For February, the plan is to only spend one hundred dollars on groceries for the month and to whittle down and use what we already have in the cupboards/fridge/freezer.
And so far things are going really well.
I made pancakes and topped them with {frozen} blueberries I warmed on the stovetop. Twice!
I also made eggs with a side of sweet potatoes and spinach {twice!}. I scored a bag of 5 pounds of sweet potatoes last week for $3.49 from Costco and we’ve been enjoying them ever since.
Normally I just buy sweet potatoes around the holidays, but I thought 5 pounds for $3.49 was such a great deal, I bought a bag. And I’m so glad I did.
Maybe the way I eat is boring, but I like simple foods.
Using inexpensive items like eggs, potatoes, rice, beans and whatever produce is on sale at the grocery store, can really help stretch your budget.
Tuna salad bowl with relish, chopped onion and chopped apple. Yes please! I could eat this every day.
Same goes for chicken salad. I like to buy the 6-packs of canned chicken from Costco a couple of times of year to have on hand.
In addition to using the canned chicken for chicken salad, I also use it in soups and chili. Sometimes I even use it in chicken enchiladas!
This past week I even used some canned chicken in chicken quesadillas. With homemade tortillas of course.
Fact: If you’ve never made homemade tortillas before they are SO EASY! Plus they taste better than any tortillas you can buy at the store.
I have absolutely no idea how long the little zip baggie of ground beef I found in the freezer was in there, but it was still good. 😉
Ground beef, Spanish rice, salsa, cheese, lettuce, plain yogurt… What do you put in your tacos?
I also made a loaf of cinnamon raisin Dutch oven bread. This week I think I’ll make a loaf of Jalapeno cheddar.
And of course there were homemade chocolate chip cookies {with pecans}.
These cookies were probably the #1 thing I missed the most last month when I was doing my one hundred dollars a month food budget from scratch challenge.
I like to make a batch, scoop the dough into balls and then freeze the dough. That way I can bake a few at a time instead of an entire batch.
The HH offered to make linner one afternoon. We had Heinz beans and toast. 😉
Costco $11.88
I didn’t stop to take as many pictures as I would have liked too, but we ate well and only popped by the store {Costco} for a 10 pound box of oats and a bag of mandarin oranges.
So far this month we’ve spent $79.98 at the store. That leaves $20.02 for the rest of the month. Luckily the only things on my grocery list for this weekend are milk and bananas.
I think I’ll make some banana muffins {and use those ripe bananas that have been sitting in our freezer for a few months} and a batch of homemade granola too.
Maybe some pasta, for sure Saturday night beans and who knows what else. How about YOU? What’s on your dinner menu for the next few days? Anything exciting?
I hope you have a great weekend,
~Mavis
Sam says
Nothing boring to me about your meals. I haven’t thought about apples in tuna but I will try it. We’re loaded with tuna right now and I’m aiming for a low spend February but not nearly as low as yours.
Sue says
Why is it that when husbands offer to make dinner, it involves an unholy amount of carbs and little to no veg? Or is it just mine?
DH will make sesame noodles, beans & weens, margherita pizza (no, tomato sauce and a few basil leaves do not count), pancakes and pork sausage, cheese brats in buns–you get the picture. Not even so much as a carrot or celery stick in sight.
But last night’s pork carnitas with keto tortillas, shredded romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickled carrots/onions, AND slaw had him digging in the fridge, muttering, “I really need more veggies than just this.”
Grrrr…
Mr. C. says
Well, do I have a story. I’ve been doing a freezer-eating purge like you. I found two whole spatchcocked chickens frozen in heavy duty shrink-wrapped plastic…from 2000. Six years ago. They look impeccable. So, I thought, what the heck? I thought them, cooked one in the air fryer with an onion marmalade glaze, etc. My husband told me it was one of the best chickens ever and to put it on the repeat list! SIX YEARS!
Mavis Butterfield says
SIX YEARS!!! WOW. Who would have thought they’d still be okay. That’s awesome.
Jody says
Huge sweet potato fan here! Have you tried Japanese sweet potatoes or red garnet sweet potatoes? So good! My DH will not eat regular ones(thinks the texture is too mushy) but the others are a go.
Loving your pantry posts and recipes! Thank you!
Mavis Butterfield says
I have not tried Japanese sweet potatoes or red garnet sweet potatoes. I’ll have keep keep a look out for them. I love sweet potatoes.
Judy says
I grow Japanese sweet potatoes in my garden bed. They are now my favorite one and we just love them. Mavis you need to try them.
I order mine every year from Hoss seeds.
Katie P NC says
I don’t like “regular” sweet potatoes at all but I really enjoy a Japanese sweet potato. They’re definitely not as sweet, which I like. I like to schmear on some miso paste and a little butter after I airfry them. So good! If you have some miso paste in the fridge I recommend trying.
Mavis, I make your no knead bread all the time, my fiancé absolutely loves it. I’m going to attempt your jalapeno bread now too. If anyone has a french bread recipe they like, let me know. I bought a french bread pan during a boring snow day , now I have to try to make it.
Lynda Rees Kling says
The horses get the over ripe bananas! They love them!
Sue S. says
Would you share your recipe for the tuna salad with apples, if you have one? Also, Bob’s Red Mill Old Fashioned Oats are always stocked at Job Lot, if you have one near by. I swear by them. Thank Mavis!
Linda Sand says
I like to eat a baked potato with a can of tuna dumped over my butter/sour cream toppings.
I like to stir a can of chicken into dill dip and serve it on Ritz crackers. You do have to finely chop the chicken, though, because chunks fall off the crackers.
I also used canned chicken when I make Jani’s vegetables: drain the juice from a can of water chestnuts into a can of cream of chicken soup, stir well, then add the chestnuts, a cup of blanched celery, and a drained small jar of pimentos. Heat and eat. I add the chicken to turn this from a side dish into a main dish. Quick and tasty. (Jani was a church cook who adapted this recipe for home use.)
tc says
Heinz baked beans on toast for breakfast is divine and so English, we also used to have them for dinner as kids. I just learned that our local Costco carries the English style baked beans so I am sold. I need to work on using up my freezer meals but I am not as disciplined as you.
Nicole says
I use my pressure canner to can my own chicken. It is by far the easiest thing I pressure can. It has one ingredient- chicken!
Cindy Brick says
HH should talk to my Brick — he (reluctantly) makes supper once a week. And often it’s ‘beanie weenees.’
I visited Daughter #1 last weekend, and brought a bunch of food I thought she and Adopted Son #1 would like. Turns out she’s on a ‘meat and butter’ diet — and couldn’t (or wouldn’t) eat any of it. And of course, she hadn’t told me about this.
Fortunately, Adopted Son liked the food (bread and apples, primarily)– and even ate some while I was there. But I felt ashamed… even though I couldn’t see how it was really my fault. (sigh)
Also fortunately, I forgot to bring the heart-shaped box of chocolates meant for them on Valentine’s Day — because Daughter wouldn’t have liked that, either. So I will give them to friends here who appreciate them.
Alli Aplet says
Is your husband no longer interested in cooking? He did such an amazing job at it awhile ago!
Tracey says
Thanks so much for the tortilla recipe and an even bigger thanks for the author link and a roundabout way to find Jen online because she is just a breathe of fresh air! If i weren’t at work I’d still be scrolling through her website – good thing my shift is nearing its end.
February can be so hard to manage without you inspiring ladies.
Ashley B says
I love this type of challenge because you actually eat very well from your pantry with minimum spend that it’s encouraging to do the same. Thanks for sharing!