What We Ate this Week on our Budget 05.08.15

Every Friday, I share what we ate for the week on our budget. Currently our monthly budget is $500 for my family of 4.

We are heading into the best time of year for produce. I bought a huge watermelon that was on sale and we had it several nights as a side dish. I picked a good one this week. A few weeks ago, I bought a cantaloupe and it was terrible. Don’t you hate when that happens?!

This week, I included some of my money & time-saving tips from each day. I found several things on Manager’s Special (aka marked down) this week. I just love when that happens.

This Week’s Dinners:

Saturday: My husband and girls went on a day trip to Washington D.C. while I went on a girls weekend away with some college friends.

Sunday: Dinner was grilled pork chops, fresh strawberries, and any leftover odds & ends in the fridge.

Monday:  Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas and watermelon. I made double batch of sauce the last time I made enchiladas and stored in the freezer

• Tip #1: I slow cooked 2 bone-in chicken breasts and 2 packs of chicken thighs and used some of the meat for Monday nights dinner. I froze the rest of the meat in 2 cup portions.
• Tip #2: The chicken bones created a rich stock, so I strained it and and had almost 2 cups. I used it for Wednesday night’s dinner.

Tuesday:  Ham & Pepper Skillet Frittata and watermelon. I also used leftover ham and peppers that I had in the freezer.

• Tip #1: I didn’t have hash browns for Tuesday nights dinner, but I had a few potatoes that I wanted to use before they went bad, so I peeled and boiled them until soft. I chopped them up and added them to my frittata.
• Tip #2: I used chopped up ham that I had in the freezer from the Easter ham sales.
• Tip #3: I bought peppers that were marked down and I chopped them and stored in the freezer in 1 cup portions.

Wednesday: Grilled Lime Chicken with Mango Pepper Salsa. I also served watermelon and steamed broccoli. This was by far my favorite meal of the week!

• Tip #1: I took advantage of the mangoes on sale for 50 cents at Giant Food Stores to make the salsa. Such a yummy treat.
• Tip #2: I used the stock from Monday night to make the rice.

Thursday: Grilled turkey & sausage burgers, watermelon, leftover broccoli from Wednesday.

• Tip #1: I found several packages of burgers this week on Manager’s Special. I always look for the marked down meat when I’m at the store even if meat is not on my list. You just never know what you’re going to find.

Friday: Tonight is the Spring Fair at my girls’ school so we’ll be eating from the food trucks at the fair.

This Week’s Breakfasts, Lunches, & Snacks:

This week, we had cereal, banana & peanut butter toast, and green smoothies. Lunches and snacks included leftover enchiladas and frittata, tortellini, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, tortilla chips & salsa, cheese sticks, yogurt sticks, and apples.

Would you like to lower your grocery bill? These posts will help:

• 11 Simple Meal Planning Tips
• How I Use Pinterest for Meal Planning
• 8 Freezer Meal Recipes
• 10 Paper Products to Avoid

We had a tasty week! Did you try a new dish this week that your family enjoyed? Please share it in the comments.