Last month ended up being a bit of a mixed bag for us. Our weather has finally cooled a bit. We love it! I’m able to open the windows to enjoy the crisp air in the morning and my kids have been playing in the backyard during the afternoons. My kids also had a great time at a Halloween event put on by their homeschool group. Unfortunately, our enjoyment of all this has been tempered with concerns about our finances because my husband is among the 1.4 million federal employees who are not receiving paychecks because of the shutdown.
Because he’s not getting paid, this month’s menu won’t be typical. We do have an emergency fund that, under normal circumstances, we contribute a little to each month. However, we can only contribute so much each month, so the fund is not exhaustive. With no end in sight to the shutdown (today is day 35), we are doing everything we can to avoid spending money.
Though we’ve never been wealthy, I’ve always been able to get my kids simple things from the grocery store if they asked. It’s incredibly humbling to have to explain to them that we can’t afford anything but the basics right now. It’s also a great opportunity for us to practice gratitude. We are supposed to have family in town later this month for Thanksgiving. I’m not sure what this will look like—we likely won’t have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner if the shutdown persists! Again, it’ll be an opportunity to be grateful and to focus on the things that matter most in life.
As you might guess, I didn’t adhere to my menu from last month. Instead, I’ve been making lots of soups and casseroles. With both, a little meat can go a long way. Additionally, they can be bulked up with cheaper ingredients like rice, veggies, and beans. When I made these, I served half for dinner and froze the other half to eat the following week. It’s been working well, so I will continue this approach for the foreseeable future. Here is my tentative meal plan for November (you can see past menus here).
Days 1-7
- Pumpkin chili (make a large batch, then freeze half to eat in one week)
- One-pot chicken and rice, carrots
- Creamy ground turkey and noodle casserole (freeze half to eat in one week), peas
- Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
- Mexican rice bake (skip the meat and add extra beans for protein, then freeze half to eat in two weeks), tortilla chips
- Slow cooker bourbon chicken (freeze half to eat in two weeks), rice, green beans
- French toast, sautéed cinnamon apples
Days 8-14
- Pumpkin chili (leftover from the previous week)
- Super easy beef and rice casserole (use ground turkey instead of beef), steamed broccoli
- Creamy ground turkey and noodle casserole (leftover from the previous week), green beans
- Bean and cheese burritos, corn
- Cheeseburger macaroni, carrots
- Cheesy baked egg in toast, pan fried cinnamon bananas
Days 15-21
- Turkey and wild rice soup (remove half from the pot before adding the dairy products, freeze to eat in one week)
- One-pot chicken and rice, roasted broccoli
- Chicken noodle casserole (freeze half to eat in one week), carrots
- Spaghetti with meat marinara, green beans
- Mexican rice bake (leftover from two weeks ago), tortilla chips
- Slow cooker bourbon chicken (leftover from two weeks ago), rice, peas
- Sweet potato waffles
Days 22-30
- Turkey and wild rice soup (leftover from the previous week, add the dairy products while heating)
- Chicken noodle casserole (leftover from the precious week), peas and carrots
- Easy cheesy beef stroganoff (use ground turkey instead of beef), roasted broccoli
- Thanksgiving dinner (specifics TBD)
- Thanksgiving leftovers
- Hamburger gravy over noodles, green beans
- Biscuits and gravy bake, sautéed cinnamon apples
Useful tools for menu planning
While this is not what we figured our November would look like, we are grateful to have what we do and are looking forward to visiting with family. Hopefully the shutdown will end soon so that things can return to normal for everyone effected.
What will November look like for you?
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