Dinner time!!

If you haven't seen a theme here yet, you haven't been reading for long. I like to save money. Seriously! I HATE spending money on useless things. Grocery's being one of them...and, as I have said before, I make a weekly menu followed by a grocery list. Just in case you were short on ideas for this week, here is what we will be eating at the Riedl household this week!

Monday~ Salsa Cube Steak, baked broccoli

Tuesday~Easy chicken stir fry with rice (I added chicken)

Wednesday~Chicken parm with salad

Thursday~Marinated baked pork chops with baked carrots and rice

Friday~Sweet and sour chicken with fried rice

Saturday~ Out

Sunday~ Steak fajitas with baked nachos


Lunch:
PB&J
turkey/cheese rolls
apples with peanut butter and veggies
egg salad
tuna fish
smoothies


Grocery list:
frozen strawberries
sauce
chicken
pork chops
cheese (2 packs)
spinach
apples (2 bags)
bananas
mayo
ketchup
milk
eggs
tortillas
carrots
frozen mixed veggies
oats
one kids snack item

Weekly menu

In the past, I have talked about how much we spend per month on groceries and ways to save. Even so, I am finding it much more challenging to stay within the budget with a growing family, gas prices, and the ridiculous price of groceries.

Let me start by saying, I love Aldi! BUT...the closest one is a good 15/20 minute drive and with gas sometimes it just isn't worth it. Even so, I try to make an Aldi run at least 2x a month. Now...what do I do on the off weeks? TOPS...barf! It is right in town (3 miles from our house to be exact) and very convenient. For a while, it wasn't too bad. Yes, their produce isn't much to talk about about the the price of many products was at least 50 cents more than those at Aldi. But now...it just insane! Today I did my weekly shopping at Tops and could barely (actually I went a dollar over) stay within my weekly budget. I didn't buy anything special and if you have read some of my former posts, you will see we really don't buy much.

I just need to let it go...I know. Food is a necessity and my kids would not be happy campers if mommy boycotted grocery stores. But I figured this is a time to bring back an old post on saving money on groceries. Stop by and revisit it and see if it helps. I believe the most important part to saving money is weekly menus....SOOOOO I included mine for this week so you could get a glimpse of meals at the Riedl household.

Monday:
B: Eggs, sourdough bread (or GF bread), with sausage
L: Yogurt, PB&J, and carrot sticks*
D: Stew with baked potatoes, GF brownies

Tuesday:
B: Pancakes with strawberries
L: Tuna, celery with peanut butter
D: Chicken Parm with ziti and baked broccoli

Wednesday:
B: Yogurt and granola
L: MOPS brunch...kids get leftovers
D: Pork chops with corn bread and mixed veggies

Thursday:
B: Eggs, toast, fresh fruit
L: PB&J with cucumber
D: Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and corn

Friday:
B: Oatmeal with fruit
L: Playdate lunch (Cooper get a GF sandwich)
D: Ballet recital...Leftovers


*lunches are different for everyone due to work/school schedules but we try to stick to one basic main course. I tend to eat leftovers...

So there it is folks...our weekly meals. I only buy what I need for these meals and a few snack items for the kids. Just and FYI....I don't actually plan weekend meals because we are in and out so much. We usually just fly by the seat of our pants for those meals.

Looking for more ways to save on groceries...any ideas???