Mar 4, 2013 |
Ever since WinCo discovered my WinCo Wins and Meal Planning posts, we’ve had a wonderful relationship. They let me share my Food and Savings posts. I get to share their incredibly low prices. It’s a Win-Win situation for everyone!
For the last two months, I’ve strived hard to provide hearty, healthy meals for my family while saving money.
One benefit I’ve discovered is when I eat healthy, I eat less. I can pack in two cheeseburgers, a large fries, and a Shamrock shake in fifteen minutes or less when I’m hungry. My breakfast of choice will always be the McDonald’s Sausage McMuffin with Egg.
My Favorite From McDonald’s
But when I eat healthy, the nutrition fills me up so I don’t blimp out. Being an unofficial spokesperson for WinCo makes me more aware of my food budget. I want to do them proud! After all, WinCo is responsible for these great savings.
For March, I took inventory of my pantry and freezer and realized I needed to buy very little. With plenty of frozen meats and leftovers from the previous Meal Plans, the bulk of my food shopping went to healthy lunch items.
How does lunch for under a dollar sound to you? It sounds like a Win-Win to me!
WinCo Wins!
I bought five dozen eggs for $5.84. That’s less than $0.10 each! The string cheese? $0.12 each. Flour tortilla: $0.20. Celery and carrot: about $0.15 total. And the yogurt? This is the most expensive item, ringing up an entire half dollar. Where else could you get such a healthy, delicious, filling lunch for less than a buck and change?
Oh, the coffee? Not to worry. I use my recyclable Starbucks cup and fill it from home.
Protein. Dairy. Veggies. Grains. And coffee.
As you can see, This Girl is all about the savings without giving anything up.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 29, 2012
Well, it’s the last week of March and here’s the rest of what we’ve been eating:
March 17th was Dot’s best friend’s birthday and we celebrated at the local bowling lanes. His family brought four kinds of Pizza Hut pizza, buffalo wings, soda, water, and cupcakes! Everything was taken in moderation, and we bowled off the calories as soon as we ate them.
18th: My birthday dinner at Mom’s! Corned beef, cabbage, and boiled vegetables along with bread rolls. And for desert, Chocolate Cherry Cake! It’s tradition!
19th: Leftovers.
20th: Dot took me to see George Clooney’s “The Descendants” at the dollar theatre, so we splurged and went through the drive-thru at Jack in the Box. I ordered a Chicken Pita Sandwich. It was delicious!
21st: Dot was at her grandparents for the day. She came home early enough for dinner so we ordered a $10 Pizza Hut box. It was too cheesy, not too warm, and so not fulfilling. More and more, I feel yucky when I don’t stick to the Homecooked Meal Plan.
22nd: We ate healthy snacks all day and met friends in the evening for the midnight showing of “The Hunger Games”. Dinner consisted of Starbucks, popcorn and jalapenos, and fruit snacks.
23rd: Not feeling too good after last night’s fare. Tonight’s Meal Memo called for Schwan’s Seasoned Stuffed Chicken Breasts. I also shredded lettuce for a plain salad, and toasted garlic bread in the oven. It was delicious, and I feel so much better after last week’s junk food bonanza!
24th: Since last night’s chicken was gone in one meal, today I made Hamburger Helper’s Stroganoff and just heated up a bag of frozen green beans. It was really delicious, and there’s plenty leftovers for tomorrow.
25th: Well, Dot ate her leftovers for lunch. But I had a late breakfast of scrambled eggs. So I had my leftovers for dinner.
26th: This morning’s Memo called for Potstickers on a bed of rice. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thrilled. So we opted for the healthy chicken nugget bucket at McDonald’s… where they prompted screwed up my order again. That’ll teach me.
27th: Leftovers since we saw The Hunger Games again.
28th: Finally gonna make the Potstickers and rice tonight. It will be a yummy casual dinner.
That means we’ll have enough leftovers on this for the next two days, which finishes out the month of March.
I didn’t stick to the Jar Plan every day. And on the days I relied on fast food or whatever I could find, those days (and the next!), I felt pretty yucky. So I know I need to cook much more often. Even if it’s just little things. I also realized I put too many Memos in the Jar. Most of the meals offered leftovers that I didn’t originally account for. Which right now is a good thing, because that means I know have Meal Memos for April.
I’m going to change April’s schedule: I’ll put in the same amount of Meal Memos, but include “white” cards (blanks) for the days we decide to eat out or order pizza. I’ll make sure we only have one of these each week. That means six homecooked meals a week.
I’m feeling pretty good about that.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 1, 2012
I’m not always good at meal planning. I forget to defrost the meat in time. Some days I’m too hungry to wait an hour or more for cooking. I get so busy that I just throw quick things together.
And you know what? I hate it. I had the three-week virus-turned-cough that drained any energy from me for days on end. February was also an otherwise busy month and I missed having dinners ready shortly after Dot got home from school. The kind that also provides those really good leftovers instead of “whatever-you-can-find” foods. Some days I didn’t cook at all and we opted for the semi-healthy fish taco take-out … or worse. Fast food at its finest.
And you know what? I. Hated. It.
I know I have enough in my dry goods pantry and in the freezer to make meals for the month. To be good at it would just take a little strategic planning. And fun.
So here we go.
Invariably, whenever I make a monthly meal plan, it gets waylaid by Day Ten. Things come up. Plans change. And the refrigerated meat I bought three days earlier is now starting to turn. Eww, right?!
So I came up with this great idea. One that will add family fun to the March meals. One that will make sure I take the meat out of the freezer in time. One that incorporates side dishes too.
First, I made sure whatever foods I bought at the first of the month could either be frozen or stored in the pantry. I also kept an “allowance” available for the periodic fresh shopping throughout the month.
Then I had to figure out how many meals to plan for. This is where my basic math skills come into play. Let’s see… 31 days in March. But we don’t always eat together at home. At least once a week, we eat at my mom’s. Twice a month we also eat out. That’s six days. About half of these meals will allow for next-day leftovers. So 31 minus six divided by two less leftovers… that’s just over two weeks worth of meals to really plan out. Round it up to three weeks to include a change of plans or extra meals for company… Hey, I can do that!
To make things more fun, I took some colored index cards and cut them in half. On each one, I wrote a main dish and side dish. For those meals that require fresh produce, I made a note on the bottom of the card so I’d be sure to stop at the store that day. I also noted whether this meal should provide leftovers (also good to know for the days we’re having company).
Once I started, I was amazed at how little time and effort it took to really make a meal plan for an entire month!
My plan is, each morning before we leave the house, I’ll let Dot pull a card from the Meal Jar, and whatever that card says is what I make for dinner that night. No exceptions. No trades. And no more excuses about not defrosting the meat on time. [The only exception would be if we’re having company which would necessitate a meal that offered more servings such as possible leftovers.]
With a little decorative label and a ribbon, my jar will be as pretty as it is functional.
I’m looking forward to a month of healthy, thought-out, ready to cook meals.
And you know what? I think I’m gonna love it.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
