Menu Plan Monday ~ Saving Money in My Frugal Kitchen ~ Third Week of May 2026

Welcome to Frugal Workshop where every Monday I share the simple strategies used to save money in my kitchen over the past week, along with the meals that made it to our dinner table. You'll find practical tips on how we saved money on food hopefully to inspire your own meal planning using the foods you have in your own pantry.

My Frugal Week

On Tuesday I went to Aldi to pick up some red peppers, and blueberries, both fresh and frozen. I also went to Gordon's to pick up a number ten can of black olives on sale for $9.99. 

On Saturday evening I went to People Helping People for free vegetables. This week's selection included more Napa cabbage, lettuce, kale, yellow squash, radishes, and fennel. Some of these things will be dehydrated like the dill and fennel, which is already in the dehydrator. 

Before coming home I stopped in at Food City as they had their 32 ounce bags of cheese on sale for $5 with a limit of two. I also picked up some bananas from the reduced produce rack. 

On Sunday I prepped the free produce to have with dinners this week. Washed and cut everything up and worked on dehydrating the dill and fennel to use later. 

Recipe Of The Week

Since I had the kale from the Mennonites, I decided to use it to make this massaged kale salad, ,which was a big hit with Bailey. 

Kale Salad

Ingredients:

1 to 2 bunches of kale 

Dressing Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup water

1/8 cup lime juice

2 cloves garlic

1 inch  fresh ginger

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons tamari 

6 pitted dates, soaked in water if not soft

kale, about two bunches

Directions: 

In a high-powered blender, combine all the dressing ingredients.

Process until smooth and creamy.

Remove the large, thick stems from the kale. 

Chop the kale leaves and place in a large bowl. 

Pour dressing over the kale.

Massage dressing into the kale with your hands. (I used gloves)

Refrigerate any unused dressing

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Cheeseburgers

Tuesday ~ Grilled Chicken Salads

Wednesday & Thursday ~ Chicken Tacos

Friday ~ Chicken Enchiladas 

Saturday & Sunday ~ BBQ Chicken, Savoy Cabbage & Onions, and Caramelized Sweet Potatoes.

We finished the savoy cabbage and onions on Saturday night, so on Sunday I made the kale salad posted above as our vegetable. It’s a very different dish from what I grew up eating, but it’s pretty tasty. Bailey really liked it. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week? 

Did you build up or organize your pantry this week?  

How are you managing food prices? 

We would love to hear all about it in the comment section. 

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Image Credit

Third Frugal Friday of May 2026

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday
Each Friday here at Frugal Workshop, I love sharing the frugal wins, quiet savings, and simple strategies that helped us stretch our budget over the past seven days. It’s a gentle look back at the small things that make a big difference. 
My Frugal Week
Last Friday was a busy day here. The first thing I did was go to the People Helping People bag sale as they had some stools I wanted to price as items are half off on bag sale day. I ended up not buying them as they were too tall for me and they swiveled. 
I did pick up two free stepping stools for my cat, so he can use them as a step to get up on the desk easier. I put it down and that is exactly what he used it for. 
Afterwards I came home and worked on getting some more junk out of one of the sheds here and I'm happy to report that shed is now empty! I took the trunk full of garbage and took it to the convenience center and trashed it. I vacuumed out my trunk afterwards since it was messy after that task. 
We had a lot of fun for my birthday last Saturday doing one of my favorite things ~ yard sales and thrift stores.  I spent $36 the entire day and we had the best time! That is such a cheap source of fun entertainment for me. Freebies for the day included a free dinner buffet from Golden Corral and a free shake from Sonic.  
On Thursday I took some more metal from downstairs to the recycling center and had over 200 pounds of scrap metal, which made another $23 plus change. Afterwards I took some paperwork to the courthouse before returning home. I came home and cut some of the grass in the yard and then measured and packaged sixty items for Bailey’s online shops. I definitely kept busy this week. 
Other Frugal Things This Week Include...
- I entered all my receipts into Fetch and NCP. There were a lot of them since we went to several thrift stores on Saturday.- I paid $3.85 per gallon for gas using a discount. - Ate all food and dinners at home with no eating out.
Today we will be headed out to yard sale one of those highway long sales, so we are getting an early start. What are your plans for today and how was your week?

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.

Belinda 🫶 💕 Homemaker at Heart 💕 ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Menu Plan Monday ~ Saving Money in My Frugal Kitchen ~ Second Week of May 2026

Welcome to Frugal Workshop where every Monday I share the simple strategies used to save money in my kitchen over the past week, along with the meals that made it to our dinner table. You'll find practical tips on how we saved money on food hopefully to inspire your own meal planning using the foods you have in your own pantry.

My Frugal Week

Last Sunday I took the last bag of chicken breasts from Gordons and put it into the refrigerator to thaw. I based our meals around chicken last week for this reason.

Last Monday I went to People Helping People as they've started getting free vegetables from the Mennonites again for the summer. 

 

We had some food waste here this week. I smelled something off in the kitchen this week and checked everything until I figured it out. There was a can of Eden garbanzo beans within date that had been leaking at the seal, so I discarded it and cleaned up the mess. I’ll be calling them today to discuss this issue.

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Chipotle Chicken Sausage or Grilled Chicken, Kohlrabi, White Radishes, Steamed Kale with Fig Dressing, Steamed Broccoli, Red Peppers. 

Can you tell I'd been to People Helping People to get free vegetables on this day? I came home and washed up all the good vegetables and served several of them for dinner. 

Tuesday ~ Movie Night ~ Every man for his self. 

Wednesday ~ Chicken, Broccoli & Cauliflower. 

I cooked the Gordon's chicken in the crockpot today as it was finally thawed out enough to cook. What we didn’t eat this week went into the freezer, so I’ll have cooked chicken to use as needed. 

Thursday & Friday ~Chicken Stir Fry, Caramelized Sweet Potatoes, and Sliced Oranges. 

I took some of the Gordon's chicken and made a stir fry with it using onions, red and orange peppers, stir fry vegetables from the freezer, and a cole slaw mix. 

Saturday ~ Free Golden Corral Birthday Dinner! And a free strawberry shake from Sonic. 

Sunday ~ Grilled Chicken Salads

The salads were so good with more free vegetables from People Helping People and the Mennonites that we picked up on Saturday evening. We got a huge head of Napa cabbage, purple kohlrabi, radishes, butter lettuce, fresh eggs and dill. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week? 

How did you build up or organize your pantry this week?  

How are you managing food prices?

We would love to hear all about it in the comment section. 

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Image Credit

Second Frugal Friday of May 2026

Welcome to Frugal Friday

Each Friday here at Frugal Workshop, I love sharing the frugal wins, quiet savings, and simple strategies that helped us stretch our budget over the past seven days. It’s a gentle look back at the small things that make a big difference. 
My Frugal Week
On Tuesday I had a doctors appointment, which went well. Afterwards I ran a couple of errands before returning home. 
On Wednesday it was raining for most of the day, so I stayed indoors and went through my clothes, trying some on and getting rid of those where I didn’t like the fit. This really freed up some space in my dresser drawers and closet. 

On Thursday I took the clothes I no longer wanted to People Helping People, which helps them continue to do free things for our community. They had free bread for the taking, so I got two loaves and put them in the freezer when I got home. 

Cash Express here is always giving away free pens and post it notes. They give them out to the teachers at school like candy. The cashier at People Helping People told me they have tons of them. So, I took these and put them in the little free pantry closet to my house. I'm sure someone will be able to use them. 
Price of Gas
On Monday our local gas station was charging $4.29 per gallon for the cheapest gas. I filled up across the street at Food City where it was still offered for $3.89 per gallon. 
When I went out on Thursday the gas had climbed to $4.29 at Food City, but I filled up at another station at $4.14 a gallon. We had special plans for this weekend but decided against them due to the price of gas. 
Yard Sale Saturday
We went to multiple yard sales last Saturday. Several of them were church yard sales and one of them was an estate sale. I found some very nice washcloths at the estate sale, so I picked those up to add to our collection. They were priced at $1.00 each, but they only charged me fifty cents each when I went to pay for them.  
Freebies

On Monday I went to People Helping People as they've started getting free vegetables from the Mennonites again for the summer. I brought home white radishes, lettuce, sweet potatoes, onions, dinosaur kale, broccoli, kohlrabi, and purple kale. 

Bailey ended up with some really nice freebies this week too. 

She mentioned to a lady holding a yard sale that the flowers in her yard were pretty. The lady ended up giving Bailey several bulbs and plants as a result. Wasn't that sweet of her?

My Reseller Genie recently hosted a giveaway where participants needed to record a short video on what they love about MRG. Bailey entered mostly because everyone who participated received a tote bag, but she won the grand prize of a $200 gift card!
With the $200 gift card she bought a Ninja Creami, which had been on her thrift bucket list for a couple of years. She’s already made three pints of ice cream including chocolate, peanut butter chocolate, and cinnamon. 
How was your week? Do you have big plans for the weekend? Happy Mother’s Day to all the ladies who have been blessed to become Mothers, puppies and kitties included. I hope you have a lovely day. 

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.

Belinda 🫶 💕 Homemaker at Heart 💕 ~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Menu Plan Monday ~ First Week of May 2026

Welcome to Frugal Workshop where every Monday I share the simple strategies used to save money in my kitchen over the past week, along with the meals that made it to our dinner table. You'll find practical tips on how we saved money on food hopefully to inspire your own meal planning using the foods you have in your own pantry.

My Frugal Week

The other day I walked into Walmart and saw this display of oranges marked down to $1.00 per bag that had been marked down from $4.97. There were approximately seven in each bag that I bought. So, we now have 35 oranges to add to our fruit for this month. We've already eaten several of them and they are delicious. 

The cashier asked me how I was going to eat all those oranges before they spoiled. I laughed inside thinking she doesn't know me very well. hehehe

We went to Kroger to do our monthly grocery shopping on Friday and also went to UGO and Ingles. We saved $70.52 at Kroger with our store coupons and sales. 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Baked Chicken Thighs with Cabbage & Onions, and Corn. 

Tuesday ~ Baked Potatoes with Cheddar & Black Olives. 

Wednesday ~ Chicken, Caramelized Sweet Potatoes, and Lentils. 

This was a sort of use it up dinner. I had a small portion of chicken, which was left from Monday night's dinner. I also made a side dish with lentils, onions, and chili beans that turned out really well.  

Thursday ~ Chicken Tacos, Lentils, and Corn. 

Friday ~ Chicken Tenders, and Nachos. 

I know this is a weird combination, but we were both wiped out after a full day of yard sales. 

Saturday ~ Grilled Chicken Salads

Sunday ~ Chipotle Chicken Sausages, and Green Peas.  

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week? Did you build up or organize your pantry this week?  How are you managing food prices? 

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Image Credit