This month has been a stretch for my pocketbook. With our birthday celebration meals, and unplanned grocery stops, Dan and I have overspent our food budget by almost $200! On top of this, we’re desperately trying to get my student loan paid off before the baby comes in October, so all of our extra change is going from our pockets to those of Direct Loan. My solution: I’m skipping the rest of this month’s grocery shopping and instead shopping in our pantry for meals.
Of course, we have already spent $150 for the first two weeks of groceries, but we’ll be buying only the necessities from now on-bread, milk and eggs. My goal is to spend less than $200 on our food this month.
Here’s a list of the dishes I’ll be making, and if you want the recipes, you’ll find them in”Recipes” that begin with “30 Meals:____”.
1: Shrimp Pad Thai
2: Campbell’s Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo
3: Chili-Cheese Dogs in Beach Blankets
4: Boboli Pepperoni Pizza
5: Bratwursts with VanCamp’s Baked Beans
6: Cabbage, Sausage & Potatoes
7: Roasted Chicken with Spinach & Bacon
8: Crab Salad Sandwiches on Croissants
9: Crab Alfredo
10: Grilled Bleu-Cheese Stuffed Hamburgers, Watermelon Salad and Chips
11: Hamburger Helper
12: Joe’s Crab Shack Birthday Dinner-ate out
13: Roast
14: Spicy Rum Pineapple Pork & Rice
15: Roasted Turkey
16: Chicken Cordon Bleu
17: Soup
18: Hamburger Helper
19: Italian Rotini
20: Breakfast for Dinner – Cinnamon Rolls and Omelets
21: Soup
22: Stir Fry with Rice
23: Egg Noodle Casserole
24: T-Bone Steaks
25: Hot Dogs and VanCamp’s Baked Beans
26: Hamburger Helper
27: Spaghetti with Broccoli
28: Orange Chicken – ate out
29: Leftovers Night
30: Breakfast for Dinner – Waffles with Eggs
Extras: Almond Joy Layer Cake, Banana Pie, No Bake Cookies, and Lemon Orange cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Blackberry Sauce
I’ll be looking forward to June when I can grocery shop again and restock the pantry. This exercise has certainly stretched my creativity!
