4 Under $40 for 30 Sept 2012

Confession – I got a bit ambitious with my plans for this week. Now, my totals for the meals as I had planned is still only $47.55, but that is not less than 4 for $40 so I'm going to take a do-over and change the schedule. The ribs have to go. Though on sale, the $11.22/rack and sides was just more than this budget could handle.

Monday
Stay with the Shepherd's Pie today. It will be a super warming meal on this yucky, rainy day we've had. If you are still eating through the 10 lb bag of potatoes from 2 weeks ago you've brought your total even lower. If not, go for the 5# bag of golden potatoes for $2.50 and save the rest for an amazing Leek and Potato Soup next week.

Tuesday
My family loves chicken legs and though I don't love the way they taste I LOVE the way they are often priced. The $0.98/lb price is on the smaller packages so you'll probably need 2. And with this recipe you have a (nearly) 1 dish meal. (We leave mushrooms out of recipes around here so they were not included in my pricing.) If you have rice and cream of mushroom soup in your stash then you save money. If not, go for the Success Rice. At $1.78/box it's a steal and your rice will be finished and fluffy in under 10 minutes. Success Rice also makes a brown rice if you want to up the health/fiber factor. Laura Lynn Cream of . . . Soups are priced at $0.75 ea so stock up on these while you can.

Wednesday
!!Church!!

Thursday
Salmon and Thai Rice Noodles is tonight's dish. Now, if your family doesn't love Asian cuisine then you might want to use some of your extra ground beef and go for the Sloppy Joe's or Chili. Use what should be in your pantry from the last couple of weeks and you eat for the cost of a pound of beef only - $2.48lb this week! Otherwise here is a fabulously delicious and healthy recipe with extra veggies and it's one of my favorites –
Prepare 1 box of Thai Rice Noodles ($2.38) per box directions. Sprinkle with sesame oil so they won't be sticky and set aside.
In a small bowl wisk together 4T honey and 4T soy sauce. Put 1 lb salmon filet ($4.98) into dish with honey and soy sauce, flip to coat and let sit 5 min. Broil in an oiled baking dish for 6-7 min. Retain remaining sauce.
In a large skillet over med/high heat toast 2T sesame seeds until golden brown. (Watch closely!) Place into separate bowl. Into skillet place 2T coconut oil, 6 sliced green onions ($1), 2 chopped red bell peppers ($3) and 2 cups spinach ($2.84). Saute 3-4 min. Add noodles and remaining honey/soy sauce. Toss until heated through. Serve with salmon sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Like I said, this is a favorite and super yummy. Let me know what you think. Even if you don't go with the noodles and veggies the simple honey/soy sauce is great for a quick salmon broil.

Friday
Tonight, take advantage of the DiGiorno Advantage Deal and eat for $4.98. You can use some of the spinach you didn't use last night and serve the pizza with a salad or just eat the pizza alone. I noticed that Jell-O and Jell-O puddings are on sale for ($0.75) so grab a box and even have dessert.

 
Conclusion
While I am sorely disappointed about the ribs I'll be more careful next time. At only $7 over budget I was tempted to go for it anyway, but a $40 budget is a $40 budget. Besides, if you decide to do the salmon and need new pantry staples like Sesame Oil or Coconut Oil those will run you from about $6 to $9 per bottle/jar. Soy sauce is on sale in several different brands/sizes. $1.88 for 10 oz was the best deal I found. Don't miss out on the ground beef sale and buy extra before it goes back up to over $3/lb. (Ew.)
Below is the Grocery List. Enjoy!

 
~Megan

Meat	Per Lb Price	Quantity	Total
Ground Beef	$2.48	1#	$2.48
Salmon	$4.98	1#	$4.98
Chicken Legs	$0.98	3#	$2.94
Produce	Price	Quantity
Gold Potatoes	$2.50	5#	$2.50
Onions	$1.50	3#	$1.50
Green Onions	$1.00	2	$2.00
Red Bell Peppers	$3.00	2	$3.00
Fresh Express Spinach	$2.84	1	$2.84
Dairy	Price	Quantity
LL Sour Cream	$1.34	1	$1.33
LL Cheese	$1.67	2	$3.34
Freezer
DiGiorno Pizza	$4.48	1	$4.48
Grocery	Price	Quantity
DelMonte Green Beans	$0.70	1	$0.70
LL Cream of . . . Soup	$0.75	1	$0.75
Success Rice	$1.78	1	$1.78
Thai Rice Noodles	$2.38	1	$2.38
Kraft BBQ Sauce	$0.98	1	$0.98
Grand Total			$37.98

This week at Ingles . . .

Dinner time is a stressor for me. I find that as 4:30 rolls around around every day, I am in a panic, searching my kitchen for something "appropriate" to feed my family. If I am not prepared then I succumb to the delicacies of corn dogs and peanut butter sandwiches. In my effort to become more disciplined I am undertaking renovations of family dinner time. Now, I used to be a couponer, but since my coupon buddy went back to work full-time over a year ago, couponing has lost it's joy and become a burden for me. However, I am still a money-saving-mama and find that if I spend some quality time on Sunday night with the Ingles' sale paper I am in a great position to save money AND provide my family a much more healthy dinner than would otherwise be the case.

So, here's the Hatchett Family Meal Plan for this week:

Monday - Spaghetti 

You know how to do this. Shake it up by using pasta in a fun or different shape.
Barilla pasta = 4/$5
Classico Sauce = 2/$4
Fresh Express Salad = 2/$4
-without bread your total meal for a family of 4 or 5 is $5.25. That's barely a dollar per person!

Tuesday - Mexican Chicken 

Pop your chicken breasts in the your crock, cover them with the Rotel and cook until done. Just make sure you carefully remove the chicken when complete to make sure there are no small bones that come dislodged and remain in your chicken.
Bone-in-Breast = $0.98/lb or about $2.94 for 3 lbs.
Rotel Tomatoes = 10/$10
Zatarain's Rice (Spanish) = 10/$10
-before adding in tortillas this meal comes to $4.94!

Wednesday - 

Thank Goodness for Wednesday night meals at church. This is a blessing to Mom's everywhere. If your kiddos are not involved in a Wednesday night children's program then the mere fact that most serve dinner is reason enough to get them there!! One day I will write "An Ode to the Wednesday Night Meal." Thank you.

Thursday - Pork Chops

This one is the budget buster for the week, but in my house Thursday is usually the night I can go all-out in the kitchen. I try to do my Beloved a big favor and fix him something really nice. I'll most likely do this one in the crock as well. Dust chops with a mesquite seasoning and put into the crock. Add potatoes and onions and cook until done. Fresh veggies on the side and VOILA!
Chops = $2.98/lb or $8.94 for 3 lbs.
McCormick Seasoning Packets = 10/$10
Potatoes = 10 lbs for $2.98 is about $0.90 for this meal
Onions = $0.78 per lb and about $1.56 for this meal
Bird's Eye Steam Fresh Veggie = 5/$10
Total for this meal is $14.40. A bit more than I like to spend for the other meals during the week, but still a good sight less than what we'd get a heart-attack in a bag for elsewhere. And even though you can steam these veggies in the bag, I generally opt for a glass bowl in the microwave or a quick spin on the stove-top. Fewer creepy plastic parts sealed into my otherwise healthy veggies that way.

Friday - Football Night Manwich

My crew likes to go to the local high school football games (and pray) so I try to have something quick and easy to clean. Thankfully, my Beloved likes Manwich so this is a super easy choice for us.
Manwich = 10/$10
LL Pretzles = 10/$10
Grapes = $1.68/lb so about $3.36
Buns and ground beef were not listed in the paper this week so I'll have to price them in a bit, but thus far you're looking at $5.36. Choose a fruit other than grapes and you may be looking at less. Either way, this price still won't be near Thursday night's total.

If you go into Ingles with only this plan today, you'll spend less than $40 for 4 nights of food for your family. Not too shabby on the pocket book and you aren't slacking in the substance of meals here either. 

LUNCHES

I am looking at the Progresso 10/$10 soups and deli turkey on sale for $4.98/lb as likely lunch candidates this week along with left overs. With an extra bag of salad you can turn Tuesday's chicken into a spicy lunch salad for Wednesday. There are also good deals on cheese sticks and apples (both organic and non) to keep on hand for snack time.

OTHER
There are some GREAT 10/$10 deals at Ingles this week so also look at stocking up while there. I like to keep a stash of the McCormick seasoning packets for chili and pot roast and whatever else I see they are offering. (I love little helps that make my job easy.) My baseball players are always in need of sunflower seeds and at 10/$10 I'll be stocking up on those this week too. It's a good time to add extra spaghetti fixings to the pantry stash for a quick meal in another week or so. And I always look for the family deals in the meat department. It's often much cheaper to buy several pounds of ground beef or a big package of chicken legs (organic is on sale too and I will be buying to freeze until next week) than smaller servings. Better to divide and freeze than spend your extra money on something as unexciting as dead animals. ;o)

Have a Wonderful Week!
Megan
*Follow the Ingles link to their weekly sale page and make/print your list from there.

UPDATE: Including the $11 worth of ground beef, my meal total this week was $40.95 (including tax - even though I'm still not sure how grocery tax works). That just leaves one problem - the other $100 I spent NOT on meals for this week! How on earth did that happen?!?! LOL The story of my life.