Two weeks are down and it is time for a couple more weeks of new recipes. Did you try the first two weeks? What did you think?
I am going to the market for everything tonight so that I can make any preparations for the meals over the weekend. I try to chop ingredients like onions and peppers and have them ready to go. I often freeze the ingredients once they have been prepared (obviously you need to do this with some depending on how long it will be until you need them) and if I have extra of something I just go ahead and freeze that for later use.
Onions are the worst for me. I try to get them out of the way because no matter what I do I always end up with tears streaming down my face.
I plan on updating this entry once I buy my ingredients and have everything in order, this way I can pass along any tips.
Week 3
Week 4
I am going to the market for everything tonight so that I can make any preparations for the meals over the weekend. I try to chop ingredients like onions and peppers and have them ready to go. I often freeze the ingredients once they have been prepared (obviously you need to do this with some depending on how long it will be until you need them) and if I have extra of something I just go ahead and freeze that for later use.
Onions are the worst for me. I try to get them out of the way because no matter what I do I always end up with tears streaming down my face.
I plan on updating this entry once I buy my ingredients and have everything in order, this way I can pass along any tips.
Week 3
Week 4
11/10/2013
I managed to purchase all of the items necessary for these two weeks of meals for under $140. Besides getting everything that I needed to feed the family, I also needed some Aleve (to help with all of the headaches caused by my Sweet Lily who seems to whine, cry, and have all-around bratty behavior about every 15 minutes), band-aids (for the "boo-boos" that always seem to need one), and extra organic milk.
Anyone who says that they cannot go to the market without spending a fortune on food is not doing a very good job when they make their list, and the key is sticking to the list. I only bought 1 item that I did not have on my list and it was something that I had on it yesterday, but for some reason decided to remove.
Most of the produce I purchased was organic, the bananas I got were not because the peel is removed before you eat them anyway. I usually by the store brand for most of the things on my list, exceptions are peanut butter and bread (probably a few other things as well, but not many).
One of the recipes calls for stew meat and I bought a roast instead and chunked it up myself once I got home. Not only was this less expensive than the package of stew meat, but it will make two meals instead of one.
I chop or slice peppers that I know I am not going to use right away and freeze them in bags so they are ready to go and will do the same with zucchini and other squash, tomatoes, carrots, you get the idea. Having everything ready ahead of time just makes life so much easier. Obviously I do not freeze any vegetables that will be used on something like a salad.
There you go, update after shopping. Happy cooking everyone!
I managed to purchase all of the items necessary for these two weeks of meals for under $140. Besides getting everything that I needed to feed the family, I also needed some Aleve (to help with all of the headaches caused by my Sweet Lily who seems to whine, cry, and have all-around bratty behavior about every 15 minutes), band-aids (for the "boo-boos" that always seem to need one), and extra organic milk.
Anyone who says that they cannot go to the market without spending a fortune on food is not doing a very good job when they make their list, and the key is sticking to the list. I only bought 1 item that I did not have on my list and it was something that I had on it yesterday, but for some reason decided to remove.
Most of the produce I purchased was organic, the bananas I got were not because the peel is removed before you eat them anyway. I usually by the store brand for most of the things on my list, exceptions are peanut butter and bread (probably a few other things as well, but not many).
One of the recipes calls for stew meat and I bought a roast instead and chunked it up myself once I got home. Not only was this less expensive than the package of stew meat, but it will make two meals instead of one.
I chop or slice peppers that I know I am not going to use right away and freeze them in bags so they are ready to go and will do the same with zucchini and other squash, tomatoes, carrots, you get the idea. Having everything ready ahead of time just makes life so much easier. Obviously I do not freeze any vegetables that will be used on something like a salad.
There you go, update after shopping. Happy cooking everyone!