My husband and I have some big savings goals for March. We’re looking at our whole budget to see what we can trim just for the month of March. One area that I decided to trim down was our grocery budget. I designated March a time to clean out the freezers and pantry. It’s amazing what items get tucked in there and never eaten.
My pantry and freezers (yes I have two deep freezers) are pretty well stocked with meat and frozen veggies. I also have a lot of canned tomatoes, dry beans, spices and other items in my pantry that will help me save at the grocery store this month.
Even if you don’t have a really full freezer and pantry, don’t despair. I designed this meal plan to be budget-friendly even if you had to go to the store and purchase every single item. It is possible to eat the Trim Healthy Mama way on a tight budget.
All that being said, this month’s meal plan is full of meals that are both budget and family-friendly that my kids will (mostly) eat without complaint. I try to only repeat a meal once within the month with the exception of pizza because that is a weekly staple in my house. I have planned for at least one meatless dinner meal per week.
I budget $450/month for my family of 7. If you’ve ever wondered how I can feed my family frugally, but still stay on THM, then you’ll want to read this article. It is doable, it just takes a bit of creativity. Just a side note, the point of the article is NOT to discourage you because you can’t get your budget where mine is, but to encourage you with new ideas on how you can trim some money off your budget each month. Even if you can cut it down by $50/month that is $600 per year!
For the month of March, I’ll be using two cookbooks – Trim Healthy Table and the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook. I also have quite a few online recipes mixed in as well.
In addition to this month of dinner meals, each Monday I come out with a full meal plan for the week. By full meal plan, I mean that I plan out all meals, snacks and drinks.
All of these meal plans are FREE, printable and come with a printable shopping list too. If you’d like to see some samples of my full meal plans, you can find them here. To ensure that you never miss a post you can sign-up to be on my e-mail subscriber list too. See the picture below on how to find out where to subscribe.
As always, a shopping list is included with these dinner meal plans. My goal is to make it as easy as possible for you and your family to stay on plan.
This meal plan covers five weeks. I find that it helps me to have five full weeks planned out, that way if I don’t get my meal plan done before the first of the month I have a couple of days of leeway in there.
***I have a family of 7 so these meals all serve at least 7. Many of the meals leave leftovers even for my size family.***
Week by Week Printable Meal Plan
Week by Week Printable Shopping List
Here’s what’s on the menu for the month:
Week #1: March 1-7
S – Creamy Taco Soup (S)
M – Dreamy Chicken Lazone over cauli rice with green beans on the side (S) pg. 50 in Trim Healthy Table
T – Cabbage Roll in a Bowl with broccoli on the side (FP) pg. 57 in Trim Healthy Table
W – Hearty Two Bean and Lentil Chili (E)
Th – Taco Salad – ground beef over lettuce and topped with cheddar cheese, salsa and sour cream (S)
F – Sweet & Spicy Stir-fry over brown rice (E) ***I’m doubling this recipe.
Sat – Fathead Pizza (S) ***I double the recipe for my family to make 2 pizzas. I use pepperoni, mozzarella, onion and green pepper for the toppings.
Week #2: March 8-14
S – Burger Bombs over salad (S) pg. 212 in Trim Healthy Table
M – Chicken Thighs with Tomato Spinach Sauce over cauliflower rice and green beans on the side (S) ***I’m using tomato sauce instead of marinara sauce, oil in place of the butter and serving with two cans of green beans.
T – Cabb & Saus Skillet with broccoli (S) pg. 58 in THM Cookbook
W – Burrito Bowls – (2) cans of black beans with Spanish Brown Rice, lettuce and salsa (E)
Th – Spaghetti with meat sauce over cauli rice (S) ***My family will eat their spaghetti over regular pasta. This is NOT reflected on the shopping list.
F – Cowboy Grub (E) pg. 59 in THM Cookbook
Sat – Fathead Pizza (S) ***I double the recipe for my family to make 2 pizzas. I use pepperoni, mozzarella, onion and green pepper for the toppings.
Week #3: March 15-21
S – Black-Eyed Pea “Gumbo” (E)
M – Slow Cooker Italian Beef & Cabbage with broccoli on the side (S)
T – Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup (E)
W – Instant Pot Paprika Chicken with green beans on the side (S) ***I’m using two cans of green beans and the chicken can be made in a slow cooker as well.
Th – Cheddar, Bacon and Veggie Frittata with a side salad (S)
F – Chicken Fried Double Rice (E) pg. 53 in Trim Healthy Table
Sat – Fathead Pizza (S) ***I double the recipe for my family to make 2 pizzas. I use pepperoni, mozzarella, onion and green pepper for the toppings.
Week #4: March 22-28
S – Taco Salad – ground beef over lettuce and topped with cheddar cheese, salsa and sour cream (S)
M – Spaghetti with meat sauce over cauli rice (S) ***My family will eat their spaghetti over regular pasta. This is NOT reflected on the shopping li
T – Hearty Two Bean and Lentil Chili (E)
W – Chicken Thighs with Tomato Spinach Sauce over cauliflower rice and green beans on the side (S) ***I’m using tomato sauce instead of marinara sauce, oil in place of the butter and serving with two cans of green beans.
Th – Burrito Bowls – (2) cans of black beans with Spanish Brown Rice, lettuce and salsa (E)
F – Little Sweet Little Spicy Drumsticks with broccoli and a side salad (S) pg. 221 in Trim Healthy Table
Sat – Fathead Pizza (S) ***I double the recipe for my family to make 2 pizzas. I use pepperoni, mozzarella, onion and green pepper for the toppings.
Week #5: March 29 – April 4
S – Black-Eyed Pea “Gumbo” (E)
M – Cabb & Saus Skillet with broccoli (S) pg. 58 in THM Cookbook
T – Instant Pot Paprika Chicken with green beans on the side (S) ***I’m using two cans of green beans and the chicken can be made in a slow cooker as well.
W – Italian White Bean and Spinach Soup (E)
Th – Slow Cooker Italian Beef & Cabbage with broccoli on the side (S)
F – Cowboy Grub (E) pg. 59 in THM Cookbook
Sat – Fathead Pizza (S) ***I double the recipe for my family to make 2 pizzas. I use pepperoni, mozzarella, onion and green pepper for the toppings.
These are always such inspiring posts! I’m off to plan my months of meals now 🙂 Thanks, Darcie!!
Have you made the Black Eyed Pea Gumbo before? The recipe seems like it doesn’t have enough liquid to cook the Peas. Do you know if there’s an ingredient missing?
I fill the crockpot most of the way with water after I add all the ingredients.