Skip to main content

Menu Plan #338

 

Menu Plan #338

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 these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location.     


Published March 2026:  USDA Thrifty Food Plan

According to this plan, our family’s weekly budget is $190.90.  Since May  has 5 Sundays, our monthly budget is $954.50.   My son is hosting a game night which we need to provide 7 teens with dinner, snacks and dessert.  I am trying to absorb this event into my grocery budget, but it may break my budget.   I am tracking my weekly spending to see how close we are able to get to the thrifty budget.   Currently, I budget $200 per week.    


We elevate our dining experiences by including fresh fruits, vegetables, and higher-quality meats.  Since our family has specific dietary needs, we limit our consumption of highly processed food.  


Grocery Shopping Tip:    

  • Shop Intentionally:  Last month I really leaned into intentional shopping to keep my grocery spending under control, and it paid off. I spent $501.89 compared to the USDA’s thrifty budget of $764.40, which means I saved $262.51 just by being more mindful about what I bought. 


Budget Tracking: 

  • Week 1: Kroger: $38.56 + $40.80 + $48.11 +Costco: 104.88 + Meijer: $16.32 = $248.67


Running Total: $248.67


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

  • Meal Plan 

  • Clean the Refrigerator

  • Plant to use perishables in the meal plan

  • Pancakes

  • Oatmeal Bake

  • Black bean and Corn Salad


Breakfast Options: 

Yogurt

Pancakes

Oatmeal Bake

Avocado Toast


Lunch Options:

Left Overs

Sandwiches

Salads


Monday

Pork Chops

Roasted Potatoes

Broccoli

Sauteed Apples


Tuesday

Tacos

Salad

Chips w/ Salsa


Wednesday

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Salad

Bread


Thursday

Sausage

Stuffed Shells

Salad


Friday

Fajitas

Black Bean and Corn Salad

Cilantro Lime Rice 

Chips w/ Salsa


Saturday

Greek Chicken

Salad

Flat Bread


Sunday

 

Dinner Bowls

LO Rice

Bean Salad



M- Pork Chops

T-  Tacos

W- Cajun Chicken Pasta

TH- Sammies

Fri- Pizza

Sat- Greek Chicken

Sun- Bratwurst 


* Indicate that this recipe is new to our family.    

Flexible Meals indicate using up what is in our refrigerator and/or pantry. 


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


Menu Plan #337


What is your meal plan for this week?


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Menu Planning #132

Our meals need to be nutritious, clean, flexible, quick and cost effective. Between our work schedules and after school activities, we need to carefully plan our meals so that we do not end up ordering out.   The news is very scary at this time because of all the news of meat plants shutting down, grocery stories limiting the amount of meat a family can purchase and all of the talk about a depression on the horizon.    We have decided to keep our grocery budget the same, but to economize any way we can.     This week we tried to pick up some shrimp that was on sale, but the store was out of shrimp and not expecting to get any more in.    We were grateful to find wild caught salmon for the same price, so we picked that up instead for our Mother’s Day Dinner.    What did we spend?  Week 1: $96.44 Kroger: $96.44 Rebates: $3.55 IBOTTA: $1.35 Kroger Cash: $0.45 Checkout 51: $1.75 ...

Menu Plan #322

  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 these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location.      Published September 2025:  USDA Thrifty Food Plan According to this plan, our family has a weekly budget of $190.50. Since  October has 5 weeks, our monthly budget is $952.50.   We elevate our dining experiences by including fresh fruits, vegetables, and higher-quality meats.  Since our family has specific dietary needs, we limit our consumption of highly processed food.   Grocery Shopping Tip:     Rethink lunchmeat.     The deli will provide you with thin-sliced meat or presliced deli meat, but you will pay a premium per pound.     ($6.49 to $15.00 per pound) However, if you buy a ½ boneless ham (unsliced or presliced), the price point will drop to between ...

Fruit by the serving: Pineapple ($.06-$.19)

Fruit by the serving: Pineapple ($.06-$.19) Fruit by the serving is a concept that I first read about on Pennies & Pancakes several years ago. The concept is basically how much does each serving of fruit cost you. Apples or bananas may be ch eaper that a larger fruit such as cantaloupe or pineapples, but if you pick one up when it is on sale and cut it yourself, it may actually be cheaper per serving that the apple or banana.   In addition, it will give you a wider variety of food. Furthermore, if you have children who would not eat an entire banana or apple, it may be beneficial to purchase the smaller sized fruit. Pineapple Selection: A lot of pineapples we see in the states are mainly green.  When you find a pineapple with a golden color to the majority of it, there is a good sign that the pineapple will be sweet and delicious.  As with all fruit, check for busing. If a piece of fruit is bruised in the transportation process then ...