Menu Planning: #232

The USDA food plans represent a healthy diet at four different cost levels. (thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost and liberal-cost) The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) utilizes the thrifty level of the USDA food plans. Each food plan specifies quantities of food and beverage categories that can be purchased and prepared to make healthy meals and snacks at home.

This year, we decided to use the Official USDA Plans: Cost of Food Reports to guide our food budget this year at the thrifty level.

December 2022 Report

Per Week

Male (14-18) = $68.60

Male (51-70) = $64.10

Female (51-70) = $57.60

Total = $190.30

NOTE-

1- Click on the picture and get a link to a post sharing the recipe.

2- Although all prices were correct at the time of the blog postings, the current cost of preparation of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location.

Cost Saving Tip of the Week:

Sunday Prepping

A little bit of preparation goes a long way in keeping us away from eating out and/or getting takeout. This may look like freezing leftovers and pulling them out once or twice a month for a quick meal or taking an hour on Sunday to pre-cut vegetables, meal plan and pre-cook breakfasts.

Here is what we did this week to make our week easier:

Packed breakfast and lunch for our road trip.
Froze leftovers for future meals.

Breakfast Options:

Hard Boiled Eggs

Breakfast bars

Fruit

Monday

Sushi Bowl

Tuesday

Chicken

Salad

Bagged Vegetables

Wednesday

Beef Topped Blue Cheese Salad

Thursday

Pizza

Salad

Friday

Roasted Chicken

Macaroni and Cheese

Broccoli

Saturday

Shrimp and Sausage Pasta

Salad

Bread

Sunday

Chicken Creole

Rice

Salad

M- Eating Out

T- Eating Out

W- Eating Out

Th- Eating Out

Fri- Eating Out

Sat- Grilled Beef w/ Salad

Sun- Freezer Leftovers

* Indicate that the recipe is a new one for our family.

If you are interested in last week’s Menu Plan, the link is below.

What is your meal plan for this week?

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