Here’s an easy budget grocery haul and meal plan for 105 Meals for just $50 for 1 Week! It IS possible to serve quick and easy meals for your family!
Budget Grocery Haul And Meal Plan – 105 Meals, $50 for 1 Week!
This is a budget grocery haul and meal plan for 105 meals for 5 people for 1 week for just $50.
This easy meal plan is a real plan for our family using some recipes from our Dining On A Dime Cookbook. The way we eat so cheap is because I try to only buy when food is one sale. I stock my pantry and fridge with staple items and cook out of the fridge or pantry so I’m only using food that I paid the absolute lowest price for.
To make sure I have the lowest price I use my price book to keep track of the price changes on each item for a little while and then I know when to stock up on good deals.
This family meal menu plan is for 5 days of meals. We assume that you will eat leftovers for one dinner and have a date night for mom and dad, with the kids doing “every man for himself”. If you don’t do date night, then just add something simple, like breakfast for dinner, to the meal plan.
I calculated this family meal plan based on the following foods. If you don’t like something or prefer to serve something else one day, feel free to change what you’re serving for any given meal. Also, the meal plan is based on each person eating the recommended number of daily servings for an average person. If you prefer to serve significantly more food per person than the FDA recommendation, you may end up spending more than I do, but you will still save more than most other meal options.
Easy Meal Plan – Breakfasts
There are only 3 items on my family meal plan for breakfast because most families only eat one or two different things for breakfast from one day to the next. These are some easy breakfast meals most families like.
Toast and eggs $1.50
Cereal and milk $2.50
Oatmeal and cream of wheat $0.75
Easy Meal Plan – Lunches and Snacks
Tuna salad $2.50
Egg salad $1.00
Burritos- $4.00
Macaroni & Cheese (2 boxes) $1.00
Nachos $3.00
Ramen $1.70
Peanut Butter and Jelly $1.25
Chips- $1.25
Grapes, clementines, oranges, apples, cucumbers, carrots – $3.00
Easy Meal Plan – Dinner – (Recipes Are Below)
This easy family meal plan includes meals that almost all families love and that you can generally make with 15 minutes’ work or less. Again, if you prefer to use something different, you don’t have to serve every one of these to your family, but be careful to use similarly priced items for any substitutions.
Most recipes from our cookbook are quick and easy and can be made for similar prices, so feel free to substitute with your favorite low priced recipes. Just be sure you don’t pick too many recipes with more expensive ingredients.
Family Dinner Meal Plans
Quick and Easy Chili – $2.75
Crackers
Grapes
Tater Tot Casserole – $7.25
Salad
Carrots
Sour Cream Enchiladas – $6.00
Apples
Oranges
Cucumbers
Hamburger Casserole– $4.00
Oranges
Broccoli
Salsa Pie – $5.25
Grapes
Carrots
Recipes For Our Easy Family Meal Plan
This Quick and Easy Chili Recipe will get you in and out of the kitchen fast! It’s a homemade chili recipe that even kids will love!
If you are a chili connoisseur this quick and easy chili recipe may not be for you but if you have picky eaters or children this chili recipe may be be a life saver. You can adjust the amounts of the ingredients to the size of your family without doing much harm. This is also a perfect recipe to make the day before and just warm up when you need it.
Quick and Easy Chili Recipe
3 small cans tomato soup*
3 soup cans of water
1/2 to 1 lb. cooked hamburger
Chili powder to taste
Garlic powder and onion powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
I usually use at least 2 teaspoons each of chili powder and garlic powder. You can also use onions. Put everything in a large pan and simmer at least 2 hours. It’s better to let it simmer all day if possible. You can add almost anything you want to this basic recipe. Beans work well or I like to crumble in some fried sausage for extra flavor.
*I have also replaced the soup with a large can (32-36 oz.) of tomato juice and it is good, too!
This easy tater tot casserole recipe is an easy and delicious meal that families with kids really love! Tater tot casserole is a traditional comfort food that can easily be a one dish meal and it’s a great way to use leftover mixed vegetables and hamburger!
In addition to making this for your family, this tater tot casserole recipe is a great recipe to take to potlucks and parties because it is quick and easy to make and virtually everyone loves it. And if you’ve had a busy day and don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, you can quickly mix it up, put it in the oven and be done!
Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
1 to 2 lbs. hamburger, browned and seasoned to taste
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
8 oz. sour cream
20 oz. frozen mixed veggies, or leftover veggies*
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 lb. bag of Tater Tots
8 oz cheddar cheese or cheese of choice
Gently mix all together but cheese and place in a greased 9×13 pan. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.
*Keep a container in the freezer and, when you have a small dab of vegetables left over, put them in this container. This casserole is a great way to use them up instead of making the usual veggie soup.
This Sour Cream Enchiladas Recipe makes yummy enchiladas that are easy to make and super popular with families. It’s easy to add your own variations to satisfy everyone in your family!
Sour Cream Enchiladas Recipe
1 can enchilada sauce
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
12 corn tortillas
Spray a 9×13 pan (or one slightly smaller) with cooking spray. Place a tablespoon of sour cream and cheese in the center of each tortilla. Roll up each one and place in the pan. Pour enchilada sauce over it all and spread remaining sour cream and cheese on top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or 250 degrees for 45-60 minutes.
This recipe serves about 4. If you have hearty eaters, you may want to double it.
You can make this in the morning and let it sit until you are ready to cook it. Some people like to include cooked hamburger, onions, chicken or green chiles along with the sour cream and cheese.
This easy hamburger casserole recipe is a great recipe when the kids are hungry and you don’t have a lot of time. It’s popular with virtually everyone! Serve with a vegetable and some applesauce and you’ve got an entire meal in minutes! You can find this recipe in volume 1 of our Dining On A Dime Cookbook.
Easy Hamburger Casserole Recipe
1/2 lb. ground beef, browned
6 cups macaroni, cooked
2 cups American cheese
1/2 tsp.garlic powder
salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
In a casserole, mix browned ground beef with macaroni, tomato sauce and seasonings. Add cheese; stir. Heat in oven* at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serves 4.
*When I am in a hurry I drain the macaroni add the hamburger, rest of ingredients and cheese into the same pan I cooked the mac in. I then stir until the cheese is melted.
Easy Salsa Hamburger Pie
1 lb. ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped
1 med. green pepper, chopped
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can tomato soup, undiluted
1/4 cup salsa
2 Tbsp. ketchup
1 pkg. (8 1/2 oz.) cornbread mix
Cook first 3 ingredients in a 10 inch oven proof skillet. Drain. Add soup, salsa, and ketchup. Mix cornbread mix according to package and let sit for 2 minutes. Spoon over the other ingredients. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes until golden brown. You can add veggies to this or sprinkle with grated cheese.
The recipes in this easy family meal plan are from our cookbook:
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Hi how can you keep adding hamburger meat, I’ve found that to be $3-4 per pound unless you find that rare sale where it’s ,99 cents a lb. or are all the prices listed per individual? I have four kids and we are on my husbands pastor salary. I’m always trying to find new ways to save $!
I’m not totally sure what you are asking Leslie but we do keep using hamburger meat and other meat because we usually buy it when it is on sale and no other time. If I haven’t found hamburger on sale for a few weeks than I will use chicken recipes or recipes that call for no meat until I can find it on sale.
Be careful not to get hung up on the prices too. The prices can change from week to week and the are different in every part of the US and the world. The prices are to show a couple of things – often things aren’t as expensive as you think, how much you can save over going out to eat but most of all to give you inexpensive menu ideas and tips of how to stretch and use the food you do have. For ex. you don’t need to use a whole pound of hamburger if the casserole calls for it. A 1/2 lb will be fine or you don’t need to buy the most expensive hamburger because there is not a lot of nutritional difference in them.
Try not to focus on the prices but more on the tips such as how to stretch what you have, use all of your leftovers etc. My daughter has four kids and she and I both have used these methods living on only 1 income and at times when making minimum wage or less so it is doable. Hope this answers your question.
Jill get a big package of hamburger when it is on sale and divides it up into portions. She does not make the hamburg the main part of the meal. That way you are stretching out the hamburg. So you can use in different kinds of meals I have been doing this awhile now and saves me a lot of meals
Leslie, I had 8 boys @ home, but now down to 3. I just found turkey ground meat @ Walmart called Festive Ground Turkey Roll, Frozen 1.0 lbs for $1.66. You can only buy 2lb’s per pick up order, but can buy as many inside store.
Yes, use meat as a “condiment”, not the main portion of a meal. I stretch things with cooked rice. Add to soups, put in chicken salad, or sloppy joes to stretch the meat even further. It takes the flavor of the sauce. Also good with beef and bean burritos, or in stew or under any gravy meal (SOS, etc). I haven’t tried it with egg salad yet, but I’m going to . :) You can even reheat it, add some milk (warm cereal, or cold if you prefer) and some cinnamon, nutmeg maybe, pinch of sugar and have it for breakfast. Rice is amazing! Lentils, too. Lentils are super high in protein and a good meat sub. Also, rice and beans are a complete protein, from what I understand (but the more I read about proteins, the more I wonder on that one).
I always add shredded carrots to any hamburger I use… I use equal part carrots and beef
You can also use beans for half the recipe – and especially in the one pan/pot dishes, you can mash them and mix with beef when browning and it blends right in. If you buy dried beans, they are so cheap. We soak them overnight in the crock of a crock pot – rinse them, add water back and cook for given amount of time during the day in the crockpot. Leftover beans can be frozen for later use. Black beans or Pinto beans seem to work the best for us a meat stretchers.
Thanks! These are great recipes. I could even see subbing canned chicken or beans for hamburger. Hamburger is still the cheapest meat you can purchase.
I love the channel,and have watched this particular video many times.i came over to the site to see if the meal plan could be printed out,but don’t see that.would that be possible in future for meal plans?thank you
Carol the thing we have right now is a several ebooks for $1.00 that have a lot of meal plans. If you would like to check them out here they are Meal Planning