It’s the start of week 3 of eating as much organic, real food from Costco! What I’ve realized after two weeks:
There is no such thing as a typical week!
In the past two weeks, we’ve been invited to meet friends for dinner, my husband and I attended a breakfast to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association, one daughter attended a sleepover so she wasn’t here for dinner or breakfast, there was a last minute after-school study group here I needed to feed, I hosted my book club and needed to provide appetizers… you get the picture! I’m sure the same thing happens in your house. What does this mean for the meal plan? Sometimes it’s a crapshoot!
For example, I needed to come up with appetizers for my book club.
With the food I had on hand, I ended up peeling my remaining three oranges and dipping them in melted chocolate chips. I also used 2 cups of the Parmesan-Romano cheese and made cheese wafers. Then I cut up celery and carrots and used the last of the plain organic yogurt and turned it into ranch dip. It ended up being a success.
Then there was the failure. Friday, I went to peel the hard boiled eggs I’d made for lunches the night before – only to discover that I had undercooked them! I’ve made hard boiled eggs 100′s of times. I couldn’t believe that I’d ruined 8 of our precious organic eggs. (Our dogs were quite happy I’d ruined the eggs since they had them for breakfast!) Again, I had to punt and deviate from the meal plan to come up with a lunch plan.
This week is going to be just like the others – life is going to happen. Our meal plan will reflect that. In particular, on Monday night we won’t be eating from Costco. It is my husband’s birthday dinner with family. In our family, on your birthday, you get to pick whatever you want to eat for your dinner. Monday night we’ll be having pizza – my husband’s pick for dinner. 
Shopping:
- I will be shopping again on Monday – maybe Tuesday
To prep for the week I plan to cook on Monday:
UPDATE: All recipes are now linked.
SUNDAY
All day volleyball tournaments. We’ll be having Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Smoothies for a grab and go breakfast then eating lunch at the team table. We’ll heat up Potato Soup I made in advance on Saturday for our dinner.
MONDAY
Blueberry Baked Oatmeal with Crumble Topping
Birthday Party! Pizza Delivery
TUESDAY
Eggs
Sandwiches
WEDNESDAY
Leftover Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
Sandwiches
**Chicken Pot Pie & Mashed Potatoes
THURSDAY
Oatmeal (make large serving for leftovers)
Pea Soup with Homemade Croutons
FRIDAY
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Smoothies
Kids are off school so Burrito Bowls at home
Broiled Tilapia with a side of **Pasta with Garlicky Bread Crumbs I made a mistake. I bought whole wheat tortillas instead of bread, so I had no bread ends to make homemade bread crumbs. We ate potatoes instead.
SATURDAY
Grilled Cheese
Sheppard’s Pie I ended up with leftover potato soup, so we ate that instead.
SNACKS
This is great! I don’t have a meal plan, but yesterday I cooked a batch of brown rice and some lentils, and today I’m cooking a whole chicken and a batch of pinto beans. Your smoothie breakfast sounds delicious..
Thank you Angela! I do really enjoy the taste – and the ease – of the breakfast smoothie! Happy cooking! I’m cooking today too! Andrea
Must have been an off week for eggs–I also ended up with 6 undercooked organic eggs when I hardboilled them. After making a batch just fine last week!
Oh Holly! Not your eggs too! I’m sorry. I share your frustration. Andrea
Andrea -
Not sure if I am missing something, but I can’t locate the recipes for the chicken pot pie, chicken flautas, pasta with garlicky breadcrumbs, and sheppard’s pie. Would you be able to direct me to where these recipes can be found?
Thank you so much!!
Kristin – You aren’t missing it. I’ve been slow. The flautas and chicken pot pie recipes are up. The pasta with garlicy breadcrumbs and sheppard’s pie will be up by this afternoon. Andrea
I am excited to find this! I have been spending way too much at Costco and trying to find a way to still eat healthy without so much cost. We spend a lot of money on fresh produce and I don’t see a lot of that listed on your plans. We usually have a salad everyday and also several pieces of fruit (multiplied by 4 that is a lot!). I find that Costco has the best prices for the quality and often organic produce that we purchase. Is this meal plan all inclusive of everything your family eats or do you buy additional produce elsewhere?
Amy, For the 4 week challenge, each week I posted exactly what I bought and I only purchased from Costco. Costco does have some of the best produce prices (I love their big tubs of organic spinach – I never see them that cheap in the stores) Now that the challenge is complete – I do my bulk shopping at Costco then I do runs to the grocery store. Sometimes you just need 1 jalapeno, you know what I mean? During the summer I have a garden, so I don’t need as much produce, and I also have a fruit share from our local CSA. Let me know if you have any other questions. Andrea