Groceries

Oh my, have grocery prices gone up lately! We eat out fairly rarely, and plan most of our meals. Our grocery budget is generous ($600/month), and that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for 2 adults and two kids. We eat A TON of produce. Seriously, a ton. We do most of our grocery shopping at Costco, as we can easily go through large quantities of produce. :-) I also try to menu plan, and bring my lunch to work most days, I pack lunches for the kids.

The husband ("M") is the only with a varied lunch schedule. He frequently has work events where lunch is catered, but I'm considering packing his lunch a few days a week. He doesn't spend much when he eats out, but I think he'd prefer a healthier lunch from home. We'll see how that works. :-)

I do try and batch cook, double recipes & freeze the other half, and we barbecue 15-20 pounds of chicken every other month or so and freeze it for recipes. I love having the chicken in the freezer for quick casserole additions, etc.

Here's our current menu plan:

Dinner Menu:

·         Tuesday – 10/18 – Leftover tomato/goat cheese pasta + spinach salad

·         Wednesday – 10/19 – Beef & cheese manicotti

·         Thursday – 10/20 – Tomato paella (freezer) + barbecued chicken (freezer)

·         Friday – 10/21 –  Leftover manicotti

·         Saturday – 10/22 – Anniversary dinner - out!

·         Sunday – 10/23 – Lubia polo (freezer)

·         Monday – 10/24 – Baked ziti (freezer)

·         Tuesday – 10/25 - Cordon bleu & tomato paella (freezer) + crostini

·         Wednesday – 10/26 - Giada chicken pastina (Freezer) + spinach salad

·         Thursday – 10/27 – Leftover Giada pastina

·         Friday – 10/28 - Fiesta chicken

·         Saturday – 10/29 – Visiting family, I am bringing a pasta dish that's in the freezer

·         Sunday – 10/30 - Leftover fiesta chicken

·         Monday – 10/31 – Baked Ziti (freezer)

I try to plan our meals two weeks out, and rotate through what's in our freezer. Our freezer is currently stuffed, so you'll see more freezer meals than normal on the list as I try to empty it out. :-)