I recently wrote how much I am enjoying the menu planning. And then last week I had no menu at all. This week was a bit of a struggle. It’s kind of like going to the gym. (Not that I do that either.) If you take a day or so off it is so hard to get back into the habit of going.
I’m definitely glad I have a menu for this week, I think it will be much easier to just look at the list and pull the corresponding ingredients from fridge or freezer each day. But I’m still lacking in the creativity department. Gotta kick that up a notch next week.
Let’s see what we’ll be eating…
Sunday: hoho (husband on his own)
Monday: vegetable casserole with tofu topping
Tuesday: no cooking, we’re out at a jobs in the new green environment conference
Wednesday: burgers, corn on the cob
Thursday: chicken strips, sauteed carrots
Friday: waffles
Saturday: shrimp in creamy tomato sauce
To round out the week we had a major shift in our shopping trips compared to last week, for which I am very grateful. From 10 stores to 3 was a huge improvement for my frazzled brain.
Our budget was $80, we spent…
Sprouts Farmers Market – $41.88 (savings = $0.15)
Target – $12.03 (coupon savings + $2.00)
Costco – $29.64
I know I said last week that Costco would be a monthly (or less) trip and yet here we went again the following week. I confess, it was due to my poor cupboard sweep. In the list making last week, I did not note that we needed apple juice. As that is a staple in our house (Toddler L gets a shot in his water), it just makes sense to buy it at the best price.
So back I went. Unfortunately, by going back I opened myself up to a request from the husband. Beer. I’m not opposed to having beer in the house. I’m opposed to being denied the occasional beer if it’s in the house. (Six weeks and counting!) But when you have a husband that doesn’t ask for much and makes (from scratch) your favorite cookies, you let him buy beer. Even when it puts you over budget. Luckily, (at least when I can drink it) he has good taste in beer. And again, that usually means the best savings are at Costco.
At a final tally of $83.55, we did pretty well. Not the “way under budget” I was hoping for this week, but as $12.67 of that was beer (he split a case with a friend – all to help the budget, what a guy), I am not too upset.
I am really excited about some ideas to put the design back in compact by design, so stay tuned to see what that ends up being.
