Week 12 Dinners, Fall is here!

I went to college to study Meteorology, and in my former life before I became a stay at home Mom, I worked as a Meteorologist for 2 years. Weather is in my heart. This may be sort of nerdy, but I admit that I often plan my meals with the forecast in mind. It has been chilly off and on for the last few weeks, but this coming week will be consistently cool and fall-like. My heart is warmed with love for fall! So I'm starting to trickle out the recipes that will warm cold noses and that I have been waiting months to cook.

Last week, I drained the fridge and freezer of all of our meats, so I knew this week's grocery bill would be heavily influenced by re-stocking on meats. In order to balance the extra cost, I pulled two whole meals from the freezer. We are also experimenting with steel-cut oats or oatmeal for breakfast (a one-time bulk buy that lasts a couple weeks) rather than buying 2-4 boxes of cereal plus a gallon of milk every week, in order to save money. In all, I came a few dollars below my target (yay!).

Here's what's for dinner this week:

1. Big Batch Pierogis with roasted garden zucchini (a Big Batch meal from the freezer)
2. Shrimp jambalaya (for dinner on our meatless Friday night, but will add some chorizo for lunch on Saturday)
3. Corn chowder
4. Spanish stew chicken thighs
5. Green chili, white bean, chicken soup
6. Kielbasa n kraut
7. Buffalo chicken pasta (a Double Dinner meal from the freezer)

Saturday, October 4, is also the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, so I'll be making something special to enjoy on that day!