Weekly Meal Plan for 3/12/18

Oh, look...this thing still exists!! Well, it's only been TWO YEARS since my last blog post. I'm basically killing the blogging game over here.

I've been sharing on my Facebook page recently about our family's goal to spend about $50 a week at the store on groceries. Not easy for a family of 4 and, I'll be honest, we don't always succeed, but that's our goal and we usually stay relatively close to it. This does not include toiletries; JUST food. A couple friends suggested posting my meal plan here so more people could access it. So here you go!

Monday: Vegetarian Lentil Soup with tortilla chips. Total for meal $4.71.

Thanks to my friend Taylor for this recipe. I had some stuff already on hand which brought my cost down some. Planning a meal based on what you have in the cabinet is a great way to save on your grocery budget!

Tuesday: Homemade Mac & Cheese, Chicken Nuggets, Peas. Total for meal $2.13.

The hubs has a meeting after work, so I'm making it easy! We had some leftover cheese sauce from a dish last week so I'm using that over some elbow macaroni.

Wednesday: Cabbage with Kielbasa and Peaches. Total for this meal $1.85.

We had half a head of a large cabbage left over from a meal last week that I'll use for this. I also went to a food and craft swap this weekend and got a jar of peaches which we will pair with this meal.

Thursday: Sausage Pizza Puffs and Roasted Broccoli. Total for this meal $3.90

I had a lot of stuff on hand for this recipe and we are omitting the pepperoni. I bought a package of mild Italian sausage and will just use part of it for this meal and part for another.

Friday: Eating at a friend's house warming. FREE!

Saturday Lunch: Parm Pork Chops with Sautéed Kale and Roasted Potatoes. Total for this meal $5.39

Grabbed this recipe from one of my old eMeals sheets. We used them for awhile and probably will again in the future. They send you 7 dinner recipes (you also have an option for breakfast and lunch) every week with grocery list and instructions. There are so many meal plans to choose from and it takes the guesswork out of everything! We loved it. Here is a referral link for two free weeks if you want to check it out!

1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 boneless pork chops
2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine Panko, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in a shallow dish; dredge pork chops in mixture, pressing to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook pork chops 3 to 4 minutes per side or until done.

1 lb new potatoes, cut in half
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 slices bacon (I'm omitting this)
1 bunch fresh kale, chopped

Preheat oven to 425. Combine potatoes, olive oil, rosemary, and half of the salt and pepper on a rimmed baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are browned and tender. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat; remove bacon to paper towels, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in skillet. Add kale to skillet; saute 8 minutes or until tender. Crumble bacon, and stir into kale. Spring with remaining salt and pepper.

Saturday Dinner: Sausage Zucchini Boats with rice. Total for this meal $4.90

Sunday Lunch: Our church is hosting a volunteer luncheon so lunch will be provided for us!

Sunday Dinner: Leftovers

Total at the store this week: $49.19

Also bought: apple juice, 2 kefirs, milk, smoothie, american cheese slices, corn, 2 packages of fruit bowls, penguin crackers (aldi's version of goldfish), eggs, cantaloupe, and bread.

There you have it! Hope it's helpful!