Inspired by cheap meal ideas....

lillygator

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 27, 2003
how about sharing your menu listing or grocery lists for the week...I keep trying to plan menus to keep myself out of the grocery store every other night!
 
Here are some of our favorite meals:

Taco soup
browned hamburg meat
jar of spagetti sauce
corn
can or diced tomatoes
taco seasoning
shredded cheese
nacho chips for dipping
cook in slow coocker for 4 hours on low

Breaded chicken
garlic mashed potatoes
veggie

Homemade pizza

Chicken and Broccoli over rice
brown chicken & add
steamed broccoli (and carrots if desired)
soy sauce to taste
rice
 
Usually on Saturday or Sunday (since I work full time) I make a schedule for that weeks meals. I take into account nights that I go to the gym and/or my husband has to work late. I then chart it out and leave a copy on the fridge in case my DH gets home first and is starving. Then he makes dinner.

Then I list food I need to make these meals, taking into account food I have on hand. I then make a list by area of the supermarket: Deli, Meat, Dairy, Produce, Grocery, etc.
 
Not necessarily budget-friendly, but I've been using menu mailer/Saving Dinner. LOVE the thing.

I'm a poor organizer, so by having someone else do it for me - I figure I'm saving myself tons of money we used to spend eating out on a regular basis! :)
 


I don't have a weekly menu, but I keep a "menu list" in the house that has several meals for which I have ingredients in the house. We look at the list at dinner each night and pick meals from it for dinner. We also keep a separate stock of breakfast stuff (yogurt, cereal, oatmeal). Lunch for me is usually just leftovers, or sometimes I'll fix myself something simple like eggs.

Here's the current dinner list (everything served w/fruit & a vegetable)

Spaghetti
Quiche
Baked Beans w/veggie crumbles (ordinarily I'd use ground meat or turkey sausage, but I have veggie crumbles left over)
Grilled Chicken w/barley and glazed carrots
Blueberry Pancakes w/sausage
Veggie Pizza Burgers (again, veggie burgers leftover)
Macaroni & Cheese w/veggie smoked sausage (yet again, usually turkey sausage but I have leftovers :rolleyes: )
Pasta e fagoli w/broccoli (Pasta, cannelini beans, and broccoli tossed in olive oil & garlic)
Chicken Noodle casserole
Tacos
Beef w/Broccoli
Chicken sausage and pierogis
Dutch baby pancake
Chicken & Dumplings
Chili & cornbread
 
Every Wednesday, I go into the kitchen with a pen and paper. I write down numbers 1-7 and start listing 7 meals. I look in the freezer and pantry and see what I already have and start by listing meals I already have what I need for. I then do my grocery list by looking at those meals and seeing what I need for them. I don't decided on what day each meal will be made...but I know that after I go shopping, I have what I need for 7 meals. We grocery shop every Wednesday night...no lines!

I also like to make meals that go for two nights. For instance, if I roast a chicken on Sunday night...I can do chicken quessadillas or chicken fried rice or chicken salad sandwiches another night with the leftovers.

Most of my dinners, for a family of four are under $4. When I get to use them for the second night for "free" that makes my day! :rotfl:
 
Priorityonecb said:
Every Wednesday, I go into the kitchen with a pen and paper. I write down numbers 1-7 and start listing 7 meals. I look in the freezer and pantry and see what I already have and start by listing meals I already have what I need for. I then do my grocery list by looking at those meals and seeing what I need for them. I don't decided on what day each meal will be made...but I know that after I go shopping, I have what I need for 7 meals. We grocery shop every Wednesday night...no lines!

I also like to make meals that go for two nights. For instance, if I roast a chicken on Sunday night...I can do chicken quessadillas or chicken fried rice or chicken salad sandwiches another night with the leftovers.

Most of my dinners, for a family of four are under $4. When I get to use them for the second night for "free" that makes my day! :rotfl:

i would love to hear some of your meal ideas. :confused3 I seem to always draw a blank when it comes to ideas, I have tons of cookbooks but not tons of time to look at them. :rotfl:
 


Pearlieq - I have been looking for a pancake recipe my Mother had for a certain pancake so, Please explain the Dutch baby pancake and list the recipe. Thank-you
 
tink2dw said:
Pearlieq - I have been looking for a pancake recipe my Mother had for a certain pancake so, Please explain the Dutch baby pancake and list the recipe. Thank-you

The Dutch baby is a old German pancake recipe. There are many, many variations. Here's the one I use:

2 T butter
3 T raisins or 1 apple or pear, chopped finely (optional)
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
3 T sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 t. vanilla or almont extract
1/4 t. salt

Place butter and fruit (if desired) in a 9" pie plate. Place the plate in the oven and turn the oven on to 400 degrees. Leave this in the oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the eggs light and frothy. Add in flour, sugar, milk, extract, and salt. The batter will be fairly thin. Remove the pie plate from the oven and pour batter over the butter and fruit. Return to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up.

Serve with powdered sugar and lemon slices or with warm syrup. This recipe can be doubled--just use a 2qt casserole dish.
 
pearlieq said:
The Dutch baby is a old German pancake recipe. There are many, many variations. Here's the one I use:

2 T butter
3 T raisins or 1 apple or pear, chopped finely (optional)
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
3 T sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 t. vanilla or almont extract
1/4 t. salt

Place butter and fruit (if desired) in a 9" pie plate. Place the plate in the oven and turn the oven on to 400 degrees. Leave this in the oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the eggs light and frothy. Add in flour, sugar, milk, extract, and salt. The batter will be fairly thin. Remove the pie plate from the oven and pour batter over the butter and fruit. Return to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up.

Serve with powdered sugar and lemon slices or with warm syrup. This recipe can be doubled--just use a 2qt casserole dish.


Thanks for posting this one....I'm gonna give it a try and I'm sure the kids will love it...not to mention the big kids in the house!
 
I did this last week:

bought a large package of polish dogs (4 - 5 poinds I think)

One meal I made scrambled eggs and fried up dogs, combined, added cheese and wrapped in tortillas....

another night with same package of dogs, made chili dogs...

you could also have a BBQ night and have "picnic" type sides and use the dogs like regular hot dogs on a bun...

we also included the dogs in our "clean out the fridge" night, so several people had a little of everything!
 
i like the idea of a clean out the fridge night!!

Some nights we do a clean out the fridge/cabinets night too and just have a whole bunch of sides with no main course and everyone eats what they wish, before we dump what needs to go :)
 

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