I'm taking food to a couple friends this week, but was still able to stay right on budget, thanks to Aldi!

Monday: Homemade Shepard's Pie. Total for meal: $6.23

I'm making extra of this meal and taking some to a friend who recently had surgery.

Tuesday: Chicken Cordon Bleu and Zucchini. Total for meal: $0

We had family movie night Friday night and I just didn't feel like cooking, so we ate Arby's instead. #truelife. Since we didn't eat this dish last week, we'll eat it tonight.

Wednesday: Chicken and Rice Soup and Rolls. Total for meal: $6.30

I'm doubling this and taking it to a friend of mine who recently had a baby. 

Thursday: Pork Chops, Rice, Green Beans. Total for meal: $.38

I'm going with some MOPS friends to the Rachel Hollis "Made for More" documentary and having dinner ahead of time. We had some leftover pork chops from this past week, so Clarence will whip those up with some rice and green beans for him and the kids. 

Friday: One Pan Chicken & Potato w/ Garlic Parmesan Spinach Cream Sauce, Salad. Total for meal: $7.39

Whenever Aldi has chicken thighs on sale for .79 a pound, I grab it! I splurged for the baby potatoes which are more expensive, but I have some leftover heavy cream in the fridge I didn't have to buy, so that evens out, RIGHT??

Saturday Lunch: Out!

Saturday Dinner: Spaghetti, Broccoli, Garlic Biscuits. Total for meal: $4.62

Sunday Lunch: Leftovers

Sunday Dinner: We are going to the local baseball game with some MOPS families so we'll eat there. Nothing like eating out twice in a weekend....😊

Total at the store this week: $49.71

Also bought: a package of chicken nuggets, cereal, bag of frozen hash browns, hot dogs, peas, tub of yogurt, apple juice, bananas, strawberries, bread, and a couple disposable containers for my friends food.

Weekly Meal Plan for 7/23/18

We had a great time with family this weekend! I'm one of 5 kids, so when we're all together with our kids, it is loud and crazy and I love every minute :) Can you tell which of the five of us are siblings??

Now that we're back, I guess I have to make sure we have food to eat. Dang it. Here's our meal plan for this week.

Monday: One Pot Beef & Broccoli. Total for meal: $5.88

I have a frozen bag of riced cauliflower I'm going to use for this dish. I'm also splitting the broccoli with Thursday's meal. We subbed ground turkey for beef. This is the first time we've made this meal so we'll see how it is...

Tuesday: Chicken Spinach Bake with Garlic Biscuits. Total for meal: $3.80

I'll use some chicken leftover from last week to bring down the cost of this meal.

3 chicken breasts cooked and cut into pieces
8 oz penne pasta
8 oz chive and onion cream cheese
Frozen spinach (as much as you would like, thawed and drained well)
15 oz can of Italian Style tomatoes (basil, oregano, and garlic, I believe)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Cook noodles and chicken. Mix together, pasta, chicken, spinach, cream cheese, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Top with cheese and bake for about 30 minutes.

Wednesday: Ham and Bean Soup. Total for meal: $4.32

Thursday: Broccoli, Onion, and Goat Cheese Quiche with Fruit. Total for meal: $4.00

I'm going to need to buy a pie crust because Aldi doesn't carry it except for during holiday season. I got this recipe from my friend Louisa and put it below. She actually sent me a recipe for the crust, but I'm lazy so I'm just going to buy one ;)

1 onion, cut into half rings
Olive oil
5 eggs
About 1/3 of a carton of whipping cream
S and P
About half a head of broccoli cut into small florets

1 4oz/125g package goat cheese 

 To make the filling:

1. Place the oil in a pan and heat gently, add the onions and cook gently until they are browned. This may take about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool

2. In a bowl mix the eggs, cream, S and P

 

To assemble to quiche:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F

2. Roll out the pastry in a 8" quiche pan, taking care to fit all the corners

3. Place the caramelized onions in the bottom, then place the broccoli pieces evenly around, and in between dot large knobs of goat cheese

4. Carefully pour over the egg mixture and sprinkle the top with cheese (if wanted)

5. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until slightly browned and puffy

Friday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole and Zucchini. Total for meal: $4.36

Using the last of the chicken from last week to cut down on cost. 

Saturday Lunch: Leftovers

Haven and I are going to a friend's baby shower today, so we'll leave the boys home to eat leftovers for lunch :)

Saturday Dinner: Garlic Herb Pork Chops, Wild Rice, Edamame. Total for meal: $5.61

Just bought the pork chops and pack of wild rice. I already had edamame in the freezer. 

Sunday Lunch: Leftovers

Sunday Dinner: Out

Total at the store this week: $50.50

Also bought: Fruit pouches, 6 yogurts, Kefir, eggs, strawberries, peaches, juice bowls, raisins, mac and cheese, bananas, bread.

Weekly Meal Plan for 7/16/18

This is a short week for us because we'll be spending time with my entire side of the family for the weekend, but here's what we have for the days we'll be home. Three meals for a little over $6. Boom!

Monday: 20 Minutes Skillet Chicken and Spinach Parmesan, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Veggies. Total for meal:  $2.50

This is called "use what is in the fridge/cabinets". I had a little bit of mozzarella, spaghetti sauce, and spinach, so just bought chicken for the main dish. I bought a family package for $5.70 and used part for this meal, part for tomorrow, and will have more for next week. I also had three potatoes I used to make mashed potatoes and finished off the mixed veggies from last week.

Tuesday: One-Pan Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice, Fruit, Crescent Rolls. Total for meal:  $3.50

Bought broccoli and chicken, everything else I had on hand. 

Wednesday: Date Night! Grilled Cheese, Pretzels, and Fruit for the kids. Total for meal: $.20 for the amount of bread I'll use.

We leave Thursday to spend time with family and will come back Sunday. We'll help with meals and also eat out some, so a smaller total at the store is great!

Total this week: $25.73

Also bought: apple juice, 2 kefirs, tub of yogurt, strawberries, milk, avocado, bananas, bag of apples, edamame, goldfish

Weekly Meal Plan for 7/9/18

So, something amazing happened to me recently that never happens...I won a contest! A local organization Your Milk Shoppe was giving away a weekend in a cabin at a local lake and I won!! Our good friends, Chris and Louisa, from our small group are going to stay with our kids this weekend while Clarence and I get to go spend time together at the cabin. I am so excited!! And so thankful for our friends who our kids love! So our meals do not include whatever food Clarence and I need to take for the weekend. We will try to spend as little as possible though.

I'm shopping through Walmart Grocery Pickup this week because a friend of mine used my code for $10 off her order, which also gave me $10 off of mine. Here is that code in case anyone else wants to use it for their first order.

I'm still getting a handful of things from Aldi.

Here's what we've got going on:

Monday: Sloppy Joes, French Fries, Asparagus. Total for meal: $0

We had some leftover hamburger buns from our cookout we need to quickly use and Clarence's friend gave him a can of chili, so we're gonna make it a meal. We have french fries in the freezer and asparagus we didn't make for dinner Saturday that we'll also use.

Tuesday: Sausage Spinach Rice Bowl, Watermelon. Total for meal: $1.54

I'm going to split a pound of turkey breakfast sausage for this meal and a breakfast meal I'm doing this week (I'll post below). I'll add more spinach and more rice so it will feed all of us. I only had to buy sausage and spinach for this meal. We had everything else.

Wednesday: One Pan Maple Mustard Chicken & Potatoes with Green Beans. Total for meal: $7.57 

Doesn't this sound delicious? I'm going to throw some green beans in there too for a full meal. I'm also doubling this to take to a friend of mine who recently had a baby so that total is for both of us. I bought chicken drumsticks for .69 a pound at Aldi. It was only $3 for enough chicken to feed two families!

Thursday: Tex Mex Taco Pie, Mixed veggies. Total for meal: $7.51

Not the healthiest of meals or the cheapest, but I was trying to find a way to use the rest of the tortillas I bought for a breakfast meal and this sounded interesting. I couldn't find the jalepeno cream cheese, so I got regular.

Friday: Ravioli, Broccoli, Garlic Bread. Total for meal: $2.84

Clarence and I will leave before dinner, but we have ravioli I bought last week along with spaghetti sauce in the fridge. I bought some steamable broccoli and garlic bread to round out this easy meal.

Saturday Lunch: Frozen Pizzas and Salad. Total for meal: $6.06

Another easy meal. We didn't eat the pizza I bought last week because I forgot about a baby shower we were going to. They can eat it today and I bought one more and a salad.

Saturday Dinner: Chicken Zucchini Casserole over Rice. Total for meal: $8.50

This sounds really yummy and I'm sad I don't get any. I'll have to get an update on how it is and eat it again sometime soon when Clarence and I can eat it too. I just had to buy chicken, pesto, and zucchini. I had everything else. 

Sunday Lunch: Grilled Cheese, Veggies Straws, Fruit. Total for meal: $1.00 for bread

Another easy meal so our sweet friends don't hate us :) We might be back, but planned something easy just in case we're not. 

Sunday Dinner: Small Group Leaders Meeting (dinner provided)

Here are the few new breakfast meals we're trying in an effort to be better about eating breakfast daily!

Tex-Mex Egg and Sausage Tacos

1/2 lb lean ground turkey breakfast sausage4 large eggs1/4 tsp salt1/4 tsp pepper8 corn tortillas1/2 cup refrigerated salsa 

Cook sausage in a nonstick skillet overmedium-high heat 5 to 6 minutes or untilbrowned and crumbly. Drain; return to pan.Whisk together eggs, salt, and pepper. Add eggmixture to sausage. Reduce heat to medium;cook, without stirring, until mixture begins to seton bottom. Cook, stirring constantly, until eggsare thickened and set. Meanwhile, warmtortillas according to package directions. Serveegg mixture in tortillas with salsa.

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Banana Smoothies 

4 large bananas, cut in half
⅓ cup all-natural creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1 (5.3-oz) carton fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups crushed or cubed ice 

Process all ingredients in a blender until
smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Pour
into 4 glasses.

Total at the store this week: $61.68

Also bought: 2 boxes of fruit pouches, spreadable butter, muffins, kefir, mac & cheese, puffs, paper towels, strawberries, olive oil, bananas, grapes, 2 small yogurts, 1 tub of yogurt, granola, sliced cheese, salsa, eggs.

Weekly Meal Plan for 7/2/18

Let's get right to it! Here is our meal plan for this week:

Monday: Beef Stroganoff and Green Beans. Total for meal: $0

Yes, this was supposed to be eaten last week, but Clarence has an inability to follow a meal plan when I am not here, so it didn't get fixed. 😂 No worries, we'll have it tonight! 

Tuesday: Creamy Parmesan Garlic Chicken, Rice, Roasted Broccoli. Total for meal:  $4.72

Wednesday: Cookout! Total for meal: $9.90

We are having friends over for a cookout. Everyone is bringing their own meat and we're providing the buns, toppings, plates, drinks, and a few sides because I couldn't help myself! I bought a watermelon and some corn to grill.

Thursday: Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup and Tortilla Chips. Total for meal: $4.18

Friday: French Toast, Bacon, Fruit. Total for meal: $3.34

Saturday Lunch: Frozen Pizza. Total for meal: $2.69

Saturday Dinner: Bacon Carbonara and Asparagus. Total for meal: $3.94

Clarence doesn't really follow a recipe when he makes this but this one sounds good. He also uses heavy whipping cream and adds peas. 

Sunday Lunch: Leftovers

Sunday Dinner: Small Group Leaders Meeting (dinner provided)

Total at the store this week: $59.61

Also bought: 2 packages of fruit bowls, kefir, parsley, cinnamon, paprika, diapers, 4 individual yogurts, tub of yogurt, fruit pouches, apple juice, milk, string cheese, 2 packages of ravioli, Strawberries, Bananas, veggie straws.