Week 5 Budget Friendly Family Dinners
This week I asked my family for input on meals. My oldest daughter’s favorite meal is Tostadas. She loves the crunchy shells and anything with refried beans. My husband is a meat and potatoes guy, so he chose the Crockpot Italian Beef. My son likes to explore all things spicy, so he chose Bang Bang Chicken Skewers. I filled in the rest of the week with Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad, Lazy Lasagna, Crockpot Chicken & Gravy and Veggie Stir-Fry.
As a busy mom, I understand the importance of meals being easy to put together without compromising on flavor. But most importantly, the need to stick to a budget! Two of these meals are meatless, which helps keep this week’s groceries affordable. Plus, we already have a chuck roast in the freezer, so we don’t need to buy one this week. That’s still my biggest budgeting tip for groceries – use what you have on hand!
Double Decker Tostadas
This recipe isn’t just any ordinary meal – it’s my older daughter’s favorite! With layers of flavorful beef, creamy beans, gooey cheese, and fresh toppings, every bite is full of deliciousness!
Double Decker Tostadas Recipe
1 lb ground beef
1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce
12 (0.63-oz) tostada shells
1 (15-oz) can refried beans
1½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese
½ cup fresh salsa
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup reduced-fat sour cream
To start, preheat the oven to 400°F and grab a large, rimmed baking sheet. Next grab a large nonstick skillet and brown the beef over medium heat until fully cooked. Drain the excess fat. Next, stir in the enchilada sauce and heat it through.
To assemble the tostadas, arrange 6 tostada shells on the baking sheet, and spread the refried beans on top of them. Next, spoon the beef mixture on top of the beans, followed by half of the shredded cheddar cheese. Top each tostada with another tostada shell and sprinkle the top of each shell with the remaining cheese. Bake them for about 6-8 minutes. Make sure the cheese is melted and gooey!
Depending on your budget for the week, our favorite toppings are: salsa, guacamole, sour cream, cilantro, pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, jalapenos, diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, crumbled queso fresco or Cotija cheese.
Feel free to mix and match these toppings to create your perfect tostada masterpiece! Whether you prefer a classic combination or want to get creative with bold flavors, the possibilities are endless. Enjoy!
Side Dish
We are having Mexicorn made with a 12 oz bag of frozen fire roasted corn and a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with green peppers and onions. I simply heat up the corn in the microwave and then combine both packages in a bowl.
Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad
This recipe is one of my favorites because I love anything fajita! This recipe includes the salad and a dressing/marinade. If time permits, you do want to prepare the marinade with enough time that the chicken can sit in it for at least 2 hours prior to cooking. I like to try to prep it the day before, then it can sit overnight.
Grilled Chili Lime Chicken Fajita Salad Recipe
4 chicken thighs or breasts (about 1.5 lbs)
1/2 yellow bell pepper, deseeded and sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
5 cups Romaine lettuce
2 avocados, sliced
sour cream (optional)
To make the dressing/marinade, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, garlic, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, cumin and salt. Use half the mixture as a marinade for the chicken, putting it either in a zip top bag big enough for the chicken, or in a shallow dish. I typically use a zip top bag. Marinade the chicken for at least 2 hours.
When you’re ready to start cooking, grab your grill pan (or large skillet), drizzle with oil, and then cook the chicken over medium-high heat. The grill marks are such a nice touch for anything fajita! Cook the chicken until the outside is crispy and the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Remove the chicken from the skillet and let it rest.
Drizzle a little more oil onto your grill pan and fry the bell peppers and onions to your liking. I know the recipe says half of each of the bell peppers and onion, but we like our veggies, so we just use the whole thing! Slice up the chicken breast and it’s time to assemble the salad!
Layer romaine lettuce, chicken, onions, bell peppers, and avocados into a large bowl or on a plate. Top with sour cream if desired. If we have pico de gallo, we like to add that also! Then use the remaining dressing/marinade mixture to top off each salad!
Side Dish
This week with this meal, our side is simply chips and guac. I buy the tubs of guac from the produce section and generic chips and we are good to go!
Bang Bang Chicken Skewers
These Bang Bang Chicken Skewers are packed with so much flavor! I first tried Thai sweet chili sauce about 5 years ago with a crockpot recipe, and fell in love with it! My son loves the kick they get from the Sriracha, so he was the one that chose this meal this week.
Bang Bang Chicken Skewers Recipe
2 lbs chicken breast, cut into bite sized cubes
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
To get started, ensure that if you’re using wooden skewers, you give them at least 30 minutes to soak in water so the meat doesn’t stick to them and they’re less likely to burn. You could also use reusable metal skewers! Next, combine the chicken and all the seasonings (paprika, garlic powder, kosher salt, and pepper) in a zip top bag and shake it until each piece of chicken is well coated.
Thread 4-5 pieces of chicken onto each skewer. We like to add additional ingredients as our budget allows, such as pineapple, red onion, and bell peppers.
Mix the sauce in a small bowl using mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce, sriracha, and honey. Reserve half of the sauce for later. Then brush the other half of the sauce over the chicken on the skewers. We use our air fryer for this recipe, but you could also use a grill pan or large skillet. Air fry at 400°F for about 11-12 minutes, flipping halfway through. Check that the chicken is fully cooked and then brush the remaining sauce over the chicken. We serve this with white rice most frequently!
Side Dish
We plan on adding pineapple chunks to our skewers from a 20 oz can of pineapple chunks and serving with white rice.
Lazy Lasagna
I know I’ve seen this recipe shared hundreds of times over the years. It really is a great recipe to feed the family both quickly and affordably. In this version, we are baking it, but I’ve also done this recipe in the slow cooker before!
Lazy Lasagna Recipe
1 (48 oz) bag frozen cheese ravioli
2 (24 oz) jar pasta sauce
4 cups shredded mozzarella
1/3 cup parmesan cheese (for sprinkling)
Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a 13x9 inch baking dish. Spread some of the sauce on the bottom of the dish and then add half of the raviolis in a single layer. Top them with half of the remaining sauce and half the mozzarella cheese. Repeat the ravioli, sauce and cheese layers. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
Let the dish cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving. We love to have cheesy garlic toast with this, but a lighter option would be a dinner salad.
Side Dish
This week, we’re having an Everything Bagel chopped salad. The salad kit has everything we need!
Crockpot Chicken & Gravy
This is a dump and go meal, which I love! I like using these kinds of recipes on our busiest day (Wednesday) because then I don’t have to worry about if there’s time to cook anything.
Crockpot Chicken & Gravy Recipe
1.5 lb chicken breast
2 packets chicken gravy mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup water or chicken broth
Place the chicken in a the slow cooker. Then in a medium bowl mix together a can of cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and chicken gravy mix. Pour this mixture over the chicken. Cover the crock pot and cook on low 4-6 hours. Remove the chicken and break it into chunks. Honestly, I usually don’t remove it, I just use a spatula and break it up in the crock pot itself. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes and with a side of whatever veggies you would prefer!
Side Dish
We are buying a family sized tub of refrigerated mashed potatoes and a 12 oz bag of frozen cut green beans to serve with our Chicken and & Gravy this week.
Crockpot Italian Beef
This is another dump and go dinner. The hardest part is assembling the sandwich after the meat is cooked! Being from the Chicagoland area, Italian beef is a staple. This is our favorite way to make it at home.
Crockpot Italian Beef Recipe
2 lb chuck roast
1 jar pepperoncini
1 can beef broth
1 packet Italian dressing mix
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 French rolls
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Put the chuck roast, the entire jar of pepperoncini (liquid included!), beef broth, Italian dressing mix, and garlic into the crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Remove the beef to shred – I use my KitchenAid for this! Return the beef to the crock pot and let it cook another 15-20 minutes to soak up some of the broth. Assemble the sandwiches by spooning the beef into the French rolls and topping with mozzarella cheese. Spoon extra broth on top of each sandwich to your liking.
Being a meat and potatoes guy, my husband always wants us to have fries with this. And I definitely understand! But I try to also include a bag of mixed veggies to make it a little healthier for the family.
Side Dish
This week, I am giving my husband his fries, so we are buying a 2 lb bag of crinkle cut fries and a 12 oz bag of California Style Vegetable Mix.
Veggie Stir-Fry
The final recipe for this week is Veggie Stir-Fry. I often stock up on the ingredients for this for nights I’m too tired to cook what we planned. It’s an affordable meal where the ingredients won’t go bad if we don’t use it right away, and it cooks up quickly if we run out of time with all the kids activities.
Veggie Stir-Fry Recipe
1 (20 oz) bag frozen stir-fry vegetables
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp olive oil
Make a sauce using soy sauce, brown sugar, and garlic powder. Then, in a large skillet over medium heat, drizzle oil and add the bag of frozen vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and pour the sauce over the top and stir until well coated. We serve this with rice, spring rolls, or egg rolls. And voila! You have dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes!
Side Dish
We are just doing rice this time, which we already have because of the Bang Bang Chicken Skewers!
Shopping List
My biggest personal savings this week was due to the fact that we already had a chuck roast in the freezer. Typical prices for a 2 lb chuck roast here are about $14-15. This week I also did not need, salsa, enchilada sauce, sour cream, olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes, cumin, paprika, kosher salt, garlic, parmesan cheese, lime juice, honey, or brown sugar. I want to point out that this is mostly seasonings and other “staples” in my house, so I’m hoping you already have some of it as well.
My total this week for the 7 dinners (without the sides) for my family of 5 is $74.34!
If you do need to buy everything, it would cost you about $118.49 in my area. I hope even if prices vary, that these meals are still affordable for you. The graphics for the shopping list are below.
The total for the Sides I’ve included Under the heading “Side Dish” for each recipe is going to cost another $28.85 here. This brings my personal total to $103.19 for 7 dinners for 5 people complete with side dishes. That’s roughly $14.74 per night or $2.95 per person per meal.
