4.45 a Day: November in Review

When I started this project, I really didn't think I could make it through the month of November with a grocery budget of $267 for two people.

I was worried we'd end up eating more and more cheap/unhealthy food the closer we got to the end of the month.

I was sure I'd run out of idea for meals.

And, at the start, I was overwhelmed by the amount of planning that I quickly realized would need to happen each week and each day to make sure I didn't waste any food and that we always had meals ready to eat. I have never loved my freezer more.

Overall, I'm really very happy with the way things turned out for November.

I've had a lot of fun with this project and as a bonus we've nearly eliminated processed foods from our diet. And, I've certainly put my culinary school education to good use.

I plan to stick to this budget for the foreseeable future with a few adjustments.

For the month of December I am going to focus on controlling portion sizes, increasing the amount of whole grains in our diet, and adding far more vegetables.

On to the results...

From the start, I decided that any money I was able to save by purchasing items with fuel saver rewards would be added back in to the food budget.  During the second week of the month Charlie filled his car up and saved $1.50 on gas. He didn't get a receipt. (Grrr...) Two days ago he filled up again and saved $5.25. All together, we saved $6.75 on gas in November.

When all was said and done I came in $1.42 under budget!

And, I still have all this in the freezer: 1.5lbs of ham, 3lbs of turkey, 4 meals worth of gnocchi, 2 bags of frozen broccoli, 1 bag of frozen peas, 1 container of bread crumbs, 1/2 a bag of lima beans, 18 eggs, 1 butternut squash, and a 9 inch turkey pot pie that I made last week.

With all of that I could easily last another week.

For those that are interested, here are some of the more valuable takeaways I have from this month: 

1. Sale items are not always the best choice
Sale items are only a good value you if you actually use and enjoy the item. Yes, I'm mainly talking about the ham here. I bought a 6lb ham because I could get a 14lb turkey for free. I hate ham. Nearly every meal that we've had with ham has made me angry.  However, the abundance of ham has made me a bit more creative with meal planning. I've tried several new recipes looking for a way to eat ham that I'd actually enjoy.

2. Stock up on staples
If there is a good sale on something you use often, stock up. For example, during the last week of November butter was on sale for $2.99. Normally, a pound of butter is  $4.29. I now have 5 pounds of butter in my fridge but I have already deducted a pound a week from December's budget.  Of course, you have to be careful with expiration dates when stocking up.

3. Repeat meals but change the flavors
During the first two weeks of November I tried to have radically different meals every other day. However, I was wasting a lot of time and energy planning this way. Over the month I learned that I can do stir-fry's, sandwiches, gnocchi and many other dishes each week without getting bored by changing the spices/sauces/other ingredients. Orange-scented stir-fry one week with spicy chicken stir-fry the following week, and then peanut chicken the week after that feels like you're eating really different things when really you are using the same basic ingredients.

4. Make ahead meals are amazing
You always need a back up plan.  If you are already in the kitchen, it rarely takes more time or effort to simply double a recipe and freeze the leftovers. I did this with beef stew, pasta, gnocchi, and all the bread I made this month. Having meals already made that I could quickly thaw and eat were a lifesaver during the 3 or 4 times this month that something unexpected happened and I wasn't able to cook what I had planned.

5. Processed or prepared foods don't save that much time
I always hear that eating healthy is too expensive. Or, "I don't have the time." Well, not all of my meals were a beacon of healthful eating this month but overall we ate better on $267 than when I spent whatever I felt like at the store. Yes, I spent a lot of time during the first two weeks figuring how to plan and shop, but now I know what to look for and what to avoid. I also have at least 15 meals now that I know I can get on the table in 30 minutes or less. And, yes, culinary school has made me much more efficient in the kitchen, but, other than the bread I made, none of this month's meals were terribly sophisticated or time consuming. If you really want to eat healthy and eliminate processed foods from your diet, cost and time are just two more excuses getting in your way.

4.45 a Day: Week 4

The idea of running out of food has been in the back of my mind for the last two weeks simply because I'm used to spending a minimum $100 a week at the store. Emphasis on minimum.

However, I continue to be amazed at home much food I still have in the freezer and in my pantry.

I'm a little embarrassed to say I've never really tracked out food budget so I have no idea of how
much I normally spent at the store each month.

This week I spent  $26.38. I did have a shopping list but I'm not going to include it here because, as you can see from the picture above, it was very short.

Breakfast this week was homemade museli and berries. I'm going to devote a whole post to that with my plans for December.


On to this week's food...

Ham and Bean Soup
Still eating ham. The pictures that accompanied this recipe gave me lots of hope for this dish but it was so boring that I'm not even going to post the recipe. However, I was thrilled with the way the whole wheat biscuits turned out. I made a lot of white bread this month so I thought I'd try to add some more whole grains to our diet.





Gobi Matar-Cauliflower and Peas
After the success of the butternut squash curry a couple of weeks ago I decided to try one with cauliflower and peas for our vegetarian dish this week. So easy and so delicious! Here's the recipe.



 



Mac and Cheese Gnocchi
I used the gnocchi because I didn't feel like making pasta. It was delicious. This is seriously the richest, creamiest mac and cheese I've ever made. You can find the recipe here. I cut it in half and it was easily enough for 4
people or two people with leftovers. I added some ham to my dish since I still have quite a bit of it on hand.






Peanut Butter Bacon and Banana Sandwiches (a.k.a. The Elvis)
I remember eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches as a kid. The addition of bacon is a revelation. I always thought this sandwich was a bit gimmicky because of the Elvis connection. I was wrong. This sandwich is straight up legit. And easy. I used the whole wheat raisin pecan bread I made this week with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, two strips of bacon I cooked in the oven, and 1/2 a banana. I could seriously eat 3 of these without any remorse.



 
Thanksgiving Dinner
I spatchcocked the turkey (cut the backbone out and flatten) which allowed me to cook at 14lb turkey in about 80 minutes. I also made garlic green beans, spice orange cranberry sauce, gravy, whole wheat sage stuffing, and sweet potatoes with brown sugar, chipotle, bacon, and pecans. For dessert, Charlie's favorite: spiced pumpkin roll.



 

Turkey Pot Pie
I used whole wheat crust, left over turkey thigh, green beans, peas, carrots, and gravy. Yum! I got the inspiration from this recipe but then did my own thing since I made them from leftovers. The pie crust was 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 stick or 1/2 cup butter, and just enough water to hold the dough together. The dough came together easily in the food processor but was a bit difficult to roll out. I had enough ingredients leftover to put a 9inch pot pie inthe freezer as well as two more individual pot pies.





Turkey and Cranberry Sandwiches
Turkey, horseradish cheddar cheese, homemade cranberry sauce. Homemade Bread.








Since we weren't doing a big Thanksgiving this year, I cooked my turkey on Tuesday. So, we had "turkey leftovers" before we actually had Thanking dinner. After cooking the turkey, I went ahead and broke down the bird, portioned and froze some of the meat, and then made a few dishes for the freezer. Having the bird done and out of the way make Thanksgiving so much easier!

We also had some stew that was in the freezer from the first week of November for dinner one night.

I'll be back on the 30th of the month with a final total and some things I've learned. I want to make sure I actually make it to the end month without spending any more money before I declare the project a success.

4.45 a Day: Week 3

Heading to the grocery store on the 14th day of the month knowing you only have $70 left to spend
for the next 15 days is quite nerve-racking.

I had to keep reminding myself that I had a ton of food in the freezer and that I just needed to buy a few things to round out the meals.

At any rate, I spent a total of $49.70.

With the money remaining in the budget, I'll only need to pick up some produce and the very few items I still need for Thanksgiving next week.

I did pick up an extra butternut squash because they were still on sale for $0.49/lb. I'm going to dice it up and freeze it to make that curry dish from last week again sometime in the future.

I bought extras of some items that were on sale like the chicken stock, butter, and cheese. There's no way I'm going to use 3 containers of stock, 3 packages of cheese, or 2 lbs of butter in the next two weeks but I will use it eventually.

Earning fuel saver points on these items was an added bonus.

In my opinion, stocking up on pantry items that you will actually use when you find a good sale is one of the best ways to save money.




On to the food...




Blackberry Scones

Breakfast this week was either a protein shake or blackberry scones with an orange glaze and scrambled eggs. I used the blackberries on sale as an excuse to practice making scones because I'm not very good at it. I generally despise scones but did find one version out of 20 in a baking class that I could tolerate. Clearly, scones are still a work in progress for me. I destroyed the berries in the first batch and the whole scone turned blue. The second batch was better but not what I had pictured.

In looking for berry breakfast recipes before I decided on scones I found this BuzzFeed article that has 39 different ways to use berries for breakfast. There are some great ideas there so I've tucked it away for future use. 

 

Thin Crust Sausage and Veggie Pizza

Yes, I put green beans on a pizza. No, it wasn't gross. I've been making pizza almost once a week but hadn't tried to make thin crust yet. This is a very easy and very tasty recipe. It's not quite the cracker crust I'd hope but I'll definitely make this one again! 

Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin 

O.M.G. SO DELICIOUS. Here's the recipe. I don't get excited about meat often but this was amazing. Charlie and I both went back for seconds.The spice rub really complements the pork. The glaze is a bit sweet and a nice treat but I think the dish is great without it.

Pork Sandwiches 

I used what was left of the pork for sandwiches served with lima beans. Lima beans are one of my  favorite foods. I'm looking forward to eating a ton of them this winter.

Orange Scented Chicken Stir-Fry 

Why have I never made stir-fry before? So easy. So many combinations. Stir-fry is getting added in to a weekly rotation. After making this one I immediately started searching for other recipes and have already bookmarked several. I used this recipe for the technique and the sauce which I made spicier with the addition of sriracha and red pepper flakes. I also replaced the marmalade with 2 fresh squeezed clementines.

Ham and Cheese Empanadas 

I decided on this dish because I was desperate to do something completely different with all the ham I still have in the freezer. These were very good but not very healthy. If I make them again I'll make the shells bigger so I can stuff some extra veggies inside the empanada. Here's the dough recipe.   

Spicy Peanut Chicken

This might have been my favorite dish of the week. I loved the peanut sauce. I used this recipe for the sauce but kept adding a little bit extra of all the ingredients and a lot of extra sriracha until I was satisfied with the taste. 






 
Gnocchi with Bolognese
Before the last 3lbs of potatoes from week 1 went bad I made a huge batch of gnocchi. We now have enough gnocchi in the freezer to have it once a week for dinner until the end of 2014. I used one of the leftover containers of bolognese that I froze from week 2.  Charlie was skeptical about putting such a heavy sauce on the gnocchi but he loved it. It is tied with the pizza for his favorite dish of the week. 



Friday
Tomorrow we'll have a bowl of lima beans and the rest of the sausage and the left over empanadas.

The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie

My first thought after waking up this morning was something along the lines of "It is so cold. If I bake something I can turn the oven on. What should I bake?"

With a high of  19° in Omaha today very few things can motivate me to get out of bed. This chocolate cookie is one of them.

I made this cookie for the first time several weeks ago after trying something similiar while running errands one day.

A week later the cookie was still on my mind.

That cookie was so good I was dreaming about it and even got up at 5a.m. one morning to give this reicpe a go before class.

TOTALLY WORTH IT!

The recipe is incredibly easy and I had the cookies in then oven in less than 5 minutes.

The cookie is soft, slightly chewy, and full of 100% chocolatey goodness.

I took the cookies to class and everyone loved them so much that several people requested the recipe.

So, on this very cold day these cookies were the first thing on my mind!

Side note: I didn't plan it this way but these cookies are gluten free.

 

The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie 

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cocoa powder (I like Ghirardelli best)

2 tsps cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 to 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

2 egg whites (or 3 for a cookie with more spread)

*nuts or other flavorings are optional*

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 
2.  Sift all dry ingredients together.
3.  Add egg whites and mix well. The batter will be thick.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Drop cookies on to a parchment lined sheet pan with a portion scoop or by rolling the batter in to a ball between 2 spoons.
6. Bake for 15-19 minutes. Cookies are done when they are shiny and cracked on top.
7. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe yields 13 cookies with two egg whites and a #30 portion scoop. 

A butter scoop is normally close in size.

4.45 a Day: Week 2

After going way over budget this week, I was worried that I'd run out of money before the end of the month. However, I'm not worried now. We didn't even eat 1/3 of what I purchased and I think I'll end up with a fair amount of meat still in my freezer at the end of the month.


I really liked most of what I cooked this week but I feel like our vegetable intake was below normal. I'm going to make sure we get more fruits and veggies in our diet this week.

Also, I'm almost wishing I hadn't bought the ham to get the free turkey. Six pounds of ham is a lot of ham for two people to eat even if it is spread out over two weeks.

I don't even like ham. I don't know what I was thinking.

Anyways, on to the food I made this week...


 
Baked Raspberry Oatmeal
I love everything about oatmeal. I'd eat it everyday if Charlie didn't hate it so much. After looking through several recipes that I thought might change his mind, I found this one. I swapped the raspberry jam for a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips. I loved the flavor and creaminess of this oatmeal and, at the end of the week, Charlie admitted this oatmeal "wasn't that bad" which the nicest thing I've ever heard him say about oatmeal.



 


Broiled Grapefruit with Yogurt 
I was fully prepared to hate this dish because I don't think I've ever
willingly eaten grapefruit in my life. Let me tell you, broiling the grapefruit is a game changer. I was actually looking forward to eating this again later in the week! I got the idea here.

Ham and Asparagus Frittata
This frittata was designed to use some of the three pounds of ham I had in the fridge this week. I was skeptical at first about using the asparagus but it was wonderful. So far, this is the BEST frittata I've made. Here's a link to the recipe that originally inspired me.



 


Spaghetti Bolognese
I originally learned how to make this dish during my first quarter of culinary school. Along the way I've lost the original recipe. There are a ton of recipes online for this dish. I find it a little meat heavy but Charlie loves it. In defense of bolognese, it is meant to be a meat sauce not a tomato sauce so if you love a hearty meat sauce I'd certainly recommend you try it.



 


Ham and Asparagus Sandwiches
I love sandwiches because they give me an excuse to make bread. And, you can pretty much pile on whatever is in the fridge and it turns out alright.
This one has dijon mustard, swiss cheese, ham, and asparagus. My favorite kale salad is on the side.The salad has a honey vinaigrette, shredded parmesan cheese, toasted almonds, and dried cranberries. SO GOOD.



 


Butternut Squash with Couscous and Cranberry Chutney 
I picked this recipe because Charlie loves butternut squash and I wanted to include a vegetarian dish. By far, this was our favorite meal this week. I'll keep making this as long as butternut squash is available. The recipe for the main dish is here and the chutney is here. I was skeptical about the vinegar in the chutney but I wound up liking it so much that I put the chutney on several other dishes this week including a baked potato. Weird, I know.


 


Ham and Pineapple French Bread Pizza
This was just a random thing I threw together to get rid of some ham. I used barbeque sauce instead of pizza sauce along with mozzarella and pieces of fresh pineapple.

 



 


Pineapple Chicken with Quinoa and Brown Rice
Charlie really liked the chicken with this dish but neither of use cared for the sauce. The sauce just had too many flavors going on: lime, ginger, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, etc. I doubt I'll make this one again. It just didn't turn out the way I expected. Here's the recipe.



 


Granola Bars
I made granola bars this week for a snack. You can make them with any combination of dried fruit and nuts. Here's my original post about these bars. They are chewy and sweet and super easy to make. This week I used dried papaya and pineapple.




With about $70 left to finish the month and prepare Thanksgiving dinner, I'm excited to see what I'll end up cook over the next two weeks. At least I know we have plenty of meat and potatoes!

Planning for Week 2 on $4.45 a Day

 
Subtitle: Instant nausea at checkout

Why?

Because that's how I felt when I saw the total at checkout.

After last week's shopping was done, I really hoped I would come in at least $5 under budget since I went over last week.

Well, that certainly didn't happen. I spent $110.73.

However, you'll see in my grocery list that I included the cost of  a few things I already had that I wouldn't consider normal pantry items. Those items are in bold  and sale items are highlighted yellow. If I'd bought those items, my bill would have been $123.74.

Yep. We're going to starve during the last week of November.


Or, will we?


Let's recap: My goal is to spend a total of $267 on groceries during the month of November. This breaks down to $4.45 per person per day.


YES, that will include Thanksgiving dinner!


Last week I spent $71.76. Add that to this weeks total and I've spent a total of $195.50 this month.

So: $267-$195.50=$71.50 left for the next two weeks! Yikes!

The nausea is back!

Also, someone please check my math. I'd love to be wrong!

I'd be lying if I wasn't slightly concerned.

Here's what happened this week:

1.The main reason: This week's sales were terrible for someone
like me that wants to buy mainly fresh food. There was hardly any produce on sale and even the things there were on sale didn't offer a great amount of savings.

2. I purchased entirely too much meat. The meat sales were good this week and I spent more than double the amount on meat than I did last week.

If I take out the extra meat, my bill would have been $87.39. Still over, but better than $123.74.

However, I am about 90% sure that I won't have to buy any meat for the rest of the month.



Right now, in my freezer, I have: 1.5# of chicken breast, 1# of sausage, an entire pork sirloin thing, 3# of ham, and, most importantly....






Say it with me in the Oprah voice...






I got a free 14# turkey! 

(by purchasing a 6# ham)

So, yeah, a 14# pound turkey for two people. That's what we'll be eating during the last week of November. Gonna have to get creative.

See you all Thursday when I'm back with the recipes I used this week and, of course, pictures of the food!

Happy Monday!

$4.45 a Day-Week 1

Reflections on the Week

We made it! We didn't starve! And, we ate better and healthier than we have in several months. Over the course of the week, I  found that I really came to appreciate each meal and every bite of food.

I used everything I bought last week except the lima beans, a few pounds of potatoes,a cup of milk, five eggs, and a few slices of cheese. Other than some vegetable peels and one or two squishy grapes/strawberries, nothing went in the trash!

Compared to what normally ends up in the garbage at the end of the week, I was amazed (and super happy) by how little I had to throw away.

I'm sure some people are rolling their eyes at that statement but I'm always upset over any food that gets wasted. However, in purchasing whatever we felt like eating each week I have never exercised this level of forethought or control over the food in our house.

Figuring out how to live on such a strict food budget this week was a lot of work, but I actually feel liberated. And, excited to see if I can do better next week! I've always liked a good challenge.

You can find a chart that breaks down the price per serving of each dish at the bottom. I included a spice factor to account for salt, pepper, flour, and other spices used in the recipes.

Now, on to the food!


Beef Stew
I followed this recipe from thekitchn but made a few changes along the way. I cut the amount of meat in half and I left out the alcohol-->no room in the budget for wine or beer. I  also used 14 oz of beef broth instead of all chicken broth.

The stew turned out great and was very filling but I bet it would have been much better with the wine. This is certainly a recipe that I'll make again. I managed to get 6 servings out of this dish and served it with a baguette. However,  I could have easily stretched it to 8 servings.

 



Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Broccoli
I found the pork chop recipe here. I cooked the dish entirely in my dutch oven. If you choose to make this dish, the orange sauce on the pork really makes it special! I didn't have apple juice so I just used the juice from one random orange I had in the fridge with the brown sugar.


 


Frittata-Spinach, Cheese, Potato
I started making frittatas a few weeks ago as a way to use up random leftovers at the end of the week. I originally followed this recipe but changed the filling. However, I have no idea how she managed in the springform pan. Both times I tired egg ended up everywhere. I'll keep making frittatas since they are so versatile and cheap, but I'll stick to using my round casserole dish or a cake pan. As long as I line them with a parchment round and use pan spray, my frittatas always pop right out!





Salads
I was determined to make sure we got some fresh veggies in our diets this week. I used some of the veggies left over from the other meals (carrots, celery) with a bit of fruit and chicken breast. We each had two large salads this week and mini salads with our sandwiches.






Protein Shake
These are basically a cup of milk, one banana, and a scoop of protein powder per person with a heavy dose of cinamon on top. We normally have these for breakfast if we work out early in the morning or are in a hurry to get out the door. Even though I didn't buy protein powder this week, I did include it in the price outline below.






Turkey with Millet
Due to the long cooking time for the turkey, the millet had more of a polenta consistency that the hoped for quinoa-like fluffiness. I also knew when I looked at the recipe I found online there was too much liquid. If I had used the rice in the original recipe I think it would have ended up like glue. The turkey came out moist but didn't have much flavor. However, the millet was great once I added a little salt.




Sandwiches
For sandwiches this week I used the baguettes I made and froze on Saturday. The veggies and meat were leftover from other recipes.

If you want a good baguette recipe, message me. I'm not going to post it here-making baguettes is an intense process. I used a new recipe this week and the bread is a bit too much like white bread on the inside. I think the dough got too cold during the overnight bulk fermentation in my fridge. I'm curious to see what happens when I try again this week. On I side note, I priced out the baguette recipe and each one comes in at $0.28. So, my cost for bread for the week was $2.52.


Gnocchi with Peas
The gnocchi was an end of the week decision. I've always wanted to make it and I found myself with at least 5lbs of potatoes in my pantry. I looked at several recipes but ended up following Gordan Ramsey's recipe minus the ricotta. And, of course, I had the peas leftover from the stew. This is a dish that I look forward to making over and over again until I get it right.

The gnocchi and the beef stew are tied as Charlie's favorite dish of the week.


Friday
Leftover day will consist of scrambled eggs with the last baguettes, the last of the turkey and millet, and the last of the gnocchi and peas for dinner. We will have carrots and apples as snacks. I still have two containers of beef stew in the freezer but I'm going to save them since I'm terrified I'll run out of money before the end of the month!