Meal planning can be so difficult. I took the guess work out of it for you this week; even going as far as making a shopping list! The budget I set was $75, but that does require you to have ingredients/seasonings at home to season meals to taste. If you have an extra $25 in your budget you can plan and add your own sides to each meal, add some more milk, water, or whatever your drink of choice is. Meals are five servings.
Shopping was done at Walmart, prices reflect the price at time of the writing. All items were the generic brand (Great Value brand or similar).
Shopping list
-Hamburger buns
-bread loaf (x3)
-cream cheese (x3) (8oz)
-Half gallon milk whole
-Sour cream (8oz)
-Shredded cheese (32oz)
-2 dozen eggs
-Pink Lady Apples (3lb bag)
-green leaf lettuce
-Bananas (x6)
-Strawberries
-Frozen Broccoli floret (12oz)
-Mixed Veg (12oz)
-All-Natural ground beef 73/27 (5lb roll)
-Gold Leaf Leg Quarters (10 lb bag)
-Tortillas (x2) (20 count)
-Relish (12oz)
-Taco seasoning (x3) (1oz)
-Mayonnaise (30oz)
-Tomato sauce (x2) (15oz)
-Elbow Pastas (16oz)
-Cream or Mushroom soup (x2) (10.5oz)
-Grape Jelly (30oz)
-Peanut Butter (18oz)
-Potatoes (5lb sack)
-Diced Tomatoes & Green chilies (10 oz)
-Alfredo Pasta Sauce (16oz)
-Penne pasta (16oz)
-Tortilla chips (13oz)
For breakfast every day we have some variation of eggs, toast, strawberries, and bananas. My husband takes a scrambled egg sandwich for breakfast every morning, and my kids eat eggs or fruit. I drink coffee and a lot of water, and don’t really eat until lunch. Total cost spent for breakfast for the week- $8.19
Lunches
Monday- Beef nachos- 1/2 lb beef ($1.77), tortilla chips ($1.74), 1/7 cheese ($.76) 1/2 can tomato and chilies($.36), 1/2 sour cream ($.50), taco seasoning ($.44) $5.57
Tuesday- Cheese quesadilla- 1/7 Cheese ($.76) and tortillas($1.32) $2.08
Wednesday- PB&J- Bread($.93), peanut butter($1.72), jelly(2.28) $4.93
Thursday- Chicken pin wheels- 1/3 Tortillas($1.32) , 1/4 chicken ($1.60) , taco seasoning ($.44), cream cheese ($1.48) $4.84
Friday- Chicken salad sandwich- bread ($.93), 1/4 chicken ($1.60), 1/2 mayonnaise ($1.24), relish ($.98) $4.75
Saturday- Taco salad- 1 lb beef ($3.54) 1/3 tortillas ($1.32), lettuce ($1.88), 1/2 sour cream($.50) 1/2 can diced tomatoes & green chilies ($.36), 1/7 cheese ($.76) taco seasoning ($.44) $8.80
Sunday- leftovers
Suppers
Monday- Chicken Alfredo- 1/4 chicken ($1.60), Alfredo sauce ($1.50), penne pasta ($.92) 4.02
Tuesday- Homemade burgers & fries- 1 lb beef $3.55 hamburger buns ($.93), 1/3 potatoes ($.86) $5.33
Wednesday- Potato & beef casserole- 1/3 Potatoes ($.86) 1 lb Beef ($3.54), cheese ($.76), 1/3 milk ($.65), cream of mushroom soup ($.58) $6.39
Thursday- Goulash- 1/2 lb beef ($1.77) elbow pasta ($.92), 2 tomato sauce ($1.44) $4.13
Friday- Cheeseburger soup- potatoes($.86), 1 lb beef ($3.54), cheese ($.76), milk ($.65) cream cheese ($1.48), mixed vegetables ($.77) 8.06
Saturday- Chicken Broccoli casserole- Chicken($1.60), broccoli ($1.00), cream of mushroom ($.58), milk ($.65) cream cheese, cheese($1.48) $5.31
Sunday- leftovers
Snacks
Peanut butter & Apples or PB&Js $3.97
Total cost $76.13
Slightly over my $75 budget for the week, but pretty dang close! It would be possible to make every meal with beef 1/2lb of beef rather than 1lb, and purchase only 3lbs. It is very likely the 10 lbs of chicken will cook down a lot, but should still yield more than the 4 meals it’s included in. Cooking the chicken at the first of the week also makes meals go much faster.
