Meal Plan Monday.....April 5th Edition w/Spending Breakdown

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...
I injured my shoulder last weekend so there was NO Meal Plan or cooking done by yours truly last week.
Hubby pitched in and cooked a few nights and we got take-out for the other nights. 

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 14.

This week we'll be using leftover Ham from Sunday's dinner to make two new meals this week. Monday's dinner is also using a leftover grain from a few weeks back to build a new meal.  Since alot of what I am serving is stockpiled, I'm adding a Cost Breakdown Section where I'll list 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--Bolognese Sauce(freezer and stockpile) over Fried Polenta(leftover from Shrimp and Grits meal), Tossed Salad Greens(need to buy) with Dressing(stockpile)
TUESDAY--Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Ham(stockpile/freezer/leftover ham), Steamed Broccoli(have)
WEDNESDAY--Haluski(have & stockpile), Spinach Salad(freezer-bacon/have eggs/need to buy spinach)*Mostly a vegetable/grain meal with some dairy/No meat meal(except for a bit of bacon)
THURSDAY-Tortellini Alfredo(stockpile), Tossed Salad(need to buy)w/Dressing(stockpile)
FRIDAY--Fish(freezer), Coleslaw(have & stockpile), Oysters(have), Rice(stockpile), Corn(stockpile)
SATURDAY---Creamy Potatoes and Ham(using leftover ham/need to buy potatoes) , Wax & Green Beans(freezer)
SUNDAY--Eat Out

I'll post the recipe for the Halushki recipes later in the week. 

Here are the cost breakdowns...
Bolognese over Fried Polenta w/Tossed Salad--Polenta is leftover(.00¢), oil for frying(.30¢), tomatoes and spices for sauce($1.20), italian sausage for sauce($1.00), ground beef for sauce($1.69), salad greens($2.00), salad dressing(.50¢)=$6.69
Mac and Cheese with Ham with Broccoli Dinner--ham is leftover(.00¢),noodles($1.00),cheese($3.00), milk($1.00),roux ingredients(.70¢), broccoli($1.49)=$7.19
Halushki w/Spinach Salad--Cabbage(.78¢), Egg Noodles(.50¢), Onions(.25¢), Butter(.40¢), Salt/Pepper(.05¢), Spinach($1.50),Bacon(.50¢), Egg(.13¢), Dressing(.50¢)=$4.61
Spinach Tortellini Alfredo Dinner--Tortellini($3.00), Alfredo Sauce jarred($1.25), Parmesan Cheese(.70¢),Salad Greens($2.00), Dressing(.50¢)=$7.45
Fish Dinner--Flounder($5.99),Hush Puppy Mix for breading(.50¢), Oil for frying(.70¢), Cabbage(.78¢), Mayo, Sugar, Celery Seed & Vinegar(.75¢), Potatoes(.99¢)=$9.71
Potato & Ham Dinner--Ham is leftover(.00¢), Potatoes(.50¢), Butter (.60¢), Cream Cheese($1), Cheese($1), Milk(.50¢), Spices(.30¢), Green Beans($1)=$5.40

Adding up what has already been spent and what I need to spend for this week's menu, I can serve this menu of 6 meals to a family of 4 adults/teens for a total of $41.05.

Leftover nights have no cost as they were already figured in when the meal was served the first time.  If you divide the meals' cost by 6 nights(Sunday is dining out & that's on the enterainment budget), you get an average cost per night of $6.84.  That's $1.71 per person per night.  And this is mostly a cooking from scratch menu.  The only 'processed foods' are the jarred Alfredo Sauce and the Salad Dressing.   Who says you can't cook healthy on the cheap?

LAST WEEK'S FOOD SPENDING
Being sick, I didn't set foot into a grocery store last week...I did go to Rite-Aid but since I had Gift Cards I spent nothing out of pocket.  I did send DH to the store at some point for a few things to tide us over and he spent $26.52 on deli meat and cheeses and some hamburger as he hadn't thawed any ground beef that day for dinner.  He also bought himself a bag of potato chips.  No coupons used, nothing bought on sale.  But in a crisis, you pay what you have to and you buy what you have to, right?  I am thankful for the stockpile during weeks like that.  Between the freezer and stockpile we had most of what DH needed to make some healthy-ish meals.


The only NEEDS for this week's menu are potatoes, milk, salad greens, cabbage and fresh spinach.  There is a special on grated cheese which we are almost out of so I'll pick some up as well.  I am going to say $20 will get us through the week and this menu.


FOOD WASTE REPORT
Nothing wasted this week...Again! 8-))

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

Sluggy