63 dollars and one amazing menu

Well, it's time to get things started. The six newlyweds have much in common, but let's start with the most mundane of all - food. Also the "enthusiast"part of some of us. :)

In looking at our budget last month, Rob and I noticed how much we spent on little grocery runs to get 2 missing ingredients for a meal (which always turns into buying 5 additional things you don't need). So this time, before we made our list we looked at what we needed to use up in our pantry and planned meals more in advance. We also made sure we were choosing recipes that overlapped in the ingredients we had to buy.

At least Chandra is interested in our menu, so this is for you, dearest.

KEY: what we made (what we had in the pantry that we were trying to get rid of)

• lasagne (lasagne noodles)
• thai noodle stirfry dish (rice noodles) - this dish is so easy and yummy! I'll have to post...
• pasta salad with chicken (canned chicken, noodles) - great for lunch
• black bean soup - this lasts FOREVER and is super yummy as leftovers with rice, chips, toast...
• chicken alfredo (noodles) - ok so we have a lot of noodles in our pantry :)
• shrimp and grits (grits)
• waffles and chicken (all baking ingredients + new amazing waffle iron!)
• steamed green beans with potatoes and onions, and cornbread (cornmeal; and My Helpful Hint - always buy the produce that's on sale as opposed to deciding beforehand)

And for snacks, I'm baking banana bread (a bag of 10 bananas on sale for $1.50!), jalepeno cheddar scones (just like I got in B-town, I hope!), yogurt with cereal and fruit (also a good dessert)

So the most wonderful part of this is that this menu (plus the occassional spaghetti night and quesadilla lunch) will last us at LEAST three weeks, 3 meals a day! And by using what we had and shopping at Fiesta we bought everything we needed for $63!! We were so proud of ourselves for planning and being smart shoppers, we are proudly displaying our receipt on our fridge. We bought a few of the meats and nicer things at the new HEB/Central Market for $35, but still that's like $100 on food for 3 weeks.

Hays win!

Curious about your standard meals. I hear the Warmaths are making homemade tortillas. And there's no telling what the Big Sister is cooking for meals now that she's got a few more hours in her day. :)

And here's one picture from St. Thomas, just for fun... :)