Living your best life.....on a budget!
Life has happened and it’s been a while since I posted a meal plan (or anything for that matter!). This doesn’t mean that I haven’t been meal planning. Meal planning is still the best way to stay on budget no matter what that budget may be! It also keeps us from eating out because I always have things in the house to make.
Since this meal plan encompassed the Memorial Day holiday, which is pretty much the official start to summertime, I went all out adding many of our summer favorites to the menu!
What are your favorite things to eat during the summer months?
Aldi Recipes:
Aldi Easy Meal Ideas:
It’s been a few weeks since I posted a meal plan. I started a new job at the beginning of the month and then I tested positive for Covid and it made it’s way through the house. We were lucky to not have any severe symptoms but we didn’t have much of an appetite while we were sick so I wasn’t meal planning and we were mainly eating toast and ramen.
Now that we are all feeling better, I have started meal planning and grocery shopping regularly again. I noticed two things during my trip to Aldi this week. First, the store was better stocked than I had seen it in several months! This was a pleasant surprise. And second, I noticed some price adjustments but for once in the right direction! For example, packages of salami have been $4.49 for a while and were $3.39 this week. Not the $2.99 they used to be but still not bad and a step in the right direction!
I asked my older son (who happens to work at the Aldi that I shop at) about these two things and he confirmed I was right. He said they have been getting bigger shipments in but are still lacking for some products….mainly in the meat and frozen sections. He also said they have had quite a few price changes this week with many of the prices decreasing, instead of increasing. Yay!
I don’t think this means the food inflation and shortages we’ve been experiencing will suddenly just disappear but it certainly feels like a step in the right direction 🙂 I think we could all use a glimmer of hope right now!
Anyhow, here’s our meal plan for this week!
Meal planning continues to be a big of a challenge because I’m never sure what I will actually find at Aldi. I have learned to go with a plan and just be flexible. It means a few more minutes in the store as I regroup and re-plan meals when I can’t get items I need.
Here’s a look at what we are having this week:
Today I have a cheap and easy Aldi recipe to share with you! My mom used to make this a lot when I was younger and it is now a favorite in our household with my husband and kids. This Gourmet Chicken Casserole is affordable and satisfying. It’s a great recipe for a comforting Sunday evening dinner and is a great option when you want to feed a crowd because it is easily scalable and costs about $1 per serving.
This is an easy recipe to make. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare it and just 35 – 40 minutes to bake it.
Full instructions for making the casserole are below in the recipe card but it is as simple as placing the pieces of chicken breast in a casserole dish, placing a slice of cheese on top of each piece of chicken, mixing the remaining ingredients together to make the stuffing, and spooning some on top of each of the cheese covered chicken breasts. Easy peasy! 🙂
Looking for ideas for sides to go with your Gourmet Chicken Casserole? Here’s some ideas:
Aldi Recipes:
Aldi Easy Meal Ideas:
Meal planning has been a such a challenge lately with rising prices and partially empty shelves! My son works at the Aldi I shop at and he said they just aren’t getting as much on the trucks right now as they used to. Here’s hoping that this changes soon!
Anyway, the key to successful meal planning lately seems to be have a plan, but be flexible! 🙂 This was very true for me today when I had to alter plans for a couple of our dinners at the store because I couldn’t get all the items I needed for the original meals I had planned.
Here’s a look at what we are eating this week:
Fruit options for dinner this week: grapes, kiwi, pineapple, cantaloupe
What’s on your meal plan this week? Are you also experiencing inventory issues when you grocery shop?
Aldi Recipes:
Aldi Easy Meal Ideas: