, not the healthiest thing in the world but probably a lot better than pizza -


(Found on www.thepioneerwoman.com)

It's not that I don't enjoy cooking, I actually love it! But by the end of the day the last thing I want to think about is cooking a meal, especially when Maya is in a clingy-mood and holding onto my legs. You know, it always seems like she only wants my attention when I am cooking something on the stove.

Another thing I have been doing to actually use our groceries is to make meals ahead of time and freeze them. I love having meals waiting for me to use. Every once in awhile we'll have a super busy day and it's so comforting to know there's something in the freezer that we can pull out. Ordinarily if I make a huge pot of soup there's so much extra and we just keep it in the fridge. We might eat the leftovers but more often than not, it goes bad and we'll throw it all out. What a waste! Last week we had a pot of Chicken Tortilla Soup, Nick and I ate a bowl each and M had a little bit. Then we put the rest in the freezer and we'll have another meal later! I love it.

I also made a huge batch of home-made spaghetti sauce for spaghetti one night and had so much extra sauce I was able to make a lasagna and freeze it for another night.

So what are all of your tips for sticking to your budget???