Monday meal plan 1/2

If you have been thinking about meal planning and never really tried it, why not start in the new year? Now is a great time to save money and lower stress at mealtimes through menu planning. Another added benefit is that you can provide better balanced meals when you plan ahead.

Here is our weekly menu. Please share yours as well. Below the menu this week, I have also included some tips for meal planning to get you started. You will also find some of my favorite meal planning resources in the box to the left.

Baked chicken ($1.97/lb at Lowes Foods through 1/3)

Whole grain pasta (free at HT during recent sale with coupons)

Asparagus (Pictsweet frozen from recent BOGO sale with coupons from Penguin coupon display)

Chicken tacos and veggies (using leftover chicken from Monday night)

Rice – Mahatma rice free from sale months ago with coupon

Clementine slices

Cheese ravioli with sautéed spinach, mushrooms and onions (Celentano frozen ravioli BOGO at HT through 1/3)

Broccoli

Southwestern omelets with sautéed green pepeers, mushrooms, onions, cheese, and salsa on the side

Julienne potatoes

Fruit – depends on what goes on sale on Wednesday

Tyson Crispy Chicken Strips (on sale at Lowes through 1/3 and used .75/1 coupon last week- coupon expired 12/31)

Baked sweet potatoes

Salad

Creating frugal meals begins with meal planning, which simply involves deciding ahead of time what you will be eating for the week or month.

Menu planning works hand in hand with couponing and store promotions to help you make the most of your budget.

All three aspects are important and using each effectively will save you the most money and allow you to provide the healthiest frugal meals.

Another added benefit of meal planning – less stress! When you aren’t stressing over what’s for dinner (because you planned it out at the beginning of the week), you are less likely to head to the nearest fast food restaurant.

Meal planning tips

* Plan your meals based on what you already have in your pantry, fridge and freezer (using items that were purchased frugally using sales, coupons or store promotions - or all 3!) and items on sale for that week.

* Plan your dinners weekly and take advantage of weekly great deals to use in your meal plans.

* Use your slow cooker, batch cook, and reference the recommended websites below to get great recipes for frugal meals.

* Plan your meals for 5-6 nights per week. Leave one or two nights open for leftovers, going out to eat (with a restaurant coupon, of course), going to friends, etc.

* Strive to bring your per meal cost down to $1.25 per person - $5 per meal for a family of 4. That's not $5 per person, it's $5 per meal. By using frugally purchased ingredients, you will be amazed at what fabulous, healthy meals you can provide for $5 or less!

* Use the Weekly Menu Planner to plan your meals each week.

Join us here each Monday to see my frugal meal plan including notes on where I purchased some of the ingredients and recipes as well.