I apologise about the delay. As per my post yesterday, it was a busy day. Between my parents being down and a Centennial Church celebration, I just didn't have time to get on and post our meal plan, grocery list and receipt.
DISCLAIMER: I want to you all to keep in mind that I meal plan according to what we have in our house...I want to buy a few things as possible so I meal plan around what we already have- kwim? I'm just saying this because if you want to follow my meal plan and go out and buy everything for all the recipies you will likely spend more then me...
The post will go like this:
Meal Plan
What I already have/what I need to buy
Grocery List
Receipt
Week: Nov14-20th
Saturday (my parents were down, so I had to feed 5 people)- Stir fry & Brown Rice
- HAVE: Brown Rice, Stir fry Sauce Ingredients, Onions, Carrots, Celery
- BUY: Red Pepper, Broccoli, Zucchini
Sunday- Sloppy Joe's* w/ Fruit Salad
- HAVE: Onion, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Apples
- BUY: Buns, ground beef, oranges, bananas
Monday- Lawrence's Work Christmas Party, going out for dinner, pre-paid tickets
Tuesday- Pork Satay*, Brown Rice and Salad
- HAVE: Pork, Brown Rice, Soy Sauce, Garlic, Ginger, Hot Sauce, Lettuce, Salad Fixings
- BUY: Orange Juice Concentrate, Bamboo Skewers (got at Dollar Store for $1)
Wednesday: Waffles, Blueberry Sauce & Whipped Cream
- HAVE: Waffle ingredients, frozen blueberries, sugar
- BUY: Whipping Cream
Thursday- Beef Barley Soup (Crock Pot meal)
- HAVE: Carrots, Celery, Onions, Beef Bouillon, Parsley,Barley
- BUY: Stewing Beef, Tomato Sauce
Friday- Spaghetti, Homemade Sauce, Cesar Salad, Buns
- HAVE: Cesar Salad Dressing (homemade), Tomatoes, Garlic, Onions
- BUY: Spaghetti, Buns, Tomato Sauce
GROCERY LIST:
FRUITS/VEG:
Peppers
Zucchini
Lettuce (extra)
Broccoli
Mandarins
Bananas
Limes
DAIRY:
Homo Milk
Skim Milk
Whipping Cream
Cheese
GRAINS:
Spaghetti
Buns
MEAT/ALTERNATIVES:
Ground Beef
Stewing Beef
Eggs
MISC.
Tomato Sauce
RECEIPT:
Homo Milk- $1.49
Deposit- $0.11
Skim Milk- $1.35
Deposit- $0.11
Whip Cream- $3.17
Deposit- $0.11
Eggs- $2.12
Marble Cheese- $3.87
Tomato Sauce- $0.94 x 2 = $1.88
Pasta- $1.87
Dinner Rolls- $0.17 x 5 = $0.85
Mandarins $3.97
Lettuce- $1.47
Broccoli- $1.97
Peppers 3ct- $3.97
Zucchini- $0.78
Bananas- $1.10
Avocado- $0.97
Lime-$0.33 x 3 = $0.99
Discounted Meat (Stew Beef)- $3.50
Ground Beef- $2.50
TOTAL: $38.15 + 5% GST
GRAND TOTAL: 40.05
Over: $0.05 (which I had in my wallet...)
Notes:
I only meal plan for Dinners. We have leftovers from almost every meal. I usually toss one in the freezer and one is for lunch for either Lawrence, Charlotte or me the following day. For lunches we do hummus (homemade) with veggies, PB&J Sandwiches, Grilled Cheese, homemade KD, Veggie Soup etc...things that I don't need to buy things for. Lawrence also works 3 times a week and can get a bowl of soup at work for pennies...so he does that. I also freeze Charlotte sized meals (lasagna, soups etc) that I can pull out and send with her to her babysitters for lunch. As for breakfasts, we eat toast, oatmeal, muffins or smoothies. We have a lot of frozen fruit from the summer, I make muffins almost weekly and we can have those, they also work well for snacks. Again, it's meals that I don't have to buy for. I would also like to mention that because we are going out once this week (Monday for the Christmas Party) I allowed myself to spend a little bit more on the other meals for the week (ie: whipping cream = almost $4, that rarely happens). I would also like to mention that I try 2 new recipes a week. The ones that are new this week had a * next to them.
So there you have it folks. We eat healthy, we eat fresh food every night and I only spend $40 on groceries. There are times when I will go over, but generally speaking I stick to this budget. I shop at Wal-Mart Supercenter in Lethbridge, the cheapest place I've found SO FAR to buy groceries. Some weeks I will shop at Superstore because it is also pretty decent but generally speaking I shop at the Supercenter.
If you want a recipe let me know and I will either e-mail it to you, or send you a picture of it. :)
Frugally Yours,
Erin B.
Great post, I am sure it will be helpful for many people. You are one organized mom!
ReplyDeleteLP-Calgary
I was skeptical but you can actually eat for $40 a week. When Lawrence works does he only eat a bowl of soup for the whole day? For Prestons lunches I pack 2 sandwiches with white cheddar cheese, 2 slices of lunch meat, spinach, pickles and peppers. 1 yogurt, snap peas and baby carrots, 2 granola bars and 2 pieces of fruit. Packing lunches costs around $60 a week. What size milk do you buy for under $1.50 each? I notice you buy very little meat and this week are eating vegetarian a couple of times a week, is this normal? Thanks for posting, good to see how other people grocery shop and meal plan.
ReplyDeleteJill: Lawrence will eat a big breakfast (2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, an apple etc) and will take snacks (popcorn, veggie sticks etc) with him to work and then he will have the soup at work and he will eat dinner when he gets home. On days that I pack him lunch, he will get a sandwich, veggie sticks, a juice box, a granola bar (homemade or bought, depending on what I have) and a piece of fruit. He's not doing hard labour like Preston, so he doesn't need such a big lunch- kwim? As per the milk- I bought just 1L this week as we had half a 2L from last week, and we aren't huge milk drinkers. This week I only bought a little bit a meat, but I have a TON in my freezer. Lots of pork, chicken, fish, roasts...all stuff that I will use in following weeks so that I don't have to buy meat every week. The only meals this week that is vegetarian is Waffles on Wednesday, and the Pasta on Friday. Usually, we'll eat meatless for one meal at least once a week, and that is mostly because I'll use up all our veggies etc...in say a pasta sauce like this Friday...
ReplyDeleteI hope that helps Jill.
Thanks for sharing! Could you send me the recipe for Pork Satay? I have hit a wall in regards to planning meals.
ReplyDeleteA couple of questions, what is your average monthly budget for food?
Do you stock up if you see something on sale?
And do you use your grocery budget for paper products and personal care?
I appreciate a different view to help keep me on track.
OK, Nikki- I will send you the recipe for the Pork Satay on FB in a message. It is easier for me then on here.
ReplyDeleteNow fory our questions:
1. Our monthly food budget is $150.
2. Generally speaking, if there is a good sale then I will buy it, ie: 2 for 1 toilet paper. It all depends on if we need the item that is for sale and if there is any wiggle room left in the budget.
3. Personal items (deoderant, shampoo etc) is all in a seperate budget which is $20 a month. I usually buy our shampoo and stuff at Costco when it is on sale...so it lasts us a LONG time, and I don't use the $20 set aside every month for those types of items. Toilet paper also falls into this category...and since I don't buy paper towels or napkins...that is our only paper product.
Hope that helps Nikki. :)
Thanks Erin. I didn't see a meat for your stir fry so I assumed it was vegetarian. I don't eat meat, so I like to see meatless ideas. For sure Preston needs way more food than Lawrence does. For milk I buy 2 2 litres for Kayla of organic homo milk which is $6 per 2 litres and $0.25 deposit and $0.04 recycling fee and a 4litre of skim for Preston which was $4.99 with the same deposit and recycling fee. Nice that you have a freezer full of meat. Do you stock up with a different budget?
ReplyDeleteThere was pork in the stirfry, I guess I forgot to put that. My mom is a vegetarian so half was veggie and half was with meat... :)
ReplyDeleteAs per the stocking up on meat...I usually do that when I start running low in the freezer. I will take an extra $50 (a good tip week or something), and buy it all discounted (chicken breasts, thighs, ground beef/chicken, pork chops...etc.) Then I'll cut it into smaller portion sizes and freeze them individually and then once frozen it all goes into a freezer bag-kwim?
Dose Kayla drink 4L of milk in a week? If so, I am impressed. Charlotte maybe drinks 1L...she only gets 1-2 bottles of it a day though. Do you find that you are throwing out expired milk? You can freeze it the same way you would breastmilk and defrost it the same way if you find you are wasting some. :) Just a though.
Kayla goes through about 3 litres of milk a week and the other litre is used in coffee instead of using cream, added to homeade soups and a little is wasted. She gets 2 bottles of milk a day and 2 bottles of formula a day so we do go through quite a bit. Plus she gets a sippy cup of milk with dinner every night which she never drinks, but she keeps getting it.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of muffins do you make? I am not much of a baker, but I want to find some whole wheat, low sugar recipes for muffins. Do you have any good ones?
YES, of course I have lots of muffin recipes and I always make changes to my old favourites to cut sugar and fat. :) I won't post them now, as I don't really have time, but check back this week and I will do a whole blog entry on MUFFINS. :)
ReplyDelete