Trying to figure out what to feed your family? This menu for a family of 6 can help! It’s budget friendly and includes lots of simple, kid friendly meals.
I know how tiring it can be to always be thinking about what to make to feed your family. And that’s why I try to share these menus with you fairly regularly, to hopefully help give you inspiration and ideas. Because I know how helpful that is for me!
If you are new to my menu plan though, it might be helpful to know a few things first:
- Our family of six consists of two adults, a 10 year-old boy, a 6 ½ year-old girl, a 4 ½ year-old girl and a 2 year-old boy- all of our kids eat more than pretty much any other kids I know. It’s not uncommon for any of the older 3 to eat as much as I do.
- 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 almost always make them from scratch. 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 help me have a productive day!
Menu for a Family of 6
Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake
WEEK 1
Sunday
- BBQ Chicken; “Baked” Potatoes (made them in my Instant Pot); Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake
– We had 5 guests enjoy lunch with us. - Homemade Subs; Potato Chips; Easy Frozen Fruit Smoothie
– We had 8 guests enjoy dinner with us.
Monday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Fresh Strawberries; Grapes
- Cheesy Ham, Potato and Green Bean Casserole; 5 Minute Mandarin Orange Jello Salad; Dove Ice Cream Bars (got these free thanks to couponing recently)
Tuesday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Watermelon; Grapes
- Speedy Spanish Rice and Ground Beef; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Chocolate Brownies
Wednesday
- Refried Bean and Cheese Quesadilla (used my homemade refried beans); Easy Homemade Yogurt; Watermelon; Grapes
- Leftover BBQ Chicken over Rice; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; No Bake Key Lime Pie
Thursday
- Garlicky White Bean Dip (I make mine similar to this recipe) with tortilla chips; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Frozen Blueberries; Home Canned Peaches
- Lemon Pepper Fish (used tilapia); “Baked” Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes (made in Instant Pot); Peas; Leftover Homemade Chocolate Brownies
Friday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Bananas; Apples
- Crustless Bacon & Egg Quiche; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Strawberry Shortcake (used thawed frozen crushed strawberries)
Saturday
- White Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Apples; Home Canned Peaches
- Various Leftovers; Lettuce Salad; Leftover Strawberry Shortcake
Week 2
Sunday
- Herb Roasted Chicken and Potatoes; Favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- – We had a carry-in lunch at church and this is what I took.
- Homemade Toasted Chicken Salad Sandwiches; Easy Frozen Fruit Smoothie; Homemade Popcorn
Monday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Bananas; Fresh Peaches
- Chipotle Casserole; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Best Ever Chocolate Cake with Easy Caramel Icing
Tuesday
- Leftover Chiptole Casserole; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Carrot Sticks; Fresh Peaches
- Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup; White Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches; Leftover Homemade Best Ever Chocolate Cake with Easy Caramel Icing
Wednesday
- Refried Bean and Cheese Quesadilla (used my homemade refried beans); Easy Homemade Yogurt; Fresh Peaches; Bananas
- Homemade Chicken & Bacon Alfredo Pizza (used homemade Healthier Alfredo Sauce and homemade pizza crust and topped with chicken, caramelized onions and of course cheese); Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Best Ever Chocolate Cake with Easy Caramel Icing
– This homemade pizza crust recipe is awesome! Not only does it need no time to rise, but you can also 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.
Thursday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Grapes; Frozen Blueberries
- Various Leftovers; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Chocolate Brownies
Friday
- Garlicky White Bean Dip (similar to hummus) and Tortilla Chips; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Grapes; Frozen Blueberries
- Easy Ground Beef and Rice Skillet; Green Beans; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Chocolate Brownies
Saturday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Grapes; Bananas
- Eggs; Cinnamon Roll Pancakes; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce
Jennifer
Impressive. Here in Nova Scotia, Canada we cannot double up on coupons and things are a bit pricier. Without coupons how would you suggest keeping costs down? We are vegetarian and I make most if not all meals from scratch.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Yes, double coupons are very much an American thing and actually many parts of the US don’t double anymore either. Here are some posts that I wrote that are all about how to save money on groceries. Hopefully, they’ll help give you some more ideas that you can use!
6 Ways to Save Money on Groceries without Using Coupons
8 Simple Ways to Save Money on Groceries
4 Tips to Reduce Your Grocery Spending
How to Save Money on Groceries (related to building a stockpile)
40 Foods that You Can Freeze to Save Money
30 Meatless Meals
7 Ways to Reduce Food Waste and Save Money
8 Foods that You are Throwing Out that You can Actually Use
Incidentally, we just moved to England for 3 years and they have absolutely no coupons here. I’m also finding that most foods are a bit more expensive too, so I’m needing to figure out all over again what works to save money on groceries. It’s a bit harder, but if you are determined enough, there are definitely ways that you can save and keep your budget reasonably low!
Emily
Do you mind posting your homemade chocolate brownies recipe? Thanks!