Meal Plan for the week of April 4-10

Though our eating out challenge from March is over (we failed miserably!) I find that I do so much better when I have a plan. Even though I'm home almost always I am busy teaching and taking care of things in the house and hate it when I don't really give dinner a thought until 5:00 or so. Uh-oh. Yeah, by then it's a little too late. When I make a plan in writing I usually stick to it and dinnertime is much smoother.

Here is what we will be having for dinner this week.

Monday: Chicken alfredo & salad.
Tuesday: Pork roast in the crock pot, potatoes, steamed veggies.
Wednesday: Chicken fingers & macaroni and cheese. We almost always do this on Wednesdays to get to church on time.
Thursday: Breakfast for supper. Again, we almost always do this on Thursdays because I have a lot of prep for our Friday activities.
Friday:Chicken stir fry with veggies and rice.
Saturday: BBQ pork sandwiches, (leftovers from Tues.) potato salad, corn.

Some of our favorite chicken recipes

Deviled Chicken under $5.00

1 ½ -2 lb boneless/skinless chicken breasts ($3-4 when chicken is 1.99 lb)
½ stick butter ($0.25 real butter, $1.99 lb)
3 T. mustard (free)
3 T. Worcestershire (pennies)

Cut raw chicken into bite size pieces, place in baking dish. In the microwave heat butter until melted. Stir in mustard and worcestershire. Pour over chicken in baqking dish. Cook, covered, at 450 degrees for 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Serve with rice (free) and frozen Green Giant or Birdseye veggies ($0.20 to 0.40.)


Salsa Chicken Approximately $6.50

1 ½ -2 lb boneless/skinless chicken breasts ($3-4 when chicken is 1.99 lb)
1 cup salsa (around $0.50 - 0.75)
1 cup frozen corn (Birdseye veggies, $0.10-0.20 for ½ bag)
1 bell pepper chopped, large pieces (varies depending upon the season)
½ pouch taco seasoning ($0.25)

Cut raw chicken into cubes and cook in skillet, once it starts turning white add seasoning, corn, pepper and salsa. Heat until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Serve over hot noodles and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Mmmmm.

1 box rotini or bowtie pasta ($0.69)
1 cup of shredded cheddar ($0.60)


Crock pot NO PREP Chicken Approx. $5.00

1 lb frozen chicken breasts ($2.00)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (about $0.79) I make my own from scratch-super easy!
1 can cream of chicken soup “ “ “
1 small onion, diced (pennies when bought by the bag)
1 bag frozen veggies ($0.20-0.40)

Place frozen chicken in crock pot, pour frozen veggies over chicken. Pour both cans of soup over veggies. No need to stir, cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Super easy, tastes like chicken pot pie. Yummy! I usually serve with can biscuits or crescent rolls ($0.99)

Mom!!! What's for dinner?

I'm sure this a popular question around your house, and friends are always asking us what we eat for $40-50 a week. Well, we eat the same things most families on the run eat. We will be out of the house tonight (this happens at least 2-3 nights per week) so I try to prepare something in advance and program the stove timer so that it will be ready by the time we are home. This helps me to control the urge to grab something at a drive thru, blowing my budget and Weight Watchers at the same time! This week, our menu includes:

Taco casserole w/ salad on the side (see photo) This is an Old El Paso Dinner Kit (B1G1 at Publix this week for $1.39 each) I used 1 lb of ground sirloin at a cost of approx. $2.25. Salad was B1G1 last week, probably .45 cents for 1/2 of the bag. So, we have dinner for around $4.00 tonight.

Also, this week we have: Hamburger Helper & rolls ( $3.25 approx.)
Deviled chicken w/rice and veggies ($2.00 approx.)
Smoked sausage, mashed potatoes, green beans ($1.65)
Breakfast for supper (everyone's fave $2.50)
Boston butt, baked potatoes & salad ($6.00)

So, there you have it friends...affordable, healthy, Weight Watcher approved. Most importantly, kid friendly! That is what we strive for...no complaints! ;) Please share any recipes that are inexpensive and kid friendly. I'm always needing new ideas!