How did we get here? Not in the way I expected, that's for sure.
Tyler and I are on a debt free journey, following Dave Ramsey's plan. While looking at numbers, I realized we were spending a huge amount of money on groceries and eating out every month. I knew it was a lot, but I never expected it to be as much as it was. I set out on a plan and started working our budget.
I decided the best thing for our family was Aldi. We already shopped there, but since the store is 45 minutes away, I felt the best idea for our family would be to plan out a month at a time, and shop for that entire month in one Aldi trip.
A few notes about our meal plan:
1. We have three weekends this month that we plan on not cooking. Two of those we will be out of town, and one of those is wedding weekend for Tyler's sister. However, even if we were eating at home those nights, I figured it would have only cost us around $20 more this month since I only accounted for one leftover night.
2. We eat tacos every Tuesday. Our girls LOVE tacos, we love tacos, and it is easy, and cheap.
3. I did not plan for meals on Sunday. Around here Sundays are crazy between church and family time. We plan on using leftovers, or meals we have a surplus of and have frozen for those days if we don't end up eating dinner with family.
4. This is a tentative schedule. As a mom, and a teacher, I know those unexpected events happen. The way I have planned out the last half of our month is freezer crockpot meals. Those are already put together, in a bag, and in our freezer. We can easily shift those to another night if an event happens and we need a different meal idea.
5. I planned for crockpot frozen meals for the last half of the month, since I go back to work and it is usually an adjustment time for me. However, I really love the idea of having all the ingredients mixed and ready to go, and will probably use these monthly!
6. I don't use measurements very well. I get that from my Mama... I eyeball just about everything, but tried to put amounts if I knew exactly how much I used/will use!
Alright, let's get to the meal plan, recipes, and prices!
Crockpot Ritz Chicken (I did not freeze this one, since I was using it the next day, however I'm sure you could!)
3 chicken breast
1 can of cream of chicken
8oz container of sour cream
1 sleeve of butter crackers
2 tablespoons of butter
Combine sour cream and cream of chicken, place chicken breast in the bottom of the crockpot and cover with mixture. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Around 30 minutes before serving, take chicken out of crockpot and shred, placing it back in the crockpot to combine with sauce. Cover with one sleeve of crushed butter crackers (Ritz), and butter. Replace the lid to allow butter to melt.
Cost:
Chicken breast (one pack was $8.69, and 3 breast is half a pack) - $4.35
Cream of chicken - $0.45
Sour Cream - $0.89
Butter Crackers - (an entire box is four sleeves and $1.09, and we will only use one for this and use the rest for snacks and lunches) $0.27
Butter - kitchen staple
Total Meal Cost: $5.96
KFC Potato Bowls
We had frozen nuggets in our freezer and I knew I wanted to use those, however I did not just want the normal nuggets and fries.
Nuggets - already had, but were around $6 at Aldi
2 packs of mashed potato mix (we've never made this before, so one may be enough, but I'm counting two for the sake of validity) - $0.69 each
Shredded Cheese - $1.69 (we most likely won't use the entire pack, but again, for validity)
Can of corn - $0.38
Total Meal Cost: $9.45
Hotdogs and Chips
Hotdog buns - $0.59
Chips - $0.99 (I bought two bags - ranch and nacho. The ranch were $0.99 and nacho was $0.75. I'm counting most expensive here, but what is left will be used for lunches.)
Hotdogs - We have some frozen from a sale a couple of weeks ago, but we like Nathan's and Aldi had them for around $3
Total Meal Cost: $4.58
Texas Toast Pizzas --- Aldi did not have the frozen Texas Toast for these, and were sold out of pepperoni. So I will have to get the items for this when I run to the grocery store for sodas. I'm going to say how we make them, but leave off prices!
Texas Toast Frozen
Pizza sauce
Cheese
Pepperonis
Follow cooking directions on Texas Toast box. Before placing in the oven, place pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni on one side of the toast. Cook as normal.
TACO TUESDAY!
Hamburger meat ($10.33 for 5 pounds, we will use 1/3 of this) - $3.45
Shredded Cheese - $1.69
Taco seasoning - $0.29
Salsa (one jar was $1.89 but it will be split between all four Taco Tuesdays) - $0.47
Sour cream - $0.89 (that is for one container, it will probably last use for at least two, if not more Tuesdays, but I'm counting the total of the jar since I'm not sure)
Tortillas ($1.99 for a 20 count that will last us all month) - $0.50
Total Meal Cost: $7.29
Waffles and Bacon
I don't have the cost for these, because we have waffle mix and bacon frozen!
Chili Beans
Tyler REFUSES to eat beans - but he will eat my Mama's chili beans... so we're going to test our her recipe and see if I can do it justice!
Hamburger meat ($10.33 for 5 pounds, we will use 1/3 of this) - $3.45
Two cans of pinto beans - $0.89 each
Two cans of Rotel - $0.45 each *I could kick myself, because we already had some in the pantry but I bought more because I didn't write it down!
Chili powder - already have
Red pepper flakes - already have
Total Meal Cost: $6.13
Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, and Grits
Eggs ($1.47 for a dozen, and we will probably use six between the four of us) - $0.74
Grits - $1.29 (we won't use the entire container, but I don't know how much we will use so I'm counting the total amount)
Bacon - another frozen pack from a couple of months ago!
Total Meal Cost - $2.03
Chicken Casserole and Rice
Three cans of chicken - $1.55 each
Cream cheese block - $0.65
Cream of chicken - $0.45
Shredded Cheese - $1.69
Garlic powder - already have
Onion powder - already have
Rice (a whole box of instant white rice is $2.35, and I'm estimating we will use a sixth of it for this recipe which is probably a large over-guesstimate!) - $0.39
I literally mix everything together except the cheese and rice, place in a casserole dish, cover with your desire amount of cheese, and bake on 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until cheese is nice and melted. We serve it over rice.
Total Meal Cost: $7.83
Here comes what you really want... the frozen meals!
Crockpot French Onion Chicken
Chicken breast (one pack was $8.69, we will use 3 breast cut in half) - $4.35
Onion soup mix - have it already
Chicken broth - have it already
Rice (a whole box of instant white rice is $2.35, and I'm guesstimating a sixth again) - $0.39
I literally placed the chicken in the bag, mixed the soup mix and chicken broth together and poured it over the chicken. I'll defrost it the night before, and just dump it in the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours and serve over rice. If the sauce isn't thick enough for us, I'll sometimes add in some flour once it's done cooking.
Total Meal Cost: $4.74
Crockpot Pulled Pork Sliders (I made double of this because I had enough, but it isn't accounted for on the meal plan so this will probably be on next month's plan as well)
Pork Loin ($9.32 and I split it in half) - $4.66
BBQ sauce - $2.38
Hawaiian Sweet Rolls - $1.79
Frozen french fries - $1.95
I put the pork loin in the bag, and cover it with BBQ sauce and some seasoning we already had. Easy, peasy! I also frozen the Hawaiian rolls because I don't want them going bad before we need them! I'll pull both out the night before and leave them out the thaw. I'll throw the pork in the crockpot on low for 6 - 8 hours and then shred and place on the rolls!
Total Meal Cost: $10.78
Crockpot Pot Roast
Chuck roast - $12.47
Baby carrots ($0.79 for the entire pack, and we only used about a forth.. we will use the rest for snacks) - $0.25
Red potatoes ($2.49 for a 5lb bag, we will use about a fourth and use the rest for mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes another night) - $0.62
Two packs of brown gravy mix - $0.29 each
Italian seasoning - already had
Ranch seasoning - already had
I placed the chuck roast in the bag. I mixed the brown gravy packs, a little Italian seasoning, and a little ranch seasoning with some beef broth and covered the roast with them. I placed the baby carrots in, and then cut the potatoes in forth and put them in. I'll defrost the night before and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. I have in here that we will eat over mashed potatoes... but we could change to rice, or even eat without any side since it has potatoes and carrots in it already, so I'm not counting that in the total meal cost.
Total Meal Cost: $13.63 (I had sticker shock at the chuck roast price, but after seeing this I'm happy I decided to go ahead with it because even at a higher total meal cost it is STILL less than it would cost us four to go out to eat!)
Brown Sugar and Garlic Pork Loin
2lb pork loin (I bought a twin pack that totalled a little over 2lbs and just used both loins) - $8.44
Minced garlic - already had
Brown sugar ($0.95 for a one pound bag.... I only used three tablespoons) - $0.02
Salt - already had
Pepper -already had
Olive oil - already had
Put all ingredients in your gallon size freezer bag and place in the freezer. Defrost the night before cooking. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.
Total Meal Cost: $8.46
Tatertot Casserole
Hamburger meat ($10.33 for 5 pounds, we will use 1/3 of this) - $3.45
Cream of chicken - $0.45
Cream of mushroom - $0.45
Tater tots - $1.65
Shredded Cheese - $1.69
I will brown the hamburger meat and drain. I then mix in cream of chicken, and cream of mushroom as well as some seasonings (I usually use garlic and onion). Place those in the bottom of your pan, and cover them with the frozen hashbrowns. Top with cheese.
If I am freezing, I defrost the night before and cook on 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. You can also take this straight to the over from the above recipe and just cook to the directions on the tater tot bag!
Total Meal Cost: $7.69
Sweet Orange Chicken
Chicken breast (one pack was $8.69, and 3 breast is half a pack which is what we will use) - $4.35
Orange marmalade ($1.79 for the entire jar and I used half) - $0.90
BBQ sauce - $2.38 (I used about 1 cup, but I'm not sure the total size of the bottle so I'm counting the entire amount)
Soy sauce ($1.19 for a bottle, I used only 2 tablespoons) - $0.25
Red potatoes ($2.49 for a 5lb bag, we will use about a fourth as a side) - $0.62
Mix ingredients in bag. Defrost night before and cook on low for 6-8 hours. We will probably eat this one with the leftover red potatoes!
Total Meal Cost: $8.50
A few other things I go that aren't included in the meal plan:
Soy sauce ($1.19 for a bottle, I used only 2 tablespoons) - $0.25
Red potatoes ($2.49 for a 5lb bag, we will use about a fourth as a side) - $0.62
Total Meal Cost: $8.50
A few other things I go that aren't included in the meal plan:
- Milk - I got two gallons, and put one in the freezer (did you know those sunk in circles on the milk are there so the bottle expands when frozen?!) They were $1.06 a gallon
- Tea bags - We drink a lot of tea around here. They were $1.39
- Applesauce - Tyler and Eva love applesauce, and we hide Eva's medicine in it for her to take. It was $1.89.
- Honeypuffs Cereal - $1.99
- Honey Oats Cereal - $1.15
- Tuna - I got around six cans for $0.65 each. This is a quick grab for me when I'm not wanting to cook lunch or take leftovers for lunch.
- Toilet Tissue - a 30 roll pack was $14.99 y'all!!!!!
- Seedless Watermelon - Because I wanted it, and sometimes that is the only reason I have. $2.79
- 4lb Sugar - $1.29 (because tea needs to be sweet)
- Instant Mashed Potatoes - another one of those lazy grab things $1.29
- Dish detergent - $1.49
- Non-stick Spray - $1.35
- Black Forest Ham - $2.55
- Black Forest Turkey - $2.55
- These two are for our sandwich lunches! I froze half of the pack of each to take out later so it did not ruin before we ate it all. This may last use two months.
- Cheese singles - $1.25
- Saltines - $0.75
- Two cucumbers - $0.45 each (I like these with my tuna and a bit of cream cheese for a faux sushi)
- Honey Wheat Bread - $0.85
- White Bread - $0.65
And that my friend is my $175 Aldi haul. I still need to grad the things for Texas Toast Pizzas, and a few drinks (I need my caffeine) from the local grocery store. I also have a bit of the budget let for us to run in an grab fresh fruit and veggies (or another gallon of milk if the girls drink it quickly) for the month if needed.
All in all, it was a pretty painless process... and I see us doing it again!
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