Meal Plans for week of 5/ 28/18

Meal Plans are a necessary part of groceries on the cheap.  They don't have to be fancy, but a rough draft of one helps keep us on track and organized.

Spring and summer is here and things are more laid back.   Still, staying organized and batch/ prepping (kitchen management) still helps keep things under control .

Incorporating  what you can find on a good sale helps keep costs down and meals interesting.

Taking an quick look at what may need to be eaten soon helps to keep waste down.   Check pull dates.

• Hamburgers, ancient grains salad, sliced tomatoes with olive oil and basil. 
• Pizza
• Baked Potato Bar 
• Pork Roast , baked potatoes, glazed carrots 
• Salmon, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans 
• BBQ Pork sandwiches, salad 
• Breakfast for Dinner:   Whole wheat pancakes, eggs, fruit 

Notes: 

1. Memorial Day.   Hamburgers use the buns we got for .88...   ancient Grains salad is from the DT and it is Betty Crocker.   It has quinoa , and other grains.   Tomatoes can be sliced anddressed witholive oil and fresh basil. 
2. Pizza :  scratch pizza 🍕 costs less than a dollar for a cheese pizza when ingredients are bought  on sale.   Add toppings that you can pull from ingredients used during the week.  
3. Baked Potato Bar is a good pull together meal when you know you have a hectic out of the house day. 
4. Pork Roast does double duty with a “sunday “ type meal and a pick up meal that uses the rest of the hamburger buns.   This roast was purchased for a dollar a pound and we played Butcher. 
5. Salmon was purchased from GO and is wild caught.  Sweet Potatoes are from Betty Crocker and were purchased for .33.  Green beans were .39. 
6. Breakfast for Dinner is trying whole wheat pancakes with pillsbury whole wheat flour purchase for  .25 in a 2 lb package. Eggs were 1.15 a dozen.  Cantaloupe is 2.00 at Alberways this week. 

Even if you dont have the buys we do, or live in a different part of the country,  or another country, the basics for the meal plan still work.   This isn’t to tell someone what to eatm but rather how to go about a thought process to reduce costs and make best use of resources.   Other parts of the country have lots cheaper prices than we do in the PNW.   We have the 7th largest COL in this area and it does not include housing.  I am seeing prices from the mid west and south that are half the price we are paying.   Potatoes are the exception .   Our close proximity to Idaho I suspect is a key factor in this.   However, they have had cheaper California grapes.  Go Figure.  

Finding basics for the cheapest price in your area is a basic concept to reducing your food costs.  You can have the same good nutrition and eat well too.  Buying your food and avoiding the “faddish” food helps a great deal.  Its like buying a fad piece of clothing vs buying a classic piece that will last for years.   Better to spend money on a applalnce that will save money for years, than buy a fad ingredient that will give you no more food value, but cost double because its a fad.   the difference between buying a can of beans at 1.58 for two cups of beans (scant) and buying dry beans and cooking for three minutes (hands on time) in an insta pot is 1.50.  It doesn’t take long before an insta pot bought on sale is paid for .  Ditto hands on time for rice inthe insta pot vs redi rice or the instant type that doesn’t have the food value.   The cost of a reasonable food processer is also made up in a small amount of time.   

Hope this has helped someone.   I blog everyday and have been for six years.   Please share so I can help more people.