Meal Planning on a Budget - Take 3

Here it is Sunday again. Remember when we were little and weeks seem to just drag by, weekend breaks from school seemed like a massive amount of time to play, have fun, and be with family? Whatever happened to that? Now you blink and whole weeks seem to just vanish. This has become especially true since having my boys. I have no idea how they have gone from these tiny helpless creatures to independent, stubborn little trouble makers who snatch my ingredients off the counter when my back is turned. My toddler ended up eating almost an entire diced, raw onion I had setting out waiting on the pan to get hot to begin our Creamy Cauliflower Soup.

To simplify your meal planning, here is a look back at my week of yummy eats, complete with shopping list and prices from my local store. My menu does include some items that should be left over from last week, which are noted in a separate list. Using what was in my pantry, some couponing apps (Do you use Ibotta? I got back over $300 last year!), paper coupons, and local sales my total for the week of food was just over $135 (for 2 adult meals and 2 kid meals, that comes out to $1.61 per meal!)

Meal Planning on a Budget - Take 2

This past week was the first full week of sticking to a strict food budget. And it was mostly successful-my toddler may have sabotaged me just a bit by getting his own milk (i.e. pouring a full gallon on the floor) and giving the dogs a box of crackers.

By cooking from scratch, and using some of what was already in my pantry, I was able to feed 2 adults and 2 kids for under $150 for 21 meals, 7 snacks, and 7 desserts! My husband might argue that "there's nothing in the house to eat" but he will slowly adjust to the lack of processed, pre-made junk. We by no means went hungry, although it took almost the entire week to break the habit of walking into the pantry to find the quick and easy foods. Well it took the week for me, my poor husband hasn't adjusted as quickly.

After posting in a few foodie groups I belong to on Facebook, I realized that many people struggle with meal planning or find it too complicated to start. I would like to share my past week of yummy eats, my shopping list, and the prices at my local store. 

Let's start with my favorite meal...BREAKFAST!

1. Pancakes with blueberries

2. Oatmeal with cinnamon, raisins, and real maple syrup

3. Scrambled eggs with sausage, tomatoes, and cheese. Served with 1/2 a grapefruit. 

4. Dutch Baby Pancake with real maple syrup. Served with "Cuties" (i.e. the baby oranges/tangerines)

5. Breakfast polenta with blueberries 

6. Fried Breakfast polenta

7. Fried eggs, toast, and sausage

Lunches were fairly simple, sandwiches, fresh fruits and veggies, and a small treat. 

1. Grilled Cheddar Cheese sandwiches served with pickles, and a small handful of potato chips

2. Yogurt, cheese & crackers, carrots and celery with peanut butter, Cuties

3. Left over sausage ragu, french bread and butter

4. Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, celery with peanut butter, Cuties

5. Turkey sandwiches with mayo, tomatoes, and lettuce; handful of potato chips, orange slices

6. simple tuna salad, crackers, sliced tomatoes

7. Yogurt, turkey lunch meat on crackers with cheese, apple slices with peanut butter, 

And for the delicious dinners...

1. Brown Sugar glazed Salmon, fried white rice with peas

2. Sausage Ragu with Pappardelle pasta, french/italian bread & butter

3. All Most Hands-Free Risotto with Chicken and Herbs

4. Left Over Sausage Ragu

5. Cast Iron Chicago Style Pizza

6. Sausage, Rapini/Broccoli Rabe, and White Beans , corn bread

7. Left Overs Clean Up 

Dessert all week was a double batch of Molasses Spice Cookies that made just under 4 dozen cookies

I love that this worked out so well that there are no leftovers sticking around my fridge at the end of the week. (Except for a few cookies in the freezer). Everything that was cooked has been consumed, so no "science experiments" get lost at the back of the fridge. (This is a HUGE win in my life. I have a very large fridge and over the last year have frequently "lost" food in there.) One of the biggest wastes of money is throwing away food that gets forgotten or goes bad. 

Here is my shopping list from this past week. Eventually all these recipes will be up on my blog, however a simple Google search will give you the results for all of these recipes. 

I have posted the shopping list and prices at my local store below. The ingredients came out to a total of $203.06 but that is if you have to buy everything from the store and do not have anything in your pantry. At the end of the week you will still have the flour, sugar, spices, and a few other pantry staples remaining.

Grocery List 

1 bulb garlic	0.69
5 tomatoes	2.49
2 grapefruit	1.98
5lb bag of cuties	6.47
4 oranges	3
fennel bulb	2
celery	1
carrots	1.98
4 apples	2.5
head of lettuce (I prefer romaine)	2.28
1 lemon	0.5
1 onion	1
rapini	2.48
2 lb Sweet Italian Sausage (bulk)	5
1 lb Milk Italian Sausage (bulk)	2.5
2 bone in, skin on chicken breast	6.46
4 pieces of salmon	16
breakfast sausage patties (I prefer Swaggerty's)	7.98
1/2 lb turkey lunch meat	4
1 loaf French/Italian bread	1
2 loaves sandwich bread (I prefer Pepperidge Farms)	3.99
1 jar sweet pickles	1.98
mayo	2.48
soy sauce	2.48
peanut butter	1.98
grape jelly	1.93
1 15oz can cannellini (white kideny) beans	0.58
canned whole tomatoes	2
tomota paste	1
white rice	0.98
arborio rice	2.79
2 lb pappardelle pasta	4.96
triscuit-thins crackers	2.36
2 cans of tuna	2.26
pepperoni	2.48
bag of potato chips	2.48
vegetable oil	1.93
olive oil	4.12
salt	0.4
crushed red pepper	0.97
pepper	2.68
oregano	1
parsley flakes	1
fennel seeds	2.71
ground cinnamon	1.98
ground ginger	1.98
ground allspice	2.98
vanilla extract	4.98
molasses	2.98
baking soda	0.52
baking powder	1
yeast	1.34
sugar	1.58
dark brown sugar	1.06
flour	1.08
cornmeal	1.44
raisins	2.87
pizza sauce (I used a pasta sauce)	0.99
Better than Bouillion, Chicken flavored	3.48
oatmeal	2.33
pure maple syrup	6.98
dry red wine	3.46
dry white wine	3.46
8 oz mozzarella cheese	1.72
3 oz parmesan cheese	3.98
16oz cheddar cheese	3.42
8 yogurts	2.74
1 gallon of milk	2.5
2 lb of butter	4.72
frozen blueberries	9.64
frozen peas	1
2 dozen eggs	4

Add in a box of K-Cups, a box of tea bags, a bottle of apple juice, a bag of Tostitos, and a jar of salsa and you have my entire shopping list for the week. I managed to stick to my $150 budget because I already had the flour, sugars, spices, other baking staples, blueberries (fresh picked and frozen from the summer), the wines, and a few other ingredients that I always have on hand. Even if you're starting from scratch with your pantry, there are still over $70 of ingredients you won't have to buy again for the remainder of the month, some for multiple months.

Happy Cooking! 

Thai Lentil Soup - Vegan and Cholesterol Free

After a wonderful Thanksgiving feast, surrounded by my loved ones, on Thursday. And a repeat on Friday with all the delicious leftovers repurposed into new yummy treats. And again on Saturday. Tonight called for a very different kind of meal.

I had a stray bag of red lentils hiding out in the pantry that I'd purchased randomly a few months ago and never got around to using. So I hopped onto the trusty ole Pinterest and a few recipes looked decent but I ended up combining a couple different things to create this.

Sorry for the crappy picture but I lacked anything nice for garnish and wasn't about to run to the store just for the sake of a picture.

Fried Polenta

I woke up before my alarm went off this morning. Maybe it was in anticipation of being able to fry up yesterday's left over Creamy Brown Sugar Vanilla Polenta. It definitely wasn't in anticipation of it being Monday. I like to hide from Mondays, hoping that it won't be able to find me if I just put my pillow over my head and lay in bed for just a little longer.

The thought of being able to make this fried polenta this morning was definitely the motivation I needed to remove the pillow from over my head and crawl out of bed. Take that you evil Monday!

Creamy Brown Sugar Vanilla Polenta

Simple Pleasures. It is something that I have done my entire life but never put a name to it until seeing a Hallmark movie a few years ago called The Wish List.

The lead in the movie reminds me of so many people who are part of my every day life. The lead character is all about organization and focusing strictly on her goals in life. Then she meets this man -a barista- who is the opposite of everything that she is. Fast foward. They fall in love and live happily ever after. Typical Hallmark movie. But there is a scene where she is disgusted as he bite into this sloppy, juicy burger. He explains to her that it is his "simple pleasure" for the day. Every day he allows himself to have one thing that he enjoys and he takes the time to truly enjoy it.

What a great concept right?

I often find myself swept up in the chaotic mess that is American society. Let's face it, we all want perfection in our lives. I, myself am a highly goal oriented person. I however always take a few moments each day to do something that I enjoy and just remove myself from the craziness that typically consumes my world.

Yesterday my simple pleasure was driving off Raleigh with a friend for sushi. This morning it was enjoying this porridge on my front porch watching the sun come up over the trees and warm the earth.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

The one thing I absolutely love about my work schedule is that once a month I have a 4 day weekend. These weekends are often spent visiting friends and family that live in different states. This long weekend was spent at my parents', helping with some gardening and a little furniture building. My dad is amazing at what he does with some plain boards and a few screws. I have a long list of birthday and Christmas presents that I am anxious for him to build me. What can I say? I'm a spoiled only child.

One thing that has always been a part of weekends at my parents' is sitting down for a family breakfast on weekends. While I continue to make delicious breakfasts almost daily, there is something special about the times I can still do this with my parents. I guess I am getting sentimental in my old age.

This morning, before I set off on my 7 hour drive home, my dad whipped up a batch of these delicious pancakes while I attempted to gather my belongings that seemed to have spread across my parents' entire house.

Cacio e Pepe (Spaghetti with Pecorino and Pepper)

Any Italian meal that takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish is wonderful in my book. Plus there is nothing better than a delicious and super easy dinner in the middle of the week. This recipe popped up on an email from America's Test Kitchen and since I had all the ingredients on hand, I thought it would make a delicious dinner.

Flan-Style French Toast

I have slept all day.

I have had a HORRIBLE migraine.

I really thought my head might explode. I still think it might.

I needed comfort food.

I really wanted to just make a big pan of flan and eat the entire thing for dinner.

Then that nagging voice in the back of my head, that sounds surprisingly like my mother, reminded me that wouldn't be very healthy. So I turned it into Flan-French-Toast. It's always good to be able to combine 2 of your favorite things into one delicious dish!

I am fairly certain this has just become my new favorite breakfast dish. Even though I just made it for dinner.

It's just pure heaven!

Flan-Style French Toast (serves 2)

1 C Half and Half
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
6 Slices of Bread
1/3 C Sugar

Preheat the oven to 325.

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the sugar until it becomes a golden amber color.

Pour the sugar into two 7 or 10 oz custard cups, or a small baking dish.

In a bowl, whisk together half and half, eggs, and vanilla.

Add bread. Allow the bread to soak up as much of the liquid as possible. This should take about 5-10 minutes, depending on the bread.

Divide the bread between the two custard cups. (I did mine in a baking dish). Pour all the remaining liquid in too. If it isn't extremely soggy, add more half and half.

Place the custard cups into a baking dish. Fill the baking dish with approximately 1 inch of water.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour, or until fork inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven. Let rest for 15 minutes. Remove custard cups from the water. Slide a table knife around the edges and carefully invert onto a plate. The sugar will be very hot still.

To remove sugar from the dishes, just soak in warm water. It will dissolve in a few minutes.

Daddy's Peach Cobbler

I was at Wal-Mart and they had the best smelling peaches. Maybe it was because it was the first ripe peaches of the season. Maybe it was just because I wanted something semi-healthy for dessert. Either way I came home with a lot of peaches. 

This is a fairly simple recipe that my dad has used for peach cobbler since I was little. Nothing fancy, just simple goodness. 


Daddy's Peach Cobbler
serves 6 (I cut the recipe in half since I didn't need to eat 6 servings by myself)


Filling
4 C Peaches, peeled and sliced (about 7 or 8 peaches)
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 1/2 Tbs Cornstarch

Combine all the ingredients in a medium sauce pan.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Boil for 1 minute. Pour into an ungreased 2 quarter casserole dish.

Topping
1 C All-Purpose Flour
2 Tbs Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
Dash Salt
3 Tbs Unsalted Butter, chilled
1/2 C Half and Half
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbs Unsalted Butter, melted
2 tsp Sugar


 Preheat oven to 400.

Combine flour, 2 Tbs sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Cut in 3 Tbs of butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in cream and vanilla until all ingredients are moistened.

Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto peach mixture. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.

Serve warm with vanilla whipped cream.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

I went away for the weekend, completely neglecting the fact that I had a one pound package of strawberries still hiding in the fridge. How could I forget about such a wonderful little delicious treat?

I was very disappointed in myself.

I came home to find still edible, but very soft, not so pretty berries waiting on me. I had two choices toss them or figure out what to do with them that would accept their not-so-perfect condition.

I had to make a trip to the store for the basics anyways and they happened to have strawberries on sale, so I picked up another one pound container of *fresh* berries that were still pretty and decided I needed a strawberry pie.

Yummy! Half of it disappeared within 12 hours of making it. I live alone. Oops, maybe I pigged out just a bit.


Fresh Strawberry Pie
2 lbs fresh strawberries (or more for a 10inch pie pan)
3/4 C Water (divided)
3/4 C Sugar (or more if your berries are tart)
3 Tbs Cornstarch
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 pre-baked 9inch pie crust

Arrange your best looking berries in your pre-baked crust.

Cut up remaining strawberries. (I just cut most of mine in half.) Add to a medium sauce pan, along with sugar, and 1/2 cup of water.

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Smashing berries as you go. Simmer for 15 minutes or until berries are easily smashed and sugar is dissolved.

Dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1/4 cup of water. Stir into smashed strawberry mixture. Cook until thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Immediately stir in vanilla extract.

Pour over the berries in the pie crust. The hot mixture will soften the other berries. Allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Serve chilled with whipped cream.

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

Overslept this morning, so I had to keep it simple.

1 C All-Purpose Flour

1 Tbs Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

3 Tbs Vanilla Yogurt

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3/4 C Milk

1/2 C Fresh or Thawed Blueberries.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, whisk in everything else but the blueberries. In a skillet over medium heat, pour in 1/4 cup of batter, arrange blueberries in pancake. Cover the berries with a dot of batter. Turn when bubbly on top and browned on the bottom.