Whats on the Menu

Right now, work is slow for my husband and I have allowed my Thirty One business slow down due to how busy I am during the holidays. I have been working on menu planning and coupon clipping. I thought that I would share my seven day meal plan, plus one. So, I have eight meals planned for the third week of December. But, first I would like to share what I have planned for the second week of December:

Sunday - White Chicken Chilli
Monday - Soupy Baby Limas with Ham
Tuesday - Mini Calzones
Wednesday - Breakfast
Thursday - Hamburger Helper
Friday - Frozen Lasagna
Saturday - Leftovers

Okay, so the simplicity from this menu is screaming BUT they are simple and inexpensive. I will break from of this down a bit into recipes:

White Chicken Chili Chicken Broth Cumin Great Northern Whites Can of Green chilies Chicken Garlic Powder Onion, Red pepper ¼ - ½ c salsa liquid	Soupy Baby Limas with Ham Chicken broth 2 pkg baby limas 1 pkg diced ham Carrots Onion Celery Dried parsley and chives, garlic powder Salt and pepper
Mini Calzones Pizza dough Parmesan Pizza Sauce Pepperoni Mozzarella	Breakfast Any breakfast food you have on hand. We have eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, frozen waffles, sausage patties and links – pretty much anything!
Hamburger Helper Just pick your favorite flavor, add a ½ lb of beef, freeze the other half for meatballs, taco salads, another hamburger helper, etc. Eat mashed potatoes or green beans and then there you go – you have a easy and great meal.	Frozen Lasagna Okay, now this is a no fuss meal. Our local grocer, Winn Dixie, has specials where you buy one item for around $14 or less, you get anywhere from four to six things for free. Well, we bought the lasagna and got peas, soda, ice cream cups, and garlic bread for free. Its an entire meal and it is quite nice.

Week Three:

Mashed potatoes with Campbell’s Chunky Sirloin Burger, with a salad. Buy a box of instant mashed potatoes and you have an easy weeknight meal.	Hamburger helper with green beans. Use only ½ lb of ground beef and save the other half for another meal.
Spaghetti with mini meatballs. Whole grain pasta, and garlic bread. I actually am out of Italian bread crumbs so I am going to crush up some croutons, add grated parmesan cheese, a pinch of Italian seasoning, and one egg and mix them up and make mini meatballs. I use regular jarred sauce because the meatballs will add tons of flavor.	Crockpot chicken with potatoes, carrots, and celery. I usually add a package of ranch seasoning or a package of onion dip mix on top of the chicken when beginning the cooking process
Chicken stir fry. I will be using the left over chicken from the night before, buying a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables, and cooking in soy sauce with brown rice. Our freezer section at Walmart has a fabulous selection on Chinese food. We will probably have pot stickers or egg rolls along with this meal.	Mini Pepperoni Calzones ( I usually try and sneak in veggies in the sauce. For example, you could always finely chop your veggies and add it in the pizza sauce or buy a jar of sweet potatoes baby food and add it in. This adds to the nutrition without taking away the flavor.)
Turkey Hot dogs with chili and French fries	Campbell’s Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder over biscuits with a salad.

Altogether, for eight meals and feeding a family of four, dinners only cost around $51.50. This rounding out my prices to the highest end. Also, this is without using coupons. I have coupons on the soups and biscuits.

With breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, groceries will cost us around $20-$30 more for that week.

What is on your menu this week?
How do you save money?