Every week I share what we ate for the week on our budget. Our current monthly grocery budget for my family of 4 is $500.
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This Week’s Dinners:
I tried two new recipes this week that I found on the Food Network’s website. We don’t have cable TV and that is one channel that I do miss, so I check that website often for recipe ideas.
Saturday: We had my parents and both of my grandmothers over for dinner. I made Pioneer Women’s Baked Ziti, garden salad, garlic bread, and chocolate chip cookie bars for dessert.
Sunday: Clean out the fridge: leftover ziti and other various leftovers
Monday: Barefoot Contessa’s Meatloaf, smashed potatoes, steamed broccoli. I don’t cook with a lot of red meat, but I’ve been craving meatloaf. This recipe calls for 2.5 pounds of ground meat, so after mixing up all of the ingredients, I split it into two loaves. One for dinner and one for the freezer. I had to modify the recipe slightly, because I didn’t have some of the ingredients, but had some perfect substitutions on hand. We all liked the meatloaf.
Tuesday: Roasted chicken thighs, rice, steamed vegetable. I found two packs of thighs marked down. I roasted both packs for Cook Once, Eat Twice.
Wednesday: Leftover chicken thighs from Tuesday night and leftover smashed potatoes from Monday night, along with steamed vegetables, and homemade applesauce.
Thursday: Turkey & Black Bean Tacos, homemade applesauce. This is a super simple dinner to make. I browned ground turkey (in my cast iron skillet), and then added one can of drained and rinsed black beans, 3 tablespoons of my homemade taco seasoning, and about 3/4 cup of water. Let that simmer for 20 – 30 minutes on low. Layer avocado, salsa, cheese, and your other favorite taco toppings on a soft tortilla or hard shell.
Friday: I am going out to dinner with a group of high school friends. I’ve known some of these women since Kindergarten. We graduated in 1987, so do the math, it’s been forever! We meet every 3-5 months and always have a great time catching up. My husband and daughters are on their own. 😉
This Week’s Breakfasts, Lunches, and Snacks:
We’re on a bagel kick, so for breakfast we ate eggs & bagel sandwiches or cereal. Lunches and snacks included frozen tortellini or chicken nuggets for the kids, pb & j sandwiches for me, apples, oranges, pretzels, yogurt sticks, cheese sticks, and tortilla chips. I buy big bags of frozen tortellini and healthy chicken nuggets for my kids school lunches.
I NEED YOUR HELP! Did you make a new budget-friendly dish this week that your family enjoyed? Please share in the comments. We’re always looking for new weekly meal plan ideas.
Want to lower your grocery bill? These posts will help:
- 4 Simple Grocery Apps that Earn You Cash Back
- 11 Simple Meal Planning Tips
- My #1 Simple Tool that Saves Me Hundreds
- 10 Smart Tips to Save Money on Meat
- How I Use Pinterest for Meal Planning
- 8 Freezer Meal Recipes
- 10 Paper Products to Avoid
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