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This was a big spending week. We had planned a dinner out at the new Olive Garden with some people from church for next weekend but other peoples plans changed so we went this past weekend. We had a wonderful time but that one dinner was a big portion of our spending this month. To add to that, we have been taking a class on Sunday’s after church service. After we were finished Joe asked if we could have lunch out (again, third week in a row). Thankfully, this week we went to a Mongolian Grill place that is a pretty good choice. It is the kind of place where the veggies and meat is raw and then cooked on a grill.They are MSG free and being able to pick what goes in the meal and watching it cook is nice.
Here’s the recap. I was kind of flustered when I got home from shopping and the groceries were put away before I took a picture.
Olive Garden- $56.58
Mongolian Grill- $28.88
Albertsons:
- Coffee
- 5 pounds whole wheat flour
- Cheesecake Mix (For Joe’s Birthday)
- Chipolte peppers
- 2 gallons whole milk
- 2 pounds butter
- 1.41 pounds brussel sprouts
- 5 bell peppers (Joe wants Stuffed Peppers for his Birthday Dinner)
- 1.06 pounds bananas
- 2.29 pounds butternut squash
- 10 pounds potatoes
Albertson’s Total: $40.35
Total food spending for this week: $125.81
New Total for January: $283.55
The dining out really increased our amounts this week.
A couple of things that I wanted to mention this week is Birthday’s at our place and our produce purchases.
What we have always done for Birthday’s is I will make the birthday person anything they want for dinner or they can choose to go out for dinner to a favorite place. Usually, the birthday person will choose to eat at home (except when it’s my birthday- I pick going out). Joe’s birthday is Friday. He has suggested 4 or 5 different things he wanted for his birthday dinner but at the store he finally settled on Stuffed Bell Peppers. Bell peppers aren’t in season right now but besides that it is a simple and fairly economical meal to make. And for dessert he wants one of those cheesecake things that come in a box. No problem. It’s his birthday so I’ll make him whatever he wants. Our opinion is that if we try to eat mindfully the bulk of the time we can splurge and eat other things on occasion. Birthday’s are a great time to eat anything. I should mention, that we are not dealing with any food allergies, if we were then we would have a different opinion about ‘splurges’.
Produce: We would like to eat in season and local. Living in Wyoming in January that is difficult. Most of the items in the store are from Mexico or Honduras and alot of it isn’t looking very good. This week, I didn’t purchase very much produce. We still have things left from last week (sweet potatoes, carrots and cabbage) and we also add lacto-fermented fruits and veggies and items I froze to our menu as often as we can to make up for the lack of fresh produce. In addition, I sprout radish seeds, broccoli seeds, sunflower seeds and wheat that we use those on top of things in place of lettuce. I was surprised at how good sprouted wheat tastes.
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>Millie, We count eating out as an entertainment expense. We do it very rarely (emphasis on very :*))
Looking forward to hearing how others account for eating out!
>We eat out for breakfast once a week at a local diner. Because dh and I love eating breakfast @ this place after Mass so much, I include this charge as a weekly bill.
I just want to let you know how refreshing it is to read a "real food" blog that's not all 100% local, raw milk, raw cheese, raw butter, blah blah blah. Yes, I know we're all doing the best we can with what we have, but sometimes it's disheartening to read "I would NEVER give my children pasteurized milk" or whatever. Not everyone has access to raw milk. Short of getting a milk cow to put in my back yard, it's not going to happen here, it's illegal (thanks dairy industry!) We also can't use dairy coupons in LA.
Either way, good job with your grocery bill for the month. That darn Olive Garden is expensive, isn't it? We stopped eating there years ago since we're low-carb and pasta is like the devil to us. I also didn't know how much sugar they put in that delicious salad dressing till I was looking for a knock off. Some knockoff recipes had 1.5 cups of sugar added!
>Produce is getting us this time of year too. We try to eat local, but in the winter "local" becomes from the US. Well, these days it seems even that selection is very limited. It makes it hard, but I am so glad I froze and canned items last summer.
>Stephanie,
I've thought about doing an entertainment category. We are better about dining out but still could improve the frequency.
Motherhen,
I wondered why that dressing tastes so good! My entree was pretty sweet too (it was good).
I'll admit, I do wish that we could do the all local, all raw dairy, all organic everything but our reality is not there. I have some similiar issues you mentioned.
Jennifer,
I would love to be able to find more stuff in the store from the US. It was really hard this last week. I hope to have more of my own processed stuff next year.
>Your budget and food look great!