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I could easily spend an entire paycheck at the store each week. Sometimes I make excuses to go to Whole Foods when I really don't need to. Luckily, Brett is quite good at knowing when we really do need to, and when I'm just having WF hallucinations. (That alone probably saves us close to $1000 each year).But now that new school bills are looming in the very near future, it's time to get serious. And since I couldn't find many $60 meal plans that were healthy, delicious and vegetarian, I decided that I would create my own. Armed with three $20 bills, we will eat. And we will eat well.This week, my grand total at the store was $42.46. I could have brought it down even further, but I bought something that we already had leftover from last week. I must admit that I was walking through the store with a pretty quick pace, which probably looked kind of ridiculous. I think if I had gone any slower my cart would have begun to fill up with things that we really didn't need.
Anyway, I think one of the best tips that I've picked up along the way (in regards to saving money on groceries), is to watch your portions. I've found that when I chew for longer periods of time, and I put my fork down between bites ( I haven't figured out how to do this with ice cream), I eat a lot less. So while this bit of advice isn't going to save you $1 off a box of cheez-its, it may stretch your healthy meal even further.
This week, this is what we're eating:
Breakfast
-oatmeal with butternut squash and dried fruit
-egg, toast, fruit
-toast with peanut butter and banana
-carrot raisin bran muffins with yogurt
Lunches
Most days, leftovers from dinner will be eaten the next day as lunch. Other days, these are what I rotate in:
-baby green salad with green peppers, tofu
-tofurkey deli slices (buy on sale and freeze! this is a treat!) on homemade rustic bread, fruit, slice of cheese, carrots or celery
-rice and beans with homemade salsa
Friday
-Pizza on homemade dough, salad
Saturday
-Quinoa with mushrooms, kale, and sweet potatoes with salad
Sunday
-Homemade tofurkey with mashed potatoes, salad (Didn't get to make it last week!)
Monday
-Pasta TVP 'meat' sauce, salad
Tuesday
-Quesadillas with fresh salsa and bean salad
Wednesday
-Chili with whole wheat cornbread and salad
Thursday
-Lentil burgers on rustic bread, sweet potato fries, and salad
Snacks/Treats
-homemade cinnamon raisin swirl bread with tea
-greek yogurt with veggie slices
-hard boiled egg with veggies
-fruit with peanut butter
-(maybe) a cupcake from Sweet Giuls!
So far, I've stayed well within the budget, and we've eaten quite well. I will be posting more recipes this week, so if anyone would like to see a certain one, please let me know!
Dinner
I would love to get that lentil burger recipe if you want to type it up : )
ReplyDeleteSuper impressed that you only spent $40!
What a cool project! I find I tend to go gaga when I go to the grocery store too and end up buying things I wasn't planning on, and therefore wasting money, so it's a good tip to budget yourself an amount each week and stick with it. I usually budget $50 a week and that seems to work well for me. I live alone and am just feeding myself 90% of the time, so this budget is realistic. Grocery prices are going up though, so I'm worried I will have to sacrifice more things or spend more money, ugh
ReplyDeleteApril- I'll definitely post that this week!
ReplyDeleteKim- I know! Prices are rising, and it's getting crazy. That's why I'm a breadmaker now ( bread products alone used to take up at least $15-20 of our weekly budget...eek!)
Hi Emma!
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking out my blog and saying hi! I love to read menu plans as well -- there's always something that I never thought of trying. Yours looks great! We're not vegan or vegetarian, but we try to keep it healthy (and on the budget). Whole foods can be expensive!
I'm looking forward to reading more of your blog and I hope you keep checking out mine! :)
xoxo,
Ana
http://my-newlywedlife.blogspot.com