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This is my weekly meal plan for our family of 5 on a budget. We typically budget $700 a month for groceries which works out to be about $175 a week.
This includes everything from food to household and toiletry items.
Any money we don’t spend from our grocery budget will get rolled over to the following month or it will be used to stock up on essential items we use on a regular basis such as pantry items and meat.
I always plan 4 solid dinners along with 1 “open” night and then our usual homemade pizza on Friday. I like to leave 1 open night a week just in case anything comes up or we decide to eat out.
For lunches, we eat leftovers from the night before. If we don’t end up eating out we usually have a breakfast for dinner or a “snacky” night.
My kids absolutely love snacky dinners because it’s basically a bunch of random things put together. An example of this would be pepperoni, cheese, crackers, applesauce, half a muffin until you have enough things to make a meal. It’s a great way to get a break from cooking and to use up anything that has been sitting around.
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Dinner Recipes This Week Are:
- Asian Turkey Meatballs w/Rice & Broccoli
- Honey Butter Garlic Chicken w/Rice & Frozen Veggie
- Crockpot BBQ Chicken w/Salad & Mashed Potatoes
- Hot dogs w/potato salad (extra from 4th of July)
- Leftovers/eat out/”snacky” dinner
- Homemade Pizza (we do this every Friday night & the kids LOVE it)
Meal Prep Recipes This Week:
- Blueberry Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Breakfast Banana Splits
- Peanut Butter Cereal Bites
- Cooked and shredded crockpot BBQ chicken as well as prepared the asian turkey meatballs
- Washed and cut up all fruit for the week
Meal prepping is one of those things that seems like a pain until you don’t it one week and realize how much of a lifesaver it is.
Not only do I love to prepare snacks and breakfasts for the week I also love to prep dinners any dinners that I can. I notice a huge difference during the weeks I meal prep as opposed to the ones where I skip it entirely.
Meal prepping is the key to helping you stick to your meal plan and when you already have things prepared you are more likely to eat at home.
This week our family was on a muffin kick. My kids had been asking for them for a while and since my 7 year old is a type 1 diabetic store bought muffins are usually a no go in our house (way too many carbs.)
Originally I had planned at making 2 different types of muffins so that I could freeze half for later and use half for breakfast for the week but that didn’t end up happening because they were that good.
I was looking for another snack option in the house preferably something the kids could eat in the morning before lunch.
I stumbled upon these no bake peanut butter cheerio bites and with less than 5 ingredients (which I happened to already have) I knew I had to make these.
One batch ended up making double than what is shown and I would definitely make these again. These would even be good as a breakfast option for kids if you added a side of yogurt and fruit to it. Super simple and cheap!
I’m always looking for breakfast inspiration primarily for myself. I want to eat healthier but I also don’t love eating the same thing over and over again.
Anything that is easily customizable I’m usually drawn to for that reason. I found these breakfast banana splits and the possibilities had my mind soaring. I prepped all the fruit for the week minus the banana so that these could be made quickly.
The 2nd day I did these I added a few chocolate chips leftover from the muffins which made it that much better. You could totally add peanut butter, yogurt, or any kind of fruit you desire. I love how easy and tasty these are.
By prepping all of the fruit for the week it saves time and money because you are more likely to eat it if it’s already ready for you. We use fruit for lots of things including sides for breakfast and lunch and even snacks.
My kids love adding a little whipped cream or Nutella to the side and dipping them in for an after dinner treat as well.
Groceries This Week
I decided to insert a photo of what I purchased for the week, the total spent, and to highlight anything that really stands out.
This week was the 4th of July so there was a lot of amazing deals on produce, meat & condiments. My local grocery store offers grocery delivery which I take advantage of nearly every week. Not only does it save me from having to make the trip with all 3 kids it helps me stay focused on what I actually need because I’m not tempted with food I don’t need.
That in itself is reason enough for me to order online BUT this week I received a $20 off of a $100 purchase which is taken off before any of my loyalty card coupons which makes the savings even sweeter.
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Some of the best deals this I got this week were:
- Cheez it’s – FREE (when you spent $99 or more)
- Ketchup – BOGO which worked out to be about $1.14 each
- Hidden Valley Ranch – BOGO which worked out to be about $2 each
- Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce – $.88 each
- 2 lb packages of strawberries (3 total) $3.88 each
- Pepperoni – $1.99 each
- Skippy Peanut Butter – $1.88 each
- Ground beef $1.69 lb which ended up being $11.49 for almost 7 lbs!
- Watermelon (not pictured) $2.38
- 2 (12 ct) Charmin Toilet Paper – $12.99 each with a $5 off wyb 2. Total after coupon $20.98 (This purchase felt like a freebie because of that $20 off $100 coupon I received)
My total ended up being $94.69 after all digital coupons applied
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