Saturday as I prepared our meal I thought out my choices very carefully, not for dietary reasons alone, but for economy and overall appeal. It was cool and breezy outdoors and cool indoors. I wanted a hearty warming meal that was inexpensive but delicious. It meant planning both that meal and the leftover meal that would result from making the planned meal. The meal itself was moved from last week when we had no need of this menu.
I've been thinking hard this week. I spent more than I meant to spend on groceries and I did not fill any gaps in my pantry at all. I'm not in the least happy about that. As well, John and I were talking over various things we want to do and we must plan for spending even small amounts these days. I've decided that instead of planning to buy more groceries this next pay period, other than fresh dairy and produce, I'll plan to spend what I have (without spending ahead) on pantry supplies and fill in some of those gaps. I won't by any meals fill them all, but I should make good headway if I spend carefully and thoughtfully. So it shall be a sort of amended Pantry/Freezer Challenge, in that we'll eat from the freezer and work on filling up the pantry.
Menus this week will start with our Shabat meal and work forward from there.
Dinners: Pot Roast with Carrots and Onions, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Green Peas, Apple Crisp
Oven Fried Chicken, Baked Sweet Potato Halves, Brussell Sprouts, Corn Muffins
Ground Sirloin Steaks, Mashed Potato Cakes, Steamed Broccoli, Green Salad
Vegetable Beef Soup, Cornbread, Pear Salad
Breakfasts: Sausage Balls, Apple Muffins
Spam (turkey) and Cheese Omelet Cups, Grits, Toast
Whole Wheat Waffles, Turkey Bacon, Scrambled Egg
Suppers: Egg Salad Sandwiches, Carrot and Celery Sticks
Tortilla Roll ups, Pepper Strips
Chicken, Pear and Letuce Sandwiches, Chips
(This is just a simple hamburger recipe, browned burger with ketchup. I'll add in the extra vegetables to increase the fiber)
Jobs This Week
From last week: Plant the daffodils and
Weed the rose bed
Declutter craft/sewing stuff.
Clean and freshen flea market booth.
Fun This Week
4 comments:
I am always amazed at just how much food we have on hand when I can't get to the store or have run out of my monthly grocery money. I am running way ahead on spending this month because of buying some bulk items at Sam's Club early in the month. I have been blessed with some really great deals this last week to help stretch the money. Yesterday I picked up a large package of chicken breasts that were in sale and when I go to to the car and looked at my receipt I noticed that they rang up as two pounds more than they actually were. I went back in to get a refund on the difference and they refunded that entire amount because it rang up wrong! We have been eating quite a few freezer meals lately because my stock of them had just gotten to be too much and that always saves us money. I think my tomato plants are about done with the colder weather. For about three months we have had tomatoes for salads and they were free because my plants came up volunteer this year and I did not buy any. I am still picking lettuce and that keeps me from running to the store for salad greens. My shopping becomes much more mindful when funds are running low and I should really be that way all of the time. When we go to the lake later on this week we do eat out quite a bit but that comes from another budget. We will still use coupons and seek out deals to keep the cost low but it is vacation! It is a blessing to be able to have a break from cooking. Hubby keeps telling me that we can eat out 3 meals a day everyday while we are there but honestly that just makes me feel sick.
My chores this week involve getting ready to go on Wednesday and leaving the house in good order. When we go out of town we give our pastor permission to come and swing on our deck because he LOVES the view of our woods and it is a good mental break for him. He has a key so that he can come in and make coffee, etc if he wants. He has been a huge blessing to us of late with the situation with one of our children and it is a small way of giving back to him. If I have time I need to empty pots of annuals on the deck and put the pots away for the winter but it can wait until we come back if need be.
Have a good week!
Like Lana, it always surprises me how much food we really have in our kitchen. It is just a matter of discipline and creativity to use it up and not waste it.
Our menu this week includeds:
Egg salad sandwiches (lunches)
Slow cooker chicken enchilada soup - taking this to care group
Lemon chicken with potatoes and arthichokes
Pita Pizzas
Wednesday night is get your own every week
I also plan to make banana bread tonight because I have 3 overripe bananas.
It's so hard to see holes in the pantry and frustrating when the grocery budget won't allow as much stocking up as we'd like during sales. Good for you for having a bit of a pantry challenge to stay on track! I can remember praying over certain items I needed to restock but thought I couldn't get without going over budget, then finding those items marked down for clearance sales at the store. How comforting when the Lord blesses our efforts to be good stewards! I hope you are blessed with lots of opportunities to make your remaining budget stretch.
Pheasant season opened here last weekend. I used to host hunters and many would be glad to give me their birds to can. But we had no hunters this year. I told a friend I need to learn to shoot a gun so I can hunt my own birds. But then the local grocery store had a 10# bag of chicken thighs/legs sections for $3.85. I bought a bag and canned 8 pints of chicken. That's .48 cents a pint! I couldn't shoot pheasant cheaper than that if I was a dead-eye, and I'm not so the sky would be full of holes where I missed the bird. And, everyone is much safer if I leave the guns in the hands of experts. Smile. All that to say, I went back for a second bag and now have 16 pints of chicken in my pantry and boy will it taste yummy when the snow is flying. With all the garden produce and now the chicken, my pantry is in good shape for the winter.
Pam
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