Weekly menu for 6/10

Another week is upon us and another menu is ready to be created.  I very much enjoyed everything we had to eat last week.  There wasn't anything new, but there were several old favorites that we hadn't had in a while.  I heard one time that the average home cook makes the same 6 meals over and over again.  Apparently it is a goal of mine to bring that average up.  I will admit, though, that I go through seasons with some meals.  Pasta salad gets a lot of play in the summer.  And Chili is heavy on the menu in the winter.

But I love to try new meals.  There is something wonderful when you make something and realize that it is going to go down as a family favorite.  And upon finding a great one, I enjoy taking the time to add it to my cookbook.  Only the best get written down so they are in the first place I look when I'm thinking of what to make.  Two of those meals are on the menu for this week.

Taking our schedule into consideration this week, I had to keep in mind that there would be two nights where we had other dinner plans.  So the weekly menu plan has 5 meals on it this time.  That is always a huge help to my budget, but I don't take those times for granted.  We may splurge a whole meal on occasion, but I try to stay reasonable on our meals even when I have more budget to work with.  The savings are always nice, and I don't want to get used to spending more per meal than I should.  It would just be that much harder on weeks when we had no plans to stay within my $100 budget.

All that being said, we are having a pretty basic menu this week:

Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad
Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps (yes, the link goes to lettuce cups, but I just make it into wraps)
Grill Something
Smoked Sausage and Mac and Cheese
Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Here's an example of how menu planning can help save money.  The Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad calls for rotisserie chicken, but it doesn't need a whole chicken.  Now, if I don't plan on using those leftovers, there is a really good chance they will go to waste.  But with only a few more ingredients, I can use the remaining chicken and make Chicken Salad.   Simple, delicious, good for the budget, and not wasteful.  Love it.

So what do you have going on this week?