Easy Peasy Weekly Bulk Cooking - $50 Feeds A Family of 5!

This week's bulk cooking adventures could be described as: a mixture of remodeling woes and a myriad of commitments, with an added splash of "my house is a filthy pit". Basically, my 11 year old is having his birthday party on Saturday. My basement has been torn up for 30 days and I can't even move items out of my way to properly clean. There is, however, a silver lining. It looks like spring has finally arrived in Central Illinois. So, the nearly 70 degree weather will allow for some outside games on Saturday. Yay!

To keep my sanity, this week's menu is entitled:  "Easy Peasy"! I pulled out every trick I knew to cook enough for an entire week in about four hours on Monday night. I'm a bit of a hot mess, but I did it!

I began by preparing three base ingredients (red beans, rice, lentils) and then created all of this week's dishes from them. Most of these recipes were seriously so simple that I'll give you instructions in my comments under the photos. I had to save time and get this stuff completed in four hours. After all, I have a bathroom remodel to conquer and a birthday party to plan!

Here we go!

BREAKFAST: 

Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat

$1.25 oatmeal, $2.00 cream of wheat, $2.50 fruit - Total: $5.75 

 You know the drill. I rotate between oatmeal and cream of wheat with a side of fruit. But, this week we have a new addition! 

Pumpkin French Toast - 2 meals

$1.50 Bread, $1.00 pumpkin, $.50 milk and spices, $2.00 maple syrup - Total $5.00

Pumpkin French toast! I didn't make this during Monday evening's bulk cooking session, instead I whipped up the batter on Wednesday evening (It took me all of 5 minutes). I used a loaf of that veggie bread that I found on clearance last week at GFS for $1.50. The batter made more than the 8-10 slices of bread that it says in the recipe. It was more like 12-14 slices.

It was a little more expensive to make than our usual breakfast dishes - only because of the cost of the real maple syrup we drizzled on top. Yep! I only use the real stuff. But, oh my! We will be making this again. No egg, no added oil, no dairy. But, flavor that is out of this world! This is a definite winner!  (Psssttt... I wouldn't be afraid of serving this for a light supper, along with some fresh fruit.)  

Total cost for 7 days of breakfast: $10.75

 

LUNCH: 

 

Soups: 

 

Red Bean chili - 3 meals

$1.25 Red beans, $.50 tomatoes, $1.00 veggies, $.25 spices - Total: $3.00

 

Vegetable Soup - 3 meals

$2.50 small amounts of lots of veggies, $.50 tomatoes, $.50 green beans, $.25 spices - Total: $3.75 

 

This is another one of those throw-everything-in-the-fridge-into-the-pot recipes. Whenever you have odds and ends of veggies, beans, and rice hanging out in your fridge, pop them into a pot, add veggie stock (or water and a couple of low-sodium veggie broth cubes), a little liquid smoke, worcestershire sauce, herbs and spices. Simmer it for 20-30 minutes and you have an amazing soup! 

"Potluck" leftovers  from suppers - 1 day

No additional cost since the total cost of these recipes is in the supper section.

 

 

Soups are served with a slice of bread with peanut butter, a raw veggie tray, and a piece of fruit. 

Total cost of 7 days of lunch side dishes: $5.50 

Total cost for 7 days of lunch: $12.25

 

Supper:

 

Stir Fry over brown rice - 1 meal

$2.50 marked down stir fry veggies, $.50 rice and spices - Total: $3.00 

 

I don't use a lot of "pre-made" items from the store. Generally they are too expensive and I don't like the list of ingredients that I can't pronounce on the label. But, I have seriously grown to love Kroger's stir fry veggie kits. I only buy them when I find them marked down to half price (which happens very frequently). I got the large kit for $2.50 this week. It it simply pre-cut fresh veggies with a sauce packet. I throw the sauce packet in the garbage. It has a lot of sodium in it. But, when you are in a hurry, those pre-cut veggies are a Godsend! Saute them with a little water for 6 minutes, add some garlic and onion powder, low-sodium soy sauce, and ginger. Put it over cooked brown rice and you have supper! We often eat it over a bed of greens. But, then again, I put nearly anything over a bed of greens.

 

Lemony Pea Pods over brown rice  - 1 meal

$2.00 pea pods, $.50 rice and spices, $.50 - lemon. Total: $3.00

Credit where credit is due. This recipe concept came from Marybeth over at Making Cents of It All. She made a comment on one of my best buy posts. I had found some sugar snap peas at a fantastic price. She said, "I love sugar snap peas sauteed with garlic and olive oil. So good."That got my creative juices brewing. I made a couple of changes and used her great idea to create a recipe which can be used as a side or main dish.

To make it easier for you, I created a separate blog post with the recipe for lemony pea pods over brown rice.  Want to download it in PDF form? There's a PDF link in the post!

 

 

Lentil Tacos  - 2 meals

$.80 lentils, $.20 spices - Total $1.00 

AND 

Barbecue Lentil Sandwiches  - 2 meals

$.80 lentils, $.50 barbecue sauce, $.20 spices - $1.50 

 

These two recipes are really derivations of the same base. They are so seriously easy and are my "go to" dishes when I am completely out of time!  The last time I bought lentils, I got them for $3.49 for 5 pounds! Granted, that was a sale price. But, I see them regularly at GFS for under $1.00 a pound!

Rinse two pounds of brown lentils (5 cups). Add to a pan with twice as much water (10 cups). Bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes (until the lentils are cooked through, but not mushy).  After cooking, add 2 Tbsp. onion powder, 1 Tbsp. garlic powder, and 1 Tbsp. of your favorite salt-free seasoning. Then, split the cooked lentil mixture in half, placing into two separate containers. Add chili seasoning or taco seasoning to one bowl of lentils. This is your "taco" filling. Add barbecue sauce to the other half of the lentils. This is your "barbecue filling". That's it! 

These recipes are incredibly versatile! You can serve them over greens and put optional toppings on the table to make taco or barbeque salad. You can roll them up in tortillas or just put them in a bowl, topped with homemade guacamole, diced onions, and more barbecue sauce or salsa. Serve with tortilla chips. These fillings are one of the cheapest ways that I know to fill up a family for pennies! 

Bean Burgers - 1 meal (plus extra for the freezer!)

$1.25 red beans, $.50 rice and spices, $.50 onion, garlic, celery - Total: $2.25

  Anytime you have a couple of cups of leftover beans, you can combine them with a little minced garlic and onion, some spices, a binder (oats or flour). Process them until they make a "burger-like" consistency and either cook them in a non-stick skillet until browned on both sides. They will firm up as they cook. I nearly always put them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and throw them in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes (flipping half way through cooking). After they cool, throw them in a freezer bag for a quick meal on days when you just can't get supper on the table.

 

This week's side dishes: 

 

Cole slaw - $.25 ( with my amazing $.19 a pound HyVee cabbage!)

Mashed potatoes  - $.80 (4 pounds of my 30# HyVee potato haul) 

Potato pancakes - $.00 (made from leftover mashed potatoes)

Mixed Veggies - $1.20 (2 pounds)

Salad - $6.00 (vegans eat a LOT of greens. It's our one vice. 😊)

Fruit  - $4.00

Total cost of 7 days of side dishes: $12.25

 

Total cost for 7 days of supper: $23.00

 

SNACKS: 

 

 I decided this was a smoothie kind of week for us. One of my sons was slated to have oral surgery on Tuesday, followed by a braces tightening on Wednesday. (The surgery wound up being delayed, but the boys were all stoked for smoothies. so we made them anyway.) 

Check out this mango tango juice. I got it in the fresh produce section at Kroger - marked down to $2.09. It will be enough to make 4 blenders full of smoothies, ALWAYS read the label of all drinks to check for added sugar and additives. Remember that sugar often masquerades under other names. This product is 100% juice. I added strawberries and bananas from the freezer and a little vanilla soy milk. Perfect pick-me-up!

Smoothies

$2.10 Pureed Smoothie Base Mixture, $2.95 assorted frozen fruits, $1.00 soy milk

Weekly Snack Total: $6.05

 

WEEKLY MENU TOTAL: $52.00

Our total went a little over $50 this week. But, as my father-in-law used to say, "That's close enough for government work!" 

Your turn! 

What's cookin' in your kitchen? How are you rocking your grocery budget and saving money? Let us know in the comments section. 

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Do all to the glory of God, 

Hope