I’ve been *trying* to work on our food budget and menu plan. It’s a constant struggle. Lately, I’ve found that if I do not come up with a menu plan, and look at the sales, then things get out of control quickly. I did a bit of planning last week, and made a shopping trip on Saturday. Here is what I came up (We are a family of 8).
As I’ve typed this out, I see lots room for improvement. I would like to be under $150 per week. The weather is much warmer now, so we’ll be using the crockpot and grilling as much as possible. We’ll be eating more salads and grilled chicken in the coming weeks.
BJs Shopping Trip
4 Gallons of Milk – $2.59 x 4 = $10.36
Tostitos Scoops Pick & Pack – $5.98 (- .75/2 from the door flyer, exp 6/3)
Wellsley Farms Bread – $2.49 x 2 = $4.98
YoBaby Yogurt (12 ct) – $6.99
Angus Bubba Burgers (12 ct) – $19.99 (- $4/1 from the May/June book, exp 6/17)
Hoodsie Cups (30 ct) – $8.49 (used $2.25/1 from the door flyer, exp 6/3)
Cheerios – $6.89 + MultiGrain Cheerios – $7.69 (- $4/2 from the book, exp 5/31 + $1/2 printable)
Berkley Jensen Water (35 ct) – $3.49 (needed this for our Friday homeschool co-op)
Organic Salsa (twin pack) – $5.99 (I’m addicted to this salsa!)
Cedar’s Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (30 oz) – $4.99
2 Ragu Pasta Sauce (3 pack/45 oz) – $14.58 (- $5/2 from the BJs Journal, exp 5/27)
Total: $83.42
Stop and Shop Shopping Trip
Great Value Neapolitan Ice Cream Tub – $4.50
S+S Sugar Cones (12 ct) – $1.79 (not pictured)
S+S Half-Gallon of Half & Half Cream – $4.09 (not pictured)
Ken’s Dressing – $2.50 x 5 = $12.50
Wacky Mac Bow Ties – $1 x 2 = $2
Ball Park Beef Franks – $2.99 x 3 = $8.97 (we will get 2 meals from these)
80% Ground Beef – $3.29/lb x 14.26 lbs = $46.92 (we will get 6 meals from these)
Bananas – .39/lb x 2.08 lbs = .81 (- 20% rebate from SavingStar.)
Dole Salad Blends – $2.99 x 2 = $5.98
European Cucumbers – $1.66 x 2 = $3.32
Organic Scallions – .99
Carrot Matchsticks – $1.67
Yellow Onions (3 lbs) – $1.99
Marie’s Cole Slaw Dressing – $3.99 x 2 (- $3.99 on sale, b1g1 free)
Dole Cole Slaw – $1.67 x 2 = $3.34
Pizza Dough – $2.49 x 4 = $9.96
Total: $112.82
Final Spent: $196.24
The hamburger was a good price. It has been consistently $3.79/lb for months. I decided to stock up so we can have future meals. The pizza dough is my big cooking experiment for the week. My club doesn’t seem to sell pizza dough, so I bought it at S&S.
The Ken’s dressing was purchased because we only had one bottle of dressing left from a previous coupon trip and it had gone rancid. I could have done better with coupons for the dressing, but was in a time crunch.
The Ragu will last us a few weeks also. My only issue with the warmer weather is to try to eat all the fresh produce before it goes bad. I will make a big effort to offer produce at lunch and dinner so we don’t waste it.
Breakfasts
We keep breakfast very low key and simple.
– Cereal
– English Muffins (with Cream Cheese or PB from my fridge/pantry)
– Scrambled Eggs + Hash (from my pantry)
Snacks
Bananas, Apples (given to us by a family member), Cheese Sticks, Veggies + Dip
Lunches
– Hummus + Tostitos Scoops
– Tuna Sandwiches (3 cans of tuna on sale for $1 a couple of weeks ago + mayo from my pantry)
– Salad
– Mac + Cheese (The blue box stuff from my pantry… I know, I know.)
– Leftovers
Dinners
Monday – Hot Dogs on the grill, Baked Beans (from my pantry), Cole Slaw, Salad with Cucumbers, Carrots + Dressing
Tuesday – Tacos (Taco kits from my pantry, Salsa from BJs, Sour Cream from my fridge)
Wednesday – Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
Thursday – Homemade Pizza (Cheese from my freezer)
Friday – Wacky Mac with Parmesan Cheese, Canned Chicken + Frozen Vegetables (from my freezer/pantry)
Saturday – Burgers on the grill, Cole Slaw, Salad with Cucumbers, Carrots + Dressing
Sunday – Spaghetti and Meat Sauce leftovers
Desserts
We don’t normally have dessert after dinner. However, I was in the mood to give the kids a treat.
Ice Cream Cones, Hoodsie Cups, Popsicles (from my freezer)
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