I wanted to update on a post I wrote, Reducing Grocery Budget. My goal was to reduce my grocery budget by 10%. I have successfully dropped from $600-$700 to now $500. So YES I am doing great:
Here is what has worked:
Writing out my meals in advance. In July I created my menu board and it has been really awesome to plan ahead. Not only do I know in advance what items I can buy when they go on sale, but my kids can see what’s for dinner. I did create some variations of the board. For example, Mondays are now crockpot nights because we are gone from 9-4pm. I am looking to find new crockpot recipes, so come back to see what I find.
Second, Clean the Pantry Week has been a great help. This is the week I try to use what I already have in my pantry and freezer. Then I come up with a weeks worth of dinners. It is the last week of the month/first of the next month.
This week is Clean the Pantry Week. I really only had to buy 3-4 ingredients for this whole week! The rest of my grocery budget I spent on sale items and things I don’t usually buy like guacamole dip and chicken tacos.
So here is my menu for this week’s Clean the Pantry:
Monday
Carnitas Tacos
Corn
Tuesday
Chicken Broccoli Bowl (adapt as need for gluten free)
Wednesday
Parmesan Chicken Legs
French Fries or Red Potatoes
Thursday
Eating out (I am running around town like a chicken with my head cut off so this night I don’t cook)
Friday
Chicken Cheddar Casserole
Saturday
Spaghetti
Next Step: I don’t want to buy processed food anymore so I need to find alternatives. Here is my starter list
Cream of soup mix (gluten free of course)
Taco seasoning
Mac and cheese
GF cookie mix
GF brownie mix
Granola Bars (my daughter eats gluten, and I want to make non-gluten granola bars)
Fish sticks
Hopefully I can post my recipes as soon as I find them myself.
Ligia
