So I totally went and wrote an article for a nationally franchised moms’ group’s monthly newsletter.
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I was a huge dinosaur nerd as a kid. My dino-love was only slightly shadowed by my pioneer love. My best friend’s parents were archaeologists. I was an ancient history geek well into the sixth grade…
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| I told you C-boo was a smidget ;p |
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| Fair warning…kept the kids in line!! |
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My old friend Hugh asked me how on earth I make 30 meals for less than $300, so I decided to show you all!
This month, I am making 5 Sweet Potato Burrito dinners, 4 9×13 lasagnas (2 meat, 2 vegetarian), 4 Turkey and Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pies, 6 baked pastas With veggies (2 meat, 2 alfredo, 2 marinara), 5 Beef Stews, 3 Potato Corn Chowders and 3 Broccoli Quinoa soups.
Phew!
So here’s the grocery breakdown:
Safeway:
2 cans of black beans: $2.98
1 large can of kidney beans: $1.82
1 box of oven-ready lasagna noodles (I have 3 more at home): $3.29
500ml half & half cream: $1.82
500ml sour cream: $2.89
12 or so smallish yams: $8.64
5 celery sticks: $1.33
1/2 baked ham: $9.99
30 large Ziploc freezer bags: $7.67
9 medium foil containers: $14.82
4 9×13 foil lasagna pans: $5.02
TOTAL: $60.26
Costco:
Frozen organic peas: $6.59
Frozen mixed veggies: $6.99
4 small eggplants: $4.99
1kg broccoli florets: $4.99
Assorted dry pasta (3kg): $7.89
36 tortillas: $7.89
Monster cottage cheese: $10.59
8 jars of organic pasta sauce: $17.38
2-4L milk jugs: $9.08
6 small zucchinis: $3.99
6lbs(ish) stewing beef: $20.43
4lbs(ish) ground turkey: $19.18
6lbs(ish) ground beef: $13.79
6 bell peppers: $6.99
Bag of sweet onions: $3.99
Monster block of cheddar cheese: $26.59
10lb bag of red potatoes: $7.99
TOTAL: $179.64
Grand total? $239.91
Not too shabby This doesn’t include the bag of quinoa I have in my pantry, or the bag of frozen corn in my freezer. I also have a couple bags of baby potatoes that I’m going to add to my potato count, and garlic and spices. Oh, and a pound of butter.
So there you have it: 30 meals for well under $300, and the best part is that each meal feeds 2 adults and 2 preschoolers, with enough leftovers for 2 lunches the next day and sometimes more!
Bon appetit
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Tonight…
I am cooking ground beef, ground turkey, and maybe even stew meat in preparation for my Big Cook tomorrow. It’s been too long since I did a Big Cook, and I’m tired of coming home hungry at 6pm. On the menu: shepherd’s pie, lasagna, baked pastas, sweet potato burritos, beef stew, broccoli cheese soup and potato corn chowder! Everything is loaded with fresh veggies too – yum!
Oh, and the grand total for groceries for 30 meals? Under $300. That’s right And all of them make enough for next-day lunches for Leith and I.
I made chocolate pizza tonight. I’ve wanted to for SIX years! It was so worth it. Yum! I’m hoping that it kills the cold I’ve been trying to ward off for the past four days…a girl can dream, right? I’ve also been stuffing my cold with lots of sleep and liquid colloidal silver.
I’m still on my 90-say challenge. Shakes for breakfast rock, if I do say! And it’s kept me from gaining weight as I transition to a sedentary job. I’m going to start packing a gym bag to work as well – I get 75 minutes for lunch, which means I have time to go for a run! Yay I’m just sad that I don’t have the early lunch shift, because there are great noon hour classes that would be awesome to spice things up
I have to give a shoutout to Kim from My Nature Baby. My Reiki session last weekend was incredible, and much needed. I can’t believe how powerful energy healing can be!! Obviously, there’s been a huge amount of stress and change ind the past 3 weeks, and that session made all the world of difference in my ability to handle things. Thank you so much, Kim!
I’ve got a little side project in the works right now…I’m still playing with the name, but it’s a professional outlet of sorts. Somewhere to send people for information and advice about what I do. I’m deciding between two versions of a name, and then it will go live! Can’t wait
I have to admit: there are been a lot of people I have cut contact with until all the legal fun of leaving my business is over. That part sucks. There are friends that I lost unfairly, who shouldn’t have been put in that position. I didn’t ask it of them, but they chose nonetheless. For the rest, I made the decision for them so that they wouldn’t need to choose sides. So here is how it stands: if I met you via my former place of employment, I won’t contact you until the legal ink is dry. I don’t want anyone making false presumptions or accusations about your actions or mine.
I’m getting ready for a single parenting stretch this week. I’m surprised how easy it is in the mornings when Leith is gone, but at the same time, things run much smoother when he is here. It’s only 3 or 4 days though, so we should be fine. And I LOVE his away-work paycheques. If I didn’t like having him around, I’d kick him out for the whole summer. 80-hour work weeks make for some pretty pennies
Those pennies also mean that we can go to Mexico this winter – yaaaa! We are doing a big family trip and I can’t wait. It’s been two years since we’ve had any kind of holiday together, and it’s been 4 years since we were in Mexico. The bugz are so excited too. They’ve been talking about it nonstop since I told them yesterday
That’s all for now, bloggy friends. I have a couple posts to write later on – maybe I’ll set them to auto publish throughout the week so that you don’t miss me so much 
4 years ago today I found out I was pregnant. 4 days later, I rolled our 700lb quad on top of me. Other than some colourful bruising I was miraculously unharmed, but I was so shaken up that I haven’t ridden since.
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It’s not the top-of-the-line Yamaha we parted ways with in January, but it will be good for ploughing snow and hauling wood.
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This summer has been so blahh with its cloudy skies and rainy days. There are many nights where I wish I had a strong stew in the crockpot, or thick oatmeal when I wake up. On our way home from Saskatchewan last week though, I picked up the latest issue of Chatelaine. I’ve always skipped the recipes in the back, but this issue had a whole section that can only be described as Nom Nom Nommm! _uacct = “UA-4888259-1″;urchinTracker();
This may be the longest I’ve gone without posting, at least in recent history!! I’ve been so busy, between traveling to Saskatchewan last weekend and starting my new job this week, I’ve barely had time to breathe, let along blog! _uacct = “UA-4888259-1″;urchinTracker();
