Did you catch Rachael Ray yesterday? If not, check out the clip here of Erin from $5 Dinners- it is a quick clip that covers the basics of how to get started menu planning. Erin’s blog $5 Dinners has tons of great recipe ideas that really show how you can still feed your family well on a tight budget.
The menu plan you see on her fridge is very similar to what I use and my process is similar to Erin’s- I go through the circulars and plan from there! Bloggers make it very easy to match coupons up weekly to just about every store out there- not only do you get the deals but you can also get amazing recipes.
Erin shows her coupon binder on $5 Dinners– I use a different method that I will show in detail for Frugal Friday this week.
Also- did you know I participate in Erin’s Bargain Meal of the Week challenge? She features a long list of grocery stores and various bloggers go through the store deals and match them up to create dinner ideas for less than $5.
This week I can’t wait to try the Strawberry- Mango Salad- I also have a kicked up BBQ Burger recipe and a Mango-rita– all recipes take advantage of the great promotions at Safeway this week (and don’t require coupons!!) Check out this week’s recipes here.
If you need more recipe inspiration, I also participate in Menu Plan Monday. Hundreds of bloggers (including myself and Erin) post our weekly menus with recipe links. I have also started breaking down the costs of the items I use and showing how I pull from my stockpile to create a complete menu for $35/week. You can see my menu here and you can check out the entire list of Menu Plan Monday participants at Orgjunkie here.
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