My total spent this week was only $55.00. I don't have to cook 2 nights this week, but I have to pay for Friday night's meal. I am just using the extra I saved and paying for Friday night's meal out of my grocery budget since I still have some left.
My monthly food totals have been dropping for awhile now while the food prices have gone up. How is that? Stockpiling! I have taken a bit each week out of my food budget for the weekly deals and started getting multiples when I can. It is starting to pay off because I am spending less for my food now.
Take for example, just this week I got 6 bags of salad, 8 bags of tortillas, and 3 bags of frozen veggies for $1.50. The tortillas will be going in the freezer for future use. Now I can take that money I usually spend on these and use it to stockpile on the next deal. While i'm really not trying to drop my budget any lower, it is nice to know that I could if I had to.
Breakfast:
Monday: Baked Oatmeal
Tuesday: Waffles and yogurt
Wednesday: Omelettes and yogurt
Thursday: Muffins and Sausage
Friday: Pancakes and fruit
Saturday: Eggs, hashbrowns, and a meat
Sunday: Country ham and gravy over biscuits
Lunch:
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Hot dogs, mac & cheese, and a veggie
Wednesday: Homemade chicken noodle soup
Thursday: sandwiches and fruit
Friday: Pizza rolls and green beans
Sat and Sun: We either eat leftovers, or a salad, or sandwiches
Snacks:
Monday: Carrots dipped in ranch
Tuesday: Fruit
Wednesday: Banana Bread or homemade bread drizzled with butter and honey
Thursday: celery dipped in ranch or peanut butter
Friday: Tortilla wraps---> Filled with peanut butter, banana, and/or honey
Dinner:
Monday:--->this is one of our favorite meals!
Mini meatloaf patties
Braised radishes
Cheesy cauliflower casserole
Tuesday:
Chili cheese enchiladas
Mexican rice
Wednesday:
Sloppy joes
French fries
Chicken cacciatore
4-H barnyard bash--->I don't have to cook!
Saturday:
Crawfish boil!!--->We do this every year
Eggplant parmesan
Mini Meatloaf Patties:
EVOO in pan
2 lbs. ground beef
1 tsp. sage
1 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
Onions- minced
Parmesan cheese- for breading
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
Place meat in a bowl. Place egg and parmesan cheese in bowl. Place sage in bowl. Place Worcestershire sauce in bowl. Cut up and place onion in bowl. Place Dijon mustard in bowl. Place salt and pepper in bowl. Mix with hands well. Form in to patties or loaves. Score meat to do this. Place in pan over medium heat. Cook 6 minutes each side.
2 bags of radishes
Onions- diced
2 T. butter
1 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. sugar
1-1½ cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Cut ends off of radishes. Put butter and radishes in pan (cold). Place red wine vinegar in pan. Put splenda in pan. Pour chicken broth in pan; then add salt and pepper. Place onion in pan. Cook over medium heat to reduce liquid. After liquid starts to reduce, uncover and turn heat up to high to finish reducing liquid. Garnish with chives
Salt- as much as needed
2 bags of cauliflower
2 cups of heavy cream
4 ounces cream cheese
1 T. Dijon mustard
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of cheddar cheese for topping
½ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. garlic powder
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Bring large pot of water to a boil. Season the water with salt. Cook cauliflower in the boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5-7 minutes. Drain and pat well with paper towels. Transfer cauliflower into dish. Pour heavy cream in large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Whisk in cream cheese and mustard until smooth. Stir in 2 cups of cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and garlic and whisk until cheese melts. Remove from heat and pour over the top of the cauliflower. Stir to combine. Top with remaining 1 cup of cheese. Bake until cheese is browned and bubbly hot, about 15 minutes.
13 comments:
I just started stockpiling and cant wait until we have enough that I can make it into meals. :) I can already see how worth it is though!
Your week looks great.
Your menu is great! I love crawfish boils... so summery :)
You seem so completely organised. I love stock piling when items are cheap too.
Teresa,
I love your blog! I subscribed to it and look forward to your posts. Your menu looks wonderful. I'm not a big fan of radishes, but I cannot wait to try your braised radish recipe. It sounds wonderful.
planningqueen,
I have to be a tad more organized than I used to be, but I still have a ways to go. :-)
The book lady,
Thanks! Oh, about the radishes. I put the recipe in on purpose. My children beg me to make it as often as possible. I have never been a fan either, but this recipe makes them taste good!
What a great week you have coming up. The cauliflower casserole sounds so delicious!
I just love hearing about your deals and stockpile. I still have to get better at that. I didn't get as much in April as I had planned. Oh well, I'll try again in May.
Kate, sometimes it just doesn't work out like we planned. I feel like i've been really lucky lately hitting all the deals just right. I really need to get my stockpile up in May because in June I won't be out and about much at all.
I'm still working on getting my freezer full of meals for after baby comes so i'll be watching your blog alot! :-)
Teresa, I wish I could bring you some meals for after baby comes! For some reason though, I just don't think that would be very frugal. :-)
By the way, I noticed that you bought a lot of bagged salads. I haven't had much luck with those as they always seem to go bad very quickly. How long will yours last? Do you do anything special to store them?
What a terrific menu! Right up my alley - and crawfish boil, I wanna come! I do stockpile, but I always feel like I have to use it up so quickly. However, my stockpiling has gotten us through some tough weeks, so I can't complain too much!
I subscribed, too. ;-)
suzof7, Our stockpile disappears almost as fast as it comes in. I just happen to keep hitting the deals. I got right at 25 boxes of yogurt 2 weeks ago. We probably only have 2 boxes left. That means we have eaten over 90 yogurts in 2 weeks!- lol
Oh, thanks for subscribing! :-)
The mini meatloaf patties sound super good! I will have to try them. Meatloaf is one of dh's favorite meal and I am always trying to find new ways to make it!
Sherry
http://frugaldomesticgoddess.blogspot.com
The fam boil is Sat?? That's when we're doing ours too! Strange huh? Anyway - just wanted to say thanks!! We'll be home later - we've swam like 6 times. They should be water logged by now - lol!
Hey Kate,
Haha, it wouldn't be frugal at all, but it would be fun!
About the salads, I can get them to last a little over a week. We use two bags at a time so I go once at the beginning of the sale and then I go on the last day of the sale to pick up a few more. That way we have enough to last us.
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