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A peek at our weekly grocery shopping
Each week I plan on sharing a picture of our cart at each store along with a breakdown on what we bought and what we paid. Thankfully we have zero dietary restrictions or allergies which helps us keep our budget on the low side. We try to stick between $80-90 each week for our family of seven. A lot of times what is on the menu doesn’t directly correlate to what we buy because I like to plan our meals from what we have on hand currently and use our budget to stock up on good buys plus produce and dairy products.
No grocery pictures this week! Last week we did a double shopping trip and we won’t be going to Aldi until tomorrow to stock up on produce and a few other staples before heading home. I’m always so excited by the sheer amount we can get at Aldi for the money we spend. I saw this week in their ad they’ve got 3lb bags of apples for $1.49! That’s crazy!! And we will be buying several because apples are a great fruit for keeping around a little longer.
It’s birthday week around these parts (again) so we have two special meals. Both boys picked out their own meals without any suggestions. It’s crazy to me that they are old enough to have favorite meals for birthdays already. I’ve also got two birthday cakes to make when we get home from our trip. Do you do special birthday meals or treats?
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Menu Plan
I love menu planning and seeing other’s dinner plans! I’m weird like that 😉 As I’ve shared before, being in the kitchen is my happy place so I love finding meals that are new but I also never forget our favorites! These will link to the author’s original recipe unless it’s my own recipe/creation that I don’t have a link for… yet.
If you need some inspiration for how to create menu plans you can read here where I go into detail about how I make a plan for our food week and here to read how I create our grocery list.
I don’t make specific plans for breakfast and lunch but these are the basics I rotate between while throwing in a few other things for special days or weeks when I have the right ingredients.
Breakfasts: Pancakes, Coffee Cake, Egg Sandwiches, Sausage Balls, Eggs (various ways), English Muffins, Banana Bread, Biscuits and Gravy, Oatmeal, and various types of muffins.
Lunches: Leftovers, PB&J, Meat and Cheese Wraps, Cheese Quesadillas, and Mac ‘n’ Cheese.
Dinners, however, are always planned for since they tend to take the most ingredients and prep time.
Here’s what’s on our menu this week:
Sunday: Paninis – Super simple dinner to pull together- build sandwiches then cook them on the griddle. Man we love that thing! Veggie strips on the side with some ranch for dipping.
Monday: Burrito Bowls – Pulled pork, rice, beans, cheese, and all the fixings will make for an easy but incredibly delicious dinner.
Tuesday: Popcorn Shrimp & French Fries – Happy Birthday Anders! Anders wanted shrimp and fries so shrimp and fries it will be!
Wednesday: Brats & Hot Dogs – Happy Birthday Cade! He requested hot dogs and beans so I added brats for the few of us that like those as well. I might make a batch of potato salad since he really enjoys it.
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Church Harvest Party – Our church is hosting a fun night with carnival games, a costume contest, and a dinner so we will be eating there!
Saturday: Homemade Pizza and Movie Night – pizza crust recipe here and pizza sauce recipe here.
What’s on your menu this week?
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