I've had a very busy and productive day today. Yesterday afternoon I got a bee in my bonnet about getting more organized with the meals here at Shady Creek. The impetus for this line of thinking was that we ate out three times last week!! Yep, 3 times. We haven't eaten out that many times in a week since I retired from teaching. It was an extremely busy week, but that is no excuse. I figure if I'd been more organized we could have saved a ton of money, eaten at home, and eaten healthier meals to boot. Sooooo....
I used all of Sunday afternoon to make 'The Plan'. OK here's the plan in a nutshell- make every meal at home and buy the bulk of the groceries in one big shop day. That was today. I will still need to get a limited amount of produce [Hutch is a rabid salad eater] and probably a gallon of lowfat milk weekly. I use dry milk to cook and bake with but Hutch is also a rabid fresh dairy fan. With the amount of miles he runs each week and the time he spends in the gym, he needs the calcium and protein. Fresh milk serves him well. So other than those few items, I'm done with shopping for four weeks.
My grand total was 255 dollars and change. That comes out to about 1.40 for a meal. I'm pretty happy with that since we have been spending waaaaay more than that lately. Here's my disclaimer: I go to the price plus 10% grocery store. It has no bells or whistles. It has no fresh seafood department, deli, or bakery. It is much like a very old timey Mom & Pop grocery store from the 50's. I've been shopping there for 15 years. I very rarely go anywhere else [except, I confess in the last two months I have succumbed to the seductive allure of Walmart *sigh*]. But I'm back on the wagon. Even Sam's Club can't beat the prices at Food Depot.
Here's what my plan looks like in terms of meals:
Breakfasts are a variety combo of oatmeal, cereal [generic Cherrios], French Toast, biscuit, eggs, bacon, fruit, sausage, & grits- Of course not all of this at once, but I bet you figured that out already, huh?
Lunches are: soups, hot dog salads [recipe here], grilled cheese sandwiches, leftovers
Afternoon snacks: sardines in mustard sauce [OK- this sounds disgusting to me but my DH adores it], vienna sausages [read message about sardines- ditto the sausages], either a piece of fruit, or a handful of almonds
Dinners are: salsa baked tilapia, slumgullion [here at recipe button], spaghetti, burrito bowl, hamburgers, mac & cheese with veggies, chicken stir-fry on rice, chips & salsa, crockpot chicken and cornbread dressing w turnips, corn & zipper peas, Tacos, & homemade pizza.
I've incorporated a couple of desserts a week. One is on Friday nights- homemade M&M McFlurries for me & strawberry milkshakes for Hutch. The other is Sunday lunch which is our church fellowship meal. For this meal the dessert will be a pie of some sort. Either Lemon, Cherry, Chocolate, or Apple.
We're aiming for 5 fruits or veggies a day and limited red meat, sugar, & fat. I use seasoned ground turkey in many of the ethnic dishes. It's cheaper and much better for you. I pretty much add beans to everything. It stretches the amount of meat you have to use in a recipe and it's an internal body scrubber. I use whole grains as much as possible [brown rice, ww pasta]. We use low fat cheeses for the most part [Cabot lowfat sharp cheddar & lowfat mozzerella]. Our one really bad meal is the Friday night splurge- hamburgers, french fries, baked beans, and dessert.
The 255 dollars I spent today included all clothes detergent, bathroom, & kitchen cleaners. As well as paper products. Disclaimer here as well- I make a lot of these cleaners [recipes here under Frugal Tips], but you still have to buy the basic ingredients. I also use paper towels very sparingly. Usually only to drain fried foods- of which we eat very few. Instead I use my trusty supply of dish rags for general kitchen use and wash them often.
I also buy items to stock our emergency pantry. We fill plastic bins with things that could be grabbed and tossed into the trunk of the car rapidly in case there's ever an evacuation type emergency. I just buy one or two things at the time, but it sure adds up! And I did buy my monthly Glade candle. Some things are just worth the extra pennies. A fragrant candle by my writing desk is one of these things.
And yes, I'm one of those folks who already have their Thanksgiving turkey and ham in the freezer. I don't do 'last minute' LOL. I'm just not wired that way, I guess.
So there you have it....my baby steps start to being more organized about meals. My research shows me that the typical two person household in the US spends about 338 dollars a month on groceries [this does not include cleaning or paper products etc]. As I wrote earlier, we've been spending much more than that, especially when you factor in our 'eat out' nights. Hopefully this new plan will be more in line with the average and maybe I can tweak it to get it even lower without sacrificing tasty favorites. I'll let you know.
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