Days 26 - 31 and Pantry Challenge Oberservations {Making Do}

Day 26 -
We grilled steaks (they weren't getting better with age in the freezer) for lunch and had leftovers.  I cut meat off the bones and froze the meat for stew, then made broth with the bones and some limp veggies in the fridge. I also wasted food today.  When I emptied the deep freezer last week I moved a package of beef liver to the fridge.  I just couldn't stomach using it in the end, so it went in the garbage.
We're out of packable lunch food.  It was time to pick up a few things for the week ahead, which will involve a little ski trip for two in our family.  I plan on sending sandwiches and a sufficient quantity of junky foods to make it fun for this father/son excursion.  The child who gets to go is often complaining that everything we have to eat around here is "too healthy" (ha!) so hopefully he'll feel loved by my effort to send these treats. 
Safeway - $20.47
1 gallon milk, 2 loaves of bread, 1/2 pound of ham, 1 bag chips, 2 stax of chips, marked down Reeses (a treat for a child who never gets to have peanut butter but will be away from our allergic child), 4 2-liters of soda, 1 Greek yogurt cup
Target - $6.84
licorice, bagels, 1 pound of turkey

Day 27 - I ordered Bountiful Baskets today for pick-up on Saturday
$58.00 for 2 conventional baskets and a "super pack" which is to include fixings for tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, a veggie tray and tropical drinks. 
I was out with my littles and the day had gotten away from me, so we did the drive-thru.
Steak & Shake - $8.58

Days 28-29 - No purchases.

Day 30 - The fridge is very bare and it is not a big fridge. My husband and oldest were gone skiing and the rest of us needed to leave the house at the end of the second day.  I could have probably pressed through, but when you are out of milk, butter, cheese, enough eggs to make a breakfast and oil to make bread, I figured it was getting a bit ridiculous.  So off to Costco we went and bought enough to get us through until I make a detailed plan and shop this weekend.
Costco - $45.52
2 gallons milk, bag of specialty potato chips, frozen soft pretzels (a total splurge for the kids, which is rare), *3 lbs. summer sausage, *8.25 lbs. boneless skinless well-trimmed chicken
*mark-down or coupon offers
Chick-Fil-A - $19.22
There were some additional dining out expenses for our skiers, but this was a pre-planned trip and part of our son's Christmas gift, so I'm not counting this toward the total for the month.  I did pack sandwiches and snacks so they were able to avoid some dining out on their two days away.  

Day 31 - Today I'm looking diligently over the flyers and making lists for each store I will hit this weekend. Thankfully, with the SuperBowl happening there are a number of good sales going on. I'm also making a big menu plan for February to make life easier in a demanding season as my husband is studying a lot.

Expenses since Day 25:  $158.63 Yikes!
Total grocery, dining out, and diaper expenses for January: $461.48

So, obviously I did not achieve my budgeted goal of $240 for the month, not by a long shot.

Some observations about this pantry and freezer challenge:

• It takes more food than I realized to feed our family of 7.  I was way over budget and our stock of lots of stuff has been depleted so living on even a somewhat reduced grocery budget over the longer-term is not realistic.  It may be time to adjust my expectations on how much is reasonable to spend.  The cost of food has gone up substantially in the last few years at the same time our family and the appetites of our kids have grown.
• I felt like I was thinking about food and what I needed to make next all the time.  And I really would rather not give so much brain space to feeding my family.  
• Wondering what kind of meal I can concoct out of a far more limited variety of foods than we normally have on hand is stressful. 
• I felt that I worked pretty hard at making things stretch and not be wasted this month.
• With the other demands on our family right now (husband in school plus working full-time, homeschooling and being with my kids all the time, etc.) I need to give myself permission to make meals easier and maybe spend more to buy convenience, most likely in the form of frozen pizzas, sandwich bread and fixings and maybe cereal.  Since when did stuff to make sandwiches become a luxury?  I don't know.  Sometimes frugality clouds my judgment. 
• Eating out with a family our size is just plain expensive, even for fast food.  It would be better to stock something in the freezer for an easy or fun meal than to eat out.

about half full

 

This seems a bit fuller because of those bulky pretzels I bought on Day 31!

 

Overall, I'm glad I challenged myself in January and for the new realizations.  I hope to carry on with careful records of our grocery purchases throughout the year just to be aware of our consumption and spending.

Days 12 - 25 {Making Do}

Day 12 - No purchases.

Day 13 - We usually go out for lunch once a week, but this time I packed a picnic lunch and my husband picked up a bag of chips to complete the meal, not for nutrition, but to make it feel like it was a nice, fun lunch instead of deprivation.
King Soopers - $2.50
chips and a free donut

Day 14 - 17
No purchases.

Day 18
We went to a potluck and I made a dish using what we had, not wonderful, but not terrible either.  I also made whole wheat rolls.  We are glad for the blessing of fellowship.  Then we ran by King Soopers to get gas and I ran in for milk.
King Soopers - $7.96
2 gallons milk and....I'm not sure what else as I can't find the receipt.

Day 19
Budget fail! 4 large pizzas on a football Sunday.  We are getting a little weary of the challenge, Mom was tired of cooking and Dad jumped at the chance to fix that situation.
Papa John's - $32.93

Day 20
King Soopers - $6.10
4 boxes of cereal (marked down), loaf of marked down sourdough (to make croutons), 2 donuts (1 was free)

Day 21 - No purchases.  I cooked up some sweet potatoes which needed to be used, then mashed and portioned them from the freezer.  We sometimes get them in our produce co-op basket but no one in our family loves them, so I try to sneak them in to sauces and soups in small quantities.

Day 22 - Unexpected date night.  These days are hard and we need time out to fortify our marriage sometimes.  We used a gift card, but spent $6 out of pocket at Rock Bottom and $5.39 at Kneaders.

Day 23 -25 - No purchases. The fridge is getting empty.  The deep freeze is empty and has been defrosted.  I made pumpkin bread and fruit salad to bring to church tomorrow.

Purchases since Day 11: $16.56 - groceries
                                        $44.32 - dining out and take-in
Month to date: $302.85

We're in the home stretch now, but it'll be a busy week so I may just need to break down and restock.

Menu Plan #2 {Making Do}

Dinners
Roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed vegetables
Beef fajitas 
Buffalo chicken salad, whole wheat rolls
Swedish meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes, peas
Vegetable beef soup (with sweet potatoes and yellow squash with lots of other vegetables), biscuits
Mexican chicken casserole
Broccoli cheese soup (chock full of other veggies, too), whole wheat rolls
Poblano Chicken Chowder, quesadillas
Beef tacos
Brat, vegetable, & pasta skillet
Chili, cornbread
Chicken (freezer) sandwiches on homemade buns, fries
Spaghetti & meat sauce (freezer), french bread, 
Homemade pizza topped with pepperoni, sausage and red pepper, tossed salad (x2)

Lunches - served with apples or tangelos
Leftovers (several times)
Quesadillas
Chicken salad sandwiches on homemade bread (x2-3)
Almond butter & jam sandwiches on whole wheat homemade bread

Ham sandwiches on sourdough

Breakfasts - served with fruit and/or homemade yogurt
Oatmeal with apples
Steel cut oats with blueberries
Toast using my homemade whole wheat bread
Pumpkin pancakes with homemade apple cinnamon syrup
Sausage, egg, potato bake

Sweets and Treats
cherry pie or cherry bars
date bars
homemade ice cream with toppings
chocolate chip cookies
cream cheese brownies, fruit slush cups (bring to a gathering)

Since I've already spent the whole amount I had budgeted for groceries for this low-spend month, I hope to follow this plan closely and improvise as needed to avoid wasting food. 

Days 1 - 11 {Making Do}

Day 1
Nothing too remarkable, we ate what we had and didn't make any purchases.

Day 2
I cooked a 20lb. turkey. This is one of those kitchen tasks I really do not enjoy, but yields protein for lots of meals and broth for several soups.  It makes a big mess of the kitchen and really takes all day. So I'm glad that is behind me, and that I don't have any more turkeys in the freezer to handle.  :)

Costco - $109.29
2 boxes of diapers (348 diapers), 1 box of wipes (1120 ct.), #10 can tomato sauce, 3 lbs. bananas, 104ct. dishwasher tabs
(Everything non-edible was in their coupon book, saving $19.50 off normal Costco prices. We were down to the last diaper.  I knew this would be a pressing need before this pantry challenge began and it will make the rest of the challenge more difficult, but such is life.)

Albertsons - $12.50
30 lbs. potatoes, 2 lbs. carrots, 1 bunch celery, 3 lbs. onions, 2 gallons milk

Day 3-5
We ate mostly according to the menu plan and did not make any purchases.  I was glad I had planned turkey noodle soup with the homemade broth and noodles I made as the weather has been super cold and a few of us are battling colds.  It was good to stay in and begin on a bunch of simple master bathroom improvements. I'm taking a slow and steady approach this time. 

Day 6
Chick-Fil-A - $3.50 - Four of us had a lunch date and used up a gift card we had received.
Bountiful Baskets - $68.00, to be picked up on Saturday
2 conventional baskets, 38 lb. box Minneola tangelos,  assorted tortilla pack (2 dozen small flour, 1 dozen large flour, 2 dozen small corn, 1 dozen medium whole wheat, 1 dozen medium flour)

Day 7
No purchases, though I did go out alone for dinner with my allowance after fixing dinner for the rest of the family. My kind husband knows I need time away sometimes.

Day 8
No purchases.  We are now getting low on milk, cheese and butter.  And we haven't had yogurt or rice since the challenge began.  The little bits of snack foods we had are gone, too.  Starting to feel the effects of this challenge.  I was working too late into the evening on our bathroom improvements.  Hooray!  Painting is done.  Flooring is now started.

Day 9
We are now deviating more from the menu plan, just to use leftovers up and not let them go to waste.  I also haven't made bread as much as I had planned, so meals involving bread have been switched to something else.  I gave each of the kids a haircut. I'm thankful we have not ever taken our kids for a haircut by a professional so the expectation has not been set.  The little ones really are not cooperative, but I doubt they'd do much better if I was spending $10-15/kid.
To use up the ends of some condiment bottles I made barbecue sauce.  We love the recipe here.

Day 10
I ordered some fun Curious George items from Zulily* for our little boy's birthday next month using a credit I had.  I think he is going to love the stuff and for just a few dollars out of pocket, that'll make us both happy.   I also went through Ebates* so I may get some change back.  I use Ebates all the time when I'm shopping online for cash back. (*referral links)

Costco -  $35.45
4 lbs. butter, 2 gallons milk, 3 dozen extra large eggs, 40 oz. bag organic tortilla chips, 2.5 lbs. Tillamook cheddar, 2 lbs. mozzarella
King Soopers - $13.23
3 gallons milk (1 organic), 32 oz. strawberry yogurt (a treat for the kids), 32 oz. yogurt (I needed a starter so I could make homemade again), loaf of sourdough bread, individual cup of yogurt (free)
Starbucks - used a coupon and gift card

Day 11
No purchases were made, but we picked up our Bountiful Baskets order. This week's conventional basket included yellow squash, broccoli, grape tomatoes, red pepper, onions, romaine, sweet potatoes, apples, grapes, pears, bananas, and mangoes.   And now our fridge is very, very full.

We also had company for dinner. I made shredded barbecue chicken sandwiches on homemade buns and a huge fruit salad.  Our friends offered to bring something and ended up bringing chips, carrots and dip and a chocolate cake.  No one went hungry.

Total spent for Days 1-11: $241.97
Ugh, that was what I had planned on spending for the whole month.  We'll just have to see how long our current provisions hold out. I'm glad to have a packed fridge with loads of produce. 

Menu Plan #1 {Making Do}

A key component in making do this month for us is taking stock of what we have on hand and working a menu plan.  A produce order pick-up won't be possible until the middle of the month, so the first couple weeks are really going to be made up of food we already have stocked.  Here goes.

W - 1/1 (easing in since it is a holiday)
B: bagels & cream cheese, apple slices
L: steak, baked potatoes, baked beans
D: beef & peppers with beans, tortillas, cheese & sour cream (sadly, we're already out of rice)
Snack for a gathering: caramel corn, fruit pizza (sugar cookie crust frozen, left from cut out cookies we made for Christmas)

Th - 1/2
B: homemade granola, apples
L: turkey & cheese biscuits, grapes
D: turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans
Prep: remove & portion meat for several meals (some to freezer), make broth

F - 1/3
B: homemade granola, apples
L: snack lunch - ham, fruit, crackers & cheese
D: turkey cheddar bake (spaghetti noodles + partial bags of frozen veg. + a roux)

S - 1/4
B: peach crisp (frozen peaches + the end of the granola)
L: leftovers
D: spaghetti & meatballs (sneak sweet potato into sauce), garlic breadsticks, frozen veg.
Prep: egg noodles for soup, batch of whole wheat bread

S - 1/5
B: w.w. toast, fruit
L: turkey noodle soup, crackers & cheese, homemade applesauce (freezer)
D: grilled cheese and/or snack dinner - popcorn, apples, etc.
Prep: make chocolate chip or chewy ginger cookies

M - 1/6
B: steel cut oats with blueberries
L: turkey sandwiches, apples, cookie
D: baked ham (freezer) & beans, cornbread, orange berry smoothies

T - 1/7
B: w.w. pancakes, apple cinnamon syrup (made a huge batch for teacher gifts and have lots leftover
L: leftovers or almond butter sandwiches
D: gourmet mac & cheese (freezer), broccoli

W - 1/8
B: pancakes, apples
L: pizza soup
D: saucy veg. beef (freezer) & garlic mashed potatoes
Prep: batch of whole wheat bread

Th - 1/9
B: cinnamon bread
L: chicken salad sandwiches
D: brat/veg/pasta skillet, apples

F - 1/10
B: pumpkin (freezer) w.w. pancakes
L: leftovers, homemade apple sauce (freezer)
D: homemade pizza

S - 1/11 - pick up produce and plan again
B: sausage, egg & potato casserole

Kitchen goals:
- clean cupboards & drawers, inside and out
- defrost chest freezer
- clear kitchen island and deal with all the paper so I can easily use that space for meal prep

Are you eating from the pantry this month?

A Month of Making Do

With Christmas behind us and a bit too much spending this season, it is time to scale back, use up what we have already purchased, and reestablish some good financial habits.  To that end, I'm challenging myself with a really low grocery budget for January. The goal is to spend no more than $240 for our family of 7 and not eat out at all. That figure includes all food, personal care items, paper products, and diapers.

Why?
- Because we've gotten sloppy in our spending and use of a credit card.  We pay it off in full each month, but still, it has become a little too easy to just swipe the card and forget it. 
- To become mindful again about the difference between needs and wants. The line has gotten a little blurry.
- To enjoy what we already have at our disposal and practice gratitude.
- To save from our normal budget to recover from Christmas expenses and set the tone for financial prudence for the new year.
- To get back into the habit of keeping careful records of expenses.  We've been budgeting about $500 per month for all the above expenses for about the last year but I want to know if that is a realistic number given our family size and the ages of our kids. 
- To practice some delayed gratification in our "I've-have-to-have-this-now" culture we live in.

How?
- With careful menu planning, limited shopping, and using up the ingredients and supplies we've already purchased.  Sometimes it is just good to deplete the stockpile to ensure that things don't go to waste.
- By doing without some things that we might really enjoy.  (Dr. Pepper, I'm looking at you.)
- By filling up some of the time I would have spent shopping on creative projects which I already have supplies for.

I'm up for the challenge, so away we go!