Skip to main content

DAY 10: Rethinking my weekly grocery budget.

The highlight of my day was dinner. I made something new. When I worked full time, one of my favorite places to go for lunch was Applebee's. I usually got salad, or the lunch special but I really loved the Quesadilla Burger. The calories were outrageous and I would spend about $13 with tip. I ate out every day. Gee, I wonder why I was overweight? And think of all the money I would have saved? The other day I realized that I could make that at home. I didn't set out making an exact replica of the Applebee's version. I decided to make own "recipe". First I mixed taco seasoning into the ground beef. I formed them into patties and fried them. I grilled one side of a flour tortilla with butter then placed the patty on half of the tortilla. I added a slice of american cheese and leaf iceburg lettuce. I experimented with the sauce, with Joel being my taste-tester. We decided the sour cream with the Tastefully Simple dried Salsa mix was the best. Once the sauce was on, I folded the tortilla in half. I also placed a dish of salsa on the table, if anybody wanted it.Leo put it on his salad and burger. As the side, I had a pre-packaged Southwestern salad mix that I threw together. And if I do say so myself, the meal turned out great!
Annie ate the whole thing! She is my picky eater.
Joel said, this would be great with guacamole. I can't believe I didn't think of that!
Leo gave it an 8 out of 10. He said it would be better with a sweet salsa. But that didn't stop him from eating two servings.
I am starting to worry that my $25 a week grocery budget was too conservative. Not just because I spent $50 last week but, looking towards the rest of the month. I think we will be ok for dinners, it's the lunches that I am more concerned with. As I may have mentioned before, I make my kids lunch everyday and my husband packs his lunch everyday as well. Our private school does not qualify for free or reduced lunches. And the lunches at school average $5 per day. With 2 kids in school that adds up to $50 per week or approximately $200 per month if we bought their lunches every single day. They refuse to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches anymore. I used to make them all the time. The are totally burned out on them, I can't blame them. I try to give them a variety. Soup, left overs or mini frozen meals(like spaghetti or fried rice) that I heat up and put in their thermos. I try to do fun and creative things that I might see on pinterest or something that I would like once in a while, and it ALWAYS bombs! And I do not like it when food comes back. So, the warm food in the thermos seems to work best. Along with fruit, chips/crackers, yogurt/cheese, drink and a cookie/sweet treat (they are not allowed to have candy for lunch). Unfortunately, I didn't do a good job stocking up for their lunches before we started the February Spending Freeze. I think this is going to mess up my grocery budget. But, I am not giving up. Still going to try and stay as close to $25 per week as I can.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#2-Korean Restaurant

This a blog about trying new things. Reaching beyond my comfort zone, exploring and making the most of life. My goal is to try 52 new things. One per week for a year. When I told my husband Joel that I was starting a blog about trying new things, the first suggestion he had was "you should try new types of food".  Of course... he would say that. I do not like trying new foods. Let me repeat that: I do not like trying new foods. Ask anyone who really knows me. I go to the same restaurants and eat the same things, over and over. My husband, on the other hand, will eat anything. No, really, I mean ANYTHING. He always says, "if I went on Survivor I would be the only contestant to gain weight". It has always mildly annoyed him that I am not more adventurous when it comes to food. Luckily, I have other positive traits that help him get over it. He suggested Korean and Indian. Our friends and family have been talking about a new Korean restaurant that recently opened....
8 comments
Read more

#5 Body Wrap

This a blog about trying new things. Reaching beyond my comfort zone, exploring and making the most of life. My goal is to try 52 new things. One per week for a year. A few months ago I was at the gym. Upon entering there was a table with two young women sitting there promoting a spa package deal. I bought it, $60 for 5 different treatments including a "spot" body wrap. It also included a one hour message, facial and acupressure. My second trip to the spa I decided to do the body wrap. The only wrap I had heard about, besides the one you eat, was being wrapped up like a mummy then covered in cellophane wrap as you proceed to sit in a sauna a sweat off the pounds. That's called a compression wrap. I did not get one of those. What I got was a lot different. Vicky took me into a room with a massage table. She asked me where I would like the spot wrap done. I said "my muffin top, my stomach". She said, "that's what most ladies get done". She to...
6 comments
Read more

#13-Medifast: Part 2

Continued... After ordering my Medifast food and a few days before it arrived I ate all my favorite foods. Kind of a binge good-bye to my dear friends...til we meet again. I had spent the day before my food arrived researching and reading anything I could find about Medifast including opinions on the food taste. Of course, everyone had an opinion and they were all different. Which means just about everything was sounding bad. I received my box of Medifast food August 31st. I opened it up and looked at my months worth of meals. It also came with some literature for me to read. Most of the meals are in powdered packets. Oatmeal, pudding, soup, brownies, soft serve ice cream, eggs, pancakes, shakes. They also have bars, puffs and pretzels. Annie shouts "I want a granola bar!" I wave my hands over the pile of food now spread out on the table..."this is all for mommy, ok?" Then I proceed to give her an apple for a snack. Inside I start to panic just a little but wonder...
5 comments
Read more