With 7 days to go and only $9.77 left in my grocery budget for the month, I won’t be able to get much set aside for my summer “fruit fund” like I had planned, but hey, every little bit helps, and there’s always next month, right? š
Walmart $3.84
Our big purchase last week: beef cubes and 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup. Talk about a 0 out of 10 on the excitement scale.
Hereās a show and tell of the food we ate last week:
Homemade Dutch oven cinnamon raisin bread. Have you tried this yet? Seriously, it’s the best thing ever toasted with a little butter on top. The perfect thing for a light breakfast. And, as an added bonus, it only costs about $0.50 to make.
Bacon and avocado sandwiches with leftover Saturday night beans. Perfection.
Mrs. C’s slow cooker pot roast. We just can’t get enough of it. Only this time we used a package of beef tips that we bought last summer and were sitting at the bottom of the freezer.
Pot roast. It’s the meal that just keeps on giving….
And giving…
And giving. š I think the beef and potato pies were my favorite leftovers variation last week.
Newman’s Own frozen pizzas. Usually I like them, but this one with spinach and ricotta cheese was not a winner in my book. The HH liked it though.
Pickety bits… in any form is pretty much always a winning combination.
The game plan for this week? Use up as many freezer meals as possible. Ideally it would be nice to unplug/drain/clean out one of our little mini freezers in the garage by the end of the month and get it moved to the barn.
I know we have a lot of soup in the freezer, a pie, and some other pre-made odds and ends, and since it’s still sweater season here in Maine, I think the only thing I’ll need to actually cook this week is a loaf or two of bread to go with all those freezer meals.
And that’s just fine with me. š
So how are YOU doing with your food budget so far this year? Staying under budget, or are you over all ready? Curious minds want to know.
Have a great week everyone,
~Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries $3.84
- Total Spent in February on Groceries $90.23
- Total Spent in January on Groceries $96.58
- Total Spent on Groceries in 2022 $186.81
J in OH-IO says
What brand and size mini freezer do you have in the garage? If someone is looking to purchase -any recommendations of features to look for and/or preference (ie. chest freezer vs. upright freezer)? Do I need to have an electrician put in a specific outlet/amps/ electrical sub panel to run a mini freezer or can I plug a mini freezer into any outlet? Thanks! Eating soup and bread sounds like a winner- enjoy and have a great week!
Mary says
Normally you do not need a special outlet for a freezer. I have had both uprights and chest freezer. Uprights are easier to organize, but I have had the door left ajar or pop open (do to poor organizing) and that is a mess. Chests are harder to keep organized for me, but I never have to worry about the door problem. These are just my opinions.
Danielle says
I too am enjoying my chest freezer, it is all we had space for. (Though in the house, Iām a side by side refrigerator person for sure.) The āgame changerā for me was ordering extra baskets that sit at the top of the freezer. They hold the smaller stuff close to the top and can slide left to right for easy access to the bigger things down below or lift right out.
Mel says
I have both a chest freezer and an upright freezer. With the exception of occasionally needing space to store something super bulky (like a 20-lb turkey), I greatly prefer the upright freezer. It’s so much easier to see and reach everything. I still use bins to organize it though. It’s also really nice to have the shelves so you can put a sheet pan of scones or something in to flash freeze before packing them up. We did leave the door open once, but we caught it in time, and we have used child door lock latches ever since to make sure it stays closed.
J in OH-IO says
Thanks for everyoneās freezer information and preference feedback!
Beth says
Your meals look delicious and after following you since the beginning of your blog, I am finally following your lead and freezing future meals. Yesterday I put a pot of pinto beans on and turned them into ranch beans for loaded nachos. After we ate, I froze most of the leftovers for a future meal. I did the same thing with sausage and kale soup recently.
Things we are last week:
Turkey enchilada in green sauce with refried beans
Sausage, cubed sweet potatoes, kale salad
Shrimp scampi over quinoa, tomato & cucumber salad, homemade focaccia bread
Chicken Caesar salad with homemade croutons, garlic bread
Takeout pizza
Leftover night
We are doing pretty well with our budget but Iām staying out of the grocery store this week to ensure I donāt go over.
Rhonda says
I donāt know if u-pick fields and orchards are available in your area, but there are many around me and I save so much money picking fruit myself. The u-pick price is usually 1/2 to 1/3 of the pre-picked price and many items are really easy to pick. It takes about 15 minutes to pick a 5 gallon bucket at apples on espaliered trees. Anything that grows near the ground, my family isnāt willing to help out with, so I am stuck picking strawberries by myself. We have picked tomatillos, jalapeƱos, marionberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, apples, pears, blueberries, and kiwi.
Carol says
We have a small upright GE (about four years old) out in the garage that has a temperature control on the outside of the door, so at a glance, we can monitor the temperature inside. It also beeps, if the door is left open for longer than a minute, so leaving the door open hasnāt happened. I like the upright version for the ease of organizing and seeing whatās in there. I had a chest freezer when I was younger and find the upright more user friendly.
Lindsey says
We bought a small alarm that goes off if the freezer temperature falls below whatever you have it set for—it squeals so that you know either it has become unplugged or the door popped open or you’ve blown a fuse. It was cheap and runs on a battery. Worth every penny, says a woman who lost a freezer full of food when the plug was kicked out while rummaging around the garage.
Nancy S says
For bouillon and spices I go down the ethnic. I love Goya’s bouillon’s (they are powdered) as they have so much flavor when added to dishes and way cheaper than bouillon cubes.
Jennifer says
I have been too busy to grocery shop so I have been doing pretty well on the food budget. I sent dh to the store today and he spent $28 on produce and dairy stuff. It will get us through the week.
Heather says
We have an upright freezer in the garage. Ours came with a key and lock. I use dollar store baskets for organizing. I know we are over budget, but I have been buying dry beans, etc in bulk so that she help later this year.
Kirsten says
Hey Mavis !
How about sharing the beef and po-ta- to ( Sam Wise Gamgee ) pie recipe ?
Thanks
Jen says
There are a lot of recipes for DIY condensed cream of mushroom (or cream of whatever) soup to save some money. Iām assuming that it was for the pot roast. I stock up on canned soups (the few I like) when theyāre bogo. Generic brands are very fine as well. Itās just butter, flour, milk, vegetables or whatever, seasonings. Takes 5 minutes!