It’s hard to believe that three weeks of the Penny Pinching Pantry Raid are behind me already! While I have had to make a few exceptions along the way for some family events and our camping trip (as I had planned from the beginning), I have managed to stick to the program for the majority of the time.
Because we were on our camping trip last Wednesday, I did not get to pick up my CSA share. So, I have been making due this week without the CSA (even though I deducted the cost from my budget in the beginning). I definitely noticed the difference with not having the veggies from the CSA. I prefer to cook with fresh produce, and I was struggling a bit without having a lot of produce to choose from. To make it through the week, I bought a few veggies at the grocery store and a local farm stand. I also picked some veggies from my garden:
- Hot cherry peppers
- Small purple bell pepper
- Poblano pepper
- Green beans
- Snap peas
- Yellow squash
What I cooked last week…
This past week, I found myself trying to use up some of the leftover food from our camping trip. I always have trouble planning for trips. I tend to try to account for every possible situation and end up packing way too much. That’s exactly what I did with the food on our camping trip. Fortunately, I had excluded the camping trip from my food budget for the month. While I did utilize leftovers from the trip for the rest of the week, I figure that I just about broke even on the budget since I had counted the cost of the CSA this week even though we didn’t actually get our share. You can decide for yourself! Either way, here are my meals from the past week…
- Wednesday (July 15th) – Campfire Cooking – hot dogs, mountain pies, and other leftovers on our last night at the cabins
- Thursday (July 16th) – Leftover sandwiches and veggies from camping (I know… you’re getting sick of reading about leftovers)
- Friday (July 17th) – Steak, poblano and squash sandwiches (recipe coming soon)
- Saturday (July 18th) – Burgers and fresh corn on the grill (wow – beef two nights in a row… I didn’t even notice that until I typed it here)
- Sunday (July 19th) – Chicken barbeque in the crock pot (recipe coming soon) with a quick cucumber salad dressed with Balsamic vinegar and olive oil
- Monday (July 20th) – Frittata made with apple maple chicken sausage (again, recipe coming soon) and black bean and corn salad to use up the leftover grilled corn (not eaten at the same time as the frittata)
- Tuesday (July 21st) – Cajun bean soup (recipe coming soon) and Irish Soda Bread (recipe from Kamran @ Sophisticated Gourmet)… It may sound like a strange combination, but it was delicious!
The budget…
Without further ado, here is what I bought over the weekend…
- 6 ears of corn from a local farm stand
- Cilantro
- Plum Tomatoes
- Red Bell Pepper
- Yellow Onions
- Smoked Andouille Sausage
- Red Kidney Beans
- Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
- Skim Milk
- Egg Substitute
So, this week’s total is $15.20 (thanks to a $2.00 off coupon at the grocery store)! That leaves me with $6.31 to spend until July 28th!
This may sound weird, but I find it quite interesting to read about what people eat during the week. It’s less boring than looking back at what I had during the week.
And you definitely have some garden! I wish we could keep a garden, but maybe that will happen when we move in August.
Also, thanks for mentioning my recipe! I really appreciate that. I am actually making a different soda bread recipe right now from one of my foodie friends’ great grandma from Ireland. I’ll tell everyone how that goes in a post on my blog.
I’m totally envious of that purple bell pepper. Is that really from your garden? I need to know what the variety is so I can buy a plant next year.
Also, I can’t believe you’ve been doing your $100 challenge for three whole weeks already! Times flies when you’re not the one being challenged, I know. Kinda like how much quicker everyone else’s pregnancies went than my own…lol
Awesome! I think you are doing great! It’s so hard to believe we have only 1 week left! Hang in there!
One week left and you’ve done remarkably well. Just looking at you menu from the past week, I’m feeling hungry again.
This is wonderful. My husband and I are moving in the end of August and we are going to be traveling around the world so we have to eat EVERYTHING in our refrigerator, freezer, and pantry before we move. Last night, I looked at all of the food we have left and I got a little freaked out. This is a brilliant idea and I sent a comment to Susan asking her whether I could borrow y’all’s idea in August and blog about it. I think blogging will keep me honest.
Your doing great with this! Good luck with the rest of the week!
Just thought I’d mention – the purple bell pepper was a variety called “Black Beauty” – I bought the plant at a local nursery. Check Burpee seed packs for a bell pepper variety that has multiple colors, including purple, white, yellow, and red. I planted those last year.