Menu Plan Monday Apr. 26

Well, will you look at that? I’m actually planning our meals this week!

First, a question for you. Did you like it when I posted my grocery receipts, when I was doing the Food Stamp Challenge? Our current food budget is more than what it was on our food stamp challenge, mainly because of the kind of meat we are buying. We also are on WIC, so I get milk and cereal.

Was seeing our grocery list, our receipts, and then our menu plan helpful, or so boring you groaned when you saw it and clicked “Mark as Read” without even scrolling? I’ll put an estimated meal cost next to each menu plan.

Our current food budget is $150 a week for 10 people, or about $2.15 per person per day. What’s yours?

Sunday: Emergency Pantry Pasta Salad watch for the recipe later this week! ($4)

Monday: Meatloaf (w/grassfed bison, cuz that’s what was on sale), mashed potatoes, artichokes ($22)

Tuesday: Roasted chicken, brussels sprouts, red and brown rice pilaf ($18) dang, those hormone/antibiotic free/vegetarian chickens are expensive!

Wednesday: Blackeyed peas with kale (recipe on my sidebar), cornbread. ($5)

Thursday: Cuban pork chops with black beans and rice, green beans ($12)

Friday: Leftovers or breakfast – sausage, gravy, biscuits, eggs, cut up oranges ($0 or $6)

Saturday: Thai chicken with stir fried vegetables, rice noodles ($12)

How do we fit in Atkins? Basically, husband just skips the side dishes. He’s lost 4″ since January!

Check out a ton of menu plans at OrgJunkie!

Peggy Brister April 26, 2010 11:53 am edit
I use to spend $150 a week for me and 2 kids, but I have cut it down to spending about $100 week now. I let myself spend $400 a month.
I am vegetarian so it is la little bit expensive buying fruits & vegetables in the produce section every week.

karen April 26, 2010 11:53 am edit
I like it when you post the way you did in the food stamp challenge…it helps me and my family of four stay on track. I also like to see what people are paying in other parts of the country for the same things I buy here in the mid-west.

mary alice April 26, 2010 1:55 pm edit
sometimes i looked but usually i skipped the receipts. i do like the way you did it on this post though.

Sheila April 26, 2010 2:13 pm edit
I liked it! I spend about $150/week on groceries/dog stuff/hair stuff/makeup (everything) for 4 of us. I could certainly spend less if we needed to. For now, this is working. You never know about the future, though!

- Milehimama April 26, 2010 2:33 pm edit
  It seems there’s always room to cut if needed! To be clear, my $150 a week is food only, not tp, baby wipes, toilet paper, etc.
  
patrice April 27, 2010 11:20 am edit
I liked your food stamp challenge posts – it’s interesting to see how prices vary from region to region. Did you ever do a post on coupon box? I’m not sure if I remember seeing it referenced here or somewhere else. My coupon use is pretty sporadic because I’m so disorganized. I need to figure a way to be better about using them though!

patrice April 27, 2010 11:21 am edit
OK just found your coupon box – off to check it out.

Deeny April 27, 2010 3:40 pm edit
OK Question? Where do you get or find your Natural or Organic beef and Chicken? I have waffled for years on the Organic Vs. Price issue– Recently I have been ultra frugal and get most of my meat the under $2 a pound variety at Sam’s club. But I broke down and actually watched that Food Inc documentary (rented from Netflix) – Ok it had some merit- I am still not completely convinced and am waffling again. So today I tried to find some Natural or Organic beef. Publix had a teeny tiny section with very little selection and I still couldn’t bring myself to buy $6 a pound ground beef. I can get the 90/10 for $2.28 at Sam’s. Anyway basically all they had as far as organic beef was the ground beef or ribeye steaks which were I think $12.99 a pound. Anyway I bought one tiny Organic Chicken for $6.50 because it was a Manager Special sale. If I want to drive about an hour north of here and want to buy a minimum of 1/4 cow I can get some natural Humanely treated grass fed beef but it is not certified organic. There is a tiny Nutrtition Smart Market that has a very very small selection of beef in it’s freezer section. I couldn’t even find any meat markets that had natural beef. Their were a couple of gourmet steak shops that had natural beef but again mainly ground meat or steaks no roasts or other cuts. Anyway there is a Whole Foods Market about 15 miles south of here that I might try and investigate tomorrow. So just curious as to where you get your meat.

- Milehimama April 27, 2010 9:45 pm edit
  I drive to a store that carries chi-chi meat and bulk organic food – the crunchy, fancy HEB. It’s about 15 miles from my house. I often don’t get grass fed ($19.99 a pound here, YIKES!) but do go for the ‘natural’, which is growth hormone and antibiotic free, vegetarian fed and often semi-grass fed. I used to pay less than $2 per pound for meat (that was my goal), my new goal is less than $5 per pound.
  
  Typical prices where I live: $4.99/# for natural beef, $3.99 for natural vegetarian bonelss pork, $2.49-$3.49 for antibiotic free organic chickens. These are the prices I buy at. Often the meat is $10 or $12 a pound, I don’t buy it at those prices. I buy what is on special, which means I buy London Broil, loin chops, eye of round, chuck roasts, and flank steak.
  
  I had to search out a grocery store with good meat. It took me a year to find one.
  
  If you know the farmer, and it’s sustainably grown/humane/grass fed beef, go with that over the “organic” label, at least that’s my opinion. Meat can be “organic” but still raised in CAFOs and not humanely or sustainably grown. Organic certification is expensive and many farmers who might qualify don’t even pursue it. It’s better to know the farmer than put blind trust in a seal. Visit the farm, if you like what you see, buy the meat.
  
Cindy April 27, 2010 7:41 pm edit
I loved it when you posted what you spent and how you used those groceries in your meal plan – please keep us updated, thank you

Lana April 29, 2010 1:39 pm edit
Hi ~ stumbled upon your site by accident… and was reading some of the meals planned… more specifically the hormone free chicken – I wanted to share with you as a chicken farmer of natural chicken Gods Way – sandersons farm chicken is notorious for this as well as many others who claim to be hormone antibiotic free chicken – usda states while raising the chickens they have to be fed a natural diet – no meds etc – sadly this doesnt prevent them injecting these hormones in meds directly through the egg during embryo state…

- Milehimama April 29, 2010 1:57 pm edit
  Lana, thanks for the info. I’ve never seen Sanderson farms chicken sold as organic. I didn’t know they injected the eggs! Currently, the chickens I buy come from Maverick Ranch in CO (at least that’s what the butcher told me!)
  
  Where is your farm?
  
Diane June 22, 2010 11:00 pm edit
I’m in awe of your budgeting skills. I am single and spend around $40/wk and thought I was doing very well. I think it’s very inspirational to see all the detail you show on costs.

Menu Plan Monday Apr. 26

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