June marks the beginning of the summer, which means tons of fresh delicious produce in my neck of the woods.  Lots of greens, cucumbers, and zucchinis, and more!  This meal plan is full of seasonal goodies that I know you will love.

As usual, I have the dinner plan below for free, but if you would like the shopping list with price breakdown, breakfast and lunch options, monthly calendar, prep notes, and full recipes all in one spot, I highly encourage you to purchase the very inexpensive meal plan pack. For less than $1/week, you have a lot of extra convenience.

This meal plan was designed to be an average of  $80/week. The first week is a bit higher because we’re buying items that we will use all month like big bags of carrots, potatoes,and onions.

To cut down on prices even more:

• Shop your pantry first and use ingredients that you have on hand first! Feel free to make substitutions based on what you have.
• Also check to see if any of the ingredients are on sale or can be substituted for ones that are on sale. I LOVE using online apps to get cash back on my groceries and save money! Ibotta is my favorite! Use my code “dgjqfhi” to get $10 back immediately when you sign up and verify your first rebate within the first two weeks.
• Use dry beans for canned. Try cooking them in the slow cooker covered with water on low for 6-8 hours.
• Try shopping at discount grocers like Aldi. Almost everything is cheaper there, ESPECIALLY avocados!
• Check your freezer before purchasing new meat! Sometimes items hide in there that we forget about.
• Grow your own herbs, vegetables, and fruit and sub where you can.  This time of year I hardly have to buy any produce because I have so much coming out of my garden.  Feel free to substitute produce if you have something different in your garden.
• If you are really struggling, please check out local food banks and pantries. My church, for example offers a food pantry twice a month. I’m sure there are many in your area if you just look.  They will often give pantry goods like oats, rice, pasta, canned tomatoes, and beans which are all on this plan.

June Frugal Monthly Meal Plan

Week 1

Whole chicken, mashed potatoes, collard greens

Chicken salads:  leftover chicken over salad with homemade dressing

Lentil soup

•1 cup green lentils
•1 T. fat or oil of choice
•1/2 large onion
•2 cloves garlic
•5 cups water or broth
•2 bay leaves
•salt and pepper to taste
•fresh herbs if desired

Heat oil over medium heat. Add diced onion and garlic. Cook until soft but not brown. Add liquid, bay
leaves, and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 15-20 minutes until tender but not
mushy.

Cabbage beef skillet

Garden presto pasta

Pizza

Flex night

Week 2

Salsa chicken with rice

2 lbs chicken breasts
1 24 oz. jar salsa

Place both ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Zucchini boats, fruit slices

4 zucchini
homemade sausage
1 onion, diced
6 oz. mushrooms, diced
parmesan cheese for topping

Cut zucchinis in half lengthwise and set aside.
Mix together ground meat with seasonings and brown in a skillet.
Add onions and mushrooms until tender. Salt and pepper to taste.
Scoop out the insides of the zucchinis and chop up the insides. Mix with ground meat mixture and fill back in the zucchinis. Top with parmesan cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until zucchinis are tender.

Frittata, salad

2 T. BUTTER
1/2 ONION, DICED
2 CUPS OF GREENS (SPINACH, KALE, SWISS CHARD), FINELY CHOPPED
8 EGGS
1/2 CUP SHREDDED PARMESAN CHEESE
1 TABLESPOONS ANY FRESH HERBS (PARSLEY, ROSEMARY, THYME), MINCED
1/4 TEASPOON SALT
1/4 TEASPOON PEPPER

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES. IN A WELL SEASONED 12 INCH CAST IRON SKILLET, MELT BUTTER OVER MEDIUM HEAT. ADD ONION AND GREENS AND COOK UNTIL TENDER. BEAT TOGETHER EGGS, CHEESE, AND HERBS. POUR OVER VEGETABLES. WITH A RUBBER SPATULA, GENTLY MOVE AROUND EGG MIXTURE. WHEN BOTTOM BEGINS TO SET, TRANSFER TO OVEN AND COOK FOR ANOTHER 5-7 MINUTES OR UNTIL TOP IS SET AND NO LONGER JIGGLY. SERVE IMMEDIATELY.

Quinoa tabbouleh

Hoagies with smoked sausage, peppers and onions

Pizza

Flex night

Week 3

Grilled tilapia, rice, roasted broccoli

Stuffed peppers, fruit slices

Chicken nuggets, roasted potato wedges, apple slices

Black bean, corn, and spinach enchiladas

Zucchini soup

3 zucchini
1/2 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
4 cups broth (homemade: see recipe under staples)
3 T. sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Place zucchini, onion, garlic and broth in a stockpot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender. Alternatively, you could place the ingredients in an electric pressure cooker on high for 5 minutes. After either method, puree the ingredients with either a high powered blender or immersion blender. Stir in sour cream and salt and pepper and puree for another 30 seconds. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Pizza night

Flex night

Week 4

Grilled chicken legs, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes

6-8 chicken legs
salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, cayenne

Pat chicken legs dry and season liberally with seasonings.
Heat grill to about medium heat. Scrape and oil grill.
Grill chicken legs for about 30 minutes, flipping about every 5 minutes until they reach an internal temperature of 185. If they start to burn, move to a cooler part of the grill.

Stir fry, rice

Taco salad

Breaded eggplant over spaghetti

Indian spiced red lentils, collards and tomatoes

Pizza

Flex night