I got a question from Crystal in the comments to my grocery budget post, so I figured I'd do a post on what was on the menu for this week when I only have $100 budget for groceries for 5 (or even 6) people for a week.
The menu was for Saturday, Sept 28 through Friday October 4.
Saturday:
Mushroom Noodle with corn. - Brown 1 chub of ground turkey with an onion in the big chicken fryer pan. Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup, a can of milk and seasonings (I like thyme and sage). Then add 1 bag of frozen corn (defrosted in microwave first). Meanwhile boil water and cook 1 bag of egg noodles. Drain egg noodles and add to the pan with the sauce and mix well, then dish up and eat. (fed 6 people)
Sunday:
Beef stew and egg noodles - small beef roast in crock pot. Add 3 potatoes, chopped up, 1 can green beans, 1 can peas, 1 can corn, 1 onion chopped, and 1 beefy onion soup mix packet (which I had one left from when I got a 2-pack a few weeks ago) then add water. Would normally cook on low for 8 hours, but we got it started late, so it cooked on high for 5 hours. Meat wasn't as tender as I like, but it was good. About half hour before it was time to eat, I started water for the noodles and took out the roast and shredded the meat with 2 forks, then added it back to the crock pot. When noodles are done, each person dish up their own and ladle the stew over the top. (feeding 6 people tonight)
Monday:
Spaghetti and "steamed" veggies.- Brown 1 chub of ground turkey with a chopped onion. Add 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, a bunch of oregano and basil and garlic powder. Boil water and add 1 whole pack of spaghetti (16 oz package). When noodles done, drain and add to the sauce and mix all together. Microwave bag of frozen veggies, serve with the spaghetti.
Tuesday:
Chili and mac & cheese and steamed veggies - Brown 1 chub of ground beef with a chopped onion. Add 1-2 TBSP chili power and some garlic powder, 2 cans diced tomatoes and 2 cans kidney beans (we got these free from Corina when she cleaned out her pantry, dunno why she had them if she hates them). Then I add some water by running it into the bean and tomato cans to get out the last of what's left in them and add to the pan. Meanwhile boil water and make mac & cheese per the package (make two boxes). Microwave a bag of frozen veggies and serve with the chili and mac & cheese.
Wednesday:
Mushroom Noodle again
Thursday:
Spaghetti and veggies again
Friday:
Chili and Mac & cheese, veggies again
Yep, it's repetitive and boring, and SO NOT healthy, but it's cheap. I can get the 12 oz chubs (pre packaged frozen rolls) of ground turkey with no additives (100% turkey) for $1.49 each. The boxes of mac & cheese are 39 cents a piece. Cream soups are store brand and are 79 cents. The diced tomatoes were only 59 cents each. Spaghetti sauce was 99 cents a jar. The spaghetti noodles were 68 cents a package and the egg noodles were 88 cents a piece. The roast was the one splurge for Sunday dinner at $5.81. The frozen veggies were 99 cents to 1.35 each.
I also got all the stuff for the kids' lunches. 3 loaves of bread (1.19 each). 2 boxes of 10 ct granola bars ($1.99 each). Box of 20 hugs drinks (2.99). Two Nip Cheese crackers packs (99 cents each). 4 packs of 4-pack pudding (only get the ones with as much dairy as a glass of milk) (.99 each). Big can of sliced peaches I can divvy up into the plastic canning jars I got a few weeks ago - $1.69. I also still have some apple sauce I can pack for them. Lunch meat, 12 oz turkey for 2.99. We already had some turkey left from last week. I also still have a family size can of tomato soup I can make and pack in thermoses which I got on clearance sale for super cheap back before school started. I usually also get a bag of spinach or spring mix to put on their turkey sandwiches, but they didn't have any bags marked down this week. I still have some left, but it won't last all week. They'll be okay without it heh. Oh I also got a box of mini moon pies as a special treat for $100 for 6 of them, so that's 2 days of treats, and they also had 3pk Cracker Jacks marked down to 50 cents each so I grabbed two of those as well.
As for other things, I did get 2 2-liters of pop since it was 70 cents each, and they had ice cream on sale 2 half gallons for $3, so I got those for dessert for a couple nights. I got another bag of plain teabags to make iced tea with, 100 ct for $1.39. Eggs were $1.29 a dozen. 5 packs of Ki\ool Aid mix for 20 cents each. 2 packs of hot dogs for after school snacks and my breakfast or lunch some nights for 69 cents a pack. 1 lb of unsalted butter (we don't use margarine anymore) $2.49. I snagged a bottle of 50-load laundry detergent made for sensitive skin (we can't use normal detergent due to allergies) for just $3.18. The floor cleaner I was glad to find was 2.49 and the dishwasher detergent that works better than Cascade or anything else was $2.19. Then we splurged on those bottles of chocolate milk for 69 cents each. Oh and the 2 gallons of milk for $2.98 each.
That's about it really. I shopped at two stores this week. Sav Mor (a discount version of Ingles) and Save A Lot. I could not live without these two stores. Once I figured out what each store was good for, it's easy to make a list and know which store to get which thing at.
I had a HUGE weekend, so hopefully I'll get a post up about that soon. I am tuckered!
Have a great week y'all!
Patty
The menu was for Saturday, Sept 28 through Friday October 4.
Saturday:
Mushroom Noodle with corn. - Brown 1 chub of ground turkey with an onion in the big chicken fryer pan. Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup, a can of milk and seasonings (I like thyme and sage). Then add 1 bag of frozen corn (defrosted in microwave first). Meanwhile boil water and cook 1 bag of egg noodles. Drain egg noodles and add to the pan with the sauce and mix well, then dish up and eat. (fed 6 people)
Sunday:
Beef stew and egg noodles - small beef roast in crock pot. Add 3 potatoes, chopped up, 1 can green beans, 1 can peas, 1 can corn, 1 onion chopped, and 1 beefy onion soup mix packet (which I had one left from when I got a 2-pack a few weeks ago) then add water. Would normally cook on low for 8 hours, but we got it started late, so it cooked on high for 5 hours. Meat wasn't as tender as I like, but it was good. About half hour before it was time to eat, I started water for the noodles and took out the roast and shredded the meat with 2 forks, then added it back to the crock pot. When noodles are done, each person dish up their own and ladle the stew over the top. (feeding 6 people tonight)
Monday:
Spaghetti and "steamed" veggies.- Brown 1 chub of ground turkey with a chopped onion. Add 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, a bunch of oregano and basil and garlic powder. Boil water and add 1 whole pack of spaghetti (16 oz package). When noodles done, drain and add to the sauce and mix all together. Microwave bag of frozen veggies, serve with the spaghetti.
Tuesday:
Chili and mac & cheese and steamed veggies - Brown 1 chub of ground beef with a chopped onion. Add 1-2 TBSP chili power and some garlic powder, 2 cans diced tomatoes and 2 cans kidney beans (we got these free from Corina when she cleaned out her pantry, dunno why she had them if she hates them). Then I add some water by running it into the bean and tomato cans to get out the last of what's left in them and add to the pan. Meanwhile boil water and make mac & cheese per the package (make two boxes). Microwave a bag of frozen veggies and serve with the chili and mac & cheese.
Wednesday:
Mushroom Noodle again
Thursday:
Spaghetti and veggies again
Friday:
Chili and Mac & cheese, veggies again
Yep, it's repetitive and boring, and SO NOT healthy, but it's cheap. I can get the 12 oz chubs (pre packaged frozen rolls) of ground turkey with no additives (100% turkey) for $1.49 each. The boxes of mac & cheese are 39 cents a piece. Cream soups are store brand and are 79 cents. The diced tomatoes were only 59 cents each. Spaghetti sauce was 99 cents a jar. The spaghetti noodles were 68 cents a package and the egg noodles were 88 cents a piece. The roast was the one splurge for Sunday dinner at $5.81. The frozen veggies were 99 cents to 1.35 each.
I also got all the stuff for the kids' lunches. 3 loaves of bread (1.19 each). 2 boxes of 10 ct granola bars ($1.99 each). Box of 20 hugs drinks (2.99). Two Nip Cheese crackers packs (99 cents each). 4 packs of 4-pack pudding (only get the ones with as much dairy as a glass of milk) (.99 each). Big can of sliced peaches I can divvy up into the plastic canning jars I got a few weeks ago - $1.69. I also still have some apple sauce I can pack for them. Lunch meat, 12 oz turkey for 2.99. We already had some turkey left from last week. I also still have a family size can of tomato soup I can make and pack in thermoses which I got on clearance sale for super cheap back before school started. I usually also get a bag of spinach or spring mix to put on their turkey sandwiches, but they didn't have any bags marked down this week. I still have some left, but it won't last all week. They'll be okay without it heh. Oh I also got a box of mini moon pies as a special treat for $100 for 6 of them, so that's 2 days of treats, and they also had 3pk Cracker Jacks marked down to 50 cents each so I grabbed two of those as well.
As for other things, I did get 2 2-liters of pop since it was 70 cents each, and they had ice cream on sale 2 half gallons for $3, so I got those for dessert for a couple nights. I got another bag of plain teabags to make iced tea with, 100 ct for $1.39. Eggs were $1.29 a dozen. 5 packs of Ki\ool Aid mix for 20 cents each. 2 packs of hot dogs for after school snacks and my breakfast or lunch some nights for 69 cents a pack. 1 lb of unsalted butter (we don't use margarine anymore) $2.49. I snagged a bottle of 50-load laundry detergent made for sensitive skin (we can't use normal detergent due to allergies) for just $3.18. The floor cleaner I was glad to find was 2.49 and the dishwasher detergent that works better than Cascade or anything else was $2.19. Then we splurged on those bottles of chocolate milk for 69 cents each. Oh and the 2 gallons of milk for $2.98 each.
That's about it really. I shopped at two stores this week. Sav Mor (a discount version of Ingles) and Save A Lot. I could not live without these two stores. Once I figured out what each store was good for, it's easy to make a list and know which store to get which thing at.
I had a HUGE weekend, so hopefully I'll get a post up about that soon. I am tuckered!
Have a great week y'all!
Patty