Aldi Haul, 1 month under $100 for 2!

So if you haven't shopped at Aldi, do it now!  It's an amazing store, but you just need to give it a chance.

It is a budget grocery store, so it doesn't have the bells and whistles, but I'll get a post together with what you need to know when you shop at Aldi.  You can also watch my video here.

Now I was able to get enough food for a month for under $100 for 2 people. We do go out to eat once a week and have a leftover night, so this gives 5 dinners a week.  I did already have some ingredients at home, but if you're shopping sale meats, you should have some too.

One of the keys to these meals is cooking lager quantities and having leftovers for lunch and maybe even dinner the next night.  I'll make double quantities and freeze half for a couple weeks in the future.

Here are all the dinners I can get from this (each meal also has at least 1 serving for lunch):
Spaghetti and Meatballs: 2
Spaghetti Pie: 2
One Pot Pasta Dump: 2
One Pot Greek Pasta:2
Meatloaf: 2
Bean, Cheese, and Rice Burritos: 2*
Beef Stroganoff: 1
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup: 1
Chili: 4*
Pizza: 1
Meatball Subs:1
Hot Dogs: 1
Hamburgers: 1
Breakfast For Dinner: 2 (no leftovers)
Beef Taco Soup: 2*

*These meals I made a big batch and freeze in individual portions. They are easy to defrost and take for many lunches throughout the month.

Lunches: Leftovers, pizza, sandwiches, hot dogs, quesadillas, etc.

Breakfast:  I actually did a whole post on the breakfasts, that I will be linking shortly.  Lots of goodies including oatmeal, chorizo and eggs, waffles, pancakes, hash, and muffins.

I hope you enjoyed this post and are ready to give Aldi a change!  Let me know some of your shopping wins!

XOXO,
Sarah

My Favorite Meatloaf

There's nothing quite as comforting as a nice meatloaf. It's great any time of the year, and is great leftover for lunch. Plus you can keep all the ingredients on hand so you'll always be ready for some nice comfort food.

There are a lot of variations, but this one is simple with a sweat glaze.  It's also great in muffin tins for easy serving and saving.

What you need:
Meatloaf:

1 LB Ground Turkey

1 Egg

½ cup Breadcrumbs

1 TBSP Roast Seasoning

dash Worcestershire Sauce

Sauce:

¼ Cup Sugar

½ Cup Ketchup
1 TSP Worcestershire Sauce

What you do:

Heat oven to 350. Mix all meatloaf ingredients in a bowl until incorporated.   Mix sauce ingredients in a separate bowl.  Put meatloaf mixture in an oiled loaf pan and pat down.  Pour sauce mixture over. Bake for 55 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

That's it!  Let me know if you try it and what you think!

XOXO,

Sarah

Easy Chicken Veggie Soup

Soup season is here!  There's nothing quite like a nice warm cup of soup on a cold winter day. I love that you can toss everything in the slow cooker while you're out braving the cold, and come home to piping hot soup.  Plus soup is relatively cheap and very healthy!

I love making big batches in my slow cooker and freezing half to eat later!  You can make soup for months in only a couple weeks.   Then you can rotate and never get bored (not that I would anyway). I'll have something up soon with how to freeze soup...

There are so many different varieties, but Chicken Veggie Soup is on of my favorites!  Plus you can change what you put in, depending on what you have on hand! You can make it with canned veggies if you want, for those days you're feeling soup or trying to clear out the pantry.

The best start is Homemade Turkey Stock. You can also use homemade chicken stock, which you make the same way.  Homemade stock is so much richer than store-bought, and if you make whole chicken or turkey so easy to do!

I have a base to this recipe, but I always look at what I have on hand to use up, or add extra flavor.  This is great if you have your own garden to use what you grow, or use what you get on sale!

Printable Recipe

Base:
2 cans beans (or the equivalent dry beans)
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups shredded chicken, or diced chicken
8 cups broth

Other Additions:
zucchini
onion
tomatoes
pasta
spinach

Put everything in the slow cooker (except pasta and spinach). Cook on low 6-8 hours. Add pasta the last 30 minutes of cooking.  Once you're ready to serve, add spinach to the bowl, and pour the soup over.

See super easy!  Let me know what you think! What else would you add?

XOXO,
Sarah