Meal Plan Monday.....March 1st Edition....Spending Breakdown & Cheap Good Food

Before I get started, HAPPY MARCH Everyone!!


Last Week's Menu Postmortem...
Everything but the Sloppy Joe's make an appearance at our house, due to 1 night of leftovers as I wasn't feeling well.  The kids told me they don't like Sloppy Joes anyway, so we are NOT putting it on this week's menu.  Gee, I kind of liked them.....

2 Straight days of steady S-N-O-W did keep me home and out of the stores for a bit last week.  I did get out to use my expiring Catalinas plus a bit more food/toiletries shopping in spite of the weather.

Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week.....our household presently consists of 2 adults and 2 teens at home.  No children under 13.

This week is all about using what I have and incorporating leftovers as well. Since alot of what I am serving is stockpiled, I'm putting what  I paid for the ingredients that are on hand so you can see what I spend w/stockpiling & sales versus buying it weekly when it might not be on sale. If I use a leftover ingredient I won't add that cost as it was already figured into the previous meal's cost.

MONDAY--Free Bday meal out at Red Robin for #2 son(if some choose to stay home, it's 'make your own dinner' night)...eating out comes out of the entertainment money, not food money
TUESDAY--Beef Enchiladas(3.47), Refried Beans(.89), Salad & Dressing(2.00)
WEDNESDAY--Baked Ziti(2.50), Salad & Dressing(2.00)
THURSDAY--Shrimp & Grits(4.00), Collards(need to buy)
FRIDAY--Tacos(4.05), Fiesta Corn(.30)
SATURDAY--Crockpot Chicken cooked in Salad Dressing marinade(3.50), Garlic Noodles(.25), Creamed Spinach(.50)
SUNDAY--??  Not sure yet....maybe Leftovers if we have any, if not there is always Sloppy Joes!lol
SNACKS/DESSERTS--Cantaloupe(2.00), Cheesecake(leftovers), Ice Cream(2.50), Pineapple(.80)

Adding up what has already been spent and what I need to spend for this week's menu, I can serve this menu of 5 meals including desserts/snacks to a family of 4 adults/teens for $33.76. Since I'm not sure what people will actually eat for leftover nights, I didn't add in those costs.  If you divide the meals and snacks cost by 5 nights, you get an average cost per night of $6.75.  That's $1.69 per person per night.  And this is mostly a cooking from scratch menu.  The only 'processed foods' are the Knorr's noodles with powdered sauce and the Salad Dressings.  Who says you can't cook healthy on the cheap?

LAST WEEK'S FOOD SPENDING
$33.55 was spent on food/toiletries last week. $22.47 at Weis on Catalina spending trips, $7.49 at WAGS on Toiletries only, $2.85 at Price Chopper on paper products and $.74 at Rite-Aid on bunches of stuff both food and not-food.  Some of the Weis items bought qualified me for $20 in prepaid Visa card MIRs so a very inexpensive shopping week once those come in.

The only item I need to purchase for this week's menu are eggs and collards-I'll make a big pot of collards that will stretch for at least 2 meals.  I'm figuring on spending $5 on the greens(making them the most expensive food for the week) as I am not waiting on a great sale to get them.  If they cost more than $5 this week, I'll substitute a cheaper option that I find at the store or dig around in the freezer for something we already have here. I am almost out of eggs, milk was replenished last week and we are ok on bread until next week.

FOOD WASTE REPORT
We were successful in eating ALL the leftovers last week!  Nothing went bad.  We have 1 pork chop leftover from last night and the meatballs that are being reinvented tomorrow night as Enchilada filling....that is it!

Check out ORGANIZING JUNKIE to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week.

Sluggy