Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. When you make a purchase through an affiliate link, I earn a commission at no cost to you. See my entire disclosure policy for all the boring details.
We’re going to be gone a lot of January, and we have a few extra out-of-normal-budget things we need to buy that we’ve been planning for. (Such as a bed for our almost 3 year old, who is still happily in a crib.) So, I figured it’d be a good month to go crazy cheap on groceries. While the other 3 members of my family would gladly eat spaghetti every night, I’m the picky one and want a small amount of variety. Usually, I monthly menu plan, but this month, I only have to plan for two weeks (score!) So, I thought I’d share the meals we’ll be eating, some of which are super tasty and super cheap.
1 – pull a meal from freezer
2 – honey balsamic chicken tenders w/ rice and salad (these were a HUGE hit!)
3 – meatball stroganoff (never made this before, but going to try with frozen meatballs)
4 – leftovers
5 – crockpot chicken fajitas (double & freeze)
6 – rice bowls w/ leftover chicken (we do this all the time. some sort of taco flavored meat on rice with whatever toppings we have around + chips + a can of black beans)
7 – family dinner (I don’t cook) 🙂 🙂 🙂
8 – from scratch tuna casserole (not a regular, but a good way to use up veggies, cans of tuna from the pantry & those giant bags of egg noodles)
9 – creamy lemon herb pasta (pioneer woman recipe… she never fails me!)
10 – leftovers
12 – breakfast for dinner (bacon, eggs, pancakes)
13 – loaded baked potatoes (sour cream, cheese, bacon, veggies)
14 – chili (double & freeze)
For meals number 5 and 14, I noted “double and freeze.” I always double and freeze one when I make each of these because it’s no extra work, unlike lasagna or something. For the chicken fajitas, it doesn’t add cost either, because all the ingredients already come in larger quantities. I don’t do major freezer cooking sessions, but I love having one or two meals in the freezer for days I don’t feel like cooking, days we’re gone a lot, or days when we need to have emergency dinner guests 😉
I made my list for these meals as well as breakfast, lunch and produce food, and priced out the approximations of what everything costs (is it freakishly weird that I could name the price of almost any grocery item I buy in our area??) The total was $82.50, so we’ll see if I stay under $90! That would be a cheap couple weeks. Winning! What’s on your menu plan this month!?
p.s. you can grab my free printable, downloadable monthly menu planning calendar here.
This is just what I need right now! I need to make a plan like this! My life would be so much easier than doing week by week. Thank you for sharing on Tasty Tuesdays! I hope to see you next week:)