2 weeks of meals for $104

groceries are getting stupid expensive. and healthy food... even worse. so the "no processed food" challenge became a pretty big drain on the coffers. I wasn't willing go sacrafice my families health (or taste buds) with the over processed crap, so something had to give. a little judicious planing was in order. meal planing to be exact.

sitting down and deciding what to have for brecky lunch and dinner for the next couple of weeks so that I don't waste money on food we aren't going to eat, or worse, having to run out and get emergency supplies halfway through.

the newspaper ads come to the door on Wednesday, and I planned my menu around what was on sale. since I wont shop at wally, I cant price match, so I usually pick just one ot two stores to go to, and get all the groceries there. this week I went to Hy-vee and Aldi's.

brecky menu:
pancakes (from the bizkwik mix I made myself so it doesn't count as processed) or eggs. oatmeal when those are just too routine.

lunches are either leftovers or (and I'm almost ashamed to say this but they were on sale for a buck each) frozen meals. I got the Michelinda's meals, there usually pretty good for you (ish).

here is the dinner menu for the next two weeks:
Sunday : chicken noodle soup
mon : pork roast
tue: Mac n cheese
wed : encheladas
thur: chicken noodle soup
fri: Chili
sat: brecky casserole
sun: potato soup
mon: chili
tue: brecky casserole
wed: potato soup
Thurs : Mac n cheese
fri: chili

as you can see, most of the meals are easy to fix. most of them will be set up in the crock pot in the morning before I go to work. and I have a big crock pot so I make BIG meals. that way there is always enough to make for two days.

here's how the the shopping trip broke down:

Aldi's -
10lbs russet potatoes $1.49
2 cans diced tomatos $1.18
6 cans kidney beans $3.54
garlic $0.89
bunch of bananas $0.55
(I also got some diapers $4.99 and Penguin crackers $1.49)
total $16.27 after tax

Hy-Vee -
sour cream $2
1/2 gal milk $2.14
2 cartoons of large eggs (18 count each) $3.76
hash browns $2.69
6 frozen lunches $6
all natural dunk shaped chicken nuggets $4.99
2 chicken soup mix $5.96
coffee $3.48
tortillas $1.68
2 large elbow pasts $2.50
cane sugar $3.98
enchada sauce $3.36
stew meat $4.91
pork shoulder $13.13
cheddar cheese $3.97
cream cheese $1.25
jalapeno string cheese (don't shop hungry) $4.38 (-$0.75)
velveeta $5.99 (have to learn to make this stuff )
apples $3.63
more apples $0.85
green grapes $4.02
onion $0.58

total $87.99 after tax

ill post the recipes tomorrow.