Tightening the Belt (but only metaphorically)

Most of you know that I have and ADORE eMeals. If you're tired of trying to think of what to feed your family all of the time, I highly recommend it! It's healthy, easy, and they make your shopping list for you! I don't have an affiliate link, and it does me no good to tell you that, but I'm telling you... Go to Groupon and other similar sites until you find a good deal on breakfast, lunch, and dinner for six months. Save all of the menus and shopping lists. You can change dinner menus (there is only one breakfast and lunch menu) every month, so try a few and you'll end up with a variety at the end of the six months. They try to use seasonal produce a lot, so if you do it for a year, then that's even better. Also, they send out periodic special menus, like a dessert menu on Valentine's and a full meal menu for Thanksgiving and Easter.

But I digress.

Since James has been out of work, I've been doing groceries a little differently. First of all, I haven't been using Instacart (that *is* an affiliate link; use it and you save $10 on your first order AND get free delivery!), since, although it's affordable, you can't take advantage of in-store sales with their service. Instead, I've been going to Randall's and buying only what's on sale.

For instance, I'll start in the produce aisle and last week got a treat when all of the berries were on sale! Strawberries were only $1.25 and blackberries and blueberries were $2.50. I ended up putting them all together, and we've had fruit salad a couple of times this week. This coming week, my parents will be here and want to take us shopping. Personal watermelons are on sale $2.50, avocados are only $1.25, and bagged salads are $2.50, too. So we'll start there. :)

Then, I go back to the lunch meat kind of area. I start at their "ah, crap this is about to expire" stuff and can usually get a few Lunchables or Hormel Revs or whatever those protein things are that have meat, cheese, and nuts on sale half off.

After that, I hit the manager's "specials" (again: expiring) at the meat counter. I've gotten some dang good deals, and today cooked 14 drumsticks that I bought for under $2. They were delicious!

Meat for the week in hand, I think of what might complement the protein and go look at the dairy sales. There are usually at least a couple of cheeses on sale, and maybe even half off if they're expiring. Also, there are two other sales kiosks near the refrigerated stuff.

Anyway, all of that to say (I'm ready for sleep!) that I'm spending about $60-80 per trip instead of $150-180 per delivery. This will last us at least a week, sometimes longer. Plus we are still eating out a bit, but only if we have coupons or there is a special. 

It's sort of fun, and I'm having great luck just Googling stuff like "mushrooms, bacon, spinach." Ooh, stuffed mushrooms?! Yes, please! Or the other day "skillet chicken thighs" came up with this awesome creamy balsamic chicken. Tonight, I Googled "baked drumsticks" and found this, which was easy and delicious. I did all 14 of them, so we have 8 for left-overs.

Tonight, I also made biscuits with chocolate gravy, and we finished up that berry mix I mentioned before. Kind of an unmatched meal, but it worked. For lunch, I used left-over shredded chicken and beef broth from the freezer, the rest of a package of frozen mixed veggies, left-over black beans (had used half a can for something yesterday), the rest of a package of frozen onion, some frozen green beans, cumin, garlic powder, and pepper to make some awesome chicken tortilla soup.

So, we're making it work. I'll be glad when James is working again; we needs us some income! But figuring ways to make money stretch farther is also kind of fun.

Night, humans!