Menu Planning Monday w/Budget Beef

The weather is getting colder, and meals seem to be getting warmer. My menues are limited this week to what I have on hand and in the freezer (unless I stop quilting long enough to go to the grocery store this week). So here's what's planned so far. Monday Ham and Cheese Omelettes (See "Budget Buster Ham" at the end of this post) Fried Potatoes Fruit Cocktail Toasted English Muffins Tuesday Spaghetti Squash with canned spaghetti sauce (I prefer Hunt's) and meatballs (Make extra meatballs for Sunday and for freezer) Green salad Wednesday Crockpot Beef Barley Soup (See Budget Beef tip below) Biscuits Thursday Pork Roast w/garlic and Rosemary Oven fried sweet potatoes Spinach Friday Leftover Beef Barley Soup Crackers Saturday Cook's Choice (in other words - I have no idea!) Sunday Meatball Subs Green salad Budget Beef for Soups and Stews My grocery store (Krogers) frequently has "Chuck Roast" on sale for less than $2.00 per pound. I purchase the largest one I can find (and sometimes more than one if the price is under $1.79 lb.), usually about five or six pounds. I freeze the roast for about 3 or 4 hours so it is just starting to harden, but can be cut with a knife. I find it's easier to cut this way. I remove the obvious fat, if necessary. Then I cut the roast into 1 1/2 inch cubes, and fill ziploc sandwich bags with about one pound of meat each, then toss all of these bags into a large ziploc freezer bag and label. Stew meat currently goes for about $3.99 a pound here, so I save about 50% by buying the roast and cutting it myself!