Last month, we bought the smallest spiral-sliced ham we could find at Costco, and have had some wonderful meals from it already, so I was a bit surprised when I checked this past weekend and found out how much we still had left. Ham therefore will be the star of this week’s menu, appearing in four different meals, but that should finish it off. We probably won’t buy another one until next year at Christmas – as much as we love ham, one is just too much for the three of us these days. We’ll have to find other ways to get our ham fix until then.
Otherwise, things are getting eaten up fairly quickly around here with WenYu still at home. Both girls are active, and have big appetites, so we’ve seen few leftovers, and if they do exist, they disappear quickly.
We’re looking forward to having the first of some teriyaki chicken & pineapple meatballs we picked up at Costco last week. A package of 60 was on sale for just a little over $10, and that many should see us through five or six meals. Besides the ham we will also be finishing up the last of the Costco roast chicken. Our egg meal this week will be omelets that will include ham.
Here’s our first-week-of-the-new-year menu:
- Tuesday (this evening): Chinese three-color salad (hiyashi chuka) with ham.
- Wednesday: Barbecue chicken quesadillas; coleslaw
- Thursday: Ham & vegetable fried rice
- Friday: Slow cooker split pea soup; country-style bread (YaYu will be at a team spaghetti dinner)
- Saturday: Denver omelets; biscuits; fruit
- Sunday: Homemade spaghetti with marinara; grilled Italian sausages; garlic bread; grilled zucchini
- Monday: Teriyaki chicken & pineapple meatballs; zaru soba; cucumber salad
All we’ll need from the farmers’ market this week will be cucumbers, zucchini and bananas – another quick trip!
Posting my menu each week last year has been key in helping us keep our food budget down, as well as keeping food waste to a minimum. I’m going to stick to doing it again this year.
What’s on your menu this week?
The Occasional Nomads 
While you are working your way through ham, we are doing the same with turkey. 🙂 Only a Costco roasted breast, but still quite a few meals for two people. I’ve researched a couple new recipes for leftover turkey online and will see how they turn out.
I admire your menu planning skills. I’ve tried to get to that, but am finding it difficult to get into. Maybe I’ll get better as time goes on. At least we’re not eating out very often anymore. That saves calories AND money.
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We still have turkey left over too! I put the last piece from our Costco turkey breast into the freezer, but plan to use it next week.
I’ve been menu planning for a long time, but it helps that Brett eats anything I put in front of him. My challenge this year (and next) is YaYu – she has become quite the picky eater, for now anyway. So, I try to accommodate her tastes a few days a week, but have let her know that I will also be fixing things Brett and I like. She always eats whatever I fix, but she lets us know she’d prefer something else (i.e. she did not care for the butternut squash ravioli last week although she did like the Alfredo sauce).
Cooking at home is one of the best ways to save money!
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I love ham, but there are only two of us at my house who will eat it, so I try hard not to buy it. My dad made a ham & bean soup while I was home, so I got all stocked up then. It was delicious! I love Costco’s meatballs – they are a core staple at our house, particularly with our picky eater.
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I know about picky eaters. I was just thinking that next year we may not get to have ham because our son and family will probably be here and our son doesn’t like ham . . . at all. Or bacon! He does like breakfast sausage though (and YaYu doesn’t – sigh). Anyway, I’m really looking forward to the split pea soup but am serving it on a night when YaYu is not eating at home – she made a face when I mentioned it.
The meatballs are from Aidell’s. I think the teriyaki-pineapple will go well with the more Asian-y dishes YaYu prefers. Plus they were a very good deal!
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Laura I love what a great planner you are! You have really given me some great ideas in my own plan to move to Kauai. Your blog is always the first one I look for, as l love to get a glimpse of living on Kauai thru you. I really appreciate all the info and tips you share. Happy New Year to you & family!
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Wow – thanks! When are you planning to move to Kaua’i?
Posts about life on Kaua’i will be coming next week!
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Ham freezes beautifully, I buy the hams at Costco and slice it up and freeze in packages.
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I have frozen Costco ham steaks before, but never thought about breaking down one of the big spiral-sliced hams. One of those would last the three of us for six months! Thanks for the tip!
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If you have a vacuum sealer, they are awesome. I’ve saved a lot of money and food :-))
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looks good!
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Thanks!
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Always inspired by your meal plans! Thanks for sharing. I’ve been in survival mode for the past few weeks after I came down with a cold and couldn’t shake it. I didn’t have the energy to put together ‘real’ meals. We ate out way to much and had lots of prepackaged things. I’m ready to get back into the groove and start cooking again!
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