• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sweetphi logo

  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Five Ingredient Fridays
    • Meal Plans
    • Reader Recreations
  • Meet Phi
  • Cookbooks
  • Life
    • Love Lists
    • Books
    • Catching up with the Kelnhofers
    • Travel
  • Shop
  • Work With Me
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Family Meal Plan Diaries – Volume 5

Jan 22, 2026 · Leave a Comment

Welcome to volume 5 of the family meal plan diaries where I’m sharing what we ate (as a family of 6) and what it cost. No extreme budgeting, no rigid rules – just realistic meals that fit into busy days, hungry kids, and the occasional “let’s just order pizza” moment. This week included some delicious meals that everyone loved and a fun breakfast out and sushi lunch! Let’s dive in:

Family meal plan - for a family of 6 this image

Lunches/other recipes

  • Chickpea salad recipe – so good for a filling lunch
  • Tuscan white bean pasta soup – surprisingly the kids eat this soup! It’s so good and great leftovers for lunch!
  • Green juice without a juicer – I love these for a boost of vitamins!

Dinners

  • Chicken basil meatballs with lemon yogurt sauce – make it into meatball form and the kids eat it! This one is super delicious and pairs well with garlic couscous and peas.
  • Harissa Honey Fish Tacos: A total hit! Lightly spicy, a little sweet, and shockingly kid-approved. Served with avocado slaw, they’re so crazy good, we’ve made these SO so many times!

  • Chickpea zucchini burgers – these vegetarian burgers are crazy good. Nick and I LOVED them! The kids however, didn’t love them as much as Nick and I did lol, but that’s ok, they at least tried it. These make for really good leftovers too.
  • Meatball pizza with ricotta and Caesar – have you ever tried Caesar instead of pizza sauce? OMG game changer, it’s SO good!
  • Easy 5 ingredient chicken parmesan – super easy dinner the whole family loves with a shortcut!

Going out/takeout: This week I enjoyed a breakfast out with Sam at Storyhill BKC. They have the most incredible cinnamon rolls and chicken jalapeno soup – it’s so cute how Sam eats soup! $48. And then we had a sushi lunch a different day $70 – Sam looooves sashimi!

Family meal plan - for a family of 6

The Cost Breakdown

  • Groceries: $128 (Aldi) – was cheaper this week because we had

  • Takeout/restaurants: $118 ($48 Storyhill BKC, $70 sushi -includes tips)

  • Total for the Week: $246

Blog Posts, Meal Plans Family meal plan diaries, family meal planning

Did you make this recipe? Hashtag with us! Be sure to follow/tag  @philiakelnhofer and hashtag #sweetphiblog – we love to see what you’re cooking up!”
Get the Weekly Newsletter

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Top 5

Related Posts

  • 1 Family Meal Plan (Real Life Edition): September 2026
  • 2 Family Meal Plan (Real Life Edition): August 2026
  • 3 Weekly Meal Plan 7/19 - 7/25
  • 4 Family Meal Plan (Real Life Edition) - March
  • 5 Weekly Meal Plan 7/24/23 - 7/30/23

Philia Kelnhofer, Danish, Chicken tacos, Kelnhofer familySweetphi.com is a destination for easy recipes, showcasing beautiful content and inspiration, everyday family life, motherhood, and fun finds from around the web. 

Learn More

Here’s To The Weekend Newsletter

Easy recipes, fun finds and cozy stories that’ll have you excited about the weekend.

By Philia Kelnhofer

  • Recipes
  • Baby
  • Cookbook
  • Five Ingredient Fridays
  • Travel
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2026 · SWEET PHI