April 29, 2012

Meal Plan for May

One of my goal's for May is to come in substantially under our food budget. The great thing about a food budget is that it is the one bill you can really have control over.

I would be lying if I said that the menu would be interesting and dynamic. Unfortunately, when trying to save money, you see a lot of repetition in your meals. The best way to figure out if a meal is frugal or not is to take the cost of all ingredients and divide it up by servings. If you are going over $3 a serving in my house, you are spending way to much. But, the more often you make a specific meal, the more you can buy your items in bulk, which greatly reduces that cost. That is the theme you will see in my menu for May- similar ingredients, rolled over into the next recipe. I did my best to make this menu as dynamic as I possibly could.

Breakfasts:
Breakfast burritos with sausage, potato, egg and cheese- frozen ahead
Sausage pancake muffins- frozen ahead
Smoothies
Quiche
Biscuits and Gravy-reserved for one or two weekend days only.

Lunches:
Salad, fruit, string cheese
Tuna salad, crackers, fruit, string cheese
Pasta salad, fruit, string cheese
Soup, fruit, chips

Dinners:
Loaded Baked Potatoes
Sloppy Joes
Chili Dogs
Southwest Salad
Chicken pot pie
Spaghetti
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Roast Chicken with Rainbow Chard from the garden, and mashed potatoes
Potato and Egg Hash
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken Quesadillias

See themes in this menu? Chicken is one. Eggs are another. Potatoes. Sausage. Bell peppers and corn will be in a lot of these recipes. All things that when bought in bulk are very affordable and healthy. I think I chose several good meals to rotate through for the month of May. Now I just need to see if I can stick to the menu plan!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We can do it!!!