Okay, full honesty here: I’ve gotten into a rut when it comes to meal planning. I feel like I’ve just not been inspired or motivated with cooking ideas. And we’ve been having a lot of the same things over and over again.
So when I met up with Laurie from Passionate Penny Pincher a week ago and she gave me a 5-Ingredient Meal Plan Box, I decided I’d just try it for a week. I did a grocery pick-up order last week for the ingredients and we ended up loving the recipes so much that we are using Week 2 this week.
I love that the recipes are all planned for you, the grocery list is made for you, and the recipes that we tried were so yummy! In fact, every one loved them — which rarely happens with new recipes! And the whole family was excited for me to try it again for a second week!
The ingredients for the recipes are a little more than I would typically spend (because I usually base our menus upon what I have on hand and what’s on sale) but I’m having fun getting creative to see if I can work them into our grocery budget.
By the way, in full transparency, the meal plan box is expensive and I probably would have never purchased it had Laurie not given me one. That said, I see the value in them now that I’ve used one for a week! (Laurie said you could use code MONEYSAVINGMOM to save 15% off if you were thinking of possibly purchasing it.)
Here’s everything I bought at Kroger! My total was $104.
I was super excited about that deal on eggs!
There was also a great deal on pineapple — but there were exactly two left, so I just bought one! 🙂
On the menu this week:
- Pan-Seared Garlic & Butter Steak
- Crunchy Onion Barbecue Chicken
- Montreal Pork Tenderloin
- Slow Cooker French Onion Chicken
- Spaghetti
- Leftovers/Fend For Yourself
- Dinner Out
Jody says
It says $42 on the link for 12 weeks. That seems really cheap. Am I not looking at the ‘expensive’ option you mentioned in the article?
Meagan says
Nope, that’s the one! It’s just quite a bit more than Crystal would typically pay for something like that or promote to our audience. So she wanted to be transparent about the cost. But yes — it’s $42! And you can use the code to bring the price down even more. Hope that helps! -Meg, MSM Team
Amanda says
I so wish someone would make one of these plans in a meatless version, and without using fake meat substitutes. I’m not trying to replace the meat. I just don’t care for it, and would rather leave it out entirely. Most meatless recipes seem to use meat replacements, though.
Olivia says
Thanks for sharing that suggestion, Amanda! We’ll keep that in mind! What type of protein do you like to eat? -Olivia, MSM Team
Martina Gaughan says
How long does it take to make these meals? I am really intrigued but want to make sure it is realistic for me to use them. Also noted the slow cooker box on her website but I personally don’t love slow cooker meals 5 nights a week.
Crystal Paine says
I’d say most can be made in 10-15 minutes… at least that’s what we’re finding. It seems there is one or so each week that takes a little more time.
Diane says
It’s so easy to get into a rut. The pork tenderloin sounds amazing.
Crystal Paine says
I can’t wait to try it!
Abby says
Do you have the recipe for the Slow Cooker French Onion Chicken and the Crunchy Onion Barbecue Chicken. How do you do the fend for yourself dinners for the younger kids? Do they eat the same food or leftovers?
Crystal Paine says
Those are part of the Meal Plan box I mentioned at the beginning — all of these recipes are from that. Kierstyn usually eats cereal or leftovers or mac & cheese or something if Silas makes it, etc. The older kids often make something and offer her part of what they make. It just depends.