Since I botched last week, I thought I would try and spend as little as possible this week. I ended up going to Wal-Mart and price-matching bananas from Michoacana Meat Market--they always have stellar prices on bananas.
http://www.lamichoacanameatmarket.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=5&id=8&Itemid=21
I ended up spending about $5 on bananas, they were on sale for 3lbs for $1. So 3 X 5 is 15. So I have about 15 pounds of bananas. Hopefully it will help in a pinch. I need to make it a regular habit of going to the meat market every week.
Sat: Steaks & Baked Potatoes; Fish & Rice plus a vegetable. We got Omaha steaks for Christmas for husband and I and we gave the kids fish and rice.
Sun: Chicken, mashed potatoes, peas. Used what we had.
Mon: Slow Cooker Lentil Rice Casserole pg: 79 Everything Beans Cookbook
(I bought an ebook a while back--making use of it)
UPDATE: The Lentil Rice Casserole turned out wonderful! It comes from an ebook that I bought, it has lentils, brown rice, chicken broth, canned tomato sauce, I used cut up sausage instead of the shredded chicken that it called for, didn't have taco seasoning mix already made up so I put in some hot sauce and some cumin--even with my tweaking and subbing in stuff it turned out great, definitely have to start the recipe notebook and put that one in.
Tues: Spaghetti
Wed: Chili--pg 39 in Everything Beans Cookbook
Thurs: Hawaiian Haystacks--we don't have any cream soup, and I am trying to eliminate buying it, so we'll use this recipe:
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/02/hawaiian-haystacks-chicken-sauce-reinvented.html
Fri: Homemade Tomato Soup and grill cheese sandwiches
I am going to try this tomato soup recipe:
http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2011/04/super-quick-tomato-soup-240-recipe-040.html
That's it! If I stick to my menu, I should have everything I need or I can substitute something else. If the recipes work out I need to add them to a binder or put them in a special folder or something. I have been wanting to make a recipe book for like 8 years--better late than never.
...addendum...
Just spent $31.50 for 2 baskets worth of produce from Bountiful Baskets.
http://bountifulbaskets.org/
I don't pick it up until Saturday which is the start of a new week. I will count it towards this week since the money comes out of the account now, but I won't have it until the start of next week. So this week's total: $5 in bananas + 31.50 Bountiful Baskets (2 baskets) brings me to 36.50-- so far so good. Better go make tonight's dinner!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Week 1: 12/31--1/6/2012
The first thing I did was plan my menu and then I looked around to see what I would need at the store.
Sat: Lasagna
Sun: Lasagna
Mon: Special Tacos
Tues: Chili
Wed: Spaghetti
Thur: Hawaiian Haystacks
Fri: Homemade Pizza
Need:
Cottage Cheese
French Bread x 2
Milk
Bread
Eggs
Salad
I ended up spending about $23 on Saturday and then went back on Monday and spent another $25 or so on produce at Food Town and milk and yogurt at Kroger. I think I went over this week. I did not keep track of my spending like I had planned. Plus yesterday we had a hard day at school and ended up getting frozen pizzas and going to the park. So this week is a bust. I think New Years threw me off a bit staying up late and then Tuesday trying to get school going again. This is a short work week. Next week I will put all of my receipts in one place, I need to go early and get the shopping all done and not get distracted then come home and record it all right away. This week I was distracted by Christmas clearance, plus I felt kind of spacey, I need to eat breakfast and exercise. Next week I need to plan every meal. My time is just as valuable as my money so I need to manage both better. I just have to try try again. Tomorrow is a better day, next week will be better--I can only go up from here!
Sat: Lasagna
Sun: Lasagna
Mon: Special Tacos
Tues: Chili
Wed: Spaghetti
Thur: Hawaiian Haystacks
Fri: Homemade Pizza
Need:
Cottage Cheese
French Bread x 2
Milk
Bread
Eggs
Salad
I ended up spending about $23 on Saturday and then went back on Monday and spent another $25 or so on produce at Food Town and milk and yogurt at Kroger. I think I went over this week. I did not keep track of my spending like I had planned. Plus yesterday we had a hard day at school and ended up getting frozen pizzas and going to the park. So this week is a bust. I think New Years threw me off a bit staying up late and then Tuesday trying to get school going again. This is a short work week. Next week I will put all of my receipts in one place, I need to go early and get the shopping all done and not get distracted then come home and record it all right away. This week I was distracted by Christmas clearance, plus I felt kind of spacey, I need to eat breakfast and exercise. Next week I need to plan every meal. My time is just as valuable as my money so I need to manage both better. I just have to try try again. Tomorrow is a better day, next week will be better--I can only go up from here!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
New Beginnings
2012 is nearly here, a brand new never been opened gift to be used as we choose and every year I find myself at a precipice. I look behind me and have my regrets and I look forward with hope to change some of those regrets. I look around and take stock in where I am and where I want to be. Like at the edge of the cliff, will I fall off or climb higher?
One of my big goals for 2012 is to do better in the kitchen, eating healthy, saving time and money--and getting sick less would be a nice bonus. I want to do better about planning meals and not having to grab something quick because of poor planning. I want to keep better track of the money I spend so that I might save money for other things, who couldn't use more money! So here is the real deal:
My goal is to spend $50 a week on food, plus $100 a month on bulk food--the average month has 4 weeks--for a grand total of about $300 a month. The $50 will be on food meant to be eaten that week, and the $100 will be on food or supplies meant to be eaten during the month or year. This requires planning, and tracking--hello blog! Think is can't be done? I have no idea if it can be done! But it sounds good! I will post to this blog each week on how I did: what we ate and how much I spent.
Wish me luck!
One of my big goals for 2012 is to do better in the kitchen, eating healthy, saving time and money--and getting sick less would be a nice bonus. I want to do better about planning meals and not having to grab something quick because of poor planning. I want to keep better track of the money I spend so that I might save money for other things, who couldn't use more money! So here is the real deal:
My goal is to spend $50 a week on food, plus $100 a month on bulk food--the average month has 4 weeks--for a grand total of about $300 a month. The $50 will be on food meant to be eaten that week, and the $100 will be on food or supplies meant to be eaten during the month or year. This requires planning, and tracking--hello blog! Think is can't be done? I have no idea if it can be done! But it sounds good! I will post to this blog each week on how I did: what we ate and how much I spent.
Wish me luck!
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