Need help meal planning? Here are some cheap, easy meal ideas from our $200/mo. menu plan. All recipes that our family of 5 enjoyed!
If you are new to these menu plans of mine, it’s probably helpful to know a couple of things first:
- Our family of five consists of two adults with fairly big appetites, a 7-year-old boy, a 3 ½-year-old girl and a 22-month-old girl.
- I buy lots of fruits and veggies in bulk from local farmers/orchards in the summer and then freeze or can them. This is not only much cheaper it is also healthier too. But that is why if you look at my Weekly Spending Summaries you won’t always see lots of produce.
- I have a stockpile. My cupboards are full from previous shopping and here’s why. When I can get pasta for free with coupons, I buy as much as I have coupons for. If I’m able to get flour for $0.50/bag like I did last fall, I’ll buy half a dozen and put them in the freezer to use as needed. I do this as much as my budget allows, on as many items as I can and as a result save lots of money. Then when I go to plan menus, I simply plan our meals around what I already have in my cupboards and freezer, as much as possible. Obviously, I still might have to buy a few things at regular price here and there, but by stocking up when the price is at rock bottom I save a lot.
- I cook almost totally from scratch. That means when I make a cake, I rarely use a cake mix. I make my own bread totally from scratch. I rarely use pre-packaged sauces. I make my own cream soups and pie crusts. Making your own food is typically less expensive and healthier too.
- We rarely snack. By eating “heavy” food like granola at breakfast we don’t get hungry until lunchtime. And the same goes for the afternoon. Our lunches are big enough that we usually are fine until dinner time. When we do need a snack, I try to keep it mostly healthy by offering fruit, nuts or maybe No Bake Energy Bites. We don’t always do it perfectly though and sometimes end up having chips or cookies instead.
- Our breakfasts consist of Easy Homemade Granola or Baked Oatmeal, the occasional bought cereal that I was able to get for $0.50/box and sometimes some fruit too. I know that might seem awfully boring to some of you, but we actually all really enjoy it and prefer it over other breakfast food. I also have a homemade iced latte, homemade frappe or some other fun beverage every morning. It’s just one of the little things that I do to add a bit of sunshine to my days!
Below you will find our lunches and dinners. (If we ate something other than our usual breakfast, I’ll note that too.) Monday through Friday, 2 days a week the lunches are just for the two youngest and I, the other 3 days my husband joins us.
Our son gets lunch at school and 3 days a week my husband takes a packed lunch with him to school/work. His lunch typically consists of sandwiches, fruit, homemade yogurt and sometimes random leftovers too.
Need Help Meal Planning? Here’s Our Menu!
WEEK 1
Sunday
- Ham Loaf (comes pre-made- I just make a glaze for it); Baked Potatoes & Sweet Potatoes; Green Beans; Homemade Applesauce; Easy Apple Dumpling Dessert; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream
- Homemade Chicken Salad Sandwiches made with 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Frozen Fruit Smoothie
Monday
- Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Clementines; Apples with Healthy Peanut Butter Fruit Dip
- Ham and Bean Soup (I canned); Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Classic French Bread; Homemade Applesauce; Low Fat Apple Cake
Tuesday
- Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Skillet Macaroni and Beef; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce; Ice Cream bars (got free with coupons recently)
Wednesday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches (I preserved); Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Bean and Sour Cream Enchiladas (I use this recipe as my basis, but make a number of changes so that it isn’t so spicy); Green Beans; Homemade Applesauce; No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Thursday
- KidFresh Chicken Nuggets; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches (I preserved); Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Took a quick last-minute trip with our two oldest to my parent’s place (2 hrs. away) to surprise my mom for her birthday! So fun! I bought pizza and we shared it with my parents for dinner. My husband and our youngest stayed at home and ate various leftovers.
Friday
- Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Bananas; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Leftover Bean and Sour Cream Enchiladas; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Bread with Homemade Apple Butter; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Easy Apple Dumpling Dessert and Low Fat Apple Cake
Saturday
- Easy Vegetable Beef Soup; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Eggs; Bacon; Toast; Homemade Applesauce; Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins
WEEK 2
Sunday
- We spent the day at my in-law’s
Monday
- Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Salsa Ranch Chicken Wraps; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce; No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecakes
Tuesday
- Leftover Salsa Ranch Chicken Wraps; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Banana; Home Canned Peaches
- Hamburgers (pre-made ones that I got cheap at a local discount grocery store- they were really good!); Slow Cooker Buttery Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes; Peas; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Low Fat Apple Cake
– The mashed potatoes were amazing! I did cut the salt and pepper amounts in half and thought that tasted just right. Definitely will be making these again!
Wednesday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Salsa Chicken Soup; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins
Thursday
- Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup; White Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches; Homemade Applesauce
Friday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- KidFresh Chicken Nuggets; McCain Smiles Shaped Potatoes; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce; Ice Cream Bars (I got them free with coupons)
– I was able to get the KidFresh nuggets free with coupons recently….instead of using them as kid-only food, we all enjoy them! The McCain Smiles were also free after coupons.
Saturday
- Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Home Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Eggs; Bacon; Toast; Frozen Fruit Slush
Talitha
This is so organized and complete! Thank you for posting and sharing this on Titus 2 Tuesday 🙂 We tend to eat no red meat and very little poultry. Think we could have the same budget in our situation?
ThriftyFrugalMom
Thanks for your encouragement, Talitha! Hmmm…not sure about the question. 🙂 If you go meatless a lot, it would seem like it would be easier, but then as I often say, I definitely don’t think a $200 budget is for everyone!
Christina
I was wondering how the ham loaf taste? I’ve seen it on sale in my area recently and have wondered if it’s any good. Also, what kind of glaze do you make for it? Does the glaze make a significant difference in the flavor?
Rhonda
I like your blog so much! I used to have a very tight budget and did fine for many years. Then our finances got a lot better and we got very busy and I have been spending so much at the grocery stores.
My husband just retired and our income will go down a bit. So I can choose to keep a big grocery budget now or I can do things wiser and have that money for other things.
I’m already doing better but I know the holidays and hosting big family gatherings will cost some extra.
Reading how extremely good budgeters like you really keep me motivated.
I do have your blog listed on the sidebar of my blog. It’s how I keep up with updates on my favorite blogs. Several of my readers also use my sidebar as kind of their blog reader. I removed it once and got at least half a dozen complaints.
Thank you for the sweet comments you left recently.
ThriftyFrugalMom
So happy to hear you are being encouraged by my posts here at Thrifty Frugal Mom! And thanks for sharing the love on your blog side bar too. So sweet of you!