Convenience foods

I think one place I could cut my grocery spending is in convenience foods.  Things like jarred simmer sauces or individually packaged seasoning mixes are so incredibly easy to use - just dump them into a crockpot with a couple cans of beans, some veggies, maybe some canned tomatoes or other liquid if necessary.  Recently I found prepackaged dried split pea soup kits that were awesome when we were sick, and last week I got a package of El Paso tortilla stuffers - rice, beans and meat in a little microwavable packet - that was great.  I try not to buy them because of the cost but when I do have them I just love using them.  I think I could still get to have things like that while maintaining a low budget if I just figure out how to make those types of things myself.

Seasoning mixes I could make in bulk and store in jars in the freezer or portion out into individual ziploc bags.  Simmer sauces I need to find good recipes for, but I could freeze or can in pint sized amounts.  Dried soup mixes look easy and I could store them in jars.  The tortilla stuffing would be very easy to make and could be frozen in individual servings.

Soup mix recipes:  http://allrecipes.com/recipes/soups-stews-and-chili/soup/dry-soup-mixes/

Menu plan/shopping list 5/19/14 - 5/26/14

Note: If you notice this week's menu plan looks a heck of a lot like last week that's because it is almost a straight copy and paste!  Last week we ended up making very few of the planned meals and ate things like tuna salad or egg salad sandwiches because it was so hot.  This means that I've still got a lot of things left over from last week so my plan is mostly the same.

Dinners:

Meal 1: Crockpot Indian

• chickpeas

Meal 2: Crockpot lasagna

Meal 3: Crockpot chili

• beans x 2

Meal 4: Moqueca

• cilantro

Meal 5: Potato soup

• carrots
• celery
• flour

Meal 6: Tuna salad sandwiches

• canned tuna x 4
• green onions

Lunches:

Meal 1: Tomato basil soup

Meal 2: Sandwiches

• BLT – bacon, lettuce, tomato
• egg salad – eggs
• turkey sandwiches

Household

• milk
• milk (whole)
• popsicles
• granola bars
• fruit
• bread
• juice concentrate
• soda?
• Coffee creamer

Total spent: $91 at Smart & Final

Notes: This was my first time at this particular Smart & Final and as I was afraid the produce section is minuscule.  I got most of what I needed but as a general rule I think I'll try to find somewhere else cheap to buy my produce.  I am going to need to make a trip during the week to get tomatoes, possibly cilantro and definitely some more fruit.  They also did not have my granola bars and I couldn't find the juice concentrate.  I got some things that were not on my list such as: chicken drumsticks, toilet bowl cleaner and brush, chocolate cake mix, rice and sugar.  I noticed that there is a 99 cent store right next door that was advertising better prices on bananas so I might stop in there first next week and see what they've got.

Also, this week I intentionally left room in my budget by stopping at a $90 subtotal ($10-$30 left over) because I want to take the kids strawberry picking.  The place I want to go sells the strawberries at $1.65 per pound.  I intend to get a lot and use them for canning (jam), freezing and of course, eating fresh.  I decided that since this is both an activity for the kids AND food for us that I will split the cost between our grocery budget and the monthly kid's activity budget.  I think putting in the price of a kid's Happy Meal ($3 times two, so $6) is fair to cover the activity part and the remainder will be from the grocery budget.

Canning goal list

I hope to can this year to help supplement our grocery budget.  We go through a lot of jam so that is high on my list, as well as canned tomatoes.  I'd also like to can or freeze some of the more expensive things that we buy like simmer sauces and other types of sauces as well.  I will attempt to do this cheaply by combing farmer's markets and farmstands for good deals, going to pick-your-own places whenever possible and also growing my own produce as much as is practical.  Here is a rough list of what I'd like to can over the course of this growing season:

jam and jelly (52 pint jars - one per week)
tomatoes (52 quart jars - one per week, or 104 pint jars - two per week)
simmer/cooking sauces (non pasta) (52 pint jars - one per week)
zacusca (36 pint jars - three per month)
chutney (24 half pint jars - two per month)
marinara sauce (26 quarts - two per month)
canned fruit for eating (52 pints - one per week)
canned pie filling? (26 pints - two per month)

Informational links: 

Potential garden yields http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-331/426-331_pdf.pdf
- tomatoes 15-45 pounds per 10 foot row.  I have planted 40 feet worth so far this year so approximately 60-180 pounds of tomatoes there.  Possibly more as my growing season is likely longer.

Estimate of yield from fresh produce http://www.mrswages.com/Page/Yield.aspx

http://oldfashionedfamilies.com/how-much-canning-do-you-need-for-a-full-year/

Calculations:

52 pint jars of jam (one per week)

17.33 batches at 3 jars per batch (6 cups)

8 cups of fruit per batch = 4.5 pounds per batch

138.64 cups total = 79.22 pounds of fruit total

52 quarts of tomatoes (one per week) or 104 pints (two per week)

4 quarts + 1 pint per batch = 9 pints

24 cups of tomatoes per batch = 16 pounds per batch (1.5 cups per pound)

11.5 batches = 273 cups = 184 pounds 

Actual food used 5/17/14 - 5/24/14

Saturday:

• morning -granola bars (me and kids)
• lunch - fast food (all of us)
• dinner - spaghetti (me and DH), smoothies (all of us)
• snack - popsicles (kids)

Sunday:

• morning - popsicles (kids), cheese (zoe)
• lunch - Monterey pasta (me and DH), hot dogs (kids)
• dinner - Monterey pasta (DH), PBJ sandwiches (kids), tortilla stuffing (me)
• snacks - granola bars (me and kids), fruit (me and Zoe), chocolate (me and kids)

Monday:

• morning - chocolate (kids), granola bars (me and kids)
• lunch - Monterey pasta (DH), PBJ sandwich (Adrian), BLT sandwiches (me and Zoe), fruit (kids)
• dinner - chili (me and DH), PBJ sandwiches (kids)
• snack - popsicles (kids), chocolate (me and kids), strawberries (kids)

Tuesday:

• morning - bacon and jam (me), cereal (Adrian), hot dog (Zoe)
• lunch - chili (DH), crockpot chicken (me), PBJ (kids)
• dinner - potato soup (me, DH and Zoe), PBJ (Adrian and Zoe)
• snack - fruit (kids), chocolate (me and kids)

Wednesday:

• morning - popsicles (kids), PBJ (me and kids)
• lunch - BLT sandwiches (me and Zoe), PBJ (Adrian), potato soup (DH)
• dinner - tuna salad sandwiches (me and DH), hot dogs (kids)
• snack - fruit (kids), chocolate (me and kids)

Thursday:

• morning - cereal (kids)
• lunch - frozen dinner (me), PBJ (kids)
• dinner - ate out (all of us)
• snack - cookies (me and kids)

Friday:

• morning - PBJ sandwiches (kids)
• lunch - hot dogs (kids), fruit (Zoe), frozen dinner (me)
• dinner
• snack

Fruit this week: Bananas, watermelon, strawberries 

Drinks this week: soda (one box), fruit juice from concentrate, water, hot tea, iced tea, coffee, milk

Popsicles this week: one box chocolate, one box fruit

Another midweek trip

Forgot cat food.  This time it was a quick trip and I got exactly what I went in for.

Total spent: $20 at Safeway
Notes: Used the new club card and got the cheapest price I've ever seen on our wet cat food.  We usually pay $13.99 or $14.99 at Lucky or Walmart, at Safeway full price is $18.99 so I always hate buying it there but with the card it was only $12.99.

Mid week shopping trip

I ended up going on a midweek shopping trip on Thursday.  This is usually a recipe for disaster because even if I'm very careful, I am automatically spending unplanned money and buying unplanned things.  If I had planned to buy those things I would have bought them in the regular grocery trip, right?  So a midweek shopping trip, even if a small one, always ends up being bad news budget wise.  It also means that I planned poorly and we either ran out or didn't buy something that we needed.

In this case we ran out of bread.  Also because it has been so hot this week the kids blew through two boxes of popsicles and even though I've been making fruit based ones at home my popsicle mold only holds 8 popsicles which is less than they are going through in one day.  So, my intention was to stop by the store for bread and popsicles.  NOTHING ELSE!  What I ended up with was this:

- bread (2 loaves)
- popsicles
- ice cream (2 kinds)
- cookies (2 kinds)
- jar of spices
- tortillas
- canned tuna (4 cans)
- chocolate truffles (3 bags)
- half gallon of milk
- sodastream soda concentrate (2 bottles)

Total spent: $52 at Target
Notes: That "just popsicles and bread" trip sure added up huh.  This was actually an incredibly cheap "quick midweek trip" for me.  It usually ends up being $100 or more.

Actual food used 5/10/14 - 5/17/14

Saturday:

• morning - granola bars (me), cereal (kids)
• lunch - pizza takeout (me and DH), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (kids)
• dinner - leftover pizza (me and DH), frozen toaster waffles and fruit (kids)
• snack - popsicles (kids), granola bars (me)

Sunday:

• morning - waffles (all of us), fried eggs and fruit (me and DH)
• lunch - grilled steak/fish/veggie burgers and tomato/cheese plate (me and DH), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (kids)
• dinner - leftover grilled stuff (me and DH), hot dogs (kids)
• snack - crackers and spray cheese (all, throughout the day), popsicles (kids)

Monday:

• morning - granola bar and fruit (me), toast, cheese and fruit (kids)
• lunch - split pea soup (DH and me), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (kids)
• dinner - humus, pita bread and hard boiled eggs (me and DH), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (kids)
• snack - fruit (me and kids throughout the day), popsicles (kids)

Tuesday:

• morning - cereal (me and kids)
• lunch - BLT sandwiches (me and Zoe, midmorning), tomato soup (me, late), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (kids)
• dinner - vegetable curry and rice (DH and me)
• snack - fruit (me and zoe), popsicles (kids)

Wednesday:

• morning - granola bars (me and kids), fruit (Zoe)
• lunch - tomato soup (me, midmorning), tuna salad sandwich (me and Zoe), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (kids)
• dinner - egg salad sandwiches (me, Zoe and DH), fruit salad (all), peanut butter and jelly sandwich (Adrian)
• snack fruit (me and kids), chocolate (me and kids), popsicles (kids)

Thursday:

• morning - turkey sandwiches (me and Zoe), popsicles (kids)
• lunch - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (kids), frozen dinner (me)
• dinner - tuna salad sandwiches (me and DH), peanut butter and jelly sandwich (Adrian)
• snack - popsicles (me and kids), cheese (Zoe), cookies (me and kids), chocolate (me and Zoe)

Friday:

•  morning - tortilla with premade filling (me), cheese sandwich (Zoe), peanut butter and jelly sandwich (Adrian), fruit (kids)
• lunch - fast food (me and kids)
• dinner - work cafe (all of us)
• snacks - chocolate and popsicles (me and kids)

Fruit this week: grapes, strawberries, nectarines and bananas
Drinks this week: water, milk (strawberry and chocolate powder added), hot tea, iced herbal tea, fruit juice from concentrate, one box root beer (cans), one box iced tea (cans)
Popsicles this week: 1 store box chocolate, 1 store box fruit, chocolate milk + banana, strawberry milk, milk + banana + strawberry, orange juice + strawberry + banana

Menu plan/shopping list 5/10/14 - 5/17/14

Dinners:
Meal 1 (and 6):  Crockpot Indian

• curry sauce x 2
• chickpeas
• Frozen spinach
• frozen vegetables

Meal 2:  Crockpot lasagna?

• alfredo sauce
• tomato sauce
• mozerella cheese
• lasagna noodles

Meal 3:  Crockpot chili

• beans x 2
• canned tomatoes
• Chili seasoning
• plain yogurt
• cheese

Meal 4:  Moqueca

• cilantro
• zucchini x 2
• onions x 3
• peppers x 2

Meal 5: Crockpot Monteray pasta

• pasta
• parmesan cheese
• shredded monterey jack cheese

Lunches:
Meal 1:  Tomato basil soup

Meal 2: Sandwiches

• BLT – bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonaise
• lunchmeat
• egg salad – eggs, green onion, 

Household:

• milk
• bread
• hot dog bread
• snacks (crackers, chips, cookies)
• granola bars
• frozen dinners x 6
• soda
• popsicles
• toothpaste
• frozen burritos
• soda
• popsicles
• toothpaste

Total actually spent: $270 at Safeway on Saturday

Notes: Bought lots of extra stuff not on the list.  Major budgeting failure.  Very expensive store as always.  We signed up for a Club card this week so at least we got the sale prices.

Introduction

This blog is intended to be a personal record of my own family's grocery expenses as well as a record of our weekly menu plans, a place to share recipes and a way to keep track of what we actually ate in order to adjust menu plans for the future.  My grocery buying strategy is a work in progress so by keeping a record of everything I hope to be able to fine tune my methods and also have a place to come back to start over if I fall off the budgeting wagon.

My goal is to feed a family of four (2 adults, 2 preschoolers) as well as caring for three cats and covering all medications and household goods out of a budget of no more than $150 per week.  Ideally it will be significantly less per week, around $80-$120 with $100 a week being my usual goal.