Menu Plan

I've been winging it for 3 days and it's just too hectic to continue.  I need a plan, starting now.  I'm including what we've already eaten this week just so it's not a 3 day plan.

Ideally, I'd be using stuff from the freezer so I could unplug it for a month or two, but now that I'm freezing fruit and making a ton of chicken stock I've lost hope of unplugging.   *sigh*

Dinners:
Monday - hot dogs
Tuesday - Nachos
Wednesday - Spaghetti & Red sauce (with zucchini blended into sauce)
Thursday - Pancakes, Sausages
Friday - Chicken Teriyaki
Saturday - Sausages (packed dinner)
Sunday - Smoothies & Popcorn

Lunches:
Monday - Cheesy bread
Tuesday - chicken nuggets
Wednesday - Quesadillas
Thursday - Finger Food Lunch
Friday - Italian Sausage Soup (use more zucchini and tomatoes)
Saturday - leftovers
Sunday - Pot roast

Katie

2015 Groceries Week 26 - $265.40

Lots of shopping this week.

I was at QFC  Tuesday for milk and found lots of stuff on clearance.  I picked up a couple of delipizzas for $4.99 each, the organic milk was on clearance for $3.19, organic salad mix for $1.49, 3 packages of organic rice cakes for $1.89 each, a pound cake for $1.99 and 4 yogurts for $0.59 each.  I also bought lunch meat, bananas, & turkey patties on clearance for $2.50/4.  We hosted a BBQ Friday night, so finding these burgers was timely.  Not picture: a package of clearance asparagus for  $1.99.  So yummy.  Altogther I spent $39.88

Wednesday I went to buy raspberry flats at my favorite no-spray farm, Bahnmiller's in Monroe.  I planned to buy 4 flats, but the sweet farmer had a ton and was telling me how he was "up to [his] ears in berries."  So he was happy to let me take more.  He also brought a little pint box to the car for the girls to munch while we loaded up all the flats.  These are not organic berries, but I love that they are no-spray and there were a reassuring amount of bugs as I washed and froze them.  I paid $24 per flat so $168 in total.  That works out to $3.40ish/pound.

I stopped at a Grocery Outlet while I was out in Monroe.  I bought some Annie's crackers, a can of corn, a dozen eggs, organic pasta, 2 zucchini, organic hummus, some tomato paste, and a pound of strawberries my kids ate the entirety of right before dinner.  I spent $15.22.

I went to QFC Friday for a few more BBQ items.  I picked up lots of buns, nitrate free sausages, and was really happy to find organic ground turkey for $3/lb.  Cereal was $1.49/ea if you bought 6.  I found baby cereal in the clearance shelf and a loaf of organic bread. I also bought myself a tiny bit of caprese salad that was on clearance and I was starving.  Not pictured is a gallon of organic whole milk.  I spent $42.30 on food.

Weekly Total: $265.40
Year-to-Date total: $3,905.62
Weekly Average: $150.22

Katie

2016 Groceries Week 25 - $149.16

I went to Fred Meyer on Monday with DD1.  We bought baby formula, Cheerios, a loaf of bread, onions, mango, some clearance baby food & fancy candy, and 3 peaches.  I spent $35.58. That formula just kills the budget.

I also made a late night stop at QFC Monday and picked up a cup-o-noodle &  a bag or doritos for $2.28.  No photo.

Friday morning I went to QFC with DD2.  We got organic milk, organic soy milk, and coconut milk.  I also bought the baby some cereal, a gf/df pizza, organic carrots, a few apples, & mozzarella cheese.  We found hummus on clearance and my favorite, organic rice cakes for $1.89/package when I rarely see them under $2.99.  I spent $52.21.

Finally, I went to Fred Meyer Friday in the late afternoon.  I now I laid out all the groceries, but somehow either I didn't take a photo or the kids deleted it before I downloaded to my laptop.   I spent $59.09 on 2 boxes of formula, 4 coffee creamers, 4 cheap mini-pizzas, chicken hot dogs, more mozzarella, 3 organic peaches, & six boxes of Cheerios.  It was a good trip for $59.09.

Week 25 Total: $149.16
YTD 2016 Total: $3,640.22.
2016 Average: $145.61

Katie

GF/DF Menu Plan

It's a different kind of week with the kids at VBS in the mornings.  I'm still working on my freezer, but I don't know if I'm actually going to get to unplug this summer.  We'll see.

Dinners:
Monday - Teriyaki Chicken & Rice (chicken in freezer)
Tuesday - Pulled Pork (buns & leftover pulled pork in freezer)
Wednesday - White Chili (beans & chicken/turkey in freezer) - I didn't make it last week.
Thursday - Pork Loin in crockpot (meat in freezer)
Friday - Burgers (ground beef in freezer)
Saturday - Chicken Caccitore (in freezer)
Sunday - Smoothies & Popcorn

Lunches:
Monday - Chicken Nuggets
Tuesday - Sandwiches (packed lunch)
Wednesday - Homemade mac'n'cheese
Thursday - Nachos
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Hot Dogs
Sunday - Leftovers or Soup


Katie

2016 Groceries Week 24 - $174.41

This week I stopped by QFC for some fruit & eggs.  I found some clearance organic chicken breast and clearance fruit cups and was happy to see the slightly 'cleaner' coffee creamer on sale.  I also got apples, bananas, & baby food.  I spent $42.46.

I thought I was going to have a light shopping week, but I ended up in Issaquah on Saturday while my kiddo was at a birthday party.  So I stopped in at Champion and ended up spending a whopping $106.95! I got organic pasta, organic gf pasta, organic salsa, gf graham crackers, gf granola bars, organic pizza sauce, organic gf teriyaki sauce, organic red wine vinegar, organic coconut aminos, and 2 bags of chips.  As I was leaving I glanced over at the tiny refrigerator and saw daiya cheese!  So I checked the price and it was just $2.85 compared to the $5ish I usually pay.  Yay!  Not pictured was the bulk of the expense, a 25# bag of organic great northern beans.

Here are the beans - a late picture because I didn't even get them out of the car until the next day.

Finally, again no photo, we dropped into Fred Meyer for bake-at-home pizza Saturday night.  Our friends were babysitting our kids over dinnertime so we wanted to take easy food for them.  While at Fred Meyer I also spotted an organic whole chicken on clearance.  I picked up 3 pizzas (including a daiya GF/DF one) and the chicken for $25.00 exactly.

Week 24 Total: $174.41
Year to Date Total: $3,491.06
Weekly Average: $145.46

Katie

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Menu Plan

I'm working on using freezer contents so I can unplug for a short time this summer.

Lunches:
Monday - Macaroni & Cheese (gf/df So Delicious for DD2)
Tuesday - Sandwiches
Wednesday - Nachos
Thursday - Pancakes
Friday - Taco Salad
Saturday - Sandwiches (pack lunch)
Sunday - Macaronada (Father's Day Request)

Dinners:
Monday - Mexican Dip (beef from freezer)
Tuesday - Enchiladas (pre-made in freezer)
Wednesday - Stew (meat from freezer)
Thursday - White bean & Corn chili (shredded chicken from freezer)
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - Popcorn & Smoothies
Sunday - Zucchini Meatloaf (zucchni & beef from freezer)

DD2 is my kitchen cooking helper this week, so she helped make this list.

Katie

2016 Groceries Week 23 - $197.46

We left on vacation in the middle of week 23.  I tried to have our cabinets/fridge well-stocked so my sister would have it as easy as possible caring for the kiddos.

We started the week by picking strawberries on a sunny Memorial Day at our favorite organic farm.  We spent $63.80 on about 25 pounds of strawberries.

I went to Costco Tuesday for chips, crackers, tortillas, & sugar that I was running low on.  I spent $31.35.

Wednesday I went to Fred Meyer for baby formula, milk, baby cereal, carrots, more mangoes, apples, yogurt, whipping cream (for promised strawberry shortcake), soy sour cream, nutella (for my sister & nephew), and cheese for a plane snack.  I spent $54.82 on food.

In Hawaii we went to Wal-Mart for a few grocery basics.  No photo, but I spent $20.68 on coffee grounds, creamer,  a package of hot pockets, 2 microwave Campbell's soups, 8 oz cheese, a dozen eggs, 2 cans of Pringles, and a package of dried cranberries.

Back home, my sister went to the store for a few things, too.  She spent $26.81 on a gallon of organic milk, a half gallon of almond milk, a loaf of bread, organic romaine hearts, 3 mangos, and some roma tomatoes.

Week 23 Total: $197.46
YTD 2016 Total: $3.316.65
Weekly Average: $144.20

Katie