After 4 ½ months of dealing with morning sickness all day and just feeling yucky in general, it feels amazing to enjoy good health again! I definitely appreciate my energy and health more than I have in a very long time.
And it’s been fun to feel like making food again, at least most of the time. I still have a few things that gross me out and sometimes I’ll make something and suddenly it will seem unappealing when I go to eat it, but at least I can enjoy making our meals and generally feel inspired with ideas!
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 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-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 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 coffee, 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, the lunches are just for the two youngest and me. Our son gets lunch at school and my husband takes a packed lunch with him to work. His lunch typically consists of sandwiches, fruit, homemade yogurt and sometimes random leftovers too.
WEEK 1
Sunday
- invited to my in-law’s
- invited to a friend’s house
– It’s always a treat when I get a break from cooking all day! It rarely happens, but of course, I always enjoy it when it does.
Monday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Bananas; Home Canned Peaches
- Cream Cheese Potato Soup with Ham; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce; Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (this is similar to the cookie recipe that I used)
Tuesday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved); Home Canned Peaches
- One Pan Balsamic Sausage and Veggies; Homemade Applesauce; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream
– I get the Turkey Hill ice cream for $0.50 to $0.75 by combining coupons with sales at a local grocery store. It’s definitely our favorite ice cream by far!
Wednesday
- Various Leftovers; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved); Home Canned Peaches
- One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice; Parmesan Carrots; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Thursday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved); Clementines
- Hamburgers (pre-made ones that I got cheap at a local discount grocery store- they were really good!); Potato Wedges (similar to this recipe); Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Birthday Cake (using this Chocolate Cake recipe) with Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream and Crushed Strawberries (I preserved)
– We celebrated our youngest’s 2nd birthday and invited some family over for a little birthday party. So the cake, ice cream and strawberries were shared with them.
Friday
- Various Leftovers; Clementines; Home Canned Peaches
- Invited away for dinner
Saturday
- Eggs; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Clementines; Apples
- Homemade Chicken Alfredo Pizza (used homemade Alfredo sauce and homemade pizza crust and topped with chicken and caramelized onions); Homemade Applesauce; Frozen Fruit Salad Slush; Peanut Butter Cookies (A sweet friend shared some with us! 🙂 This recipe would be similar.)
– This homemade pizza crust recipe is awesome! Not only does it need no time to rise, you can have it ready to go in the oven in 30 minutes! And it’s really tasty too. The only thing I do differently is pre-bake the crust a bit before putting on the toppings.
WEEK 2
Sunday
- One Pan Balsamic Sausage and Veggies; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Birthday Cake
– I normally don’t have a main dish like this two times so close together, but I was trying to perfect this recipe to post on the blog so…. 🙂 - Homemade Grilled Tuna Salad Sandwiches made with 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Potato Chips; 3 Minute Frozen Fruit Smoothie
– Had 2 friends over and they shared dinner with us. They also brought some apples and cheese and crackers that we ate as a snack later in the evening.
Monday
- Leftover Chicken Alfredo Pizza; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Clementines; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Salsa Chicken Soup; Cooked Carrots; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Peanut Butter Cookies
– I normally would serve salad with soup, but I didn’t plan well and ran out of lettuce. I had carrots that needed to be used up, so I made cooked carrots instead.
Tuesday
- Various Leftovers; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Clementines; Home Canned Peaches
- Amish Turkey Stuffing (from the freezer); Green Beans; Homemade Applesauce; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream
Wednesday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches made with Homemade Bread; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved); Clementines
- Invited away for dinner- took a Homemade Chocolate Cake with Homemade Peanut Butter Frosting
Thursday
- Various Leftovers; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Clementines; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Salmon Soup (sort of like oyster soup, but uses canned salmon instead); Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Leftover Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Icing
Friday
- Leftover Salmon Soup; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Oranges; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Breakfast Sandwiches (Bacon/Egg/Cheese on Bagels); Leftover Veggies; Homemade Applesauce; Tastycake Chocolate Covered Donuts (I got free with a coupon)
Saturday
- Various Leftovers; Super Easy Homemade Yogurt; Oranges; Frozen Blueberries (I preserved)
- Cheesy Chicken Chowder (very similar to this recipe); Lettuce Salad; Classic French Bread; Homemade Deviled Eggs; Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (from the freezer) – this recipe is similar to the one that I used
elizabeth
Dearest Frugal Mom, Where are your greens???? SOOOOO important in a diet. I see “lettuce”, green beans. But lunch/dinner have very little produce. . . ?????
ThriftyFrugalMom
Hi, Elizabeth! Thanks for your comment. Maybe you missed the fruit on our menu? We eat fruit (big portions actually- each of them eats about 3/4 to 1 cup of fruit at lunchtime sometimes more depending what it is) every day for lunch and for dinner we either have a lettuce salad (with other add-ins) or a cooked veggie. I’m sure we could eat more, but I actually feel good about the amount we consume. And our kids are not as big of veggie eaters as they are fruit eaters, which is why I tend to go with fruit more for lunch. I’m sure I could make a battle out of it, but it’s one of those things that doesn’t seem worth it since fruit is very healthy too and they eat a lot of it. 🙂 You have to choose your battles, you know!
Morgan @ Morgan Manages Mommyhood
LOVE THIS! I’m expecting my second boy and I know that soon these boys will be eating me out of house and home – my almost 2-year-old seriously eats all day as it is! Saving this!
ThriftyFrugalMom
Ah, yes, I know what you mean! Our kids are 7 1/2, 4 and 2 and they already eat a lot. I just told my husband yesterday that I cringe thinking about how much food I’m going to need to make in a couple of years. It’s already to the point where I almost need to double a lot of recipes. But I’m grateful they are healthy and growing well! 🙂 And I’m glad that I enjoy cooking and baking for the most part- sure helps!