I can't believe it's already halfway through January.  I try and get these menu posts up early in the month but January is flying by!  Last month we spent $263 on our groceries... a little over budget goal of $50 a week, but not too bad.  This month I've already gone grocery shopping twice so I've included more photos and more menu options.  From now on I'm not going to list everything.  I'll only list the things that aren't obvious, or include if I have a special note about it.

A lot of the stuff I bought this month was for making Gwyneth some super healthy baby food.  The carrots, broccoli, green beans, kale, sweet potatoes, apples, and beets were all for her.


This photo is of my shopping from this morning.  I got lots of veggies, some healthy lunch options, eggs for making pasta, and some snacks for Gwyn.


Buying stuff in the bulk section is saving us a lot of money.  It's a great way to get lots of Organic grains, pasta, and spices without spending a ton.


Gwyneth's drinking Organic milk now which is definitely an expensive (but important) purchase. 

One easy way to make your herbs last longer is to trim and rinse them right away.  Then, while they are still wet, wrap them gently in a paper towel and seal them in a small storage container.  They will stay fresh a lot longer.

On our menu this month: 
-Chicken Enchiladas
-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Chili Beans
-Turkey Burgers and oven baked fries
-Thai Soba Noodle Bowl (I didn't love the way this turned out so I bought more ingredients for it this week and will post an adapted recipe as soon as I can)
-Red Beans and Rice Kyle made a vegetarian version for me because I'm not eating red meat for the next few months (I go through a vegetarian phase every year)
-Tacos
-Roasted Chicken and Potatoes (already had the chicken in the freezer)
-Grilled Kale Caesar Salad and Roasted Sweet Potatoes
-Ravioli from scratch (I was going to make my Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Ravioli but the store was out of Butternut squash so I'm going to try a version with sweet potato)
-Spicy Vegetarian Chili (this chili is delicious but HOT. Do not add more chipotle then it says... you may even want to do less)
-White Bean Soup

Happy cooking!

I got so much feedback last month about my grocery shopping post so I thought, at least for the time-being, I would stick with this style of menu.  Last month, we spent a total of $279 on groceries (not including Thanksgiving) which also included $35 Organic baby formula for Gwyneth.  Which is pretty great!  My goal is $50 a week but, honestly, I'm pretty happy with $70 a week.  I did two big grocery shopping trips with dinners in mind and we picked up little things inbetween.  

We are really struggling to make ends meet... actually, I think it's safe to say we are not making ends meet.  As challenging as that is, I am finding that grocery shopping on an extreme budget is helping me feel somewhat in control of our financial situation.  It feels great to spend so little and still be able to cook so many wonderful, healthy and delicious dinners for my family.  I did have to buy mostly non-Organic produce this month but at least all of Gwyneth's food is Organic!

Here's a look at this months first trip to the store.  This should last us a couple of weeks.  I spent $86 on...

Onions: I bought eleven onions for the month.  I use onions in lots of soups and scrambles.  They are an easy way to add a lot of flavor.

Eggs: Our farm egg connection is hit and miss these days so I bought one dozen eggs (they weren't on sale). 

Chicken Thighs: I bought two packages of chicken thighs because they were on sale.  (Last month I bought bone in skin on breasts so I still have lots of breasts in the freezer).  I plan on using some to make paella and I will freeze the rest.  I spent $13 on 26 thighs.

Yogurt: Lowfat plain yogurt for me and whole maple yogurt for Gwyneth.  Both on sale.

Mozzarella cheese: for Vegetarian French Onion Soup.  I'm not using it until next week but it was on sale this week so I bought it.  You can buy cheese pretty far in advance and leave don't open it until you need it.

Cream cheese and heavy cream: for making cheesecake when we had guests.

Lemons: I always buy tons of lemons.  I use them when roasting chicken, making hot toddy's and cozy evening drinks.

Feta, cheddar and parmesan cheese: for topping lots of dishes.  The Parmesan and cheddar were on sale.

Beets, parsnips, turnip, carrots, shallots: for roasting.

Crimini mushrooms: I love making risotto.  Mushroom risotto is really easy and inexpensive and the leftovers are great.

Eggplant and zucchini: For roasting, serving with pasta.

Green Apples: I love green apples.  Ever since I was pregnant I make toast with peanut butter and have green apple.  They don't have them Organic.  Lord knows what's on them if they don't even grow them Organic.  But, I love them.

Potatoes: a big bag of Organic potatoes.  Great for baking, mashing, adding to soups, making baked fries, etc.

13 Bean Soup Mix:  I bought this in the bulk section for making soup.

Pasta: it was on sale so I stocked up.

Milk

With all these things I bought I will be able to make the following:  Hot Toddy's, Vegetarian 13 Bean Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup,  Tuna Noodle Casserole, Vegetarian French Onion Soup, Mushroom Risotto with Peas, Roasted Root Vegetables with Goat Cheese and Honey (I adapted this recipe from Tyler Florence's cookbook Tyler's Ultimate), roasted eggplant and zucchini over pasta with red sauce, Baked Spaghetti with Mushrooms, Salted Caramel Cheesecake, egg scrambles. 

Again, I'd love your thoughts!  I also have to apologize for not posting ANY recipes last month.  To be honest, things have been a bit overwhelming around here.  Gwyneth's nap schedule is changing, she's been waking up around 5a.m., she may or may not be getting a cold and/or teething, and I've been struggling to get everything done.  I love this blog and it provides me with a creative outlet so I'm doing my best to find time to blog but, if I'm a bit MIA over the next couple of weeks, forgive me!

To see tips from last month, click here.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

I thought I would try something a little different this month.  We were able to keep our food budget really low last month and I wanted to do it again this month (aiming to spend about $50 each week or $200 for the whole month).  Most of the responses I've gotten to my Monthly Menus has been, "How do you only spend $50 a week?".  I love putting together menus from my cookbooks but, especially lately, it's just not affordable to do all of my recipes out of my favorite cookbooks or from my favorite foodie blogs.  On the other hand, I got pretty bored last month only eating potatoes and beans!  Today I decided to go to the store with no list.  I decided just to buy veggies that are fresh and organic and in season (and local when possible) and only buy protein that was on sale.  I tried to let the food inspire the meals.  I took my time and walked around slowly thinking over what I could use each ingredient for.  I'm sure I will use some of my cookbooks for a special dinner here or there but this is for basic, healthy meals.  I hope this is somewhat instructive or inspiring...

Bread: I usually buy Dave's Killer Sprouted Grain Bread but at $5 a loaf it's too much for us right now.  These whole grain loaves were on sale.  I froze one.

Eggs: Our farm egg connection is hit and miss these days so I bought two dozen Organic, Free-Range eggs on sale. 

Split Chicken Breasts: Buying your chicken breasts with bone in and skin on is a great way to save money.  They are way less expensive and I actually prefer them too the boneless skinless kind.  You can roast them, peel the skin off and cut them from the bone and they are moist and great for shredding for salads or pureeing into baby food, making chicken salad, enchiladas etc.  These packages of four large breasts were about $6 each.  They were on sale for $1.29/lb so I bought two and froze one. 

Tofu: Organic tofu for Gwynnie.  Not on sale.

Local, Grass Fed Ribeye Steak:  I bought one for us to share.  It was on sale.

Vanilla Yogurt: Kyle uses this with granola that I make. Not on sale.

Ben and Jerry's:  Okay, so I splurged a little.  I've been waiting for weeks for this to go on sale so I could but the Red Velvet flavor and they were finally on sale.  Really, I saved money by not buying them before!

Organic, Local Beets: Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet.  Maybe something like this, or maybe just roasted up with honey?

Organic, Local Kale:  I'll use this in egg scrambles, make Kale Chips and indoor Kale Ceasar Salad.

Organic Yellow and Red Onions:  For scrambles, soups and everything else

Organic Zucchini: For Gwyneth and for egg scrambles

Organic Broccoli: For Gwyneth and for egg scrambles and snacking

Organic, Local Mushrooms: For Portobello Sandwiches

Organic, Local Celery Root: I'm going to make soup from this.  Never done it before!

Organic, Local Leek: For making soup with the celery root.

Organic Sweet Potatoes:  I'm going to bake these up for us and Gwyneth.

Organic Bell Peppers: For Portobello Sandwiches

Frozen Organic Corn and Edamame: For Gwyneth

Organic Lettuce, Organic Potatoes, Organic Garlic

With all these things I bought I will be able to make the following:  Baked Potatoes (my recipe coming soon), sauteed veggie egg scrambles, Celery Root and Leek Soup, Enchiladas, Portobello Sandwiches (my recipe coming soon),  Grilled Kale Ceasar Salad (with chicken), black bean quesadillas, steak and salad, roasted beets or a Fall version of this, Kale Chips, Potatoes Au Gratin (my recipe coming soon), Veggie Pasta, Baked Sweet Potates, Chicken Salad Sandwiches (my recipe coming soon), and hopefully more!  We obvisouly have some things already at the house, pasta, beans, tortillas, broths and other pantry items that will supplement this weeks shopping.  All the veggies I bought should last us through the next couple of weeks, and the protein should last for a few.  I only spent $105! $33 was spent on protein and $61 was spent on Organic veggies and $11 on other stuff (bread and icecream).  I'll obviously have to add a few things throughout the month to get us through, milk, fresh veggies, fruit, etc. but this solid grocery trip is a great start to a month of healthy eating.

I'd love your thoughts on this style of menu making!!  Is it helpful to see what I bought and how I plan to use it?  I know that for a lot of people the idea of going to the grocery store with no list is not doable.  I'm hoping that with my menu ideas above you may be able to make a list while also seeing how I do it on such a tight budget.  What are your favorite meals to prepare when you're on a budget?  I'd really love feedback about this! Happy cooking!

October Menus

Roasted Eggplant with Za'Atar Pizza

We are so excited to get back to cooking this month in the new kitchen.  We are nearly done and I promise to share it with you as soon as possible!  There are a couple of considerations headed into this months menus... now that I don't have my weekly income, we will be eating on a very tight budget.  We are going to be aiming to spend no more than $50 on groceries.  We've done it before and it feels great to find ways to save money at the store.  The other consideration is that our cookbooks are still packed up in a box in the garage with the majority of our kitchen stuff so this menu consists of recipes already on the blog/online!  Since I'm posting these a little late there's only three weeks of menus but we will be back in full cooking mode by the end of the month and I promise to post fantastic November menus!

October 10th-15th
Mon: Healthy 13 Bean Soup with Kacie's Garlic Bread
Tues: Leftovers
Wed: Vietnamese Salad with Tofu
Thurs: Leftovers
Fri: Baked Potatoes
Sat: Leftovers

October 16th-22nd
Sun: Kacie's Vegetarian French Onion Soup
Mon: Leftovers
Tues: Tacos
Wed: Leftovers
Thurs: Linguini with Pea Pesto
Fri: Portobello Sandwiches
Sat: Leftovers

October 23rd-29th
Sun: Roasted Eggplant with Za'Atar Pizza
Mon: Leftovers
Tues: Tuna Noodle Casserole
Wed: Leftovers
Thurs: Fettucini Alfredo with Kacie's Garlic Bread
Fri: Leftovers
Sat: Kacie's Quiche

Octbober 30th-31st
Sun: Hunter's Minestrone
Mon: HALLOWEEN!  Candy for dinner... we'll probably go out for pizza.

This month I'll post my recipes for Healthy 13 Bean Soup and my family's favorite Lemon Ginger Drink that is perfect for this time of year!  Happy, cozy cooking!

August Menus

Skirt Steak with Bloody Mary Tomato Salsa from July Menus

Hope you guy enjoyed last months menu.  I loved using My Father's Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow all month.  Have any of you had a chance to check it out?  There are so many great recipes in it.  This month I'll be using it again, along with Tyler's Ultimate (Tyler Florence) and my favorite online foodie sites and some of my own recipes.  Here you go!

August 3rd-6th
Thurs: Grilled veggie salad with pine nuts, craisins and goat cheese
Fri: Linguini with Pea Pesto
Sat: Roasted Eggplant with Za'Atar Pizza (might do a grilled version if it's warm out!)

August 7th-13th
Sun: late lunch/early dinner at Fire on the Mountain
Mon: Chicken Thighs with Wide Butter Noodles, Fennel, and Grapes (Tyler's Ult p.142)
Tues: Tuna Noodle Casserole (with leftovers for Kyle)
Weds: Kacie and G out of town
Thurs:-
Fri: Kacie and G home late
Sat: 2nd Wedding Anniversary and Marion & Co. in town.  Somethin' special!

August 14th-20th
Sun: Lemon Fish and Grilled Corn Polenta
Mon: Dinner out
Tues: Sicilian-Style Spaghetti (Tyler's Ult p.168) and Kacie' Garlic Bread
Weds: Gazpacho (Father's D p.62 ) and Garlic Croutons
Thurs: Grilled Tuna Rolls
Fri: Leftovers
Sat: Grilled Fish and Grilled Eggplant with Lemon, Yogurt, Pomegranate and Mint (Tyler's Ult p.210)

August 21st-27th
Sun: Chicken and Dumplings (Father's D p.159)
Mon: Leftovers
Tues: The Ultimate Ratatoille (Tyler's Ult p.210) with Kacie' Garlic Bread
Weds: Sunny Eggs and Mustard Creamed Chard
Thurs: Leftovers (make Weds dinner fresh again)
Fri: Cold Nicoise Salad (Father's D p.83)
Sat: Leftovers

August 28-31st
Sun: Cheesy Stuffed Burgers (Father's D p.99)
Mon: Leftovers
Tues: Fried Sole Sandwiches with Spicy Mayo and Pickles (Father's D p. 113)
Weds: Leftovers
This month I'll share my recipes with you for my Grilled Veggie Salad and Garlic Croutons and I'll have an update on my Margarita Recipe... before it was for one drink and I now have perfected the recipe to make a whole pitcher of mix.

Happy cooking.

I'm a week late posting the menus!  Sorry.  Man, these summer weeks just fly by.  In the summer I love to keep things really simple, cook with what's available, in season, local and fresh so some of the menu items may seem a bit vague because they will be "in the moment" kind of cooking days.  Also... to keep things simple I'm using my recipes, some recipes from online foodie blogs and only one cookbook.  This month I'm using Gywneth Paltrow's cookbook, My Father's Daughter. 

 I'm totally obsessed with it.  The recipes are easy, light, adaptable, fun and healthy.  The cookbook is very in sync with my style of laid back cooking and everything we've made from it so far has been really delicious!  I got it on Amazon for under $20.  All of the recipes from this cookbook are in red.

July 10-16th

Sunday: Skirt Steak with Bloody Mary Tomato Salad

Monday: Aglio, Olio e Pepperoncino (spaghetti w/chopped: garlic, parsley and tomatoes, olive oil and crushed red pepper)

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Tuna and Ginger Burgers

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Date night!  Harry Potter Finale!  Popcorn and M&M's for dinner! ;-)

Saturday: BBQ'd chicken and Italian Chopped Salad

July 17th-23rd

Sunday: Chicken Milanese and Slow-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Linguini with Pea Pesto

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Mini-vacation!

Friday: -

Saturday: -

Sunday: Home from mini-vacation!

July 24th-31st

Sunday: Strawberry and Leek Quesadillas 

Monday: BBQ'd something and grilled summer veggies

Tuesday: Leftover BBQ'd something and Simple Summer Beat Salad

Wednesday: Bruce Paltrow's World-Famous Pancakes (recipe below) and eggs

Thursday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches and  

Friday:  Grilled fish and Panzanella with Roasted Peppers, Tomatoes and Basil

Saturday: Steak and Kacie's Fennel Coleslaw

Copied from www.goop.com...

Bruce Paltrow’s World Famous Pancakes

• 3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons fine salt
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, plus more butter for cooking
• 6 organic large eggs
• Up to 1 cup milk, as needed to thin batter
• Real Vermont maple syrup, warmed

Whew, okay, so I'm posting this a week late but I'm really excited about it!  We both have finals this week and everything is a bit crazy. But, as soon as this week is over, I will be done with classes for the year and Kyle will get to take a few weeks off from studying!  Now, back to the cooking... Spring and summer are my favorite cooking seasons.  I love grilling veggies and simple meats, making fresh salads and light dinners.  Most of the recipes this month are from my own kitchen and I promise recipes for the rest of the dishes (Baked BBQ Chicken, Turkey Tacos, Pizza, Grilled Shrimp and Veggie Salad, Butternut Squash Pasta Salad, Quinoa burritos and Chicken Salad Sandwiches) over the next couple of months. Happy eating...

Kacie's Coleslaw

6/8-6/11

This month I'll post my recipes for Coleslaw and BLT's!  I'm also going to experiment making Ginger Ale so I'll let you know how that goes!

It's been a month and a half since Kyle and I set out on our Spring Detox/Budget Crackdown.  In a nutshell, we made the commitment to be really active and eat healthy everyday and to reduce our grocery budget in half for the month of April!   Major goals!  So how did we do?  Pretty great actually!  

EXERCISE:  

THE GOAL: Our goals for exercising are... to do something active (workout, go for a walk, shoot some hoops) five days out of the week.  Rain or shine.  No matter what.  

THE RESULT:

Okay, so we weren't active every single day, but I went for lots of walks, did some dance cardio and spent less time sitting on my bum.  Kyle works so hard during the day at the brewery that he is active without having to try!  It helps that the weather is starting to improve and we've been getting outside more.  I've been walking with Poppy to ballet and to pick her up from school and this weekend I went for a four hour walk!  Yeah, seriously.  It was soooo nice out and the lilacs were in bloom and Gwynnie was wearing her finest Parisian ensemble and all I wanted to do was to be outside so I just... kept... walking!  I was hoping to keep my back pain at bay by increasing my activity.  Unfortunately, despite my efforts, my back pain is returning with a vengeance.  It's incredibly frustrating and disappointing.  The fact that I have seriously considered getting pregnant again (which includes the whole giving birth thing) in order to alleviate it is an indication of how bad it is.  I'm back to slapping on icy-hot patches and popping ibuprofen every night and squirming all over the place because I can't sit still.  Not sure what to do now... I have no real desire to become like that weird mom with the 20 kids so I'll have to find some other remedy that doesn't involve pregnancy!

A great bonus to the healthy eating is that I dropped the last of my pregnancy weight!  From 131 to 125 which is exactly what I weighed when I got pregnant.  I also lost one more inch on my waistline (from 37-28-37 to 37-27-37).  I have to admit it feels pretty great to be back to "my old self".  Growing up as a gymnast, dancer and diver I have always felt the best when I felt healthy and fit.  Here's a little snapshot of me now...

I can't believe it's already the last days of March.  I sat down this morning to plan out our April Menus.  The goal for this month is to eat as healthy as possible and to get a jump start on exercising.  Kind of a April Boot Camp to get a kick start on a super healthy and active summer.  If we don't do something we're gonna look like this... 

This morning Kyle pointed out to me that we are incredibly broke.  Like, really, really broke.  Like, can barely pay our bills broke.  We already live paycheck to paycheck but having a few thousand dollars in doc bills and taking a week off of work to go to Mexico (which was wonderful!) and having to pay for school and the new health insurance and... well, you get the point.  March expenses really put us in pinch, financially speaking, for spring.  After discussing the grocery budget with a few friends, it turns out that most of us spend between $400-$700 each month on our groceries.  The last three months we've spent about $475.  That's taking into account that we eat all organic, free range, etc. and we don't eat out often.  I love to cook and we love to eat at home together so our grocery budget kind of doubles as our entertainment budget.  Anyway, long story short, not only have I attempted to make super healthy April Menus, but I'm also hoping to only spend $50 per week!  Luckily, we recently stocked up at Costco so that should help us get by.  We won't be able to buy coffee and at $8 a pop, it looks like I might have to cut out wine.  Maybe.  Okay, probably not.

Our goals for eating are... for the entire month of April we are cutting out as much as possible of the following: fried foods, refined foods, processed foods, bad saturated fats and desserts/sugar.  

Our goals for exercising are... to do something active (workout, go for a walk, shoot some hoops) five days out of the week.  Rain or shine.  No matter what.  

Here's our April Menus!

This month I'll add recipes for Spanish Spinach and Grilled Kale Caesar Salad!

Here's to a healthy and inexpensive April!  I'll let you know how we do!

Chicken Saltimbocca and Sautéed Kale with Lemon and Olive Oil

I got such a enthusiastic response after my Menu Planning (in advance) post that I have made an entire list of my menus for the month of January.  This time, in an effort to make sure you could actually use the plans for your own lives, I focused on my "Food Network" cookbooks (since most of their recipes are available online), my own recipes (that are posted on the blog) and other recipes that are available online.  You should be able to copy a lot of the menus exactly or you can substitute wherever needed/wanted!  I've put little *'s next to the recipes that I just "make" (I'll get a move on posting these recipes so you'll have them in the future).  I tried to use just a few cookbooks this month so that it would be inexpensive to purchase them and use them!  I've just done my grocery shopping for the month and bought everything possible in advance so that all we have to do is zip to the store for the fresh ingredients.  I hope this makes your January a bit easier in the grocery shopping/menu planning/enjoyable dinner department.