Plan
Based on some feedback, I am going to try to break down a cost per meal this week and see if that is helpful at all. You can see last week’s healthy dinner ideas and meal plan here.
Breakfast:
- We start breakfast with a yogurt for each girl. I mix in a liquid DHA supplement
(affiliate link)as well as a powder form of a probiotic(affiliate link). - Then the kids get to alternate days that they choose what is for breakfast. This week since we were off of school, I made eggs one morning and pancakes another morning! Yummy! I just don’t normally have time for that.
(affiliate link)as well as a 
(affiliate link).Lunches (I almost always serve lunch with fruit and something crunchy, ie., chips, pretzels, etc.):
- Turkey Sandwiches
- $1.96 per serving – $7.82 for all 4 of us
- 6 slices of Nature’s Own Whole Wheat bread ($0.72 total)
- 7 slices of turkey ($2.92 total)
- 3 slices organic American cheese ($0.87 total)
- 1oz sharp cheddar cheese ($0.19 total)
- 2 slices organic Kirkland whole wheat bread ($0.36 total)
- Organic Grapes ($1.76 total)
- various chips or pretzel slims ($1 total)
- Not included – small amounts of mustard and mayonnaise
- $1.96 per serving – $7.82 for all 4 of us
- Bean & Cheese Quesadilla
- $1.16 per serving – $4.64 for all 4 of us
- 4 tortillas ($1.28 total)
- Organic Refried Beans – about 1/3 of can ($0.36 total)
- Kirkland Mexican Shredded Cheese – we call it sprinkle cheese 🙂 – ($0.50 total)
- various chips or pretzel slims ($1 total)
- Organic Strawberries – ($1.50 total)
- $1.16 per serving – $4.64 for all 4 of us
- Chicken Nuggets
- $1.72 per serving – $5.16 for 3 of us
- Chicken Nuggets – ($2.66 total)
- various chips or pretzel slims ($1 total)
- Organic Strawberries – ($1.50 total)
- $1.72 per serving – $5.16 for 3 of us
- Potstickers
- $1.33 per serving – $4.00 for 3 of us
- Potstickers – ($2.75 total)
- various chips or pretzel slims ($0.50 total)
- Watermelon – ($0.75 total)
- $1.33 per serving – $4.00 for 3 of us
- PB&J
- Bean & Cheese Quesadilla
- $1.04 per serving – $4.14 for all 4 of us
- 4 tortillas ($1.28 total)
- Organic Refried Beans – about 1/3 of can ($0.36 total)
- Kirkland Mexican Shredded Cheese – we call it sprinkle cheese 🙂 – ($0.50 total)
- various chips or pretzel slims ($1 total)
- Watermelon – ($1 total)
- $1.04 per serving – $4.14 for all 4 of us
- Macaroni & Cheese – We didn’t get to these since we had so many leftovers. We ate those for lunch one day instead.
Snacks:
- Nothing new here this week. Just our usual stuff!
Dinners:
- Leftovers
- Leftovers
- Out
- Hamburgers, Tator Tots, & Baked Beans (this dinner had 1 serving leftover)
- $ 2.76 per serving – $11.04 for 4 servings
- Organic Ground Beef – ($5.99)
- Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns – ($1)
- Organic Tomato – ($0.79)
- Tator Tots – ($1)
- Organic Baked Beans – ($1.49)
- Organic American Cheese – ($0.58)
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese – ($0.19)
- Not included – small amounts of lettuce, mayo, mustard, ketchup
- $ 2.76 per serving – $11.04 for 4 servings
- Pumpkin’s Dinner this week – Shake it Up Chicken Nuggets with Zucchini Coins (this dinner had 2+ servings left over)
- $ 3.42 per serving – $10.26 for 3 servings (not really since we had 2+ servings leftover)
- Chicken Breast – ($5.93)
- Stuffing Mix – ($1.99)
- Zucchini – ($0.59)
- Tator Tots – ($1)
- Parmesan Cheese – ($0.75)
- Not included – small amounts of ranch dressing and buttermilk)
- $ 3.42 per serving – $10.26 for 3 servings (not really since we had 2+ servings leftover)
- Super Stuffed Tortillas with Rice (in Freezer from prior week)
- $?
- 4 tortillas ($1.28 total)
- Super Stuffed Tortilla filling – already in freezer from prior meal ($0 – Total)
- Kirkland Mexican Shredded Cheese – we call it sprinkle cheese 🙂 – ($0.50 total)
- Arborio Rice with salsa mixed in (not sure of cost, bought rice a while ago so don’t know price)
- $?
- Baked Potatoes with Salad (had extra potatoes left but not used in a school project…so they become dinner!)
- $?
- not sure of cost because I don’t have receipt for potatoes, but they were bought last week and not all used for a school project. Added things already in fridge to make them yummy!
- $?
Total Cost:
- Trader Joe’s – $112.03 34% Organic 66% Natural
- Target – $7.21 0 % Organic 66%Natural
- Costco – $ 19.59 66% Organic 33%Natural
- I did use my grocery budget this week to buy additional things with my food money(the $ for these items are not included above, such as: deodorant, Ecover delicate wash(affiliate link), etc.
- I was a little short this week because I went over in the past and am saving some food money to pay for a 40th birthday party for me! :-), so I added a little from selling something on craigslist, but I still ended up $3 over where I wanted to be budget wise this week. Boo!
Tip:
- Food/Budget Tip:
- If you need to, shut down the kitchen(like I did this week) to eat up all those leftovers. I really don’t like to see food wasted, which works really well to save money. We somehow ended up with quite a few leftovers. Between our eating out twice and Mr. Tbringing home leftovers while eating out on the job last week. We had quite a bit of food on the bottom shelf of the fridge. So, I shut down the kitchen and decided no more cooking until it was gone. Made it for 3 meals this week. Free food if you are willing to eat leftovers (which I know not everyone is willing to do). Here’s what we had –
- 2 Meatballs
- 1/2 recipe of baked ziti
- pizza from eating out
- chicken from eating out
- 1/2 recipe of easy as pie spaghetti bake
- Macaroni & Cheese
- If you need to, shut down the kitchen(like I did this week) to eat up all those leftovers. I really don’t like to see food wasted, which works really well to save money. We somehow ended up with quite a few leftovers. Between our eating out twice and Mr. Tbringing home leftovers while eating out on the job last week. We had quite a bit of food on the bottom shelf of the fridge. So, I shut down the kitchen and decided no more cooking until it was gone. Made it for 3 meals this week. Free food if you are willing to eat leftovers (which I know not everyone is willing to do). Here’s what we had –
Verdict:
- What Worked
- Things went well this week. We didn’t run out of anything!
- What didn’t work
- Nothing didn’t work this week.
Until next week, follow me on Facebook for even more great ideas and fun.
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