Like every other family in this economy & more importantly out of a desire to honor God with the time, money & resources He has given us, we are trying to do more with less & live life more simply. One of the ways I can help my Hubby make this work for our family is by being wise with our grocery budget. My goal is to feed my family healthy, budget friendly but delicious meals! It makes me ridiculously happy when my Hubby & my little girls love what I cook for them & especially when they continue to say how delicious it is the whole meal through! I LOVE to hear, "Mommy, this is the BEST dinner you've ever made!" which happens almost every night not because I'm a great cook but because I have a very sweet & grateful family! Although there are plenty of times when Mommy's "creativity" doesn't quite agree with everyone....... : ) As I said before, I get very excited about this so I wanted to share how we did this week. When I say this week I mean the week to come. This morning I made a crock pot full of boneless skinless chicken breast that is the foundation of most of our meals this week. Here are the meals I made & the breakdown of each item & how much it all cost. I only made 4 "real" meals this week because we eat a more simple dinner on care group night, on Sunday nights, our tradition is breakfast for dinner & we will go out for a date night one night & our girlies will eat something "fun" with our babysitter that night.
Meal # 1 ~ Roasted garlic parmesan alfredo sauce w/ shredded chicken & rotini pasta
Meal # 2 ~ Shredded "crock pot chicken" over rice
Meal # 3 ~ Shredded chicken tacos and/or "Scoopie"
Meal # 4 ~ Homemade chicken noodle soup
3 pound bag of chicken $7.00
Alfredo sauce 1.88
Rotini pasta x 3 boxes 1.12 each = 3.36
Chicken stock x 2 boxes 1.50 each = 3.00
Crm chicken soup x 2 cans 1.40 each = 2.80
Toast (for entire loaf) 1.00
Rice 2.30
Taco seasoning x 2 packs .75 each = 1.50
Shredded cheese 1.70
Sour cream 1.00
Tortilla chips/taco shells 2.00
Total: $27.50
$27.50 divided by 4 meals = about $6.85 per meal divided by 6 people = about $1.15 per meal per person!
I was so excited to see that God can & does make our budget stretch & also allows our family to eat healthy & delicious food! Yippee! That makes me so happy! : ) I know all you other Mommy's desire to do the same & probably are already doing the same thing for your family. I want to encourage you that it is worth the effort, love & time you put into clipping coupons, actually USING the coupons, meal planning, cooking ahead if you need to & doing the very best with what God has given you, be it little or much, for the amazing people God has put in your life, your awesome family! Obviously this can & should extend into serving the other people God has put in our lives too through sharing hospitality. I am RE-convicted not to let our budget be an excuse for not practicing the art of biblical hospitality! Nothing makes me happier than to see my amazing family happy & showing God my gratitude for all He has given us! Happy cooking, budgeting & simplifying! : )
3 comments:
Thanks for the reminder/encouragement to use our money wisely and purposefully! Hope to hear more of your money-saving tips!
good job! this is an area i still struggle with... but i've only been at it for a couple of years so i hope one day i can look back and see some progress! the Lord has shown me recently that i have not been called to ADD to our income. but i can do just as much for our family by being frugal and wise with what we have. thanks for sharing! :-)
Hi Erin! Thats a wonderful menu. I committed last year to the whole couponing, and paying cash for all the groceries and household stuff. Wow, what an eye-opener. I thought I was thrifty before, but have found that its an ongoing learning process, and I have a lot to learn yet. I also plan our menus ahead and quarterly I take a day or two and freeze 40-50 entrees. No excuses now for eating out or not having guests, because all I need to do is defrost and bake.
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