Grocery costs

All of the groceries have been purchased, and like I suspected, I am over budget.  As you'll see, my buying ahead is going to be a lot more this time than it usually is.  The great sales at my store are over now, so this time next week, my weekly budget and menu plan should look a lot better.

The grand total spent was $126.28.  Here's where it all went:

Breakfast: $2.69
Lunch: $3.53
Dinner: $34.21
Staples: $40.71
Buying Ahead: $29.08
Splurge: $3.29 (chocolate so I can make cookies.  Yum!)


I also bought a basil plant for $2.49.  If I can keep it alive (my gardening skills will never be worthy of a blog), it should end up saving us money.  Even if I only use it once, we've broken even.

So, I am over budget, but next week should find me under.  And almost $20 of the buying ahead is in the form of coffee.  That alone will save us almost $5 a week for probably the next two months.

I know this cost post is getting out late.  A combination of bad math and my kids kept me from getting it out in a timely manner.  Keep a look out later today or tomorrow for my menu planning for this week.

Pork Medallions with Maple-Glazed Apples

This recipe is really easy, but also really popular with my family.  Not only will my kids eat it, but my super-picky sister will eat it, too.  And sometimes it's harder to get her to try something than it is with my older son.


Pork Medallions with Maple-Glazed Apples
Serves 4

4 baking apples (Granny Smith, Gala, etc.  Pink Lady is my favorite), peeled, cored, and sliced
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 pork tenderloin, trimmed, and cut into 1 inch thick slices
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2-3 tablespoons canola oil (can use olive oil if you prefer), divided


For the apples, heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add apple slices and saute until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the maple syrup.  Simmer until the apples are tender, about 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

Pound pork slices until thin (1/4 inch).  In a shallow dish or plate, combine flour, salt, and pepper.  Lightly dredge pork medallions in flour mixture.   Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet pan over medium-high heat.  Add pork to pan in a single layer.  Cook 2-3 minutes on each side until the pork reaches desired level of doneness.  To serve, spoon apples over the pork medallions.


A couple of notes:
*I like to do the pork in my cast iron skillet.
*The pork usually takes me a couple of batches with the size of my pan, hence the extra oil.  Between the batches, add more oil to the pan as needed.
*If it will take a couple of batches to do the pork, turn your oven to warm and have a baking dish inside.  Remove pork from the pan to the baking dish as it is finished to keep it warm.
*This will serve 4 moderate eaters.  If you are serving big eaters, I would double the amount of pork and count on it serving 6.

Enjoy!

Weekly Menu for 5/20

Things are warming up, and we are starting to use our grill a lot more.  Pretty much from here until the end of summer, you will see a regular item on my menu for each week.  That would be: Grill Something.  Very specific, I know.  My husband loves to grill and I love grilled food, so we are a good match.  Pretty much when the plan is to grill something, we choose either something that sounds good or is on a good sale.  Also, Grill Something is prepared with a fresh vegetable side.  You can see that I'm big on advance planning when it comes to grill night. :)

Other than Grill Something, the menu planning strategy is the same as it was before.  Of course, I'm trending toward menu items that are a little lighter on the palate and generally a little quicker to prepare so that I'm not heating up the kitchen too much.  It is definitely okay to take kitchen temperature into consideration when you do your meal planning!

So this week, we are having:

Taco Salad
Grill Something +Vegetable

I'm Back!

Well, after too much time has passed since I last visited the blogging world, I am on my way back!  I've been working on new menus and am getting even better at keeping within my budget.  I can't wait to share my wealth of knowledge with all one of you who currently reads my blog.  :)

I'm hoping to change my menu weeks from starting on Wednesday to starting on Sunday.  I think it will make more sense for others and be easier for me to keep on top of.  I'm looking forward to posting some time this weekend!

Menu for 12/7

The weather is turning colder and so more hearty items are making it onto my menu each week.  Some considerations for the menu plan this week were using up the leftover Roast Pork that I made on Monday, the fact that I want a hamburger (my husband will still grill as long as it isn't snowing or raining, lucky me!), and trying to keep my budget on the low side.

I am keeping the basic expenses as low as possible because my grocery store is having a meat sale this weekend.  I already know that I want to get a couple of pork tenderloins since I just used the last one from my freezer.  Beyond that, my purchases will depend on how much money I have left and how good the prices are.

Chili

This Chili recipe is a great basic recipe.  I really like it because it is wonderful as it is, but it can also be tweaked to fit your personal preferences.  We always start with this base and then adjust it depending on what flavor profile we want at the time.

Chili

recipe by Jerry Hall (my stepdad)
Serves 6-8

2 pounds ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

Grocery costs

I had more staples that needed to be purchased this week than I normally do.  It just seems to happen that way some times, doesn't it?  Even though I knew my staples would be higher, I went ahead and bought ahead on some deals that my store had going on.  Going over budget a bit now will end up saving money later as long as I manage my pantry well.  I did end up over budget a little for this week.  Not too terrible, but something to keep an eye on to make sure it doesn't become routine.  Normally I would cut the splurge purchases, but I bought those in my first shopping trip and didn't realize yet that I was going to be over budget.

So here is where it all went: