Project: Food Budget, Week 23

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I’m freestyling again this week…just roll with it.  🙂

Weekly Menu

A Menagerie of Food Photos and Recipes from the Past Two Weeks

 

Five Spice Asian Salad

Tuscan Salad

For the salad:
2 bunches Tuscan kale, de-stemmed, washed, and chopped
6 carrots, diced
1/2 package Alfalfa Sprouts
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch roasted asparagus

For the dressing (adapted from HH’s Italian Dressing)
1:1 ratio vinegar of choice + oil of choice (I used Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar + Wegman’s Basting Oil)
Small squirt of dijon mustard
A couple dashes of Italian Seasoning
1 dash each: onion and garlic powder
Honey or agave to taste

Whisk dressing ingredients together and adjust seasonings to taste.  Pour dressing over and massage into kale.  Mix in carrots, sprouts, salt & pepper.  Plate and top with kidney beans + asparagus.  Enjoy!

Magic Kale Salad

I omitted the apples + pistachio and tossed in a diced green pepper + five chopped scallions.  I topped it with sunflower seeds one day and quinoa + kidney beans on another.

Sunshine Salad

I added in chopped red pepper + black olives.

Most Epic Cereal Bowl (Janetha and Amanda – this one’s for you!)

1 c Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise
1/2 c Nature’s Path Hemp Plus Granola

Toppings as desired:
Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
Raw Almonds
Frozen Wild Blueberries
Golden Raisins
Coconut Milk <–my new obsession

Spending Savings

*My budget is $40/wk for groceries, household, and H&BC items, with the latter two categories ideally only costing $10 combined.

Target: $6.73
Whole Foods:$17.30
Trader Joe’s: $35.68

Total: $59.71 =O

Oh dear universe what the hell happened?!  That is what I asked myself when the cashier at Trader’s told me my total.  I knew that I didn’t have that much left in my budget and I was supposed to leave room to pick up spices.  And, since I was in a rush, I didn’t have a chance to evaluate what items could remove from my order to bring the total down (umm…how about that asparagus and the ginger which is outrageous compared to Wegmans and the peas which would be free at Wegmans and the applesauce which is cheaper there….and OH since you are going to be in Vegas next week you really don’t need the romaine since you have three heads of kale and two boxes of Olivia’s spring mix in your car that you could easily use for smoothies…umm…oh dearie!)

Note to self: don’t try to be a superhero and rush through your shopping.  Or learn how to shop more quickly.  The latter is a valuable lesson for when I have kids some day…currently I get sucked into grocery stores like they are black holes and emerge and hour (or more later), eyes and skin burning in the sunlight… 😉

On a positive note, I’m not shopping next week due to my trip so it should all even out (but really…I need those damn spices).  On a not-so-positive note, that total definitely doesn’t include the bulk bag of almonds I got from BJs ($10.99).  But most of those are being used to make gifts for my recommenders (either these or these or both) so that is going in the “splurge” category.  Plus I didn’t spend any $ on eating out this weekend…

Yes I’m massaging my math.  Remember that this is a judgement-free zone!  😉

Eligible Spending: $24.13
Savings: $17.10 (71%)

Ok that makes me feel a bit better…not much but just a little!

Steals and Deals

One more change to this section.  I realize that even though all of the WF deals are available when I write these posts, by the time you read them, well, the deals are gone.  So now it seems like I’m just bragging a little, huh?  Any deal that is ***** (that’s starred in case you didn’t know!  😉 tehe) is still available.  🙂

Whole Foods

Organic Kale: $1.99/lb (save $1.00/lb)

Olivia’s Organics Baby Arugula (5 oz): $2/5 (sale price)
$1.00 Olivia’s Organics coupon  <–save to your computer and print as often as you’d like!  There’s not even an exp date/
Total Price=$1.50 = $0.30/oz

*2 Blue Diamond 50/50 Coconut & Almond Milk (32oz): $2/4 (sale price)
$1.00/2 Whole Foods Coupon, Jan/Feb Whole Deal
$1.00/2 Almond Breeze coupon (no longer available)
Total Price = $2.00 wyb2 = $4.00/gal

*MaraNatha Almond Butter (12 oz): $4.99 (sale price)
$1.00 Marnatha Coupons
Total Price=$3.99 = $0.33/oz  <–This is only slightly (and by slightly I mean not even $0.02! more expensive than buying the 16oz at Trader’s. This jar is also completely gone…in 3 days.  There are 11 servings/jar.  Please don’t judge.

Target

*Silk Coconut Milk (64 oz): $2.99
$1.00 Silk coupon
and $2.00 off Silk + Post Cereal Target coupon
Total Price = $0.99 = $1.98/gal!!!

*Post Honey Bunches of Oats Fruity Blends Cereal: $3.19
$1.00 Post coupon
and $2.00 off Silk + Post Cereal Target coupon
Total Price = $1.19

Up & Up Mouthwash: $1.42
$1.00 Up and Up coupon (no longer available)
Total Price: $0.42

For the $2.00 Target coupon and the Silk coupon, I tried directly linking to the page with it clipped.  Its working for me but someone please let me know if it works for you too!

Oh and the honey bunches of oats were totally for my honey.  😉

Trader Joe’s

*These are everyday prices from the Shrewsbury, MA store.

Bananas: $0.19/piece
Organic Celery Hearts: $2.29
Organic Romaine Hearts: $2.79
Organic Carrots (1 lb): $0.89
Asparagus (1lb): $1.99
Organic Yellow Onions (2 lb): $2.29
Frozen Peas (16oz): $1.29
Yogi Tea: $2.99 – $1.00 coupon (no longer available) = $1.99
Toothpaste: $2.29

Speaking of honeys…be sure to check out my fellow budget geniuses and show a little love for their work!

Yoga/beauty/savings,

Kait xo

10 thoughts on “Project: Food Budget, Week 23”

  1. Mmmmm…cereal. That really was an epic bowl! I’m planning on buying frozen blueberries next time I go grocery shopping – I’ve been craving them all week.

    Question for you about the CSD – do you do the all day liquid fast she recommends on Sundays? And if so, thoughts? I’m not sure about it, but maybe I’ll give it a try and see how I feel.

    Reply

    • Hahah Thanks! It was dinner so I needed to make it filling and super nutritious. I might have made + photographed the Tuscan salad and then ate cereal instead. In my defense, I need the salad for lunches…apparently I can eat that much produce in a matter of days if I really put my mind to it!

      Anyway, I never did the fasting day. I travel too much on weekends + it isn’t the most budget-friendly. I might try it next year when I’m hampered down reading about public health all day but right now…its just too hectic!

      A couple of the other cleansers did it (look for crazy sexy wellness warriors group on facebook) and liked it but definitely struggled with it a little.

      How’s it going overall?

      Reply

    • Thanks! I’m glad someone else can appreciate my ramblings. 🙂

      And I cannot wait to make those almonds…I have a feeling I’ll be stocking up on another bulk bag because more might end up in my belly than in the jars for gifts…

      Reply

  3. hehe, well, you went over, but learned a valuable lesson. It’s worth it!

    I was going to buy some of the MaraNatha peanut butter but I looked and was really bummed out because they add palm oil and SUGAR (and salt) to their product, the one that you don’t have to “mix”.

    I was hoping for a plain organic jar, but they didn’t have any at my WF. I am going to check in a different store perhaps Monday or Tues, it’s still on sale this week, and I have coupons for $2 and $1 off.

    Oh and I’ll have to check into the olivia’s coupons, that link didn’t work for me here at work. Don’t know if it’s me or them. I’ll check on my own computer at home.

    I hope you have a good time on your trip! Enjoy!

    Reply

    • How did you get the $2 coupons?! It wouldn’t work no matter what I tried. <–clearly I have priorities!

      Thanks! I did learn my lesson and honestly…it all worked out b/c I ate horribly last weekend and needed a week of VEGGIES + we're making family dinner tomorrow and I"m bringing…wait for it…salad. Fantastic way to use up the leftovers and clean out my fridge before VEGAS, BABY!

      If the Olivia's cpn doesn't work, let me know. I have it saved on my computer. Its a .pdf file.

      Finally re: the MaraNatha. I had that same reaction when I first bought it but its just so good. As in I ate the whole jar in 4 days good…tehe 🙂

      Reply

      • I almost forgot to reply. I got the $2coupon because I originally didn’t want to allow any fb apps access to my fb profile and told them so. They sent me one by mail. Try emailing them with the same reason

        I then ended up allowing their fb app and yeah I think it’s pretty rare to get a $2 coupon that way. Sneaky. I ended up removing them immediatley. And getting rid of their app completely.

        I need to remember to use my other fb profile for stuff like this. I so dislike all the fb privacy and security lapses. Lol

  4. Thanks for the fabulous recommendations for blogs! Looks like I should be bookmarking you too – I’m coming to your house to eat! Your week of meals sounds delicious! Yum.

    Reply

    • You’re so welcome! I hope you find at least some of them useful! Happy Herbivore (HH) is my go-to because her stuff is just so friggin easy but still fantastic.

      As for coming over…I love cooking for people so you are more than welcome any time. Except next week. I’ll be in Vegas and my roomie might get confused. 😉

      PS Thanks for stopping by. 😀

      Reply

  5. Pingback: Project: Food Budget, Week 26 « yogabeautylife

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