Healthy Grocery List for Family of 4 on a Budget #4

This week’s meal plan is great for fall and wintertime! It utilizes the oven a good amount for dinners so it may not be the best for super-hot summer nights.

This is a great cheap and healthy meal plan that I like to use when there is not a lot on sale in the weekly sales flyers. I usually have a lot of the ingredients on hand in the pantry or the freezer, but if you are starting with nothing you can easily make this meal plan for less than $100.

Cheap Meal Plan for the Week

Breakfasts

Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats
Easy Sausage Muffins (1cup of Biscuit Mix, 1 lb of sausage, 4 eggs, 1 cup of cheese)
Scrambled Eggs with Biscuits and applesauce

Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats– I love overnight oats because they make eating breakfast so easy and quick. I like to put 1/2 cup of oats at the bottom of mason jars, and then add my toppings. In this case I will add sliced bananas and a few chocolate chips. Last, I add milk until the oats and filling are just covered. This is so easy to knock out the night before. In the morning you can serve them cold, and they taste like a parfait. Or you can warm them in the microwave. (Just take them out of the jar first before you microwave)

Easy Sausage Muffins – Like seriously easy and totally fine to make the night before. If I already have the oven on for dinner, I will go ahead and cook my pound of ground sausage. After I drain it, I will set aside to cool a little. Once the meat is not so hot, I will add biscuit mix, 4 eggs, and cheese. Simply stir to mix all the ingredients and then portion it out into a greased muffin tin. If you have toddlers, you may want to make smaller but more muffins. If it is for adults, you can go for bigger portions. Depending on the size you make, I usually bake these at 350F for about 20-30 minutes. I keep an eye on them until they are golden brown. Once cooked, I store them in an airtight Tupperware container in the fridge. In the morning I throw them in the microwave for 30 seconds and they are a huge hit! They even work for breakfast on the go.

Lunches

Pepperoni Pizza Quesadillas
Salad with Hard Boiled Eggs x2
Leftover Chicken & Salad Wraps
Dinner Leftovers

Pepperoni Pizza Quesadillas are a quick and easy lunch for adults and toddlers. I use a little bit of leftover tomato sauce, a little mozzarella cheese, and a few pepperonis in a flour tortilla. I then lightly sauté these in a pan or even just put in the microwave for 15 seconds/ turn and another 10 seconds. (my youngest is not a fan of the sautéed version but likes the microwave version. These quesadillas remind me of pizza rolls so they count as a snack or a lunch!

Chicken and Salad Wraps – using a little leftover chicken, I dice it into small chunks. I then use a tortilla and start with a generous amount of chopped lettuce, tomato, and cucumber. Then top with chicken and a little ranch dressing. Super easy and I feel like I am eating healthy!

Dinners

Eggroll in a Bowl (1 lb ground turkey, 1/2 bag of coleslaw mix, soy sauce)
Kielbasa Sausage, Potato, Squash Sheet Pan Bake
Baked Chicken Thighs, Soy Sauce Rice, and California Blend Vegetables
Chicken Parmesan Pasta (chicken breasts, pasta, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, breadcrumbs) with side salad
BBQ Chicken Wraps with Coleslaw (1/2 bag of coleslaw mix)
Cheesy Shepherd’s Pie (ground turkey, mash potatoes, tomato sauce, frozen peas and cheese) with Biscuits

Eggroll in a Bowl– this is one of my favorite one dish meals! I love to just brown my ground turkey meat, and once cooked I add my half of my coleslaw mix. You can use regular cabbage and cut it yourself, but the precut kind is just super easy. Sometimes I even find a broccoli slaw mix on sale and it is super yummy and a little different from the cabbage version. Once the slaw mix cooks down, I like to add a teaspoon of sugar and soy sauce. This makes the flavor stand out. If you have sesame oil, you can add a little to the end it is really tasty. You can also serve this with white rice or brown rice if you like.

Kielbasa, Potato, and Squash Bake -Our house gets really busy in the evenings, so I love a super easy meal. I chop the potatoes, sausage, and squash into 1/2 inch chunks. Then mix the chopped items with some vegetable oil and seasoning. I usually use a salt free seasoning mix, or a combo of pepper and garlic powder. Put all the items on a sheet pan and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Once everything is cooked you can top with a little shredded cheese or serve as is. my kids love this meal with a dollop of sour cream on top!

Chicken Thighs & Soy Sauce Rice– Similar to the Kielbasa bake, I am all about simple. I like to coat the chicken thighs with a little oil and put on some seasoning like a Grill Mates or Garlic and Herb Mix. Depending on the size of the chicken thighs, I can usually bake these in a 400F oven for about 30 minutes. For the Soy Sauce rice, I make basic rice with 1 cup white and 2 cups water. If I have any extra vegetables like onions, celery, or carrots I may throw those in as well. I usually add 1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce for flavor to my water amount.

Chicken Parmesan Pasta – On the night that I am baking the chicken thighs, I will usually go ahead and bake my chicken as well. This way it is ready to go for lunch salad wraps, this pasta, and the BBQ wraps. This casserole uses one 16oz box of pasta, but you can also make a half batch. I like to boil my pasta, then put it directly in a casserole pan. Stir in 1/2 the tomato sauce, add in some mozzarella cheese and some chopped chicken. Once everything is mixed together, I will lightly top it with the breadcrumbs. If your tomato sauce is not super great you can also add in some Italian seasoning and garlic powder to spice it up. I will then bake this casserole for about 20 minutes in a 350F oven to get everything nice and melty. I will usually serve this with a side salad or any other leftover vegetables I have on hand.

BBQ Chicken Wraps – This dish will use the other half of the coleslaw mix and a some of the baked chicken breasts. I like to mix my diced chicken with a little BBQ sauce and cheese inside the tortilla. If you wrap it nice and neat like an eggroll you can sauté it in a pan for a nice crunchy shell. I will use the coleslaw mix to actually make coleslaw for a side dish. If you don’t have coleslaw dressing, you can also make your own with mayonnaise and lemon juice with seasonings.

Cheesy Shepherd’s Pie – My kids are not huge fans of pie crusts, so I usually just make this in a casserole or lasagna pan without the crust, but if you like crust you can definitely do it more pie style. I start by browning my ground turkey and while it is in the pan, I will add 1/4 of my tomato sauce and the frozen peas. While my meat is browning, I will boil some chopped potatoes to make super simple mashed potatoes with butter and sour cream. I think the potatoes work best if they are not super stiff but also not super runny. Once my mashed potatoes are ready, I will put the meat mixture in my pan and spread it out to cover. Then I will use a spoon to drop the mash potatoes on top. I try to get it smoothed out all the way, but this doesn’t always work out as planned. Then I will top the mash potatoes with shredded cheddar cheese and bake for 20 minutes in the oven. Since the oven is on and we have biscuit mix, I will go ahead and make some biscuits to go with this meal. I usually make extra biscuits, so I have some for breakfast to go with scrambled eggs!

Snacks

Bananas
Celery with Ranch or Peanut Butter
Homemade Granola Bars (peanut butter, quick oats, and chocolate chips)
Applesauce

I recently came across this super easy formula for making granola bars at home! All you need is 2 cups quick oats, 1 cup of peanut butter, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, and a little vanilla extract & a pinch of salt. If you have pancake syrup or honey you can use those, but I have used brown sugar and it works just as well. Mix all the ingredients together and if you notice that your mix is a little too wet, just add more oats. If the mix is too dry you can add more peanut butter. I then will press the mixture onto parchment paper on a sheet and let it chill in the fridge for an hour. After that I will cut them into squares or bars and store them in the fridge in an airtight container. These are not only a great snack but can work for breakfast too. I love the versatility of this formula and regularly look through my pantry for other ingredients like nuts or dried fruit to use.

Sweet Treat

Peach Cobbler (using biscuit mix and canned peaches)

Since we have biscuit mix in the house, let’s make a peach cobbler! This is similar to a dump cake, where you milk together 1 cup biscuit mix, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup melted butter, and 1 cup of sugar. You can then add any flavoring you like such as cinnamon or nutmeg. I then put the cobbler mix on the bottom of a greased pan and then top it off with my canned peaches. You can drain the peaches fully or leave about half the juice for a little more sweetness. I cook my cobbler for about 50-60 minutes in a 375F oven until golden brown. You can eat this plain or top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!

Grocery List for the Week

This is all the fresh vegetables and fruits we need for the week.

Produce Items	Have on Hand?
6 bananas
Celery
Coleslaw Mix
Potatoes
Yellow Squash
Cucumber
Roma Tomato x4
Total: (7 items)

This is all the meats that we will need from the deli and meat counter.

Deli & Meat Items	Have on Hand?
1lb sausage
Pepperoni
2lb ground turkey
Kielbasa Style Sausage
Chicken Thighs
Chicken Breasts
Total: (6 items)

This is all the dry goods and shelf stable items that we need for our meal plan.

Dry Goods Items	Have on Hand?
Quick Oats
Chocolate Chips
Biscuit Mix
Flour Tortillas
Tomato Sauce
Ranch Dressing
Peanut Butter
Soy sauce
White Rice
Pasta
Breadcrumbs
BBQ sauce
salad dressing for coleslaw
Canned peaches
Applesauce
Total: (15 items)

These are the frozen items needed for this week’s meal plan.

Frozen Items	Have on Hand?
California Blend Vegetables
Frozen Peas
Total: (2 items)

These are all the dairy items needed like milk and cheeses.

Dairy Items	Have on Hand?
Eggs
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2% milk
Total: (4 items)

Under $100 Meal Plan

I have priced out this meal plan at multiple stores, and at most places it typically runs under $100. If you have some of the items like the dry goods already in your pantry, you can spend even less!

Store	Total
Sprouts (Pheonix, AZ)	$124.22
Target (Phoenix, AZ)	$78.61
Albertsons (Shreveport, LA)	$94.38
Kroger (Shreveport, LA)	$81.93
Meijer (Louisville, KY)	$69.94
Walmart (Louisville, KY)	$70.46
Target (Milwaukee, WI)	$89.56
Meijer (Milwaukee, WI)	$82.37
Walmart (Cleveland, TN)	$77.88
Food City (Cleveland, TN)	$94.09
Price Chopper (Southington, CT)	$104.82
Stop & Shop (Southington, CT)	$91.76
Fred Meyer (Portland, OR)	$95.61
QFC (Portland, OR)	$105.30
Safeway (Bakersfield, CA)	$123.35
FoodMaxx (Bakersfield, CA)	$103.07
Food Lion (Charlotte, NC)	$81.86
Lidl (Charlotte, NC)	$126.80
Aldi (Lancaster, PA)	$90.98
Giant (Lancaster, PA)	$96.70
Total Stores: 20	Average Total: $94.18