But I have exciting things to write about today, so I will press on!
One of my goals on Her Happy Home is to post weekly meal plans and grocery lists. When I wrote about how my family of 3 eats 3 meals a day + snacks for around $300 a month, it wasn’t just fluff. I meant it, and I want to show you how we do that and how you can do it too! If you haven’t, I strongly suggest you read how I meal plan so you can see how I choose these meals.
Here’s what we’re chowing down on this week
Under each recipe, I’ll list the things I had to buy from the grocery store (everything else I already had at home).
Dinner
I have a few tried and true recipes that I like to rotate through our dinner menu, but for the most part I’m always searching for tasty new recipes. All of our dinners this week I found via Pinterest. I have not made these before, so I can’t vouch for them yet…but they sure look yummy!
Monday: Cube Steak with Wine and Mushroom Gravy
(maybe not the healthiest, but we have cube steak in the freezer, and I wanted to do more than just chicken fry it). I’ll need to buy:
-mushrooms
-red wine
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Chicken and Sweet Potato
(I’m purposely going to throw in a few extra chicken thighs so we can use the meat for Thursday’s meal)
-chicken thighs (on sale at Aldi for .69 a pound)
-sweet potatoes ($2.49 at Aldi right now for a 3 lb bag)
Wednesday: One Pot Teriyaki Beef Zoodles
(I’ve never tried zoodles before, but after my pal at The Mostly Healthy Mommy posted a mouth watering pic on her IG, I couldn’t wait to make some!)
-pineapple
-5 zucchinis
Thursday: Chicken Tacos (using chicken from Tuesday’s dinner)
(I put chicken tacos on the menu this week solely because HEB has a sale: buy HEB brand picante sauce, get corn tortillas free)
-HEB brand picante sauce (and free torts)
-avocado (I got a sweet coupon in the mail for basically free avocados at HEB!)
-black beans
-cheese
Friday and Saturday: We will be at a family reunion this weekend, so we won’t be cooking dinner these nights. If we were, we’d either pull something from the freezer, have left overs, or the hubby would come up with something.
Sunday: BBQ Hawaiian Pizza
I hate cooking after coming home from a long weekend. So one of my favorite things to have on Sunday nights after we’ve gotten home is pizza. I already have the dough frozen (thanks Pioneer Woman!), so I just pull some out on Friday before we leave and put it in the fridge. On Sunday when we get home, all we have to do is roll out the dough and decorate the pizza!
-I’m using the pineapple I bought for Wednesday’s meal
-ham (which can double for sandwiches too)
-mozzarella ball (instead of shredded mozzarella, because it’s just that good)
*I plan on cutting out the red onion and cilantro (not a huge fan of either), so I don’t need to purchase those.
Lunch
To see more about how we eat lunch, read here. Some of these may be substituted for leftovers too, depending on how much we have left from dinner the night before.
Monday: Tuna salad using flavored tuna packets
(see the above link to see how I made my tuna salads)
-tuna packs
-cottage cheese
Tuesday: Basil Avocado Chicken Salad
(I already have a basil plant…which is a huge money saver!)
-I’ll use the chicken thighs I got on sale at Aldi
-avocados
Wednesday: Ham sandwich
(remember that ham I bought for Sunday’s dinner…?)
-bread
Thursday: Salad
(I’ll probably add chicken, boiled egg, avocado, beans, and whatever yummy stuff we have at home)
-spinach
Friday: Salmon salad
(same as tuna salad, but with salmon packs!)
-flavored salmon packs (.50 cent rebate on ibotta)
Saturday and Sunday: Again, we won’t be here. But if we were, we’d probably repeat something from earlier in the week, or have left overs.
Breakfast
I’ll prep a bunch of overnight oats on Monday for the rest of the week.
Monday: Overnight Oats (and/or scrambled eggs)
-frozen fruit
Tuesday: Beef Breakfast Hash
(potatoes, eggs, and Monday dinner’s left over beef)
-eggs
Wednesday: Overnight Oats (and/or scrambled eggs)
Thursday: Ground turkey, black beans, and egg scramble
(also a gem from TMHM)
-ground turkey (Jennie-O has $1 rebate on Checkout 51)
-black beans
Friday: Overnight Oats (and/or scrambled eggs)
Saturday and Sunday: When we’re home, these days are usually reserved for pancakes, waffles, or a Chase specialty.
Snacks
-bananas, strawberries, pineapple, mango
-cottage cheese + fruit
-edamame
-boiled eggs
-cheese sticks (I cut them myself from a regular block of cheese)
Grocery List and Shopping
I use the app List Ease to organize my grocery list. Not because it’s life changing, but because it’s the first one I downloaded and I happened to like it. Here’s what my grocery list for the week looks like. Most of the items I already listed under the recipes I would be using them for, but some things (like butter, olive oil, peanut butter) are just basic essentials I need to buy because I’m out. And yes…peanut butter is an essential!
*add in bread and the (free) tortillas that wouldn’t fit in my screenshot!
I’ve mentioned before, I get all I can at Aldi and then finish up at HEB.
Aldi
I spent $60.21 at Aldi, but only $51 was on groceries. I also purchased diapers and baby wipes for $9, but I have a separate “Lincoln” budget for stuff like that. Also, they were out of the .69 chicken thighs, so I just scooped up my favorite .89/lb leg quarters instead. They’re not pictured because they went straight in the fridge.
HEB
I spent $44.21, but only $22 was spent on groceries. I also spent $22 on overnight diapers and swim diapers which came out of a separate budget. And yes..cat litter (and other household items) come out of my grocery budget. The best part is this: the bananas, avocados, yogurt, sandwich bags, baby wipes, and tortillas were all free thanks to these sweet coupons in got in the mail and the store!
The Grand Total
I spent $73 on groceries at Aldi and HEB combined. BUT I also got $1 rebate on my Jennie-O turkey using Checkout 51, and a .50 rebate on the salmon packets using Ibotta. So subtract that from $73 and you get $71.50.5 dinners + 5 lunches + 5 breakfasts + snacks x 3 people= $71.50
Need a little extra help with meal planning? Grab your FREE meal planning worksheets and step-by-step guide below!
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