I can’t call this Meal Plan Monday….because it is Wednesday. That is my life right now. I am behind, by at least 2 days, in almost everything. Not really, but that’s how I’ve been feeling. It’s just a busy time for me and my family. So you know what we need? A plan. A real food meal plan that works for us. There is still a lot of talk about the high cost of healthy food. It is a reality. But each week, there are things on sale that can help you create healthy, real food meals that will not be as expensive as you might think.
This week we are having/had:
Roast Turkey Dinner with mashed potatoes, carrots and peas
Baked Atlantic Salmon with baked potatoes and steamed broccoli
This week’s meal plan came from a shop at the Atlantic Superstore.
Here’s what I bought:
Butterball Turkey- $22.47
Stewing Beef- $8.39
(2) packages Atlantic Salmon portions- $10.00
3 lbs carrots- $2.00
3 lbs onions- $2.00
10 lb bag potatoes- $2.00
Broccoli- $1.99
Celery- $3.49
Frozen Peas- (large bag) $4.99
Total- $57.33
Turkey’s were on sale. I paid $22.47 for one, which has been the base of 3-4 meals for us. That’s a little over $5.00/meal! I made us a big turkey dinner on Sunday, with mashed potatoes, carrots and peas. I always make lots of vegetables so that there will be leftovers the next night. I then made a soup, and I am just getting ready to turn the last of the meat into a Turkey Pot Pie. For value, you can never go wrong with a turkey, especially when they are on sale.
Atlantic Salmon portions were also on sale this week. We had salmon, baked potatoes and broccoli one night. This was so easy and delicious.
I will be also throwing a beef stew in my slow cooker tomorrow before I head to the city for the day for meetings. Knowing this was coming up, and planning for it, makes the busy day tomorrow seem much more manageable. The recipe I’ve used for years is from Canadian Living. The base is a very basic beef, potatoes, carrots, onions and peas, then mixed with a few other basic staple ingredients. It’s delicious. You should try it.
Trim and cut beef into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes. In 18- to 24-cup (4.5 to 6 L) slow-cooker, mix together beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, beef stock, tomato paste, bay leaf and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours (or on High for 5 to 6 hours) or until beef and vegetables are tender.
Source: Slow-Cooker Beef Stew recipe – Canadian Living
If I do a rough estimate for the rest of the ingredients needed for the meals I planned for this week (most of which are pantry items) I would say that this meal plan cost us $70.00. Five real food meals…for five people…for $14.00 a meal…or $2.80 a person. Not that expensive, when you have a plan.
I’ll be sharing a post next week outlining exactly how I do meal plan. I have outlined most of it already, but I thought it might be helpful to have it all in one post. I know a lot of people who struggle with meal planning, or have no idea where to start. I’ll share some tips and tricks to making it a simple, easy process, that takes minimal time. Have I mentioned its life changing? 😉
There’s still time today to go buy the ingredients listed and get started on your own meal plan for this week/weekend.
Looking forward to reading your tips on meal planning.