I work from a food storage "pantry" like tricia. I only have the freezer on my side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, but this is more than enough freezer storage for hubby and me. I get groceries once a week ($50 food budget) - usually loss leaders, fresh fruit/vegetables, and no more than 25% ($12.50) of my food budget gets spent on meat. I only plan supper - breakfast and lunch tend to take care of themselves without extensive planning because of leftovers and food in individual sizes in the freezer (like soup, chili, stew, sandwich meats/spreads, homemade mini pizzas, etc.). We eat a hearty breakfast. I never purchase commercial cereals, but depend on whole grains that I keep in storage. I make my own flakes, farina and multi-grain cereals for cooked cereal, and mill our flour. My meal planning is flexible and more theme-like than exact. Any one day can be moved to another. It might include a loss-leader from the weekly grocery shopping. My planning looks something like this: Monday - Big Meal (roast beef, roast chicken or turkey breast, pork roast, meat loaf, etc.). Something that will provide leftovers for a lunch or two, and at least one more meal. Tuesday - Leftovers from Monday. This can turn into any number of things based on Monday. Wednesday - Vegetarian or Low-Meat Meal. Often this will be a stir-fry or egg- or bean-based dish. Thursday - Something with hamburger (or ground turkey or bison), including meaty red spaghetti sauce or a Mexican something-er-other, sloppy joes on homemade multi-grain sandwich rolls, Bisquick-based Impossible Pies.... The meat sauce, browned burger, or meat mixture (spaghetti sauce, sloppy joes, stroganoff, etc.) are usually already portioned and in the freezer and are thawed during the day in the refrigerator. Boil the pasta or warm the tortillas or taco shells and make the other fixin's and you have a quick meal. I always have cheese grated in the refrigerator, shredded lettuce and other veggies ready-to-eat. Thursday is a busy day for me, so I rely on the freezer. I also have all breads (which are homemade) portioned and in the freezer - dinner rolls, burger/hot dog buns, corn bread, tortillas, etc. I don't purchase breads of any kind. Friday - We often go out to dinner with friends, but we might have another vegetarian night, which could include something as simple as grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade Dill Bread and vegetable soup (from the freezer), or a nice dinner salad (especially in the summer) cheese or hummas, bread and fruit. Saturday - Sandwich night. We're always busy on Saturday, so sandwiches (of all types, including wraps, quesadillas, paninis), a tossed salad or veggies of some kind, and fresh/frozen/canned fruit work well. When the kids were still at home, this night was called "every man for himself" night. A good way to clear out the refrigerator and anything goes, including breakfast type foods. Sunday - We usually make a homemade pizza. Good way to use up small amounts of leftover meat and veggies from the previous week. In the summer it will be a salad or vegetable feast from the garden, good cheese and homemade breads. I depend on whole foods and don't really do all that much cooking. I spend my kitchen time baking, not cooking. We follow the old Basic Four for food intake for the day. This plan gives us some guidelines so that we cover all the basic food groups daily. Bread & Cereal - 4 servings Fruits & Vegetables - 4 servings (or more) Meat/Alternative - 2 servings Milk/Dairy - 2 servings Snacks are air-popped popcorn, crispy almonds/pecans, homemade granola, dehydrated zucchini "chips", dehydrated apples, veggies/fruit, homemade kefir.... I also try to make at least one new dish each week to keep from getting into a food-rut. -Grainlady

Hi Joann! Glad to see your posting. Welcome! I have been focusing on balanced meals and have more or less followed weight watchers. I discovered a FREE EXCELLENT site that offers all of the same features as Weight Watchers online - complete with menus, support, forums and you choose the speed of weight you want to lose. The biggest factor in my slow weight loss (32 pounds over the last 3 years) has been drinking water to flush my system, walking and eating a well balanced diet. My weakness is bread/starchy foods. I have to make an effort to add the fruit in my day because I'm lazy about that! Apples have been a godsend for me. You may want to check the link for Spark People. You fill in a few things about yourself, choose if you want to get any emails at all and choose the calorie range you are comfortable in. They calculate based upon calories consumed how long it should take you to reach goal and you can track everything on your profile online. Not kidding this is an excellent site which I have been using to help me stay on track and it is absolutely free with NO GIMMICKS. If you want moral support there is a group of us here - all doing different diets - on the weekly support thread. Each of us are at different goals and mainly log in to keep our focus, encourage each other along the way and just a great group of folk all looking for a healthier lifestyle. We don't judge nor criticize. Our thread is to pull each other along. I am so glad to see your post and hope we can help you reach your goal and stay the course! Cheers, McPeg Here is a link that might be useful: Spark People

Well not mixing dairy and meat would be impossible here. LOL I'm making white chicken chili with leftover chicken today. I like Chicken salad on crackers more than bread. One of our favorite "leftover" chicken uses is. Rice, broccoli chicken casserole. I use a white sauce, that I add cheese to. (I bet you could use rice milk, and no cheese.) Leftover rice, fresh or frozen broccoli, cooked chicken chunks, shreds, or bits, and pour the white/cheese sauce over it. Bake at 350 covered for about 45-60 minutes. Until hot and bubbly in the middle..

Chicken noodle casserole ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Freeze cooked cubed chicken on a cookie sheet then pack it into a baggie (so it is loose chunks, easier to use than one lump). Cook noodles until just before done. Drain and freeze. Make a seasoning packet by putting 1 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp onion powder, salt and pepper, and whatever else you like in a baggie and seal. Pack frozen chicken, frozen noodles, a can of cream of celery soup, a can of cream of chicken soup, a can of mushrooms, a can of veggies if you like, shredded cheese, the seasoning packet and a colander. Tell them to run hot water over the noodles until defrosted. Heat soup(do not add water), seasoning packet, drained veggies, drained mushrooms, and chicken in a pot on burner until hot and bubbly (make sure chicken is heated). Add cooked noodles. Heat until noodles are warm. Stir in cheese, and enjoy. You can give them frozen garlic bread to "toast" in a pan to eat with it (cut loaf of french breat in 4 inch slices, cut in half. Spread cut sides with margarine mixed with minced garlic and a little italian seasoning. Put margarine sides together, wrap and freeze). To toast, separate halves, toast margarine side down on a flat pan. Spaghetti ++++++++++++ Make your favorite meat sauce recipe and freeze in a baggie. Cook spaghetti noodles until just before done. Drain and freeze. Place frozen sauce in a large pot (remove baggie or container). Stir often. It will melt into sauce, believe me LOL. Run hot water over the noodles until defrosted. Add to melted sauce. Heat until sauce is hot and noodles are heated through. Can also serve with garlic bread from above. Stir fry and Rice ++++++++++++++++ Make a batch of cooked white or brown rice. Freeze. Make a batch of your favorite stir fry. Make sure the meat is cooked through, but the veggies are still a little underdone and make extra sauce. Freeze. Melt the stir fry in a pot, then heat till hot. Place the rice in a pot, add a little water (about a 1/4 cup) and heat gently until the rice breaks up. Stir often, and heat just until defrosted and heated through. Add to hot stir fry and sauce. For this, you can pack the cooked frozen meat, fresh veggies, frozen rice, and some pre-made sauce frozen in a baggie. They can stir fry the veggies, add the meat and sauce and cook until heated through. They might want the taste of fresh veggies after so many pre-made meals LOL. I think anything can be made on the stove top, but you might have to freeze the meat, additions, and sauces separately for the best results. That way nothing is frozen in a lump in a container, where one part burns, one part is hot, another part is cold, and the rest is ice!