Eating from the Pantry + $25

This is my first post with Menu Plan Monday and considering the great deals (with very little OOP) that I got the past few weeks, my Goal for the next 2 weeks is to spend no more than $25 on milk & produce each week and create meals from what I have on hand!  Thank goodness I still have plenty of $1 coupons for Fresh Express salad and now i have a bunch of $1 coupons for Nature’s Promise at Giant (use on grape tomatoes and carrots). 

(milk or water with all meals.  Please note – my kids are EXTREMELY picky eaters and don’t like a whole lot of “new foods”…I’m working on that!)

Monday:

• Homemade waffles (make a triple batch and freeze leftovers for rest of week), bananas
• ham or turkey wraps, carrot sticks,
• London Broil (extreme sale at Acme) on the grill, roasted potatoes, salad, corn on the cob

Tuesday

• cereal w/milk, bananas
• Chicken Caesar pasta salad on a bed of lettuce (Hubby will take leftover steak for lunch), pb & j and applesauce for the kids
• Tacos made with Boca Crumbles (don’t tell my husband it isn’t beef!), salad

Wednesday

• Waffles for the kids & hubby, Strawberry Smoothie for me
• leftover tacos for me, grilled ham & cheese and bananas for the kids
• cheese tortellini (got it free 2 weeks ago) with homemade sauce, salad, homemade bread

Thursday

• waffles or cereal and bananas for the kids, yogurt with berries and toast me for
• leftover chicken caeser salad for me, pb& j and apples for the kids
• Mac & Cheese for the kids (make 2 boxes), Hungry Girl Tuna Noodle Casserole for me (this is one of my favorite meals and the noodles are only $1.79 at Giant), hubby is working late and will take leftover tortellini for dinner

Friday

• Cereal w/milk & blueberries
• leftover tuna noodle casserole for me, chicken nuggets and grapes for the kids, salad
• Hot dogs on the grill with leftover mac & cheese for the kids & Brad, Boca Burger for me, salad

Saturday

• scrambled eggs & bacon & toast,
• My favorite pasta salad (made with whole wheat pasta, tomatoes, broccoli, garlic, olive oil and mozzerella cheese), grilled cheese and applesauce for the kids
• cheese lasagna with homemade beer bread and salad

Sunday

• french toast with berries
• leftover lasagna, salad
• chicken on the grill, baked beans, corn on the cob, salad, beer bread

Snacks & desserts: 

• homemade rice krispie treats (I DO have all those free marshmallows from rolling the catalinas on the Kraft deals and I got free Rice Krispies at Genuardi’s!)
• grape tomatoes & carrots with homemade dip
• apples
• granola bars ($.20/box after coupons at Acme when they had great deals on Nature Valley)
• 97% fat-free microwave popcorn (free at Acme from the same sale as above)
• pumpkin muffins (1 can of pumpkin, 1 spice cake mix, 1/2 cup water.  Mix and divide in to 12 muffins.  Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes)
• grapes
• bananas
• sugar-free jell-o

 With this menu, the only thing I need to buy this week is the produce (all of which is very inexpensive right now), the noodles for my Tuna Noodle casserole, milk and a loaf of bread.

What’s on your menu this week?