What I Spent, What We Ate | New Year, Fresh Budget
First, here's how last year's spending stacked up.
2018 Grocery Spending
January: $544
February: $588
March: $641
April: $728
May: $535
June: $749
July: $578
August: $498
September: $598
October: $628
November: $587
December: $661
$7332 total
All of that averages out to $141/week which is perfect, since I usually aim for my average to be about $150/week.
It's 2019, so I'm starting out with a fresh $7800 budget to feed us this year.
What I Spent
I spent $90 at the grocery store, plus $25 for my Hungry Harvest box.
What We Ate
Saturday
We were at my sister-in-law's house for a belated Christmas gathering with some relatives from Mr. FG's side of the family.
I brought honey-glazed pan rolls, which will come as no shock to any of you.
And I also brought a pan of scalloped potatoes.
And guys, I realized something: the recipe I use is naturally gluten-free!
The sauce just thickens as it cooks with the potatoes, so it totally works for people who can't have gluten.
(There were some gluten-free people there, and while they couldn't eat the rolls I brought, at least the scalloped potatoes were fair game.)
Sunday
We had a rather fend-for-yourself evening of eating leftovers.
Monday
We went over to my brother's house for New Year's Eve, and we had a snacky kind of dinner (I brought a cheese, ham, and cracker plate, plus some fruit).
Tuesday
Sonia and I tried a new recipe (from Dinner Illustrated*) for polenta topped with sausages and a tomato sauce.
I thought it was tasty, and it's kind of a quicker, less fancy version of the Parmesan polenta with red sauce recipe I posted recently.
*Amazon generally has used copies of Dinner Illustrated, so check for those if you want to buy this book!
Wednesday
I made chicken katsu with tonkatsu sauce, also from Dinner Illustrated!
Thursday
We had Thai chicken soup from, um, Dinner Illustrated. Heh. It was really tasty. And dairy-free, which is fabulous for Sonia.
Friday
<looks around sheepishly> I'm going to try a beef noodle bowl recipe from Dinner Illustrated.
It's been a Dinner Illustrated week around here!
What did you have for dinner this week?
Sunday: smorgesborg, after our 6 houseguests left, including bacon.
Monday: Tofu & Shrimp stir fry, from a tofu cookbook; with smoothies.
Tuesday: Dumplings; with smoothies and cukes.
Wednesday: Spare ribs, tomatoes, cukes.
Thursday: Roast Beef Loin & Potatoes from Cook's Illustrated; with strawberries, tomatoes, and carrots on the side.
Friday: Smorgesborg, aka clear out the fridge.
Eat Down The Freezer Meal Plans include: brats; a new CI recipe for bulgogi; and tofu-ground chix meatballs. I have 3 qts pulled meat from holiday parties but looking at my schedule, I will be feeding people who don't love that. If I can't figure out ways to use them that will suit the others, then I won't wait to finish them before defrosting the freezer.
Other things that I can't eat down before defrosting the freezer:
- 2 gal bag of smoked pig parts, used in soups and beans;
- 2 gal bag of spices, which I buy in bulk from Penzey's;
- the 12 pizzas and 13 bags prepped chix I stocked up on recently, with sale + coupon;
- half a turducken (the remnants of the first half are still in the fridge);
- the butter stash, which is down to 10-12 lbs.
Ooh, let me know how the bulgogi is! I was thinking of trying it myself.
It's definitely a keeper! A home run, as far as I'm concerned. So much better than the jarred sauce that I may throw out the half-jar of commercial sauce in the freezer - and you know how much I hate food waste.
Tweaks:
- I used pork rather than beef because that is what I had on hand. Loved it, might never bother with the beef version.
- I found the recipe as written to be too sweet. Next time I'll cut the sugar in half.
- Pureeing the onions & stuff is tasty but makes a mess of the food processor. Next time I'll try mincing the onion rather than pureeing it.
- Spice wimp that I am, I eliminated all the hot spices.
- I don't like pickled vegetables, so I didn't make them either.
Further thought: I might solve the messy food processor problem by making a lot of bulgolgi sauce and freezing it in serving-size units.
After I defrost my deep freezer, of course.
Thank you for all the updates! I'll put this on my to-try list.
Somewhat related: do you love that CI now has color photos? I'm so pleased! I love black and white photography, but I really do not think it works well for food.
I agree that B&W isn't all that suitable for recipes. It looks neat and evocative but color is far more useful.
For all the verbiage that CI uses, the bulgolgi is simple and easy:
- semi-freeze meat, so you can slice it thinly; toss w a bit of baking soda + water;
- puree chopped onions and some sauces & spices; toss w meat;
- cook in very hot pan.
Monday - very fancy dinner with my in-laws. Father in law made lobster tails and steak, I made sweet potatoes, asparagus, zucchini, and mushrooms as sides.
Tuesday - leftover steak with eggs
Wednesday - bratwurst and acorn squash
Thursday - burrito bowls
Friday - misc. leftovers
Hey, good work coming under your annual budget! I'll spare you the cheerleading again.
We've been eating beef every night in various guises, plus one cottontail rabbit. This week will feature more beef. Still not complaining.
You can never have too much cheerleading!
Is this only food or other household items?
Food, toilet paper, shampoo, etc. I don't include contact lens supplies, though!
Monday - Snacky dinner of pigs in a blanket, Tex Mex dip and chips, fruit with dessert hummus, and sugar cookies. We used regular hot dogs for the pigs in a blanket and it was delicious. I feel like I need to make them again!
Tuesday - Leftovers from my family potluck earlier that day.
Wednesday - Leftover chicken noodle soup, salad
Thursday - Date night! We went to Buffalo Wild Wings. It was delicious.
Friday - Turkey pot pie, salad, and smoothies
Monday: We were going to have pizza but ended up having quesadillas instead. It was New Year's Eve so we didn't get invited to anything, stayed home and didn't even stay up.
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and salads
Thursday: A really good baked garlic butter chicken thigh dish with roasted potatoes and carrots.
Friday: Just more leftovers.
Monday -Orange chicken and fried shrimp.
Tuesday we had a buffet of Fried chicken, ribs, mashed taters, corn, mixed veggies and sourdough bread.
Wednesday -eggs and hashbrowns
Thursday -Paninis with turkey, cheese, yellow peppers and a salad
Friday -French Toast or grilled cheese.
I bought 4 loaves of bread (what was I thinking!!) Sara Lee Artesano for .50 per loaf. But we don't eat a lot of bread. Oh boy, bad call. I will dry some to make stuffing, maybe croutons too. I triple wrapped it in hopes I can keep it a couple of months in the freezer.
Last night I tried to think of all the things I could make with bread...
Sandwiches of all sorts? BLTs? overnight French toast casserole? bread crumbs?
Love that bread! Slice the bag and let it dry out for a day or two.. make a yummy custard and cook up french toast..This works exceptionally if you have chickens that are going crazy laying eggs and you need to use up those also! With 3 teenagers in the house, with big appetites, this doesn't offer much leftover!
That bread is the best next to homemade of course. Thanks for the ideas! I put one thru my Food Saver in hopes it might keep longer. We shall see. If the kids come home for a weekend we can have a french toast party.
Sunday---grilled cheese and tuna sandwiches. (This past summer, went to an estate sale where we bought three cases of tuna for 10 cents a can, so we eat some tuna meal at least once a week. The tuna was not outdated and at that price, I could not walk away. The sale was all three cases as one lot product, so couldn't buy just one case.)
Monday---sausage pizza, which is what we love to eat for New Year's Eve, homemade.
Tuesday---leftover pizza
Wednesday---the last of the leftover pizza, plus a cucumber salad to make the pizza into a full third meal.
Thursday---Turkey soup from the freezer, made the day after Thanksgiving
Friday---as I write this, meatballs and spaghetti sauce are in the slow cooker. We have some leftover spaghetti noodles in the freezer, so will use those up.
Saturday---I know we will have enough leftover from tonight to feed us tomorrow.
You have probably mentioned this previously, but I'm a new reader of your blog! How many people are you in your family to feed each month? I'm trying to estimate what is a good amount for me to budget when it's me and my husband and our 1-year-old and 2-year-old.
Sunday: Mexican street corn soup from the crock pot
Monday: Snacky foods. We celebrated New Year's with my best friend and her husband. I'm pregnant and they have a newborn, so we rang in the new year at 10pm and called it good haha
Tuesday: Gingery pork ramen (one of our favorite recipes)
Wednesday: Leftover corn soup before a doctor's appointment. I'm officially in my third trimester!
Thursday: This recipe
https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/sweet-korean-lentils/?fbclid=IwAR2zVvs8tmhxpNPB2gnZI4JcrqLnpQvteE9o_5jWB9gqBvXKDis1oE3g5Bo
It was good, but next time we're going to double the sauce (because more sauce is always better haha)
Friday: We were going to go on a gift card date night, but I've caught a nasty cold, so we're going to rain check
Lots of snacks meals using up the Christmas leftovers. Even though we are in heat waves mum insisted on pea and ham soup. WE have also had mushroom risotto, homemade pizza, sausages and vegetables. I hate how leftover stuff canoe made into one meal and then there are more leftovers.
Is the Thai soup recipe available online? It looks delicious!
I greatly enjoy the fresh, new grocery budget!
Monday- taco in a bag
Tuesday- a new recipe for arroz con pollo in the instant pot. It was tasty!
Wednesday- kielbasa, potato, and peppers roasted on a sheet tray with Korean sweet pancakes for dessert
Thursday- husband was on pizza pickup duty
Friday- fend for yourself
Saturday- it’s beautiful here, so hopefully grilled burgers!!
We were all over the board, and I honestly can't remember what all we had. There was a breakfast for dinner in there, plus a night of sloppy joes. We are doing our own sort of freezer challenge because my husband harvested two deer this year (yay!) and then we were gifted 1/4 beef from my dad for Christmas from his farm (yay again!) So we are about to have A LOT of meat that will fill up our extra freezer pretty quickly!
We have three whole chickens in there from a friend's farm - we are going to gift one to a friend that loved to smoke meat and then smoke our own. I'm inspired by your yearof tracking grocery expenses to track my own this year. I spent $112 at the store yesterday because I got a ton of fresh fruit to try smoothies in my new Vitamix...eeek!!!!
Happy New Year!