Varied menu for the week for the family. Economy menu for the week for the family (with recipes)

When it's cold, you want warmth and comfort, as well as hot delicious food. In the cold season, the body requires more high-calorie, fatter food, and most importantly, more vitamins. True, vegetables and fruits are not cheap in winter, and therefore our food costs inevitably skyrocket. Let's try to figure out how to eat cheaper in winter, and make an economical menu for the week.

What the body needs in winter: myths and reality

So, it is generally accepted that nature itself is destined for us to eat more and denser in the cold. This is partly true: it takes a lot of calories to heat the body, and the body itself, preparing for wintering, tries to stock up on a fatty layer that will protect us from hypothermia. Does this mean that we need to overeat from the belly and, accordingly, buy more products?

If you work as a janitor or lumberjack - of course! In the cold, and even physical labor! But for the average city dweller, jumping into a warm car from a warm apartment and going again to a warm office, there is no need to follow the call of nature. The energy consumption of an ordinary person who does not work physically increases slightly in winter, so everything eaten in excess of the usual diet will inevitably be deposited on the sides.

To saturate the body with vitamins, you need to eat vegetables and fruits. In winter, fruits and vegetables are several times more expensive than in summer and autumn. In general, does it make sense to buy them?

Let's start with the fact that winter cucumber-tomatoes are simply tasteless. As they once said in advertising "no taste, no color, no smell."
Secondly, for safety they are treated with chemicals, otherwise how do they manage not to rot and fade for so long?
Thirdly, of course, there are no vitamins there, from the word at all. So it is better to buy a good vitamin and mineral complex with this money. The only way to preserve at least some benefit in vegetables and fruits is to freeze and preserve. Sauerkraut, frozen berries, vegetable mixes, homemade juices are best for vitaminization.
Fourth, it is good for health to observe the principle of seasonality. That is, you do not need to buy those products for which now is not the season. Everything is clear here: tomatoes do not grow in winter. Potatoes and cabbage too, but they are great without chemicals, so as long as they are in a natural state, eat healthy.
Here with the principle of the terrain is not so simple. Adherents of the theory of "genetic" nutrition are convinced that people should consume those foods that grow in their habitat. Well, that is, any exotic - it is not for us. I don’t know how scientifically substantiated this is, but the fact that this is definitely useful for the wallet is an undeniable fact. Although recent studies by Finnish scientists have shown that the start of mass production and consumption of dairy products in the country of Suomi gave an impetus to the incidence of allergies associated with lactase deficiency. It turns out that the Finnish body does not tend to eat milk, so its nature was deprived of the enzymes necessary for this. So there seems to be some reasonable grain here.

Economical food rules for winter

Drawing up a menu of dishes for the week ahead, taking into account seasonality. In winter, it is advisable to switch to the maximum for potatoes, carrots, cabbage. Frozen broccoli and cauliflower are several times cheaper than fresh ones. We forget cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants until the summer, but without fanaticism: once a week or for a holiday, you can buy it if the food budget allows.
An economical menu for the week should be compiled with the maximum use of home-made preparations, if any. Perhaps you didn't think about it this summer. But for the future, keep in mind: a thrifty hostess always makes preparations during the season and has stocks of “basic” products (flour, cereals, sugar, etc.) in the house.
Once you've planned your family's low-cost menu for the week, make a grocery list. If you did everything right, it won't be very big. You will clearly know what you already have for cooking, and what you need to buy. It is better to make a purchase no more than once a week, if your planning horizon is 2 weeks or a month, then even less often. During the week, only perishable products are allowed: milk, fresh bread, etc.

How to make a family menu for the week

Savings are savings, but food should be of high quality, varied and tasty.

The fact that the products must be fresh, with a normal shelf life, without GMOs and additives is not discussed. You can't buy health.
Do not forget about the weather outside the window: in winter it is not very pleasant to eat cold salads. In priority - hot soup, cereals, mashed potatoes.
Consider the lifestyle of the household and their needs. It is not enough for a growing child to gnaw on a carrot, he needs a complete protein diet. With mental stress, carbohydrates, etc., will not interfere with the brain. It is also worth remembering that even kilograms of sauerkraut and lemons will not make up for the winter vitamin deficiency - be sure to buy vitamins for the whole family.
Ask for the opinions of all family members. When planning a menu for the week, ask your family in advance what they would like to see on the table in the next 7 days. This does not mean that you need to fulfill all the whims and cook delights, but if you do not take into account the desires of your husband and children at all, there is a risk not to save on food, but to send a bunch of food to the trash.
Variety is another secret to a delicious economy menu. If you cook different dishes, none of your relatives will resent the absence of expensive overseas fruits on the table. Collect recipes for delicious and budget-friendly meals for all occasions and for every season.
When compiling an economical menu for the family for a week, use the available products wisely. For example, you can buy chicken, bake it in the oven and eat it in one sitting. And you can cut the fillet from it and cook pilaf, and cook the broth from the leftovers.

If you take into account all these nuances, you will not have problems how to make a menu for the week for the whole family.

Delicious menu for the week: an approximate list of "winter" dishes

Let's move on to the practical part. There can be as many options for dishes as we all have different traditions, tastes, set of products and wallet size. Another caveat: many families categorically do not accept warmed food. The desire to eat only a dish fresh from the heat is understandable, but difficult to fulfill if a woman works, and does not stand all day at the stove. In addition, with this approach, it is hardly possible to talk about significant savings: cooking at one time is unproductive both for temporary and financial reasons.
Therefore, I offer an example of a winter menu for a week (if you don’t like it, offer your own):

Soup for 2 days: borscht, chicken soup, cabbage soup with sauerkraut, pea soup.
For the second: cutlets, pilaf with chicken, fried or baked fish, lazy cabbage rolls,.
Side dishes: boiled buckwheat, rice, mashed potatoes, pasta (side dish to choose from for cutlets and fish, on other days it is either not boiled or what is left is eaten). If you prefer salad as a side dish, then you can neglect them.
Breakfast: oatmeal with fruit, pancakes, scrambled eggs, wheat-pumpkin porridge.
Salads: cabbage salad with carrots and homemade mayonnaise, vinaigrette, fish salad with egg and rice, sauerkraut with butter.
Delicious: cottage cheese and carrot casserole, yoghurt with fruits (homemade), pumpkin cheesecake, cabbage pie,.
For insurance: boiled potatoes with herring, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, muesli, frozen vegetable mix for frying.

For convenience, we combine it like this:

chicken soup + pilaf;
we cook borscht - at the same time we plan cabbage and carrots for salad or lazy cabbage rolls;
we twist the minced meat into cutlets, leave a part for the next day for cabbage rolls;
cook rice for a side dish, leave a little for fish salad;
we cut the fish for frying, at the same time put a couple of tails on the salad.

I hope the principle is clear, and based on this set of dishes, you can create your menu options for the week.

Cheap + fast + tasty = the perfect menu for the week

Why are such dishes given as an example? Solely based on my own experience. Since most of the "basic" products are bought in bulk and in stocks, there is a certain amount of stock at home. And when they come to an end, it is not at all expensive to buy a few packs of cereals or a bag of potatoes for the money. As a result, to prepare the entire set of dishes listed above, you need to buy:

beets and beans, pumpkin;
minced meat, 1 chicken, a package of chicken breasts;
inexpensive fish;
eggs;
milk and cottage cheese.

In general, try not to adjust purchases to the menu, but to adjust the menu to what you have in the refrigerator and in the bins. If something is overlooked when shopping, then deal with it. Forgot to buy raisins for a casserole - add frozen berries or rub an apple.

All of the listed dishes are simple and quick to perform, no delicacies and complex recipes. You can include in your menu those recipes that you do best. Ideally, if the dishes are generally prepared "by themselves": in a slow cooker, oven with a timer.

In general, that's all the advice "suffered" from our own experience on how to eat sparingly in the cold season. If you have any secrets, please share in the comments.

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Cut costs

So, the task set before us is to reduce the cost of food for a person individually and for the whole family as a whole. How to do it right, without damaging your own health? Ideally, it would be great if 20 percent of the family budget goes to food expenses. This can be achieved with the help of fairly simple rules, the observance of which greatly facilitates the existence of the hostess.

How to save money on food. Menu for the week

Why is it necessary at all and is it necessary to compose it? Planning is one of the most wonderful human habits. And in the question of how to save on food, a chaotic approach should also not be allowed. Because if a sufficiently thorough menu for the whole week is not developed, then cooking turns into a kind of lottery: what were we lucky enough to buy today, what will we cook from, what dish and how? Immediately there will be a huge number of questions that require you to solve it as soon as possible. And precious time is running out. In addition, much more money is spent, and the products may not be as fresh as we would like. Because a chicken bought in a hurry on the way home from work is not at all what you need to successfully resolve the issue of how to save on food.

Starting menu planning

So, we start by compiling an approximate menu for the whole week, for example, for a family of three. By the way, you need to do this on a day off, say, on Saturday, but not in the morning. After a good rest, sleep and breakfast, you can proceed. Of course, it is necessary to consult on these important issues with the rest of the family, taking into account their wishes (well, of course, not excessive - within our means). It is clear that some may treat your undertakings without due reverence, jokingly joking. But still try to try to convince them of the expediency and necessity of this project. Yes, and why is it better to do it on Saturday. We explain: so you still have a whole day and a half ahead of you in order to choose the freshest and cheapest products from the menu you have planned for the implementation. And of course, in order not to ask yourself the question: what to prepare the planned dish from, you must first purchase these necessary products.

A few more arguments in favor

List of dishes

The next step in our project “How to save on food. Menu for the week ”should be a list of those dishes that you can cook easily, and those that you would like to cook, but have not yet decided (but, of course, since we are talking about how to save on food, the recipes you have chosen, should not be too costly and difficult to prepare). Divide the sheet into seven columns according to the days of the next week. Each column should contain at least breakfast, lunch and dinner. Let's stop for now, in order to save money, on three meals a day. Of course, you can also include kefir before bed as a product useful for the stomach. But the main food should still be consumed during the day.

Given the nuances

It will be important to take into account the nature of the work and study of your family members. That is, for example: the husband leaves for work by 9, the son goes to school by 8.30. You stay at home (work remotely at the computer). My son arrives at 2:30 pm. The husband returns from work after 18.00 (ideally, in the middle of the day he can run home for a break). Weekends for the whole family - Saturday and Sunday. What follows from the described data? Most likely, the main meal for the whole family (a kind of late lunch) will be after 18.00. A joint breakfast is possible - according to the circumstances, hearty, but light enough so that after it the stomach does not press on the eyes. Lunch for the son upon arrival from the educational institution and for the husband if he runs in for a snack (but again, not too overloaded with calories). On Saturday, any festive dish is possible. Just like on Sunday (just make sure it doesn't negate all your saving efforts and is delicious, but not too expensive).

cheap products

It should be remembered that cheap does not mean bad, especially when it comes to food. In fact, are you aware of the pricing process, for example, for pork or chicken? How are food prices determined? And what is included in this price by the state, and what - by the supermarket? What profits does the manufacturer receive, and what profits does the trader make? We know very little about all this. But there are some tips that will help you save money and buy healthy and fresh products cheaper.

Stock

They are now very popular in various supermarkets. So, for example, a weekend promotion in one of the stores involves a reduction in prices for products of own production by 20-30%. Accordingly, by purchasing these products on Sunday, you can save a lot of money allocated for food.

Wholesale markets for products

If you have time and desire, try to buy what you have planned at the nearest wholesale market. Prices for products on the market (some) can be significantly lower than what you are used to stocking up on. But first, try to at least compare and analyze them. Perhaps it is more profitable to buy meat here, and vegetables and cereals there. Ideally, you should have not one, but several places where you make a constant purchase of products.

Sample breakfast

Breakfast is an important start to every day. It is especially important for children who simply need to be fed before school! Of course, there are adults who generally prefer not to eat in the morning, but there are only a few of them (by the way, if your husband, for example, is one of them, try to convince him: give something tasty and nutritious for breakfast, he might like it, and he will enjoy breakfast every day). Here are some economical and quite popular dishes in order to solve the problem of how to save on food. Their recipes are pretty easy to follow. But for everyone, rather, the most important thing will be to understand the basic principles of economy. And there, you see, you yourself can figure out what and when to cook and how much time and money to spend on it.

Omelette

An excellent option for a full, quick and inexpensive breakfast is the omelet king and all its variations. Judge for yourself: vegetable oil and eggs are relatively inexpensive. Sausages can be put quite a bit - for taste. Green beam. A drop of milk. And a chic nutritious breakfast for the whole family is ready! You don't need to be a culinary genius to make this dish. However, try to avoid frequent and daily repetitions in variations. You can cook next time, for example, with cottage cheese. And today - with slices of tomatoes. In general, an omelet is a versatile food, because almost every time it can be cooked with some additives, giving the dish originality.

Ingredients for three people: 6-7 eggs, 100 grams of good boiled sausage or ham, a pinch of salt and soda, a large spoonful of milk, a spoonful of low-fat cottage cheese, a little vegetable oil for frying, fresh herbs for decoration.

Beat eggs with milk, soda and salt.
Finely cut the sausage into cubes and fry in vegetable oil in a frying pan.
Pour the mixture into the skillet. We crumble cottage cheese on top.
We cover with a lid (preferably transparent, so that the process itself can be seen). We wait a few minutes without opening the lid. As soon as the omelet thickens and stops flowing, you can already turn it off and serve it to the table, decorating with chopped herbs. In this performance, it turns out gentle and soft. Some people prefer to turn the omelette over and fry on both sides. But then it will become rosier, but tougher.
You can serve an omelette for breakfast with croutons made from yesterday's bread in a toaster. Drink: children - milk, husband - coffee or tea. And now, with peace of mind, you can let your family go to school and work.

Breakfast options

Of course, there are other options for a tasty and satisfying (and inexpensive) breakfast. For children, milk porridge is especially suitable - rice, buckwheat or oatmeal. Don't say no to sandwiches! They, in the end, can be given to a child at school as a second breakfast (always an apple in addition) or to a husband at work as a snack. Many consider sandwiches to be junk food. But it's all about what they're made of. As a base, for example, you can use yeast-free biscuits, and as a filler - cheese paste and pieces of vegetables, fish fillet. And then the sandwich will be more useful. And it is relatively inexpensive to make. And in no case do not use sausage for school breakfasts, especially boiled!

Complete dinner

Of course, with this lifestyle, it is the main meal and looks more like lunch. Try not to be too late. If the husband, for example, comes home from work at 18.00, then the whole family can be invited to the table almost immediately. Try not to eat after 19.00 - many doctors and nutritionists oppose this. For the first, you can offer borscht. For the second - serve chicken with vegetables and salad. On the third - compote or tea. Dessert is homemade apple pie. And no store-bought sweets!

How buy groceries once, so as not to stand at the stove every evening, inventing a new dish, the editors will tell "So simple!". At the end of the article there is a list of products for the week, which you can print out and take with you to the store.

This set of products will be useful even to those housewives who will not cook the dishes we have proposed, but will choose other recipes at their discretion. We will start our countdown on Saturday, because it is often on weekends that many of us do grocery shopping.

Home menu for the week

Breakfast
Since in the morning we prefer to eat our usual dishes without frills, we recommend starting the day with cottage cheese with sour cream. From fruits you can make a delicious topping to pour over cottage cheese: for this you need to chop a small amount of fruit with a blender and mix them with sugar.
Such a sweet additive can be stored in the refrigerator for quite a long time. Also for breakfast it is worth preparing pancakes with cottage cheese.

Cottage cheese breakfast can be alternated with oatmeal. Porridge, boiled or fried egg and sausage - an incredibly tasty combination. For breakfast, we often eat or take sandwiches with us to work / school.

To prepare them, you need to prepare 2 small plastic containers: cheese should be cut into one, and sausage should be cut into the other. In the morning, each member of the family can independently make their favorite sandwich.
Saturday, Sunday, Monday
For dinner these days, you need to prepare chicken fillet chops in advance. Half of the chops must be cooked immediately, and the rest can be roasted for a week.
As a side dish, we recommend cooking baked vegetables with mushrooms. To do this, cut mushrooms, zucchini and carrots, add your favorite spices and seasonings, and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees. While vegetables are in season, don't forget to prepare fresh salads!
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
These days, our editors offer baked meat for dinner. One of the items on the list is a whole chicken. It must be cut, separating the brisket. The rest of the chicken must be marinated and frozen. Within three days, you need to defrost a small amount of meat and bake in the oven.

For a side dish, we suggest cooking rice with spinach. To do this, boil the rice in the usual way and fry the onion with spinach in butter. When the rice is ready, you should combine it with frying by adding another 100 g of butter.

Chicken breast must be ground and minced for meatballs. In the future, you can cook any vegetable.
Friday Saturday
For dinner these days, we suggest cooking, and boiled potatoes for a side dish.
Sweet
In order not to spend a lot of time preparing complex desserts, we recommend baking a quick one. It can be prepared with any fruits and berries.

And here is the list of products for the week!

Products

2 liters of milk
1 l kefir
1 kg cottage cheese
600 ml sour cream
400 g butter
1 kg oatmeal
5 kg of fruits (strawberries, cherries, apricots)
2 kg cucumbers
2 kg tomatoes
300 g dill
300 g spinach
200 g lettuce leaves (for sandwiches)
0.5 kg of onion
1 kg potatoes
15 eggs
1 kg flour
2 loaves of bread (guided by your family)
1 stick of sausage
500 g hard cheese
0.5 kg sausages
2 kg zucchini
1 kg carrots
300 g mushrooms
1 chicken
2 kg chicken breasts
1 kg of rice
0.5 kg minced meat (pork or beef)

We hope you enjoy our menu and grocery list! Be sure to tell your friends about these practical tips.

Good nutrition is an important item in the budget of every family. In fact, this is a kind of test of a young housewife for her frugality, foresight and rationality. Saving on food without sacrificing your health and your tastes is a whole science, which this publication will help you understand.

A few rules for true housewives

Initially, you have to learn how to make an economical one yourself, keep food leftovers in the refrigerator under control, stock up on food for the winter, and avoid unplanned visits to the supermarket and the market.

To this is added the following:

every month an exact list of products is compiled, and purchases are made strictly according to it;
on the Internet, you need to monitor all the promotions and discounts that take place in the supermarkets of your city;
before going for provisions, eat well beforehand;
make a choice without haste, compare and analyze the cost and shelf life;
having compiled an economical menu for the week for your family, make all purchases only according to the list. separately it is permissible to buy additional milk and bakery products;
do not waste money on semi-finished products.

When developing an economical menu for the entire coming month, you need to do the following:

calculate the volume of the main ingredients and come up with a variety of dishes;
write down a list of products and purchase them;
to prepare semi-finished products on their own;
divide into parts and freeze acquired for future use.

Calculate the number of dishes for the coming month

If you sit down and take a good look, it turns out that in one week there are 7 lunches, morning meals and dinners.

In an ideal scenario, the first meal implies the presence of a side dish, drink and salad, lunch - the first and second dishes, salad and drink, evening saturation - only a side dish and a drink. In addition, you have to periodically cook pastries.

It is important here not to get scared ahead of time, and remember the food habits of your family. Agree, after all, not everyone prefers to have a hearty breakfast or dinner, someone has pastries and is not held in high esteem, while the rest neglect the afternoon snack, because they constantly have lunch at work.

In addition, when composing a festive or economical menu with recipes for a whole week or a whole month, consider the following points:

The first dishes are prepared for a couple of days;
Porridge and other side dishes are also for 2 days;
Even the most economical menu includes salads. They, by the way it will be said, can be "long-playing" and fresh. The first includes "Olivier" and the like, and the second - vegetable, which are made at once;
Baking does not have to be on the table every day. But you can’t do without it if there are children in the family. A homemade cake or muffin can be given to school, and cookies and natural yogurt can be offered for an afternoon snack.

Semi-finished products

When developing an economical menu for each new day, it is important to provide for the opportunity to prepare food for the future, that is, stock up on semi-finished products. For example, one piece of meat can either be eaten at a time, making chops out of it, or broken down into minced meat. From it it will turn out to stick dumplings and cabbage rolls, which will be enough for a week. From the same meat cut, it’s really possible to cook homemade liver for pancakes, “navy-style” pasta or fried pies.

In order to eat the first dishes in meat broth every day, you can cook chicken in one large container, 5-6 liters that way, achieving a rich base. It is divided into portions, and frozen and stored in a refrigerator.

Cooked meat can be added to the same first courses, used for hearty salads, as a filling for pancakes, and so on.

Semi-finished products are convenient in that if they could not be used this week / this month, then they will be perfectly preserved in the freezer until the need arises.

Once you've decided on your recipes, take inventory of your kitchen cabinets, pantry, and refrigerator. See how much and what is available and what needs to be purchased urgently.

The main task is to optimize the cost of food, without compromising the health and preferences of the family. If the amount of the proposed purchases is still high, replace the most expensive dishes with simpler ones, add more vegetables to the list, and so on.

Once the responsible family member has compiled a list of products, you can go shopping. You can immediately buy everything you need in them, or you can leave a certain amount for buying additional dairy products, fruits, perishable ingredients, etc. within a week or a month.