This is our large family’s simple menu plan using the ingredients I listed in my Frugal Living: My Grocery Shopping List post. Also, visit Frugal Living: How I Shop For Groceries post to see how we budget for groceries every month.
Grab your FREE Frugal Meal Planning Kit PDF by filling out the form below!
Homemaking Resources
Homemaker’s Friend Daily Planner is my top recommendation for a physical/hard copy planner!
Proverbial Homemaker Planner & eCourse – digital Resources I recommend!
A Large Family Simple Menu Plan
Monday
Breakfast: hard-boiled eggs and bananas. (I usually have a homemade chocolate protein shake every weekday morning, so this is for the kids)
Lunch: leftover meat or lunch meat, bread, apples, etc.
Supper: soft tacos and burritos using ground beef or slow-cooked steaks, Greek yogurt (in place of sour cream), crockpot pinto beans, chopped tomatoes and onions, and taco sauce.
Tuesday
Breakfast: hard-boiled eggs and oatmeal with real maple syrup.
Lunch: bread, lunch meat/tuna, cheese, apples.
Supper: chicken. Savory chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn. Or anything else with chicken!
Wednesday
Breakfast: hard-boiled eggs and bananas.
Lunch: pinto beans with Greek yogurt and taco sauce.
Supper: ground beef and potatoes. Often meatballs or meatloaf. Oven-roasted potatoes. Green beans or broccoli.
Thursday
Breakfast: hard-boiled eggs and oatmeal with real maple syrup.
Lunch: bread with nut butter, apples.
Supper: chicken and veggie/beans. Often, a simple crockpot chicken chili. Sometimes we have wild-caught salmon or other fish instead.
Friday
Breakfast: hard-boiled eggs and protein smoothie.
Lunch: pinto beans with Greek yogurt and taco sauce.
Supper: usually spaghetti for the kids, and we have a dinner date alone after the kids are put to bed.
Saturday
Breakfast: oatmeal with real maple syrup. Plus whatever else is kicking around (bananas, etc.)
Lunch: sandwiches/leftovers.
Supper: Ramen Noodles and cheese slices. (cheaper than fast food or take-out, which are no healthier, and sometimes mama needs a break.)
Sunday
Breakfast: eggs and sausage, sometimes we’ll have hash browns or pancakes/waffles.
Lunch: chicken with veggies.
Supper: this varies… sandwiches, leftovers, etc.
Food Storage Option: Harvest Right Freeze Dryer
Bulk Wheat & Bean Option: Palouse Brand
Best Grain Mill & Kitchen Mixer: NutriMill/Bosch
Click >> Azure Standard << For Bulk Shopping
Other notes:
*I often mix up a batch of muffins, pancakes, or waffles for breakfast 1 day during the week… it just depends on how our day starts (between Abigail and baby), usually on Mondays!
*Snacks for the kids are usually apples, bananas, almonds/walnuts, or sometimes sardines or dried seaweed. A favorite is a protein smoothie using frozen blueberries, canned coconut milk, bananas, and real maple syrup/raw honey.
*I mix up Gwen’s Easy Bread about 3 times per week (each batch makes 4 small loaves of bread or about 15 rolls). It is an easy, no-knead artisan-style bread. I bake it every day except Sunday. I usually bake extra on Saturday.
*I make a crockpot full of dried pinto beans every weekend. I just put 4 cups of beans to soak overnight, drain the next morning and recover with water. Put going on high for 4+ hours, checking to add more water after 2 hours. They are done when they can be split easily with a fork. I scoop them out and store them in the fridge to be used all week. Very simple & easy!
*I make 8 hard-boiled eggs every evening (we were gifted this awesome egg cooker)
to be used for the kids’ breakfasts and Joey’s lunches the next day.
*Joey brings the same foods to work every day: 4 hard-boiled eggs, 1 bean burrito, 1 tuna wrap, 1 apple, and 2 protein drinks. He usually has a banana and a protein drink for breakfast before work. There is a lot of food at his shop, though, so he eats whatever he wants from there.
*We drink water, coffee, & tea… Almond milk and canned coconut milk are used for smoothies and baking.
Admittedly, this is a VERY simple menu plan. It is our base plan, and it keeps us from going hungry. I am NOT a good cook or baker, so I keep things as simple as possible. Plus, I am blessed with a husband and kids who are pretty easy to please! 🙂
Sounds super nice! I REALLY need to sit down with my girls and plan weekly menus..simple, cheap ones! I get so tired of trying to decide what to make! Sundays are the worst!! We never seem to eat good..or cheap :p I want to figure out crock pot meals for Sundays OR maybe buy some whole chickens and put them going before church. Also our cleaning day is another day I need something preplanned for..it would make life so much easier! 🙂 Thanks for sharing…gives me ideas 🙂
Buy 4-5 whole chickens from Costco every month (1 per Sunday ) and put baking before church … I do 4 hours at 300 degrees. All I do is sprinkle chicken with pepper and nutritional yeast and sometimes put mustard. Add a veggie and some homemade bread when you get home! I usually put it in the oven at 9am and we eat at 1pm. 🙂
Fabulous idea!
Clarissa, we mash our potatoes with broth. It adds so much yummy flavor! Love seeing your menu plan. I might refer to it at times. Thanks.
I should try using broth, but we don't often have extra on hand…
You could make your own chicken broth from your leftover whole chicken, just throw whatever’s leftover into a pot full of water and simmer all day, adding water as needed 🙂 I think I’ve even seen a crock pot recipe for it before!
I have done that. We dont seem to get a lot and usually just use it for a soup.
I buy chicken broth now and use it and mayo (for butter) in our mashed potatoes, they turn out yummy!
I make homemade stock a couple times a month. Usually every other Monday I pick up 2 rotisserie chickens from Sams club as a convenience meal. We use leftovers for chicken noodle soup or Mexican chicken soup, on top of a Cobb salad or in quesadillas, or added to rice or pasta in a casserole. For my family if 7 I can usually get 3 meals from 2 chickens. Then I take the carcasses and put them in my crockpot. Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic and spices. (I keep a bag in the freezer that I put the cut onion ends, carrots and celery bits when I chop them for snacks or dinner) then I add them to the broth. This makes the broth “free.” I add water to cover the chicken and 2 T. apple cider vinegar. Let sit 2 hours. The vinegar will allow the minerals from the bones to leach into the water. Then I turn on high until it gets going good and then down to low. Remove half the broth and strain after 24 hours. Then every 12 hours for 3-5 days. You’ll know when to be done simmering the broth when the color gets weaker. I keep the bowls of broth in our extra fridge in the garage until it’s sll done. Then I combine all the broth in a stick pan and bring to a soft boil. Pour into quart jars and can. I save so much money doing this and can make nutritional soups all year long.
Great tips, thanks!
Clarissa, Do you have the recipe for the homemade chocolate protein drink? If it is dairy free I think I'd like to try it .
I use Swanson premium whey protein powder and a little cream in my chocolate shake, so it is not dairy free. Sorry!
Missy, I now use integral Collagen from trim Healthy Mama for my protein… more healthy, dairy free, and tasteless! I use it in my morning coffee usually, but it works in shakes too.
I am a big fan of really simple! Even though I like to cook, I try to only really do that one night a week.
Kristy
You eat a lot of hard boiled eggs! I love them, but I don’t eat this many. Do you have your own chickens?
Yes, we do have our own chickens! 🙂