Stretching the dollar... re-using ingredients and a crock pot

I love cooking all sorts of food! Trying new recipes can be really fun and delicious to try, but can sometimes be a little pricey when having to buy all new ingredients. I've found that stretching the dollar some weeks for inexpensive, healthy meals can allow me to buy some ingredients that I wouldn't normally buy (like saffron).

This is one of my favorite weeks worth of dinner ideas I've had in the past to maximize your dollar with only a few ingredients some of which you can re-use and using your crockpot (to make cooking a bit simpler).

Shopping/Ingredients List For The Week

• 1-3 Whole chickens (depending on what chicken bones you have already saved and how much broth you want to make).
• 1 can chicken broth
  
• 4-5 large yellow onions
• 2 bunches of carrots
• celery
• fresh thyme or dry
• fresh rosemary or dry
• Cayenne pepper
  
• 1 head of of garlic
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
• Broccoli
• 1 Can baby corn (can be substituted for your favorite soup ingredients)
• 1 Can water chestnuts (can be substituted)
• 1 - 2 LB snow/snap peas (can be substituted)
• Wonton noodles or pack of egg noodles (can be substituted)
• 2 heads of green or red leaf Lettuce
• 1/4 cup cashews (optional)
• 1 can or 2 fresh mandarin oranges
• 1 bottle ginger sesame dressing (or make your own)
  
• 2 - 2LB pork loin or pork roasts or 1 cut in half (smaller families)
  
• BBQ Sauce (or make your own)
  
• 6-10 Dinner rolls/sloppy Joe/hamburger buns
• 1/2 LB of bacon or 1/4 - 1/2 cup prosciutto, chopped
• 1-2LB butternut squash
• 1 bag of small white potatoes
• Russet potatoes (1 per person)
  

You can do your shopping either on the weekend if you plan on making the first meal a crock pot meal or on Monday morning since it will only take a couple of hours in the oven.