Busy days on a budget!

My daily to do list right now:

-Packing - moving in Dec, we hope! 

-Cook - gotta eat, might as well be good! ;-)

-Write wedding Thank you's (so behind, I WILL GET THEM TO EVERYONE!....eventually, I promise! ;-)

-Always cleaning of some kind to do (this apartment is way too small and we have a lot of stuff! Can't get anything out without making a mess...can't wait to be in our house! pray pray pray!)

-And I am working part time doing an online business....:D so far so good. So excited about it!

So, I am staying very busy.  One thing I've been working on in particular these busy days is making a yummy yet budget friendly menu. I've been trying to be creative to save as much money as possible when it comes to our menu...this doesn't mean we eat ramen noodles or anything (although Anthony likes those things quite a lot, lol), but I have been trying out different ways to have to buy the least amount of items possible and still have a good variety of yummy things to eat. These are some basic things I have found I can do almost anything with when I have them on hand.

We have other items around the house, but these are basic lunch/dinner items:

1. flour

2.eggs

3.milk

4.butter

5.pasta, assorted types(although you can make some kinds with the above ingredients if you want)

6.pasta sauce (cheaper than making your own)

7.beef (I usually make up some hamburger paddies for the freezer and keep some for other meal ideas as well.

8.frozen chicken breasts

9.cheese, assorted + parmesan is a must

10.quick mashed potatoes

11. assorted frozen veggies

12.sour cream

13. sugar

14.tortillas - or make them

15.enchilada sauce

16. Active dry yeast

17.sandwich meat - We always have some sliced ham - Anthony's favorite for his work lunches

18.Seasonings & baking powder & soda, of course

(you don't need to buy all of them every week or anything, only some, and then the others as you get low).

oh yes, btw,

Preggo needs:

19.canned or fresh fruit 

20.applesauce (I eat a lot of it. Especially in the middle of the night! lol )

I have been shopping at Aldi's more lately and have found that this list is quite doable. For meats, cheese, milk, yeast, veggies, applesauce, canned fruit, french fries and bananas I only spent $32 for groceries this week! I love being under budget, so Aldi's has become my best friend!  

Having these items on hand allows me all the basics for almost any meal, and I can grab a few extra things like fries for hamburger night and still stay in the budget ;-) + you have what you need for  cinnamon rolls or some fun treat every now and then :-D

My once a week shopping list;

Note that I am cooking for two+, the "+" being preggo me ;-) The list might still be handy for a larger family, although I am sure you would need to buy more or buy more often:

Meats, milk, cheese, applesauce, active dry yeast, and sometimes the veggies and butter, but those usually last a week and a half or so, so I can save them for my every other week list.

Every other week shopping list:

eggs, sour cream, tortillas, enchilada sauce, pasta

The other items usually last about a month

Some things we have had lately using this list of items:

bread (I make weekly)

spaghetti & meatballs

pizza - I make the crust

chicken, mashed potatoes, veggie of choice

hamburger - I make hamburger buns

beef or chicken enchiladas

quiche

chicken Alfredo

Mac and Cheese

Pasta, veggie & chicken

Mix and match and have fun! You can use the same items and switch around what seasonings you use for something totally different!

The fun thing is that it allows you to be creative. Like for the meatballs, if you don't have fresh or dehydrated onion or bread crumbs, use onion powder and toast and crumble some bread.  Having both sausage and beef for them is yummy, but if you just have the beef, don't sweat it. It will still taste great!

Homemade meatballs! Recipe found here

Chicken, potatoes (these were one of those boxed seasoned potatoes that I found in our pantry. They are pretty cheap actually but we usually just have mashed potatoes)

& broccoli with velveeta cheese

Homemade sandwich bread and hamburger buns

White Chicken Enchiladas

Homemade deep dish pizza (I used a cake pan :-) )

breadsticks - dough for pizza and breadsticks found here

There are a ton of things you can do. I usually grab some of my cookbooks and browse to see what I want on the menu for the new week :-) Also helps me not go over budget when I do this. If I wait and start brainstorming at the store there are wayyyy too many things that come to mind and it is really hard to keep the list down.

Do you have any good budgeting tips or favorite easy recipes? I would love to hear about them!

Hope you have enjoyed your Thursday and the feast of the four crowned martyrs!