Our week without!!

Well, we did it! We managed to go 2 weeks without hitting the grocery store!! I thought we would never make it, but we did! I will add that we ran out of TP, milk and eggs. But who wouldn't in 2 weeks!! Besides that, I can't complain! MUCH!!

I posted my weekly meal plan here for the week of Jan 10, and let me just say, DON'T TAKE THE FAMILY SHOPPING!! They were throwing things in the cart faster than I could add them with my calculator!! (YES! I use a calculator in the store!) In the end I went way over what I had intended,  and told everyone we will make this food last!!!

So here's how I made 1 shopping trip last 2 weeks.

-Rice, I bought 2 boxes of 2 different types, Spanish and wild rice.  I made those 2 boxes, which normally serve 4, 7+ meals! It's amazing how you can stretch a simple side dish

Leftovers, leftovers, leftovers!! Of course we all eat leftovers, but since I had bought economy packs of meat, I made 1 pack of pork chops into 3 different meals!

I also have to add, that as a family of 5, we eat smaller portions of food I believe compared to most. But I do cook extras since hubby takes his own lunch, and I eat them at home for lunch as well. I used to waste so much food making 5 separate chicken breasts or even steaks!!  EEK! So after learning that lesson, I know that we can get by with only making 3 breasts, butterflied, makes us have 6!

Same with my economy pack of chicken thighs. They were  BBQ'ed,  baked and shredded for chicken casserole,  and leftovers made stir fry and creamed chicken over a biscut!

Rationing food. My kids know I'm like a drill sergeant when it comes to making food last, so when I buy doubles of one item, I stash it away. The old adage, "out of site, out of mind" is TRUE!! So when we ran out of their fave cereal, out came moms hidden stash!

Taking advantage of "eating out" I state it like that because, NO, we didn't eat out at a restaurant, but we did go to our church supper, which at a fraction of the cost, got us a buffet of food, drinks and dessert all for a free will donation! Also, family and school functions offered dinner so we took them up on it, saving us from having to cook dinner or lunch!

And ya know what, my kids found food! Even though my fridge is blindingly bright due to lack of clutter (ie; food!) they found things to eat and snack on hidden in the back of the cabinet and freezer that they had forgotten all about! My son even found frozen lasagna and meatballs that he cooked with his grandfather and froze the extras, already portioned, so we had that one night for dinner!

So even though I freaked over spending $157 on groceries, in the end it cost us about $79 for each week!
Sometimes it just takes a little creativity (on my part) and restraint (on my kids part) to make it work!

I just realized that I STILL have two different packs of chicken; wings and thighs in my freezer! I'm thinking Buffalo/BBQ wings to the game on Sunday, and chicken tortilla soup!