{Week 3: All You Grocery Challenge}

So week three started today, and I wanted to give you all a recap on the meals from today. Also, I am going to update the sidebar with my total so far for this week, so watch for that in just a moment! :)

For breakfast, we had rice crispies with bananas...didn't get a picture, but my mom used to make this for me all the time when I was a kid and I still am loving it!!

Lunch was black forest ham sandwiches on homemade bread (which was still warm!! YUM!!) and we had fruit and Frito's with it.


Dinner, I made baked chicken with a BBQ flavored Rub, DELISH...these leg 1/4s were already in my freezer, part of my meat stockpile, so they were totally free! We also had baked beans and I made my FAMOUS cornbread. (I take this to my bible study group all the time and I have never brought home leftovers!!)



Here is how to make the cornbread:
(before you make this, let it be known that this is super sweet, cake-like, super moist cornbread...not southern style dry crumby cornbread!)

you will need:
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350º.

In a bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Add the oil, melted butter, honey, eggs, and milk.

Pour into a greased 8-inch square pan.

Bake for 35 minutes.

{End of week 2, All You Grocery Challenge}

So it's the start of week three!!
I have all my groceries, so I will be updating my tally on the sidebar in a moment! But first I wanted to get you caught up on the meals from the end of last week!

Saturday:
Breakfast was a healthier version of eggs Benedict. I made whole grain English muffins, poached eggs, sauteed black forest ham, and sauteed tomato slices...SOOO good!!


Lunch we had smashed potatoes like what I made the other night. My sister was here, so I thought she would like them....they went over REALLY well!


Dinner was eggplant Parmesan...yum! Simple, easy, and when baked, not fried, healthy!


Then Sunday,
for breakfast we had cereal and toast
lunch was another huge salad, but we tossed on some extra shrimp from the other night and some hard boiled eggs!


for dinner I made Chinese noodles and egg rolls that were baked. I just mixed cooked noodles with Asian toasted sesame dressing, a little bit of teriyaki sauce and water then added in some steamed broccoli.

{Sooo....what do you think?}

Yeah, I changed the blog again! I just couldnt leave well enough alone! I wasn't happy with the last design, and I always wanted a retro 1950's housewife theme going on, so I did it!

Let me know what you think in the COMMENTS SECTION!!
Should I keep it, should I go back to the old design, do you even care? LOL!! I would LOVE to know your thoughts!

{shrimp, burritos and cookies?}

So the title sounds like an odd combination, but I assure you, I did not eat them all at once! lol

No, just a recap of yesterday and today's meals!
So yesterday, Thrusday, we had eggs and leftover bacon for breakfast (not picture worthy! lol). For lunch, my sister came over and we went to the store to pick up some stuff for lunch.
I made more home made tortiallas...but this time I rolled them out with a rolling pin instead of the tortilla press...much more thin and DELISH! They were gone in seconds! At the store we picked up supplies to make Chili con queso with ground beef in it and chips! SO GOOD! Lagan wont eat that, so I got her a frozen kids meal...a special treat for her! And we got some soda..which I dont drink, but good for the crowd! lol
I FORGOT TO TAKE A PIC!! DARN IT! :)

Dinner, I DID get a pic of... I made baja shrimp with shrimp I got on sale like 4 weeks ago and put in the freezer, a baja seasoning packet I had in the pantry since we moved here I'm sure, and some orzo pasta that has been in there just as long! :) So a totally free meal...which made up for the $15 I spent at the store for lunch! but we are still under budget!! YAY!! Here is the shrimp:



AND...if your still with me after this long post, If your interested, I have posted my running totals on the sidebar for the grocery challenge from All You Magazine, as well as a link to their blog so you can follow other frugal chicks along the way! :)

Now, TODAY...FRIDAY, we woke up and had the rest of the bagels from the baking day last week, as well as some yogurt that we needed to finish! (However, I still have yogurt in the fridge...I never buy yogurt, yet there always seems to be a never ending supply in the fridge! lol)
Lunch was burritos:
just take some flour tortillas (homemade is awesome!), leftover refried beans from last week, some taco bell sauce packets {just grab extra on your next trip!}, onionn if you wish, and the rest of the cheese at the bottom of the package! lol Roll all together and microwave about 1.5minutes. YUMMY!!!


Dinner, we are going to bible study and its sort of potluck, so I am bringing Oatmeal Rasin Cookies: RECIPE HERE.

{Steakhouse at Home}

Today's meals were really good! We started the morning off with Lagan's Favorite, FRENCH TOAST!! MMMMM!!!!!


For lunch I made a tossed salad with ing. that we had left over from all of our meals, plus some odds and ends from the fridge. It was a major hit! I also served the rest of the rolls from the other night, and I made the croutons from the heels of the bread I made earlier in the week.


For dinner I decided to make a steak house at home. After all, going to a steak house can cost upwards of $20 per person or more! So I grabbed some meat I got on sale about 3 weeks ago that I had in the freezer and marinated it like so:


then I cooked it in a pan that was REALLY hot just until it turned brown so it wasn't tough. Then I sauteed some mushrooms that I had in the fridge with some steak sauce and water! Makes a really wonderful sauce!

I also made "smashed potatoes". I made the baked potatoes in the microwave, then smashed them with a plate! Then topped them with bacon, cheese, and dried chives and baked them for about 10 minutes on 350.
(these were SOOOOOO GOOD!!)

I also made wedge lettuce salad with an iceberg wedge and Russian dressing I already had. And made a bag of mixed veggie steamers!


So there you have it, take simple ingredients like this:


and make them into this:


Steak house on a budget!! :)

{How to save money on HEALTHY foods!!}

As you may know by now I am participating in the All You Magazine grocery challenge to feed my family of 4 for under $100 a week ($25/person/week for 4 weeks) but we have to be healthy and creative!

So we all know how to get less than healthy foods at the store for cheap, or even for free! But how do you feed your family whole, real, healthy foods on a budget? I have 10 tips to share with you that will get you on the right track without busting your budget!



Budget saving tip #1: Purchase Seasonal Produce
this is really easy! Only buy whats in season and you wont pay for it! Do a search for "seasonal produce" in google and print it out with you when you go to the store.

Budget saving tip #2: Go vegetarian...Kinda
meat is expensive, so save yourself some cash by going meatless 2-3 times a week. But don't just subtract the meat, make sure you fill in the gaps with healthy protein sources, such as beans, tofu, boca, etc.

Budget saving tip #3: Be your own prep Chef
sure its easy to buy those onions in the produce section that are already chopped, but have you seen how much you are paying per pound? Best idea is to get your produce, such as onions, bell peppers, etc. when they are cheap and buy a ton. Take them home, prep them all at the same time and freeze in large bags. If you cook the peppers and onions after they have been frozen, you wont even notice that they weren't fresh!

Budget saving tip #4: Proportion your portions
meaning, buy a large sack of what you want and divide into your own bags instead of buying snack sizes. Take a trip to your local Club or Warehouse (such as Sams or Costco) and buy the large bags of chips, bagels, oreos, etc. and some baggies, your cost per serving will be way less!

Budget saving tip #5: Season yourself
pre seasoned rices and noodles can be tasty, but they are also loaded with sodium! Buy your spices in a bulk section so you only get what you need for very little $, and season your own foods...no added health risk needed!

Budget saving tip #6: Don't shop on Empty
Make sure you eat something before you go shopping so everything doesn't look as appealing! Your craving for popchips will be a lot less if you had an apple with peanut butter before hand.

Budget saving tip #7: Beware of liquid sugars
sure our kids want juice and sports drinks, but beware that they are liquid sugar with very little nutritious value compared to their sticker price. Instead, check out the frozen juice section, where you can find more healthful juices for a much lower cost.

Budget saving tip #8: Don't bulk up on everything
Sure some buys are great in bulk, but others are not. Make sure you are checking the cost per serving and comparing that to a smaller size package of your favorite foods. Only purchase the larger one if it is a better value.

Budget saving tip #9: Don't be wasteful
So the heads of lettuce were 20cents this week, so you bought 4, but if you don't eat them before they go bad, then you wasted the money, no matter how little it was. Instead, only buy what your family needs to insure there will be no waste!

Budget saving tip #10: Put your focus on the Food
other household items can sometimes be cheaper at discount stores such as the dollar store, walmart, or even Costco. So do a price comparison to see if you can save money by picking these items up on a different trip, not your grocery day!

So I hope these helped you out! Remember to also plan your meals ahead of time, make a list, and stick to it! Your on your way to feeding your family the right things at the right price!