Budget-Friendly January Meal Plan for a Large Family

    


 I get a lot of requests to share what food we eat and how we keep to a small food budget with 5, almost 6 kids. Most suggestions I find online say the same thing- stop eating out, do a big batch of freezer meals, batch cook one time and eat for a week, etc. Or I find "budget" meal plans for a family of 4, so their "cheap" meals aren't super cheap when you are trying to feed a family of 7. I guess maybe that is why I am always being asked, "What did you make this week?" 

    I am going to do my best to share what we actually eat every week. And I will start with a week in January. This week all the kids were sick. So I was home most of the week. I had a bunch of random ingredients I wanted to try to get out of my fridge/pantry (hence trying out a dill pickle soup). There is also a TON of sourdough recipes I tried this week, mainly because nesting is a real thing in pregnancy, and I am on a huge sourdough kick again. In a month or two my interest will diminish somewhat. This meal plan reflects all of that. 

How to Make This Meal Plan Work for You

    There are several reasons why meal plans put together by other people simply don't work, at least not for me. Usually, I hate several of the recipes provided. There are ingredients that I never buy that I regret buying because I don't like to throw out food, but I have no idea how I will use it in meals we actually eat. And I typically go back to what I know I like to make and what my kids are more likely to eat with minimal complaining. So, I am pretty sure that is how my meal plan will work for you, a.k.a. not really work. Here are the changes I suggest you make so this can be a meal plan that WILL work for you:

- What staple cheap meals do you already eat every week? Swap them in for the meals you don't like on this meal plan.

- What ingredients do you already have on hand that are cheaper than what I suggest? Use those instead.

- Horrified by the obviously not organic/ non-GMO foods we eat? Put in your preferred brands. 

-Don't do sourdough? Use your favorite commercial yeast recipes or buy. They just won't be as cheap.


What This Meal Plan is Not

    Let's me restate what I just said- I am NOT obsessed with making sure everything is all natural, organic, non-GMO, whole grain, grass-fed, non-processed, no food dye, no artificial flavors, etc., etc. Not even close. Do I make/buy food that fits in these categories sometimes? Sure. But it isn't a focus. Why? Simply put, my budget doesn't allow it. Sometimes it does, and I prioritize these things a bit more. But right now, it doesn't. We are getting ready to have baby #6, and although our income allows us to feed our children well, it doesn't currently allow us to check all the "healthy" food boxes. What do I prioritize? Homemade. Having an ingredient kitchen that forces me to bake/cook most of what we eat puts our family's health a skip, leap, and jump ahead of many, many people when it comes to a healthy lifestyle. 

    I can already hear naysayers wanting to educate me in how simply making from scratch meals isn't enough to constitute a healthy diet, or the ever-popular argument that I say I can't budget in these foods now, but I guess I will be able to fit in the doctor bills later, yada yada. But like I said, this is where my family currently is. There are plenty of other meal plans out there that fit those priorities, and you are welcome to go find them instead.

January Meal Plan

    Now on to the exciting bit. What we actually ate. I will add links for any recipe I have tried from the internet. Sorry, some are family recipes, super old recipes I found ages ago, or there simply isn't a recipe. I will also include links to some of the bought food items.

Breakfast

    We like to do super simple meals for breakfast that the kids mostly eat without complaint or dwaddling over. Like I said earlier, throw out any meal that just doesn't work for you. Since so many kids were sick, there are a lot of smoothies, toast, and eggs that were consumed (can we just stop a moment and appreciate that eggs are cheaper again?).

-Green Smoothie and Toast
-Yogurt Dip, Apple Slices, and Cheese Stick
-Pink Smoothie, Toast, and Eggs

Lunch

    I also like to keep lunch mostly simple. Occasionally I make something that takes a little longer, and those days are usually when we eat sweet breakfast-like meals, because waffles and muffins are a bit too labor intensive for me in the morning.

-Sourdough Waffles and Fried Eggs (wanted to use some sourdough discard right away instead of putting in fridge)
-French Toast Casserole (used some stale sourdough bread that I had slightly burned)
-Sourdough Biscuits and Applesauce Packets (abundance of sourdough discard again)
-Tuna Quesadillas
-Sandwiches and PB Chocolate Smoothie

Dinner

    If I do anything fancier, it is usually for dinner. I have had time all day to prepare for it, I usually start dinner at a good time, and I want to make my husband happy, who has been gone all day at work eating whatever cold meals were packed. This is also when not much consideration is taken into account over what my kids prefer, so they almost never like what is provided. Unless it is tacos or pizza, they don't usually like it. Which is why they are just expected to eat what is given to them. Our budget doesn't allow for picky eaters. 

-Chicken Noodle Soup with Sourdough Rolls (cooked a whole chicken and got broth and meat out of it)
-Black Bean Enchiladas
-Polish Dill Pickle Soup with Sourdough Rolls (needed to use some pickles that have been sitting in my fridge too long)

Snacks

    I bought more snacks than I usually do this week to have something quick and easy to give sick kids. Also, I was bored so had time to try a few recipes while kids were watching movies. I almost never make/buy a few things on this list.


How I Made This Meal Plan Budget Friendly

    If you don't eat these foods, this meal plan might not be budget friendly for you. For example, storebought sourdough bread is way more expensive that either making it yourself or buying just whatever cheap bread you can find. Remember, swap out what works for YOU. How this meal plan is cheap for us is:
-I make almost all our baked goods with sourdough starter
-Most of our produce is provided by either WIC or a sweet client of my husbands that brings us food that the local grocery store would throw out. 
- I bought a whole chicken this week, which saved us a ton. I still have some leftover shredded chicken, which is awesome.
-We eat a lot of the same things over and over again. We like the same couple smoothie recipes, toast with every kind of side, the same flavor of yogurt, chicken in practically every meal, etc.



    If you would like a printable PDF of the January weekly calendar that includes links to recipes, all in one convenient place, click HERE.
    I hope there were some ideas on here that can help you cut down on grocery costs and the avoid the hassle of always trying to come up with something to eat that isn't crazy complicated or expensive. I know that meal planning (and cooking) usually go better for me when I keep things simple, and mostly stick to making things I know I already love and am familiar with.
 
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