The thing is, if a family spends a lot over $100 a week on groceries the plan would be a great one to follow to cut meal costs. For us, it ended up being more then we typically spend and much more labor intensive, which may be why I up and quit because a week of sickness and no energy is not a good week to spend much time in the kitchen.
I also felt there was way too much bread in the menu plan. We were already getting sick of beans (three bean dishes in one week with leftovers for lunch). And there was a lot more meat in the menu then we typically eat. In the end, it didn't fit us.
BUT, there were many things I did like about the menu which I will implement. We liked a lot of the recipes and I will be putting them to use in my own menu. I also liked the "make twice as much" amount rule to use the other half in recipes later the week. It's a rule I used to stick to but let drop so will try to get that going again. For example, one night I made rice to go with the salmon patties. I made enough to have leftovers for rice pancakes the next morning and the kids and I finished off the rest for lunch today, warmed with some milk and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. The one cooking time helped make three different dishes. So that is something that I am going to try to work on.
There was a lot of good in the menu but I think this was a bad week to test it out. Did anyone else end up trying this?
I've looked at the Hillbilly Housewife menus before but basically came to the same conclusions you did--too much bread, too many beans, too many dishes I didn't think my kids would eat, not really saving us much money (our budget is $400 a month for 4 people).
ReplyDeleteHow do you make rice pancakes? My kids mostly only like rice with cinnamon, sugar and milk, but I bet they'd eat it in pancake form.
I added the pancake recipe up above (just click on the words "rice pancakes". Let me know how your kids liked them - we all enjoyed them!
ReplyDeletewhen I was working, I would do the major cooking on my day off and freeze in containers the size I woul need for a meal. If hamburger was on special, I would get the 5 lb tube and make my chili (without beans) put into 4 cup containers and then add 1 can of beans when I cooked it for supper for 2 people. I would also divide the meat into containers for spaghetti sauce or creamed beef on toast. It saved a lot of time when I had to work late.
ReplyDeletemarcia
Thanks, I'll give them a try this weekend!
ReplyDelete