I ran out of our food budget about two weeks ago. I actually went a few dollars over on our last trip, but definitely better than the $350+ I've been averaging. I had made a meal plan for dinners through tonight, but what I hadn't accounted for is how much of the basics we'd run out of. We are currently out of sandwich meat, bread, sliced cheese, butter, eggs and bagels. I've definitely had to get creative, but we made it. Tonight is pasta, meatballs, and sauce. And tomorrow, we get to go shopping. We have a 60 day trial to BJ's that we're planning to spend the majority of the budget on, so we'll have to see how that shakes out for the rest of April.
Fridge and Pantry Raiding
March 31st, 2015 at 07:28 pm
April 1st, 2015 at 01:18 am 1427851122
Similar process for any other meat or fish you'll both eat. Buying a real ham on sale after Easter is delicious when combined with relish, mayo and preferred spices and cost so much less than processed stuff.
April 1st, 2015 at 07:22 am 1427872931
tuna & pineapple, Cucumber, Roast pork, Cream cheese & crushed almonds, Kielbasa, roasted Turkey, Cottage cheese + small dice fruit, Tuna, Salmon, hard boiled egg, chicken Ham or turkey salad , Raisin carrot salad, Antipasto, Sliced beef, Chili, Mozzarella + tomato slices like garlic toast, Pasta, Grilled cheese, Soup/chowder
Breads: Rye, Cinnamon, French, Pita, Raisin, Oatmeal, Cheese, Sourdough, Cracked wheat
It's easy peasy to buy an appropriate number of mix & match rolls, cut them in half and throw the bag in the freezer to be stuffed with filling in their still frozen state like...English muffin, Banana bread, Bagel, Onion bun, Muffin, Kaiser roll, Cornbread, Vienna roll, Croissant, Pita, White, Apple loaf. Tortilla [wrap]
We use a variety of 'leaves' to keep some of the 'wetter' filling from soaking bread/roll like various lettuces, spinach leaves, Chinese cabbage, sprouts or whatever salad greens were not used for dinner.
Using different spreads like mustard, mayo, butter, peanut butter, chutney, salsa, grated dates, chili sauce, marmalade, cranberry, ranch or any salad dressing in tiny amounts adds zip