Meal Planning...May

Bump meal planning Monday, I'm ready to blow it out of the water this month with meal planning May! Yes, I'm taking back the kitchen-and my grocery budget. Let's see how far we get in before Taco Bell intervenes. I've never done anything like this before, but I'm tired of busting the budget- and honestly I'm a glutton for punishment. If I'm halfway successful, I hope this post will serve as a good bookmark for future meal planning purposes as I've laid out most of family favorites.

*It should be noted that...

• I took a good look at our calendar before planning to avoid getting too sidetracked. So in case you're wondering why the week starts on a Thursday, I let the calendar be my guide. I'm open to better suggestions!
• I'm giving myself $50 for "sidetracked"...because I'm a realist.
• I set a budget of $350 for the month-that's four weeks for a family of four.
• I don't usually include weekends in my regular planning, hence the sprinkling of frozen dinners.
• As you can see, I reserved (on avg) one day each week for eating out. Listed below are just the dinner plans...who knows what we'll have for lunch. Leftovers, smoothies, salami and crackers, and tons of chicken nuggets is my guess.

and....

I'm planning to fail, so no pressure in this kitchen!

Week 1
(Th May 1) Macaroni-a family favorite
(F May 2) Evan's birthday party with friends-TBD
(S May 3) Grandma's in town, we're eating out!
(S May 4) Tomato soup and grill cheese sandwiches
(M May 5) BBQ chicken pizza (Baseball game)
(T May 6) Oven baked chicken, asparagus and red potatoes
(W May 7) Breakfast for dinner-pancakes, sausage and fruit

Week 2
(Th 8) Grilled chicken and roasted veggies(mixed bag from farmers market)
(F 9) Spaghetti (baseball)
(S 10) Soft tacos and Spanish rice
(S 11) Eat out in Raleigh for Mother's Day
(M 12) Spinach stuffed manicotti with garlic bread
(T 13) Kids eat free night at Moes Southwest!
(W 14) Salad with roasted veggies a la farmers market(church)

Week 3
(Th 15) Wil Med hospice event-dinner provided
(F 16) Eat out-burgers and (baseball)
(S 17) Chicken Parmesan 
(S 18) Minestrone soup (church)
(M 19) Steak, corn and broccoli
(T 20) BBQ chicken quesadillas
(W 21) Frozen pizza (baseball)

Week 4
(Th 22)Mom's night out-Olive Garden
(F 23) Chicken poppy seed casserole
(S 24) Baked ziti
(S 25) Breakfast for dinner- hashbrown casserole
(M 26) Vegetable stir fry
(T 27) Chicken tettrazini
(W 28) Cheese quesadillas

(Th 29) Burgers and (baseball)
(F 30) Lasagna a la Stoffers
(S 31) Arroz con pollo

Keep me accountable folks, how I would love to post a success story come June! 
PS-This took me an hour and a half. #worthit #Ihopeso