This post was sponsored by the Indiana’s Family of Farmers. You get to learn about affordable ways to prepare food. I get a few extra bucks in the Royal coffers. The post and opinions are 100% mine. No editing was done by anyone. I’m sure you could find some grammatical errors if you read it again. Read more on my disclosure policy.
What’s up friends? Can you believe it’s May already? We have less than one month of school to go here in the Queendom and the calendar is packed full of field trips, concerts, meetings, and more. We are definitely on the go a little more than usual which is why meal planning is so important to keep us on track financially. This go around, I’m focusing on a meal plan with hearty breakfast ideas. Why should dinner have all the fun? You could choose to use these ideas to feed your family in the morning or prepare a week’s worth of what we like to call Brinner (Breakfast for dinner). The good news is that many of the recipes can be prepared the night before or even doubled and then frozen. That way, you can speed through your hour of power, packing lunches, signing forms, and getting everyone organized and still feed them a hot breakfast. We usually keep breakfast very simple (apple with peanut butter for me, cereal for the Princess Eldest, and Oatmeal for the King and Princess Youngest) so I’m looking forward to a little variation.
Once again, there are 7 ALDI Meal Plans on my site – all where you spend $50 or less. From Freezer Meals to Crockpot Meals, from Simple Meals to the original ALDI $50 Meal Plan I posted that went viral, you can find more than a month’s worth of ideas right here. As always, I don’t account for things like spices or kitchen staples (salad dressing, flour, eggs, milk, butter, oil, rice, syrup etc.). You may have other items on hand to punch up a dish and add some pizazz. I’ll make suggestions when I can. Because many of you have asked, this is a plan for 4 people. There are some allergen sensitive items that you might have to replace or alter. If you have more people in your family, you’ll want to add more food.
Without further ado, here’s what I bought:
Pork Sausage Roll $1.99: I wanted to be sure to include a meat with every single meal. ALDI makes this easy with plenty of great breakfast meat options. The pork I’ll brown and then divide into 2 8×8 Egg Casseroles. Pairing breakfast meats with the affordable eggs gives your breakfast a protein punch.
Potato Puffs $1.65: Anyone else ever tempted by those cooking videos on Facebook and just have to try it out? I found this video recipe last week on Tip Hero and it looked to easy and delicious not to give it a try. And the end result didn’t disappoint.
Thickly Sliced Bacon $5.99: It’s pretty pricey for bacon; however, we usually get 2-3 meals out of this recipe, especially since we serve the bacon along side a bread dish or an egg dish. It’s very thickly sliced and makes great sandwiches, too. We love the Applewood but there are Hickory and Maple varieties, too. You’ll have to get up about an hour early if you plan on cooking your bacon in the stove (there’s so much less mess!). Or you’ll have to make your house smell delicious the night before, reheating in the morning.
Colby Jack Shreds $2.49 (2): I don’t think I ever skip buying cheese. Especially with breakfast dishes, it just accents the savory flavors. We’ll use the cheese in more than one dish (hence the two bags).
Dozen Large Eggs $0.89 (3): Holy cow (or chicken), eggs have held steady at $0.89/dozen at our ALDI for weeks now. I went ahead and picked up three dozen so that we could enjoy high protein at low prices. From Egg Casserole to French Toast to Bacon and Eggs, we’ll make good use of all 36.
Center Cut Bacon $3.49: So at the end of my shopping trip, I had some wiggle room left and I didn’t want to be short on bacon so I picked up a package of Center Cut Bacon. It doesn’t take as long to cook as the Thickly Sliced Bacon so we’ll use it on the mornings when we don’t have much time.
1/4 Boneless Ham $6:56: It’s pretty rare that we purchase deli meat any more. I’ve found that we can snag a 1/4 boneless ham at ALDI for a much more economical price and it stretches SO far. It’s great for breakfast because all you have to do is quickly heat it and it’s ready to go. Depending on the size of your ham, you’ll have 20-30 slices which means it will stretch far.
Bananas $1.00: Gwen Stefani’s favorite fruit (sing it with me – ba-na-na-s!) is perfect for breakfast because it doesn’t require being sliced and it pairs well with pretty much anything. We’ll have it on the side of Peanut butter Oatmeal and with the Egg Casserole.
French Baguette $1.49: I usually only make my Cranberry Apple French Toast recipe around Christmas time, but it’s so yummy regardless the season. Instead of making my normal 9×13 pan full, I’m splitting the recipe into two 8×8 pans. During the holidays we’d eat the leftovers for a meal (or two) later or feed guests. But with just the four of us, it’s just as easy to split it up and have a smaller portion, with no need for leftovers.
Granny Smith Apples $3.69: You won’t need the entire bag of Granny Smith Apples for the Cranberry Apple French Toast, so you can dice them, toss in your slow cooker, and add a bit of butter and cinnamon for a warm and yummy side dish. You could even let them cook on the lowest setting overnight so you don’t have to turn on the slow cooker so early in the morning. If you’re pinched on time, they prepare quickly and just as tastily in a skillet, too.
Pears $1.89: I love pears and peanut butter. I also love Honey Cinnamon Pear Sauce. We’ll split the bag between the two.
Dried Cranberries $1.89: We’ll only need 1/2 cup of these for the Cranberry Apple French Toast. So you can toss the extra into Oatmeal if you’d like for an extra dose of sweet.
Gluten Free Baking Mix $2.99: Typically, I don’t include kitchen staples like baking mixes or flour, sugar, and the like. However, since we’re going to be making some waffles and the Princess Youngest doesn’t do the gluten, I picked up a quick mix to use for her. For the rest of us, I’ll be making the waffle batter from scratch. This was a convenience item for me. You can choose to skip it or to buy non-gluten free baking mix. I also saw some yummy looking pancake/waffle mixes in the specialty area of my ALDI this week. Your call.
Strawberries $1.99: Sliced Strawberries could serve as a side for any of these dishes. I’ll choose to use them the first day and if there are any leftover the second day because they tend to ripen much more quickly than apples or pears.
Natural Creamy Peanut Butter $1.49: On a typical week, we would keep things much more basic around here. The King of Free and the Princess Youngest would eat Peanut Butter Oatmeal every single morning. She adds a bit of brown sugar and he likes banana with his. You more than likely won’t use the entire jar so PBJ for lunch, FTW.
Quick Oats $2.39: I promise you won’t use all of the oats for this meal plan. Again, they’re a staple around here because it takes so little to dress them up and they’re so high in fiber that you remain full all day long.
Fair Trade Dark Roast Coffee $3.99: I’ve never included beverages on a meal plan before, but what’s breakfast without coffee. No matter how many other varieties or fancy brands I try, this is my absolute favorite and I come back to it time and time again.
Here’s my receipt proof! I left $0.46 of wiggle room for you to play with.
Print the entire ALDI Breakfast Meal Plan Grocery Shopping List here.
And here’s what I made:
Meal #1
Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Casserole
Sliced Strawberries
The best part about the basic Egg Casserole recipe that I use is that it’s best made the night before. So you can whip it up the night before, clean up the mess, and simply toss it in the oven in the morning as soon as you roll out of bed. WIN. I also learned today that you can actually freeze egg casseroles even before they’re cooked. Thank you very much, Miss Betty Crocker. Plus, since there are only 4 of us, I decided to split the original recipe in half and pour into two 8×8 pans instead of 1 9×13. Translation: You’ll see this meal again at the end of the plan.
Meal #2
Hashbrown Waffle Ham and Cheese Sandwich
Banana
Good news! This recipe actually works. I love it when something from the Internet delivers. We really liked this recipe. We skipped the onions because we’re not a very oniony family. However, I could easily see adding cooked eggs, veggies, or other savory favorites into the mix. For our waffle iron, it took about 23 Potato Puffs (in my best Napoleon Dynamite voice I’d call them “tots”). That means you can make this meal twice. I’d go ahead and subdivide the ham and freeze half of it, too. When you’re run out, thaw it and use with the other meals. But that way if you don’t follow the meal plan to the T, you won’t lose any.
Meal #3
Cranberry Apple French Toast
Thickly Sliced Applewood Bacon
True confession: I speak at a lot of MOPS groups and I NEVER eat even though there is typically a spread so amazing looking you would CRY. I’ve only broken this rule once. For Cranberry Apple French Toast. And then I begged one of the women from the group for the recipe. I love it – especially since you prepare it the night before. Like the Egg Casserole, we’ll make this in the smaller pan for a regular ‘ole breakfast. Again, if we had a larger family or if we were hosting family, we’d make the larger portion. But instead, we’ll use the 8×8 pans (freeze one for later in the week) and fix bacon in the oven, too. I’ll whip up some Gluten Free French Toast for the Princess Youngest since she can’t eat the baguette. You should have a little over half of a package of bacon left. The package has about a pound and a half in it or around 20-22 slices. Seal it up in an airtight container or zipper bag.
Meal #4
Peanut Butter Oatmeal
Center Cut Bacon
Banana or Sliced Pears
Let’s face it. Bananas either over ripen or may have been already devoured in your house. But if you have any left, use them as a side dish to pair with the Center Cut Bacon and some yummy peanut butter oatmeal. Simply add 1-2 T of peanut butter when you’re preparing the Quick Oats according to the directions. It’s a meal that will stick to your ribs and keep the hungrier at bay all day long.
Meal #5
Pancakes
Griddle Ham
Scrambled Eggs
For those keeping count at home, we’re up to 14 eggs used and 22 eggs to go. So go ahead and whip up 8 of those in scrambled egg style and use one to make pancakes. While you’re cooking the pancakes on your griddle, go ahead and toss a slice of ham on there for each person, too. You can even top the eggs with some cheese. Easy Cheesy.
Meal #6
Cranberry Apple French Toast
Thickly Sliced Applewood Bacon
Scrambled Eggs
Get that second French Toast Casserole out of freezer and bake it up! If you have heartier appetites or are having brunch for the weekend, scramble some eggs up this go around, too.
Meal #7
Ham, Egg, and Cheese Biscuits
Honey Cinnamon Pear Sauce
You should have enough eggs left to make some ham, egg, and cheese biscuits. If you have buns or bread in your house, skip the homemade route. Did you know you can make and freeze biscuits ahead of time for busy mornings, too? Here’s a great recipe if you’ve never tried using your own favorite recipe.
Meal #8
Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Casserole
Cooked Apples
Wahoo, pull the Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Casserole from the freezer. Dice apples and either cook in your crockpot over night on warm or the lowest temperature setting. Or if you’re not comfortable leaving it on overnight (I’ve done it, but it still always makes me nervous. However, the smell in the morning is SO good.), you can simply cook them in the skillet.
Meal #9
Peanut Butter Oatmeal
Ham Heated in the Oven or Griddle and Scrambled Eggs
Apple Slices
One last repeat meal! Finish your plan with more yummy oatmeal. We LOVE it with peanut butter but you could choose to use the extra cranberries, some diced apples, cinnamon, or brown sugar this time. Heat up some more ham and scramble some more of those eggs.
Well there you have it! 9 breakfasts for $50. Plus, I’m certain you’ll have eggs (I may have overbought), cheese, ham, oats, pancake mix, and peanut butter left over. Breakfast isn’t just the most important meal of the day, it’s the most economical, too. Filling breakfasts help you reduce unnecessary snacking (which can lead to unnecessary spending).
How many breakfasts can you make with $50?! I’d love to know what plans you use or what recipes are your favorite. Leave me some comment love and feel free to ask questions!
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