"Raising Souls"

"Raising Souls"

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Healthy Eating at $65 per week : Meal Plans and Update



It's been a while since I've updated on this series. January was an especially difficult month to stay on budget. Mostly because Becket can't eat the same as the rest of the family and I weaned him and he is consuming TONS of food. That kid can EAT and EAT and eatandeatandeat!!

Boys are SO different than girls in the eating department.



I'm watching this very sad Superbowl game and if you know me ... you know WHY it's SO sad. Hint: No Packers. But my FIL is in Seattle so... I guess it makes it a little interesting.



So, I figured I need to seize this moment and get back on track with my budget for February. We were over by $60 last month! YIKES! I mean its actually only an extra $15 per week which sounds about right for Becket's food needs but... it can't stay that way. So... I just need to be a bit more careful and cut in other areas. I'm also thinking I may need to pull back on some organic splurges... We shall see...

I did buy these at Mississippi Market Co-op for 0.30 each! Since they are generally over-priced there, 
this WAS an awesome deal! On sale for $2.30 and I found them with sticker coupons for $2 off each!

I'm pretty pumped about this weeks menu, thanks to Pinterest. Feel free to check out my pinterest for recipes. I will put a star by each recipe on Pinterest... but of course I will not follow them exactly and I will swap some ingredients for others or omit them. I basically look to recipes for ideas and ingredients. But I look at them as spring boards ONLY for my own creations.

Sunday: (beware NOT healthy) Homemade Alfredo/Mac 'N Cheese, Broc/Org Green Beans, and Organic Apple Slices
Monday:Thai Coconut Lime Curry Soup*
Tuesday: Pork Egg Roll in a Bowl*
Wednesday: Chicken Cordon Blue Quinoa* and Frozen Peas
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Homemade Goat Cheese, Veggie and Artichoke Whole Wheat Pizza
Saturday: Egg Broc Quiche
Sunday: Homemade Falafels with Greek Yogurt and Whole Wheat Pitas
**Baking: Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Breakfast: Wild Blueberries and Maple Syrup Oatmeal, Banana/Orange/Berry Smoothies with Flax Milk, Cereal, Peanut Butter Toast and Oranges, Granola Bars and Kiwi

Lunch: PBJ and Leftovers

Becket: Ground Turkey Patties, Salmon, Rice, Quinoa, Veggies, Fruit, Oatmeal, Pastured Bacon, plain Pork, Tillapia (I set aside parts of other meals I've made last month just for Becket so I have single servings for him only. He would eat Oatmeal every meal if I let him... I try to focus on healthy fats as well. He just finished off the last of my last Costco trips Organic Beef.)

And, of course, Fermented Cod Liver Oil for everyone... Except me... It's nasty.




Because we were sick and our nanny was sick I saved $45 in childcare money and decided to put it, temporarily, towards some stock up items, My plan is to pay that money back to our nanny budget from my grocery budget this month. So I just went to Costco yesterday and took $40 cash and refused to spend a penny more!

Costco: $37
Frozen Organic Green Beans
Organic Strawberry Jam
Organic Maple Syrup
4lbs Frozen Wild Blueberries (I decided to not get them organic since my Dirty Dozen list says only Domestic Blueberries. Not going Organic gave me a whole extra pound and they are delicious and so nutritious!)
Bunch of Bananas

Trader Joe's: $15.50
Organic Celery (FREE, I got a bad bunch last week and asked if I could exchange it. I used some of the good stems for meals and broth last week, so I feel pretty good about it not being a total waste.)
Rice Milk (Costs slightly less at Costco but I'm hoping to get him nutrition tested again soon and don't want to get stuck with a bunch of rice milk if it's a problem.I'm also planing on taking this and the salmon purchase out of my "baby supplies" budget.)
Brown Sugar/Maple Shredded Wheat (Jeremy's cereal) x2
Wild Caught Salmon in a can 
Can of Coconut Cream
Olive Oil (According to my parents Consumer Reports magazine Trader Joe's sells the best value Olive Oil. We've been going through a lot since Becket's only safe oil is Olive.)
Chocolate Chips

Aldi: Goal Under $40

Cabbage 2
Frozen Peas x3 2.70
Swiss Cheese 2
Lime .50
Broccoli 1.50
Eggs 2
Garlic Powder 1.50
Goat Cheese 2.50 (TJs is 2.50 so I'm hoping Aldi is same/cheaper, if not I'll get Mozzarella)
Breadx2
Carrots
Kiwi 1.50
Oranges (4lbs) 1.99
Chkn Breast 1.79lb (I buy non-org chkn breast once a month since organic chicken breast is too expensive!)
Brown Sugar
Tomatoes?
Mushrooms?

If anyone is still reading this, I'm sorry, I'm kind of doing this for my own processing tonight while my two year old is on my lap coloring my receipts with markers. Hee hee. :-)

Wish me luck!

Oh, and I forgot, I'm picking up rice noodles with a gift card at Cub this week too! And I bought 2 items at Walgreen's last month that, with coupons, were "money makers" so I have $12 in "gift receipts" that I'm hoping to get a good deal on diapers with to help offset my baby supplies budget this month. Sometimes you give to get. :-)

Wow! Close finish to the game! I hate watching a close lose/win. :-(