Healthy $10 a Day Menus

Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship with family and friends! We made a big brunch and didn't end up cooking our big Christmas dinner, so the plan is to make that tonight.

A few menu items you'll see repeating from last week. We always end up with more leftovers than I anticipate, so some meals I actually didn't end up preparing. They'll carry over to this week. We also may be visiting family later this week, so I am only planning out five days of meals.

I'm going to split this menu out a little differently today and group breakfasts, lunches, and dinners together, instead of separately by day.

Breakfast Ideas:

(None of these breakfasts are over $1. That's because flour, especially on sale, is super cheap. Gold Medal Flour was recently on sale for $1 for a 5 pound bag. There are 75 one-quarter cup servings per bag, so about 20 cups 1/4 c. servings, which means each cup of flour used in a recipe costs only 5 cents.
Eggs are inexpensive protein, and the milk used in these recipes costs maybe a quarter or less per recipe.)
I will round these out with fruit on sale (whatever is .99 cents a pound or less).

Puffed Oven Pancake
Oven-baked omelet
Peanut butter Baked Oatmeal
Swedish pancakes
Coco-Wheats: .30 cents/5 servings
(Milk reduced to $1.25/gallon; will use about 1/4 gallon=about .25 cents,
with spoonfuls of peanut butter added to bowls=roughly .05 cents (Peanut butter on sale for $1))

Lunches:
Macaroni Salad with hard-boiled eggs, oranges
Macaroni in bulk from Sams =.30 cents for this meal; celery and mayo=about .25 cents; 4 eggs=.50 cents; oranges on sale for .49 cents/pound
Meal=$1.50

Tuna Oriental, rice, milk
Tuna=.44 cents/can; rice=.50 cents; cream of mushroom soup=.60 sale; celery, onion=.25 cents; milk=.25 cents
Meal=$2.04

Ham buns, apple slices
$2 for this portion of ham, make my own rolls for about .25 cents, apple slices=$1

Quesadillas: homemade flour tortillas=10 cents for 10, 16 oz. cheese $2.50 (32 oz. on sale for $4.99)
Celery sticks=.50 cents
Meal=$3.10

Cheesy Ham Chowder (with leftover ham, $2), bread and butter
Corn=.50 sale
Bacon (1/2 package=$1.25)
Cheese=1.25
Milk, flour, broth, shredded carrot=less than .50 cents
Meal: $5.50 plus homemade bread and butter (minimal cost)

Dinners:
(Usually with milk to drink. I picked up some marked-down gallons for $1.25, so the cost is minimal for a glass)

Spicy Rice, Bean and Cheese casserole: .50 cents for rice, .50 cents for beans (cook half a bag of black beans), one can diced tomatoes (on sale for .50 cents), cheese=1.25, onion and garlic=let's say .25 cents
Meal= $3.00

Hamburgers, potato wedges, salad with homemade ranch dressing
1.99 sale for one pound ground beef, buns $1 (my husband prefers store-bought:)), potatoes .25 cents for one pound (10# bag=2.50) plus oil and seasonings, minimal cost; salad $1, homemade ranch approximately .50 cents
Meal=$4.75

White chicken chili, tortillas or tortilla chips
1 pound chicken=$1.49
2 cans Great Northern Beans=$1.60 (cheaper to cook your own)
Onion and garlic=.50 cents
Cream/milk=$1
Tortilla chips=$2, tortillas minimal
Meal=$6.60


Lentil Rice cheese casserole, cooked carrots
3/4 c. lentils=.75 cents (or less), rice=.50 cents, cheese $1.25, onion and seasonings=.75 cents
Carrots=.50 cents
Meal=$3.75

Goulash, cornbread
1/2 pound ground beef=$1
Macaroni=.75 cents,
Tomatoes=.50 cents,
Tomato sauce=3 @ .25 cents each=.75 cents
other veggies and seasonings minimal cost
Cornbread from freshly ground popcorn kernels, butter, milk, sugar, one egg=approximately $1.25
Meal cost: $4.25

(Linked to Menu Plan Monday)