Stretch Your Food Budget With These Great Recipe Ideas (2024)

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you are like me, during this crazy time of life I have been trying really hard to stretch my food budget and limit the trips to the grocery store. While this has been a huge change for me, it has really made me stop and think about how much money I would spend on grocery trips and eating out without planning my food budget! Thankfully, Safeway has me covered as I continue this food budget challenge with their great Signature Brands!

Stretch Your Food Budget With These Great Recipe Ideas

Mix Up Your Meal Plan With Safeway

We all get in meal plan routines that have us enjoying the same meal over and over. Sure, it is comfortable and easy but why not stay on budget, go to the store less and enjoy a new meal option? I have been a Safeway shopper for years so I am very familiar with the Signature Brands available at Safeway – Signature SELECT™ , Signature Farms®, Signature Cafe®.

I have a few Signature Brands items that are must haves when I go shopping and I am excited to share some of my tips and tricks on how to really focus on that food budget and get creative with your family meal plans through out the week. For this particular week I focused on one type of food…Italian. Step out of the normal and let Safeway help you serve your family some delicious meals!

Why I Use Signature Brands

Like I said before, I have been a Safeway shopper for years so when I go shopping at Safeway I am always putting the Signature Brands items in my cart. Signature Brands help me stretch my weekly food budget with high-quality products at a great value in every aisle of the store. I have to be honest, I pick the Signature Brands item over “name brand” because I know the quality is fantastic but the price is even better!

Signature Brands include the following: Signature SELECT™ ,Signature Farms®, Signature Cafe®. Signature Brands has options for every meal and occasion including ready to eat, ready to heat, and cooking from scratch ingredients. Signature Brands are the perfect option for times like now…stock up and stay on budget! Signature SELECT™ and Signature Farms provide everyday products at a value! Need a meal solution for those crazy busy days? Signature Café provides fresh chef-inspired meal solutions for life’s busy moments.

No matter your situation or need, Signature Brands has the solution for you. I shopped at Safeway, but you can also find any of these products at the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Albertsons, Safeway, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons. OR ONLINE.

Three Meals…One List

I am sharing how one shopping list and shopping trip can not only keep you in budget but also provide you and your family with three delicious recipes! My focus will be on Italian. Turning a traditional Spaghetti night into another two meals that are just as kid friendly as Spaghetti!

Signature Brands Items Included In ALL Three Meals:

• Signature SELECT™ Italian Style Meatballs
• Signature SELECT™ Traditional Pasta Sauce
• Signature SELECT™ Ranch Dressing
• Signature SELECT™ Cheese and Garlic Croutons
• Signature Farms® Garden Salad

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Spaghetti night is a pretty easy, on budget, kid friendly week meal. Add this meal to your weekly meal plan but stretch it. Using the Signature SELECT™ Italian Style Meatballs and Signature SELECT™ Traditional Pasta Sauce sparingly over the Signature SELECT™ Spaghetti noodles, dinner can be made in just a few minutes.

Ingredients:

Signature SELECT™ Italian Style Meatballs
Signature SELECT™ Traditional Pasta Sauce
Signature SELECT™ Spaghetti
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Signature SELECT™ Artisan Garlic Bread

Directions:

1. Prepare Signature SELECT™ Spaghetti noodles as directed on package.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan warm Signature SELECT™ Traditional Pasta Sauce and add desired number of Signature SELECT™ Italian Style Meatballs into sauce.

3. Cover meatballs and sauce with lid and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

4. Plate pasta and top with sauce and meatballs.

5. Serve with Signature SELECT™ Artisan Garlic Bread and a side salad!

My kids LOVE The Signature SELECT™ Italian Style Meatballs. They are great for Spaghetti and Meatballs but they also eat them for lunches without pasta and sauce. Great protein option for a fast meal or snack. This bag of meatballs is large enough for spaghetti and meatballs plus two other easy recipes but if you are a meatball lover make sure you add two bags of these Italian Style Meatballs to your shopping cart!

Easy Meatball Sub Casserole Recipe

This recipe takes all of my favorites; cheese, meatballs, and bread and creates a delicious casserole dish!!

Ingredients:

1 package of Signature SELECT™ Artisan Garlic Bread
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup Plain Greek yogurt
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
1 TBSP Parsley
2 cups Mozzarella cheese
Signature SELECT™ Traditional Pasta Sauce
12-15 Signature SELECT™ Italian Style Meatballs

Directions:

1. Carefully cut the garlic bread into inch pieces.

2. Spray 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray and place the garlic bread pieces in the dish evenly.

3. In small bowl, mix cream cheese, Greek Yogurt, Parsley and Italian Seasoning until completely combined.

4. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese over garlic bread. Spread cream cheese mixture over cheese layer.

5. Cover cream cheese layer with pasta sauce and sprinkle an additional 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese over pasta sauce.

6. Arrange meatballs on sauce and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.

8. Sprinkle additional Italian seasoning over cheese and meatballs.

9. Bake for 25-30 minutes at the same temperature you baked the frozen garlic bread or until meatballs are cooked through and cheese has melted.

10. Serve immediately and ENJOY!

Baked Meatball Sub

Another delicious meal that will have your family wondering what is for dinner because your kitchen will smell amazing!! This too takes some of my favorite reasons I like Spaghetti night…bread, meatballs and cheese!!

If you are going to make this recipe along with Spaghetti and Meatballs and the Meatball Sub Casserole, you will need two loafs of the Signature SELECT™ Artisan Garlic Bread and depending on how much sauce you like on your meals another jar of the Signature SELECT™ Traditional Pasta Sauce.

Ingredients:

Signature SELECT™ Traditional Pasta Sauce
Signature SELECT™ Artisan Garlic Bread
Signature SELECT™ Italian Style Meatballs
1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Simmer meatballs and sauce in a medium sauce pan for 15-20 minutes.

3. Open the Signature SELECT™ Artisan Garlic Bread and sprinkle about 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese over the garlic spread that is already on the bread.

4. Place meatballs and sauce on one side of the bread.

5. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese on top of the meatballs and sauce.

6. Place top of bread on the meatballs and wrap sub sandwich in foil.

7. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

8. Once baked, slice the sub and serve and enjoy HOT!!

A Side Dish For All

I shared three delicious recipes that can all be created on a budget and now it is time to share how I am always ready for a side dish for any occasion or meal. Another way to really stretch your budget is by adding side dishes. Keeping your portions under control in order to use the main items like the Signature SELECT™ Italian Style Meatballs for all three recipes is key! This doesn’t mean you need to go hungry. Instead, simply add a side dish to your meals.

I am thankful that both Jude and Teagan love a good Garden Salad so I make sure to pick up a few bags of the Signature Farms® Garden Salad to have on hand for weeks that I do recipes like this. They also love the Signature SELECT™ Ranch Dressing and Signature SELECT™ Cheese and Garlic Croutons. Makes this side dish a perfect addition to any of the three meals I shared today.

While I do not do this every week, it is a great way to stay on track with my budget and stay out of the grocery stores as much as possible during this challenging time. To incorporate these three recipes in one week I would serve the Baked Meatball Sub on Monday, Spaghetti and Meatballs on Wednesday and the Easy Meatball Sub Casserole on Saturday. I would make sure to serve with a great Side Dish of a Garden Salad and we would be set for 3 great meals and in most cases we would have leftovers for lunches!! YUM!!!

What are your favorite ways to Stretch Your Food Budget while using the Signature Brands from Safeway ?