$30 a week for Groceries...

This challenge that I gave myself has been extremely difficult. It's actually kicking my butt! I must say I have been defeated by this challenge in the first week. We didn't have much meat...burgers and brats don't really count as meat to me. We didn't have a lot of bread or veggies. So I've been scavenging for to find things for us to eat.

I did find a good new recipe though for potatoes. Plus on the upside it's super easy!

You take 2 lbs of potatoes (the recipe called for red potatoes but I used regular ones)
Dice them up
Put them in a ziploc bag
Pour in a little bit of vegetable oil (I used olive oil) & shake, coating the potatoes in the oil
Next Pour in a pack of Ranch Dressing Mix & shake, coating the potatoes in the ranch dressing mix.
Put seasoned potatoes in a pan (you do not need to grease it or cover them)
Put them in the oven at 450 degrees
Let cook for 35 minutes or until browned.

I've attached the link to the actual recipe from http://www.food.com/ so you can adjust the serving sizes if needed.
http://www.food.com/recipe/ranch-roasted-potatoes-42564

Now I know that this isn't the healthiest meal but it was all I could come up with.

I broke down and went to the store today and picked up more of the essitials such as; bread, eggs, chicken, and veggies. Like I said before this week kicked my butt! Only spending $30.00 a week on groceries is extremely difficult without a well thought out meal plan AND what really makes it tough is the type of meals I have had to make. I swear I feel like I have gained 10 pounds just from the scrappy and unhealthy meals we've eaten the past 3 days. I hope next week I can do better.

Cutting Food Costs & A Great Tuna Recipe

Recently we went over our finances and it seems like we are definitely going to have to start cutting our costs down. I'm HORRIBLE at coupining, there is no way I will ever be one of those extreme couponers. I just don't have space or the time for all that stuff. I think its great for those ladies who do it but I don't have the patience for it.


So I am giving myself a challenge.

We spend on average $120 every 2 weeks on food and that just includes what we spend on groceries. This excludes all the times we go out to eat. So I think on average we spend about $300 a month on food! $300!!! That is crazy to me, there's only 2 of us who are actually eating food at this time. How do we spend that much???

So the challenge I have set for myself and of course my husband is dragged along into it is...Spending only $120 a month on food, which means only $30 a week.

$30.00 a week for food that includes us going out to eat and groceries. Since we qualifiy for WIC we thankfully do not have to buy formula or baby food for our little man so this definitely helps us out.

I did my shopping last night and I bought...

1 gallon of milk (almond vanilla milk)-$3.50
1 lg pack of tortillas -$3.50
1 18 pck of eggs-$2.25
2 pks of Johnsonville Brats-$2.50 each ($5.00 total)
1 pk of 6 Frozen Hamburgers-$6.50
3 cans of corn-.75 each ($2.25 total)
2 bottles of pasta sauce-$2.25 each ($4.50 total)

Total $27.50

I left room for tax, plus I couldn't think of anything else that I needed for under $2.50

I already had bread, lots of pasta, and dinner sides.

I bought all of this so I can make breakfast for the week, grill out with the hamburgers and brats for dinners, and of course pasta makes great left overs and it's cheap!

One of my favorite meals that is so easy to make is kind of like a tuna salad...we don't really have a name for it, we just call it the tuna stuff.

Take 2 lg cans of tuna (drained)
Mix one can of mixed vegetables & 1 can of corn
Add a Tablespoon of mayo
Mix together well.
Serve on a piece of bread or a tostada. And you've got yourself a great and semi-healthy lunch. This makes about 4 servings so for 2 people you make 2 meals out of it. I also like to add tapito to it to add a little bit of spice!

I won't eat tuna any other way...I think it's nasty unless it's done this way.



YUMMY!!!

Related articles

• Healthy Recipe: Protein Packed Tuna Salad Pita (fitsugar.com)


• Review: Johnsonville Brat Burgers (frugalupstate.com)


• Seared Tuna with Avocado (gourmetphd.com)


• Good Food: Cheap and Delicious (oldwaystable.org)

Walk for MS

Yesterday was my first time walking for a charitable event. It was so touching for me to be a part of this and it was even more touching that my husband tagged along to support me in this experience.

The volunteers there were so kind and the atmosphere was filled with positive emotions. I loved reading each and everyone's badge to see who they were walking for. Some were for themselves and others were family memebers or friends. Being a part of this really has just reinforced my goal to become a neuroscientist. I really want to help and study this problem to see if I can help find any relief for those individuals with MS.

I made a little onesie for my little man

Me walking for my grandpa!

This was the back of my shirt

Me and little man with our awesome shirts!

My support group! My dogs came with us!

I am so grateful that I did this I am definitely going to make this a tradition for my family and me. Next year I hope I can get a group together to help

Related articles

• Ms Walk (allhangout.blogspot.com)