Meal Plan Monday ~ Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen ~ Third Week April 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

One way we save money here is by building meals around the cheapest proteins such as eggs, beans, canned tuna, cottage cheese, ground turkey, chicken, or pork. These proteins are often half the price of beef. Right now I am working through the ground turkey I have in my freezer and using up what we have on hand. 

Freebies

My friend had some extra eggs that she wanted to share with me this week and we ended up with 84 eggs! We had extra bread, rice, and oats that I shared with her. 

Recipe of the Week

Protein Pasta Cheese Bake

Ingredients:

1 pound Italian turkey sausage

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 beef bouillon cube

1/2 cup minced onions

2 teaspoons granulated garlic

2 teaspoons oregano or Italian seasoning

1 pound protein pasta, cooked

1 - 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 - 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

2 - 14 ounce cans spaghetti sauce

2 cups cottage cheese

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions: 

Brown Italian sausage, add Worcestershire sauce and bouillon cube.

Add onions, garlic, and oregano.

Add crushed tomatoes, drained tomatoes, and spaghetti sauce.

Mix cottage cheese and beaten eggs together.

Add cottage cheese to meat sauce.

Add pasta to meat sauce.

Fill two 9x13 inch pans with pasta meat sauce.

Top with mozzarella cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

 

What’s for Dinner

Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday ~ Protein Pasta Cheese Bake, and Steamed Broccoli. 

Wanting to use up some of the Italian turkey sausage we have in the freezer and use a box of protein pasta we had on hand, I decided to make a protein pasta cheese bake for dinner. 

From my pantry I used up one can of crushed tomatoes, the box of pasta, two cans of spaghetti sauce, and one can of tomatoes. 

This made two 9x13 casserole pans, which was more than enough for dinner, so I was able to put part of this into the freezer for future meals. 

Thursday ~ Grilled Chicken Salads

Friday ~ Chicken Tenders, Baked Beans. 

I used up one lurking can of store brand baked beans for this dinner. I’m glad to have used it up and now it’s out of the pantry. 

Saturday ~ Beefy Baked Beans, Golden Hominy, Sliced Oranges. 

For this recipe I used a package of ground turkey instead of beef, but by adding one beef bouillon cube and some Worcestershire sauce to the turkey, a tip I learned from Cheryl, the recipe closely resembles real beef. I used up several containers from my pantry in this recipe including the last of the ketchup bottle, jar of seasoned pepper, and two cans of pork and beans. I also used up the lurking can of golden hominy. 

Sunday ~ Cajun Style Turkey Breast, Baked Sweet Potatoes, and Deviled Eggs. 

This was a Kentucky Legend turkey breast we had in the freezer and I love their hams and now know Bailey enjoys their turkey breast too. Being Cajun, it was too hot and spicy for me to enjoy. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week? Did you build up or organize your pantry this week?  Have you been decluttering? 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

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