January was a fantastic month for saving money on groceries. We came in under budget {by $3.42} and I’m hoping we’ll be able to do the same for February.
Although my budget for groceries this year is $100 a month, I know I’m going to need to sock away a little money before canning season arrives so I’ll be able to buy some luxury items like locally grown peaches, cherries, strawberries and wild Maine blueberries.
I figure if I can come in under budget each month, we’ll be able to work the local fruit {that I’m not growing} and have a full canning cupboard by fall. That’s the plan anyway. 😉
Market Basket $58.06
The HH was down south last week so I gave him a list for Market Basket and would you believe… he pretty much stuck to it. {The pizza, English muffins and lemon curd was not on my list.}
We still have potatoes, sweet potatoes and a few fruits and veggies in the freezer {along with some canned items} so this is all the produce we plan to buy for the entire month of February.
Unless of course there is a super good deal on something {avocados are high on my want list}.
I’m sure that for most couples, what’s pictured above would only last them a week. But somehow, we always seem to be able to stretch our produce really well with what we already have on hand.
Eating simple and making less trips to the grocery store {and really all stores for that matter} helps in keeping our overall costs down {not just groceries, but pretty much everything else too}.
Here’s a show and tell of the food we ate last week:
Last week we made Mrs. C’s Pot Roast and on day 3 all that was left was a tiny piece of meat and the juices from the roast. So I decided to make soup!
All I did was add water, a can of Rotel, and 1 1/2 cups of pre-soaked dried beans and set everything in the Crock Pot on high for about 6 hours and by dinner time the leftover pot roast soup was ready to serve.
Now that’s a pretty frugal {and filling} meal if you ask me. Plus there were leftovers {which I promptly popped into the freezer}.
Copy Cat Panera Tomato Soup. I could eat it every day it’s so good.
Salmon and roasted potatoes.
Pasta with Rao’s sauce {we loaded up on it last summer} and olive and rosemary toast.
Turkey breast, green beans and stuffing. Fun fact: This was probably the 10th time I had served the HH stuffing with cranberries in it. About halfway through the meal he told me he didn’t like the cranberries in the stuffing. 😉 I couldn’t stop laughing.
Because seriously, why didn’t he mention it sooner!? Husbands… they’re so weird.
I made a turkey pot pie with the leftovers.
And lastly, because not every meal has to be exciting, or eaten at the table… One night I had toast, canned peaches, some almonds and a hot chocolate for dinner.
Grains, fruit, nut and, diary… what more do you need?
So how did YOU do this past week in the food/meal department? Did you eat anything exciting?
What are you grocery/meal plans for February? Curious minds want to know.
Have a great week everyone,
~Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries $58.06
- Total Spent in January on Groceries $96.58
- Total Spent on Groceries in 2022 $154.64
Katelyn says
Not sure if the price will be the same in Maine but here in Vermont, Hannaford has avocados for $.88 this week!
Mavis Butterfield says
Hot dog! That is a great deal. Thanks!
Kathy says
Aldi’s has them for $.69. The freeze great after you take the flesh out and sprinkle with some lime juice.
Star Wilson says
Kathy, how long can you freeze avocados for?
NeeNee says
Yes Avocados are .88 in Maine this week at Hannaford
Isabel says
Wow! They are $1.99/each here in Oregon.
Vicric3 says
I’m going to check tomorrow @Hannafors in Gilford NH
Linda says
This is off topic Mavis, but have you ever had a pear pie? It sounded terrible to me when I was offered a piece at a friend’s house, but it was incredibly good. I’ve made plenty of them since that day, giving many as gifts. It is one of our favorite pies now.
Kimberley D Farmer says
can you give us the recipe?
Linda says
Pear Pie
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c flour (or 2 Tbs. Clearjel)
1/2 tsp mace, if desired
4 c sliced pears (about 7)
1 Tbs lemon juice
Prepare pastry for one-crust pie. Sprinkle pears with lemon juice.
Mix dry ingr, mix with pears. Plsace in pie shell, dot with butter.
Top with crumb too:
3/4 c flour
1/3 c brown sugar
1/3 c firm butter
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks Linda! I am going to make this the next time I find a deal on pears. 🙂
Lana says
My family has an apple allergy so we have made pear pies for about 40 years.
Linda says
My mom use to fix fried pear pies & fried fig pies! They were delicious!!!
Mary Ellen Fearon says
May we have those recipes, please. They sound fabulous!!!!
Thanks
Linda says
While I am not keeping our groceries under $100. a month for the 3 of us, you have motivated me to be more intentional about using what I already have in freezer/pantry and shopping only weekly. I am a sales shopper, my goal is to always stock up on sales items and NEVER have to pay full price. We bought a ham on sale.. It was served with Scalloped potatoes for Sunday dinner, then divided into portions for the freezer. The ham bone and scraps will make ham and beans, and Ham and corn chowder. All of that divided into meal sized portions and froze for quick, wintertime lunches. Thanks for the inspiration.
Beth says
As usual you are putting me to shame on your frugal grocery shopping! I cooked a pork butt this weekend and we had pulled pork with homemade baked beans and now I’m freezing leftovers for future meals…the pork will make delicious tacos, nachos, more pulled pork….but we don’t want to eat all of it now. I have a turkey taking up a lot of space in the big freezer so I think I will take it out and cook it…we’ll eat a little and return the rest to the freezer for future meals..thank you for inspiring me.
I took my mom to Trader Joe’s yesterday after we visited a fantastic local book store (we know how to party) and I bought a couple of boxes of frozen macaroons that I’m planning to serve for dessert with our homemade Valentine’s Day meal.
Meals this week will include sausage & kale soup with homemade brea , teriyaki chicken with rice and veggies, shepherd pie with salad & fruit, leftover night, and Friday pizza. Saturday night will be reserved for that turkey we need to cook.
Susie says
We do a Boston butt about once a month, and my fave way to use up some of it is to make what I call “cheater carnitas” tacos. I know you said you use it for tacos…just wanted to share how I do it. I put some of the shredded meat in a large hot skillet to crisp it up. Then I push it to the side and use the rest of the skillet to heat up the small corn tortillas (about 20 seconds each side). If I want cheese on the tacos, I put it on the tortilla right in the skillet as soon as I flip it over. Then I just top with the hot crispy pork & fresh pico de Gallo, either homemade or purchased. Maybe some Herdez Guacamole Salsa. Very authentic!
Beth says
Susie,
Thank you- this sounds delicious! We will try them- we have So much leftover pork!
April says
Wherever we have pulled pork and get to the bottom where there isn’t enough for a “meal”, I make pulled pork pizza. I make my own crust, bbq sauce for the base, sprinkle with pulled pork, and sliced onions. I top it with a little mozzarella and a little cheddar. Kids (and hubby) love it!
Mary Ellen Fearon says
That sounds awesome!
Annette says
Why not grow blueberries?
Lana says
Do you have any discount grocery stores there. (scratch and dent) We have one that sells short dated food. Last week we got a case of cottage cheese cups for $1, Garden of Eatin’ tortilla chips for 50 cents, cake mixes for 75 cents, yogurt was 3 quarts for $1. Seasoned pork tenderloins are 3.99, these are slightly out of date but frozen and ever thawed. Pepperidge Farm breads of all sorts are $1 each. This store saves us a ton of money. Two full grocery totes cost $9.25 total. Google discount grocery store and you may find one in your area.
Nancy S says
I tried that and the closest one to us was 2 hours away, 🙁
Connie says
That produce would last us a long time too. Two retired people here. I am using up what I have in freeze for the next couple of months. By then it will be warmer in desert Southwest . I try to eat as much as I can with the seasons.
Dee Patterson says
The lemon curd made me laugh and reminded me that you could make apple curd which is nicer in my view than lemon . Pam Corbin ( English preserve , known as jam here ) has a good recipe .
Meal plans are to use more pulses, more beans in everyday cooking and start ringing the changes with the weekly cake.
I do bake different ones but they do ,if I’m honest with myself begin to go a sort of rotation .
So .. cake that isn’t a Welsh tea cake or a lemon or beetroot and chocolate or a banana and cardamom …. But a new range of cakes .
Patti says
Since my husband ate the leftover chicken for lunch, I added black beans to our fajitas last week and we ate those for two meals. We made a broccoli salad with half of our broccoli and are still eating it. We traveled and were so tired when we got home, I fixed buttermilk pancakes from scratch and we cooked the last of our bacon. It was a quick meal – faster than takeout. Today we are having chili and have already put together the ingredients for crockpot beef stew to cook tomorrow. Both of these will have cornbread on the side. I know there will be leftovers – so probably will freeze to eat later.
Mavis Butterfield says
Cornbread! I need to make that this week, thanks for the reminder.
Vivian says
I make your recipe for cornbread ( the one with the maple syrup in it) all the time! We love it.
Louise says
What temp, and for how long, do you bake the pear pie?
Thanks!
Cindi says
My husband does that to me all the time — something we have eaten half a dozen times and he will finally get around to mentioning that he doesn’t like it. If he had said something earlier, I wouldn’t have kept serving it to him!
Cindy Miller says
Our exciting food last week and for the next 4-5 are Sumo Mandarin
Oranges. They are only around for a very limited time and they put all others to shame. They are our treat. We only get smaller Sumo here locally whereas in larger areas their stores offer larger Sumos. We truly enjoy the flavor, and the juiciness these pricey babies give us. Good thing they are only around in Feb and part of March. Most all other citrus available, we find dry, sometimes hard and well, just a moist mass. 🙂
PSUCHIC06 says
If to personal ignore this one:
I envision you having a quaint vintage tin to put the unspent dollars and coins in!
Do you literally take $100 out each month and go from there…hard to break the swipe the bank card cycle!
Nancy Sadewater says
Any news on how Mel is doing?
Mavis Butterfield says
We all love Mel! She checked in yesterday on the goal post. 🙂
Linda Practical Parsimony says
I made soup last week, planning to freeze a meal. We were tired and out of the house and came home and ate the portion to be frozen. We liked it so much, I made it again! I suspect we won’t get any frozen this week, either! We would not finish that produce in a week, either. Have you ever made lemon curd? It is easy and delicious.
Tommy does not tell me if he does not like things for a while, either. On the other hand, he has vociferously objected to my using pimientos in anything. One day, I added a jar to something I made and he liked it. So, for years I have not used pimientos in cooking, and it turns out he likes them! Does that ever happen to you?
Joan Mayo says
Living alone on Soc Sec here in SWFla, I turn to a small crock pot for great soups/stews. Gives me two hot meals a day for pennies.
1.5 qt pot, use meat, veg, and couple Tbsp of grain like barley, brown rice, etc.
All meat I buy is BoGo, as well as stocks/broths.
Healthy, low sodium, all in one pot!
Emily says
How do you store your bananas? Mine turn brown within a week or so.
Connie says
If you have a Kroger or affiliate store near you they will have Avacado’s for .47 ea. starting tomorrow.
Angel says
I love that you use all of your bits for another meal or snack….we are trying hard to be more intentional in life and not be wasteful…better for our health,our wallets,and Mother Earth!
Thoracias says
I try to eat low carb but the hubby needs the carbs so it’s challenging finding meals to suit both of us. And seems expensive. I’d love to get our weekly budget to $100. I’m close. I average about $125
This week it’s meatloaf (flax meal in place of bread crumbs) with potatoes for him, broccoli for me. Leftover meat loaf becomes sandwiches and/or the base for a stew.
Sheet pan shrimp tacos (he doesn’t know the tortillas are low carb!)
Honey garlic chicken thighs, baked sweet potato rounds, and skillet roasted Brussels sprouts. Leftover chicken makes great wraps in leftover tortillas.
Buffalo chicken pizza with blue cheese crumbles and red onions. Crust is completely keto made from canned chicken, egg and parmesan cheese.
Sherri says
I was at the store today and Rao spaghetti sauce was 6.99 a jar, i buy the package spaghetti sauce mix for 50 cents and a can of tomato paste for 50 cents and save myself $6.00.
Thoracias says
You truly inspired and motivated me to make a master list of what I had on hand in both pantry and freezers. I only shop on Fridays now and I’ve averaged about $75 per week for the last month!
Thank you!