Ready for weeks 5 & 6

The results are in: last week's food and grocery expenses totaled $378 BUT I'm new at this game and ordered way to much meat last fortnight and still have close to $50 worth in the freezer. So, I have made an adjustment of $40 which brings the actual expenses down to $338. And don't worry, I have already added the $40 to my fortnightly tally for weeks 5 & 6, it won't get forgotten in the calculations. I am also pleased to report that I managed to squeeze into that amount a (cheap) meal out with some girlfriends and between the two adults a couple of purchased lunches.

Way too late last night I worked out the meal plan, and this morning after hitting the snooze button a few too many times, the kids were by some miracle eating breakfast peacefully, so I placed my online shopping order and my fruit and veg delivery. I also ducked in to my local butcher who stocks fabulous quality meats, makes great sausages and of course like any good butcher has all sorts of cooking suggestions and is happy to cut up the meat just how you like it.   Don't be fooled into thinking that you have to shop at major or discount supermarkets to get value for money.  Anyway due to my already overstocked freezer, this time I just picked up some pork spare ribs on special and some sandwich meats.

So people, get your shopping lists ready; here is the plan for the next fortnight:

Wednesday - Pork ribs, home made wedges and salad (raw carrot and mushroom for the kids)
Thursday - Creamy chicken pesto pasta
Friday - Chicken and corn soup plus rice noodles and apple crumble
Saturday - BBQ sausages, 1 T-bone for hubby, potato bake and salad
Sunday - Home made meat pie, leftover potato bake and vegetables plus some baking treats
Monday - Home made chicken schnitzel, home made chips, gravy and salad
Tuesday - Spaghetti bolognese
Wednesday - Beef and tomato gnocchi casserole
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Chicken risotto
Saturday - Quiche, home made wedges, salad plus make passion fruit slice
Sunday - Home made "takeaway" chicken wings, potatoes and vegetables
Monday - Home made pizza
Tuesday - Chicken meatballs (leftovers from freezer)

The blog posts to date have prompted many discussions about cook books, so today I unpacked the cookbooks and headed to the library for some supplements. With any luck there may be some exciting dishes on the menu next week and some additional, unplanned baking treats (my favourite!) over the coming fortnight.

Easy nachos - a takeaway substitute

Fruit and veg

Wow I can't believe the response and positive feedback to this blog all within 24 hours!  So thanks for your patronage. 

I received a number of requests to share the details of the only fruit and veg delivery.  A neighbour put me onto them, and I have only ordered 1 box, but I will definitely be signing up for a regular delivery.  It was so exciting to get home from work to find a lovely box of excellent quality fruit and veg on the door stop.  I was really impressed with the quality of the fruit and veg and the variety, not to mention how much I got for my $25.  I highly recommend giving it a go - just make sure you say I sent you there.  And if you, like me, have never tried this before then don't worry about thinking you will end up with a load of items you won't eat.  Just mention the things you really don't want in the comments box on your order.

www.livingontheveg.com.au

And if you are outside the area, ask around - that is all I did to find out about this great local business.

The kitchen

Obviously I like to cook.  You probably think I have a fancy schmancy kitchen.  I do, but it is in storage.  At the moment we are living in what I have lovingly dubbed "The 1950's house".  You know those shows where a family goes back in time and pretends to live true to a recreated era?  There was the 1940's house and other similar shows.  I have watched all these series and often said to my husband how happy I think we would have been if we had lived in the 40's or 50's.  Well our rental property is really and truly original 1950's.  I LOVE it.  At first I was apprehensive, but have now completely fallen for the place.  Now that I know the oven works I am happy!  Even if my dishwasher doesn't fit in the kitchen and there is only a tiny sink.  I do miss my double oven, my easy close drawers and cool kitchen sink tap - but hey I love this too (just maybe not the carpet on the kitchen floor).

Week 3

This week has gone really well.  I definitely upped my game with the fortnightly menu plan, plus I had a free delivery voucher on my online shopping.  Not to mention the absolute bargain basement price I got on chicken breast (as you can see from the menu below) A friend also put me in touch with a great home delivery fruit and veg service that is delivered straight from the market.  I received our first $25 box this week and was really impressed with the quantity and quality.  I'm thinking this order may make a regular feature.

Week 3-4 menu plan

Saturday – Leftovers

Sunday – Beef stew with mash and make raspberry butter cake I had half a bag of frozen raspberries in the freezer since Christmas, this cake worked really well and kept for the whole week.  The stew I substituted with gravy beef and cooked slowly for about 4 hours - it was beautiful!

Monday – Meatballs and spaghetti

Tuesday – Bacon and pea pasta this recipe was great and will definitely become a regular fixture

Wednesday –Sausages, home made wedges and veg

Thursday – Frozen spag bol sauce and spaghetti

Friday –Meatloaf, potatoes, peas and brocolli (well for me anyway)

Saturday – Honey mustard roast chicken, potato, pumpkin, asparagus, peas and corn and make stock

Sunday – Chicken and mushroom fettuccine and sticky date pudding not a huge fan of the pasta but the pudding worked out beautiful, even if I forgot to measure the water and it took a bit longer to cook.

Monday – Chicken meatball soup

Tuesday - Nachos

Now for those of you wondering, the fortnight officially runs Wednesday to Wednesday.  This fortnight was a little short as we moved house on the first 3 days and food was either meals from the freezer or precooked meals from our friends and family helping us move.  Let me be clear, this is not cheating.  We often have people over for dinner, or I might make a meal for a friend who needs a hand.  Or we take dessert and wine when heading to someone's house for a meal.  Similarly, these all come out of that same budget.

The chicken and mushroom fettuccine underway, not my favourite meal of the week but it made heaps: 3 extra serves in the freezer.

Weeks 1 & 2

So it all started about 4 weeks ago, I fine tuned the budget and wondered was it really possible for us to live off $350 a fortnight?  I decided to do up a menu plan on some scrap paper, then try and work out an online shopping order to match the menu plan and see if the sums added up.  Like many working mums with two little kids, trying to find time to do the groceries is not easy.  Its usually squeezed in between other things, with hungry or tired kids in tow.  Anyway the first fortnight ended and we had only spent $302.  I was so proud, and this time thought I'd try and get even more value for our money.