2017 $50 Budget Menu Plan Week 5

2017 $50 Budget Menu Plan Week 5

We prefer shopping at Aldi, for a number of reasons, mainly because the prices are so much cheaper than everywhere else and it’s easier to find fruits and vegetables grown with considerably fewer chemicals than “traditional” grocery stores. With that said, it’s not always possible to get all of our groceries at Aldi.

Supermarket chains are excellent at marketing. They employ a number of tactics to get you to spend more money and one such tactic is product placement in the aisles themselves. Various brands pay high dollar to have their products placed in the middle of the shelving, at eye level. If you want to save a little money, look on the higher and lower shelves for the same product at a more reasonable price. There’s really no sense in paying for marketing!

This week we purchased the following: sweet potatoes, strawberries, dried fruit, carrots, celery, lettuce, cantaloupe, lemons, bagels, cashews, cauliflower, bananas, mushrooms, onions, heavy cream, green peppers

Total spent this week on groceries: $36.13

From our Backyard: Fresh Eggs

From our Windowsill/ Garden: a few fresh herbs in the windowsill– cilantro, basil, parsley, rosemary, green onions

If you buy green onions once, you can trim them off, place them in water and they’ll regrow over and over, providing you will green onions for ages. We have several jars of them in the windowsills at various stages of growth, like this one:

Breakfast Options for this week:

• Fresh Fruit-Cantaloupes, Home-Canned Peaches
• Chocolate Waffles & Berries
• Toasted Bagels
• Eggs-poached, over-easy, hard boiled, scrambled with leftover sauteed veggies & a sprinkle of cheese, etc
• Instant Oatmeal (18 Flavors)

Monday January 30th:

• Lunch: Leftover Spinach Tortellini Stew (last week’s menu)
• Dinner: Cheater Shepherds Pie(using homemade tater tots)

Tuesday January 31st:

• Lunch: leftover Shepherds Pie
• Dinner: Cajun Pork Roast, Savory Sweet Potato Fries, Salad

Wednesday Feb 1st:

• Lunch: Cajun Pork Wraps
• Dinner: Cauliflower Chowder

Thursday Feb 2nd:

• Lunch: leftover chowder or egg salad sandwich
• Dinner: Southern Smothered Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Green Beans with Garlic (frozen veg)

Friday Feb 3rd:

• Lunch: PB& J, Egg Salad, or leftovers
• Dinner: Mexican Fiesta Skillet

Saturday Feb 4th:

• Lunch: Egg Drop Soup
• Dinner: Honey Ginger Dump Chickenwith Steamed Broccoli

Superbowl Sunday February 5th:

• Potluck: We’re making Sweet & Sour Saucy Meatballs, Copycat Hooters Wings, Tailgaters Crack

Various Snacks & Desserts:

• Fresh Fruit Choices Available– Fresh Oranges, Bananas, Apples
• Frozen Banana Bites
• Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
• Tailgaters Crack
• Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Drinks Available:

• Coffee
• Hot Chocolate/Cocoa
• Iced Tea (Unsweetened or Sweet Tea)

Less Likely to be used, but still available:

• Copycat Gatorade
• CopyCat Arizona Green Tea
• Lemonade
• Iced Coffee Drinks
• Almond Milk

FYI: If you’re wondering why all the ingredients listed in the recipes aren’t necessarily showing in the “purchased groceries” list, please check out our Frequently Asked Questions!