2012 Week #2 $50 Weekly Menu Plan

2012 $50 Weekly Menu Week #2- Each week I spend a few minutes checking the sales flyers of the grocery stores in our area. Aldi's is one of my favorite stores for scoring great deals on fruits and veggies. One of the keys to successfully cutting your grocery bill to $50 or so per week is to plan ahead & take advantage of seasonal sales patterns.
This week, whole fresh pineapples are on sale for only .99, pears are .99 for a 2lb bag- a great buy for our area as well as 4 lbs of navel oranges for $1.49. Canned clams (which will make the best New England clam dip for the upcoming superbowl party!) are on sale for only $1.19, about half the normal price for our area. This weeks grocery total came to a whopping $47.33 and includes: 4lbs of pears, 8lbs of navel oranges, several cans of clams, milk, bread, lettuce, cucumbers, green pepper, onions, potatoes, dried beans, sliced cheese, cabbage, cauliflower, grapes, pineapple, crescent rolls (on sale for .49 a tube, bought 2)- these make lovely simple butterhorns for breakfast!


Monday 9th

• Breakfast: Bagels & Jam
• Lunch: Egg salad Wraps
• Dinner: Halibut with Crab Cream Sauce, Salad

Tuesday 10th:

• Breakfast: Apple Walnut Butterhorns
• Lunch: Fruity Curried Chicken Salad Wraps
• Dinner: Bubble & Squeak

Wednesday 11th:

• Breakfast: Bagels & Jam
• Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwiches or leftover Bubble & Squeak
• Dinner: Cauliflower (No Mac)-n-Cheese

Thursday 12th:

• Breakfast: Chocolate Sugared Donuts
• Lunch: Peanut Butter & Pickle (my Favorite!!)
• Dinner: Grilled Chicken w/ Pear Salsa, Baked Potato

Friday 13th:

• Breakfast: Cinnamon Raisin French Toast & Coffee
• Lunch: Poached eggs on toast
• Dinner: Tacos

Saturday 14th: Tournament Day - Essentially this means that we don't plan meals for this day- our day begins between 4-4:30 am and we'll be on the road. We don't bother with breakfast- it's not fair to eat in front of the kids !!

• Dinner: Crockpot Chili, Cornbread, Salad

Sunday 15th:

• Breakfast: Omelets & toast
• Lunch: leftover chili
• Dinner: Ginger Veggie Stir Fry with Pork & Jasmine Rice

Various Snacks:

• Fresh Fruit- Pears, Oranges, Pineapple
• 100 calorie Snack Packs (homemade puddings/yogurts)
• Granola bars
• Salt Roasted Pineapple

Drinks included:FYI: January deals have been wonderful, We're anticipating deals on sandwich/ deli meats within the next 2 weeks and will be buying several pounds to stock the freezer. You'll notice the apples on our menu, but not in our grocery list- last fall when apples were abundant (& dirt cheap!), I made several batches of apple pie filling as well as "diced apple" pieces for recipes such as this and cinnamon apple walnut muffins.
Also, if you're just joining us, please note that we raise chickens and have a massive bounty of fresh eggs.

If you're still struggling to stay within a limited budget, check out our menu's from last year and follow them from week to week to learn how to build up your pantry and freezer, by taking advantage of various deals.