Summer Meal Planning Thread with budget saving ideas!

[scrappinmom]

Just found this thread - yippee! I really need to get my act together about planning our menus...I'll have to go inventory the freezer & get it together so I can post for next week.

great ideas on here so far!!

 

[Piecey]

My weekly menu got shot to heck and back. Monday and Tuesday were messed up completely.

Wednesday: 1/2lb Spaghetti (.25c), breaded Eggplant patties (~$1), sauce (good local stuff ~$5), homemade garlic cheese bread (~$2)

Thursday: Crockpot pulled pork (.50 Bullseye BBQ sauce, free buns, $2.75 for the pork loin from freezer), chips (free), mixed veggies from the freezer (.88c)

Friday: Ribeye from freezer ($5), baked potato (.50c), salad (use leftover veggies in fridge) or corn from freezer (.88c)

Saturday: date night, got a babysitter.

Sunday: Chile Lime Chicken Burgers ($3.69 for the patties, buns were free), fries ($1) and steam some broccoli (.50c)
or we might go to my parents so this will become Mondays if we do.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I am straight on for the week. I am proud of myself, so now all the money I would have spent on extras will be spent on our weekend away!!

Sidenote: Loved, loved, the baked spaghetti. Very, very good, but expensive...

Pepperoni: $2.50
Mozzerella: $3.00
Parm: $.50
Sauce $2.00
Spaghetti $.50
Little extra's $1.00

so $9.50 plus the garlic crisps and the cuccumber salad. Don't get me wrong, we all absolutely loved it, but I guess I will need to make sure there is a good sale on the cheese and pepperoni and stock up on those. Then the cost would come down.

And when I say it was good, there were no leftovers for DH to bring to lunch, and he loves his hot leftovers. Instead he got a PBJ!

Thanks, Piecey.

 

[aprilvaca04]

to be honest with you i have been so lazy. i had the frozen tv dinner type salisbury steak in the freezer and thats what we had. its just me and dd. shes not picky (thank god)!!

i do have a recipie from kraft.com for salsbury steak that i have made before. (love that website!! the recipies from there are quick, easy, and really good)! its really good! here's the link

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/salisbury-steak-mushroom-gravy-63741.aspx

I hear you...with the heat and humidity I don't feel like cooking a thing lately...I'm saving the recipe for when I get re-motivated and stop grilling or giving the fam sandwiches. Thanks for posting the recipe : )

 

[barbmouse]

I posted the "recipe" for French Dips on the crockpot thread if anyone is interested!

 

[Piecey]

I am straight on for the week. I am proud of myself, so now all the money I would have spent on extras will be spent on our weekend away!!

Sidenote: Loved, loved, the baked spaghetti. Very, very good, but expensive...

Pepperoni: $2.50
Mozzerella: $3.00
Parm: $.50
Sauce $2.00
Spaghetti $.50
Little extra's $1.00

so $9.50 plus the garlic crisps and the cuccumber salad. Don't get me wrong, we all absolutely loved it, but I guess I will need to make sure there is a good sale on the cheese and pepperoni and stock up on those. Then the cost would come down.

And when I say it was good, there were no leftovers for DH to bring to lunch, and he loves his hot leftovers. Instead he got a PBJ!

Thanks, Piecey.

I'm glad you liked it! It's one of those dishes that we don't eat enough because it is a bit pricey (though it helps me tremendously that Kroger keeps having fantastic deals on cheese, my freezer is well stocked with Kraft cheese that I pay about .50c/bag for) but every time we do we're like "Why don't we have this more?"

We tried Rossi Pasta's Italian Style Pepper sauce tonight. Oh. My. Goodness! It was fantastic. DH happily scooped the leftovers into a lunch container for himself for later this week.

*eta*
Anyone have any ground chicken recipes? I got a few pounds on manager markdown ($1.39/lb) and now I don't know what to use it for. I figure taco meat is easy enough but any other ideas??

 

[charming23]

This week has gone really well so far. Tonight we did end up going out to eat but it was only because my Aunt and Uncle also decided to come to our side of town to join us for dinner and they wanted BBQ.

Tomorrow I am hoping to either make cincinnati chili or turkey burgers. It depends on how early we get to the grocery store.

 

[TinkerBean]

I am excited to start planning my meals. I am usually fly by the seat of my pants - but this thread has inspired me. Great meal ideas...

Tonight - Tacos, guacomole, & sangria
Tomorrow - BBQ at a friends house
Sunday - Portabello mushroom burgers

I am going to inventory the freezer and start planning meals around what we have down there.

 

[charming23]

Did not get to the grocery store yesterday so we had some odds and ends from the freezer for dinner before I went to class. Went to the grocery this morning and got a bunch of food. Should only have to do one more shopping trip this month since we leave in two weeks for Pennsylvania to visit family.

my menu for the next week is:

Tonight: Cincinnati Chili over spaghetti with cucumber salad
Tomorrow: Pulled chicken sandwhiches with sweet potato fries
Sunday: Baked potato bar using the leftover chili
Monday: Chicken paprikash overe speatzels
Tuesday: Shepard's Pie
Wednesday: Ginger teriyaki pork stir fry over rice
Thursday: grilled cheese with apples and bacon and fruit salad

One thing I am doing though is making my own frozen hashbrowns. It was on a thread here, so I bought a big 10 pound bag of potatoes and will make both shredded and cubed hashbrowns to freeze. That will save me so much money in the long run as the potatoes were $4.99 for 10 pounds and I usually pay $2.50 a bags of frozen at the store.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

Recipe please for Cincinatti chili....never had this as far as I know LOL

 

[charming23]

Recipe please for Cincinatti chili....never had this as far as I know LOL

Here you go. We love it served either over spaghetti or baked potaoes. Although I have a feeling if you poured it over anything it would taste good

1 large onion chopped
1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red (cayenne) pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa or 1/2 ounce grated unsweetened chocolate
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 (16-ounce) package uncooked dried spaghetti pasta
Toppings (see below)

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, saute onion, ground beef, garlic, and chili powder until ground beef is slightly cooked. Add allspice, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, unsweetened cocoa or chocolate, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar, and water. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours. Remove from heat.

Cook spaghetti according to package directions and transfer onto individual serving plates (small oval plates are traditional).

Ladle chili over spaghetti and serve with toppings of your choice. Oyster crackers are served in a separate container on the side.

Toppings:
Oyster Crackers
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Chopped Onion
Kidney Beans (16-ounce) can

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

 

[mousecatcher]

Great thread! I've slacked off on meal planning, so time to get back in gear.Time to inventory the freezer. Wish me luck.....

 

[jennyopenny]

That chili sounds good~and can adapt it for my gluten free kiddo!

I still have not planned for the week. Will check out the sale ads/coupons today. My plan is still the same~no large shopping until all is bare! My only purchase will be milk, produce, and rock bottom sale w/coupon.

Last night was spaghetti, a salad of baby carrots/cherry tomato, and honey dew melon.
The night before we had eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. I did the bulk hashbrowns~ from the link I posted. One batch was dinner, the others went in the freezer. They were easier than I thought to shred. It is just a matter of planning ahead because the potato's have to cool. I cooked mine in the microwave (careful to leave them a little raw) the day before.

 

[littlered]

I spent about 70$ this week. It seems like food keeps going up here all of a sudden..the cream cheese that was 1.17 is 1.72 now! I use a lot of coupons but sometimes when it is so hot I prefer to shop at like Fresh and Easy so I can get in and out..

Our meals planned for the week:

Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken, Rice, Mac Salad
Crockpot BBQ beef, mac salad leftovers, fries
Steak Salad and Rolls
Breakfast Burritos, hasbrowns, fruit
chicken fajitas, rice, beans
Spahgetti, garlic toast, veggies and dip

To be honest, it has been so hot, 110 and above, that we haven't felt like eating...

 

[Zoesmama03]

You can make a sort of salsibury steak in crock pot with a packet of onion gravy and mushroom gravy, water and some onions and green bell peppers if you like. These come out so tender you can cut with a fork like the frozen highly preserved kind but much tastier. They were pleasing to me and I am not a meat eater.


Okay I will have to subscribe to this and try to participate in menu planning. My grocery budget is tough at times and I know its because I'm wasting, I'm sure, leftovers that don't get used or on junk snacks. I also cook primarily out of an electric skillet, on an electric indoor grill(mostly pancakes and hamburgers or bacon for BLTs), and crock pot. I really should get more into the crock pot area. We have gas stove and do not like to use it or the oven much. We do have 2-3 pizza nights a month where we get frozen Freschettas(a fav of ours) or prepared pizza dough(cost $1.50 for mediumish size) and make our own. That or to boil noodles which I have found my electric skillet will do a fine job of too, when we ran out of propane in the middle of my cooking.

Myself and my dd do not like meat really at all and would be happy vegetarians BUT we live with my brother(eats lots of veggies and prefers healthy cooking but does like his beef) and I tried to do both but I need some more kinking the budget to be able to buy the foods I need for us to meet our protein and iron needs. Calcium we usually get from soy(dd) and almond milk(myself) and I add sesame seeds to my salads(30% of daily needs on calcium in my 4 Tablespoons) and we do eat and use cheese(or occasionally I will get soy based cheese).

 

[jennyopenny]

Rough plan for the week~
(I don't assign days)

~Sunday~steak, potato au gratin, grilled corn, salad

~baked chicken, potato's, grilled zucchini, fruit

~Chicken and black bean tacos, salad, fruit

~cold pasta salad (using leftover ckn), fruit

~leftovers (from grilling)

 

[barbmouse]

Do you have a recipe for chicken and black bean tacos?

I would love to have it!
Thanks!

 

[SarahKate]

Great thread! I actually got motivated to make a meal plan for the week. It's always sooooo better when we do this - then I'm not having to go to the store every couple days.

Here are some things that I came up with....not everything is super budget friendly but I did pretty good!

Tilapia ($6.49 a lb, pretty good price!), roma tomatoes ($1) and zucchini (.66) baked in the oven in a foil pocket - serve with Naan bread ($1.99)...LOVE Naan bread!

Tacos - we like VERY basic ones. Ground sirloin $4.50, soft shells $1.89, queso cheese $3.99, will use some of the roma tomatoes I bought for tilapia, serve with white rice mixed in with diced tomatoes (already have).

Chicken legs $2 and some change, roasted broccoli with red bell pepper $2-ish, and a rice side dish already on hand.

Grilled chicken breasts $4-ish, lettuce salad ($1) w/ a olive oil/balsamic/agave nectar vinagrette (already have those on hand), and a side from the pantry or freezer

Tonite, I'm making eggplant parm with a new recipe I found and using Japanese eggplant I got at the farmer's market. With that and the cheese, maybe $4 all together. Already had the sauce and will probably make a pasta side of some kind, like linguini with sun dried tomatoes and olive oil.

Happy cooking everyone!!

 

[Priorityonecb]

I'll share our chicken/black bean quesadilla's. Everyone here loves them, they are super budget friendly, and easy to modify for the vegetarian in the family! Simply don't put chicken on hers!

On a flour tortilla put a layer of fat free refried beans, sprinkle on some black beans, corn, chicken and cheese. Top with another tortilla and cook them up! I made these tonight with leftover soup and fresh fruit. Easy, inexpensive, yummy and dinner was on the table in under 10 minutes! Perfect!

 

[justpicky]

There's only 2 of us . For supper we eat alot of leftovers .
Make a roast one day , left over the next day .
Spaghetti same as above .
Baked chicken , potatoes , veggie , eat the chicken next day with other food. .
That's 6 days , chili the same way .
We've to buy for 2 weeks . 2 weeks ago we was in PA , went to a super walmart , Wow there grocery was cheap , stuff I seen was less than
$5.00 . Brought some . Breakfast we can buy cereal for $3.00 a box ,
oats , milk $3.00 . Since the kids are out of the house , our spending
much cheaper .