Brief grocery budget self-history: Grew up at home (didn't buy food), went to college (ate free food, money went to clothes and beverages), became an AmeriCorps volunteer (enough said), and then got a job and house! So finally having a budget for food was exciting. I've always eaten well and buying my own food at first was almost my whole budget. Then I met you and he taught me how to cook the best food I've ever had and I spend almost nothing.
Here is this week's menu (which I shop and cook for in one day) as a sample:
- Breakfast: Asparagus, scallion, low-fat cottage cheese quiche with besan (split-pea) flour
- Work Lunches: Spinach and Arugula salad with an avocado, homemade vinaigrette, and mixed with "fridge veggies" (this week that is extra scallions, chopped cilantro, and maybe a pickled vegetable).
- Dinners: Keema Bhare Bandh Gobhi....yea, I don't know what that means exactly except for meat stuffed cabbage rolls. I just make myself call Indian food by its name so I can learn words. So far I know keema is meat. That's all.
- Extra/Snacks: Bag of pistachios, homemade quick pickles, and low-fat cottage cheese
So, all of that cost $48.34 at Aldi and $11.11 at our favorite international grocery store. That's a total of $59.45 for all the above meals. Oh and by the way, at Aldi, 13.45 was spent on five bottles of Winking Owl wine and $5.28 was spent on laundry detergent. So, food total for the week (I count wine as food but for this count I am not) is........$40.72. So each day that is about seven dollars.
When my boyfriend and I split I pay less! So I think we have the cooking budget down. And I actually need to stop typing so I can make the stuff cabbage rolls- with dry, spiced Indian meat made from lean Aldi ground beef and a two dollar cabbage boiled in salt.
I'll post recipes and pictures tomorrow, goodnight!
