How’s it going? Are you feeling a pinch in your wallet with all the upcoming expense related to December? Guess what? There’s one major expense you actually have control over…it’s your food budget. Every week or month you head into the grocery store and only you control what goes into your cart and how much you spend. Here’s the good news…you can manage that and eat real food even while on a budget. It just takes some planning. Welcome to Meal Plan Monday!
The more you meal plan, the quicker you get at it. There are probably about a dozen meals I cook that are in heavy rotation in my house, and you’ll see that in my meal plans. When I grab the flyer, I scan the front and back page first and generally two or three meal ideas will jump out at me immediately. Jot those down on a list, stick it on the fridge and scan your recipes to make sure you have the rest of the ingredients you need. That’s it. You have control over one part of your busy week. It’s a game changer. 🙂
This week’s meal plan comes from the Atlantic Superstore.
Here’s what we’re having:
Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Rice and Peas
Here’s what I bought:
2 cans kidney beans- $2.00
1 can diced tomatoes- $1.00
1 tomato sauce- $1.25
1 box penne pasta- $1.25
1 bottle Ragu pasta sauce- $1.69
Old Mill bread crumbs- $1.89
Cracker Barrel mozzarella cheese- $5.99
1 small bag frozen green peas- $1.99
PC Parmesan Cheese- $5.99
1 large pkg boneless, skinless chicken breast- $16.48
1 large pkg boneless sirloin chops- $6.89
1 orange pepper- $1.84
1 bag of carrots- $1.49
1 pkg regular ground beef- $7.27
1 dozen eggs- $2.99
Total: $60.01
Here’s what I had:
Olive Oil- Chicken Parmesan
Oregano- Chicken Parmesan/frittata
onion- chili/pork chop dinner
green pepper- chili
1 tbsp chili powder- chili
1 bay leaf- chili
1 tomato- Ham and cheese frittata
Ham- frittata
potatoes- pork chop dinner
1 can cream of mushroom soup- pork chop dinner
2 cups brown sugar- S&S meatballs
2 tbsp flour- S&S meatballs
1/2 c vinegar- S&S meatballs
soy sauce ketchup- S&S meatballs
rice
Ground beef, pork sirloin chops and the chicken breasts are all on sale this week, but only in the large packages. The good news is that you will be able to make 2 meals from each of those. I quickly started and cooked my chili, while making up my meatballs. Two meals done at one time. I put the chili in the freezer for later in the week, which feels do good to have…it’s like a night off cooking. 🙂
I split the pork chops into two freezer bags and also put those in the freezer. So that $6.89 package of meat, now is part of two meals or $3.45 each. With pantry basics like potatoes, onions, carrots and a can of soup, you can feed your family the Pork Chop Dinner for around $6.00!
I’ll use the mozzarella cheese in the frittata this week, as opposed to cheddar and will throw in any leftover veggies I have in the fridge.
The extra meat in my freezer from the large packages will cross off the cost of the groceries I already had this week. I planned 5 meals for 5 this week for $60.00, which works out to $12.00 a meal, or $2.40/person! Make a meal plan this week. Take control of your budget and your families nourishment. You can do it! Let me know how you make out and if you saw a big change in how you felt this week. Good luck…you got this.
If you need more Meal Plan inspiration, check out Orgjunkie.com
