Vegetarian Meal Plan // What's In My Fridge + Pantry

It's that time again -- MEAL PLANNING time. Yup. Today is March 1, so that mean we are getting more cash out of the bank to do the envelope system. And along with getting cash, I'm going grocery shopping for the entire month. Doing both of these things helped tremendously with our budget, and I plan to write a lot more about each.

Today, let's take a look into what food we are starting the month with:

DINNER PLANNING

This month's meals are split into the following categories:

• 20 weeknight meals
• 4 Friday pizza nights
• 4 Saturday sandwich nights
• 4 meals using up what we have

From there, I came up with what we'll eat:

• Veggie Bean Burgers FREEZER x 4 nights 
• Chickpea Curry DUMP x 2 nights 
• Pasta w/ tofu meatballs x 2 nights 
• Veggie-Loaded Quesadillas x 3 nights 
• Sloppy Lentil Sandwich DUMP x 2 nights 
• Breakfast for dinner x 3 nights 
• Ethiopian Slow Cooker Peanut Stew DUMP x 2 nights  
• Udon Noodle Tofu Stir-Fry w/ Frozen veggies x 2 nights

DUMP means that I plan to put all ingredients in a freezer bag, label it, and then pull it out + cook it the day we're eating it. I find when I cook ahead and then freeze, I never want to eat the meals. So, I'm thinking if it's made the day of, that might improve.

SHOPPING LIST

And for those of you who are interested, this is how my shopping list is shaping up. This isn't absolutely everything, but it accounts for everything we'll need to make the dinners above (along with a few other staples for the month).

• 3, 5-pound bags carrots
• 1 large head cauliflower
• 6 large sweet potatoes 
• 2 packages celery 
• 2 tubs baby spinach
• Garlic 
• Bag onions
• Pizza sauce x 2 
• Pasta sauce x 2  
• Olives x 3
• 4 cans black beans
• 12 cans chickpeas
• 4 28-ounce diced tomatoes
• 2 cans coconut milk 
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 2 large peanut butters
• 2 jelly (grape, strawberry) 
• Tortillas x 2 
• Hot sauce  
• Udon noodles x 2 
• Asian freezer veggies x 2 
• Tofu x 1 three pack 
• Large bag walnuts
• Quality bread flour
• Sugar
• Chocolate chips
• Package bread crumbs 
• Large container Goldfish
• Bag lentils      
• Curry powder
• Garam masala  
• Mustard powder
• 4 assorted non-dairy milks
• 6 tubs Greek yogurt 
• 4 packages sliced cheese
• 4 blocks cheese  
• Large pack cheese sticks
• 4 loaves seed bread
• 1 tub of oats
• 6 dozen eggs    

I am shopping at Aldi and Wegmans this month, and I'll be sure to share how I fare with the budget getting all this stuff. I'll also be back soon talking about the other meals we'll be eating this month (breakfasts, lunches, etc.), as well as some handy tips to make school lunches really fast + cheap.

PS: Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Read more...

Budget Life // Monthly Grocery Shopping

I shared over the weekend that I did my very first monthly grocery shopping trip. Phew. It took me two hours total -- which included driving from place to place -- so, it was definitely time-consuming. In the end, I think I really like this approach. I am going to need to see how it pans out for our meals this month (and for time savings overall). But this is the fun in sharing along the way.

Today I wanted to just cover some of the planning I did. I think I'll also do a video about the foods and meals we're making, but today I have a pretty bad cold. Nobody wants to watch me talk, sneeze, and sniffle, I assure you.

Money matters:

For those of you who are really interested, I have budgeted $500 a month for food total. I'd like to cut this lower, maybe to $400, but I thought I'd first see how it goes. The $350 goes to the month shop. And the remaining $150 is split up into $35 per week (this is on average throughout the year) for things that spoil.

Step zero: Clean your pantry and refrigerator.

I took out all the spoiled and expired foods and tossed, recycled what needed to go. I also spent a great deal of time organizing my pantry to see what foods we DID already have to put toward meal planning this month. Taking stock like this will help you avoid over-buying and purchasing duplicates.

Here's my current food situation after the shop. I hope to do a quick post on how I organized my pantry by spending a mere $9 at the Dollar Store. (And, no. This isn't looking good for our less waste goal.)

Step one: Plan meals. Loosely.

And I really mean loosely. February has just 28 days in the month. So, I wrote out a menu that would give us breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for four straight weeks. I kept the recipes familiar for this first month. Things that we normally cook and enjoy, where I know the ingredients almost by heart. Some meals are on repeat during the week or month. Others are more free flowing.

I plan to share more about my meal-planning approach when I do my video!

Oh, and I uncovered this older post where I go through and share my favorite 18 vegetarian pantry essentials at Aldi. It's definitely worth reading if you're new to the store or just want to know some of the items I like to buy most every time I shop there.

Step two: Write down all the food you need. 

And it can be dizzying. I discovered that we may actually eat close to 96 eggs a month! That's insane to me (Stephen eats 12 per week, I do about 8 and Ada does about 4)! 60 slices of bread. 8 cups of mozzarella. I mean, it's really just tallying up everything that goes into your recipes and snack and making a gigantic list.

I then organized my list (after this one) by store and by section. It just helped me go through the aisles faster.

(BTW: I mean bucatini noodles down there!)

Step three: Price it out.

Now, here's where I failed this month -- but it wasn't totally my fault. I intend to shop at several different stores to get the best prices on my food. I do know that some of the stuff we like is only at Wegmans. And with some of the family pack foods, they have good prices on larger quantities of things like frozen fruit. Wegmans has a handy app where I had planned to price out my food ahead of time, but for whatever reason, it wasn't working the day I needed to use it.

Alright, but what do you do for stores that don't offer an app? Take scrupulous notes.

I jotted down some prices at Aldi during my shopping trip so I can consult them before next month's trip. It's going to be a lot of trial and error. But the important thing with pricing out stuff ahead of time is so it jibes with the cash system. I don't want to get to the register and suddenly realize I don't have enough money and -- gasp -- have to use my card.

Step four: Go to the store prepared.

One of my Instagram followers promptly pointed out that I didn't bring enough reusable grocery bags on my trip. My bad. Yes. In the very days after posting our desire to be a less wasteful family, I brought home a bunch of plastic grocery bags.

The thing is, I didn't plan ahead. I've never done monthly shopping, though, so I can't be too hard on myself. Now that I do think I enjoy this process, I hopped on to Amazon and picked up this set of mesh grocery bags and some more bulk produce bags to take on my trips. Stephen also accidentally ran over my favorite folding market basket in the garage. So I may need to get another one of those.

Lesson learned.

Step five: Dive in!

I just went for it. I was kind of nervous about how this whole shopping once a month would go. I don't feel like I did my planning perfectly. I worried maybe I wouldn't get enough food. Or maybe I'd buy too much. But I ultimately decided that this was my first time. I was bound to have some successes and some failures. If I didn't try, though, I'd be annoyed.

Also: If you can, try to do this shopping trip alone. I asked Stephen to watch the kids because I wanted to concentrate and get things right. I think if I was wearing Eloise or having to tend to Ada, I may have gotten off track. Our Wegmans has a great kids space with free babysitting I may use in the future if Eloise is napping and Ada wants to come along for some of the ride.

Final notes:

I spent a grand total of $298 of my $350 monthly food budget this weekend. And actually $20 of this was on food for our Weekend Fund, so I still have just about $70 left of the monthly budget along with all of the $150 for the weekly stuff I divide up. I hope to not spend all of this and maybe pitch more to paying off our debt.

I'll be back with more thoughts and a video about the shopping experience -- as well as my review of the new cash envelope system I purchased on Etsy.

Read more...

Filling the Fridge

We returned home from Thanksmas to a completely empty refrigerator last night. Thank goodness for freezer meals! I was chatting with a friend yesterday about how quickly I’ve plowed through our frozen stash, but I still have a good number of veggie burgers, buns, and soups. Looks like I’ll need to do another BIG cooking weekend sometime in the near future, though.

Oh! We tried something new today. I went to Wegmans to do my shopping because Ada is now three, which means she can play in their kid area while I cruise the aisles. I know it may sound silly, but this is a tremendous help! Or, I guess in theory it will be. We showed up around 10AM and there was only one other child there. I got through the produce section and through part of the dairy and then my buzzer went off around 20 minutes after I had left her. I guess the boy’s mom picked him up and Ada got a little freaked out being all alone.

It was a good first try!

I haven’t updated you all on groceries in a while. I still shop at Aldi, but I’ve also been having good success saving money at Wegmans using their newly promoted Family Packs of all sorts of different ingredients. The store has started labeling these offerings using little yellow and red tags throughout the store. I’m not affiliated with Wegmans in any way, I’ve just been a customer there for a while, and I like seeing the deals right in front of me.

Here are some of the foods we can buy in "small bulk" quantities and get around the same prices we pay at Aldi.

Eggs 

(18 count = $4.49)

Mushrooms 

(24 ounces = $3.99)

Organic Spring Mix 

(16 ounces = $4.99)

Grape Tomatoes 

(1 quart = $3.99)

Red Pepper Hummus 

(32 ounces = $4.99)

MacIntosh Apples 

(8 pounds = $5.99)

Gallon milk 

($2.19)

Rolled Oats 

(2 pounds = $3.39)

I definitely bought over our budget this week ($109), but I also bought a lot of food that will likely last into next week. Regardless, I’m going to try and balance going to Wegmans with shopping at Aldi about every other week. I love Aldi -- but the variety of Wegmans is certainly appealing and good to mix in so we don’t get too tired of eating similar meals. I also tend to have more trouble being spontaneous with cooking in winter, so I like filling the fridge with new foods.

And, yes. That’s 2% American cheese you spy in the dairy drawer. I’m not ashamed to admit that I love eating it on grilled cheese and we give it to Ada, too, since it’s the only cheese she’ll tolerate between two slices of bread as well. I found this cool article on The Kitchn about how to make American cheese at home, and I’m certainly intrigued. Has anyone tried making it? (Or does anyone else enjoy how it tastes?)

Another benefit of hitting Wegmans? Tofu! We don’t cook with it much anymore, but I’m going to make some Baked Sesame Garlic Tofu. Or maybe toss it in a stir-fry. Earth Balance! For all that cookie baking I’ll be doing this month. And protein powder. I decided on Plant Fusion in Chocolate. I also got lured in by the individual cups of flavored Greek yogurt. I know they’ve got extra sugar and aren’t price-savvy, but it’s been far too long since I’ve indulged. Also: Sparkling water. I love it. Pomegranate is my favorite flavor.

How do you guys mix up your grocery shopping for the best prices and variety? 

Now off to boil some eggs!


Like what you just read? Browse more of our posts + recipes on Pinterest. You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Grocery Budget: Month Report

I didn't do quite as well as I had imagined for our total monthly grocery budget. I had been trying to stick to a $60 average. By the end of the month, I needed to stock up on some more costly staples, like maple syrup and Earth Balance.

Here's a brief rundown of the month's costs:

Aldi Trips 1 + 2 = $106 

Wegmans Trip 1: $20

Aldi Trip 3: $70

Aldi Trip 4: $55*

Wegmans Trip 2: $40 

TOTAL MONTH: $291 ($72.75/week)

Still, I'm proud of my progress from when we were keeping track. And I'm certainly happy with our Aldi shopping experience. Some of you have been asking for specific recipes I've made with all Aldi foods, so I'll be working on that. Others are wondering what the best bets and things to avoid are.

* I don't have my receipt (what we bought is in the cart below) because we've been cleaning our house so much, I think I tossed it. Actually, the grand total was $80, but that included a box of 96 diapers for Ada at $25. Yes, we use disposables now . . . and it's a long story that will hopefully end in potty training soon!


BEST BETS

• Greek Yogurt
• Organic Apples
• Block Cheese
• Milk
• Fit & Active Flax Wraps 
• Most Simply Nature products
• Dark Chocolate
• Mozzarella Balls
• Ricotta
• Frozen Berries
• Steel Cut Oats
• Rolled Oats
• Onions
• Zucchini
• Bananas
• Strawberries
• Peppers (all varieties)
• Organic Salsa
• Dried Beans (we found Pinto last week!)
• Fair Trade Coffee
• Cauliflower
• Almond Milk
• Anything that's locally grown
• Potatoes
• Canned Goods
• Organic Spinach
• Eggs
• Mushrooms
• Organic Honey
• Baby Food (can't beat the price -- all natural)
• Avocados
• Frozen veggies (we got this stir-fry mix that was really tasty!)

SKIP (From Experience)

• Shredded Cheese (ours burns easily, so we get block instead)
• Flour (our stores only stock white)
• Sugar (again, it's all just refined white)
• Peanut Butter (it works, but it's not the best)
• Nuts (I'd still rather buy in bulk)
• Cucumbers (haven't looked so good)
• Brussels Sprouts (again, just didn't look vibrant)
• Asparagus (never looks very good + is small)
• Garlic (tiny and dries out fast)
• Organic Milk (seems to be priced the same as what we buy at Wegmans)
• Bread (it's OK, but the $ get the "good" Aldi kind, I'd rather buy our usual slices)
• Most processed foods (but we avoid those anyway, so we haven't tried many)
• Fresh Tomatoes (went bad fast in my experience)
• Hot Sauce (sort of meh compared to Sriracha)
• Chocolate Chips (are passable, but I'd rather splurge and just bake less)
• Diapers (aren't priced much better than at any other big box store)

However, we've now been to THREE different stores in our area and they are all so different with their offerings. And things change by the week and seasonally, so I think rotating between several, if you can, can get you the best variety.

For example: One has these awesome organic apple juice boxes Ada loves. The other two don't. One has steel cut oats, the other two don't. One has vegetable broth. The other two don't. And their stock is always changing -- what's in those discount bins is stuff that is usually not going to show up again for a while, if ever.

In a way, though, this bare-bones approach is helping us the most of all. Usually the items that vary by store are more of the "wants" versus the "necessities" on our list. So, we can do without them or find some new "want" if we really, well, want it that much.

Which brings me to one of the best points of all:


Yes. I've been supplementing with Wegmans. But Aldi is beating my all-time favorite store in some notable areas. First: I can shop in Aldi and get my week's worth of groceries in 10 minutes flat if I hit it when the lines aren't long. That's SUPER SPEEDY! At Wegmans, I linger along the aisles and find things I didn't even know I wanted. So, that's point number 2: I stick to my original list at Aldi because the frills just aren't there . . . and even when they are, they are cheaper.

If I had a vice at Aldi, it'd be the Moser Roth 85% dark chocolate. I get 2 bars a week that total $4. Not a horrible indulgence. At Wegmans, on the other hand, I went in to get Earth Balance, maple syrup, and some tofu and came out with peanut butter that tastes like cookie dough, fancy Lacey Swiss Cheese, a round of brie, and a $5 loaf of bakery bread, among a few other things.

Anyway, we averaged $73 (rounded up) for each week this month. I'd like to try another month of shopping at Aldi, but I think with our family -- a most realistic number might be $70-$75/week, especially since we're making an effort to eat most meals at home, even those we used to go out for on the weekends (lunches mostly).

However, and this is best of all, I am confident if we had to stick to a $60 budget that we could. I have an "emergency budget" where food is only $60 and entertainment is cut entirely. Basically, the $70-$75 definitely includes extras like chocolate, occasional juice, extra avocados, baking supplies, etc. -- but $60 (or less!) would cover all the essentials to feed our active family.

// WHAT NEXT?

Next time, I'll be back with recipes using Aldi foods specifically -- along with a few more tips and tricks I've learned about shopping at discount stores. There's another one in my area that I've been meaning to check out, so I'll report back next week!

Have you shopped at Aldi yet? What's your BEST food pick and your WORST one?

# This post is not sponsored. I have no affiliation or relationship with Aldi. All my thoughts are my own as a person who has regularly been striving for a lower grocery bill.

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Slashing Grocery Bills: We're Going Strong

I can't seem to find our receipt from last week, but this week's total at the grocery store came in around $58. More like $56 if you subtract the toothpaste. Last week's was also $56. Seems to be a number we're good at sticking around. For those of you new to the blog, we're making a great effort to slash our grocery bills in half. We started out with weekly spending around the $100 mark -- which was simply from our own laziness and overindulgence.

And through some helpful hints and tricks, we've been able to get down into the $50 range for several weeks now. A little before and after photo below. And for those of you who are interested . . . here's a recap of our journey to this number:

• Eating Well Need Not Cost a Fortune
• Slashing Our Grocery Bills: Progress
• Slashing Our Grocery Bills: Even More Progress

One of my main concerns on this whole quest has been if I can still acquire the ingredients I need to make fun foods for the blog (and, of course, ourselves). It's definitely caused me to buy fewer ingredients from the baking aisle, so my sweets consumption has gone down. (I say "my" because Stephen doesn't eat many sweets.) However, I think before we started watching what we eat (both from a dietary and monetary standpoint), I was making way more than we could ever need.

So, I guess that's a tip, too. Examine your weekly eating habits. Do you have a tendency to favor certain snack foods? Do you really NEED all of them to feel happy and full? Buying less baking flour, chocolate chips, sugars, etc. hasn't been a problem. I'm finding even more creative ways to use alternative ingredients like oils and agave (of which I have much on hand) and creating new recipes as a result.

This week Stephen went to the store alone. This is a tip passed onto us by my friend Kristina. Of the two of us, I'm the food whore (excuse my language, but I feel the word applies -- there's no veggie/vegan food I won't find myself "in bed with," so to speak). What this means is: I tend to put EVERYTHING in the cart that strikes my fancy. I also dwell in the grocery aisles and could spend hours there. Stephen's in and out in no time at all. And he sticks to the basics.


In addition, we've still be concentrating on buying the bulk of our ingredients in the produce section and the outer edges of the store (where the least number of packaged goods are sold -- which also makes them cheaper). We've been eating lots of bok choy.Leeks. Broccoli. Onions. Red-skin potatoes. Radishes. Carrots. Etc. And less tofu. Veggie dogs. Cheese. Pre-packaged bread. Etc.

And we're also using more of what we already have instead of rushing out to the store to buy exactly what we want. This one has been hard for me. We have a lot of pasta. And I don't particularly like pasta. We have a lot of rice. And I'm not HUGE on rice. But we're using it. And I'm growing more accustomed to the taste. Dare I say I'm starting to even like the stuff? It feels good to be using up ingredients we've had on hand for a while. Less wasteful.

(Also, you'll notice in the photo above the item at the top that says "OMEGA 3 WW TOR" -- As one of our lovely readers pointed out a couple weeks ago, these tortillas have FISH in them! Stephen forgot and bought them again this week -- which is fine because he eats fish. But does anyone else out there know of weird, non-veggie ingredients in typically vegan foods? Check it out . . . As my friend Laura said: Haven't they heard of flax seeds?)



We even ventured to a different grocery store (we most typically go to Wegmans) after our 15K a couple weeks ago. I think we'll go back this weekend because I feel like we got more for our money. We were also less tempted by classy displays and pre-made items (though we haven't been buying any -- but it made for a less painful shopping experience). This tip came from my coworker Edward who firmly believes Wegmans is more expensive than other options in the area. He may be right. But we're both not entirely sure we're willing to give up our weekly Wegmans trips just yet. We'll give it a a try, though.

We've also been eating out less on the weekend, and I'll get to that sometime soon. In its place, we've been going to the store Friday night, picking up a few things to make a nice dinner at home -- as well as a few other treats for the weekend -- and our bill has been coming in around $28 versus $50 to $65 when we go out. And this includes bagels for Saturday and Sunday mornings. Some dessert-y items. Stuff like that. And we're still saving money!

Anyway, I just wanted to give y'all an update. Has anyone else out there been making efforts to slash bills? Doesn't have to be for groceries. I mean, taxes are coming up (yeah, we haven't done ours yet) . . . and we owe, so we can use all the extra cash we can get. We'd love to hear from you. Just leave us a comment or email us at neverhomemaker@gmail.com.

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Slashing Our Grocery Bill: Even More Progress

You may remember that last week, we made some major progress in cutting back on our weekly food spending. Now, I cannot seem to locate our receipt from Sunday's grocery shopping spree at Wegmans. If I had it, you'd see a big fat $83.87 (or something very close to that), and I'm sure you'd all gasp in horror. Hold on, hold on. It's really not that bad. To get the "true" grocery bill, we must first subtract the non-grocery items from this sky-high total.

These items include beer (Ithaca Pale Ale at $9.50, we include this in our "entertainment" fund, which is separate from our grocery budget) -- so we're at $74.37; face wash ($7.00 for some natural tea tree oil cleanser because my skin is AWFUL!) -- so we're at $67.37; contact solution ($3.00) -- $64.37; and toilet paper ($11.00 because we buy in bulk) -- so we're at $53.37.


That's right: only $53.37! We're getting closer to our goal of $50 per week. And this is down from nearly $100 only a couple weeks ago. Are we suffering? No. But let's take a step back for a moment and see what exactly we did to limbo this low.

This week, we focused on planning ahead. Before we went to the store, I sketched out a tentative meal plan for the week. I was quite generous with my outline. We'd have potato and leek soup one night. Pizza another (I have three rounds of dough frozen). Chili for double-duty dinners again. And two tasty tofu stir-fry meals. When we got the store, however, I found so much fancy produce! We did indulge in our usual avocado treat again -- spent $10 for six. A bit shameful, but we love them too much to say no.

We also practiced some restraint with items like Earth Balance and coconut oil. I've still been baking, but instead of stocking my pantry with every single ingredient needed to make my own bake sale, I'm trying to prioritize. I'm trying to use up what I have. I'm trying not to spend a fortune on chocolate chips. I said no to the Earth Balance and coconut oil for this reason. I can use canola oil. Or perhaps wrap my mind around some new recipes that don't require such ingredients. And life will go on.

We've also been eating more vegan-ly. We only bought one 2-cup package of shredded mozzarella for the week. The rest of our loot was totally vegan. No cheddar to melt into the chili? Nutritional yeast serves as a tasty substitute. No eggs? Not this week. But just because we're shopping more vegan doesn't mean we're investing in pricey substitutes. The only thing we do that with is soy milk. Otherwise, it's shopping the perimeter of the store (we covered this tip last week), and buying the freshest, least-packaged ingredients as possible.

Anyway, we're doing it. I do notice, however, that we're running low on certain items we typically find plentiful (like various flours, other baking ingredients, etc.). We'll see how this impacts our bill next week when we head to the store. We're also trying to hit up some suggested stores and farmers markets over the weekend between various activities (we're both running a 15K on Sunday afternoon). Wish us luck. And if any of you have any more tips to share, we'd love to hear 'em. Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker@gmail.com.


Just remember: Eating well need not cost a fortune. We're doing it -- and we're full. In fact, on the $53 or so we spent this week, we even have MORE than we need. Just examine your cupboards and take note of what you're stashing away in your cart. Before you know it, you'll be on your way to saving big bucks!

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...