Sunday, August 14, 2011

No money for groceries this week!

This is a tough time of the year for us. We usually have large chicken feed bills, my husband usually has a layoff of some sort, property taxes are due next month, and the garden is JUST starting to produce. There's no extra money for groceries this week.

Okay, no problem. I've got plenty of beef and chicken and a few cuts of pork left in the freezers. The garden is producing green beans, salad greens, zucchini, apples, a few cucumbers, a few green peppers, and a half dozen tomatoes so far. I have 4 dozen eggs in the refrigerator left from last week and one gallon of milk, along with 2 sticks of butter and a bit of mozz cheese in the freezer. The pantry holds a couple of cans of tomato sauce and 2 cans of evaporated milk, 1/2 bag russet potatoes, along with a few other things.

Let me show you what we're having for meals this week and how we can do this:


Breakfasts (choice of): spinach/onion omelets, Caprese omelets, sausage/spinach/cheddar frittata, pumpkin custard, coconut custard, hard boiled eggs & fruit (this will use some of the 4 dozen eggs, I'll use evaporated milk and coconut milk in the custards, the frittata is already made and in the freezer, I have some oranges in the refrigerator and fresh apples right from the tree)


Lunches (choice of): loaded chef salads, steak & veggie soup, leftovers (I have plenty of salad greens, green onions, tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers from the garden, a few carrots and a few stalks of celery in the refrigerator, and plenty of green beans to add to the soup)


Sunday:

dinner – herb crusted ham roast, cucumber salad, beet pickles, green beans, crustless pumpkin pie (ham from the freezer, dry herbs from my pantry, cucumbers from the garden, beet pickles from my home-canned store in the basement, green beans from my home-canned store, pumpkin and evaporated milk from my pantry)


Monday:

dinner - grilled chicken, potato/veggie packets, tossed salad (chicken from the freezer, potatoes from the pantry, fresh peppers and zucchini, salad greens and tomatoes and even a carrot from the garden)


Tuesday:

dinner - sausage-stuffed zucchini, green beans (zucchini from the garden, sausage from the freezer, canned diced tomatoes from the pantry, cheese in the freezer, green beans from the garden)


Wednesday:

dinner - sloppy joe stuffed green peppers, beet pickles, tossed salad (beef from the freezer, make my own sloppy joe sauce with a can of tomato sauce from the pantry, green peppers from the garden, beet pickles from my home-canned supply, tossed salad with items from the garden)


Thursday:

dinner - pepper steak, green beans (steak from the freezer, peppers from the garden, green beans from the garden)


Friday:

dinner - spaghetti squash w/ homemade spaghetti sauce, salad with homemade Italian dressing (spaghetti squash from the garden, homemade spaghetti sauce using ground beef from the freezer and a big can of tomato sauce from my pantry with some herbs/spices, salad from items in the garden)


Saturday:

Dinner – crock pot roast chicken, cucumber salad, beet pickles (chicken from my freezer, spices I keep on hand, cucumbers and onions from my own garden, homemade ranch dressing mix, beet pickles from my home-canned supply)



Snacks: popcorn, veggie sticks or slices (cucumber, zucchini, carrots, celery, tomatoes), oranges, apples, hard boiled eggs (we're usually not big snackers, and all of this is on hand.)


SEE??? It can be done! This is NOT a "meatless to save money" or "rice & beans" meal plan. I strongly believe in building a stockpile, no matter how small, for precisely these sort of weeks. I realize that not everyone has multiple freezers or a garden space, but even just stocking up on basic ingredients like tomatoes/sauce, evaporated milk, spices/herbs, butter and cheese [can both be frozen, along with milk] can provide quite a bit during lean times.


This is a gluten-free meal plan, BTW...except for the popcorn :-)


1 comment:

  1. You inspire me! I am a meal planner and maybe not the best stock up person.. My husband was telling me that the freezer and cupboard were looking slim and I told him.. it may be slim but I know I could come up with a full weeks meals on just what I have...I do need to restock just waiting for some good sales

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