It has been a crazy busy week around here and I don’t see any relief in the next couple of weeks. Luckily I didn’t have to create a new meal plan this week, I used one of the ones that I already created to save myself a little time.
This got me to thinking, there are some weeks where my family loved the menu so why not save our favorites and recycle them for another time. You could even pick several menus and rotate them so that you never have to menu plan again.
Here’s what our meal plan looks like this week:
Budget Friendly Meal Planning
Monday
Bean & Cheese Burritos – served with Spanish rice and orange slices.
- Serves 4
- Recipe Notes: serve with half an orange cut into slices
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- Replace the canned re-fried beans with homemade ones. Dry pinto beans are inexpensive, simple to make and they freeze up nicely.
- Make your own flour tortillas for a inexpensive and delicious replacement.
- Make your own Spanish rice, it’s simple to make, tastes amazing and uses items you probably already have in your pantry.
Tuesday
Leftovers – bratwurst supper and biscuits from Sunday dinner.
Wednesday
Italian Chicken & Broccoli – served with a tossed salad and garlic toast.
- Serves 6
- Recipe Notes:
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- You can eliminate the chicken and make the recipe with sausage only.
- Don’t buy the bags of salad, instead purchase salad ingredients separately, it’s cheaper and you’ll get more for your money.
- Make your own salad dressing, it’s cheaper and tastes better. Bonus, you only have to make what you’ll use so no more wasted space in the refrigerator.
- Instead of throwing out the heels or stale bread, store them in a Zip-loc bag in the freezer. Whenever you need bread crumbs or garlic toast pull out what you need.
Thursday
Leftovers – bean & cheese burritos from Monday and Italian chicken & broccoli for Wednesday.
Friday
Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings (Eating on a Dime)
- Serves 4
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- Make your own cream of chicken soup, it’s tasty, easy and inexpensive.
- Instead of purchasing prepared biscuits, try making biscuits from scratch. They’re cheaper, more delicious and super simple.
- You can make chicken stock for free, using ingredients that you would normally throw away.
Saturday
Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna (Featured – Life as a Strawberry) – served with a tossed salad and garlic toast.
- Serves 6
- Recipe Notes:
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- You can make vegetable stock for free, using ingredients that you would normally throw away.
- Instead of using heavy cream, which can be pricey, use whole milk, it has a similar flavor, it’s just not as rich.
- This recipe calls for a lot of spinach, instead of using fresh, which can get pricey, use frozen that has been thawed and drained. I use 2-3 frozen packages for this recipe.
- Don’t buy the bags of salad, instead purchase salad ingredients separately, it’s cheaper and you’ll get more for your money.
- Make your own salad dressing, it’s cheaper and tastes better. Bonus, you only have to make what you’ll use so no more wasted space in the refrigerator.
- Instead of throwing out the heels or stale bread, store them in a Zip-loc bag in the freezer. Whenever you need bread crumbs or garlic toast pull out what you need.
Sunday
Salmon Patties – served with buttered noodles, Brussels sprouts and for dessert chocolate pudding.
- Serves 4
- Recipe Notes:
- Buttered Noodles – 8 ounces of cooked noodles mixed with a 1/4 cup of butter and a clove of minced garlic.
- Recipe Notes:
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- Instead of throwing out the heels or stale bread, store them in a Zip-loc bag in the freezer. Whenever you need bread crumbs or garlic toast pull out what you need.
- Make your own chocolate pudding using homemade quick mix, a little sugar and some chocolate.
Download – Week 20: Menu & Shopping List (add new PDF)
Budget Friendly Tips
✔ Keep a well stocked pantry, it is an essential part to feeding a family on a small budget. Plus it’s comforting knowing that there is always something at home to cook.
✔ Stock up when prices are at there lowest. Sales usually go in a 3 month cycle, so if you see an item at it’s rock bottom price, buy enough to use between now and the next sale.
✔ Another way to keep your grocery bill low is by using coupons for the items that you need. I rarely plan my menu around coupons that are available, I find that I end up spending more. Instead I create my menu first and then look for coupons that will lower the bill.
Time Saving Tips
✔ Do your grocery shopping online, you’ll save so much time because someone else does the shopping for you. It also allows you more flexibility for staying on budget, you don’t check out until your total is just right. Use my Walmart Grocery Pickup link and get $10 off your first order of $50 or more.
✔ A simple way to save yourself some time in the kitchen is by prepping your food for the week. This can be done by simply washing your fruits, chopping your vegetables or portioning the food for each meal. It’s up to you how much you want to do to save yourself sometime later in the week.
More Posts You’ll Love
Budget Friendly Meal Plan (Week 19)
Budget Friendly Meal Plan (Week 18)
Budget Friendly Meal Plan (Week 17)
Budget Friendly Meal Plan (Week 16)
About the Author
Robin
A mother to three amazing boy, wife to an incredible husband and a former finance manager who traded in her spreadsheets for cookie sheets. I blog about things that make life a little more fun, a bit more manageable, slightly prettier, a great deal tastier and considerably cheaper.
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