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4.12.2011

What's for Dinner??

Saving money on meals is one of my key goals to saving on my overall grocery budget.  If I'm not careful, groceries for our family of five (and then some) can skyrocket to over $200 per week. 

One of my goals is to purchase meat for $5 or under per meal (dinner).  I don't always meet this goal, but it is definitely something to strive for.  I shop the meat markdowns and stock my freezer when I see a good deal.  The rest of our meal mostly comes from our stockpile, so I am spending under $6 per dinner.

This doesn't mean we never eat steak or shrimp!  In fact, we often do!  I just balance those more expensive meals out with less expensive ones.  IE, we don't eat steak and shrimp in the same week...usually!

Tuesday's Meal:
Chicken Salad on Homemade Rolls*
Pita Chips
Fruit Salad

*This may look familiar.  It is last night's meal revisited!

What's on your menu?  Inspire us!

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6 comments:

Nicki S. said...

I forgot to take meat out of the freezer to thaw, so if we're seriously hungry, it will be grilled cheese (since I was too tired to even try to cook and we had individual microwave dinners) that I planned on yesterday. But if we get home and I'm feeling like I want to take on cooking, then I'll thaw the meat in the microwave and we'll do tacos.

stephanie said...

Since summer is coming, don't forget to grow your own veggies or buy them in season when they are super cheap. Each year I plant 6-9 tomato plants & yield about 40 (4-cup) freezer bags of pasta sauce. I give about 10 to my parents & the rest lasts us until next summer. So simple, better for you & your budget! This is also my go-to meal when I don't want to cook!

Spaghetti & tomato sauce
turkey meatballs (batch cooking)
green salad
fruit salad
homemade rolls

momma-lana said...

It's spaghetti for us because I thawed a container of sauce when I thought the kids would be here over the weekend and they didn't come. We'll also have a salad and garlic bread.

Good idea Stephanie! I can't grow them because we have a total shady yard but I can look for a deal! I did plant one yellow squash plant in a 5 gallon pot to see if that works out. I'll have to chase a sunny spot for a few weeks to find a place to put it. Doesn't hurt to try!

Extraordinary Ordinary Life said...

Just a thought but you might look into buying meat in bulk. We buy local grassfed and we get it for $3/lb. We split it with friends but the meat is awesome! I haven't bought meat at the grocery store in about 2 years.

stephanie said...

Momma-lana:
Other suggestions:
~Ask your local fruit market or farmers market if they will sell you tomatoes in bulk/bushels. Ours advertises this & its so cheap when they are in season.
~Find a neighbor/friend who gardens. Even with all I process, I am forever giving them away to neighbors.
~Some veg varieties do very well in containers. Squash~ kinda iffy. Look to your local library/high quality garden center for how to. May have to adjust the soil nutrients. Before I put my plants in the soil (May 31), I put them in my kids' wagon & wheel them around the yard to get the sun for 1 month. I know, I'm a dork!

Renee said...

I always look for markdowns at the grocery stores-I find more at the Kroger Freshfare. Yesterday I found 3 packages of Laura's ground beef marked down to less than regular ground beef (2.39 lb)! I also find organic cereal, granola and chips on clearance. We are having a turkey and ham pinwheel deli sandwich tray that was marked down from 16.99 to 6.00 for dinner.

 

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