So, I am really trying to cut our food budget! So here is this weeks meal plan!
(Normally I will post on Mondays, but I was driving home from our road trip and didn't get a chance to do anything till today!)
I downloaded one of the many meal planning sheets I have given links to, or if I didn't cause I found them after the fact, then they are posted on my Pinterest Board Meal Planning:
Now the one I used is a free download, for personal use, which I am doing, I am just sharing it with you for ideas of how I am planning!
Here is the link to the one I used:
AND here is my menu!!!
(((To make things really confusing, ya know how I said I started on Tuesday, well I did, the meals listed for Monday are really for NEXT Monday! I know crazy! But I was planning for a whole week! I don't want to go back to the store until Monday of next week!)))
ANYWAY...
This week is a little different because 1- it is the first week I am actually planning what we will eat for ALL three meals! Hoping to save time and maybe a little money to; 2- My kids start back to school this week; 3- my hubby goes out of town for almost two weeks, which doesn't play in a whole lot, but a little; and 4- I am taking dinner to another family one night, they also have 6.
As I was planning this weeks menu, I looked at what I already had, and I had a lot! While I was out of town for a week, I had bought groceries for my hubby to make things for dinner, he didn't! So I had everything needed for a lot of dinners, saving me money!!!
So, are you ready?!?! I only spent $37 to get everything I thought I would need for the whole week!!!! Including drinks for lunches, and my hubbies extra drinks! Now, I may need something else I forgot to get, but still!!! My goal is $100 a week, not counting my dairy delivery, which for a month is normally about $100 (that's 4 gallons fresh milk and 2 1/2 gallons of OJ- a kind we love a week, not to bad, I probably could save money if I got it with coupons and watched sales, but I am hugely pregnant, with 4 kids, and an unplanned run for milk is not something I want to mess with!) So I think I am doing good at $37 so far!!! I think I can make this weeks budget!!! Next week we will see...
Tonight's dinner was Sheppard pie! A super easy dish, most everyone in my house likes (my one super picky eater eats the top and the beans... better than nothing I guess!)
I just brown a pound of hamburger,
put a can of tomato soup in a 9 x 13 pan,
along with a can or jar (I do a home jarred, thanks to my mother in law!) green beans,
add the hamburger and mix,
top with instant potatoes and sprinkle on shredded cheese!
Then I bake until the cheese is melted and it is heated through, about 20 minutes at 350.
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Nothing fancy, but my kids don't need or really want fancy! And for about $5 a meal to feed 6, not bad!
As for the rest of the week, I always like to plan a big 'Breakfast for Dinner' in there because 1- in normally cost less; and 2- my hubby isn't ever home for breakfast, so he misses anything special I make, but he likes it. So this way we can all enjoy it! I remember reading a long time ago, that if you have one meatless meal a week, you save about $100 or more a year (I think it was a year), anyway, I like to do one that way if I can. So you will always see a breakfast for dinner in my menu's.
I also like to make my kids a warm, home cooked breakfast most mornings, but they like cold cereal as well, so I alternate during the school year. I found a few recipes for egg muffins and other ideas I may try at some point, but for now I am sticking to the regulars to get going on the school year and my budget planning! (I grew up the opposite, where my mom made a big breakfast every Saturday and Sunday, but we are still up at different times on the weekends, and my hubby normally goes for a long run, and doesn't eat a big breakfast, hopefully someday it will work for us!)
I will keep you updated on how my budget goes! And remember this is just my 'plan' I often forget to pull out meat or start the crock pot early in the day, and have to switch things around, that is fine to do, I just know I have everything needed for any of these meals on hand! No fast, run in for 'one' thing at the store kind of things!!!
Share your thoughts and meal ideas! I would love to hear how your plan works!
I will share more recipes as the week goes on!
**My spelling is horrible! LOL And my program I used to add to the menu doesn't do spell check, so please forgive me! If I forget to double check things, as I am normally in a hurry (4 kids remember!) then I will have mis-spelled words! Sorry!**
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