Menu Planning with $50

As I mentioned in my last menu post, we are returning to our $50/week budget (which we deviated from since Christmas).  Last week, we made a list of only the things we really needed, and the fact that Aldi has had gallons of milk on sale for $1.99 combined with the 1/8 of a cow we just put in our freezer, last week we were able to spend less than our budget.  In fact, we have a $10 carry-over from last week!  YAY!  (And props to my husband, who did last week's shopping.)   That's turning out to be really good, because this is our week to buy formula.  Our daughter is still drinking breast milk (and we still have a freezer-full of the glorious stuff in the basement), but we keep formula with us for emergencies and in case she needs a top-off.  Formula is SO STINKING EXPENSIVE - I am so glad we're not buying cans of the stuff every week!  And it's healthier for little Miss anyway.  So win win.

The other exciting thing about this week's trip to the store is that we get to start tying baby food!  I hope to spend some time this weekend doing some research on how to make your own, because that stuff is expensive too, and it's about to be a great time of year for fresh produce!  But in the mean time, I'm trying to plan meals this week that will use up what we have:

• Chicken Noodle Soup - I love love love this recipe, and my husband won't eat soup when it gets warm, so I need to hurry up and make this before it gets too warm.  Right now I'm planning to put it on while we're at church tomorrow so it will be ready when we get home.  I'll use some of the meat for the recipe and freeze the rest for a future meal.  I have everything I need for this recipe!
• Chicken Enchiladas - I put this on the menu last time and never made it.  I believe I have ALL the ingredients for enchiladas, including the chicken from the above recipe,  so I don't need to buy a thing!
• Spaghetti - we made this last week and cooked up enough beef/sausage for a second meal.  I will use that and cook spaghetti noodles that we already have, which means I don't need to buy anything for this meal either!  I may make these bread sticks this weekend and freeze them.  They are time-consuming, but oh-so-yummy and cheap!
• Grilled Cheese & Ravioli - our quick meal for the week - another meal for which I don't need to buy anything!

We have our staples, of course, but those shouldn't cost more than $15.  A can of formula will run us about that much, which means we will have $35 to spend on baby food.  Obviously we won't be buying that much, but I will probably buy quite a bit more than I need so I won't have to buy next week.

**Edit: I spent $15 at the grocery store buying one thing of baby food, fruit, veggies, cereal, and a few other tidbits.  That means $35 left over!  I can do this!