March Menu Plan

This month will again be about using what we have.  We're still working on using up things we have in the pantry and freezer to make space for our CSA goodies when the shares start coming in late May.  Here's the plan:

Breakfasts: 

• egg and cheese sandwiches
• breakfast burritos with onions, peppers, and mushrooms (frozen)
• banana-pecan-chocolate chip muffins
• overnight steel cut oatmeal with raisins, flax, and pecans (crock pot meal)
• overnight french toast casserole with freezer blueberries, pomegranate seeds, cream cheese, and pecans
• smoothies and cinnamon toast
• bagels and cream cheese
• baked oatmeal

Lunches:

• leftovers
• egg salad sandwiches
• turkey salad wraps
• yogurt parfaits with freezer fruit

Dinners:  

• broccoli and cheddar quiche (with freezer pie crust and broccoli)
• crock pot Thai beef
• crock pot black bean chili with corn bread
• roasted turkey with herb butter (both in freezer), crock pot roasted veggies (sweet potato, onion, carrot, and beet)
• homemade pizza x 4 (pesto, cheese, freezer veggies, artichoke hearts, olives, turkey, pepperoni toppings, depending on night)
• winter squash waffles with smoothies and sausage or eggs
• crock pot loaded mac and cheese with broccoli and keilbasa
• crock pot tomato, bean, and green soup with sausage (using freezer greens, sausage, canned tomatoes, and dried beans)
• beans and rice with fixins (Greek yogurt, salsa, and frozen guacamole) and corn bread
• tacos with leftover turkey, black beans, and fixins on tortillas or hard shells (both in pantry/freezer)
• turkey salad sandwiches with fruit
• lentil sloppy joes with roasted broccoli or oven fries

Batch Cooking:

• homemade veggie stock using frozen veggie scraps
• homemade turkey stock using turkey carcass from roasting
• banana nut muffins or banana oatmeal bars

Snacks:

• smoothies with frozen fruit
• popcorn with garlic salt or cinnamon sugar
• fresh fruit
• homemade trail mix with raisins, nuts, and dry cereal 
• cheese and crackers
• yogurt

How are you living and saving green in the kitchen this month?  I'd love to hear from you!

January Meal Plan

This month we're going to continue to work down what we have in our freezer.  We were also gifted several things over the holidays that will help round out meals, and we made a trip to Costco for a few things.  It is my hope to do very minimal grocery shopping for staples only (we already picked up corn meal, baking soda, and milk).  Hopefully next month will be our annual bulk spice/herb order, so next month's grocery budget will be less too.

We also plan to make use of the leftover items available to us through the food pantry.  This week I put up a quart of collard greens in the freezer, used two bags of fresh organic green beans, saved two gallons of milk, and we took several apples and cut up fruit that would have gone bad before the pantry reopened for clients.  This gleaning really does save our grocery budget and help cut down on their food waste.

My grandmother gave us a new crock pot for Christmas, which we're super excited about.  We're planning to use it a lot, as we have come to rely on it with the boys keeping us so busy.

Breakfasts

• Cranberry bread (gifted over holidays)
• Egg and cheese sandwiches (using croissants or rosemary bread from Costco)
• Leftover holiday egg and cheese casserole
• Overnight oatmeal in the crock pot
• Muffins:  lemon poppyseed, cranberry orange, molasses muffins, marmalade muffins, and winter squash muffins with nuts or pumpkin seeds
• Smoothies
• Yogurt parfaits with frozen berries and pumpkin seeds, nuts, or dry cereal crumbs

Lunches

• Leftovers rounded out with fruit (citrus, bananas, or gleaned from the pantry)
• Smoothies with frozen fruit and smoothie powder from Costco

Dinners

• Crock pot Asian chicken with carrots, pineapple, onion, and candied ginger over rice
• Baked sausage, apples, and sweet potatoes over rice with greens
• Tomato basil soup in the crock pot with grilled cheeses
• Pasta with tomato basil soup as marinara
• Black beans (crock pot) and rice with fixins
• Black bean tacos with winter squash or enchiladas
• Homemade pizza x 2-3 with homemade pesto
• Homemade mac and cheese with steamed/roasted veggies
• Veggie stir fry over rice with egg rolls
• Breakfast for dinner:  French toast or French toast casserole with fruit and yogurt parfaits
• Tuna casserole with roasted veggie sides

Snacks

• Chex mis (gifted)
• Hot cocoa (gifted)
• Gingerbread house pieces
• Holiday cookies
• Fresh fruit
• Dried fruit (apricots, prunes)
• Dried fruit and nut trail mix
• Cashews (gifted)
• Almonds (gifted)
• Pistachios (gifted)
• Popcorn (gifted)

Frugal Accomplishments

This week was a little different for us, since Benny's mom came with our two year old nephew.  It was great fun for little man to have them here, and it definitely helped out with groceries, since she brought a bunch of stuff from Costco for us.  Here's what we did to save this week:

• I made pizza dough in the bread machine twice to make pizza on Sunday night when they got here, instead of opting for a Domino's deal.  (Takeout would have been easier, but more expensive, and not as healthy.)  We used homemade pesto and veggies we had in the freezer for the toppings.  I added slices of meatballs to one.
• Monday night, we got to have a date night while Benny's mom watched the boys.  We used an Applebee's giftcard and took advantage of their burger special, so we had enough to order dessert too.  We didn't have to pay anything out of pocket, and we really enjoyed the time together.  (Though, for the record, there are other places in town we'd much rather go for a really good local burger, but this was free.)
• Tuesday night, I had a Wesley Foundation board meeting, so dinner was provided.  I got to bring home a few of the leftovers.  Benny cooked at home with his mom, and they had French toast and fruit.  During the day, they went to the Playhouse, and had lunch out, which Benny's mom treated for.  They all had a great time and the boys were wiped out.
• Wednesday they left, and Benny and I helped out with serving dinner at the Wesley Foundation for church that night.  This meant that not only did we get a free meal of tacos after the students were served, but we also ended up coming home with some things that the students wouldn't eat (leftover sour cream, extra salsa, and taco shells).  This gave us at least three extra meals this week.
• Thursday and Friday were snow days for us, so I didn't go to school, which saved on fuel.  These days gave us a little bit more time to catch up on prepping for baby, and general cleaning.
• We made a double batch of quiche last night with the last of the pie dough we had in the freezer, plus frozen broccoli and cauliflower and a few chopped tomatoes.  We used cheese that had been purchased on sale and frozen, and some powdered and evaporated milk, since we were out of regular milk.  I used saved butter wrappers to grease the pie dishes.  Little man loved the quiche and requested a piece of "pie" for breakfast this morning, which I happily gave him.
• Benny's mom brought a boatload of stuff from Costco for us, including a lot of fresh fruit (most of which is gone, thanks to two hungry boys and a pregnant mama), organic cereal, yogurt (which is also gone), crackers, quinoa and kale mix which they didn't like (and we love), dried fruit, and some cheese.  She also brought some stuff for our Greek day at school, which I'll probably end up with some leftovers of.  There were also some things in there to stock our freezer when baby arrives, such as soup and whole grain bread.
• Mom gave us some bagels from the food pantry (they were going to be labeled "waste" otherwise), and a jar of bacon grease (we are currently out because I haven't been doing as much bacon) that we like to use for frying eggs and greasing pans for corn bread.
• We made our list for Super Doubles, which starts tomorrow.  I've budgeted about $30 for this trip.
• I found a deal on Vitacost, so I'll be able to save about $10 off my probiotics this month.
• I made this salad dressing recipe to take with our salad to a friend's house for dinner tonight.  I've made it once before, but was out of some of the ingredients, so I substituted some things.  I hope it's good.  I reused an old salad dressing bottle to take it in.
• We continue to cut down on our waste and are filling a kitchen trash bag about every 2 1/2 weeks, which is including night time diapers.  (This would be much less if we weren't using these.)
• We used scrap paper for little man's collages and scissor practice this week.  He had a great time doing that today, which made my artist soul happy.
• I found a few more crockpot recipes to try out once the baby arrives.  My mom is graciously filling some freezer bags with the ingredients for these, so that all we have to do is thaw, dump it in, and cook.
• We finalized our Barnes and Noble list, so we'll place that order using gift cards.  It will be nice to have some new books for us and puzzles for little man once baby arrives.  
• Benny found a way to repair the sink top in the apartment, so we're thinking if it works out (he did the first step today), then we won't have to pay for a whole new top or entire vanity.  (It was damaged when the mirror inexplicably fell off the wall, while our tenant was out of town, so we're not charging her for the damage.)
• Someone is coming to check out the upstairs rental space on Monday (hurray!).  She sounds very nice and normal, so we're hoping this will work out.
• Because I did have school earlier this week, I did get to tutor two days, which meant that I did get paid for that this week.  That extra money will go towards the baby fund, I think, at this point.  I also offered to tutor over the summer, so we'll see if that pans out.

You Eat for $100 a Month?!

This is often the reaction we get from friends when we tell them our grocery budget.  Their next comment or question is either, "We could never do that!" or "How do you do it?!"  Since we're all about the can do attitude here, I'll address the second question today with a few simple strategies.

Meal Planning

There is never a week that we don't know what we'll eat.  We may not plan the exact day of each meal, but we always know what we'll have throughout the week.  This plan is built around what we have in the pantry and fridge/freezer, what's on sale, and what we're in the mood for.  Meal planning helps us save money by being aware of what we need to use up (dairy, produce, etc.) and not letting things go to waste.  It also means we don't buy things that we don't have a use for.  Keeping popping corn and ingredients for homemade cookies on hand helps us control the snack/junk food budget significantly.

Using Coupons

We used to use the Grocery Game for our couponing matchups.  When we went to a single income family, we decided to skip the subscription and find another source.  We found Southern Savers, which is almost as good and has served us well for the last year and a half.  The great thing about both of these is that they match up coupons and store sales for you, so all you have to do is choose what you want from the list and print your list.  We use either printable coupons, ecoupons loaded to the store card, or Sunday paper coupons that my grandmother gives us.  (We used to purchase a Sunday paper, but that got cut too when we went to one income.)  Any given month, we figure we save at least $50, and often more, by matching coupons and store sales.

Buy 'Real' Food

Buying real food means 10 pounds of potatoes, not frozen or refrigerated pre-cut ones.  Buying real food means buying a peach we peel instead of one packed in a can with syrup.  It means buying flour and sugar to make our own muffins, bread, crackers, etc. instead of paying a premium for some commercial bakery to do that work for us.  Buying real food means making our own salad dressing with oil, vinegar, and spices instead of buying one with an unlimited shelf life due to the number of preservatives.  Does it often take a little more time?  Yes.  Is it healthier and cheaper?  Absolutely!  I figure we save at least $50 a month by buying the real stuff.

If you're just getting into saving on groceries, employ this one strategy.  It will save you money and it will be far healthier for your family.  A few easy places to start are with salad dressings and condiments, cooking your own rice (instead of boil in a bag or quick cooking), making homemade pizza dough, or homemade popsicles.

Buy in Bulk

You have to be smart about buying in bulk.  Take a realistic look at what you use and how often, and gauge your bulk purchases from that.  If you're not into baking, a 25 pound bag of flour will go buggy before you use it, and will be a waste of money.

Some things we regularly buy in bulk are:  flour (bread and all purpose), rolled oats, sugar, rice, dried beans, Hershey's syrup, butter, vegetable oil, in season produce, spices and nuts (store in the freezer for the longest shelf life).  Since we bake a lot, and enjoy it, we use the flour pretty quickly.  We get our rice at Walmart sometimes, though I've though about buying Basmati rice at the Indian store in Durham when we visit next (it's generally cheaper at ethnic stores).  I did stock up on brown rice at HT when it went on sale 10/$10 a while back.  We use Hershey's syrup in coffee drinks, so we go through it pretty quickly.  Dried beans are purchased at Walmart, Costco, or another wholesaler.  Butter and oil are purchased at Costco, as are spices and nuts.  Produce we buy in bulk to dry or freeze, often bell peppers, peaches, and strawberries top our list.  It's cheaper to buy them in bulk when they're in season and fresh, and it's so nice to have them for cooking and baking in the winter months.

Eat Less Meat

I know for some it's tough to believe, but we've really embraced the weekday veg routine and really only eat meat once or twice a week.  Even then, it's usually a small portion, like in a stir fry or on a pizza.  Eating less meat has really freed up our budget to buy more dairy and fresh produce, including fruit, which is key now that we have a little one who begs for fruit.  (His favorite is bananas, which he's mastered the ASL sign for!)  We've found some creative recipes for lentil sloppy joes, black bean enchiladas, and bean burgers, which we really like.  Since we love stir fry and pizzas, it's easy to add a little meat or do without.

Soup Once a Week

Unless it's high summer and Benny can't stomach the thought of soup after a long work day, But otherwise, we do soup once a week.  It's easy to do in the crock pot on busy nights, which conserves energy too.  We have a ton of great recipes.  There are always leftovers for another dinner or a few lunches.  The broth, noodles, or rice stretch the other veggies and any meat, so it's really budget friendly.  With crackers, toast, or cornbread, you've got a complete meal, especially if you add a side salad or a little dessert.  What's not to love?

So, there are our "secrets" to sticking to our $100 grocery budget.  Do you employ all of these?  Some?  Only one?  I'd love to hear from you!

Bitten by the DIY Decorating Bug

So, I've been blog hopping like crazy this evening, filling the void that HGTV won't fill in this house, since we protest paying for TV and can't get a digital network signal through all these mountains. (Just one more way we stick to our budget and keep our expenses down.) In my blog hopping, I have stumbled upon a few more favs, thanks to Elizabeth at Southern Comfort. :) Here are a few: Living with Lindsay and Centsational Girl. They both have fantastic ideas and amazing transformations. I am in love with their frugal, thrift store spirit, and their oneness with the glue gun and paint.

I'm now inspired to tackle some of the many projects that have been waiting in our basement for a rainy (or yet another snowy) day (especially since Benny arrived with more projects from my grandmother's house this week). So, this week during my anticipated snow days, I will tackle priming and painting the dresser, blanket rack, and bedside table that are crying out to be finished and taken to their new home in the guest bedroom to join the rest of their family, the bed and washstand (a small cabinet used for storing crafty junk). In doing this, I'll have to do most of the projects in the kitchen, since the basement is currently at about 40 degrees, but I can easily set up a drop cloth and set up shop in a much warmer part of the house. (We'll see if Lavender will end up with a white nose by the end of it all from curiosity.)

While I was at school (yes, Saturday school has become a necessity with 24 school days now being missed due to snow) today, Benny ventured to Winston to join his family for a Costco run and to get our much beloved, but not very snow worthy, Jetta back up the mountain. In his Costco adventures, he found ottomans that I've been eying at Target.com for almost half the price! Since I wasn't with him to "approve" them, he opted not to pick them up, but I'm hoping that perhaps I can talk him into a Costco adventure in the next few weeks. He also found a six piece set of brushed nickel bathroom fixtures (towel bar, hand towel ring, TP holder, glass shelf, etc.) for around $30, which would help us finish out our bathroom and the half bath nicely. (Yes, we're still living with the TP on the back of the toilet... we're too cheap to pay $25 for the ones we like at Lowe's and the ones we picked up at TJ Maxx ended up missing parts, even though they were in sealed packages.)

Not only did he find all of these fun goodies to go back for, but he also managed to restock our pantry, fridge, and freezer with the basics for under $100 (actually less, thanks to the his parents). The basics at Costco included a 20 lb bag of baking potatoes (which we store in the basement), celery, onions, organic fresh spinach, goat cheese (since the farmer's market isn't open this time of year for us to get it from Liza), sun dried tomatoes packed in oil (they're great in pasta, on pizza, chopped up in cream cheese, etc.), minced garlic, sharp cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, unsalted butter to restock the freezer, and Palermo's margherita pizzas (they're our frozen, prepared food weakness). Having all of these on hand means that it's easier (and cheaper) for us to make meals at home. Many wholesale stores such as Costco are now carrying organic products, especially produce, so you can often purchase these items much more inexpensively than the standard grocery store.

I'll have to share the recipe for the AMAZING stir fry we made last night... at least, I thought it was incredible, but maybe (as Benny said), I was just hungry and it's what I wanted. But, that will be another post... for now, it's time to watch some Hulu with my family and turn in for the night.