Meal Plans are an important part of sticking to a grocery budget.  This week we have 4 delicious and hearty meals you can make for your whole family for less than $40, complete with recipes, and a shopping list to make sticking to the grocery budget even easier!

Meal Plans – 4 Meals for Less than $40

French Toast Wrapped Sausage – $11.94

First up is breakfast for dinner with French Toast Wrapped Sausage.  Our family loves breakfast food and will eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  These French Toast Wrapped Sausages are so delicious and filling!  We pick up a value pack of sausage links, a loaf of bread, and some frozen hash brows and with what we usually have on hand, we have a quick and easy meal that is filling.  They are pretty easy to eat on the run too for those nights that the kids are running in different directions.  Who am I kidding, that’s every night!

Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Pasta – $8.07

Next up is a gluten free pasta dish that we can’t get enough of.  You don’t have to use gluten free pasta as any pasta will do.  This Lemon Pepper Cauliflower Pasta is full of flavor and sure to be a family favorite of yours too.  Again, it’s quick to prepare and filling!  It only takes a few ingredients to make a meal with pasta.

Pork Fajita Filo Lasagna – $10.34

Love pork?  Love fajitas?  Love lasagna?  Who am I kidding, everyone does right?  This Pork Fajita Filo Lasagna is a totally different take on lasagna but man is it delicious!  It’s a hearty and flavorful casserole for when you’re wanting to change things up.  You probably have rice in your pantry so you’ll only need to stock up on a few items to make this tasty dish.

Lemon Pepper Poached Chicken – $9.56

Last but not least on our Meal Plan of 4 Meals for Less than $40 is Lemon Pepper Poached Chicken.  I’d never really poached chicken before but it is a quick and simple way to prepare chicken for a lot of people.  Poaching it makes for a flavorful and juicy piece of chicken and you can use any cut of boneless skinless chicken.  The bonus is that boneless skinless thighs and other cuts are much more affordable than breasts.  Picky eaters won’t notice the difference in this meal though.  It’s great served with rice and sauteed peppers, onions, zucchini, and summer squash.

Most of these recipes call for olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and other seasonings or staples you probably have on hand.  You’ll want to double check the recipes for each to make sure you have everything you need.  We’ve compiled a Shopping List of all the main ingredients for these 4 meals.  The total for all the items on the Shopping List came in at just under $40 at my local Walmart.  This Shopping List is also set up to save time.  Most Walmart stores are set up with basically the same layout.  I work my way from the back to the front, hit the check out, and am on my way home.  The list is organized just that way, isle by isle so that I can get in and out with just what I need and not a cart full of stuff that was tempting!

It’s weekly Menu Plan time again and this week we have a full week’s worth of dinners for less than $70.  If you missed them before, check out our ideas for 4 Meals for Less than $40 and 5 Meals for Less than $50!  Once again, we have great recipes and a printable shopping list for you to make your weekly menu planning easier.

One night when we were talking about menu planning, the kids came up with the idea for putting a theme to our weekly meals.  It goes something like this – Meatless Monday, Try Something New Tuesday, SandWich Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fish Friday, Taco Saturday, and Soup Sunday.  We don’t always stick to this plan of course but it’s a fun idea to get you out of making the same meals week after week.  So this week’s menu plan I’m sharing was designed with this theme.

Menu Plan – 7 Meals for Less than $70

Meatless Monday – Quinoa Chili  $15.00

Not only is this a Meatless Monday recipe, it is a gluten free recipe too.  This Quinoa Chili recipe is high in protein and is easy to make early in the day and have in the crock pot for when the busy family is able to grab a bowl.  Monday’s can be so crazy with kicking off the week so this is a great meal for a Monday.

Try Something New Tuesday – Creamy Chicken Broccoli Curry  $8.46

This idea came about because it is so easy to get into the habit of always eating the same thing over and over or cooking only our favorites.  You never know if something new might become a favorite if you don’t give it a try.  So this week, Try Something New Tuesday!  The recipe for the Creamy Chicken Broccoli Curry comes from All You and since curry is something many people don’t cook with, give it a try.  It’s also an extremely affordable meal!

SandWich Wednesday – Ham & Cheese Sliders  $13.29

Sandwiches are a great meal for mid week.  You’ve already tackled half of a hectic week and you’re really needing a simple meal for Wednesday evening.  These sliders can be made ahead and popped in the oven when you’re ready to eat them.  You can also make them ahead and freeze them!

Thrifty Thursday – Pork Carnitas  $8.04

While all our meals are focused on being really affordable, this recipe from All You is a really thrifty meal at less than $1 per serving!  It’s easy and delicious which we’re always looking for.  Serve this with rice, lettuce, tomato, and any other favorite toppings!

Fish Friday – Broiled Tilapia Parmesan $7

To quote my wife “My little kids LOVE it. They will eat 2 tilapia fillets each. When we make it for the 8 of us we have to make 15 pieces. If you are looking for a fish recipe that EVERYONE will eat and enjoy, this is it! Try it! I promise you will like it, and if you don’t tell the kids it is fish they will love it also!”

Seriously, get the stuff and try this fish recipe for your Fish Friday!

Taco Saturday – Easy and Simple Seasoned Chicken Tacos $10.66

Tacos, fajitas, burritos…we never tire of any of them!  This simple chicken taco recipe is great for Saturday.  Put everything in the crock pot early Saturday morning and go about your day and when you’re all ready to grab dinner, it’s ready to go.  You’re going to want to double the recipe though because you’ll want the left overs for Soup Sunday, trust me!

Soup Sunday – Chicken Tortilla Soup  $7.35

See, I told you that you’d want the left over chicken taco meat for this recipe!  You’re going to love it.  Tiffany, who is a tortilla soup connoisseur will tell you, this might be the BEST tortilla soup she’s ever had.  The recipe calls for canned chicken breast which will work great if all the taco meat was gobbled up the night before but the taco meat just makes it all the better (and left overs used up means a tighter budget!).

To get the full recipes for each of these great meals, just click the photos or the meal title.  We’ve put together a convenient shopping list for you that includes all the main items but double check the recipes to make sure you have the spices and miscellaneous items on hand.  Just right click on the shopping list below and select print and you’re ready to shop!