2013 $50 Weekly Menu Plan Week #2

2013 $50 Weekly Menu Plan Week This is a Meat restocking week! The freezer was anything but empty, but when you find decent deals on meat, poultry or veggies that can be dehydrated, home canned or frozen, it's worth it to stock up.

Having a surplus of over $500 from lasts years grocery budget, we decided to fill the freezer for the new year. I'm growing more and more concerned with the rising prices of basic grocery items due to last years drought.

We purchased the following: 45lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast, 20 pounds of pork, 20lbs of ground beef, artisan lettuce, celery, green peppers, radishes, carrots, milk, yogurt, raisins, grape tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, 5 lbs pepperoni, strawberries, cauliflower blueberries Total Spent $181.62

We're also working on getting fit, fiscally and physically- so you'll be seeing more healthy (dirt cheap) recipes too!

Monday January 7, 2013:

• Breakfast: Guilt Free Strawberry Shortcake Muffins
• Lunch: Cauliflower AuGratin
• Dinner: Sicilian Grilled Chicken, Winter Fruit Salad w/ lemon poppyseed dressing (Pears omitted, still have a couple apples from last week! add dried cranberries for kick)

Tuesday 8th:

• Breakfast: Fruit & Yogurt Parfait
• Lunch: Tuna Grape Salad on Sun-dried tomato wraps
• Dinner: Taco Salad

Wednesday 9th:

• Breakfast: Veggie/Cheese Omelet
• Lunch: Wraps made with leftover taco meat
• Dinner: Honey Dijon Marinated Grilled Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, Brown Rice

Thursday 10th:

• Breakfast: Guilt free Blueberry Donuts
• Lunch: Brazilian Beans & Rice w/ Egg Over Easy
• Dinner: Sausage Stuffed
  Green Peppers

Friday 11th:

• Breakfast: Southern Charm Oatmeal
• Lunch: salad w/ hard boiled egg slices and chunks of leftover grilled chicken
• Dinner: Crab Stuffed baked Halibut, baked potato

Saturday 12th:

• Breakfast: Fruit & Yogurt Parfait
• Midday Meal- Yankee Chili - Chili cookoff Event with Friends
  

Sunday 13th:

• Breakfast: Poached eggs on toast
• Lunch: leftover chili
• Dinner: Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry, Jasmine Rice

Various Snacks:

• Deviled Eggs. Hard Boiled Eggs
• Fresh Fruit- Pineapples, Pomegranates, Apples, Home-Canned Peaches
• Popcorn

Drinks included:

* Iced Tea (Sweet Tea)
* Coffee
* Hot Chocolate/Cocoa
* Copycat Gatorade
* CopyCat Arizona Green Tea

A few things we'd like to share with you:

You might have noticed that eggs are never in our "just purchased" list, this is because we raise our own chickens and eggs are in abundant supply.

In addition to the above it has come to our attention that a few folks who are just joining us are getting the wrong impression that we purchase EVERYTHING at once for each weeks menu plan.
This is not the case at all, nor do we recommend it. We are incorporating items purchased or home canned weeks ago into the menu plan this week. For example, back on week #39 we purchased over 40 pounds of meat- I promise you we didn't eat that all that week! For Further reading/help we recommend the following:

• The 2012 Family Guide to Groceries under $250 a Month- a guide of how and where to cut grocery expenses to get spending under control while providing an eye-opening view of the dirty manipulation tactics retailers use to keep you spending

• $50 Weekly Menu Plan Help across the USA- Do you find yourself struggling to reduce your grocery bill each month? Check out our Menu plan help across the USA to see if your area has been featured for more 1-on-1 help, if not, feel free to add your request to have your city/state featured.

• Current Sales Trends- not sure what Should be on sale right now? Here is a list of the current Sales trends for the month of December, so you know what savings to expect

• $50 Dollar Menu Frequently Asked Questions - a few of the most often asked questions regarding our $50 menu plans
  • Basic Questions- Why we don't provide a shopping list, Random ingredients that aren't in the shopping list, are groceries cheaper , etc
  • More Questions- more in depth questions regarding dietary guidelines, dealing with picky eaters, junk food and more