Anyway, I'm happy to say I spent about the same amount of money that I did last week! I was about $20 more this week then last week, but that's not much in my book. And this is the grocery total, not just the food total. I did buy a lot of cleaning supplies this week, since we're going to be moving soon & I will have to clean house. Plus, it was time to buy Dan's razors, and they're pretty pricy! Additionally, this week I didn't buy too much produce, because I will be purchasing my produce locally this week! A friend is heading out tomorrow to a local farmer and is going to pick me up a large box of greens & whatever else is in season, then I'll incorporate them into the meals that I have planned this week.
To compare the vegetarian meat substitutes to the real deals... I have my receipts ready from both shopping trips! Last week, I bought a pound of lean ground beef at $3.61 for about a pound (I think it was 1.16 pounds or so). This week, instead, I bought a 12 oz pack of MorningStar Farms Meal Starters Griller crumbles at $3.18. So, it was roughly the same price, or at least not that big of a difference in my book. Last week, I bought chicken nuggets at $3.49, and this week I bought a box of Chik'n nuggets at $3.18. Now, this is a bigger difference, based on quantity. The chicken nuggets came in a large bag, where as the chik'n nuggets came in a smaller box. I also got a bag of chik'n strips at $3.18, a box of corn "hot dogs" at $3.18, and a small, 2 patty box of MorningStar ready to grill "burgers" for $3.18 as well. I have really nothing to compare these purchases to because I didn't purchase anything similar last week, and I forgot to check out the prices of the meat items that they would compare to. But, I think they're all very reasonable prices. Additionally, I found $.75 off coupons in the refrigerator and took three, so that was nice :)
As for meal plans... I'm not as prepared this week as I would have liked to be. To be honest, I was freaking out a little bit that I won't be able to make it an entire month! But I sat down and looked at what we ate last week and decided to do something similar, but just leave out the meat or make small changes. So, this is what I have planned for this week:
Breakfasts: Generally I just have a bowl of cereal, some fruit, and a Carnation breakfast essentials milk chocolate shake. So I'm just going to stick with that!
Lunches: Generally I usually have left overs from the nights before, or a sandwich. So, I got some organic strawberry jam, HFCS free bread, and Peter Pan Peanut butter! Yummm for PB & Js :) I also plan on having a few boiled eggs ready, and purchased crab sticks and yogurts to satisfy my sweet tooth ;) I will probably throw in a few salads with the chik'n strips, and I also got a few lean cuisines that are meat free as well.
Dinners: This was the hard part. Generally our dinners consist of a meat, starch and veggie. I wanted to make sure I got a good mix of carbs, but not TOO many carbs. Also, I haven't incorporated in the veggies that we will be getting tomorrow from the local stash, so I may add a few different things throughout the week. So this is what I came up with!
- Fish, rice & greens
- Veggie Chili (made with the "meat" crumbles)
- Spaghetti, garlic bread & salad
- Shrimp fajitas
- Quiche with asparagus & onions
- Veggie burgers (I also bought big portabella mushrooms to grill up to put on top... yummy!)
- A pasta bake with the "meat" crumbles, whole wheat rotini pasta, pasta sauce, cheese, and zucchini squash. I don't normally eat zucchini squash, so that will be an interesting one for me!
So that's my plan for the first week! Caulen doesn't know it, but some days he'll be going meat free too ;) The corn "dogs" and chik'n nuggets are for him ;) But I'm sure I'll keep his staple hot dogs ready just in case he's not a fan.
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