Test Run

We went grocery shopping last night, practicing for next week. We tried to stay away from the aisles, and stuck pretty much to the front of the store (fruits/produce).

We tried to start small. At first, we had grand ideas of all the "healthy" things we were going to cook, and our cart was getting full of produce. But - with fresh fruits/veggies - they'll go bad if you don't use them. So, we stopped to discuss what types of meals we would be eating in the next couple of days.

Next time- we need a list. I think since we are using so much "fresh" that we should plan out the meals. I bet I can still use some of my freezer meals, too. I'll have to go through the recipes.

Anyways - the total at Walmart was $111. Then we went to Sams and spend $88. Which is WAAAAY WAAAAY over our budget. Brian says, "We're spending money like we have it." LOL I've heard that the Wednesday circulars can have some good deals. Maybe I'll base our meals on that?


Then we went to Goodwill. We have a NYE party with an 80s theme. We walked in and I sang to Brian, "Welcome to your life..." (it's our theme song...) We did end up finding an AWESOME outfit for Brian to wear at the party. (seriously cannot wait until I see this outfit on him! lolololol!!) And I was looking through the women's stuff and found a brand new pair of running shorts for $1.99. They still had tags!?! I decided that looking through all this stuff (although it made me sneeze and kind of itch a little bit), could bring us some treasures. You just never know. Brian's pretty adamant that this is the only time he'll wear anything from Goodwill. But, my frugalness has rubbed off on him so much already ... who knows? ;)

I get to go back this week and find my outfit. I'm holding out for finger-less lace gloves. Wish me luck.


Then we went to the mall to spend gift cards. That was definitely more fun than Goodwill. ;) And we saw Seven Pounds (with movie gift cards, of course). It was our very first movie together. Brian's not really a movie-guy... more of a rental-guy. Unless we get more gift cards, we probably won't see another one for at least a year. But we have a RedBox down the street - which we enjoy more anyways. Who doesn't like a $1 movie?

We have 3 more days before The Year Without begins. I'm fighting the urge for one last shopping spree!

Daniel Diet

One of the things we would like to do as a family is a diet similar to the Daniel Fast. We have been eating out SO SO much lately. It's killing our budget and our favorite place to eat is Italian (can you say carb overload?!??). We can do WITHOUT a lot of the food we currently eat.


It's basically fruits and vegetables, with no sugar or chemicals. Although, we'd like to take the elements of this "fast" and make it more of a lifestyle for us. For our family, we will need to include meat! :)

To include:
All fruits
All veggies
All nuts/seeds
All legumes (canned and dried beans)
All quality oils (olive/canola/peanut oil, etc)
Tofu, soy, vinegar, seasonings, salts, herbs, spices

To avoid:
Dairy
Sweeteners
Bread
Refined/Processed food products
Deep fried foods
Solid fats

This is a list that we will stick to at the grocery store. But if we order a pizza now and then - no biggie. And we won't stick to it when we eat out. Especially at our restaurant. :) :) :)

Zac's lunches might have to be creative - and we might have to make a sandwich for him here and there. Otherwise, I think Zac could use a little food *culture* outside the realm of Kraft and Kelloggs.

Save money on groceries

Our monthly food budget is $300.

This may seem like a small amount of money, but -despite a growing 4 year old, and Dad's neverending appetite-we've been able to easily make it work.

This category does not count eating out/take-out. Dad loves to eat out, but we try to keep it special. Special meaning that it is very rare. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

What we've discovered is "once a month cooking", or "freezer cooking." At the beginning of the month, I make a big grocery run, then cook for a couple hours and put the meals into freezer bags with labels.

The freezer bags are layered in a plastic storage tub with a paper towel in between each bag.

Free recipes abound all over the internet. I picked meals that would appeal to my family - healthy, tasty, meaty. I copied/pasted into M.Word.

I print this out and have it on the counter. Then I spread out the ziploc bags and put the listed ingredients on top of each ziploc.


Most of the recipes fall into these categories:

Meals with raw chicken

These meals will need to be cooked after thawing. These are the most simple to "make" on Cooking Day because I'm just putting raw meat into freezer bags with the marinade or other ingredients.

Meals with cooked chicken

The day before Cooking Day, I either boil or crockpot all my chicken breasts. Then I put them in the fridge to cool. The next day, I shred them with my hands. Even if the meal calls for "cubed chicken." I'm too lazy to cut up all that chicken.

Meals with ground beef

The day before Cooking Day, I crockpot all my ground beef. Then I put it into the fridge. Very easy to add to the freezer bags the next day.



Then I print out labels with all the meal names (and any additional or special instructions for each meal).


The labels are SO easy to make. I buy the 2"X4" sticker labels.



This "paperwork" takes about 2 hours to do completely. But I've used the same meals each month, adding/deleting a small few. For the most part, I use the exact same list each month.



Cooking Day usually takes a few hours. But all the "cooking" is pretty much done. I'm just mixing the ingredients to put into freezer bags.



The best part about this new venture is how it has affected our budget. This week, I went to Target for our October meals. I planned for 30 meals. The grand total was $176.96. This leaves us $124 for basic weekly staples (for us: milk, bread, fruit) and any unexpected food needs.

In the morning I throw one bag into the fridge to defrost. Around 4:00 or so, I start thinking about what I will need to do to get it ready for dinner - usually it's just reheating! A yummy dinner is a now easy AND cheap.