Food on Friday

So Friday is my menu day and my grocery shopping day.  I try to spend as little as possible (under $60/week) on food and I usually can because fresh vegetables here are SOOO cheap.  So here is our menu for this week.

Saturday
Lunch: Left overs
Dinner: Black bean and cheese fritata

Sunday
Lunch: Crock pot Swiss Steak:  Really tough (and cheap) beef cooked all morning with a thinly sliced onion, 6-8 dices roma tomatoes, some salt, garlic, and chili powder served over left over whole grain rice.  This served with fresh green beans steamed then sauteed with olive oil and fresh garlic, salt to taste.
Dinner: Clean out the fridge night.

Monday
Lunch: Veggie pasta: all kind of veggies (carrots, bell pepper, spinach, onion, celery, green beans, etc) chopped super small with food processor sauteed in olive oil with garlic and italian seasoning until soft.  Add prepackaged spaghetti sauce and serve over whole grain pasta.  Served with garlic bread.
Dinner: Chicken and Dumplings  This is a new recipe I'm trying out.  We'll see how I do!

Tusday:
Lunch: Tuna tortas: 2 cans tuna, mixed chopped veggies (like above), an egg, house seasoning and some bread crumbs, mixed and made into patties and fried.  This served with homemade pasta salad: frozen mixed veggies, pasta, mayo, bacon if I feel like it, and house seasoning.  By the way, we use house seasoning on EVERYTHING.
Dinner: Grilled cheese and tomato soup

Wednesday
Lunch: Black beans and rice and homemade corn tortillas.  And coleslaw.  YUM!
Dinner: Baked Spinach Ziti and salad.

Thursday
Lunch: Lentil Minestrone Soup
Dinner: Left overs.  By now we will have a ton.

Friday
Lunch: Refried black beans, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, and home made tortillas
Dinner: Family fun night!!  Fruit, cheese and popcorn made on the stove top (NOT the microwave)  and maybe peanut butter sandwiches if the kids want them.

The secret to my low budget is looking at what I already have in the pantry, and using up perishable things first.  I only have to buy a few things like coffee, milk, etc.  I only buy things that go on my menu (and cereal when I find it on sale) and things that I keep a running list of when I run out like baking products.  I RARELY buy extra snack foods.  We always keep a bag of tortilla chips on hand, but we don't use them to snack on during the day.  For snacks we eat fruit, and left over food in the fridge like a tortilla with beans and cheese melted on it.  I also don't buy things like canned tomatoes, etc, because for less money I can chop tomatoes.  But it might not be that way in the states.

Let me know if you have any questions or budgeting tips about menu planning!

Food on Friday

For this week's menu, I am using some recipes that I found on Pinterest.  If you don't know all about Pinterest, you MUST check it out!  You can also click on the link above to "follow me" in my pinterest endeavors.  I will be linking the recipes that I am using. (To actually see the recipes and not just my "pin", you have to be a member of the site...just request an invite)


Saturday:
L: Meatless spaghetti (made with chopped vegetables instead of meat)and salad w/ easy breadsticks
D: Left Overs
Sunday
L: Crockpot mushroom chicken with rice
D: Left overs (with sandwich cookie-rice crispy treats)
Monday
L: Veggie Frittata
D: PB and J sandwiches with apple slices
Tuesday
L: Chinese food with ramen noodles
D: Chicken pasta salad
Wednesday
L: leftovers
D: Black beans, rice, and coleslaw
Thursday
L: Soft tacos with spicy slaw
D: Apple pancake with sausage
Friday
L: Beans, eggs, potatoes, tortillas
D: Family Fun night (popcorn, apples and cheese)

Food on Friday

Here's our budget friendly weekly menu for this next week.  This week I spent $55 on food, a little bit of cosmetic stuff and some cleaning supplies.  And I will spend another $6 or so on Monday at the market (fresh veggies)


Saturday:
L: beans, eggs, tortillas and potatoes
D: Thai food (chicken, peanuts, spinach, garlic, and rice noodles)
Sunday
L: Frittata and homemade bread
D: Left overs
Monday
L: Meatless spaghetti (made with chopped vegetables instead of meat)
D: Leftovers
Tuesday
L: Leftovers
D: Lemon pepper chicken and pasta with garlic green beans
Wednesday
L: leftovers
D: Black beans, rice, and coleslaw
Thursday
L: out of town
D: Cheesy hamburger macaroni and mixed veggies
Friday
L: Beans, eggs, potatoes, tortillas
D: Family Fun night (popcorn, apples and cheese)

One thing that we have started doing that is saving us some money, is baking bread in the breadmaker every night.  Or, most nights.  When we remember.  That way we wake up to fresh baked bread and it costs us around $1.20 per 1 1/2 lb loaf.  And we actually eat a lot of bread so that ends up saving us quite a bit.

And we also don't use fresh milk for anything except drinking.  We keep powdered milk that we use for all cooking and for Brandon and I to drink.

Food on Friday

Um..food on Friday on Sunday.  We've had a lot going on over the last few days so this is a couple of days late.

Our menu for the following week:

Saturday:
L: Veggie eggs (cut up sauted vegetables mixed in with scrambled eggs)
D: Taco Bell and S'mores.
Sunday
L: Roast and homemade bread (slow cooker and bread machine) and salad
D: Left overs
Monday
L: Cheesy hamburger macaroni and mixed veggies
D: Vegetable soup
Tuesday
L: Left overs
D: Beans, rice, and coleslaw
Wednesday
L: Spaghetti and vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli and carrots)
D: Black eyed peas and cornbread
Thursday
L: Tuna salad sandwiches
D: Leftovers
Friday
L: Beans, eggs, potatoes, tortillas
D: Family Fun night (popcorn, apples and cheese)

Food on Friday

I think I am going to start something new. Brynne, our intern for the summer, gave me this idea and I have no idea if will help anyone or not, but we're gonna try it.

I am going to post our weekly menu every Friday here. Every Friday I sit down and make the menu for the next week. I try to take into account our schedule as best as I can and I try to use leftovers. I then use that menu to make my grocery list and I do my weekly shopping on Fridays as well. I never include breakfasts on my menus because I never know what my mornings are going to look like.

For breakfast we usually eat one of the following:

-Cereal (or granola) with yogurt

-peanut butter toast (make toast, spread w/ PB, and pour on a little bit of syrup.)

-Frog on a lilly pad (bread with the center punched out grilled with an egg in the middle...a mix between a fried egg and toast)

-Pancakes

-Waffles

-Eggs and beans and toast.

Ok..on to this week's menu.

Saturday

L: Chicken tomato basil mozzarella pasta.

D: Leftovers for kids, grownups eat out for birthday party

Sunday

L: crock pot: chicken with tomatoes and onions served over rice with broccoli salad. (everything is made in advance so we can just eat when we get back from church)

D: Leftovers

Monday

Lunch: grilled cheese and tomato soup with carrot sticks and celery in ranch

Dinner: meatloaf, mixed veggies, and salad

Tuesday

L: Black beans, rice, and coleslaw

D: leftovers

Wednesday

L: Homemade vegetable soup w/ homemade bread.

D: Leftovers

Thursday

L: Bean empanadas (Gladys will make them) with rice and tomato cucumber salad

D: Mussel soup and bread

Friday

L: re-fried black beans, scrambled eggs, handmade corn tortillas

D: Family Fun Night (popcorn, cheese, and fruit)

You might notice that we eat a lot of beans. They are cheap, healthy, and we can make 2 lbs once a week and it serves us many meals. We eat cheap. I usually spend around $50 a week at the store. We buy our meat in bulk like once every 2 months and that costs us around $100 for 30lbs of beef. We don't eat meat everyday. We try to use up all of our leftovers.

If you have any questions or want any recipes, just ask! Maybe this can give you some ideas or inspiration.