Grocery Shopping on a Budget

Hey Y'all!

Can you believe it's already July??? I feel like the summer is already halfway over & just going way too fast! 

With the start of a new month I went grocery shopping last week & stocked my kitchen with all of the food we will be needing for the next two weeks. While preparing to go to the grocery store, I got an idea to write a post about how I grocery shop on a budget. As much as I love to cook, I HAVE to go into the store fully prepared or else I'll get way too excited and get way too many ideas and just buy way too much food! ;) 

I happen to love grocery shopping and I really enjoy the challenge of using cash only and having to stay under a set dollar amount. (I won't share the exact amount, but it is a good portion under $100.) When I first got married I was so excited about buying groceries and making delicious meals that I overspent on several grocery trips (by a nice chunk too) and unfortunately wasted some food since I had bought more than two people could eat before it went bad! It didn't take me long to learn my lesson. I've learned that there are two key things when shopping on a budget: 1 - a meal plan & 2 - a detailed list. 

I go grocery shopping every two weeks when I get my paycheck. During the two weeks, I keep a list on the fridge that I add regularly used items to as we run out of them. Also, during that time I begin jotting down meal ideas. I like to make sure I have enough meals to cover 14-16 suppers, taking into consideration any nights that we will not be eating at home (i.e. family dinners, date night, etc.). I use a lot of "old trusty" recipes, but I also like to look through cookbooks & websites to find new recipes to try. It's also helpful to take a look at what's already in your pantry and "build" meals with that. My meal planning system is far from fancy and once I've chosen the meals we'll be eating for the next two weeks my "menu plan" usually looks something like this:

As I said, not fancy. ;)
Also, we have sides/veggies with the meals, but they're usually basic, so I don't bother writing them into my meal plan, I just add them to my grocery list if they're not already in the pantry/fridge.

Once I've gotten my list of meals and my list of items we have run out of, I start compiling my grocery list. I like to separate items based on what part of the store they are located in so that I don't end up going in circles and wasting time. My grocery list always looks like this. :)

I keep it on a clipboard while shopping as it's easier to jot down prices beside each item when I have something hard to write on. Plus, I can take in the whole list at once instead of having to unfold and then refold every time I want to skim the whole list. 

**Side-note: On the backside of my grocery list, I have two more categories - "toiletries" & "household" items. I buy them on the same day as my groceries, however I have separate cash envelopes that I use for them.**

One more thing I like to take advantage of in order to stay on my budget is coupons. I'm not a crazy coupon lady or anything, but I do like to use them if they are for an item that is already on my grocery list. If you have a Kroger card, they will periodically send you coupons based on items you regularly buy at the store. I had 5 good ones I was able to use this past time which you will see below. Some of the items were completely free! :)

Finally, armed with my grocery list, coupons, pen, cash envelopes, & calculator I head to the store! I use the calculator to add up my items at the end and make sure I am within my budget. If not, some items have to go back.

This might seem time-consuming and overwhelming, but actually making my meal plan & list from start to finish takes maybe an hour of my time spread out over two weeks. And once I'm at the store, my list is so detailed, I'm in and out in about 30 -45 minutes. By taking just a portion of my time I'm able to stay within my budget every time and never feel like money is tight because I've overspent at the grocery store. Also, since I only plan for enough meals to last two weeks, we're not wasting food anymore. It makes me feel so much better and it makes grocery shopping a breeze rather than a chore! And I kept the $ amount for the groceries far enough under my budget this time around that I was able to "splurge" and buy some yummy ice cream that I originally didn't think we'd have enough $ leftover for! :)

Here are the groceries + toiletries + household items I bought this time:

I split my shopping between two stores this time. These are the items I was able to get at Kroger with my coupons.

Chicken Skillet Lasagna

I have tried writing this post 3 times now & every time I was too distracted by other things to write it. But they say third times a charm, so here goes!

This recipe is AMAZING. (I know, that word is overused with food, but if the recipe is amazing, I see no point in finding a different word to use just to show off my wide vocabulary.) Anywho, I came across this recipe on YouTube actually. I was searching different ideas for budget dinners one day & stumbled upon a channel with some really great recipes that use everyday ingredients & won't blow my budget. The guy who runs the channel is actually a big, burly, redneck-motorcycle looking dude & not at all someone you'd expect to be a good cook. But I'm telling you, he makes some good meals! So I was browsing his different recipes videos and found one for Chicken Skillet Lasagna. Now, I was drawn to this recipe for a few reasons: 1) It's a one-dish meal . . . well, mostly anyway 2) It's cooked in a cast iron skillet - has anything ever been cooked in a cast iron skillet that didn't turn out good? :) and 3) It had the word lasagna in it. That sealed the deal. Oh yes, and 4) The YouTuber I was watching originally got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman. And everything she makes is good, so obviously, this recipe's a winner!

But, I'm rambling, aren't I? Let's just get to the recipe. ;)

*Side note: I don't really use a recipe here, I just eyeball it, so take good notes. :) *

To get started, take 2 chicken breasts, butterfly them all the way, & then slice them into strips. (Or, just buy chicken breast tenderloins. I already had chicken breasts though, so it just made sense to use them.) Then sprinkle them with an Italian seasoning of your choice & toss the chicken to evenly season all the pieces. (I used the Penzey's Spices Italian Seasoning because, well, Penzey's is awesome. ;) )

Next up, boil some water to start cooking the noodles. The original recipe calls for Farfalle (bowtie) pasta, but I didn't have that on hand, so I just used egg noodles. At this point, you can drizzle some oil in the skillet & add the chicken to start cooking that. Cook it just until the chicken is a little browned on both sides. 

Once the chicken has cooked, remove it from the skillet & immediately put about a 1/2 cup of chopped onion in there along with a cup of chicken broth. (I used some of my homemade chicken broth for this. :) )

You'll cook the onions until most of the broth has evaporated.

Now, basically just toss everything else into the skillet! You'll be adding Mozzarella cheese (or a blend of lasagna cheeses) , Ricotta cheese, & your favorite pasta sauce.

Once you've stirred all of that together to combine the ingredients, add your noodles & stir to incorporate. Chop your chicken into bite size pieces and add that too! 

Finally, generously (very generously) sprinkle Mozzarella cheese on top along with a little more Italian seasoning. Place the skillet in the oven  under the broiler for about 5 minutes or however long it takes the cheese to melt and get bubbly.

This is one of those great low maintenance recipes that gives you time in between adding ingredients to get your kitchen cleaned up, so by the time dinner is ready, the only dishes you have left are the skillet, serving spatula, & your plates/glasses/utensils! Score!

When it's all finished, the end result will be beautiful & smellicious. ;)

Enjoy and go ahead and throw some toast on the side too. :)

New Kitchen Products: Target, Southern Season, & Kroger

Hey y'all! I thought I would write a post and share some new kitchen products I've purchased over the last few months. I haven't gotten anything big, just a few small items that caught my eye while out and about. :)

First - and I think my favorite! - I found these milk bottles at Target. I thought they were so cute & couldn't resist picking them up. And a plus - they were from the dollar spot & cost $3 for the set! I kinda wish I'd bought a second set so we could use them sometime when we have company too & want to make a sweet treat, so I might go back and see if they still have any. Either way, I look forward to using these for chocolate milk, milkshakes, & floats. Just in time for summer! :)

The second item I wanted to share are these little condiment cups I found at Kroger. I was so excited to stumble upon these. They are perfect for sauces & ketchup to go alongside burgers, fries, & other sandwiches as well as holding dressing for individual salads.

Finally, I picked up a few items from Southern Season. I had a gift card for SS & had a wonderful time walking around the store looking at everything multiple times before I chose what I wanted to use the gift card on. It's a really awesome store & if you live near one or are ever traveling near one, check it out!

I bought a flour sifter. (Rather shamefully, I've gone a year without having one!) . . .

. . .A vinegar bottle. I actually bought this with the intention of using it for syrup, but then decided to use it for vinegar and buy something else for syrup.

The last item I got from Southern Season was this sparkling, crystal sugar. I'll use it for multiple things I'm sure, but I bought it specifically to grace my apple pies with. :)

Well, that's it folks! 'Til next time! :)

Spinach-Strawberry Salad

Hey y'all! I have a quick, simple salad recipe to share today! This salad is sooo good & light, perfect for the spring & summer. There probably are actual salad recipes out there for this, but I actually started eating and loving this salad rather spontaneously last summer. I was packing my lunch for work in a hurry one day last summer & didn't have much in the fridge & pantry so I just threw together some spinach, strawberries, and bleu cheese and said "This should work"!. It sure did & it was so good. I had it again today and decided to share it on my blog with you all. :)

Just toss/arrange spinach, strawberry slices & bleu cheese together on a plate.

Today, to make it a little more filling & hearty, I added some shreds of Rotisserie chicken & some walnuts. I'm not really sure how well the walnuts go with this, but I personally love them, so I decided, 'why not?'.

This would probably be nice with a berry viniagrette. However, I personally find that the juice from the strawberries plus the creaminess of the cheese dresses the salad just fine. :) 

If you're like me, you're always on the lookout for a salad recipe that's simple while also being tasty. I hope you give this salad a try and let me know what you think! :)  

Chicken Enchilada Dip Rollups

Happy weekend everyone! I finally have a new recipe for y'all! :) I am so excited to share this one as it's been on my radar for about 6 months now & when I finally made it the other night it was a big hit. I'm not a huge fan of Mexican/Southwestern style food and never have been, but even I couldn't stop eating it! My best friend, Amber, found this recipe and wrote it down to send to me last fall while she away at college.

I really have her to thank for this because I don't think she could have picked a more perfect recipe to send my way. I'm tucking this one away for future parties, potlucks, midnight snacks, etc. ;)

It's really pretty basic. I started out with two types of cheese - cream cheese & Mexican blend cheese - that I mixed together in a bowl until they were all nice & comfy & well combined. 

Next I added in some seasonings. The recipe actually calls for coriander, but I didn't have any as I thought I did. Sooo, I just thought I'd throw some Adobo seasoning in there 'cause it smelled like it would mix well. ;)You really could substitute a package of taco seasoning in here if you don't have all the separate seasonings that it calls for.

Next up I tossed some Rotel tomatoes, green onions, & cooked, shredded chicken into the bowl. I mixed everything together with a spatula and voila! - you have some real goodness right there. 

Now, I may or may not have paused here and had a spoonful or two or three of this goodness. And then, I may or may not have gone to my pantry & grabbed a bag of chips and started dipping. I just couldn't help it. I had to make sure the flavors were just right, ya know? ;)

Anyway, after I finished "taste testing" I covered the mixing bowl with some plastic wrap & placed it in the fridge for an hour. 

The last steps were super simple - get a tortilla, place a heaping spoonful of the dip on it, roll the tortilla up, and slice it into little spirals. That's it! You're done! You now have a very filling, very tasty, and kinda fun & different meal.

My husband and I had these with some rice on the side. 

And then I took some to my best friend because what kind of friend-cook would I be if I didn't let the recipe-sharer have a taste? :)

As you can see this recipe was very simple. A great option when you need a quick dinner or a lunch to take to work. This also serves a lot! You can get several meals out of it or if you have a bigger family you can serve up to 8 if each person gets one full burrito roll-up. This meal actually fits into my budget meal category too because of how many meals my husband & I were able to get out of one batch. 

Additionally, this makes a great dip as the name implies! We saved a little on the side & used it for that purpose. I think black beans would taste great mixed in as well & add a little more of a filling boost to it. You could even put shredded cheese on top & place it under the broiler until it gets bubbly to have as a hot dip. Either way, I hope you all will try this recipe out for yourselves & let me know what you think or if you add any of your own ingredients to it. :)

*See photo at top of post for recipe instructions*

B-U-T-T-E-R

Ahhh, butter. What could be better? What could be creamier, or richer, or more intoxicating? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Butter is the king of the kitchen. And to quote Paula Deen, "Butter makes everything better". I could not agree more. 

However, I feel like there is a huge difference between the "store" butter and "real" butter. What I mean when I say "store" butter is the butter you buy at the store that comes in a box & holds 4 sticks (1 pound). It's decent. Good even. But it's not real butter. Now, to be honest, I've only had the pleasure of experiencing real butter a handful of times in my life. But enough to know - and love - the difference. I'm talking about the butter that can't be bought at the grocery store. Or so I assumed until recently . . .

You see, I'm particular about milk too. It falls into the same category as butter, "store" or "real". Store milk - the kind that comes in the plastic jugs that are so familiar - really isn't that bad. BUT. There is this wonderful, creamy, delicious, hands-down best ever milk that one of the grocery chains carries around here. It comes in a glass bottle. It's hormone free. You can buy it whole, 2%, skim, chocolate . . . I think even strawberry (although why anyone in their right mind would want to drink strawberry milk is beyond me). It is - Homestead Creamery. A lovely local-ish establishment that produces the best milk EVER. I love this milk. I really do. I feel almost as strongly about milk as I do about butter. And in a day and age when everyone's drinking coconut milk and almond milk, I unashamedly chug the Homestead Creamery whole milk all the time. Yes, I buy whole milk. It's rich. It's creamy. You should try it. 

Anyway, I'm making a terribly long story out of this. Recently, I was at the store buying my 'special' milk when I happened to look up to the very highest shelf. I don't know why, that shelf is waaaay above my head and my milk is on the bottom shelf. But I looked up. It was meant to be. Because when I looked up I laid eyes on this: 

Just look at it. It's a beaut!

. . . And for one moment in time, my heart stopped. (Okay, I'm not that obsessed with butter, but it adds to the effect ;) ) I could not believe what I was seeing, nor could I believe that I had never known it was there! Needless to say, I purchased it with a big grin on my face. 

I really, truly am excited about trying this butter. And once I've tried it, I will give y'all my review of it. I'm not gonna lie, it was a wee bit on the pricey side. But I believe some things deserve a splurge. And this was one of those things. So, one day here soon, I'm going to make some biscuits to smother in this butter. In the meantime, feel free to let me know of any "real" brands of butter that you like in the comments below!

The Scoop (Update)

Hello everyone! Long time no post. :) Spring is finally here & I must admit I've been quite occupied with spring things. I really haven't had much time to write a new post, although my blog & posts that I really have been wanting to write are on my mind constantly. Like every hour, constantly. So, since I haven't had the time/opportunity to post a recipe on here in over a month (!) I decided to give y'all 'the scoop' on what's up & some upcoming plans.

So, first, truth is I've tightened my grocery budget. My husband and I have some savings goals as well as some things we'd like to purchase for our yard/house (i.e. curtains, lamps for end tables, area rug, etc.) so we've tightened our budget to allow for those things. It's been a little hard for me because grocery shopping is to me what shoe shopping is to some women. ;) I have a hard time not overbuying because there are soooo many awesome and wonderful recipes out there that I am just dying to try. Alas, our meals have been rather ordinary lately.(But our budget has been on point!)Add to that the fact that both of us are - how do I want to say this? - improving upon our dietary habits, and basically I haven't been cooking anything particularly rich, or savory, or superbly indulgent. Normally, even on a tight budget I allow for one new, exciting, fatteningly delicious meal per grocery cycle but . . . not for now. *sigh*

On that note, while new recipes are on hiatus (it won't last much longer, I pinky promise) I'm thinking I will post some reviews of kitchen products that I have once a week. And in due time (hopefully no more than a month)I will have scores of new recipes for y'all. :)

Also, since spring is here, I've been working on starting a small garden! I'm going to gradually add more each year, but this year I'm just starting with tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce (possibly), & a variety of herbs. So y'all might be getting a post about that! Hey, it's stuff I'll be using in my kitchen! :)

Anyway, that's the scoop for now! I'll be back with a review next week. :)