Did you run into a financial snag this week and all that’s left is $30 to eat on? Well it’s possible! Here’s a $30 meal plan for just such an emergency. And bear in mind, this falls firmly under emergency meal plan. There’s not truly enough dairy or fruit to meet your daily nutritional needs. However, with some inexpensive starches, and lots of veggies, your meals should be very filling. No hunger on Momma’s watch!
The Assumptions (and a word about condiments):
This meal plan presumes you have salt, pepper, basic condiments (mayo, mustard, ketchup), and some sort of cooking oil in your home. If you have condiment packets of soy sauce, ketchup, or hot sauces, those can be used to enhance many of the options. For example: the soy and ketchup can be used to make the rice omelet into Omurice! Soy and hot sauces can beef up the stir-fry meals. Hot sauce on eggs is always a win, not to mention flavoring the chili. In like manner, if you have some sort of broth or bullion, feel free to use that in the soup, or to flavor the rice. If you have any sort of relish (or celery), that can be added to the egg salad. If you do not have mayo, for the egg salad, that’s okay. You can make it with one egg yolk and oil.
Working with the Sausage:
I advise cooking the sausage on the first day and reserving the fat for cooking with. It will add a lot of flavor at no extra cost. If there is milk and flour in the house, some of the fat can be used to make a sausage gravy to top potatoes one night in place of a different meal.
Optional Extras:
Speaking of milk, it’s worth mentioning if you have creamer, or milk, in the house, you can use those to make french toast or breakfast bread pudding one morning. Or perhaps a peanut butter and banana smoothie, depending on how much milk you have available. If you have powdered milk stored, some of the extra potatoes and onions could be used to make a potato soup, with the rest of the cheese slices mixed in for extra protein.
All of the above are options, if the mentioned items are available. Don’t feel you must only use what you bought this week. The challenge is for me to come up with tasty meals. You can improvise and improve with whatever you might have at hand. And if you have not, that’s okay. It’s gonna taste great and fill you up!
**A Special Note: Many many many times, the discount bakery rack at Walmart will have loaves of their bakery bread for as low as 49 cents. If you see discounted bread, absolutely get some in place of the sandwich bread. Use the extra money to add in something else you’d like, say an apple, or grab a second loaf of discount bread. Just make sure to store it in the fridge so it doesn’t mold.**
(For my reader with a known onion allergy: The onions can be eliminated from the meal plan without difficulty. You can spend that $3 on more fruit or ham, milk, or even a couple of spices.)
The Particulars:
I’ve included screenshots of my shopping cart so you can reference the prices used in creating this meal plan. Please remember that prices vary by season, retailer, and region. I’ve also included two free printables: the meal plan itself and the shopping list.
The Menu
| Breakfasts | Lunches | Dinners |
| Green Onion Scrambled Eggs on Toast | Vegetable Soup, Grilled Cheese Sammish | Cabbage and Sausage Stir-Fry, Rice |
| Hashbrown Omelet with Cheese | PB&Banana Sammish, Baby Carrots | Egg & Vegetable Fried Rice |
| Peanut Butter Toast, Banana | Chili Cheese Baked Potato, Steamed Carrots | Ham & Cheese Baked Potato, Cooked Carrots |
| Egg & Cheese Sandwich | PB Sauce Stir-Fry with Fried Egg, Rice | Sausage-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in Tomato Sauce |
| Scrambled Eggs with Fried Potatoes | Bubble and Squeak | Potato-Onion Frittata, Steamed Veggies |
| Rice and Eggs, Banana | Egg Salad Sandwich, Steamed Veggies | Ham & Cheese Monte Cristo, Steamed Veggies |
| Veggie Omelet with Cheese, Fried Potatoes | Soup and Sandwich | Rice Omelet (or Omurice), Cooked Carrots |
Shopping List
- 1 loaf sandwich bread
- 1 package sliced cheese
- 18 eggs
- 2 oz package Buddig ham
- 5 lb bag russet potatoes
- 32 oz bag baby carrots
- 4 bananas
- 3 lb bag onions
- 1 bunch green onions
- 1 head cabbage
- 32 oz bag frozen mixed veggies
- 1 lb sausage
- 1 lb rice
- 1 can kidney beans
- 16 oz jar peanut butter
- 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
Free Printables!
Heeeeeeeeeeeey! You stuck with me so far! As promised, here are the printables as promised above! But let me know how the week goes or if you came up with any other interesting meal options that I didn’t provide!
With love, Momma
