Lenten Meal Plan

This year, I have been working on ways to make my grocery budget less of the “I have no idea what I’m spending each month” and more of the “I have $X to spend on groceries this month and this is what I did with it” type.

As we were nearing the season of Lent, I was thinking of meals we could have that would be simple, filling, nutritious, and inexpensive. I also had the realization that if I refuse to buy meat if it is over $3.50/pound (and that’s for a nice beef roast, I only buy on sale), that spending $9.99/pound on shrimp was not going to keep with the simple and inexpensive part of my plan.

Yesterday, I sat down with a calendar an now I have the next six weeks (plus Easter) planned out for our meals. My plan is (don’t hold me to it if I get caught up in the day to day) is to follow up this post with the recipes for the meals if the recipe turns out well.

Dinners:

• March 6: Salad with shredded chicken, hard boiled eggs, and home made dressing. (This will be served with Ezekiel bread, a recipe I will be trying to day after I pick up the co-op order.)
• March 7: Tuna casserole, served with a salad on the side. We have stations of the cross in the evening, so this will be made early in the day and reheated for after we get home.
• March 8: Leftovers or burgers, if friends come to help work on the garage/barn roof. Burgers will be served with the usual toppings.
• March 9: Burgers (fresh if we don’t have friends over, leftovers if they do, but done differently for a not-so-leftovers feel).
• March 10: Cheesy potato casserole, with a salad side.
• March 11: Spring vegetable soup, served with bread on the side.
• March 12: Leftovers
• March 13: Veggie and bean burritos.
• March 14: Tuna melts on fresh bread.
• March 15: Ham and beans made with the frozen ham juice/bone in the freezer.
• March 16: Lemon swai and a nice salad.
• March 17: Leftovers
• March 18: Mexican bean chowder served with homemade tortillas
• March 19: (Feast of St. Jospeh) Baked chicken, Brussels sprouts, fresh bread and a dessert.
• March 20: Eggsketti
• March 21: Egg salad sandwiches with fresh veggies.
• March 22: Meatloaf, cheesy rice casserole, salad, birthday cake (it’s Scholastica’s first brithday!)
• March 23: Lasagna
• March 24: Leftovers
• March 25: (Annunciation) Corned beef and cabbage, carrots, and potatoes, with a dessert.
• March 26: Corned beef sandwiches (with an attempted rye bread made by me)
• March 27: Minestrone soup
• March 28: Leftovers
• March 29: Dinner out to celebrate Scholastica’s baptism day (on the 30th)
• March 30: Dinner with friends.
• March 31: Potato soup with bread
• April 1: Onion Soup with toasted bread
• April 2: Chicken salad sandwiches with leftover soups.
• April 3: Mac and cheese with a salad.
• April 4: Tuna melts with fresh veggies.
• April 5: Homemade pizza
• April 6: Baked chicken, cheesy rice, salad.
• April 7: Spicy tomato and chickpea soup
• April 8: Leftovers
• April 9: Fresh pasta with olive oil and cheese, big salad with chicken.
• April 10: Eggs in purgatory
• April 11: Egg salad sandwiches, cheese and veggies
• April 12: Leftovers
• April 13: (Palm Sunday) Burgers, chips, salad, dessert.
• April 14: Leftovers
• April 15: Tuna casserole with a salad
• April 16: Leftovers
• April 17: (Holy Thursday) Menu still being worked out, lamb being discussed. 🙂
• April 18: (Good Friday, a day of fasting) Egg salad sandwiches, veggies.
• April 19: (Holy Saturday) Clean out the fridge leftovers.

Breakfasts will be from a list of:

Eggs, toast, granola, yogurt, oatmeal, fresh fruits (Bacon or sausage on Sundays)

Lunch will be from a list of:

Cottage cheese, cheese, fruit/veggies, bread, Ezekiel bread,

Water (with lemon) will be the drink for most meals, with milk being served once a day.

Snacks will be offered twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon and will be a piece of fruit or a vegetable (usually carrots).

Notes: If not listed, a salad will be offered for most meals as well as bread or Ezekiel bread.

* For those interested, Easter Sunday we may be eating Beef Wellington, maybe. 🙂

** I usually make enough food for leftovers and for Joshua’s lunch, leftovers sometimes take over my fridge, which is why we have them a lot. They are particularly helpful on Mondays and Wednesdays as the big kids have violin at dinner time.

***If you are looking for a cheap snack for your kids, carrots are the way to go. We go through five pounds a week.

****We also have chickens and get at least a dozen of eggs a day, that is why we eat a lot of eggs.