Comments on: A Cheap Family Menu For Less Than $40.00

By: Family of 5+

Family of 5+ — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 17:01:52 +0000

I felt that ALL ingredients should be included in your pricing. Even if you already had them, you had to purchase them so that should be included….very misleading. Other than that, this is a great site and in the last two weeks I have already used 4 of your dinner recipes. Thanks!

By: Poor pricing information

Poor pricing information — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:08:40 +0000

Good list, but I’m mildly put off that you consistently omitted the price of significant ingredients of the meals because you already had them present.
If you had more of an ingredient to use from a previous recipe during the week it would be acceptable, but considering this all of these meals would likely cost at least 2x what you listed.

By: wynee hayes

wynee hayes — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:22:27 +0000

i am enjoying the meals and the way you put prices on the products . GREAT JOB . I am putting this in my favorites. thanks again .

By: Alison

Alison — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:58:29 +0000

Great use of the pantry items! This post inspired me to post my own plan. This is my menu/shopping list for a family of four for a week. I didn’t include recipes but I’ll post them later if there’s interest.The shopping list is included below each item, but not all of the same items are grouped together. I don’t how much it all costs yet, but the ingredients are all cheap and I think it’s a pretty well-balanced menu. Breakfast and lunch are about the same every day, but there’s variety in the dinners.

Breakfast:
Pancakes:
6 cups quick oats
10 cups flour
10 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 ½ cups dry milk
4 ½ tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp cinnamon
25 tsp salt
¾ tsp cream of tartar
4 2/3 c applesauce
2 ½ c oil
Orange Julius:
8 c. orange juice
8 c. milk
1 c. sugar
4 tsp vanilla
28 bananas (4/day)
Lunch:
Soup and euro bread
Bread:
12 c flour
5 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
Extra flour or a little cornmeal for dusting
Soup:
Bean Chili:

2 cans black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 jar salsa
1 can tomato sauce
1 to 2 tsp cumin
1 can pinto beans
2 zucchini shredded
2 can chicken broth
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. chili powder

Cheesy Potato soup:
8 potatoes
1/2 c. flour
12 slices American cheese
4 chicken bouillon cubes
4 c. milk
Salt to taste

Dinner:
Noodle stir fry with rotisserie chicken
Rotisserie chicken
1/2 lb spaghetti
Soy sauce
Oil
Frozen veggies
Hawaiian haystacks with leftover chicken
1 lb white rice (cook all, but save ½ for tomorrow)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can crushed pineapple
Shredded cheese to garnish
Fried rice and salad
Leftover rice
butter
Frozen veggies
Salad and dressing (save 1/2 for another dinner)
Spaghetti, vegetables, and French bread
½ lb spaghetti
Fresh or frozen veggies of choice
1 loaf French bread (save ½ for tomorrow)
butter
French bread pizza and leftover salad
Pizza sauce
Shredded cheese
Pizza toppings
Leftover salad and dressing
Leftover French bread
No peek stew
1 lb stew meat
1 pkg onion soup mix
4-6 potatoes
1 bag baby carrots
1 can green beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Leftover stew
Snacks:
Popcorn
Popcorn kernels
Oil
Something to pop it with
peanut butter balls (from southernplate.com)
6 c quick oats
2 c honey or corn syrup
5 c dry milk
3 c creamy peanut butter
Wax paper and cookie sheets

By: Stevie

Stevie — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:42:02 +0000

Hi! I just wanted to say that I am a college student with other college roommates. Your weekly meal plans were so helpful. Do you have a website?

By: hungry family

hungry family — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:31:28 +0000

I did find this page helpful however I do agree that the total cost should include the entire ingredients. Otherwise, the title is very misleading. Also I would be interested in knowing how long ago this was posted or your location due to the pricing. The cost of food has went up so much, that there would be no way I could purchase the same foods you did at the same price today. Again could have been posted a while back or a different geographical area with lower prices maybe???
Again I do like the general idea of the page and found it to be a helpful source in creating cheaper meals.
Thank you

By: Brenda

Brenda — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 16:37:09 +0000

I was just wondering what a month of meals would look like for you….a monthly grocery list. I try to shop weekly and we too are on a budget. I’m hoping seeing a monthly plan might help me see where I could cut back some more and yet not feel it..if that makes sense.

By: houston land clearing

houston land clearing — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 15:00:54 +0000

The meals don’t have to be the same but its just the idea that I am trying to get out. I wanted people to see how easy it can be to set a food budget and prepare cheap meals.

By: tucson implants

tucson implants — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 05:21:09 +0000

Menus and ideas are a great addition to my kitchen, my husband is very happy, its just because of you. thanks a lot.

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:42:40 +0000

I mad a delicious steak and lobster meal with garlic roasted potatoes to feed a family of 6 for only $2.99. I already had the steak, lobster, potatoes, garlic and spices, so I only had to buy a pound of butter ($2.99) to create the whole meal.
Honestly, as good as these ideas may be, if you already had some or most of the ingredients you still have to include their cost in the total. Every meal above depends on having ingredients already on hand, usually the most expensive ones.