Week 2 of my $50 per week grocery challenge has taught me an important lesson. It is an incredible if not impossible challenge for even a one person household to live on $50 per week when you factor in food, toiletries, other necessities, and pet supplies. Last week I did great on Week #1 Grocery Budget Challenge. This week however, was a bust. While I did spend $50.84 at the actual grocery store on these items:
-organic romaine lettuce
-spinach
-mushrooms
-2 onions
-grape tomatoes
-3 bananas
-1 cucumber
-1 lemon
-1 lime
-1 green pepper
-frozen mango
-greek yogurt
-creamer
-2 tilapia filets
-2 organic chicken breasts
– chardonnay
-toilet paper
-paper towels
-2 salad dressings (B1G1 free)
It appears that I did really well. But that doesn’t include the $20 Groupon for Chuck’s Natural Foods Marketplace (I paid $10 for it and went over $2.54.)
-2 large cans of crushed tomatoes with garlic
-coconut water
-chopped garlic
-organic chicken stock base
And the kitty food I got at Target over the weekend (lost the receipt, it was about $8.00)
And I have a weakness for expensive hair products.($46.55…Yikes!)
If I include these in my budget, I’m waaaaay over. So let’s not, kay?
So my grand total for the week is…$71.34 or…$117.89 if you count the hair products. Oh that’s right, we’re not counting those. Still, I’m way over, and I just bought very basic things. I used to good with coupons, but realized most things that coupons are for are not all that healthy. What’s a girl to do?
Well, enough budget talk. Let’s get to the food. I tried a new Clean Eating recipe for dinner.
Tilapia with tomato-corn bruschetta:
It’s basically grilled tilapia with corn, tomatoes, garlic and basil (I left out the olives), lightly sautéed in just a tiny bit of olive oil and tossed with homemade garlic croutons.
This would be a great recipe for all those lucky Midwesterners wondering “what do I do with all the tomatoes, corn, and basil in my garden?”.
I also made a big batch of pasta sauce for meals later in the week, with plenty left to freeze.
I browned some lean ground beef with fennel seed, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Then added one diced onion, and 8 oz of chopped mushrooms, and a teaspoon of minced garlic, cooked for about 10 minutes and added 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes with basil. I just let it all simmer together for a couple of hours as I enjoyed my evening. Now I have a stockpile. I also took some time to clean and chop 3 hearts of romaine to have salads for lunch and dinner all week.
I love cooking days!!!!!!
Emilee's Journey 