Showing posts with label mealplanning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mealplanning. Show all posts

Our Monthly Grocery & Meal Planning

We're spending $450 a month on groceries with an average extra of $200 stock-up for groceries right now for 3 adults and an almost-teenage boy that eats more than anyone in the house!

I make our granola bars, tortillas, granola, BBQ sauce, ketchup and more to save as much as possible and make this happen despite inflation.


Monthly dinner meal planning is a must to make this work.  I shop at Whole Foods for the majority of our food and then Aldi and Kroger.  I use Azure Standard for bulk needs like oats, rice, wheat berries, nuts, etc.

I don't cook on Sundays - we normally alternate between breaded chicken patty sandwiches or macaroni and cheese and my husband makes these for us to give my daughter and I a break.

I try and balance our dinner meals between beans, chicken, turkey, beef and fish and my daughter makes homemade whole wheat pizza every Friday usually.
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$450 a Month in Groceries for Family of 4

We have been making it going on 5 weeks now on $450 a month for groceries for 3 adults and a tween. We don't eat as much of a variety as we did back in April when we ate this amount but we are still able to eat enough and make it happen despite inflation! It does take work on the homemaker's part to do the brainstorming, planning, prep work and cooking.  We have cut out most processed foods like frozen burritos, chicken nuggets and other convenience items like cereal.

This is the first time in our lives when we are actually forced to do this. I've always chose in the past to do a frugal plan or keep our costs down but now, we are in a situation where we absolutely have to. This is not fun, let me just tell you that! When you are deprived against your will, after having not been deprived, it is very difficult to do. Nevertheless, my training in the past has deemed an excellent tool now when it came time to experience this hardship. I'm thankful and grateful that I know what to do. God truly can meet us halfway when we do our part!

Here are some pics of my weekly grocery trips:


We choose from any of the lists below at any meal, so breakfast doesn't have to just be at breakfast, etc. I also plan our dinner meals weekly. I make our own whole wheat tortillas, granola, energy bites and desserts and prep batch cook our beans and brown rice.
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August Monthly Meal Plan

Doing these monthly meal plans really frees up time for me throughout the month!  For some reason, I'm craving a lot of chicken and so, I planned a lot of chicken meals this month.  My daughter cooks half the meals usually, so I don't have to cook every day thankfully when she's available to help.


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July Monthly Meal Plan

Here is the monthly meal plan for July:


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June Monthly Meal Plan


I'm a little behind in posting this but here is June's monthly meal plan:
 

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May Monthly Meal Plan

We endeavored to cut our grocery budget in half in April and we were successful but over a bit, we ended up coming in around $300 less!  So we made it on $500 for April, compared to previous months at $800.  

We are aiming for $500 for May and here is the monthly meal plan for dinners:




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Part 3: Cutting Our Grocery Budget in HALF!

In this part, I'm going to share what we eat for breakfasts, lunches, snacks and desserts.  We're pretty simple people and have never really needed fancy food.  I actually don't think I've ever cooked a steak before other than a Salisbury LOL!  Not because we couldn't afford steak, but because I don't think its worth the trade health-wise.  If I want a steak, I'll go out and eat one but since my hysterectomy 7 years ago, I don't even crave steak anymore and my husband has never cared for steak.

Below are some options we normally eat but we really mix and match everything as we desire.  I myself eat 4 full meals a day but my son eats 3 meals and 3 snacks usually.  My husband was only eating 2 meals a day but I helped him transition to eating 3-4 times a day a few months ago to improve his metabolism and health.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal with fruit, nuts, flaxmeal and an egg
Toasted egg sandwich with cheese
Toasted bread with cream cheese and fruit
Cereal and milk
Waffles with maple syrup and fruit

Lunches

Chicken quesadilla with cheese, fruit and salad
Chicken wrap with avocado, fruit and salad
Tuna salad sandwiches
PBJ or PB banana sandwiches with milk
Bean tostadas
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Part 2: Cutting Our Grocery Budget in HALF!

In Part 1 I posted a list of the dinner meals I planned for April.  To come up with that list, I spent a while searching online to find some new recipes that fit our needs.  I have some food restrictions, my son has some preferences and then we also needed meals that would be cheap, yet filling.  Then, I combined them with recipes I had on my computer that we haven't tried yet, along with ones we already love.  It took me 2 hours to come up with that list!  I like using highlighters, so I color-coded the different categories I was aiming for:

Chicken
Beans
Beef/Pork/Kielbasa
Turkey
Fish

I only needed to plan 21 meals because 4 meals of the month on Fridays, I'm making homemade pizza and then Sundays I don't cook.  (21 meals + 4 pizza days + 5 Sundays = 30 days in April.)


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Part 1: Cutting Our Grocery Budget in HALF!

I set out to cut our grocery budget in half from $800 down to $400 for the month of April.  I prayed and felt the Lord giving me wisdom and spent several hours and came up with a list of dinner meals that fit our needs and then made our grocery list and planned out the other meals and went grocery shopping.  I was able to get what we needed for the month for $237 with $163 leftover for our weekly trips for bread, milk and produce saving $400!

I had 26 meals to plan out because I don't cook on Sunday, it is fend-for-yourself day and usually leftovers, hot dogs, boxed mac/cheese, etc.  I planned out 5 chicken meals, 5 bean meals, 5 beef or pork meals, 4 pizza meals, 3 fish meals and 3 turkey meals.  Here is the list of dinner meals with links to the recipe (some of these are new to us and we haven't tried them yet):


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Coming Up: Cutting Our Grocery Budget in HALF!

I'm doing something that I don't think is impossible but is going to be hard, I'm cutting our grocery budget in half for the month of April.  We have been spending upwards of $800 a month lately with inflation.  It gradually crept up until one day I realized how high it had gotten.  We have never spent that much on food in a month that I can think of until the past few months.  I wanted to see if I could in fact, cut it in half.  I've been brainstorming and my daughter and I are working on all the details tonight and I hope to have my plan completed by tomorrow.

I hope to gather a lot of recipes together we're going to be using and share them with you all, along with what we will be eating for breakfast, lunch and snacks.  I'm going to use the money I save for April, to stock up for May because we have a huge change coming in our lives come May and I want to ease any stress by stockpiling ahead of time.  What better way than to use April to get ready for a smaller food budget and get a month ahead possibly as well for May.

I really hope I'm not aiming too low but from what I have seen others online accomplish with families even larger than mine - I'm up for the challenge!

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Current Food Prices in Ohio #5


Below are current prices for some items we purchased in March.  Most have gone up continually and believe me, it has added up and we are spending the most we've ever spent on groceries in our lives!  I'm actually going to challenge myself soon to see if we can lower our budget because we've been eating pretty good the past few months and it got a little out of hand.  We were spending $600 a month on just groceries and even currently reached $800 for 4 weeks, yes, that's $200 a week for the 4 of us!  I know, I'm even shocked at myself but I've enjoyed it I must admit.

There are some things we will not budge on and that is that we only will buy organic milk, organic soymilk, organic grass-fed beef, uncured ham or turkey sandwich meat, non-GMO corn tortilla chips and certain natural products that don't have additives, preservatives or any other fake stuff.  My health dramatically improved years ago when I made these changes and you are what you eat!  Your body consists of what you ate in the past, you can't get around that.  Some pay medical bills or prescription drugs and eat cheaper than we do but we prefer to pay a little more and have less medical bills and be on no prescription drugs.  I got myself off a shoebox full of prescription meds and I don't EVER want to go back!  I'm in the best shape and health I've probably ever been in my life and I got here by eating healthy, reducing my pesticide exposure, not consuming growth-hormone-filled animals, getting fit and increasing my muscle mass.  You choose your path.

Countless people have told me, especially recently after losing weight, that I look 20 years younger than I am.  I have noticed that and people ask me what my secret is.  I assume it is God and living a life without alcohol, smoking, drugs or maybe it is the fact that I haven't worn makeup and don't put products on my face (besides simple face wash and lotion).  However, I know others that have done that all their life and they don't look like they haven't aged.  So, I did some research - outside of maybe it being just my genetics - It could be what I eat and have eaten for most of my life.  I consume a lot of nuts and beans!  Could those be the fountain of youth?  I came across a doctor who looks 20 years younger and whose physical health is also several decades younger than he is and he claims it is eating 5 foods that did delay aging: nuts, berries, cruciferous vegetables, olive oil and then drinking green tea.  I actually eat all the foods regularly and I used to drink green tea.  Interesting!  I do feel like it is a consolation prize from God from all I had to go through in life to look like I'm in my 20's.  Thank you God is all I know!  But in the meantime, maybe everyone should grab some cashews, peanut butter and eat your beans, broccoli and blueberries - just sayin'.

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Current Food Prices in Ohio #4

I last blogged about food prices from the end of March through June.  I decided that it's too much for me to go through 3 months of receipts to do those detailed posts.  I've decided to do a short list of things I've recently purchased to show the current prices instead.  

We are spending $440 a month on food in October for our family of 4 by shopping Aldi and Kroger.  For new readers that may wonder how we do that, you can look through past posts as I have a lot!  But the short answer is: we consume low amounts of meat (chicken/turkey/fish/kielbasa), lots of vegetables and fruits, lots of bread/pasta/oatmeal/rice, etc., lots of beans and dairy.  I make 1 lb. of meat stretch over a dinner meal and we eat meatless meals 2-3 times a week.  We only eat red meat 2-4 times a month and only eat organic, grass-fed beef when we do.  I stockpile a few times a year with things like oats, rice, beans, canned goods, condiments, etc.  I would like to do an updated post, if time permits, on how I'm working our meal planning and grocery shopping now.


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Current Food Prices in Ohio #3

I last blogged about food prices from the end of November through March and you can see that post by clicking here.  Below are prices from March 21st through June 3rd, and you can see the price increases in yellow and the price decreases in green.  You can definitely see that things have gone up overall.  Yet, we can still purchase good food for a reasonable price I believe.  My challenge is actually finding some foods, as we have had a lot of shortages and I will have to go to Kroger to find it, or even order from online for certain items.

I didn't include items from the last list that I didn't purchase March-June 3rd on this list.


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Current Food Prices in Ohio #2

I saved my receipts from November 23rd to March 5th to track the rising costs of food at my local Aldi and Kroger, and I've added in Walmart.  I blogged about my Oct-Nov prices already but this is the next update covering the next 3 months.  I've highlighted in yellow the price increases and in green those that decreased in price.  Not a lot of price increases for us yet.  However, the problem for us lately is finding what we need, as there has been a lot out of stock and then we have to buy higher-priced items at Kroger.  

Also, some items I haven't bought since the last price list, so I don't know what their current price is.


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Current Prices for Food in Ohio

I've saved my receipts and decided to post current prices in my area at my Aldi and Kroger.  These are from October 1st - November 9th.  It should be noted that I buy only grass-fed organic red meat, organic milk, soymilk, tortilla chips and some organic produce and other foods.  I haven't made a price book in a long time, so I decided to start keeping track.  Since I was doing a stock-up of sorts, I thought was now a good time and would be beneficial to a lot to compare in your area.  Several things have risen 20 cents each or more as I'm comparing 4 weeks receipts, so I'm putting the current higher price.  It is so tiny that you may not notice it if you didn't pay attention to the actual price.  Also, some items have shrunk in size and amount you get for the same price!  Sneaky sneaky  😋  I may try and do this every month because, not only do I want a list to compare to, but I think it would help others.


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1 Pound of Meat Feeds a Family of 4

Whether it be ground beef, chicken breast, ground turkey or kielbasa, you can easily feed your family of 4 with 1 pound of meat!  I've been doing this for years and didn't realize that others didn't understand the concept of meat being part of the meal, not THE meal.  Americans seem to think that meat is what's for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Instead of only having it a few times a week, they have it 3 times a day every single day.  I think that is where Americans are going to have to change, not only for the wallet, but also for health.

Most of the meals I make use just 1 pound of meat and it not only feeds us all (3 adults and one hungry 8 yr old boy) but we sometimes have leftovers.  Everyone is super healthy except the runt of the family - ME - 😄.  However my health issues have nothing at all to do with diet thankfully, they are birth defects, heart infection from a virus and brain damage from a car accident.  So I suppose it is even of greater importance that I do cook mostly healthy so I won't have any additional issues with my health!


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126 Meals for $30

I thought this was a great video to share with you all, in case you are going to possibly be without work due to the coronavirus closures and need frugal meal ideas.  This lady fed her family of 6 for a week on $30 and she shows you exactly what to buy and each and every meal of the week how to make it!  I've also included a link to another video with the same idea.



126 Meals for $50 - https://youtu.be/j75tMn8B3t0
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Monthly Meal Planning & Shopping

We used to shop weekly, then we went to biweekly and now we do monthly grocery shopping.  We do make a trip to the local store whenever we need bananas or salad but everything else is bought once a month at Aldi and Kroger.  I made a meal plan for 4 weeks and then I went through the recipes and made a list and checked it with what we had on hand.  Here was the menu for this 4-week period, which is January 18th - February 14th.


I like to do a big casserole on Saturday and have the leftovers (L/O) on Sunday.  Fridays are pizza days, frozen or homemade.  I like to have a Mexican night on Tuesdays and then a meatless night once a week, either vegetarian meal or breakfast for dinner meal.  We only eat red meat once a week, unless we have a kielbasa meal.  On days we have appointments that may keep us out for a few hours, I don't plan a meal to cook; we eat out.  It is just less stress for me that way!  A lot of the meals are very easy, instant pot meals.

For breakfast and lunches we do oatmeal, burritos, PB bread, protein bars, quesadillas, tacos and whatever else we crave depending upon the month.  Snacks are fruits, vegetables, string cheese, nuts/seeds, PB, homemade muffins/breads/cakes, tortilla chips, bean dip, etc.

We spend $360 a month on groceries, mostly all food but I do buy some non-food items like paper plates, ziplock bags, hand soap and napkins.  Soap, shampoo, toilet paper and all those type toiletry items and vitamins/supplements, we have a separate budget for called our "necessities", and it doesn't come out of the $360 we spend on groceries.
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Our Busy Week Meal Plan

We have developed, what I call, a busy week meal plan.  This is a 7-day menu plan for those weeks when I know it is going to busy or those weeks I just don't want to do much in the way of cooking!  Everyone likes this menu and it is cheap as well and very low prep/cooking times.
Monday - Tacos
Tuesday - Pinto Beans & Rice in Instant Pot
Wednesday - Hamburgers & Fries
Thursday - Creamy Chicken & Noodles
Friday - Pizza
Saturday & Sunday - Mac n' Cheese w/ Hot dog chunks



The tacos are made from organic, grass-fed beef and on flour tortillas with all the toppings.  Beans and rice is so easy in my Instant Pot and we add in toppings.  Hamburgers are frozen from Aldi with frozen fries.  The creamy chicken and noodle is my son's favorite and SOOOO easy and it can feed all of us with just 1 pound chicken breast!  Friday is either frozen pizza or homemade pizza.  I cook a 5-quart dish full of homemade mac n' cheese with hot dog chunks in it on Saturday and we have enough leftovers for Sunday's meal.  No cooking on Sunday!
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New Dinner & Dessert Recipes - Pics & Video

We tried some new recipes and they were all very good!  I've included the links for you all to try them.  These have become staples now for us.




Dinners

Desserts
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