grocery bill update

A note to my readers: please pardon my incorrect use of the word sauté. I've been writing "sautee" because I thought there were two e's and I didn't think blogger would have the acute mark for the e. I apologize for making you read the wrong word. I really don't like it when other people make those kind of mistakes.

Moving on...

Since Sept 1st we have spent roughly $150 on groceries, which comes out to $8.33 on food for two people a day. If we keep that up we'll only pay $250 on groceries for the month of September! I'm on it.

Yesterday Andy and I declared that we're going to have a eat-out-of-pantry-and-freezer week. We will continue to purchase fruit as needed, but we will try to avoid buying meat (which we're completely out of).
We have toons of pasta and should have enough soup, tuna and frozen veggies to last us a week. Granted, we won't be having gorgeous dinners, but they will be healthy and they won't have cost us any extra money! We try to do this at least once a month. It's shocking to learn how much food you already have in your house.

Yesterday I boiled Ronzoni Garden Delight fettucini (each 4oz serving of pasta has a serving of vegetables in it) while sautéing about 3 cups worth of onion and bell pepper strips and microwaving a bag of broccoli. When the broccoli was done I tossed it in with the onion and peppers along with some garlic and salt and pepper. Then I added 2 tbsp of sour cream, a dash of skim milk, and 2 tbsp of shredded cheese and stirred to make a (very) light sauce. I drained the pasta and dumped it in with the veggies and sauce and tossed to coat.

The meal would've tasted even better with some spicy Italian sausage, but it was still delicious and low in calories for a pasta dish.

Tonight I'm going to cook up some onion with the squash and zucchini I picked up from the farmer's market this morning. Depending on what Andy wants we'll either have it with pasta or we'll eat the veggies as a side w/ soup.

Any creative ideas for using the things in my pantry/freezer? I might do some salmon cakes tomorrow.

dolla dolla bill ya'll

Remember when I had a budget challenge for the month of December? Andy and I only spent $50 on groceries in the month of December. We had a few surprise food donations from my mom and ate out of our pantry and freezer as much as possible. After accomplishing that challenge I tried to spend no more than $52 a week in groceries in 2010 but gave that up after a couple of months. Now we have $100/week in our grocery budget and I know we can spend less. I want to prove that it's possible to eat fresh and healthful foods without breaking the bank. I'm loving Ronzoni Garden Delight pasta- it's inexpensive and has a full serving of vegetables in every 4oz portion. Grapes are extra cheap in September and are super low in calories. My grocery splurge is Barbara's Peanut Butter Puffins cereal. I slice half of a large banana over 3/4 of a cup of cereal and pour a 1/2 cup of skim milk over. It's sweet, crunchy and filling for a total of 278 calories. I crave it.

How do you save money on groceries, or on anything?