My goal? Spend $2 per person, per day on food ($140 a week.) Check out my sidebar for previous weeks.

I didn't get around to shopping until Tuesday night. And since this is also my backwards Works for Me Wednesday Post - I'd love to know what everyone spends on groceries! Or if you have a great tilapia recipe! (Check out We Are That Family for more WFMW dilemmas!)

I spent $82.73 on food; my weekly average is $111.29, which absolutely astounds me!



I got:
5# ground beef, 7# boneless chicken breast, 4# tilapia filets

24 oz. ranch dressing, tub of shortening (trans fat and BHT free), 18 oz. generic Cheerios, 14 oz. granola w/ berries, raspberry zinger tea bags, grape jelly, 24 oz. picante sauce, 8 oz. No Yolks noodles, 16 oz. mini farfalle

12# apples, 15# oranges, 5# sweet potatoes, 2 3/4# grapes

2 gallons milk, 2# butter, 1 frozen Kashi meal (lemongrass coconut chicken - see the link for a free coupon on my right sidebar?)

Can of smoked oysters, 8 ct. sushi rolls (didn't shop alone tonight... $8.50 for grocery store sushi???)

The Menu:
Sunday -eggs, fruit
macaroni and cheese w/ peas and carrots
went to Denny's (entertainment budget, not food. Yeah, we're blowing the tax money as fast as we can, LOL!)
Mon. Mar 30 - oatmeal
tostadas
Pasta primavera w/peppers, onions, and tomatoes; asparagus
Tues. Mar 31 - oatmeal, oranges
girls at leftovers, boys at ranch style beans w/ hominy
Frozen pizza, broccoli
Wed. Apr 1 - Cheerios w/ milk
Egg salad sandwiches, celery and carrots, cantaloupe
black beans and sweet potato concoction... probably with curry, and spanish rice
(I bought the sweet potatoes planning to have them with pork chops, but the store was out of the sale pork so I ended up with no meat. So I'll make something up and the family will either love it or hate it. It won't kill them. I'm vaguely thinking of a ropa vieja type dish but with carribbean flavor and no meat.)

Thurs. Apr 2 - granola (homemade, this recipe. It tastes good, but I like granola clusters and chunks and this more like flavored oats.)
split pea soup w/ barley and carrots
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes,

Fri. Apr 3 - oatmeal
burrito bowls (If Chipotle can do it, so can I!)
Tilapia something - I'm really bad at cooking fish. We rarely have it and I don't like fish all that much - anyone have any really great recipes? Leave it in the comments!

Sat. Apr 4 - oatmeal (when I don't make oatmeal, the littles beg for it. Mr X's morning is not complete unless he's had a bowl)
leftovers or lentil soup
Chicken/broccoli w/ white sauce, served over rice (you know, that Campbell's chicken and rice casserole, but deconstructed because I have to limit my rice.)

A word about snacks. Snacks at our house are almost always fruit. My boys like to split a can of Ranch Style beans when I let them. This is why I buy pounds and pounds of apples, bananas, oranges, and grapes. You'll notice most "snacky" food doesn't appear on my grocery receipts - if I don't buy cookies, potato chips, and Hot Pockets, the kids have no choice but to eat healthy food!

It also really helps keep my budget in check. For example, I bought 15# of oranges for $6 - the cost of two bags of Oreos or two 6-packs of Danimals yogurt. 15# of oranges = over 30 fruits, or 5 times as many snacks as the yogurt.

Labels: cooking, Food Stamp Challenge, Frugal, menu, Works For Me Wednesday