Meal plans

Monday's meal plans on Sunday,      

I plan meals based on a matrix . It makes meal planning a snap.   Lately I have been not only using my protein based matrix, but adding a couple of theme based  ones too.   Basically because I want to eat down the stock in a couple of areas.   Some people just use theme based meal plans.    Like.,..

1. Soup and sandwich 
2. Breakfast for dinner 
3. Tex-mex 
4. Crock pot 
5. Pasta 
6. Soup
7. Vegetarian 

Our meals are based on 

2 vegetarian 

1 beef

3 chicken or pork

1 fish 

Meals 

1. Breakfast for dinner ( use up eggs) 
2. Pizza ( pizzas bought for 2.44) 
3. Pork, rice, beans ( Mexican pork BC) 
4. Hot dogs, suddenly salad 
5. Chicken pot pie 
6. Shrimp stirfry w frozen stirfry and ramen noodles 
7. Chicken enchiladas (green) in slow cooker.   BC

BC means the recipe is in the Betty Crocker  on line cookbook.   I have been trying to introduce something new every week,   I am also trying to learn to cook scratch things that I previously bought ready made to save more, broaden my knowledge and keep growing, and lessen our intake of hydrogenated oils.   

I bought canola oil this week.    I have some vegetable oil to use up as well as some things like Bisquick .   Canola, safflower, amd olive oil are the oils that are not hydrogenated ( so omhavembeen reading ) I bought low hydrogenated oil peanut butter when I needed to replace it.    It's a slow process, but it will happen.   Patience is a virtue!    

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals 
on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.