It’s Time to Take Control of Your Weekday Mornings and Get “One Step Ahead” of Yourself with These Freezer Friendly Make-Ahead Goodies…All Included In This New Meal Plan!
This new meal plan & recipe set is going to help you reclaim and transform your frantic and hectic mornings. I am thrilled to get to share this with you, and be a part of this transformation process. I know you’re desperate for some help, and I am here to do just that. This meal plan that I’ve assembled, outlined and priced out for you is just what you need to help streamline and de-stress your mornings.
Not a morning person. Maybe it’s health issues. Wrangling the kids and the backpacks is stressful enough. It takes an hour or two for your brain to turn on and the fatigue fog to lift, despite the coffee.
We all have those mornings. Some mornings run smoothly. Some don’t. But I tell you what…having homemade convenience foods stashed in the freezer really makes a HUGE difference and keeps me from pulling my hair out on those not-so-smooth mornings.
That is EXACTLY what this plan is about…homemade convenience foods. That will keep you ‘one step ahead’…of that kid that refuses to eat another bowl of cereal. For your spouse who has a LONG time between breakfast and their lunch break, so they need a protein packed brekkie. For you, who is on a mission to enjoy one smoothie a day (be it in the morning, or an afternoon pick-me-up!).
Whatever it is, having these breakfasts & snacks put together ahead of time will help you reclaim and transform your busy weekday mornings!
After reading thousands of comments from busy people about their stress levels in preparing meals in the morning that their families enjoy, I knew right away what would help. So I created a special meal plan for you.
But, I know what you’re thinking…
“Why not just get the already pre-made breakfast sandwiches that are in the freezer at Costco?”
Um. Have you ever tasted those? Or read the ingredients list? While I’m not a purist or super hound on labels, I do try to use the best possible ingredients for what we eat, and that often means making these convenience type foods (like the breakfast tacos and sandwiches) myself. Plus, the homemade ones taste a.whole.l.o.t. better. And I can add my secret ingredient to the breakfast sandwiches this way too. (Whole story on the secret ingredient is in the assembly video!)
I am worried about having to stand around in the kitchen for hours and hours to prepare all these breakfasts???
DON’T! Stop the worry! Right now. Please.
I’ve specifically designed the shopping list in 2 parts. The first is if you do want to purchase everything in one shot and get it all prepared in one cooking session. One and done, kaboom. You will save so much time and mental energy during the week by having it all done ahead, not to mention the smiles you will see on your kids’ faces while they munching down on their breakfast tacos or slurping a perfectly sweet smoothie.
The second shopping list is designed so that you can get the ingredients for the different recipes/meals during different shopping trips. This way you can prepare the breakfast sandwiches one week, the tacos another week, and put together all the baking mixes another time. I’ve made it so that it will work for anyone, on any schedule!
I’ve also included time markers for the assembly video, so you’ll know when to watch for which meals/recipes. I always share little secrets and tidbits in the videos that you don’t want to miss out on!
ALSO, you don’t have to do this alone. This plan is super ‘kid sous chef’ friendly (as you saw my 5 year old helper in the video above!) and you can easily have young children helping put together the breakfast sandwiches, smoothie packs and breakfast tacos. Older children could also help in an ‘assembly’ line of the make ahead baking mixes. AND. They can also help with the preparation of the batter, since it’s all pre-measured.
Which package would work best for you and your family?
As always, you can expect the same great shopping list, recipes list, printable labels, assembly instructions and access to an exclusive video of me assembling all the meals {Watch a Preview here!}…it really helps having me with you in your kitchen while you’re putting everything together. Plus, I get silly and slap-happy in this one!
Recipes
- 40 Bacon, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Tacos – 5 meals for 4, 2 tacos each
- 24 Sausage, Egg & Cheese ‘McMuffin’ Sandwiches – 6 meals for 4, 1 sandwich each
- 31 Banana, Mango & Strawberry Smoothie Packs
- 43 Make Ahead Baking Mixes
- 15 Pancake Mixes
- 6 Waffle Mixes
- 8 Muffin Mixes
- 6 Banana Bread Mixes
- 8 Baked Oatmeal Mixes
Shopping Lists
The complete shopping lists are only available in the packages below. But here’s the price breakdown for this plan and what I spent, including the quart size plastic baggies & all the ingredients.
Total at Costco – $146.44
Total at Grocery Store – $14.80
Anticipated Leftovers ~ $25 worth
- 28 slices cheese
- about 3 lbs. white sugar
- 100+ quart size baggies
- ¾ container salt
- ¾ container cinnamon
- 1 bottle canola oil
- Syrup
- Ground ginger
- Few frozen strawberries and mangoes
Final Total – 85 Make Ahead & Freezer Friendly Breakfasts for $140
You could spend less depending on which syrup you purchase, which cheese (block vs. shredded & which brand of the sliced cheese) & which type of yogurt/milk for the smoothies.
Please note: the eggs and bananas included in the shopping lists are to be used for the egg sandwiches and breakfast tacos and smoothie packs. For the make ahead baking mix, the shopping list does include oil and vanilla because they have a longer shelf life. The shopping list does not include the eggs, milk & mashed banana/grated zucchini that you might use to make the batter with the make ahead baking mixes. You will have to purchase/have on hand those ingredients at the time you prepare the batter.
If you’re new to my 20 meal for $150 plans, this is the 7th meal plan in the series. You can find the ALL of the Warehouse Meal Plan Printable Downloads and all of my E-Cookbooks in the E-Store. Once you’ve chosen all the one that will help you improve and streamline your time & work in the kitchen, you can checkout and get all the printable downloads at once!
Disclaimer: I have no formal relationship with Costco and am not paid by them to share these plans. I created these plans to help myself (and you!) spend less money at Costco, while using up all the bulk ingredients without them going to waste. Hope they help your family as much as they help our family!
katherine says
May I please ask, are your ingredients available in Australia? Thank you.
Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says
I’m not entirely sure Katherine…but I would think so…English muffins, sausage patties, frozen fruit & bulk bags of flour, sugar, etc. They are pretty standard ingredients 🙂
Erin
Katrina Dasenbrock says
They may not have English Muffins. Would have to substitute crumpets, which would be yummier.
Pat kirk says
Not all ingredients are available here in Ecuador. No Costco.
Would it be worth it for two people, and are most items easy things to buy
Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says
Yes, the ingredient list is pretty simple, and yes…totally worth it for 2 people…the food will last you longer 🙂
Erin
Chandra says
hi, I just purchased your breakfast meal plan. I accidentally purchased it twice. I was wondering if I could get refunded for one of them? Thank you. 🙂
Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says
Absolutely! Can you email me at https://www.5dollardinners.com/contact 🙂
Erin
Jackie m says
I just purchased the complete plan and have looked at it and love it a bunch. So much work! And such a small price! I know I am going to love it and it will help make my life easier!
A couple of questions. Do your other meal plans come with the spread sheet? And is there an easy way to alter the shopping lists if I will be halving the recipes? I am single and live alone.
Thanks again for all your hard work!
Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says
Hey Jackie,
I’m glad you love the plan! This is the first plan that we’ve offered the spreadsheet…but I like your idea of having it as an option for changing the shopping list 🙂
Erin
Rachel says
I’m so grateful for all your hard work! Thank you kindly for every bit of effort & care you take into preparing these plans. I just finished freezing Meal Plan #6 and my family is loving everything we’re eating! The time invested up front is well worth the return during busy weekdays. Looking forward to getting this one started next! Thanks again and again! I hope to soon write a post sharing about this with a link to your Costco plans on my blog! 🙂
Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says
Thanks for your kind note Rachel! I’m so encouraged to hear how helpful the plans are for your family!
Before you blog about this, shoot me a note 🙂 5dollardinners (at) gmail.com
Erin
Rachel says
Will do! 🙂
R.J. Perry says
This is a really great idea. Have you ever considered doing a vegetarian version? I’ve seen this before but didn’t buy because we don’t eat meat.
Erin, The $5 Dinner Mom says
This is the first plan that I’ve put together that can be made vegetarian 🙂 It’s super easy to adapt the breakfast sandwiches and breakfast tacos to vegetarian, and I give all the specifics inside the plan.
We’ve had a few ppl ask and we will include vegetarian as an option in an upcoming survey 🙂
Erin
Sylvia Nelson-Campbell says
I AM VERY INTERESTED IN THIS OFFER, BUT DO HAVE A QUESTION. AS I HAVE VARIOUS MEDICAL ISSUES AND AM WHEELCHAIR BOUND, CAN THIS WORK FOR ME IF I CAN NOT DO IT ALL AT ONCE. OAM TYPE COOKING IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR ME.
Ashley Yonker says
I don’t have a Costco near me. Do you think these prices would be comparable to Walmart? And how many would the portions feed? I have a family of 7. Thank you
Jenn K says
The prices are not comparable at Walmart due to size differences, but you can definitely adapt any of our Costco meal plans to use at any store. You’ll just have to watch the quantities of the ingredients so you’ll end up with enough to make all the meals. The post above explains how many of each breakfast sandwich, taco etc. that you’ll be making. Just thaw however many you need for your family.
Carmen Bowen says
Hi Erin! I am very interested in this; however, I thought you had said that you would have some free information available the first week this was rolled out? I’ve been anxiously watching/waiting for this, but really don’t have the extra money at this time to purchase. Is there anything I can look at to get some of these ideas that’s currently free? Thanks so much!
Jenn K says
The bonuses are included in the complete package! 🙂
Ebony says
Is there a reason why you are using pre-frozen fruit instead of fresh fruit? I was under the impression that those have a lot of added sugar.
Jenn K says
Just check the ingredients on the frozen fruit to ensure there isn’t any added sugar. You can find a lot of brands that are 100% fruit.
Jamie says
Do you have recipe options without pork?
Jenn K says
For this breakfast plan, you can substitute turkey bacon or any other breakfast meat that you prefer for the breakfast tacos and sandwiches (or omit the meat altogether). The remaining meals (smoothies and baking mixes) do not include pork. 🙂
Sheri says
hi I was wondering if these breakfast tacos would work to be put in a sealer and than in the freezer? I like to make meals for my husband and put them in my sealer so he doesn’t eat gas station food since he’s in the oilfield and gone a lot.
Jenn K says
Like a food saver? You certainly can, but it’s not necessary. Just remove as much air as possible and freeze in freezer-safe bags. Super easy 🙂
Jana says
I am AMAZED at the work you did for us for such a small outlay of cash. You are my hero !!
Haben says
Hi I just received an email telling us to hurry and order the new breakfast and snack recipes and that if we order now we will receive lots of extras. I just ordered it a few days ago and I don’t believe it had anything extra in my download. I would love to receive the extras too. Please help me to understand if I misunderstood something.
Jenn K says
The complete package includes additional bonuses in the PDF at the end including:
EXTRA: Make Ahead Baking Mixes Calculation Spreadsheet
EXTRA: Pantry Cheat Sheet – to post in your pantry for quick and easy reference to preparing the batters for the make ahead baking mixes. Tells you eggs, milk & oil quantities for each mix.
EXTRA: How to Half, Double & Triple Recipes, A Measurement Guide
EXTRA: 5 Grab n Go Breakfast Muffin Recipes
Debbie Johnson says
Do you make a set of dinner or lunch meal plan kits????
Amber says
Hi! The plans look great, but I was checking out the prices in the sample list. Wow! My store seems to be charging double on everything.. For example, a two pound block of cheddar is 9.59 and eggs are 6.49 per 18. What a difference! Can I ask which part of the country your Costco is?
Heidi Engquist says
Will there be a Sam’s Club version coming?
Kristin says
Hi, when cooking the prepared breakfast sandwiches, are they made in the microwave or oven? Do you include cooking directions for both? Thanks!
Annie says
I just ordered the book! I’m so excited. With a 3 1/2 month old infant, and a husband that works so much, this will be a HUGE help to me. And costco is 5 minutes away, thank you!!!!
Pam says
Do you have the meal plans for the evening meals?
Lucas says
Nice!!
Jennifer says
Are these recipes adaptable to be gluten-free?
Jenn K says
You could substitute corn tortillas for flour ones, GF english muffins, GF oats and GF baking blend. It won’t be the $140 total cost though but, yes, you can make all of these gluten free. 🙂
Heather says
I am recently new to the website and am loving what I am seeing so far. However, my question and concern is can the meals and shopping list be adjusted according to what my family eats? Ex: on the 85 breakfast meals for $150….we don’t eat English muffins so I thought I would just buy more tortillas and make some bacon and others sausage. Also, we don’t do a lot of waffles and pancakes but in talking with my kids, they seemed excited about the muffins, oatmeal etc. Can this be adjusted in the shopping list and meals?? TIA
Miguel says
Very interesting post. Most of the ingredients we can find here in Brazil. I will try this.
Thanks a lot
Karishma says
Can we use this at Sam’s Club also? Or do you have one that is specific to Sam’s? I don’t have a Costco close to my location
Jenn K says
Yes, you can adapt this one for Sam’s Club as both warehouse stores carry similar products. Just watch the quantities so you have enough of each ingredients in case they sell in bigger or smaller packages. And, we do have a couple exclusively for Sam’s but they aren’t breakfast plans. You can see them here: https://www.5dollardinners.com/20-meals-from-sams-club-for-150-recipes-printable-shopping-lists/ and here: https://www.5dollardinners.com/20-meals-from-sams-club-for-150-meal-plan-2-with-printables/
gaby says
hi do i have to by the paket that cost $8 so i can have all you said on the video? or wish one?im excited to try threm . please let me know.