Give me a sample non-veg'n menu for $150/wk - Page 2

[JudiAU]

We eat delicous fresh food, organic & in season, and ethically raised meat. The majority of our food is locally raised but we live in an urban environment and thus, can't raise anything ourselves.

We spend a lot on food and make it priority. And we've done so by spending a lot of money over the years. But our finances are changing somewhat and the economy stinks so we've been trying to do better. Meal planning helps us, especially with less waste. It is also easier and takes less time to prepare our meals when we have a couple of options. Even Whole Foods offers coupons and sales.

We start at the farmer's market ever week (year round in Southern California). We fill in with Trader Joes and Whole Foods. We buy most of our meat in bulk and have another freezer we use.

We do a pasta or homemade pizza once a week. One vegetarian meal, One mostly vegetarian meal, one or two fish, one freezer meal, and one or two poultry or meat. So, non-veg meals pretty often but in fairly small amounts. We always will split a steak, etc.

This week...

Sunday - almost always fish/shellfish because there is acquaculture van + a fisherwoman at our market

Clam Chowder with potatoes and bacon (fresh clams are farm raised under good conditions, pork is pastured, potatoes are local, but the meal is not expensive)

Monday

Soft omlette with fresh morels, green garlic, and cave-aged gruyere; Herb Salad (Lovely meal. One expensive ingredient (morels are $30/pd) but I only need $10 for all of us. This isn't cheap, per se, but it isn't expensive to me)

Tuesday
Cauliflower, spinach, and chickpeas with Indian spices; Brown Rice and Yogurt

Wednesday
Duck (salted and air dried for two days) on the smoker
Farro with fresh favas, mint, parsley, and some sort of shaved cheese

Thursday
Big gorgeous pastured pork chops, 2 for the 3 of us
Sprouted Broccoli saute
Chocolate pudding!

Friday
Something from the freezer, probably chicken pot pie with an all butter pie crust topping and peas; maybe soup from the soup swap last week with cheesy toasts

Saturday
Sloppy Joes with Fabulous Buttery Buns from a locally bakery (day old and frozen). Herb Salad.
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/m...py-joes-058069

Usually we cook something big on Saturday, both in a time consuming way and in triplicate. This way we always have some good homecooked goodies after a long day. We love our foodsaver. But this Saturday will be busy so we won't.

Lunch is usually some type of leftovers for SAHD DH and 22m DS. If there is enough I do too. Breakfast is almost always oatmeal (made in big batches and frozen) or a pb&j as I walk out the door or cheap organic raisen bran from TJs.

[jmmom]

Haven't read the replies and don't have a ton of time, but one way we keep our budget down is by relying often on eggs (pastured, so not cheap at $7 here in CA, but still less than meat), both at breakfast and sometimes at dinner. A simple vegetable soup can often be filled out by poaching an egg in the broth.

[jmmom]

Just wanted to say, after I saw that your dh doesn't eat eggs, don't forget that breakfast and lunch are just as if not more important than dinner. The other 3 of you can do eggs at breakfast and make a big dent in your protein needs. My ds eats oatmeal and yogurt at lunch - very hearty. Make sure you're not buying value-added snacks - but nuts instead of nut bars, fruit instead of fruit wraps, etc. Eat cheese for a snack to get more protein. All of that stuff adds up at lot!

[bea3]

I usually just read threads, but I wanted to say a HUGE thanks to all of you for great cost cutting ideas that still support healthy organic eating!

[greenmansions]

Originally Posted by jmmom

Just wanted to say, after I saw that your dh doesn't eat eggs, don't forget that breakfast and lunch are just as if not more important than dinner. The other 3 of you can do eggs at breakfast and make a big dent in your protein needs. My ds eats oatmeal and yogurt at lunch - very hearty. Make sure you're not buying value-added snacks - but nuts instead of nut bars, fruit instead of fruit wraps, etc. Eat cheese for a snack to get more protein. All of that stuff adds up at lot!

I am noticing that snacks are an issue for us. My kids love crackers, veggie booty and all that kind of stuff. I have cut back a bit, but they aren't thrilled with the replacements I've offered. Yet. I am going to keep at it, because I do see this as an area of our grocery budget where spending can go down.

Dinners still end up being pricey, but the past few weeks I have made at least one dish per week that provides lots of leftovers - turkey sloppy joes, spaghetti sauce and the like. We still really like the single grilled piece of meat/fish plus steamed veggies type of meal, but I'm cutting back on how many nights a week we do that. I am also taking a look at the meat/fish portion sizes and cutting back by 2 ounces from what we're used to, with a 4 ounce minimum portion size. I think that will help our waistlines too...

JudiAU, your menu sounds particularly fabulous. We have also started having a weekly pizza night. That is very cost effective for us, and there are always leftovers for lunch the next day.

Thanks for all the great ideas mamas. This thread has been very helpful for me.