click on the picture for more great menu plans!

Monday: Crab Cakes, Roasted Broccoli, Brown Rice (didn’t get to last week)
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken Pasta Alfredo (see below), Texas Toast
Wednesday: dinner at church
Thursday: Asian Pork Tenderloin (using this recipe for the marinade with a few tweaks), couscous, grapes
Friday: Chicken Tortellini Soup (subbing chicken for turkey and tortellini for ravioli in linked recipe. I’ve been making this for years and it’s awesome)
Saturday: French toast with blueberries, bacon
Sunday: leftovers

Our friends Mac and Amy brought us this Chicken Pasta Alfredo dish after we had the baby (those Sunday School meals are the best). Mr. V scarfed it down and begged me to get the recipe from them! Here it is!

Grilled Chicken Pasta Alfredo

(could easily omit chicken for a meatless meal)

1 jar Creamy Alfredo Sauce
1 can Diced Tomatoes with Basil and Oregano
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 T Italian seasoning
2 cups (half box) of penne pasta
2 grilled (or baked) chicken breasts, sliced or shredded

Mix together the alfredo sauce, tomatoes, parmesean, and Italian seasoning and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, cook chicken and pasta. Drain pasta; add chicken and sauce and toss well. Serve with garlic bread.

I did pretty well this week at the grocery store(s). I decided to hit up Aldi from some produce and staple-type things to see if I could save some money. While some of the items there were not as cheap as I thought they would be, I definitely saved on the eggs, bread, flour, and sugar I bought. Altogether I spent $36.50 before tax this week on groceries (and $6.25 on wipes and freezer bags).

Aldi–$22.00 before tax
1 doz. eggs
turkey/ham lunchmeat variety pack
5 lb. sugar
bag flour
sliced cheddar cheese
3 zucchinis
bacon
1 bag onions
oat bran bread
3 lb. bag frozen chicken breasts

Publix–$14.50 before tax
whole wheat penne (1/2 off–.75. Great deal!)
garlic couscous mix (1/2 off)
1.4 lbs. red grapes (.99/lb)
1 bag carrots
Diet Dr. Pepper 2 liter (FREE with coupon from here)
Smart Balance spread
Smart Balance butter blend sticks (FREE with purchase of spread–great coupon! $2.50 value)
DelMonte diced tomatoes (moneymaker–at 1/2 off it was .52, plus I had a .35 coupon that doubled)
frozen tortellini
Texas Toast (coupon)
Classico alfredo sauce (1/2 off)
Pam spray (1/2 off plus coupon that doubled)
1/2 loaf 5-grain sourdough

Whoo hoo!! I told Mr. V I needed to go buy about 6 more boxes of whole wheat pasta since it was such a good price…and since I came in under budget, I just might!