lists, budgets, food

Here's to a semi-productive day. I didn't get everything conquered on my to-do list, but made a good sized dent. I plan on taking most of tomorrow off from work (since I worked all day Saturday) so hopefully I can finish the rest then.

Conquered::

• menu planning
• grocery shopping
• laundry (okay, just the washing - no folding/putting away)
• cook
• blog
• order wall photos (currently doing - CAN YOU BELIVE IT MOM?!)
• swiffer/vacuum (from Nic's list)

Yet to do::

• walk/run/bike (heh. I should change this one to eat numerous graham crackers with peanut butter and chocolate chips)
• budget break down
• grind flour (can you do this with a food processor?)
• wash maia (bonus - maybe tomorrow?)

Nic did much better (although his list was way shorter), and I am sure he would have finished if he hadn't got stuck at work for so long.

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Nic and I are really trying to nail down a budget that we will actually follow. We are quite notorious for coming up with budgets, following them for a week and then falling off the wagon. Lately we have been talking a lot about starting another, but it's been all talk and no action.

In one of many of our budget talks, we came up with a list of goals that we would like to achieve in the next xx number of years. They range from finishing the basement, saving for our trip to Sweden, saving so much money in our emergency fund, and more long term goals like being able to build the house of our dreams to raise of family (of puppies) in.

One item that always comes up during budget talks is food. We love food. I love to cook food. But sometimes we go a little overboard and realize that this is an area that we can trim some fat and start saving some green.

Once we get our budget in place, our plan is to have a cash budget for groceries and actually plan our some of our meals for the week as to maximize trips to my beloved Hy-Vee.

So, on the docket for this week::

• Monday - Lentil sloppy joes
• Tuesday - Potato white bean basil burgers
• Wednesday - Leftovers
• Thursday - Salad (Nic's choice - can you believe it?!)
• Friday - Date night at Shorts Burger & Shine! Our favorite brewery is taking over 10 taps and they are having a little shindig to celebrate.
• Saturday & Sunday - hopefully we will be camping!

Today's trip to the grocery store was supposed to be short, sweet and to the point. But I was a little hungry when I went, so a few extra impulse buys found their way into my cart.

Here's a typical haul from our trips to Hy-Vee:


Pinto beans, organic spinach, beer, cheese, zucchini, asparagus, red bell peppers, organic apples, potatoes, eggplant, spices, bbq sauce, tomato paste, white beans and bananas that were on super sale because the skin was a little bruised - today's bags were organic bananas - SCORE!

And the impulse buys::


Moscato, green bell peppers, organic pears, strawberries, mangos, yellow squash and more red bell peppers - I only needed 2 for this weeks meal plan, but they were on super sale. Not pictured are 12 quart Ball jars that I picked up for food storage.

Yeah - don't you love that my impulse buys are mostly produce??! And the wine was totally necessary after yesterday's 18+ hour workday.

After a quick trip to Wal-Mart, I came home and spent the next 4 hours in the kitchen preparing most of the food we'll be eating this week.



Pretty sure I love using Ball/Mason jars for storing food. Super cheap and I don't have to worry about BPA. Win.


Baba ganoush, Rosy pear applesauce, Lentil sloppy joes.

The baba ganoush was a happy accident. Not sure we can eat the entire quart though - hopefully I can freeze it!

The rosy pear applesauce came to be because organic pears were on sale so I threw a few in the cart.



Lentil sloppy joes. Yeah, if you know me well, you know I have a very hard time cooking for two. I try really hard, but ultimately end up cooking for an army. Good thing this recipe freezes well and is one of our favorites.



Roasted red peppers. Because what else would you do with a huge bag of red peppers that winds up in you cart?

I am glad I spent the afternoon cooking, but towards the end, things got a little hairy. I should have cracked open the bottle of moscato long before I actually did.

Well that was an epic post.

Nic just told me I am teaching tomorrow morning's 5:15 spin class. Yippe. Better hit the hay.

pantry and freezer week - day 7

Officially our last day of this challenge. However, we've decided to extend this challenge another week.  Really, it hasn't been much of a challenge since we "shop the perimeter" of the grocery store most of the time anyway.  We only grab a few staples from the isles:

• canned beans
• canned tomatoes/tomato sauce
• bread
• crackers
• coffee - but remember, sneaking into the isles for coffee is not breaking any rules!
• oatmeal - thank goodness we are well stocked!  
• pasta
• condiments
• frozen veggies

Most of these things we can make from scratch (like the amazing loaf of bread I baked today) and have plans to re-create some of our favorite in the isles staples (wheat thins anyone?)

What happens when my beloved steel cut oats run out?? Well I never said we couldn't order things online! Seriously, today I did the math and we can order a 25 pound bag (yes 25 pounds!!) of steel cut oats directly from Bob's Red Mill and pay only $1.52 per pound and that is with taking the crazy charge for shipping into account! A one pound bag of steel cut oats from Hy-Vee is about $3.18. Our manager at Hy-Vee is going to see if he can order the 25 pound whopper for us which could potentially save another big chunk of money!

I never thought I would be so excited about oatmeal.  :)

After an amazing breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast - made by the lovely Nic (oh - and FOUR more cookies!), we hit up Hy-Vee to fill our fridge with some much needed produce. Check out our loot:

Fruit::


Bananas, honey crisp apples, blueberries and moro oranges. Have you heard of moro oranges ever? I haven't and picked these up on impulse. They are awesome - but not orange at all!  I'll snap a quick photo before I eat the second one.

Veggies::


Organic spinach, carrots, eggplant, mixed bell peppers, jalapeno, onion, and grape tomatoes.

Produce::


Local organic eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, almonds and a departure from the usual soy milk - almond milk.


Our total rang in just under $53.

I whipped up a quick smoothie and had a small bowl of kashi + almond milk before I went to the Y to work. I was home 20 minutes later because someone double booked the short Sunday shift and two of us showed up. I was ecstatic and and let her take the shift and headed home with an additional 3.5 hours in my day.

I decided to mix up some whole wheat oatmeal bread for Nic and made another quick run to Hy-Vee for some flours (yes - I totally shopped the isles...) when the call came. The gal who decided to work, was too sick and asked if I could come in and really work this time.

I had no excuses, plus it was only for 3 hours.

So I worked, and then came home to finish the bread and prepare dinner.

Dinner was a he picks, she cooks, they clean night. Nic had pesto pasta with veggies and steak in mind and I was happy to comply.

I roasted some eggplant, onions, green peppers, carrots and grape tomatoes in a little bit of olive oil, garlic powder, pepper and balsamic while the pasta cooked.  Nic prepared the steak (freezer item) that he had marinated in red wine and pepper.

The pasta and roasted veggies were tossed with some homemade pesto sauce that was stashed in the freezer.



Delicious and simple.

I decided to go steak free, but did steal two bites of Nic's - it too was delicious.

Oh yeah, the bread I made was done just in time for dinner! I don't know if anything is more comforting than fresh out of the oven bread smeared with a little butter.  This bread is going to be our go-to loaf from now on.  It was that good. Crunchy crust and a soft center.



I followed this recipe down to the gram. Literally.



So what do you think of our pantry and freezer week challenge? Should I keep blogging about it??

In running news today - I had psyched myself up for a run, but ultimately decided to give my knee one more day of rest. I will run tomorrow - I need to run tomorrow. Four days off is just crazy.