Grocery Goals

So it's been while...

A few updates on the Hosking family. We had a baby! Lucy Mae was born December 3, 2012 and our life has been happily turned upside down. I joyfully battle the daily tasks of my role as mom and continue to take care of our home. Every day our eyes are opened to how blessed we are by this little miracle.

Here is the most recent picture of Lucy (9.5 Months old)

I have been thinking about this blog for a little while now and whether I should start an all together new one or continue this food blog. I realized I am still battling trying to eat healthy on a budget BUT I have found some ways to feed our family that I may share. With the help of close family, friends and Pinterest, my exploring of how little I can get my food budget each week and still love the food I eat has been somewhat successful...some weeks!

Last week I have to admit I spent $72 dollars on groceries, which my goal was $40. We were out of some key items though like eh-em....chocolate chips....Okay but really I did have to buy some more expensive foods to fill some voids in our pantry. AND because of the expenses last week, I was able to successfully buy groceries this week for a grand total of $36 dollars! I found a few dinner recipes on Pinterest I have been wanting to try like this Chicken Taco Soup, and Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles, and I am most looking forward to this evenings Meatball Sub Casserole. I bought ground beef, and chicken this week and still met my goal of being under $40. Now I do need to go back and find some italian bread and frozen egg noodles (Apparently it's not great to shop on Mondays as many things are out of stock...I'm still learning.) So I may be a few dollars over my goal, but the glorious thing about goals is it's just that, a goal, our budget allows for more but I am trying desperately to save as much money as we can so that we can go out to eat more (Remember I am a Foodie), and well do what Mike and I love most and that is to travel!

My grocery list this week:
Chicken Breasts (Now two of the recipes this week called for up to 7 chicken breasts, which is expensive. I chose to save money and only buy 3 HUGE chicken breasts. In the Chicken taco soup I used 1 and 1/2 and it still was delicious and there was plenty of meat - even ask my husband! I plan on using the other breast and a half for the chicken and noodles later this week).
cream of chicken soup - 59 cents
frozen egg noodles (still need to buy)
1 loaf of italian bread (still need to buy)
8 oz Cream cheese - $1.29
Shredded Mozzerella Cheese - $2.99
2 lbs Ground Beef - $5.05 (I'm going to make homemade meatballs for the casserole instead of paying the price of frozen ones, I used this recipe and they are delicious - YUM!)
Pasta Sauce - 99 cents
sour cream - $1.29
16 oz Tomato Sauce - 58 cents
eggs - $1.29
olive oil - $2.99
tortilla chips - $1.19
Broccoli - $1.59
potatoes(5 lbs) - $2.49

bananas - 44 cents a lb

jiffy corn bread mix - 52 cents (This wasn't on my original list)

Last week I spent over my budget and I knew this week I needed plastic wrap and dish detergent, but I really didn't want to pay the price I usually do on the brand names, so I decided to try out some cheaper options. 
Plastic Wrap - $1.49
Dish Detergent - $2.49

Homemade Meatballs:

These were super easy to make, and if you notice the missing one you'll know I couldn't resist. They are delicious! So yummy that I almost don't want to put them in the casserole. I didn't have the garlic salt it called for so I used regular minced garlic. I also didn't have onions so I used dried minced onion. I have trouble following recipes. I can't follow recipes. I don't like to follow recipes, but these are fantastic! 

People often wonder how we live off of the $40 a week on groceries, or close to that. It isn't easy, it takes planning, I mess up a lot, and we have fantastic family and friends that feed us from time to time. I will write more about that soon!

Thanks for reading! 
Sarah

I promised pictures of the meatball sub casserole, see here:

I made the Meatball Sub Casserole, and it was a hit with the family. We are still eating left overs days later, too! I forgot to take a picture of the chicken and noodles, but everyone loved it and it fed 5 of us and I have left overs in the freezer. The only difficulty with the Chicken and Noodles was cleaning out the crock pot. Some of the noodles stuck to the sides. It is soaking in the sink still waiting to be washed.