This past week was kind of stressful. Less emotional than the week before, but stressful nonetheless. I frequently forgot to take pictures of my meals and I had an unplanned meal out. As for the pics, several of the meals, like the chili pasta with cheese, and the protein porridge with Greek yogurt, weren’t very photogenic.
The mixed grain pilaf wound up being so delicious I definitely want to make it again! I used some leftover steel cut oats, the rest of my quinoa, the rest of some Texmati rice I had, and some pumpkin seeds and seasoned it with chicken stock (from bouillon granules). The texture was great!
Things I am proud of: I STILL have not purchased any convenience food from CVS since I started this challenge!
Things I am less proud of: I have continued to purchase a few (inexpensive) things on a whim. This weekend it was a French baguette and a package of sandwich cookies. It was about $3. I did wind up buying a Diet Dr. Pepper at the bowling alley Sunday morning for $2. Still cheaper than CVS, amirite?!
So onto week four!
What I’m working with this week:
- 8 lbs picnic shoulder
- red pepper walnut dip
6 oz. andouille sausage- 2 lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. chuck roast- split chicken breasts
+ extra bones for broth - wheat germ
- wheat bran
- rye flour
- whole wheat flour
- gingerbread cookie dough
- sofrito
- 1/4 loaf sprouted protein bread
- frozen mixed vegetables
frozen edamame- freekeh
- maftoul
- Israeli couscous
- spaghetti
- elbows
- rice noodles
- rice paper wrappers
soba noodles- sticky rice
jasmine rice- a little masa
masarepa- a little yellow cornmeal
- white cornmeal
- grits
- brown rice flour
- bulgur
- coconut flour
- unsweetened coconut flakes
- crushed pineapple
- jello
- marzipan
- craisins
- prunes
- flaxseed meal
- dried egg whites
- PB2
- Dominican hot chocolate mix
- instant espresso
- orange drink mix
- sugar free Kool-Aid mix
- A little steel cut oats
- old fashioned oats
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes- 28 oz. can tomato sauce
- pasta sauce
- kombu
- white flour
- white sugar
- granulated brown sugar
- sucralose
- honey
- 100 calorie packs – almonds, cocoa almonds
- scallions
- lemons
- limes
- carrots
- onions
potatoes
Breakfast for this week will be Shakshuka! I’m so excited because I had everything I needed to make this from scratch except for feta, a bell pepper and I was two eggs short. So I got a pepper, eggs (which were on sale for $1.99 for 18ct) and some pita to dip in it. I also grabbed some bananas and a jar of peanut butter for breakfasts later in the week on the protein bread I have in the freezer.
I still have some Swedish meatballs left for lunches early this week, and I plan to make Instant Pot Red Beans & Rice for the remainder of the week, so I bought some red kidney beans, celery and scallions for that.
The chicken bones I had left over from last week still had some meat on them, so I’ll use them to make a Spicy Asian Chicken Soup with Soba Noodles, so I’ll get some cilantro for that, which I’ll also use later in the week in my Slow Cooker Beef Arepas w/ Homemade Pico de Gallo. The arepas will used some chuck roast I have in the freezer, the masarepa, as well as some tomatoes I bought on a whim a couple weeks ago that are wrinkly but still good enough for Pico de Gallo.
Snacks will be homemade Balanced Breaks and leftover Almond Joy Protein balls, which were delicious! I might also make some Boston Brown Bread. I think I have all of the ingredients for that.
I wasn’t super enthused by anything on sale at the grocery store this week, again. But this time, despite buying unplanned things, I didn’t spend very much at all. Between Shoprite and Walmart I spend $19.02, less the $0.10 from an iBotta rebate, so $18.92. My running total for this 4-week challenge so far is $132.65. Still significantly below my usual monthly budget of $230!
How are you own personal challenges coming? Let me know in the comments!
A Measured Life 