Grocery Spending/Menu Plan | It's another birthday!
On Saturdays, I share my menu plan for the upcoming week along with a photo of my groceries and a tally of my spending. My goal is to spend $100/week for our food, toiletries, and cleaning products. I'm currently in the midst of trying to buy more local, sustainably-produced food while sticking to my budget. Can it be done? I don't know, but I'm going to try, and I'll share what I learn as I go along.
More on the birthday in a minute.
First, grocery pictures. This is what wouldn't fit on the counter.
And this is what would fit on the counter.
I spent $96.43 at Aldi and I can't seem to locate my Weis receipt at the moment.
What are we going to eat this week?
Breakfast will be cereal, muffins, scrambled eggs, fruit, and oatmeal (not all on the same day!).
Lunches will be comprised of sandwiches made with whole wheat bread, homemade yogurt, yogurt smoothies, cottage cheese, fruit, raw veggies, nuts, cheese, and leftovers as necessary. Of course, we don't eat all of that every single day...it's just a list of the things we choose from for lunch each day. And Mr. FG eats leftovers for lunch pretty much every day.
And this is what we'll be eating for dinner.
Saturday-It's Lisey's birthday today, so this dinner was chosen by her (we don't worry much about nutrition on birthdays!).
- Fried Shrimp
- Snake Rolls
- Lime-Pear Jello
- Chocolate Cake
- Orange-Swirl Ice cream
Sunday
Monday
- Grilled Hamburgers (made with local beef)
- green beans
- potato cubes
Tuesday
- Shrimp and Ravioli in Pink Sauce
- green salad
- french bread
Wednesday
- Southwest Chicken Salad in Pitas (never made this before)
- fruit salad
Thursday
- Thai-Style Beef Brisket (also made with local beef and I've also never made this before))
- Scalloped Potatoes (I know that's a weird combo, but I need to use up some potatoes!)
Friday
- Takeout date night for Mr. FG and me, something super easy for the kiddos
And now I am off to spend my day in the kitchen...in addition to Lisey's birthday dinner, she's requested a special bread for breakfast, and she also wants to make these chocolate cookie bears with her friend who is staying overnight. Oh, and I have to make communion bread today too.
Good thing life is getting easier now than my kids are older, or I'd really be in trouble today.
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Today's 365 post: She's coming soon!
Joshua's 365 post: I'm impressed...
Your groceries look so fresh and delicious this morning! Can I borrow a couple strawberries to live up my morning smoothie? Jk
Liven not live. Stupid smart phone. 😉
Happy Birthday, Lisey! It's my birthday today, too!
My baby woke up at 4:30, which is early for me, and we haven't been back to bed yet. She appears to be semi-sick and I have a wicked cold, so it is shaping up to be loooong day. I hope Lisey's day is brighter.
OK, end of my pity party. Since we're all up anyway, we're going to go get donuts in our pajamas. 🙂
Ah yes...babies just do NOT understand about birthdays!
Happy Birthday Lisey and Alyson!
My birthday is tomorrow, and I'm going to make myself your overnight cinnamon rolls, Kristen!
Ooh, Grilled hamburgers! I can really tell that the weather is getting nice down there! Happy birthday to Lisey - will she have a Peep bunny cake or a snake this year?
It is getting warmer overall, but this weekend is kind of cold. Boo.
I am an incorrigible griller, though...I grill in the dead of winter just as often as I do in the summer. lol
Lisey's actually asking for a guinea pig cake, and she and her friend are planning to frost it themselves. I'll try to take a photo. 😉
I have an alternate suggestion for potatoes with the brisket: Indian potato fry. Just cut as many potatoes as you would use for scalloped into 1/4 - 1/2 cubes (or so). In a large skillet or wok, heat a little oil, add some mustard seeds, some cumin seeds, and about 1/8 of an onion, diced. After the onion is a little browned, add the potatoes, a pinch of turmeric powder, and a little cayenne pepper and salt. Cook them until they're soft. You could pre-boil the potatoes, add them at the same point in the recipe and just stir until combined. Yummy, and I think i'td go with the Thai spices well. An Asian theme. 🙂
your menu plan is making me hungry, especially the snake rolls. Yep, it's lunch time. Happy Birthday to Lisey!!
I really like your menu this week. I had to laugh, when I read Lisey's birthday menu. My kid's pick the menu for their birthday's, too. Every one inevitably picks jello(always with fruit added) as part of the dinner feast. Jello must make your birthday brighter! 😉
Your menu looks delicious! I looked at the linked recipes and think I'll try those too. I wanted to write how wonderful that snake bread is. Special treats like that really make a birthday. That's very cool of you.
I wonder what is fried Mush? Happy birthday. I hope she has a wonderful day.
It's delicious.
read about how to make it here:
https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2009/02/breakfast-week-fried-mush/
I just wanted to let you know that I've discovered your blog this week and am reading through your archives. It's amazing and really useful our household. You've helped me to refocus on my goals of menu planning and grocery shopping. This morning I made banana carob muffins, (I just subbed carob chips for chocolate chips), I also made mush for tomorrow and yogurt. Who knew it was so easy?!? Thanks for all your hard work on this blog that is AMAZING!
I seriously don't know how you can get SO much for SO little. I would be very curious to see how much each item cost. I spend TOO much on groceries and I only buy staples, no processed foods. I feel like I am buying 1/4 of the stuff you purchase and pay twice the amount. I am only feeding two people but I wonder if where I live staples are just more expensive. 4L of milk is right around $4.50 and a loaf of french bread is $1.50 for example.
Happy Birthday to whoever it is.
I am always surprised when I see someone has shopped at Aldi, because I only came across this store when I lived in Germany. You have an impressive budget and menu. I'm currently in Nutrition school and learned about thrifty food budgets set by the government. It's well above what I, and others who are watching their food budget, tend to spend!
I am just wondering what ya'll do for take out. 😀 I know it is random but i mean is it like Chinese? Pizza? .. McDonalds???? 😀