Frugal $5 Dinner Menu Week 26 of 2012

My goal is to provide dinner for my family for an average of $5 except on special occasions. We don’t have to eat beans and rice to accomplish this goal! I shop the grocery sales each week. Then I plan my menu based on the foods I have already at home (at a great price). I balance more expensive meals with less expensive ones. We typically only cook a main dish 4 or 5 times a week. Each
main dish cooked will serve 4-6, and the leftovers will be for
easy dinners on the weekend, or to freeze for another week. This
cuts down on cleaning, cooking, and meal planning- saving at us
lots of time!

Last week while we were in Shreveport we got to eat dinner out one night. I haven’t eaten at Applebee’s in years! Next week we’ll have family visiting and no doubt will be treated to at least one meal out- I’ll be spoiled rotten with 2 or even 3 dinners out within 2 weeks

This week we’ll be cooking (in no particular order):

Homemade Pizzas, Grapes and Oranges

Homemade Mac and Cheese, with Ham Rollups and Fresh Broccoli

McDonald’s Double Cheeseburgers with Bananas from Home

BBQ Sandwiches with Apples and Carrot Sticks

Spaghetti, Green Beans, Pineapple and Texas Cheese Toast

Need some help with menu planning? Use promo code SUMMERFREE to get this planning service that matches your local sale ads with menu ideas for FREE!

For 2012, I will no longer be showing
the cost breakdown for our meals. This is very time consuming
and for little purpose since I’ve spent the past 18 months
showing that a family of 4 could eat for an average of $5 per
dinner. If you’d like to see some $5 menu ideas with cost
breakdowns, please browse my pages for $5 Dinner Plans.

This post is being linked up to Menu Plan Monday over at OrgJunkie.

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