Meatless Meals

My grocery bill has been out of control lately. Well, last week was at least. Our target budget for groceries every week is $125 but money has been really tight so we have been trying to do groceries for around $90.  Believe me, it is HARD to stay under $100! I have tried to use coupons but I haven't had a lot of luck (I have discovered that a lot of coupons are for ready-made or processed foods that we don't really eat a lot of, or yummy things like cinnamon rolls that I would love to have but don't need). I shop at Kroger for the most part and always try to take advantage of their sale items or deals of the week. I usually end up saving almost $20 with my Kroger Plus Card but sometimes that is just not enough.

As in last week. I spent....one hundred and eighty dollars. Maybe if I write it small it seems like I spent less, right? 

Granted, we were out of a lot of food; $20 was spent on diapers; and another $40 was spent on toiletry/household stuff BUT STILL! I had to get creative about my menu planning for the next two weeks. 

I decided to stretch the food I got by planning low-meat or no-meat meals into our menu. Last week we had bacon (1/2 package) and eggs (Aaron was gone that night), Potato soup (other 1/2 package of bacon), and pancakes and cheese omelets. 

This week our menu looks like this:

Saturday: Roasted Chicken, leftover mashed potatoes, green beans

Sunday:  Frozen Pizza (for the boys. Aaron and I took our prospective pastor out to dinner)

(Meatless) Monday: Homemade Broccoli Cheese Soup, homemade yeast rolls, jello salad

Tuesday: Hamburgers, baked beans, apple slices

(Meatless) Wednesday: Bean Burritos (crockpot refried beans, tortillas with lettuce, tomato, cheese, olives, and sour cream)

Thursday: Roast Beef, mashed potatoes, carrots

Friday: Pork Loin, Rice, Broccoli with garlic butter

Aaron is a meat-lover (I am too but I am a little more willing to try new things) and he balks a bit when I suggest things like "Meatless Meals." He was on board for the money saving ideas but it is sometimes another thing to "sell" new recipes to him. (To his credit, he always eats what I prepare and almost never complains. He may say after dinner, "I wasn't a huge fan.")

I had made the broccoli cheese soup for myself many times (it's my own recipe) but had never made it for the family. And Aaron liked it!!! YEA! (And amazing! He isn't a huge veggie person). 

I am making the refried beans today--also a new recipe. So we'll see how this second meatless meal turns out. 

Anyone have some meatless recipes to share that meat-lovers will like? Send them this way!