$86.17 worth of Whole Foods Groceries for Week 2
It came down to butternut squash vs. chocolate chips. I wanted to make a butternut squash and apple soup, healthy and super yummy with a nice touch of sweetness. My son and husband were staring me down in the aisle, chips in my husband’s hands, eyes pleading desperately from my son, they wanted chocolate chip cookies. I caved.
It was frustrating because I wanted to do both! Normally we can afford both no problem. But on a budget this week of $86 it wasn’t in the cards. I’m really starting to understand the problem of income and obesity. How could I say no to my son’s big blue eyes, how could I say no to my husband’s outright request? Sugar won.
Some Things Are Better
We increased the amount of protein we bought this week from 6 lbs. to 7 lbs. We bought chicken breast, chicken sausage and a roast (on sale for $3.49 a pound!). The total for the protein was $29.64. I was glad we only bought two pounds of red meat this week and after this challenge is over I’m going to lay off of it for a while. We ate four pounds of it last week and that’s a lot for us! What is on sale almost always steers us to a red meat of some sort.
We also focused on fruits and veggies, we got an 3 oranges and 7 apples for the next few days. Last shopping trip we got 2 oranges and 5 apples. We also got a 2 pound bag of really fresh onions, a butternut squash, 6 bananas and two cucumbers. For frozen vegetables we got four frozen bags, one each of; California Blend, broccoli, green beans, and a new one this week Southwest blend (red peppers, green peppers and onions.) Finally we got two cans of diced tomatoes (last week just one). Grand total for fruit and veggies was $30.48.
The rest went to miscellaneous things such as milk, OJ, pasta, butter, a box of mac and cheese, flour, crackers and those darned chocolate chips. Total: $26.20. Grand total for the shopping trip $86.32 – 3 carry out bags = $86.17
Sugar and Starches, Oh My!
We definitely went through sugar withdrawal the first few days on the Challenge. As the week progressed we were missing it more and more. I wound up making brownies on Friday night which lasted three days and then on Sunday night made a batch of chocolate chip cookies that will last us through to our next shopping trip.
We’re still making plenty of bread and there are plans for banana bread again this week because it was very popular last week! (yes, it has sugar in it …)
So I compromised, better proteins, more fruits and vegetables but also more sugar and about the same level of starch. It’s going in the right direction. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
The Dinner Party Looms
It seems so darned clever before you’re in the middle of the challenge. ”I know! Let’s have a dinner party at the end” I laughed as we were coming up with this hare brained idea. Well now it’s in the rules and we’ve got to do it … and it is looming into our math already. We’re saving $20 for the dinner party. Right now it’s looking like 10 people will be joining us. We’ve figured out the budget for it and have a rough idea of the menu (homemade bread, meatballs, some kind of veggie). It’ll be simple to be sure. I’m praying we can scrape together enough for a splash of wine … but it might be water!
New Grocery Shopping Strategies
We focused on veggies, fruit and proteins and filled in around that. Last week we focused on staples because, well, we had to. I didn’t formally menu plan, we hunted down what was on sale. Along with my dreams of butternut squash soup I was also hoping for a whole chicken (I can feed people for days off a chicken) but they didn’t have one the right weight and I had to let it go, settling for chicken sausage and chicken breasts instead.
Tips for You!
- Hunt around in the back of the dairy case for milk that’s got a later due date. I found one marked two days later than the forward ones so I know it won’t spoil before we use it up.
- Eat the fresh veggies right away. We tossed a lot of grape tomatoes the first week because we hadn’t eaten them fast enough. Know what you need to eat now and what will make it a few days (spinach).
- Keep menu plans open. Both weeks now I was hoping for a whole chicken and didn’t get one. So I had to substitute with what was available and on sale. If you want to scrape every penny out of your budget you’ll have to keep your food choices open.
That’s it, I’ll see you in a couple of days with an update! I’m going to interviewing one of my new heroines! Jennifer Reese of Make the Bread, Buy the Butter
Cheers,
Lisa
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