Healthy Grocery List Week #12 (Quick, Healthy and Cheap for a Family!)

It seems like the end of the school year always means lots of projects, weeknight events, and not a lot of time for cooking. This could make us more likely to break our grocery budget by eating out or buying lots of convenience foods for dinner.

I am not against convenience foods, but they typically are not cheap and not healthy. Those are my two big requirements for our meal plans, so let me show you a full week of meals for a busy family on a low budget!

Weekly Meal Ideas for Families

Cooking for families, especially ones with small children can be difficult. So many of us deal with picky toddlers and trying to serve healthy meals on a budget. My kids are not always big fans of trying new foods, so I totally get the frustration.

I still try to implement new recipes and ideas so that way we are not eating the exact same thing every week. At meals, I ask the kids if this is something they would like to have again, and it helps me remember to add it to our rotation of meals.

Here is our family meal plan of breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and a sweet treat for a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 young kids).

Breakfasts

Egg & Bacon Breakfast Burritos with Orange Slices
Muffins, Yogurt, & Diced Pears
Banana Smoothies and Scrambled Eggs
Banana Raisin Pancakes with Pancake Syrup and Diced Pears

Egg & Bacon Breakfast Burritos– are an easy breakfast that can be portable if needed. Since we will use the bacon for lunches as well, I will g ahead and bake all the bacon in the package in the oven at one time. I like to put my cooled bacon on paper towels in a Tupperware so that they don’t stick together, and I can pull out cooked bacon whenever needed. For the burritos, I simply scramble the eggs, maybe add a little cheese on top and roll in a tortilla. My kids don’t always want to eat a whole breakfast burrito, so I will cut it in half and give each half with some sliced oranges.

Muffins, Yogurt, & Diced Pears– Not every morning runs smoothly, so I like to have easy options for breakfast. I like to use the super cheap muffin mixes that just need milk or water and then I add my secret ingredient: a smashed banana. It doesn’t really matter the flavor you choose, but I perfer a strawberry or blueberry muffin mix. I bake the muffins in a mini muffin pan, and most muffin mixes will make about 20 mini muffins. I like to pull them from the oven when the edges get nice and golden brown, and the banana helps keep them soft and moist. I will put the muffins in a Ziploc bag so I can pull out a few and serve them with some yogurt and a canned fruit like diced pears. Super quick to get this meal on the table!

Banana Smoothies and Scrambled Eggs– my kids have really started to like smoothies for breakfast especially when I serve them with a straw. Go figure that using a straw was all it takes to get them to try something new. I make a simple smoothie with a little yogurt, milk, ice, and a banana in the blender. I use a ninja bullet blend that is super quick and easy. I usually will give each kid some scrambled eggs to go with the banana smoothie as well.

Banana Raisin Pancakes– I can’t remember exactly where I saw this easy recipe for pancakes, but I believe it was around the time my oldest son was starting baby led weaning. This recipe is so easy and really just calls for 1 smashed banana, 1 egg, and a dash of vanilla extract. Using a fork, I mix it all together with a sprinkle of raisins and make pancakes as normal. It sounds weird but it actually tastes really good and has more protein than just a regular pancake. This mix usually makes 2 medium pancakes, so I do as many times as needed for the whole family. We serve this is a little butter, pancake syrup, and some fruit like diced pears on the side.

Lunches

Sloppy Joe & Cheese Taquitos with sour cream
BLT wraps
Leftovers from Dinners

Sloppy Joe & Cheese Taquitos– I am all about changing leftovers into other meals to keep us from getting burned out of a meal. My new favorite leftover Sloppy Joe meat idea is to make taquitos! Simply put a little meat on the center of a tortilla, top with cheese, and roll into a taquito. I bake these in the oven for about 15 minutes to get the cheese all bubbly and the tortilla crisp, then serve with sour cream to dip in! (For the littles, I cut the taquito in half for easier holding.)

BLT wraps– whenever bacon is around, I always think of BLTs so this time well will make wraps. I like to start with a thin layer of mayonnaise on my tortilla and then top with a good handful of chopped lettuce, diced tomato, and crumbled bacon. I have also use a little ranch dressing if I have it on hand. This satisfies my BLT craving and is really filling. (If we have any leftover black beans from the burrito bowls, I will go ahead and add those to my wraps for more protein.)

Leftovers from Dinners– this week will have a bit of leftovers from dinners, so I will portion them out into lunch plates at night, so they can be taken to work or just reheated at home.

Dinners

Sloppy Joes with Carrot Salad and Homemade Potato Wedges
Tuna Casserole with Green Peas
Ground Beef Burrito Bowls with Rice, served with (lettuce, tomato, black beans, sour cream, & cheddar cheese)
Smoke Sausage Foil Packs with carrots, potatoes, & onion
Mississippi Chicken in the Crockpot served over white rice with Brussell Sprouts
One Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta with Garlic Bread & Green Beans

Sloppy Joes with Carrot Salad and Homemade Potato Wedges– I know most people eat Sloppy Joe’s like sandwiches, but my family has always eaten more like an open face sandwich. I am not a huge fan of Manwich so I prefer to make my own Sloppy Joe mix and it is super easy. I start with sauteing diced onions until cooked, then add 1/2 a pound of ground beef. Once everything is cooked, I add in a little brown sugar, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce.

For the carrot salad, I like to make this ahead of time so it can chill in the fridge for a while before eating. I put a few carrots in my food processor but you can also grate your carrots for the salad. For the dressing, I mix mayonnaise, salt, pepper, a squeeze of half an orange since we already have those this week, and some raisins.

The potato wedges are a huge hit at my house and are super simple. I wash and cut my potatoes into wedges and then drizzle with vegetable oil and seasonings like an Italian Blend that we are going to buy. These bake for about 30-40 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees.

Tuna Casserole with Green Peas– This is one of the few casseroles that my kids like, and it is really easy to make on a busy night. I like to go ahead and boil half a bag of egg noodles until tender. In a bowl, I combine 1 can of tuna that has been drained and rinsed, with a can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 bag of frozen peas, and about 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Once this is fully combined, I mix in the cooked noodles and pour it into a baking or casserole dish. I like to top it with some breadcrumbs and you can add more cheese on top if you like as well. I bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees until golden brown.

Ground Beef Burrito Bowls with Rice– My husband and I have really gotten into rice bowls lately and they are just so yummy. For this bowl, we start making basic white rice. I like to make smaller amounts so we don’t have a ton of rice so we use 3/4 cup dry rice to 1 1/2 cups of water. Then we take 1/2 pound of ground beef and cook till brown. We usually add about 1/2 a pack of taco seasoning, you can add more if you like. When it comes time to assemble the bowls, we start with the rice, add ground beef, then top with chopped lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and canned black beans. (We like to rinse the black beans before using, and any leftover beans can be used for lunches as well.

(Pro Tip: If you want to make this meal even faster, you can cook the ground beef all at once for the Sloppy Joes and the Burrito bowls. It super easy to cook it all in one pan, and then pull-out half of the cooked beef, so the next meal just needs seasonings added in.)

Smoke Sausage Foil Packs– my son recently had these at his grandmother’s house and fell in love with them, so we have started making them at home. These are super simple and very versatile. We like to cut our smoked sausage into nice 1-2 inch bites, slice potatoes into 1/4-inch-thick discs or chunks, and rough chop the onions and carrots. There is no wrong way to chop up your vegetables, so do it how you want. I try to keep the cuts thinner, so it cooks faster. I pour all my stuff in a large bowl, and drizzle with vegetable oil and season them with garlic, salt, and pepper. Then you put everything in one large foil pack or make a smaller pack for each person. My husband and I like things spicy, so we usually make a large spicy packet with jalapenos and make a smaller non spicy packet for the kids. I place the packets on a baking sheet and bake for about 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees. The best part is the clean-up is a breeze!

Mississippi Chicken in the Crockpot- I love the mississippi flavor but sometimes roasts can be a little too expensive, so using chicken breasts is a great substitute. For a busy night ahead, I will put 2-3 chicken breasts in the crockpot with a whole stick of butter, top the whole thing with a pack of Au Jus, a pack of Ranch Seasoning, and a handful of pepperoncini peppers. You can add some pepperoncini juice if you like, but you can skip that part. I will set my crockpot to low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. The result is chicken that pulls apart easily and have a super yummy gravy that goes great over basic white rice. We usually serve this with an easy steam in the bag vegetable like Brussel sprouts.

One Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta– If you haven’t noticed, I love super simple but yummy meals! For this next dinner, we will start with our remaining chicken breasts that i cut into nice 1-inch pieces. I like to sauté these in a large pan until fully cooked. Then we can add 1 can of tomato sauce, some Italian seasoning, the rest of our bag of egg noodles, and just enough water to make sure the noodles are covered. I let this simmer for about 20 minutes until the noodles are fully cooked. When nice and tender, I add the shredded mozzarella and some breadcrumbs to the top and cover until melted. (You can make this with any noodles you want, but we are using egg noodles since we have half a bag left over from another night.)

We should have about 4 hamburger buns leftover from Sloppy Joe night, so we are going to make garlic bread! We will also serve with an easy can of vegetables like green beans.

Snacks

Orange Slices
Popcorn
Yogurt
Diced Pears

Sweet Treat

Easy Maple-ish Raisin Cookies (uses pancake syrup)

I am a huge fan of using very basic staple ingredients to make a sweet treat. Since we have raisins, pancake syrup, brown sugar, and butter on hand, let’s make cookies! I found this basic recipe from AllRecipes that uses all-purpose flour, baking soda, white sugar, and an egg. We will use pancake syrup instead of real maple syrup. Since we have the raisins on hand, I will fold them into the batter at around step 3, and then bake until golden.

*I have included all purpose flour, baking soda, and white sugar to our grocery list, just in case you don’t already have them on hand. If you do have them, then your list just got cheaper!*

7-day Family Meal Plan with Shopping List

I have broken down our grocery list for this meal plan into the different sections of the grocery store to make it easier. For the first step, I would check out your pantry, fridge, and freezer to see if you have any of these items already on hand. If you don’t currently make an inventory of your items, go snag these inventory sheets from our meal planning kit!

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

Item	Have on Hand?
Bananas x8
Oranges
Lettuce
Tomato
Onion x2
Potatoes
Carrots
Total: (7 items)

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

Item	Have on Hand?
Bacon
Ground Beef
Smoked Sausage (kielbasa, etc)
Chicken Breasts (need 4-5)
Total: (4 items)

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

Item	Have on Hand?
Flour Tortillas
Muffin Mix
Pancake Syrup
Ketchup
Brown Sugar
Worcestershire Sauce
Hamburger Buns (8ct)
Raisins
Diced Pears (canned)
Mayonnaise
Egg Noodles
Tuna (canned)
Breadcrumbs
Taco Seasoning Pack
White Rice
Black Beans (canned)
Au Jus Seasoning Pack
Ranch Seasoning Pack
Pepperoncini
Tomato Sauce
Italian Seasoning
Green Beans
Microwave Popcorn
All Purpose Flour
Sugar
Baking Soda
Vanilla Extract
Total: (26 items)

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

Item	Have on Hand?
Frozen Peas
Frozen Brussell Sprouts
Total: (2 items)

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

Item	Have on Hand?
Vanilla Yogurt
1/2 gallon of Milk
Eggs
Cheddar Cheese (16oz)
Sour Cream
Butter
Mozzarella Cheese (8oz)
Total: (7 items)

Cheap Weekly Meals

Our goal is to always provide healthy meals that are cheap and will keep you on top of your grocery budget. People tell me all the time that they can’t eat cheap because of where they live, so I price out this meal plan all over the US, so you can see that it is possible!

Store & Location	Total
Giant Eagle (Pittsburg, PA)	$117.57
Walmart (Pittsburg, PA)	$96.03
Publix (Smyrna, TN)	$141.08
Aldi (Smyrna, TN)	$114.93
Hannaford (Keene, NH)	$116.85
Price Chopper (Keene, NH)	$132.22
Stop & Shop (Freehold, NJ)	$128.09
Acme (Freehold, NJ)	$133.81
Tom Thumb (Fort Worth, TX)	$113.13
Albertsons (Fort Worth, TX)	$112.43
Harris Teeter (Greenville, SC)	$112.62
Ingles Market (Greenville, SC)	$114.47
Stater Bros (Hesperia, CA)	$115.15
Target (Hesperia, CA)	$117.49
Safeway (Woodbridge, VA)	$125.99
Food Lion (Woodbridge, VA)	$94.54
Lidl (Atlanta, GA)	$138.13
Kroger (Atlanta, GA)	$107.75
Wegmans (Wilmington, DE)	$126.61
ACME (Wilmington, DE)	$130.02
Total Stores (20)	Average Total: $119.44