Budget Friendly Meal Planning Week 5

Finally some relief from the cold weather!

I don’t know what the weather’s been like where you are, but around these parts it’s been darn cold. The kids have been enjoying it though, no school and lots of warm comfort food.

As much as I love warm, comfort food, I’m ready for the warm weather and some grilling. C’mon summer!! 😎

Here’s what our meal plan looks like this week:

Budget Friendly Meal Planning

Cheese Enchiladas – served with re-fried beans, Spanish rice and orange slices. There is not a tastier meatless meal that you can serve for Meatless Monday. I like to serve oranges with it, they are a great way to cut the spiciness that tends to linger from the enchilada sauce. **If you don’t like enchilada sauce, try mixing it 50/50 with a jar of beef gravy. The gravy adds a nice flavor and cuts through all that spiciness.

Meatball Subs – served with kale chips and apples. This is a nice hearty meal that warms you to the bone on a cold day. The kale chips are a nice healthy way to add some vegetables to your meal.

Leftovers – some paper plates and leftovers, will make meal time a breeze.

Chicken Pot Pie – served with a side salad. This comfort meal always reminds me of my grandma, she made the best chicken pies. I cheat a little when I want to save some time, I use the pre-made pie crusts, they aren’t as good but they are easy.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches – served crispy oven fries and pickle spears. The pork is cooked in a slow cooker until it is pull apart tender and then cooked in the BBQ sauce to give the pork a delicious, bold flavor.

Italian Chicken Bow Tie Pasta – served with garlic toast and a side salad. This is one of my families favorites, so I usually double the recipe and serve it for lunch or for leftovers.

Korean Style Pork Chops – served with mashed potatoes, corn and fried apples.  The pork chops are marinated in a mouthwatering marinade that tastes amazing served alongside a pile of creamy mashed potatoes. For dessert we served some warm cranberry nut bread slathered in butter.

Download – Week 5: Menu & Shopping List

Budget Friendly Tips to Lower Your Bill

✔ To lower your grocery budget even more, trying purchasing salad ingredients separately instead of the salad bags

✔ Make your own flour tortillas. You can make a dozen of them for just pennies, you can make them any size you want and they taste better than anything sitting on the shelves.

✔ Making your own re-fried beans is another delicious way to cut your grocery bill. I like to cook up a big pot of pinto beans and freeze them to use for things like this.

✔ I like to make my own enchilada sauce because I can control how spicy it is, plus it’s cheaper to make it yourself than it is to buy it. I buy the spices for this from the dollar store, it’s a lot cheaper.

✔ Marinara sauce can be purchased at a fairly low price, but if you want to try your hand at making it yourself, it can be made a little cheaper.

✔ You can save yourself a little money making your own pastry crust for the chicken pot pie. It’s cheaper and tastes better as with everything that’s homemade.

✔ If you want a really tasty chicken pot pie try making your own gravy, it simple, cheap and delicious.

✔ 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. 

✔ One way that I keep my grocery bill low is by using coupons for the items that I need. I rarely plan my menu around the 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 my bill.

Time Saving Tips

✔ By doubling recipes and freezing the leftovers you can save yourself both ta great deal of time.

✔ Spending a little time meal planning can make your life so much easier. It’ll save you time and money, improve your nutrition, it’ll make cooking more manageable and it will give you more control over what you put on the table.

✔ 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.

About Our Meal Plan

✔ Our menus are designed to feed a family of four, two adults and two teenage boys. It can also feed two adults and 3-4 young children.

✔ Many of the meals included in our meal plan are budget friendly to begin with, however we do offer tips that will reduce the grocery bill even further. 

✔ Our menus do not include breakfast or lunch, but there is space for you to fill in what your family likes. Our family eats a pretty simple meal for breakfast and lunch, like cereal or sandwiches and sometimes leftovers. We don’t make to much of a fuss over it.

✔ Sunday dinner is our biggest meal of the week, that’s when all of the family gets together, so we tend to spend a little more money and include dessert. I try to make enough for leftovers during the week.

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