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Before you start to plan your meals you should find out what coupons you can use and what the weekly specials are at the local grocery stores. Check all the circulars for the specials, "buy one get one" deals and "can" sales. Many times you will have a coupon for something that is also on sale, and it will only cost pennies to buy.
Once you know what is on sale you can put together your plan for the week. Add food to the list that you will need to go along with the food that's on sale for which you may not have a coupon. Take along a cooler to store perishable food from one store while you shop at the next. Make only one trip to all the stores to save gas and time. -
Start the week with a normal dinner of meat, potatoes and a vegetable. If you have any leftover vegetables, freeze them. Use leftover potatoes to make home fries or potato pancakes for breakfast. Leftover meat can be used to make a stir fry or fajitas for dinner. Using meat in a mainly vegetable dish will stretch it to feed more people.
On the third night roast a turkey breast and have yams and vegetables. Pick apart the leftover turkey and freeze it in freezer bags along with the leftover vegetables. There don't need to be a lot of leftovers in order to save them; even the smallest amount will make a big difference later.
For the fourth night, cut up hot dogs into small pieces and cook them in a baking dish of baked beans. Add some mustard and slightly cooked onions and then top with two or three pieces of bacon. Bake in the oven until the bacon is crispy. This will fill you up on fewer than two hot dogs per person.
Night five, use a Bisquick "impossible pie" recipe. Just a small amount of Bisquick goes a long way and there are many recipes using only a pound of ground meat and some cheese or vegetables. Next make a chicken dinner with thighs and lots of vegetables and boiled potatoes. Pick off chicken from the bones of the leftovers and save the vegetables. On the last night, make pot pies from your leftover vegetables, potatoes, chicken and turkey from the week. All you will need is a jar or two of prepared chicken gravy and prepared pie crust.
This method of cooking uses every bit of food with no waste and really stretches your food budget. You can adjust the menu to whatever is on sale and then use the leftovers for soup, stew or a wonderful casserole. Best of all, everyone is bound to enjoy the meals.
