Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Budgeting Days

I went shopping again.  On a Saturday again.  And it wasn’t that bad!  I seriously never went weeks without grocery shopping like I do now.  I guess mix 2 parts being too scattered to think with 1 part being cognizant of what I’m spending, stir it up, and realize that there are ways to feed yourself without having to shop every week.

Sticking to a food budget is hard, but I love the accountability with Project:Food BudgetBut I really do appreciate the P:FB is keeping me honest and makes me really think about where I’m spending money when it comes to what I’m buying.  I’m sad to see this end.

I’ve been doing a lot of simple cooking with tomatoes, herbs, and pasta.  I’ve become addicted to a tomato pasta recipe from Jamie Oliver.  Tom Totin gifted me a cookbook when I was on his show (all episodes here!) and it stole my heart.

Jamie Oliver's summer tomato and herb pasta

My total bill at Giant Eagle this week was $36.69.  On Wednesday, even though I packed lunch, I went to Panera with my coworkers and spent $10.57 (total rip off!) which makes this week’s total $47.26/$50.

I am most excited to use up more of my zucchini, the only thing my garden is producing, and make a batch of these zucchini brownies.  There’s no oil or eggs (just bananas and apple sauce) and just a small bit of sugar (I cut down to about 1 1/4 cup), but you get deliciously tender, slightly fudgy, just a little spongy brownies.  I’m talking Stand-In-The-Kitchen-Eating-Straight-From-The-Pan good.

I also picked up some ingredients for a beef ramen.  I have the recipe from a Blue Apron box delivery and I thought I’d recreate it a little myself.  I didn’t go crazy buying weird mushrooms and miso paste, but I figure I can use what I have.  I’m also substituting broccoli rabe for bok choy because I couldn’t find a reasonably sized bok choy and I don’t like it that much to use 60 pounds of it.

How are you doing with your food budget?  Check out these budget badasses for more inspiration! Emily Levenson / McGinnis and Bean / Red Pen Mama / Seeking White Space / Gardening in High Heels / Melissa Firman / Copy & Post / Shea Lennon / Warm as Pie / Two Eggs Over Easy

The time I went shopping on Monday

If last week’s discovery that shopping on Saturday morning isn’t met with much terror, let me be the 500,000,000th person to tell you do not (I repeat, do not under any circumstances) go to Giant Eagle on Monday after work.

Sticking to a food budget is hard, but I love the accountability with Project:Food Budget

No good can come from it.

Picture me saying that like Carrie Bradshaw in the “The Post-It Always Sticks Twice” episode of SATC when she’s talking about men.

There are still some things left over from last week’s trip and I only needed a few things, mostly just part-skim ricotta cheese for these lemon chia muffins that I adore from Table for Two.  I thought I would be in and out.

Insert frazzled-looking animal meme saying, “Only needs one item, she said. It’ll be a breeze, she said.”

I ended up grabbing a few other things: bananas so I can let them go bad and make Emily’s banana bread, eggs because I use them in waves and I’m currently in a high-egg-volume time, mango, and the best yogurt known to man AKA Liberte.

That was my splurge for the week (and it was on sale).  Seriously, if you haven’t tried Liberte yogurt, you do not know what you’re missing out on.  It’s almost as delicious as ice cream and a serious afternoon pick-me-up.

So this week, I spent a grand total of $14.49 out of $50 for Project:Food Budget 2015.

It’s almost not even worth mentioning because it wasn’t even a “real” shopping trip.

Up on the menu this week will be salmon burgers from the freezer, chicken tacos from today’s left overs, pork stir fry from left overs, and a dinner mooched off of my father that will no doubt result in more left overs.

Thus wraps up the month where I only wrote about grocery shopping.  While you’re anxiously awaiting me to return to a more regular schedule, check out these budgeting beauties: Emily Levenson / McGinnis and Bean / Rainaldi.org / Red Pen Mama / Erra Creations / Seeking White Space / facepalmmama / Gardening in High Heels / Melissa Firman / Copy & Post / Shea Lennon / Warm as Pie / Two Eggs Over Easy

How are you doing with your budget?

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