Week's meal plan, September 20, 2013

Last week's meal plan went well, except for the pad thai, which was bland and unappetizing. I think I will leave pad thai to the experts in future.

This week I spent $56.94 on groceries, although I already had quite a few of the things I needed for the recipes, so it doesn't count. I already had a pound of spaghetti, for example, some cilantro, onions and carrots left over from large bags I'd bought in previous weeks, some baking things like baking powder, baking soda, yeast, sugar, and so on, and staples such as mayonnaise and the big bottles of olive oil and jars of salt that last for months and months. Still, I felt pretty pleased to have spent not much more than half the grocery budget of $100 a week that I set myself at the beginning of this project.

I tried to keep costs down this week by not eating as much meat as we usually do, which is supposed to be better for the planet anyway. I planned three meals around bacon, because Mr. B and Baby B adore it. I don't terribly like it, but neither do I hate it, so that's all right.

What we're going to eat this week:

Breakfasts: cereal and milk, OR eggs (boiled, scrambled, poached, fried, whatever) on toast.

Lunch: peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, cheese.

Dinners:
1) Corn fritters with homemade pico de gallo and bacon.
2) Black bean burgers with homemade whole wheat hamburger buns.
3) Roast chicken and roast potatoes
4) Ditalini e ceci (the recipe doesn't sound that amazing, but it's utterly delicious, trust me)
5) Broccoli, bacon, and cheese soup (from Cook's Illustrated Best 30-Minute Recipes, p. 60) with the rest of the whole wheat hamburger buns.
6) Spaghetti alla carbonara
7) Various leftovers.
Everything with a side salad of spinach and tomatoes and a simple olive oil/balsamic dressing.

Groceries:

Fruits and vegetables:
3lbs vine tomatoes: 2.97
Bunch green onions: 0.58
10 oz spinach: 1.38
1.72 lbs broccoli: 169
Bunch parsley: 0.58
Bunch bananas: 0.95
6 nectarines: 3.43
8 Gala apples: 2.80
1 red bell pepper: 0.98
3 limes: 0.75
1.63 lbs potatoes (3 large): 1.11
1 head garlic: 0.38
1 avocado: 1.50
1 lb frozen corn kernels: 0.70

Dairy:
1 gallon Organic Valley whole milk: 6.68
parmesan cheese: 1.48
Cheese Heads low fat string cheese: 2.48
Nancy's low fat yogurt: 2.43
Challenge butter (1 lb): 2.56
Sargento low fat shredded cheese, 8oz: 2.68
12 eggs: 1.30

Meats:
Locally farmed and cured bacon: 4.92
Very small chicken claiming to be free range: 6.88

Bulk:
Peanut butter (that you can grind yourself--fabulous!): 0.50
Peppercorns: 1.64
1.1 lbs whole wheat flour: 0.45
1.27 lbs white unbleached flour: 0.39
0.92 lbs ditalini

Other:
Giant box generic cereal (Cheerios knock-off): 1.98
Sara Lee whole wheat bread: 2.28
1 can generic chickpeas: 0.64
1 can generic black beans: 0.64

Observations: this week is going to be rather carb-heavy. When you're trying to eat cheaply, it's so easy to fall into the trap of doing lots of bready things and lots of pasta. I think I'll aim for more variety and less bread/cheese next time.