Actually enjoy dinner time again with this amazing guide! One month of meal plans that has everything you need to succeed at saving time and money in the kitchen
(even with cranky kids, and a messy kitchen).

This Pantry Edition is perfect for using up what you have and going to the grocery store less!

What's inside?

The Budget Meal Guide: Pantry Edition is specifically designed to take your chaotic nights and put order to them! NO thinking about what you need to do, just follow the instructions and go.

It's also created to help you cook with what you have so you don't have to go to the grocery store as often and you waste less food!

• 20 Recipes that are kid-approved and easy to make (with substitution options for almost every ingredient!)
• 4 Weekly meal plans each with five meals strategically designed to save you time and money
• 4 One day prep session outlines so you spend less time in the kitchen (and you actually make meals during the week)
• Grocery lists for each week so you can literally order groceries from your couch without having to come up with a list and wonder what to get
• Helpful tip sheets: Cooking with kids, Pantry Stock Up Items, and Batch Cooking Freezer Meals

Maybe you've tried this before.

• Maybe you didn't actually cook the meals and the food went bad
• Maybe you bought all the food and spent way more money than usual
• Maybe you got so overwhelmed to begin with you just ordered out and called it a night
  
  With the Budget Meal Guide: Pantry Edition I give you all the tools to actually WIN at meal planning and take away all the stress that comes with it.

Imagine if this was the process you got to do...

• You order groceries from the premade list without having to search the internet for recipes and pray that your bill won't be too high.
• You prep for your meals, then you don't have to cook nearly as long the other nights.
• Instead of stressing 'what's for dinner' and searching your cabinets, you have a PLAN and you don't have to worry, like ever.
• You get dinner on the table at a decent time and you actually get to enjoy it with your family.

Does this sound familiar?

• I would have a fridge full of food. Half of it was going bad. None of it made a full actual meal.
  
• I had no energy to fix dinner. I had NO energy to even think about what to make!
  
• IF I did try to make dinner half the time the stupid Pinterest recipe did not work out or it took WAY longer than it said.
  
• All the while my sweet baby was in the WORST mood of the entire day and made making dinner almost impossible.
  

Most of the time before I even attempted dinner we'd just order out or grab pizza rolls out of the freezer because we were in survival mode.

I could not take the stress of dinner and everything that went with it.

This went on for... well over a year at least. Then we decided to try and start budgeting and I realized exactly how much I had been spending.

HOLY FREAKIN' MOLEY.

We easily spent over $1000 a month on food for just our little family of three between the grocery and eating out.

HOW?! I yelled in my head. I felt like I didn't buy nearly enough to actually add up to that insane number.

What I didn't realize was all that food I'd let waste or we'd just bought and let sit had added up... and those random lunches out and dinners pick-ups had too.

Yeah, those were way more often than I realized, and it added up FAST.

That was a shocking moment for me. I realized I had to do something different.

I searched google, I pinterested,  I tried a million recipes, I spent a ton of time trying and failing.

Then one day all the things I kept trying started working together, and we finally got our budget to less than $400 a month.

This Budget Meal Guide: Pantry Edition is EXACTLY the strategic meal plans that made all the difference for my family and helped us get our spending cut in half.

Now I still have cranky kids when I'm making dinner. But I am so much more able to deal with it because I have zero stress about what is for dinner.

Recipes your kids will actually eat and they aren't totally terrible for them.

Getting kids to eat the food we make for dinner tends to be difficult, like really difficult.

These recipes are kid-tested and I'm proud to say more than one has had my five-year-old asking for third helpings.

Most of the meals you can sneak in extra veggies too no problem. I call that a win!

PLUS- if you have dietary restrictions the substitutions will be a massive help! The recipes are peanut, tree nut-free and they have substitutions for all gluten and dairy ingredients!

Strategic Meal Plans that fit your budget and your busy life

Stop wasting time and money searching pinterest for recipes that just don't work out in the end!

The entire month should cost you less than $150 for the dinners (depending on cost of living in your area). Regardless- they are a bargain.

Each week you have five planned meals then two nights that are open for eating out and eating left overs! Because let's be honest, no one wants to be in the kitchen every single night of the week.

PLUS they aren't complicated or super time consuming. This system can totally turn around your nights and give you the structure you need to thrive!

Set yourself up for success with this smart system

Ever bought a ton of food then not cooked it?

Yes. I have been there.

Each week you'll have a one-day prep session where you get some big cooking tasks done that will make your week go WAY smoother.

These are optional but can make a massive difference in the amount of time you spend in the kitchen.

Stop wasting time making massive grocery lists

Every essential ingredient you need for all the dinners is compiled in these handy weekly grocery lists (along with a blank sheet for you to write down anything else you need).

These lists make it super easy to order groceries or go to the grocery and have everything you need in no time.

Tips that will make you even more efficient at making dinner

I give you my best tips on things like:

- How to cook with kids (I promise it can be fun!)

-Pantry staples for this guide

- How to batch cook and build-up your freezer stash with these recipes

Frequently Asked Questions

I've failed at meal planning before, why is this different?

I have been in your shoes! It took me a long time to figure out how to make meal planning actually work.

This is different because you've got a strategically planned week and I've given you every resource possible to make it as easy as possible to get it done!

These are meal plans already made with a busy mom schedule in mind.

Will this work with my dietary restrictions?

As a mom of a child with MANY food allergies, I get this worry! I list substitutions for all recipes and they can easily be made soy, milk, egg, and gluten-free. They are ALL tree nut, peanut, and fish free already.

If you have any questions about your dietary restriction, send me an email at rachel@thiscraftyhome.com and I'll be more than happy to look through everything and let you know if the meal plan is feasible for you.

How many people is this meal plan for?

This meal plan is set up for a family of 4-6. You can easily make more if you need to! If you have a small family take advantage of having leftovers to save for lunch!

What kind of cooking tools do I need to do these recipes?

There are many traditional recipes in this guide that you just need your regular kitchen basics for. There are also some where I recommend crockpots or Instant Pots so you are cooking in a hands off manner.

IF you do not have an Instant Pot I highly suggest it. While it is not a must it will save you SO much time!