I have to say....even I was skeptical of whether or not I could pull this one off. Could I really make 3 people breakfast and lunch, 4 people snacks, and 5 people for seven entire days for $75? Why yes....apparently I can.
Here is what our menu for the week included:
Breakfasts:
Scrambled Eggs & Fruit
French Toast & Bacon
Wild Berry Muffins (from a mix...so ashamed)
Blueberry Grilled Cream Cheese "Sandwiches"
Fried Bologna, Biscuits & Fruit
Toast with Jelly
Pancakes & Fruit
(most of the breakfast fruit consisted of clementines...you can get them for fairly cheap this time of year, and my kids LOVE them. If another type of fruit is on sale in your area, use that instead)
Lunches:
Grilled Cheese
Hot Dog-topuses
Cheese & Crackers
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Leftovers
Bologna Sandwiches
(yes, I know there are only six lunches here...I clean houses once a week, so my inlaws feed the kidoodles lunch that day, but in the event that they were home, we would probably do leftovers or egg salad again)
Snacks:
Clementines
String Cheese
Apples with PB
Carrots with ranch
String Cheese again
Celery with PB or with Ranch
Clementines again
(can substitute fruit with anything that is on sale in your area)
Suppers:
Tetrazini Casserole *1.87 per serving
Meat Loaf Casserole *1.96 per serving
Tuna Noodle Casserole *1.32 per serving
Beef Taco Bake *2.42 per serving
Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole *3.29 per serving
Easy Grands! Chicken Pot Pie *1.81 per serving
Bean & Bacon Soup with Noodles *1.13 per serving
Notes: We have chickens that supply the majority of our eggs. I make my own jelly and salsa. I also have a well stocked pantry with most of the common items needed already available. $75 includes purchasing a dozen eggs, but does NOT include any common pantry items that I already had available. If your pantry is not similarly stocked, you may have a small additional expense.
Ok, so you have the plan....now you need recipes for the not so obvious menu items....
Blueberry Grilled Cream Cheese Sandwiches (recipe for one sandwich)
two slices bread
1 Tbsp cream cheese
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
handful of fresh or frozen blueberries (i used frozen that had been collected over the summer)
butter
Mix cream cheees and powdered sugar together & spread on one side of each slice of bread. Sprinkle berries onto cream cheese and press slices together to make a sandwich. Use butter to lightly coat the outside of both sides of your sandwich. Grill in a pan or in a sandwich press until golden brown. Serve with additional powdered sugar topping if desired.
Hot Dog-topuses
Hot dogs
Spaghetti Noodles
Butter and Salt to taste
Slice hot dogs into chunks. Poke spaghett noodles into the hot dog. Boil according to pasta directions, salting water to taste. Drain, add butter to taste, serve.
Supper recipes are dead serious from Walmart.com....who knew? I made substitutions for store brand wherever it saved money.
My Shopping List: (please note that not all items needed are listed here...only the items that I had to purchase...make sure you review the recipes and meal list before making your own list)
2 gallons milk
1 tub cream cheese
sliced cheese
string cheese
bologna
hot dogs
chicken breasts
Tyson grilled chicken breast strips
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can golden mushroom soup
2 cans bean and bacon soup
1 can vegetable soup
1 can tomato soup
2 cans Progresso thick and hearty chicken pot pie style soup (yeah, that is pretty specific)
1 small can sliced mushrooms
1 can of cubed chicken
1 small jar pimientos
2 cans tuna
muffin mix
crackers
bread
tortillas
frozen peas
frozen mixed veggies
frozen biscuits
carrots
apples
clementines
Happy shopping and happy cooking! I hope this helps your family the way it helped mine!
Have you tried this or other budget meal plans? Let me know about it! I love to hear from you!
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