$50 Meal Plan Help: Decatur, Illinois

This weeks $50 weekly menu plan help is for Decatur, IL.

stefanie51 Wrote,
“I would like help with coming up with different, but simple and healthy meals using my flyers. I’m in Decatur, IL 62526 and I usually shop at Aldi for as much as I can, then Kroger and Cub Foods (County Market affiliate) for sales only.”

Planning meals around a particular store is a slightly different approach, generally we plan meals based on what we already have on, what is available from the garden, as well as weekly/ monthly sales deals.

Stefanie51’s preferred store is Aldi, which happens to be a great store for finding decent priced groceries.

Deals that you can always count on at Aldi include:

• Ground Turkey (Frozen) for $1.47 lb
• Milk $3. (or less) per gallon
• Eggs $1
• Honey $2.49
• Sugar $2.19
• Flour $1.79
• White Rice $1.69
• Frozen Vegetables .79 pkg
• Artisan Lettuce $1.99
• Green Peppers 3/ $1.59
• Colored Bell Peppers 3/$1.59
• Potatoes 10#/$3.99 (or less)
• Oatmeal $1.69
• celery $1.29
• Bananas .39 # (or less)
• Bread $1.29 a loaf (or less)

Seasonal items that are available right now:

• Zucchini $1.50 pkg
• Summer Squash $1.50 pkg
• Onions $1.29 3-5lbs

In addition, here are some deals listed in this weeks flyer:

• Fresh blueberries $1.29
• Seedless Watermelon $3.99
• Strawberries $1.19lb
• Cantaloupe $1.39
• Cherries $1.99lb
• Tyson Fresh Split Chicken Breast .99lb (3lb average pkg)
• Burger/hotdog buns .79

From these items you could make the following:

Breakfast ideas:

• French Toast
• Blueberry Pancakes or Muffins
• Jam Breakfast bars
• Blueberry ginger Smoothies
• Strawberry Melon Summer Salad (omit honeydew & use blueberries instead)

Lunch/Dinner Ideas: the Following recipes are extremely simple to prepare, even for beginner cooks:

• Shepherds Pie (leftovers for lunch next day)
• Garden Bounty Summer Saute (leftovers for lunch next day)
• Honey Dijon Marinated chicken w/ Dilled Zucchini & Summer Squash (leftovers for lunch next day in wraps)
• Various Burgers (Using the Turkey Burger rather than Hamburg), Garlic Roasted summer Squash Spears
• chicken Pesto Pizza, Salad
• Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers
• Key West Grilled Chicken, Sweet Potato Fries
• Savory Meatloaf, Salad (leftovers for lunch next day)

More Snack Ideas:

• Banana Muffins
• Zucchini Crisp
• Fresh Watermelon
• Fresh Cherries

Aldi’s often sells their store brand of crescent rolls for .99- with this & a couple apples you can make a batch of Apple Walnut Butterhorns.

In addition to the great deals available at Aldi, if you live in this area you might want to consider the farmers markets that are available in your area:

• Decatur Farmers Market-
• Bullock Farmers Market
• Clinton Area Farmers & Artisans Market
• Double D Farms
• Manning farm
• Saturday Produce Market

Photo Credit: Bing