As I mentioned in my last post, we usually spend $100/week on groceries to feed our family of 4 (three adults, one of us pregnant and nursing). We've cut that back to $80/week this month. Unfortunately, we didn't do an amazing job of sticking to our $400/month limit in December (quite a few special dinners out and some holiday treats) so we started January with $50 less in our food budget. We have the money to start over at 0 and "eat" (haha) that $50, but we decided that we should challenge ourselves.
If you are doing the math, that means we had just $30 for this week and we are considering the week "end" as Jan. 8th so that we can split the month up more evenly. I'll be doing my food shopping each Saturday this month. We also entertained a family of 6 on Saturday evening and had to factor those ingredients in! Here was my purchase (totaling $27) on Saturday, Jan. 2nd:
When you are buying organic, $30 doesn't usually go very far. I do try to take advantage of coupons that I find around the internet at sites like MamboSprouts whenever possible.
I have planned out all of our dinners until Sunday the 10th and have scheduled the 16th as my first monthly freezer cooking day! We usually eat leftovers for lunch (I cook larger portions). Here's how our meals look this first week:
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Friday the 1st: Roast, potatoes, carrots, onions
Saturday: Pasta for 8 (plus toddler)! salad, pumpkin pie
Sunday: Family Feast (monthly potluck) at church - brought red beans and rice, brownies
Tonight: egg noodles with ground turkey, peas, onions, and shredded cheese
Tomorrow: Honey-baked lentils w/bacon (will post recipe on Wed!)
Wednesday: Grilled Asian Chicken and Udon Noodles w/soup (will post recipe on Thurs!)
Thursday: chili w/ground turkey
Friday: soup of some kind - want to use frozen pureed cauliflower, have any suggestions??
Saturday: SHOP! Banana buckwheat pancakes for breakfast, burgers for dinner
Sunday: Entertaining again. Will most likely be soup, salad, bread, cranberry bars (will share recipe!!), and chips and guacamole.
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Share your progress report if you are joining this challenge or read how others are doing over at Life As Mom.
Come back tomorrow for a roundup of some great Eat From Your Pantry Resources!
6 comments:
I'm so glad you're blogging here again! And I'm looking forward to some of the recipes you promised!
Are you making Tiffany's cranberry bars on Sunday? Also, I'd be happy to supply the bread if you don't already have something planned.
I just made this soup from Pioneer Woman with cauliflower and broccoli I got on sale. She uses 2 heads of broccoli, but I enjoy the mix.
Maybe it will help.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/cauliflower-soup/
Sorry I meant to say two heads of cauliflower! I use one head of cauliflower and one of broccoli.
I agree with "Anonymous". I used to work at a restaurant where a cream of broccoli cauliflower soup was oh so popular. I will admit, I tended to add garlic croutons and cheddar cheese before gorging myself. But it stands as one of my very favourite soups!
Have you tried curried cauliflower soup? This is one we've tried, but epicurious also has lots of other recipes for it:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Curried-Cauliflower-Apple-Soup-11367
We also like eating pureed cauliflower with butter and salt, like mashed potatoes. A totally different take on cauliflower.
Can't wait for the coming recipes! :)
Mmm! Both of those sound amazing! I think the curry soup might be a winner - going to have to wait until next week so I can grab an apple, though! :)
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