What are your best menu ideas for a family?
By AnnaB87
@AnnaB87 (761)
United States
April 27, 2007 2:36pm CST
I am planning to write out a menu for this coming month, and it needs to be very frugal.
There are seven people in our family, and I will need to plan all meals, breakfast, lunch, and supper.
We rarely eat snacks so that is optional.
I have three very active teenagers, plus two younger ones that are very active.
Then both my husband and I are trying to loose weight.
(are children don't have any excess weight to loose because they are so active)
So I would like economical ideas for meals for this coming month. That will fill up my kids, and not cause my husband to have any problems with his diabetes.
So if you have any ideas thanks ahead of time.
I am going to write down any ideas I find that I can use with my family,
1 person likes this
5 responses
@cher913 (25781)
• Canada
27 Apr 07
Pastas are fairly cheap (although we have 4 in our family, we are struggling financially as well) we have spaghetti, fettucene alfredo, chicken parmesean (mac n cheese is also great!!) a few times a month...
i make home made soup (great recipes on the net!!) i got a great beef/barley one that i used a soup bone for but has no meat in it....very filling
we also have a breadmaker (got it for free!!) we make our own pizza dough, breads etc (great w/ soup!)
for weekend breakfasts we have waffles - hubby doesnt like syrup, so he eats his with fruit (got a waffle maker for christmas) or muffins or bacon and eggs
1 person likes this
@AnnaB87 (761)
• United States
27 Apr 07
We have been eatting a lot of oodles of noodles, but pastas are not really good for me because I have pcos, and my husband is a newly diagnosed diabetic.
But pasta rice and potatoes are some of the cheaper things to make meals with.
I am thinking of trying to use some of the ideas from the hillbillywife website. She has a couple of grocery lists that are fairly cheap, and some menu ideas.
But it does not hurt to have a few more ideas so maybe I can make some things that everyone will like.
I have a couple of people in here that like to be on the picky side. LOL
@cutepenguin (6430)
• Canada
29 Apr 07
We try to stretch our money as far as possible, so we eat quite a few meatless meals. We also shop on our grocery store's special savings days, and are careful to find as many coupons as possible.
How about:
chili
meatballs in mushroom sauce over rice
tuna casserole
enchiladas
1 person likes this
@SaraCate (184)
• Canada
8 Jun 07
An idea I don't see mentioned yet that our family likes is black bean burritos. We use dried beans, so this is quite economical, and toppings don't have to break the bank, either - especially with tomatoes coming into season now!
We like curried lentils - and served over brown rice should help with the carbs for your hubby.
We stir-fry several times a month - heavy on veggies, so again very frugal.
We also eat ground beef at least once a week (most of the time, at least) and stock up on chicken leg quarters when we find them (in the US) for 39 or 49 cents a pound.
Will post more ideas if I think of them!
~Sara
1 person likes this
@carolscash (9491)
• United States
27 Apr 07
Stew of any kind are a good way to use left over vegetables and usually get everyone to eat them. They also are very economical. I usually make one if my stepson is coming as I know he likes it and it seems to go farther than a regular meal. I wish I could plan our meals out for a month. If so, I might be able to only go to the store once a month.
1 person likes this
@AnnaB87 (761)
• United States
27 Apr 07
I think it is better when I can plan out the menu for a month, and even better if I actually follow through with it.
It saves time and money.
I need to get another crock pot for stew though because this place gets to hot to cook a lot on the stove right now.
The air conditioner does not work all that well.
@lightningMD (5931)
• United States
28 Apr 07
I would to suggest you check out the hillbilly housewife web site. She gives menus on a budget. The one is how to feed a family on 45.00 a week. It gives the recipes and everything. I only make my menues out 1 week at a time. I check my freezer and pantry and figure what meals can be created from what we have. Then I figure out what groceries we need to complete the menus and I make out the grocery list. I spend about 30.00 a week for groceries and paper products. Sometimes 40.00 it depends on what I earn babysitting that week. We also spend about 70.00 dollars a month for the angelfood program. I try to keep it at 200.00 a month total.
