$50/5 Dinners Dollar General Challenge

I've said before that I live in a small town as do many of you.  Decent grocery shopping is nearly 100 mile round trip.  I do the bulk of my shopping when I make the trek to "town".  Our small town got a Dollar General fairly recently and it has been such a blessing to have some place to shop to fill in the gaps between trips to town.

This week I'm setting out to make dinners Monday through Friday, shopping at only Dollar General and staying under $50 for the week.  I've shopped sale items and used coupons.  If the $50 budget permits I will also throw in a dessert of some sort for the week.

Now, this is not necessarily the most economic way to feed your family as a lot of these items would still be less expensive bought someplace like Walmart or Winco.  But if your between trips and still want to feed your family on the cheap maybe a few of these recipes may work for you.

All recipes should yield at least four servings.
The budget breakdown will be operating with the assumption that you have basic pantry items such as spices, oils, eggs and milk already on hand.

Without further ado, here's day one.

Frosted Meatloaf

1 10.75oz can Cream of Mushroom Soup .65
2 lbs Ground Beef 8.00
1/2 Cup Breadcrumbs Pantry item, I actually used quick oats because it's what I had on hand
1 Egg, slightly beaten Pantry item but $1.50/dozen if you need to purchase
1 tsp, Onion Powder Pantry item
1 tsp, Salt Pantry item
1/3 Cup Water Pantry item
2 4.1 oz Pkgs Instant Mashed Potatoes 2.00
4 Cups Water

Serve with
1 Can Green Beans .50
Dinner Total $11.15

Directions:
-Mix 1/2 cup soup, beef, breadcrumbs, egg, onion powder, and salt.  Shape into a 8x4 inch loaf and place in a shallow baking pan or on broiling pan to catch drippings.
-Bake at 375* for 1 hour.
-Prepare mashed potatoes according to package directions as baking time is nearing completion.
-After meatloaf has been in the oven for an hour, remove from oven and reserve drippings.
-Frost meatloaf with prepared mashed potatoes. There will be potatoes leftover to serve on the side. I sprinkled with cheese but did not include that cost as recipe did not call for it and I already had it on hand. Shredded cheese at Dollar General is $2.65.
-Return to oven for an additional 15 minutes.
-In a saucepan mix remaining soup, 1/3 cup water, and 2-3 Tbsp of meatloaf drippings. Heat, stirring occasionally.  Once hot and combined, keep warm.
-Heat green beans.

Serve meatloaf sliced and topped with soup sauce.  Mashed potatoes and green beans on the side.