Looking for a menu plan with frugal meals that your family will love? Here you go! These are the meals that our family of 6 has been enjoying and it includes lots of easy recipes!
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You all, I’m so excited that it’s soup weather again! I’ve been feeling pretty uninspired with meal ideas lately, I think mostly because things have been unusually busy and I just haven’t had a lot of energy left to feel like being creative in the kitchen. So having the option of soup to add some variety to our menus has been great!
We have so many favorite soup recipes and of course, I love trying out new ones too, so there’s no shortage of tasty options!
I mentioned that things have been unusually busy and you’ll see hints of that reflected in our menu. I don’t totally avoid pre-made/packaged foods, but I do try to keep our use of them to a minimum because it’s cheaper and also obviously much healthier.
But during super busy seasons of life, I’ve learned to be okay with doing what it takes to keep my sanity- even if that means eating a bit more packaged foods than normal. And when some unexpected things came up recently that’s exactly what I realized I needed to do!
If you looking for some frugal meals to add to your weekly meal plan ideas but are new to my menu plan posts, it’s probably helpful to know a couple of things first:
- Our family of six consists of two adults with fairly big appetites, a 9-year-old boy, a 5 ½-year-old girl, a 3 ½-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy.
- 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!
Get my FREE $50 Aldi Meal Plan here! It has 7 easy dinners for a family of 5.
Menu Plan with Frugal Meals
WEEK 1
Sunday
- Herb Roasted Chicken and Potatoes; Green Beans; Homemade Applesauce; Homemade Chocolate Brownies
- Homemade Tuna Salad on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Frozen Fruit Smoothie
Monday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Grapes; Watermelon
- Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala; Rice (made in my Instant Pot); Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream
Tuesday
- Annie’s Mac & Cheese (got free with coupons); Easy Homemade Yogurt; Grapes; Clementines
– Curious how I got the Annie’s Mac & Cheese free? You can learn more about how I shop and save money on groceries here. - Velvety Chicken Soup; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Chocolate Brownies
– I couldn’t find any recipes online that were quite like the Velvety Chicken & Onion Soup. It’s kind of like recipes that I came across for Chicken Velvet Soup but has more ingredients and pretty sure would be more flavorful. It’s quite tasty, so I suppose I’ll have to just post the recipe here on my site sometime so you all can enjoy it too!
Wednesday
- Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Grapes; Watermelon
- Eggs; Toast; Cheese; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Cold cereal with Milk (got the cereal free with coupons)
– I can occasionally get cold cereal free with my couponing (learn more about how I shop and save money on groceries here) and while I’m not generally a fan of cold cereal, I figure every once in a while it doesn’t hurt us. 🙂 I did feel kind of proud of myself though the other week when I got this idea to use the free cold cereal that I got as a dessert. I mean, hey, we were having breakfast food anyway and it probably has as much sugar as a dessert would anyway, right? It was a big hit with everyone too, which made me feel even more successful!
Thursday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Watermelon; Clementines
- Creamy White Chicken Chili; Lettuce Salad; Cheese Sticks (got super cheap with coupons); Homemade Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Friday
- Garlicky White Bean Dip (I make mine similar to this recipe) with Tortilla Chips; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Grapes; Clementines
- Meatball Sandwiches; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream
Saturday
- Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Clementines; Canned Peaches
- Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup; White Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwiches; Leftover Yellow Cake
WEEK 2
Sunday
- Easy Chicken Pot Pie; Baked Potatoes; Homemade Chocolate Brownies
– We had a carry-in lunch at our church and this is what I took. - Homemade Tuna Salad on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Frozen Fruit Smoothie
Monday
- Refried Bean & Cheese Quesadillas (made with Homemade Refried Beans); Easy Homemade Yogurt; Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Easy John Wayne Casserole; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Homemade Chocolate Brownies
Tuesday
- Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Quick and Easy Fried Rice; Homemade Applesauce; The Best Pumpkin Crunch Cake
– I use this fried rice recipe as my starting point but typically add more veggies, some chicken broth etc. to make it how we like it.
Wednesday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Potato Chips; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Super Easy Beef and Macaroni Skillet; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce; Pumpkin Pie Crumb Bars
Thursday
- Refried Bean & Cheese Quesadillas (made with Homemade Refried Beans); Easy Homemade Yogurt; Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Whole Wheat Homemade Pancakes with Homemade Chicken Gravy; Cinnamon Pancakes with Cinnamon Roll Glaze; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce
Friday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Potato Chips; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Canned Peaches; Frozen Blueberries
- Corn on the Cob (a friend shared some homegrown corn with us- so good!); Chicken Nuggets; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Pumpkin Crunch Cake
Saturday
- Meat & Cheese Sandwiches on 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Potato Chips; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Canned Peaches
- Leftover Quick & Easy Fried Rice; Lettuce Salad; Whoopie Pies (a friend shared these with us!)
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