Grocery Budget Challenge- Week #4

While my intentions are usually very good, sometimes my follow through stinks!  What can I say- I'm a busy Homeschooling work at home Mom and it's been a super busy couple of weeks.  But here it is, we are down to the last week and I finally feel like I'm getting a handle on my budget. But I won't lie- it's been hard.  This week, I spent roughly $143- not too bad!

You may look at my meal plans and think "those are pretty cheap meals, why is she spending SO much?"  Well, the reason is that I like to stock up when items are on sale. I pack my husband a lunch each day for work- so that's where some of the budget is going.  I also include all toiletries and dog food in my budget.  And of course, occasionally I splurge and buy some organic ice cream or a big bottle of whiskey for my husband.

But there's another reason that it's been difficult to keep my budget under $150.  When shopping weekly, I am also adding to my stockpile.  Your what?!?

Ok, so if you read my blog, you know that I like to be prepared.  I keep emergency supplies on hand for my family and I try to buy just a little bit each week.  A couple cases of water, some toilet paper, extra jars of peanut butter- organic of course!  All these things really add up and make it difficult to stay under budget!  Hmm...do I hear another blog post in the future....

But let's get back to the Grocery Budget Challenge shall we....Week #4 Meal Plan, here we go!

Week #4

Monday

Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup w/Rolls

Biscuits and Gravy for Breakfast w/Fresh Fruit

Tuesday

Garlic Pasta w/Green Salad

Leftover Biscuits and Gravy w/Fresh Fruit

Wednesday

Taco Salad

Blueberry Muffins & Fresh Fruit for Breakfast

Thursday

Crockpot Cheesy Vegetable Chowder w/Rolls

Fruit & Yogurt Smoothies & Oatmeal for Breakfast

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday

My 10th Wedding Anniversary!!!

Sunday

Freezer Meal- Red Beans & Rice

I've intentionally kept this week's meals fairly simple and cheap to make because my husband has requested pizza for lunch this week.  I buy him the Newman's Own pizza's which are about $5-7 per pizza, yikes!!!!  I usually buy 3 of these and make them last all week but that's about $20 of my grocery budget just on 3 pizzas.  Not good....I have tried making my own pizzas and I just haven't found a crust I like yet- so for now, I will buy the best pizza's I can find and I highly recommend these Newman's Own ones!

I will be baking a Pumpkin Bundt Cake for us to eat this week and also my Mini Pumpkin Pies to put in my freezer for Thanksgiving.  When hosting a large holiday meal- do as much ahead of time as possible!   I have also ordered my $60 organic, humanly raised Turkey for Thanksgiving from a local farm- so there goes $60 of my budget this week.  Oh yeah- did I mention holiday meals are coming out of my weekly budget!!!!!  Want to read more about my tips and tricks for hosting the holidays?  Click here!

Last and most important is my 10th Wedding Anniversary this weekend.  SO excited!  My husband and I will be spending the night in a fancy hotel downtown, eating out, visiting the Chihuly Glass Museum and not caring about our budget at all!  It will be fabulous!  Since we will be home right around dinner time on Sunday, I've planned ahead and simply grabbed one of my many freezer meals from my freezer stockpile.  There's that word again....stockpile.  I highly recommend you do this!  Now I can enjoy a great mini weekend away with my husband and come home to a healthy, organic home cooked meal- now that's awesome!

Curious to see how the previous weeks turned out?

Week #1

Week #2

Week #3

A Week of Real Food for a Busy Mom

I have a few food inspirations.  Food Babe and 100 Days of Real Food are my go-to websites for healthy, vegetarian foods and for all the latest food related information.  I highly recommend you check them out.  With that being said- holy moly who has time for all that!  Seriously, I just don't have the time to make my tortillas from scratch or prepare seaweed wrapped "sandwiches" for lunch.

My reality is that I need to make 3 meals per day for my family.  I also need to have a few "on the go" breakfasts for my husband since he sometimes has to leave super early in the morning.  In addition, I pack him a lunch every day and he prefers things that are easy to eat while driving.  I know...I know...Unfortunately he does not have access to a microwave or a fridge, so this severely limits what I can pack him for lunch.  I also work from home, homeschool and shuttle my child around to various events and activities.  I do not have an unlimited amount of time to spend in my kitchen day in and day out.  I cook healthy, mainly vegetarian meals from scratch.  I prefer whole foods and try not to use prepackaged or processed foods.  

I'm sure you can all relate.  You want to feed your family healthy meals but you lack the time or the energy.  So what exactly does a typical week's worth of meals look like for a busy household?  How do you prep and cook healthy meals from scratch in the "real world"?  I have set up a few guidelines for myself that I think you may find helpful.

Here's my guidelines:

1.  Prep as much as you can ahead of time.
2.  Use your crockpot when you know you won't have time to make dinner.
3.  Eat your leftovers.
4.  Make a double batch and freeze half for another week.
5.  Use the weekend to bake.
6.  One pot dishes are your best friend.
7.  Eat real food.

These all seem fairly easy but I will give you an example of what a typical week's worth of meals looks like at my house.

Monday- 

Dinner:  I put Quinoa & Black Bean Chili in my crockpot.  I had a busy work day and William had soccer practice.  So that means we wouldn't be getting home until after 6:30pm.  And when we did get home, dinner was done.  

Lunch: Applegate Farms turkey sandwiches on Dave's Killer Bread.  Roast Beef for the husband.  Organic veggie chips & fresh fruit.

Snacks: fresh fruit, popcorn

Breakfast: Hashbrowns, turkey sausage and fresh fruit

Tuesday-

Dinner: Steak Night!  I had put the steak in a ziploc baggie to marinate on Sunday night.  So all I needed to do was take the bag out & fire up the grill.  I also boiled some potatoes and cooked some corn on the cob.  All pretty simple.

Lunch: Turkey sandwiches, Roast Beef for the husband.  Veggie chips & fresh fruit.

Snacks: apples & cheese slices

Breakfast: Hashbrowns, turkey sausage & fresh fruit

Wednesday- 

Dinner: Quinoa & Black Bean Chili leftovers from Monday night.  William had soccer practice again so I planned ahead of time on Monday and made a double batch.

Lunch: Leftover potatoes from Tuesday's dinner w/salad.  Husband had a Newman's Own frozen pizza that I had cooked, cooled & cut up for him.  These are seriously super yummy!

Snacks: fresh fruit, sunflower seeds

Breakfast: Breakfast sandwiches for the husband w/cheese & turkey sausage.  Oatmeal w/frozen organic berries for me & the kiddo.  The husband is not a fan of oatmeal.

Thursday- 

Dinner: Veggie Fajitas.  I prepped these in the AM, cut all the veggies & put in a ziploc baggie to marinate.  When it was dinner time, I simply pulled out the bag & cooked them in a fry pan on the stove.  I opened a couple cans of black beans to serve them with.  Easy, filling & healthy.

Lunch: Turkey sandwiches & Roast Beef for the husband. Veggie chips & fresh fruit.

Snacks: popcorn, yogurt

Breakfast: Chocolate Muffins from the freezer- hubbie had to leave for work early, so I just took one straight out of the freezer & popped in his lunch bag.  I also made him a Green Smoothie to drink on his morning drive. The kiddo & I had toast w/avocado.

Friday-

Dinner: Tomato & Lentil Stew from the freezer.  I usually make a double batch of something during the week & put in my freezer for another night.  I typically pull something out of my freezer one night per week.  Especially on Fridays when I've had a long week and the last thing I want to do is cook!

Lunch: Grilled Cheese with fresh fruit.

Snacks: cut up carrots & apple slices

Breakfast: Chocolate Muffin from the freezer for the husband & Green Smoothie.  Fruit & yogurt parfaits for me and the kiddo.

Saturday- 

Dinner: Out.  We went to our favorite Italian restaurant, yum!

Lunch: Leftover Veggie Fajitas from Thursday nights dinner.  The kiddo had vegetarian refried beans and tortillas.

Snacks: cheese slices & Late July brand crackers

Breakfast: Toast w/avocado.  The husband slept in & woke up in time for lunch.

Sunday- 

Dinner: Parmesan & Spinach Orzo, salad and roasted veggies.  I made extra for lunches during the week.  I also usually have more time on Sundays so enjoy making a more elaborate meal.  I also baked some blueberry muffins and froze half for breakfasts another week.

Lunch: Leftover Tomato & Lentil Stew from Friday night's dinner.

Snacks: fresh fruit & sunflower seeds

Breakfast: Pancakes with real maple syrup and turkey bacon.  Whenever I make pancakes, I always make a triple batch and freeze some for easy, weekday breakfasts.

So there you have it, a fairly typical week at my house.  We just so happened to have a bit more meat this week because our favorite lunch meat, Applegate, was on sale at the grocery store.  We normally just eat leftovers for lunches.  All the meals were quick, healthy, well balanced and fairly inexpensive to make.  And with a little pre-planning and prep time, I was able to feed my family all week long with minimal stress and time on my part.  Sweet!