Cutting my grocery bill

In January I posted a weekly journal of all the meals I created using only (mostly) ingredients I already had in my pantry, refrigerator, deep freezer, etc. In week one I shared all the food I had, which turned out to be a lot! In week two I admitted that I was still going to the grocery store for certain things such as eggs and milk, and basically anything I really needed (ok wanted) to make a specific recipe.

My top views/posts in week 1 & 2 were:

DESSERT NIGHT

QUICK, HEALTHY BREAKFAST IDEAS

Then in week three I cut my grocery budget in half, and by week four I realized that I still had enough food to keep going for another month. The only problem with that is somewhere along the way I purchased a few more packages of meat (chicken breasts and ground turkey to be exact.)

Most popular recipes in weeks 3 & 4 were:

BAKED CHIMICHANGAS

TURKEY SALISBURY STEAKS 

Apparently I’m not very good at the pantry challenge because the thought of preparing and eating meals of only 1 or 2 types of meats didn’t inspire me at all. I didn’t have any problem with the vegetarian meals, but I like a variety and assume my family does as well. In fact, there were food items on the list that I never used at all. Hence, the reason I could go on another month at least.

But in truth I did not spend so very much on extra groceries and necessities anyway. I did (and still do) buy a veggie box twice a month ($40 each) that is not figured into my weekly food budget. After saving my receipts and adding them up, I saw that I spent $274.20 for the whole month to feed a family of four, a dog and a cat. (Actually I didn’t buy any dog food this month because I bought a huge thing at Sams Club in December.) That total divided by four weeks comes out to $68.55 a week.

Now, my goal is to seriously keep my budget right at, if not lower than, $60 a week for the next 22 weeks. That’s until late June. We’ll see.

There’s a way you can do this if you have not been able to, or have not tried and don’t know how to start. One way I “started” was by checking out The Grocery Game. I found this to be rather difficult to do while attempting The Pantry Challenge at the same time, so I stopped. BUT it is a very helpful tool and definitely worth the free 4-week trial. In fact I will probably give it another go at some point in the Spring when I am finally done with this pantry challenge.

I started keeping track of all my grocery receipts in September, just to see how much on average I was spending, and how little I could spend. I shopped typically on Tuesdays, kept each week’s receipt, wrote the month and which week it was (#1, #2, etc) and then stapled all of them together at the end of the month.

September: $256.91.  I thought I was off to a pretty good start, but to be fair I had a very well-stocked pantry and freezer at this time. $64.23 per person/week.

October: $402.03. Not so great compared, but for 4.5 weeks (5 trips this month) = $100.51 per person/week.

November: $306.99. That’s still more than I thought it would have been for us being out-of-town for 10 days that month. $76.75 per person/week.

December: $607.48. Yeah, that’s right. It kinda makes up for any money I saved in previous months, but I actually budgeted for this. My trip to Sams Club alone was $426.14 and I bought a lot more stuff than just groceries. In fact almost a hundred $$ of it went to Christmas presents, not to mention food and non-food items that were purchased specifically for Christmas (parties). I allowed myself $400 for that trip and went over by $26 and some change.

January: $274.20 Divide that by 4 people and I’ve spent $68.55 per person for the whole month. Sure it seems possible to do while participating in the pantry challenge, but will I be able to continue on this budget once the foodstores are depleted?

We’ll see….stay tuned And if you missed any of those great recipes just click on the title to link over. Have a blessed day!

Thanks for voting, ya’ll! I’m steadily climbing toward the top of the polls Remember, you can click every day!

 

The Pantry Challenge Journal ~ Week 1

I began my own Pantry Challenge a little late in the month; January 5th to be exact. I made a list of all food items in my pantry and deep freezer, and a few of the available dairy products in my refrigerator. All these meals I make this month will consist largely of what is in my stores unless I otherwise note as a special purchase. Each week I will post a journal for the previous week’s worth of meals, along with their original recipes so you can see how I have adapted them.

Tuesday, January 3rd: Romano-Crusted Chicken. I did have to buy the romano cheese at $4.79 but I got two meals out of it (this one and the Manicotti).

Wednesday, January 4th: Homemade Manicotti

Thursday, January 5th: I made roundeye steaks for dinner with a tomato-mushroom ragu. Sadly I am not a great steak cooker.

This post is more about the side dish than it is about the steak, but I will not deprive you of either. It’s just that this skillet corn is so good! We are not big corn eaters unless it is fresh off the cob. I still buy frozen corn because I like to add it to soups. Oddly enough, Jadon does not care for corn at all. How many kids do you know that do not like corn?? I don’t mind one bit to tell you the truth. Corn does not have much nutritional value at all and it is very starchy, so not a basic vegetable in our house. Jadon does like most green veggies so I find that to be a much better trade-off.

This recipe came out of the Summer 2011 issue of Kraft Food & Family.

1 tsp. butter

4 cups fresh corn kernels (about 8 ears)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Heat butter in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add corn; cook 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in sour cream; cook and stir 3 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and basil. Serve immediately.

*I am only likely to have fresh corn in the summer, so I make this often with frozen corn. It takes a little bit longer to cook because there is extra liquid. Cook it until the corn starts to develop a browned, roasted color. Then follow the recipe as directed. Also, I didn’t have any fresh basil, but I love basil so I used a full T. of dried.

The Steaks with tomato-mushroom ragu called for sirloin, but I only had roundeye . I also am currently out of fresh mushrooms or garlic, and no fire-roasted tomatoes. So I attempted to make this ragu using dried mushrooms which I rehydrated with a little chicken broth, and some canned diced tomatoes. Not bad overall, but interesting. I’m sure the fresh version would have been excellent.

2 beef sirloin steaks (about 2 pounds), halved crosswise

Salt & Pepper

2 Tbsp. EVOO

One 6-ounce pckg cremini mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

One 28-ounce can crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Grated parmesan cheese, for serving

1. Season the steaks with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 T. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the steaks and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side; transfer to a plate.

2. In the same skillet, add the remaining 1 T. oil, the mushrooms and garlic; cook stirring for 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, 1/2 cup water and the crushed red pepper; bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, then return the steaks to the skillet and cook until heated through. Serve the steaks topped with the ragu and grated cheese.

Okay so what changes did I make? I used chopped jarred garlic, canned diced tomatoes, rehydrated mushrooms (I can’t remember what kind they were, possibly portabella but more likely regular button), and roundeye. It wasn’t much of a success, but I have a feeling that this would have been so much better had I fresh ingredients, and everything the recipe called for as well. I also think this is worth making again with chicken. I bet that would be amazing.

This recipe also suggested polenta as a side. I have been craving a good, creamy polenta, and lately have been drawn to recipes that call for it. Alas, I have not the means at present to make a good polenta, and so I served this with a mushroom risotto.

Friday, January 6th: Cory returned from his South Africa mission trip today, so we met him on his way home from the airport for dinner and a movie. We ate at Plaza Azteca (I ♥ Mexican food) and saw We Bought A Zoo. I don’t care what anyone says, that was a good movie! And with the exception of a few words, was an excellent family movie.

Saturday, January 7th: I had intended to make Chicken Parmigiana on this night, but forgot there was a dinner/fund raiser called “God’s Bounty” going on for our church. So I made pizza for the boys and then Cory and I went out to try some new things like, Pheasant Pot Pie, Wild Boar BBQ, Tuna Bites (oh yeah! I’m looking for a recipe now), Wild Turkey Nuggets, Venison Meatloaf, Venison Chili, and lots more, I can’t even recall it all.

Sunday, January 8th: Chicken Cakes Parmigiana. This is a quick, Italian-style chicken dish that uses deli rotisserie. It comes from Betty Crocker.

1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs (you can use plain or Panko and add basil, oregano, garlic, etc. to season it)

1 egg

2 Tbsp Milk

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp garlic salt

2 cups finely chopped deli rotisserie chicken

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup tomato sauce, heated

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (2 oz)1. In medium bowl, mix bread crumbs, egg, milk, Parmesan cheese and garlic salt. Stir in chicken.

2. Shape chicken mixture by about 1/4 cupful into 8 (3 inch) cakes.

3. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook cakes in oil 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

4. Serve cakes topped with pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese. Makes 4 servings (2 cakes each).

GUESS WHAT? I didn’t make that. I didn’t have deli rotisserie sitting around in my pantry. Yes, I suppose I could have cooked up some chicken and then chopped it up, but that would defeat the purpose of having a recipe like this for making a quick chicken parmesan. It was much easier for me to do it my own way:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 pkg extra crispy Shake & Bake

1 jar pasta sauce, heated and tweaked

Spaghetti noodles, cooked according to package

Shredded mozzarella cheese

* Wash chicken breasts and allow to remain slightly damp. Toss in bag with Shake ‘n Bake until covered. Bake in preheated oven at 350* for 25-30 minutes, depending on thickness of meat. Place on top cooked spaghetti, cover with pasta sauce and add shredded mozzarella on top. Place back in oven for a minute to allow the cheese to melt, if desired.

Always a favorite around here, especially Cory. He doesn’t have blood running through his veins like normal people: he has red sauce. A good red sauce makes him happy the way dark chocolate makes me happy. Weird. I serve these with lima beans steamed in chicken broth and little garlic toasts on whole grain bread slices.

Happy Cooking!

I Like a Good Challenge

As I was linking from one blog to another I came across The Pantry Challenge. I have heard of this before but have never been very good at maintaining it because eventually I get twitchy about my food stores getting too low (not that it’s ever happened, so how would I know.) What I liked about this one were the basic rules that grocery shopping, and even stockpiling, was still allowed. The goal of this challenge was to do specific things, such as lower your monthly grocery bill and being able to defrost (yay!). Obviously this means that the contents of the deep freezer are included in the challenge, and I for one would like to defrost.

My deep freezer frustrates me. It builds up ice quicker than I can bat an eyelash, and I defrosted just this past September. Part of the reason is because the only place I have to store it is in a non-weather controlled room, meaning no AC in the summer and no heat in the winter. It’s all I’ve got to work with and that’s okay. My only problem is I keep throwing more and more in there and it’s impossible to ever defrost.

January is the perfect time for cleansing and renewing. A revamping of the finances usually cames into play (several times a year, in fact), and I am looking at a particularly difficult winter. There is no work on the island and since I was forced into unemployment because of Hurricane Irene, the money will run out in 2 weeks. Emergency unemployment benefits were put into place but even that has a limit, so my once $120 a week grocery budget will quickly become $0.

I went through my pantry and deep freeze and made a list of everything I had on hand. The next step is working out meals. That part should be relatively easy because I am already in the habit of planning out dinners each week. My goal is to see how many meals I can make, what recipes I can come up with, and how much can I save this month by attempting to only purchase milk and other necessities, both food and personal, and any great stockpiling deals that come via store sales + coupons.

I can’t believe what I found. WHY do I even go to the grocery store? There are so many meals here, and because I stocked up on canned veggies and other non-perishables around the time of the hurricane, we truly are stockpiled (well, short-term anyway). Here’s what I have:

CANNED & JARRED GOODS: 17 green beans, 4 peas, 4 corn, 2 diced tomatoes. 3 cream of chicken,3  blackeye peas, 2 black beans, 1 navy bean, 1 pinto bean, 1 garbanzo bean (think we have enough beans?), 1 enchilada sauce, 1 salsa, 1 artichoke hearts, 2 red pasta sauce, 1 vodka pasta sauce, 1 dill pickles, 1 green olives, 1 container chicken broth.

RICE, PASTA & GRAINS: 4 pkgs. spaghetti, 5 boxes macaroni & cheese, 10 pkgs. of rice (variety), 1 risotto, 1 gnocchi, other loose rice and pastas (many, many meals), 1 pkg. frozen tortellini, 1 pkg. frozen cheese & spinach ravioli, 3 meals worth of bulgur, 2 meals worth of quinoa, 2 meals worth of quick barley, 1/2 canister of quick oats.

MEAT & SEAFOOD: 3 pkgs ground turkey, 4 pkgs turkey meatballs, 2 pkgs beef stirfry, 2 small whole chickens, 6 roundeye steaks, 18 boneless & skinless chicken breasts, 11 salmon fillets, 8 meals worth of fresh tuna, and 1 of fresh blue fish.

FROZEN VEGGIES & MORE: 1 lb. collards, 3 lb corn, 1.5 lb. lima beans, 1.5 lb. tater rounds, 1 lb. preseasoned baby potatoes, 1 lb. hasbrown shreds, 2 pkgs creamed spinach, 3 meals worth of pesto sauce.

DAIRY & MISC.: 2 lb. butter (8 quarters), 1 qt. buttermilk, 2- 1/2 gallons organic milk, 15 eggs, 4- 1 qt. conatiners of turkey or chicken stock, 1 frozen cheese pizza, 16 frozen steak taquitos, 5 frozen philly beef steaks, 2 containers tomato and roasted red pepper soup, 2 cans vegetable soup, 2 bottles BBQ sauce, 1 pkg panko bread crumbs, 1/2 doz. onions, 3 sweet potatoes, dried mushrooms, 1 box chicken stuffing, 1 pkg shake ‘n bake, 2 lbs organic sugar, various shredded and sliced cheeses, plain yogurt, honey, 1 head lettuce, 1 lb baby carrots, 1/4 lb sugar snap peas, 2 1/2 containers cottage cheese (about 4 lbs!) 1 ricotta, 1 sour cream, and 1 pkg wheat flatbread.

*A meals worth serves my household of 4 people.

I think it’s safe to say that I can get a whole months worth of meals out of this stockpile. What do you think?

Meals for the next 3 nights are already planned, which will deplete my pantry by 3 of the roundeye steaks, 1 onion, 1/4 lb frozen corn, the sour cream, 1 pkg ground turkey, all the red sauce , 3 eggs, ricotta cheese, more than half the shredded cheeses, 3 or 4 chicken breasts, some of the dried mushrooms, 1 can diced tomatoes, and the panko bread crumbs.

What will I be making? Stay tuned for homemade Manicotti (my first time),  Creamy Skillet Corn, Roundeye Steaks with Tomato and Mushroom Ragu (possibly with carmelized onions and Polenta if I can find a good recipe), and Chicken Parmesan.

Do your own Pantry Challenge and let me know how it’s going for you. Keep a watch for my Pantry Challenge Journal, which will be updated periodically.

Happy budgeting!