A Sample Two Week Meal Menu

This week is grocery shopping week. Every two weeks I make a trip to the grocery store(s) since that is how often my husband gets paid.  With bi-weekly and monthly pay, it becomes even more important to budget your money and plan ahead. Every payperiod, before I head to the grocery store, I sit down and create a menu based around sale items and food I have on hand. Sometimes I do buy ingredients for meals that aren’t on sale, but that’s not the norm.

I’ve had friends ask me in the past what I feed my family, so I thought I’d share a sample two-week menu. Now this isn’t a current one. I’m not sure what I’m buying this week since I haven’t sat down to look at the flyers and make a list. But I hope this gives some of you an idea of meals that you can make that won’t break the piggy bank and that’ll still taste good.

Week 1:

• Spaghetti – If I don’t have homemade sauce on hand, I use the $.99 Hunt’s w/a lb. of either hamburger or chicken burger and a box of $.89 pasta. I also either use a dough ball from work for bread or I buy a large package of breadsticks from Walmart and freeze them to eat with multiple meals.
• Stir-fries – These can get expensive if you like ones that have broccoli, onions, carrots, mushrooms, meat, noodles or rice, chinese cabbage, pea pods, etc. However, if you’re eating it for multiple meals, it’s not bad. You can make stirfries, though, with veggies you have on hand, so there’s no need to go overboard. Stores like Save-A-Lot and Walmart carry cheap bags of frozen stir-fry veggies for about $1.50. They’re not fresh, mind you, but they don’t horrible, so they do the trick.
• Tacos – My husband prefers hamburger tacos while I prefer chicken burger ones, so we alternate. I’ve found that prices for both meats are cheaper at Save-A-Lot, Market Basket and Walmart in comparison to Shaw’s or Hannaford.
• Pork Chops – I’ve bought packages of pork chops from Walmart, Save-A-Lot and Market Basket for under $3 when they’re on sale. I usually pair them w/potatoes and a veggie. Their coating is a simple homemade Shake ‘n Bake that takes two minutes, if that, to throw together.
• Crockpot Chicken – Usually, I just throw chicken with a sauce of some kind into my Crockpot. Sometimes I add in veggies if I have fresh ones on hand. (Today I added in mushrooms and stewed tomatoes.)
• Baked Haddock – I know some people prefer fresh haddock compared to previously frozen. While I do prefer mine fresh, I also know how expensive haddock is when it’s not on sale, so I tend to buy the frozen 1-lb. package from Walmart for under $5. I then bake it in the oven with margarine and breadcrumbs.

Week 2:

• Shepard’s Pie – Again, I use either hamburger or chicken burger. The last time I made it, it cost me $4.50 to make.
• Beans & Hotdogs – I can get a large can of beans for under $1 that’ll feed all four of us. The hotdogs are usually between $1-$2. I also make a package of cornbread that costs $1.
• Fried Chicken – I usually purchase several packages of chicken when it’s on sale. When I fry it, I cut it into smaller pieces and coat w/egg then a mixture that I throw together that consists of flour, Italian breadcrumbs, cayenne pepper and regular pepper. I avoid adding salt at all costs.
• Stroganoff – I make mine with chicken burger, 1 container of sour cream, 1 1/2 cans of mushroom soup and a half a bag of egg noodles. Simple and tasty!
• Mac ‘n’ Cheese – I buy pasta when it’s on sale, so when the cheese that I use goes on sale, I’m ready to go. I use Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar melted in a white sauce and mixed w/dehydrated onions.
• Tuna Rollups – This is a recipe that my mom use to make that she got out of an old cooking magazine from when I was about nine years old. You mix tuna, frozen broccoli, diced up tomatoes, mushroom soup, shredded cheddar cheese, crunchy onion rings and a bit of water together and then roll it up in tortillas. You then coat the tortillas with leftover mushroom soup mixed with water. And then you top with more cheddar cheese and onion rings. This meal is a bit more expensive than some of the others. But if you plan ahead and by extra of these items when they’re on sale, it’s not bad at all.

So what are some of your go to meals? Please feel free to share.