$35 to $60 Menus

Gretchen’s $37 Grocery Shopping Trip and Menu For This Week

by Crystal on June 05, 2013

Dillons

1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99

1.22 lbs Roma Tomatoes @ $0.99/lb – $1.21

2.21 lbs Bananas @ $0.35/lb – $0.77

Kroger Jelly – $2.45

Kroger Flour – $1.69

Pepsi Next - $1, used Free coupon - Free after coupon

2 Ronzoni Pasta – $1 each, used $1/2 printable - $0.50 each after coupon

1 Boulder Canyon Chips – $1.99, used $1/1 printable - $0.99 after coupon

8 Crest Toothpaste – $1 each, used 8 $0.50/1 coupon from the 5/8, 6/2 P&G insert, printable, and e-coupon - Free after coupons

1 Kroger Frozen Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (3 lbs) - $6.98

1 lb Simple Truth Ground Beef – $5.99, used $1/1 Dillons mailer coupon – $4.99 after coupon

2 Kroger Shredded Cheese – $1.67 each

1 Kroger Marshmallows – $1.10

1 Kroger Cotton Swabs – $1

1 Kroger Butter – $2.59

1 Kroger American Cheese – $1

1 gallon Dillons Milk – $2.98

2 Hormel Pepperoni – $1 each, used $1/2 printable - $0.50 each after coupon

Total before coupons and sales: $76.63

Total with tax after coupons: $37.71

Menu Plan for this Week

Breakfasts

Cereal, Oatmeal, Toast, Bananas

Lunches

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Baked Potatoes, Leftovers, Turkey Sandwiches

Dinners

Hamburgers (we had leftovers from last week that I froze to use again this week), Chips, Baked Beans

Chicken Noodle Casserole, Rolls, Steamed Carrots (I stocked up on carrots a few weeks ago and we still have some left), Strawberries (from our garden)

Pancakes, Eggs, Hashbrowns

Cheese Pizza, Breadsticks, Tossed Salad

Chicken with Cream of Mushroom Soup, Biscuits, Green Beans

Pepperoni Rolls, Tossed Salad, Fruit

Dinner with parents

{ 18 comments }

This Week’s Menu {Week #4 of no sugar, no coffee, and no gluten}

by Crystal on May 20, 2013

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Waffle recipe

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

{I’ll be eating a salad with chicken/tuna, etc. on it every day}

Brown Rice for Breakfast
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Healthier Dark Chocolate Muffins
Boiled eggs
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Waffles

Freezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Healthier Dark Chocolate Muffins
Chocolate Power Balls

Dinners

Slow Cooked Cheeseburger Casserole, veggies, fruit
Chili Tortilla Egg Bake (using gluten-free tortillas that I got marked down to $0.99!), fruit
Oven-Baked Tacos, fruit, tossed Salad
Build-Your Own Haystacks, fruit
Dinner out
Dinner with extended family x 2

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

{ 20 comments }

This Week’s Menu Plan {Week #3 of no sugar, no coffee, and no gluten}

by Crystal on May 13, 2013

It’s my third week of not eating sugar, coffee, or gluten and I’m really excited and surprised at how easy it’s becoming to eat this way — even when traveling for a few days like I did last week. And yes, I still feel great. :)

I’m headed to Nashville to speak at the Teach Them Diligently conference later this week, (will you be there? If so, I’d love to meet you!) so I’m keeping our menu pretty simple.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

{I’ll be eating a salad with chicken/tuna, etc. on it every day}

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Healthier Dark Chocolate Muffins
Boiled eggs
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Waffles

Freezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Healthier Dark Chocolate Muffins
Taco Meat

Dinners

Steak on the grill, veggies, fruit
Chili Tortilla Egg Bake (using gluten-free tortillas that I got marked down to $0.99!), fruit
Oven-Baked Tacos, fruit, tossed Salad
Build-Your Own Haystacks, fruit
Dinner out
Dinner with extended family x 2

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

{ 48 comments }

This Week’s Menu Plan {It’s my second week without gluten, coffee, or sugar!}

by Crystal on May 06, 2013

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

I’ve survived a week without gluten and two full weeks without coffee or sugar! Surprisingly, I actually didn’t miss it all as much as I thought I would. And I’m sleeping better than I have in months — maybe years?

I’m honestly having fun finding new recipes that are gluten-free and sweetened with honey… and I’m also loving the incentive to eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies and lean protein. :)

I don’t know what I’m going to do longterm, but I’m really happy with the results I’ve seen from this short stint of diet changes.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

{I’ll be eating a salad with chicken/tuna, etc. on it every day}

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
Boiled eggs
Banana Peanut Butter Pancakes

Freezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Grain-Free Muffins

Dinners

Steak on the grill, veggies, fruit
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole, Fruit, Tossed Salad, Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Waffles, scrambled eggs, fruit
Simple Beef & Veggie Casserole, fruit
Dinner out
Dinner with extended family x 2

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

{ 90 comments }

This Week’s Menu {and yes, I temporarily gave up coffee & sugar–can you believe it?!}

by Crystal on April 29, 2013

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

For a long list of reasons, I temporarily gave up coffee and sugar a week ago. Yes {gasp!} can you believe it?!

It’s been eight days, and now that the massive headache is gone, I am feeling so, so good (and sleeping better than I have in years). I’m happy and all, but on the other hand, I was sort of secretly hoping I wouldn’t notice such a marked difference. :)

Because of this success, I’m now getting brave and giving up gluten, too, as a 30-Day experiment. It’s amazing how health issues will motivate you to do things you used to think were pretty crazy!

So if you notice a bit outside the norm recipes on my menu, you’ll know why. And if you have any amazing gluten-free, sugar-free (I am eating some honey, but no other forms of sweetener outside of fruit) recipes you think I’d love, please do shoot them my way.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

{I’ll be eating a salad with chicken/tuna, etc. on it every day}

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
Boiled eggs

Freezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Easy Energy Bars (I’m going to sub raisins for the chocolate chips.)
Marinated Chicken

Dinners

Steak on the grill, corn on the cob, veggies
Supreme Egg Loaf, Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Waffles, fruit
Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole with ham, veggies
Simple Beef & Veggie Casserole, fruit
Dinner with friends
Dinner with extended family x 2

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

{ 128 comments }

This week’s menu plan {It’s the perfect week for some chocolate-themed baking!}

by Crystal on April 08, 2013

I think I’m on a chocolate baking kick this week (what’s new?!) Can’t wait to get to baking — and eating. ;)

Here’s our plan for this week:

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Whole Food No Bake Cookies

Pinterest Experiment {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake

Freezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

Whole Food No Bake Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Bars
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Quick Bread
Freezer-Friendly Pizza Dough

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Mexican Chicken Lime Soup, fruit, tossed salad
Bean & Cheese Burritos, fruit, veggies
Build Your Own Haystacks, fruit, rice
Black Bean & Corn-Topped Potatoes,
Homemade Pizza, fruit, veggies
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

{ 34 comments }

This Week’s Menu

by Crystal on April 01, 2013

Whole-Wheat Blender Pancakes

We’re headed to the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention for half of this week, so meals are going to be super simple around here and I’m only planning four days of meals since we’ll be traveling or at the conference the rest of the week. In addition, I’m going to skip freezer cooking this week.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Whole-Wheat Blender Pancakes, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Black Bean & Corn-Topped Potatoes, fruit, tossed salad
Bean & Cheese Burritos, fruit, veggies
Ritzy Chicken, fruit, veggies

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

{ 9 comments }

This week’s menu plan

by Crystal on March 25, 2013

Pull Apart Oat Rolls

I’m keeping things simple food-wise here this week in order to streamline and focus on editing.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Pancakes, eggs, fruit
Leftovers x 2

Making Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Quinoa Cookies

Freezer Cooking in an Hour (stay tuned on Thursday when I’ll share a play-by-play on how this goes!)

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes
Crusty Baguettes
Quinoa Cookies

Freezer-Friendly Bean & Cheese Burritos

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup, Pull Apart Oat Rolls, fruit
Black Bean & Corn-Topped Potatoes, fruit, tossed salad
Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit
Bean & Cheese Burritos, fruit, veggies
Dinner with extended family
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

{ 22 comments }

This week’s menu

by Crystal on March 18, 2013

Pull Apart Rolls

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Pancakes, eggs, fruit
Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn

Freezer Cooking in an Hour (stay tuned on Thursday when I’ll share a play-by-play on how this goes!)

Pull Apart Oat Rolls
Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes
IHOP-Knock-Off Pancakes

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Crockpot Fried Rice, fruit
Bean & Cheese Burritos (recipe coming later this week), fruit, veggies
Steak, Baked Oven Fries, The Frugal Girl’s French Bread, fruit, veggies
IHOP-Knock-Off Pancakes, fruit, scrambled eggs
Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup, Pull Apart Oat Rolls, fruit
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

{ 43 comments }

This week’s menu

by Crystal on March 11, 2013

Homemade Freezer Biscuits

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Lunch out at Applebee’s (We had a gift card.)
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 2

Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bites

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bites

Freezer Cooking in an Hour (stay tuned on Thursday when I’ll share a play-by-play on how this goes!)

Homemade Freezer Biscuits
Amish Cinnamon Bread
Bean & Cheese Burritos

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Cheesy Enchilada Casserole, tossed salad, fruit
Twice Baked Potato Soup, carrot stocks, Peanut Butter Chocolate Oat Muffins
Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup, Homemade Freezer Biscuits, Fruit
Bean & Cheese Burritos
Dinner with extended family
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

{ 30 comments }