2014 $50 Budget Menu Plan Week #13: Last week I got the bright idea of throwing together a quick freezer session. If you’ve ever read either of our books, you’ll know that in the past I’ve not been a fan of spending 3-6 hours cooking multiple meals for later consumption, for a number of reasons. Well, after this weeks session, I have to say that my view on Once a Month Cooking definitely. . .
has NOT changed! By the time that I spend my average 45 minutes per week preparing all of the weeks veggies, cutting them up and vacuum sealing them in mason jars so they last 7-10 days without spoiling, softening or otherwise going bad, I have absolutely NO desire to spend hours and hours cooking. Not to mention the fact that I just plain don’t have time. But what I did have time for, was to throw that bag of chicken legs into the stockpot and bring them to a boil. Once cooked & cooled, they took all of 15-20 minutes to completely shred, leaving behind 12 cups of cooked, shredded chicken for about $6.90 – which we’ll be incorporating into this weeks menu plan.
We purchased the following: Lettuce, celery, green peppers, bananas, pears, yogurt, Cauliflower, strawberries, apples, cream cheese
From our Backyard: Fresh Eggs (Getting nearly 3 dozen per day)
From our Windowsill: Fresh Scallions, Fresh Basil, Fresh Cilantro, Fresh Thyme
Total spent this week on groceries $26.43
Breakfast Options for this week: Fresh Fruit – Bananas, Canned Peaches, pears
As usual We’ll throw together a fruit salad to snack on and eat for breakfast, along with the following choices:
- Waffles
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Egg White Omelets (Egg whites, diced veggies, seasonings)
- Homemade Bagels-Blueberry, Cinnamon Raisin or Onion
- Poached Eggs on Toast
- Sugared Chocolate Donuts
- Fruit/Berry Yogurt Parfaits
Monday March 24th:
- Lunch: Dilled Egg Salad Wraps
- Dinner: Taco’s(made with ground turkey)
Tuesday March 25th:
- Lunch: Salad with Shredded Chicken, Shredded Cheddar Cheese & Honey Mustard Dressing
- Dinner: Creamy Dilled Zucchini & Summer Squash over Cracked Black Pepper Egg Noodles
Wednesday March 26th:
- Lunch: Taco Wraps (Wraps made with leftover taco meat & all the fillings)
- Dinner: Grilled Pork, Twice Baked Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli
Thursday March 27th:
- Lunch: Black Bean Smothered Sweet Potato
- Dinner: Lemon Pepper Chicken with Cilantro Rice & Veggies
Friday March 28th:
- Lunch: Fifty Cent Soup
- Dinner: Italian Spinach Pie w/ Garlic Parmesan Swirl Biscuits (using frozen spinach)
Saturday March 29th: Add Day Gathering/Event with Friends
- Fiery Deviled Eggs, Pasta Salad
Sunday March 30th:
- Lunch: Thai Pasta Salad
- Dinner: Honey Chipotle Sticky Chicken, cauliflower au gratin, Garden Salad
Various Snacks & Desserts:
- Fresh Fruit Choices Available– Apples, Bananas, Fresh Pineapple, Fresh Berries
- Honey Crunch Granola Bars
- Banana Split Trifle
- Angel Food Cake w/ Sliced Berries
- Fruited Bon-Bons
- Toaster Apple Pies
Drinks Available:* Iced Tea (Unsweetened or Sweet Tea)
* Coffee
* Hot Chocolate/Cocoa
Less Likely to be used, but still available:
* Copycat Gatorade
* CopyCat Arizona Green Tea
* Lemonade
* Iced Coffee Drinks
* Almond Milk
FYI:We’ve started more seedlings indoors with homemade junk mail pots (aka flyers!) and we’ve decided that in order to keep getting organic veggies cheap enough, we’ll need to build a small greenhouse. That project will be appearing on our sister site, Budget101.com soon!
For Further reading/help we recommend the following:
- $50 Dollar Menu Frequently Asked Questions– There are certain questions that seem to pop up again and again, so rather than be redundant and repeat answers, we’ve put them all in one convenient place for you!
- 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
- It Doesn’t Add up– Learn why some items in the Menu plan aren’t listed in this weeks grocery purchase list & how it all comes together
- March Sales Trends–not sure what Should be on sale right now? Here is a list of the current Sales trends throughout the month of March so you know what savings to expect and look forward to.
- 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.
- Making Fruits & Veggies Last: At the beginning of each week we prepare the vegetables and fruits to make meal preparation easier during the week and to save money by preventing waste. You can read more about that here.
- How Spending $25 Now can save you Hundreds Later – if you gain nothing else from this site, don’t overlook this tip. It has been an EXTREME money-saver for our family
Hi, I am new to the site. I am curious about the idea of $250/month in groceries. I am no novice to marketing, cooking from scratch or penny pinching…but this seems impossible to me. I am going to try to mimic what you are doing though and we will see.
I have 2 questions though. I have read back through your list back through last Thanksgiving. I don’t see any flour purchases, or much milk purchases. I am wondering about that …a long with butter too.
For baking how is this possible to go so long without these purchases? I make 70% our our bread from scratch, so 5 lbs only lasts about 2-3 weeks around here.
Thanks!
Hi,
I am new here, and was looking back through your purchases through to about Thanksgiving time. I see that little to no milk or milk-like products are purchased for months on end, and no flour or baking supplies. Yet there is quite a bit of home baking to be done on a budget. I just curious about that.
I am not new to from scratch budget cooking, and would love to fully understand how you make this work at such an amazing cost. I will be following and trying to imitate for sure! But I can spend $10 on flours/ sugars and the like in one month…or more during special times of the year.
Thanks!
Jenny
Our Baking Supply Restock week was here:
http://www.grocerybudget101.com/content.php/725-2013-50-Weekly-Menu-Plan-Week-50
and here:
http://www.grocerybudget101.com/content.php/702-2013-50-Weekly-Menu-Plan-Week-44
Here’s a post about that I believe with answer your questions:
http://www.grocerybudget101.com/content.php/695-Menu-Plan-Grocery-List-doesn-t-Add-Up
We purchase based on the predicted sales cycles and stock up on baking supplies several times through the year when they are affordable. We occasionally purchase 5-10 lbs in between those cycles, but that’s about it. We also don’t buy milk (less than 5 gallons a year), it’s extremely unhealthy and we usually only use powdered milk for baking, (again- purchased during sales cycles).