Simple Menu Planning Ideas for Tops Markets week of 10-5-2014

 Here is a new concept I will be working with for the weeks to come. I will be working with D’Anna from Smart Qpon Clips to hopefully bring you some ideas for meals from shopping at Tops Markets Weekly. Hopefully you will find it useful! This may take some time to perfect, and we hope to branch to Wegmans eventually too. So bare with us 😉

As the one who makes the meals in the house hold often times I find myself at a loss for ideas for the meals. Now I am no special cook or anything….and I happen to be one of those people who never measure things when they cook (just ask my husband it drives him crazy, but hey my stuff tastes good! :p LOL). I also get a bit overwhelmed with recipes because they can be so complex and have lots of items I don’t have or like in them.  So I wanted to start up menu meal planning again. I tried this once before and it never stuck with me. I hope this will save me time and frustration when trying to come up with dinner ideas (meals I struggle most with). Menu  planning is when you take the week and write up every meal you will have. I will be working on some free printables for you all in case you want to try this as well. I’m a spare of the moment kind of gal, and decided over the weekend I wanted to give this a try. And of course, with most everything I do, I have to share it with you all if it has anything to do with saving time and money 😉 My meals are always simple, and I hope to find more fun simple recipes while using the items on sale every week at the place I mostly shop at, Tops Markets. I sometimes shop at Wegmans, but mainly it’s Tops….did I mention I love Tops?! 🙂

Here are some of the Simple Meals we came up with for family dinners. I plan on having 2 days with re makes of left overs for my family.

1. Chicken Fajitas Wraps
2. Cheeseburger Soup and Garlic Cheese Bread
3. Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread
4. Bacon Mac & Cheese
5. Grilled Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes
6. Garlic Toast Pizzas (thanks Rochelle!)
7. Tacos
8. Chicken Alfredo Casserole
9. Dessert – Apple Crisp – Yum!

Here are some of the items on sale at Tops Markets that I plan on using for my meals:
(other items I pull from my stock pile, and hopefully you will have one some day to do the same if you do not yet!) If items needed for recipes are not listed, they may not be on sale at Tops this week. Most may be items you have at house, or can add to your list when you go to the store.

1. Chicken Fajitas Wraps

I personally tossed grilled chicken, ranch, cheese, tomatoes, and chopped potatoes in ours.

– Tops 99% Fat Free Boneless Chicken – BOGO $3.99/lb (for type I got $6.xx for 2 pkgs)
– White or Russet Potatoes 8 lb – $2.99 each
– I Used the Cheese and Wraps from the Big Pack Ground Beef 80% lean 4-5 lb (typically around $17-$22 a package I paid $18.xx) Get the following 7 items FREE
Tops Mexican or Taco Shredded Cheese
Tops 6″ Tortilla
Fresh Express Shredded Lettuce 8 oz
Prego Pasta Sauce
Ronzoni Pasta
Sierra Mist or Schweppes 2 Liter
Tops Snack Cake
– Or Use Tortilla Shells from Old El Paso Tortillas or Stand n Stuff Tortillas – $2.00 each

Coupons to Use: (amount will depend on your family size, and quantities you want)
$5/$50 Click to Card
$0.60 off any three Old El Paso products
Get $2.00 off off your purchase of Fresh Meat when you purchase 3 participating Old El Paso items

2. Cheeseburger Soup and Garlic Cheese Bread

– Pepperidge Farms Texas Toast – $2.00 each
– Sargento Tasting Cheese – $2.00 each
– Use Hamburger and Cheese from the Big Pack Ground Beef 80% lean 4-5 lb (typically around $17-$22 a package I paid $18.xx) Get the following 7 items FREE
Tops Mexican or Taco Shredded Cheese
Tops 6″ Tortilla
Fresh Express Shredded Lettuce 8 oz
Prego Pasta Sauce
Ronzoni Pasta
Sierra Mist or Schweppes 2 Liter
Tops Snack Cake

Coupons to Use: (amount will depend on your family size, and quantities you want)
$5/$50 Click to Card
$0.50 off ONE (1) Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast
$0.75/1 Sargento Tastings Cheese found here

3. Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread

– Ronzoni Pasta (Garden Delight Shown) – $1.00 each
– Pepperidge Farms Texas Toast – $2.00 each
– Prego Pasta Sauce – $1.99 each
– Pasta Meat Sauce use Sauce & Meat from Big Pack Ground Beef 80% lean 4-5 lb (typically around $17-$22 a package I paid $18.xx) Get the following 7 items FREE
Tops Mexican or Taco Shredded Cheese
Tops 6″ Tortilla
Fresh Express Shredded Lettuce 8 oz
Prego Pasta Sauce
Ronzoni Pasta
Sierra Mist or Schweppes 2 Liter
Tops Snack Cake

Coupons to Use: (amount will depend on your family size, and quantities you want)
$5/$50 Click to Card
$1.00/2 Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta found here
$0.50 off ONE (1) Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast
$1.00/3 Prego Sauce from the 9-7 SS or from the 10-5 SS

4. Bacon Mac & Cheese

– Hormel Black Label Bacon 16 oz – $4.99 each
– Ronzoni Pasta (Garden Delight Shown) – $1.00 each
– Sargento Tasting Cheese – $2.00 each

Coupons to Use: (amount will depend on your family size, and quantities you want)
$5/$50 Click to Card
$1.00 off two HORMEL BLACK LABEL bacon products
$1.00/2 Ronzoni Garden Delight Pasta found here
$0.75/1 Sargento Tastings Cheese found here

5. Grilled Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes

– Tops 99% Fat Free Boneless Chicken – BOGO $3.99/lb (for type I got $6.xx for 2 pkgs) OR from the Fresh Homestyle Roasting Chicken or Whole Fryer – $0.99 /lb. (about $5.xx)
– White or Russet Potatoes 8 lb – $2.99 each

6. Garlic Toast Pizzas

– Pepperidge Farms Texas Toast – $2.00 each
– Sargento Tasting Cheese – $2.00 each

Coupons to Use: (amount will depend on your family size, and quantities you want)
$5/$50 Click to Card
$0.50 off ONE (1) Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast
$0.75/1 Sargento Tastings Cheese found here

7. Tacos

– Use Tortilla Shells from Old El Paso Tortillas or Stand n Stuff Tortillas – $2.00 each
– Use the hamburger, cheese, tortilla shells from Big Pack Ground Beef 80% lean 4-5 lb (typically around $17-$22 a package I paid $18.xx) Get the following 7 items FREE
Tops Mexican or Taco Shredded Cheese
Tops 6″ Tortilla
Fresh Express Shredded Lettuce 8 oz
Prego Pasta Sauce
Ronzoni Pasta
Sierra Mist or Schweppes 2 Liter
Tops Snack Cake

Coupons to Use: (amount will depend on your family size, and quantities you want)
$5/$50 Click to Card
$0.60 off any three Old El Paso products
Get $2.00 off off your purchase of Fresh Meat when you purchase 3 participating Old El Paso items

8. Chicken Alfredo Casserole

– I reused my left over chicken from my Chicken Fajitas for this and noodles from stock pile! Tops 99% Fat Free Boneless Chicken – BOGO $3.99/lb (for type I got $6.xx for 2 pkgs)
– Prego Pasta Sauce – $1.99
– Sargento Tasting Cheese – $2.00 each

Coupons to Use: (amount will depend on your family size, and quantities you want)
$5/$50 Click to Card
$1.00/1 Prego Alfredo Sauce from the 10-5 SS
$0.75/1 Sargento Tastings Cheese found here

9. Dessert – Apple Crisp – or Applesauce – Yum!

2 Bagged Apples – BOGO $4.99

LINK to all the deals at Tops Markets this week

If you have recipes you would love featured on My Momma Taught Me, please contact me and I’d be happy to share!