You Asked: Weekly Menu Sample

You asked for it, I'm delivering.

But it's still a work in progress.

Awhile back I wrote about meal planning and grocery shopping. I mentioned we spend around $50-60 a week on groceries. I had several responses asking for sample menus and recipes that fit in that price range. I compiled some things together and came up with a one week sample. It's a rough estimate and pricing will largely depend on what you have on hand, what brand you buy, and what your local grocery rates are.

Without further ado, here is a one week sample. Click on the links to go to my cooking blog (which hasn't been updated in over a year, until now) to find the recipes.

These estimates are based on my family size: 2 adults, one small child. Meal = one serving for each of us. Two meals would be enough for my family to have dinner and lunch the next day.

Breakfasts
1. Scrambled eggs - appx. $2.00 for 2 people
2. Whole wheat waffles - approx. $2.00 for 4-6 people (if you have wheat flour on hand)
3. Steel cut oats - approx. $2.00 for 4-6 people
4. Cold cereal - approx. $1.50 for 2 people (depending on cereal)

The waffles and oatmeal will carry over for two breakfasts if you have 2 adults and 2 kids.
Total: approx. $7.50

Dinners
1. Spicy Veggie Wraps - approx. $5 for 4 servings (2 meals)
2. Lasagna - approx. $12 for 2 pans, (3 meals plus extra pan in freezer)
3. Mexi-Quinoa Salad - approx. $3 for 2 meals
4. BBQ Chicken Salad - approx. $6 for at least 2 meals
5. Asian Chicken - approx. $4 for 2 meals

Total: approx. $30, for about 11 meals, plus a pan of lasagna for the freezer.

Side items (per meal)
1. Lettuce for salad: $1.00
2. Broccoli (aldi): $1.25
3. Grapes: $1.50/lb
4. Rice: $1.00
5. Strawberries: $2.50/lb ($1.25 for one meal)

Total: approx. $6.00

Grand Total: approx. $43.50 for one week, including an extra pan of lasagna in the freezer!

I will once again reiterate, these are very rough estimates! I did not go through my grocery bills and see how much I actually spent. Nor did I calculate the cost of one bag of tortillas divided up according to how much was used in that recipe. None of these numbers are exact. None of these numbers reflect any snacks, treats, extras, or replenishing basics, and most of them are based off of having basic ingredients at home: flour, wheat flour, spices, canned goods, etc. (In reality, I might actually be way off, but I'm going to pretend I'm not)

I also don't plan very many lunches. We are huge on leftovers at our house (don't worry, it wasn't always that way!), so I plan big enough dinners that we'll have lunch for the following day. It usually works out, but once in awhile I'll do something like grilled cheese, mac n cheese, meat sandwiches, pbj, etc for lunch. I don't really add those things in because I usually already have that food on hand.

In the future I may try to calculate a more exact number to get a precise amount of money spent on food, but for me for now, this is good enough.


**I usually buy groceries at Aldi, Costco, Walmart, or Schnucks. I also usually buy off brands of most things unless they are on sale.