Dinner Time

I may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

Okay, this is what I do. In planning my meals for a large family I think about cost, taste, and ease. My food budget is considerably lower than most. The Duggar family who has 20 (and I a mere 17), food budget is around $3000.00 a month. Mine isn’t that much even when I add in food storage items. Our food budget hovers between $700 and $900 depending on the meal plan. I am generally around the $700 mark without coupons! I am just learning about coupons and if they are worth my time. My friends say they are so, I am going to try it. YIKES!
Anyway, the things you have to stay away from are pre-packaged foods. You will spend so much on ready to eat meals. I reserve those for a special day (like Friday’s at our house) or on days I am extremely busy. I try to think, ” can I make this at home for less?” before I buy. Some days though a store bought Twinkie really hits the spot.
I start with making freezer rolls. I am the first to admit ( who has time?) but I also can’t stand to buy the frozen store kind when I can do it. I plan for 1 month of meals then, how many rolls we will need at each meal. I make 3 kinds of rolls, regular dinner rolls, cinnamon and freezer cresent rolls. I also try and pre make cookie dough and freeze it and any thing like that I can do ahead. In a few hours, I can make enough rolls for a full month for my family. It sure is a busy day but, the rewards are great when my kids tell me how cool it is to have homemade rolls on a week night.
I can do it and so can you. probably one batch of my rolls will feed your family for a month of Sundays. Watch for the recipes for the dinner rolls and cresents.