$200/MONTH MENU PLAN FOR OUR FAMILY OF 5 (POST #26)

Trying to figure out what to eat on a budget? Here are the meals that our family of 5 have been enjoying lately. Lots of cheap meal 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 ½ year-old boy, a 4 year-old girl and an 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 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, 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.

What to Eat on a Budget- Frugal Meal Ideas

WEEK 1
Sunday

• One Pan Chicken & Rice; Green Beans; Homemade Vanilla Pudding
• Toasted Tuna Salad Sandwiches made with 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Frozen Fruit Smoothie

Monday

• Meat/Cheese/Lettuce Sandwiches made with 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Frozen Blueberries; Oranges
• Cheeseburger Pie (my recipe is similar to this, although it doesn’t include pickles); Peas; Leftover Homemade Vanilla Pudding

Tuesday

• Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Apples; Frozen Blueberries
• We went out to eat at Red Robin and used some gift cards that we had. Yay for a break from cooking!

Wednesday

• Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Apples; Home Canned Peaches
• Salsa Chicken Soup; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce; Blonde Brownies

Thursday

• Leftover Cheeseburger Pie; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Apples; Frozen Blueberries
• Quick & Easy Fried Rice; Homemade Applesauce; Leftover Homemade Vanilla Pudding
  – I kind of went crazy with the veggies in the Fried Rice and as a result we didn’t have a separate vegetable.

Friday

• Leftover Salsa Chicken Soup; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Bananas; Apples
• Homemade Chicken Alfredo Pizza (used homemade Alfredo sauce and homemade pizza crust and topped with chicken, sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions); Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce
  – 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.

Saturday

• Eggs; 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Cheese; Carrots; Bananas; Easy Homemade Yogurt
• Hebrew National Hot Dogs; Hot Dog Rolls; Blonde Brownies
  – We spent the evening with family and this is what I took to contribute to our meal.

WEEK 2
Sunday

• Herb Roasted Chicken and Potatoes; Blonde Brownies
  – We had a carry-in at church and this is what I took for our contribution.
• Toasted Tuna Salad Sandwiches made with 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Frozen Fruit Smoothie

Monday

• Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Apples; Frozen Blueberries
• Hamburger Zucchini Quiche; Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce; Frosted Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Tuesday

• Meat/Cheese/Lettuce Sandwiches made with 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Bananas; Frozen Blueberries
• Various Leftovers; Homemade Applesauce; Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream

Wednesday

• Meat/Cheese/Lettuce Sandwiches made with 100% Whole Wheat Bread; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Frozen Blueberries; Home Canned Peaches
• Kidfresh Chicken Nuggets; McCain Smiles Shaped Potatoes; Lettuce Salad with Mexican Dressing; Homemade Applesauce; Blonde Brownies
  – I taught a class at a local library on How to Save Money on Groceries. They asked if I would also make one of my recipes to share with the attendees, so I made the Blonde Brownies for that and just used a couple for our dessert at dinner before I went.

Thursday

• Various Leftovers; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Frozen Blueberries; Home Canned Peaches
• Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Skillet; Green Beans; Homemade Applesauce

Friday

• Leftover Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Skillet; Easy Homemade Yogurt; Frozen Blueberries; Home Canned Peaches
• Homemade Chicken Alfredo Pizza (used homemade Alfredo sauce and homemade pizza crust and topped with chicken, sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions); Lettuce Salad; Homemade Applesauce
  – 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.

Saturday

• Subs (meat/cheese/various toppings); Potato Chips; Homemade Potato Salad; Frozen Peaches/Strawberries/Blueberries mixed; Homemade Chocolate Brownies
  – We had 5 guests eat with us. They contributed some of the lunch meat, the potato salad and the brownies.
• Easy Vegetable Beef Soup; Cheese
  – We were full from our lunch and weren’t really hungry. As a result, our dinner was really light!