Menu planning/shopping list 6/8/14 - 6/15/14

Dinners:

Meal 1: Korean rice bowls

• carrots
• cucumber
• soy sauce
• beef
• veggie crumbles

Meal 2: Crockpot lasagna

• lasagna noodles
• alfredo sauce
• zucchini
• shredded cheese

Meal 3: Crockpot meatloaf

Meal 4: Chili

• chili seasoning
• canned tomatoes

Meal 5: Tacos

Meal 6: Oven fish and french fries

Lunches:

Meal 1: Swedish meatballs

Meal 2: Sandwiches

• BLT
• egg salad, tuna salad sandwiches

Household

• car washing fluid
• cheddar cheese
• american cheese

• milk
• frozen breakfast x 4
• popsicles
• bread
• peanut butter
• cat food (wet)
• cat litter
• Zyrtec
• fruit
• ziploc bags (gallon)
• food boxes
• bread flour

Total spent: $225 at Walmart

Notes: At the last minute I went back and grabbed another $13 package of meat to use for beef jerky.  Other than that nothing on the list looks really expensive but it still would have been over $200.  

Menu planning/shopping list 6/1/14 - 6/8/14

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Total spent: $193 at Walmart

Notes: Forgot to copy over the list and now I can't remember what we planned or bought.  Very similar to the week after I think.

Menu plan/shopping list 5/25/14 - 6/1/14

Dinners:

Meal 1: Crockpot Indian

• chickpeas x 2

Meal 2: Crockpot lasagna

• alfredo sauce
• tomato sauce
• zucchini

Meal 3: Crockpot beans

• beans x 2
• canned tomatoes
• cheddar cheese

Meal 4: Moqueca

• potatoes
• onions

Meal 5: Fajitas

• fish/shrimp
• beef
• sour cream (plain yogurt)
• tortillas
• fajita seasoning x 2

Meal 6: Thai peanut fish

• fish
• red bell pepper
• teriyaki sauce (check cabinet)
• roasted peanuts
• limes

Lunches:

Meal 1: Tomato basil soup

Meal 2: Sandwiches

• BLT – lettuce, tomato, mayonaise
• turkey sandwiches – lunchmeat

Meal 3: Meatballs

• frozen meatballs
• 12 oz jar chili sauce (red)

Household

• milk
• granola bars
• fruit
• bread
• juice concentrate
• soda?
• Yeast (for bread)
• ice cream
• popsicles
• hair ties
• cat litter
• cat food (canned)
• tomatoes

Total spent: $243 at Walmart

Notes: We decided to check out Walmart as I wasn't very happy with the produce selection at Smart & Final.  The Walmart here is huge, much bigger than we are used to, and they have a better selection of almost everything so I will continue shopping here.  I felt that it was expensive this week because we bought fish, shrimp and meat plus a big bag of frozen meatballs which was $13.

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