Dixie's 4-Week Meal Plan

I've decided to venture ahead on my own for the next four weeks.  I've made my own meal plan using my own or my favorite recipes. I began by making a long list of affordable meals.  I'm aiming for about $1 per serving for the entire meal.  This go around I'll be factoring the cost of side salads and homemade yeast rolls whereas last time I did not.  I feel like doing so will give a more accurate sum of the cost of what I put on the table every evening. I'll be doing 24 meals, not 25 like before, because we have one night of leftovers per week which means I'm cooking 6 days a week.  That 25th meal ended up being an odd man and didn't even get eaten last time.  24 meals just makes more sense for my home. After narrowing the list of candidates down to 24 I then broke down each meal by estimated cost.  I used old Aldi receipts and online price lists to do this.  This was a lengthy process but an essential one.  The good news is I'll only have to do it once per meal so long as I don't lose the file they're saved in. Next I made a list of ingredients that needed to be purchased categorized by meal.  I left off pantry items like spices, sugars, oils, etc.  I did include flour though since such a large amount will be needed.

Black Beans with Rice and Sausage and Roasted Carrots

• 2 cans black beans


• 1 cups rice


• 1 smoked sausage


• 1 onion


• 1 green pepper


• 1 pound carrots

  Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, and Garlic Bread x2

• ¼ homemade sauce


• 15 homemade meatballs


• 1 pound spaghetti


• ½ loaf French bread


• 1 head iceberg


• 1 heart Romaine


• ¼ bag spinach

  Baked Pasta with Meatballs, Broccoli and Rolls

• 1 pound penne or rigatoni


• 10 homemade meatballs, cut up


• ¼ homemade sauce


• 1 bag broccoli


• 3 cups flour


• 1 egg


• 2 yeast

  Goulash and Salad with Rolls

• 1 pound elbow macaroni


• 2 cans stewed tomatoes


• 1 can kidney beans


• 1 cup corn


• Ketchup


• 1 head iceberg


• 1 heart Romaine


• ¼ spinach


• ½ batch rolls

  Chicken Stir-Fry with Rice and Egg Rolls

• ½ bag chicken


• 1 bag Cali Mix or Stir Fry Veggies


• 1 bag frozen broccoli


• 2 cups rice


• 4 egg rolls

  Tuna Casserole x2

• 1 pound elbow macaroni


• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup


• 2 cans tuna


• ½ bag peas


• ½ block cheese

  Beans & Sausage Bake and Salad x2

• 2 big cans baked beans


• ½ cup BBQ sauce


• 1 smoked sausage


• 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix


• 1 egg


• 1 head iceberg


• 1 heart Romaine


• ¼ Spinach

  Tater Tot Casserole and salad

• 1 pound ground beef


• 1 can cream style corn


• 1 can green beans


• 1 can cream of mushroom soup


• 1 bag tater tots


• 1 head iceberg


• 1 heart romaine


• ¼ bag spinach

  Ceasar Chicken with Mac ‘n Cheese  and Green Beans with Rolls

• ½ bag chicken


• ceasar dressing


• 1 box Farfalle pasta


• 2 cups milk


• 1 block Cheddar cheese


• 1 bag green beans

  Pizza (w/ pepperoni, sausage, mushroom and olives) x3

• 1 package yeast


• 3 cups flour


• olive oil


• 1 can tomato sauce


• 1 can tomato paste


• 1 block mozzarella


• ⅓ bag pepperoni


• ⅓ pound mild sausage


• black olives


• ⅔ pint mushrooms

  Chicken Pot Pie Soup x2

• 1 package leg quarters


• 1 package rolled pie crust


• celery


• carrots


• 3 pounds potatoes


• 1 onion


• ½ cup flour


• 1 bag frozen peas

  Pasta e Fagioli x2 (with French bread)

• 1/2 pound ground beef


• ½ pound mild sausage


• 1 cup carrots


• 1 cup celery


• ½ onion


• 1 can diced tomatoes


• 24 ounces homemade sauce


• Italian seasoning


• 1 cup Orzo or Ditalini


• 1 can kidney beans


• 1 can Cannellini beans

  Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice and Egg Rolls

• 2 pound chicken


• 1 can pineapple chunks


• 1 bag frozen broccoli


• 2 eggs


• 2 cups rice


• egg rolls

  Chicken Fajitas with Refried Beans and Mexican-Style Rice

• ½ bag chicken


• 1 green pepper


• 1 onion


• tortillas


• ½ batch Slow-Cooked Pintos


• 1 cup rice


• 1 cup salsa


• 4 ounces cream cheese

 Salsa Chicken Tacos w/ Slow-Cooked Pintos (1/2 batch) and Mexican Style Rice

• 1 lb chicken


• 1 jar salsa


• ½ block cheddar cheese


• ½ block cream cheese

Sub Sandwiches with Pasta Salad and Chips

• 1 loaf French bread, seasoned


• 1 pound sandwich meat


• 1 package sliced cheese


• ½ heart Romaine


• 2 tomatoes


• ½ pound macaroni


• 1 cup milk


• 1 cup mayo


• 1 carrot


• 1 celery rib


• green onions


• 1 bag potato chips

  Cheesy Ranch Drumsticks with Cali Mix Veg, Salad and Rolls

• 1 package drumsticks


• 1 box cheesy crackers


• Ranch dressing


• 1 bag Cali mix veggies


• 1 head Iceberg


• 1 head Romaine


• ¼ bag spinach


• ½ batch Rolls

  Homemade Spaghetti Sauce x2

• 4 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes


• 1 jar of minced garlic or 1 bag of garlic bulbs


• Parmesan cheese

  Homemade Meatballs

• 1.5 - 2 pounds ground beef


• 1 egg


• ¼ cup breadcrumbs

Click HERE to view a printable version of the List of Ingredients By Meal Next I created a calendar and mapped out exactly when I'd be making each meal.  This is an important step if you plan on serving fresh salad greens.  You can't very well buy all your greens and hope they'll last for four weeks.  For the weeks that require salad I'll be making a trip to the store to pick those up fresh.  I tried to arrange it so that the meals that included a salad were placed three per week since the Romaine hearts come three to a bag.  Took some thought and a little rearranging a few times but I finally got it.  I also plotted out days for my do-ahead tasks which I like to do the first week. Click HERE to view the calendar I used. Then came the shopping list.  If you create your own multi-week meal plan I suggest using a word program and using the search function (CTRL-F) to help with this step.  It allows you to find all the instances of like ingredients without having to scroll through a million times.  Your eyes might miss it but the search won't. These items will be bought at Aldi:

• 1 bag potato chips


• 1 box Cheez-Its


• 3 jars mild salsa


• 1 bottle BBQ sauce


• 2 cans black olives


• Ceasar salad dressing


• Ranch salad dressing


• 2 (3-packs) rapid rise yeast


• 5 lbs. bag of flour


• 2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix


• 1 can pineapple chunks


• 8 cans (28 oz) crushed tomatoes


• 3 cans tomato sauce


• 3 cans tomato pasta


• 2 cans stewed tomatoes


• 4 big cans baked beans


• 1 can cream style corn


• 1 can green beans


• 2 cans diced tomatoes


• 2 cans Cannellini (Great Northern) beans


• 1 package 6-inch tortillas


• 1 bag dried black beans


• 1 bag dried red kidney beans


• 5 cans cream of mushroom soup


• 2 (2-lb) bags carrots


• 5 pound bag potatoes


• 2 pints mushrooms


• 2 bags onions


• 1 pack tomatoes


• 1 package green peppers (3 per pkg)


• 7 heads Iceberg lettuce


• 1 package leg quarters


• 1 package chicken drumsticks


• 4 pounds ground beef


• 1 pound sandwich meat


• 1 package sliced deli cheese


• 3 blocks Cheddar cheese


• 1 block mozzarella cheese


• 1 block cream cheese


• 1 package pre-made rolled pie crust


• 2 packages Romaine


• 2 bags Spinach


• 4 smoked sausage


• Dozen eggs


• 2 pounds mild Italian sausage


• 3 bags frozen chicken breasts


• 1 bag tater tots


• 2 bag frozen corn


• 2 bags frozen peas


• 1 bag frozen green beans


• 3 bag frozen broccoli


• 2 bags California mix veggies


• Egg rolls (8)


• 1 bag pepperoni


• 2 pounds spaghetti noodles


• 1 pound Penne or Rigatoni


• 1 box (2-pounds) elbow macaroni


• 1 box Farfalle pasta


• Ditalini or Orzo pasta


• 7 cups rice


• 4 cans tuna in water

From Wal-Mart or other store with bakery

• 3 loaves French bread (1 seasoned, 2 plain)

Click HERE to view a printable version of the Master Shopping List The very last step was to go through the shopping list and modify it based on the contents of my pantry and freezer.  I had several of the ingredients on hand already since I keep a very well stocked pantry.  Keeping a well stocked pantry is essential for meal planning on this scale. And then I let out a huge sigh of relief at being done with the planning stage.  I have a 7-month old baby who is currently teething and needs lots of cuddles and attention.  Making this meal plan while all that is going on was probably the biggest challenge of all. Shopping will happen this afternoon.  I actually enjoy this step even though it's a little stressful.  Our Aldi store is an hour away so it's imperative to not forget anything.  I'll be crossing items off the list as I go and double, heck triple, checking. Update: Here's what 4 weeks of dinners looks like.  This haul is worth about $130.  As I stated above we will have to get more fresh salad greens in weeks to come so that does not reflect our final tally. That's all for now.  As before I'll be posting each day and providing a tally of the cost per meal and the recipes. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about meal planning. Take care and Happy Holidays!!