Happy week 10! We ate a lot of turkey sandwiches this week for lunch after last week’s 23 lb turkey!
Groceries were very minimal and I only spent $72.30. I was only going to pick up a 1 lb package of ground beef to make meatballs but Caledonia was offering 80/20 big packs for $3.99/lb instead of $6.09/lb for the 90/10 1 lb. that was a no brainer for me. I divided the package when I got home and made more meatballs and froze 3 packs for later use.
It was an extremely busy week. I had 4 bakery orders going out between Friday and Saturday and I was swamped trying to get other things done but I did manage to get a few good meals made.
Sunday we had spaghetti and meatballs
Monday we had leftovers
Tuesday we had chicken stir-fry
Wednesday we had big salads with leftover turkey
Thursday we ate out
Friday the hubs and I split a fish fry
Saturday we went to a party
For some reason I took no photos of the meals we ate this week. I’ll do better with that!
I get asked a lot of questions about my grocery posts and one is what about eating out. Eating out is not included in our grocery budget. Meals out come out of the entertainment budget and I specifically asked our kids to just give us gift cards to restaurants for Christmas because it’s hard to buy for us sometimes, and they obliged :). Being able to use a gift card is awesome because I don’t want to cook on Friday nights after work.
I also get asked how we spend so little on groceries especially now with grocery prices being so high.
1. I shop specials and I order from the store ahead of time if there is a particularly good deal coming up. I get info for the 1 day sales at Caledonia before everyone else because I have to post those sales on Facebook for them. If you see a sale item that you know you are going to use a lot of or can store it long term don’t be afraid to stock up or call a store and talk to the managers. They would be more than happy sell you a large qty.
2. I use what I have instead of running out to get things for a recipe. If you have run out of an item for a recipe try using a substitution instead of running to the store. I didn’t have macaroni one day when I went to make goulash but I had a brand new box of rotini pasta. That same recipe I used two green onions in the dish that I had in the garden instead of buying onions. Shopping from your pantry stock really helps keep grocery trips down.
3. I try not to waste food. We all do it, I am no different, but I have really been cracking down on our food waste. I have stopped throwing out stuff from the freezer now that I have dedicated myself to using my Food Saver vacuum sealer. It’s a game changer.
4. I grow as much of our veggies, fruits and herbs as possible. I haven’t bought sage, basil, parsley, jams/jellies, or onions, etc. in a very long time. I finally broke down and bought a bag of onions last week because our onion crop sucked this last year but I am proud to say our potato crop lasted us 5 months!
5. I make pretty much everything we eat from scratch. Sometimes I cheat, like having Eggo waffles or fish stix in a pinch, but even the teriyaki sauce we had on our stir-fry I made from scratch.
6. The hubs and I share a lot of meals. Literally! We will buy a large sub and halve it. Friday nights we have been sharing a fish fry. You may think that guys need a lot of food to feel full but they really don’t. Guys tend to over eat in my observations! Plus sharing a meal is almost intimate in nature. I watched a couple I know share a meal out at a meeting and it was so sweet to watch one take a fork full then let the other one take a fork full. Quality time and save money…that’s a win!
7. I don’t include things we don’t eat in our grocery budget. You can’t eat toilet paper!
Total spent week 10: $72.30
Total for March: $72.30
Grand total for the year $923.20
Do you share meals with your spouse?
See you next week! -MM
The Professional Domestic 
There is a local italian restaurant whose take out meals are reasonably priced and enormous. Hubby and I most often order just one dinner for both of us. Sometimes we end up with leftover pasta as a side dish for another night. We will also share subs or large deli sandwiches for picnic lunches in the park during the summer. We rarely share meals when we eat out as Hubby likes to order fish dishes that I don’t like.
I like making big batches of meatballs that I can freeze as well as batches of sauces. They make easy meals when I really don’t feel like cooking. I am going to make a batch of Swedish meatballs for tonight’s dinner. Leftovers will be frozen in 2 batches for future meals.
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