And This is The Rest Of The Story

Typical of me I created a meal plan that required little to no shopping based on what I had on hand. I had totally planned to buy nothing this week, but I had to run to the store to pick up a few things for Mom's birthday celebration. Of course I could not stop by ThePig without looking at their meat counter, or picking up a couple of things I am out of, like black pepper. Who ever actually runs out of it? I don't think I ever have before. And after I picked up ground chuck and pepper in addition to the party things how could I resist the gigantic Boston ferns? Oh, I couldn't. Somehow 2 of those giant things wound up in the back of my car. I did decide to give one to Mom as an additional birthday gift. That makes the purchase ok, right?

On Wednesday I had to run to Sprouts for their double ad deals. They still had asparagus at 98 cents per pound which is rare here, so I loaded up and froze a lot of it. I am not crazy about frozen asparagus, but it is a great keto vegetable and it was cheap. It is what it is, and I will have it for dinner  anyway even if it is not my favorite way of eating it. And even though I planned on walking out with just the asparagus, I noticed macadamia nuts were 7 bucks a pound cheaper than normal, so yep, I bought a bunch. (I left a few out but put most of them in the freezer so they will last quite a while.)  Oops! Then I saw the red grapes for 98 cents a pound. TheHub loves them so they came home with me too. It was not an inexpensive outing, but I do have much more in the freezer than I did before I went.

I also forgot Uncle Bob and my cousin Sandy would be here over the weekend when I planned the menu. (March was flying by and I was obviously oblivious to time passing) That meant  I needed a little extra for our St. Patrick's Day meal. Add additional potatoes, another cabbage, and 1 more corned beef to the shopping that was not supposed to happen.

This was my Sunday night idea of how our meals would go for the week:
1. Birthday meal for Mom (yet undecided)
2. Crustless Pizza, mixed green salad
3. Chicken crack, asparagus, coleslaw or salad
4. Ham, cheese and mushroom frittata, tossed salad
5. Pork chop/sauerkraut/potato bake, asparagus
6. Enchilada casserole, coleslaw, tortillas
7. Corned beef and cabbage, au gratin potatoes, steamed carrots, mint chocolate brownies

And this is what really happened:
Monday: Ham, cheese and spinach frittata, tossed salad, toast
Tuesday: Baked ziti, tossed salad, Italian bread, cupcakes and ice cream (take out birthday meal)
Wednesday: Chicken crack, asparagus, rice, or keto toast
Thursday: Pizza casserole, tossed salad
Friday: Bacon cheeseburger casserole over lettuce and tomatoes
Saturday: Brats and sauerkraut, cucumbers and tomatoes
Sunday: Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, rolls, mint brownies.

And this is what may or may not happen this week:
1. Reuben casserole (Hooray for leftover corned beef)
2. Hamburger patty, steamed asparagus, leftover St Paddy's potatoes or cauli mash.
3. Wedge salad, rolls or grilled keto bread
4. Chicken enchiladas, tossed salad, avocado slices
5. Smoked ribs, baked beans or green beans potato salad or cauliflower salad, rolls or keto rolls.
6. Meat sauce over spaghetti or zoodles, mixed green salad
7. Piri piri over rice or cauli rice, cucumbers, green beans

As usual it will be interesting to me to see how closely I stick to this plan, or how far I drift from it. Either way will be without real intention but just follows whichever way the proverbial wind is blowing.