what we budgeted - $125
what we ate
Monday
Bacon Burgers
Sweet Potatoes
Cucumber & Tomato
Quinoa Salad
Tuesday
Out to Dinner @
Matt the Miller Tavern
&
Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers Show
Wednesday
Roasted Chicken
Asparagus & Mushroom Saute
Basmati Herb Rice
Thursday
Shrimp Pesto
with
zucchini noodles
Saturday
Pork Chops
Crispy Potatoes
Broccoli
Sunday
Brats
Potato Salad
3 Bean Salad
Breakfast
Kashi GoLean & almond milk
Greek yogurt & berries
Snacks
Apricots
Hummus & pretzel chips
Lunch
leftovers
salads
Desserts
Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Cherries & Grapes
what we spent - $129.33
Didn’t quite hit the budget this week. Plus if you are counting there are items on this menu that I already had in the house so to cook these meals would actually cost you more than $130. The big win for the week was that we used those leftovers and had real whole foods all week. A couple splurges, like the ice cream and hummus and we would be a lot closer to the goal.
what we budgeted - $125
what we ate
Tuesday
Pepper, spinach
& chorizo scramble
Wednesday
Roasted Chicken thighs
Roasted Broccoli
Leftover Potato Salad
Thursday
Spinach Salad
Goat Cheese & Basil Ravioli
Friday
Grilled Ono w/Strawberry Salsa
Sweet Potatoes
Asparagus
Saturday
Chicken Enchiladas
Tomato Rice
Beans
Sunday
Leftover Chicken Enchilada dinner
Breakfast
Kashi GoLean & almond milk
Egg scrambles
Snacks
Hummus & pretzel chips
grapes
Lunch
leftovers
salads
Desserts
Ice Cream Sandwiches
what we spent - $86.49
2 week budget - $250 & what we spent - $215.82
All in all not a bad two weeks. I need to get better about sitting down to plan for the weeknights. I am, however, impressed that we used so many leftovers from previous meals and minimized the amount of food going bad in the fridge. It probably helps we had a couple free meals in there at my parents and out to eat courtesy of them. The other thing this doesn’t show is that I haven’t been great about lunch planning and we are grabbing lunch out too often on work days.
The other thing this doesn’t show is that I haven’t been great about lunch planning and we are grabbing lunch out too often on work days. We did better week one than week two. Here is hoping upcoming weeks go better. I will be tracking and posting every two weeks to keep myself accountable and share my successes and challenges with you.
What challenges do you have with food budgeting and meal planning? What tips can you share to help me streamline and maybe save even more money?
Do you need a good meal planning sheet that can also be used as your grocery list? Sign up for my email list for the one I use every week.
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Elise L. says
I am really into meal planning right now.i don’t do it consistently, but, I think it is great way to eat healthy meals. I use to meal prep for the whole week, but I started meal prepping thru Wednesday and then I start again for the rest of the week. I have also thought about freezing my meals as well.