budget cooking {and grocery shopping}

{are y'all ready for a SUPER long post? apologies in advance.}

So a lot of y'all asked how in the world I went to the grocery store for 30 bucks ... I decided it might be a good idea to do a post dedicated to budget cooking & grocery shopping ... 

Now y'all my $30 trip was no easy task ... Mostly because I am SUCH convenience shopper, but I'm trying to change my ways ... So here we are. :) 

So the first thing that I did was stare at search my pantry, fridge and freezer for things that I had on hand. I'm not sure about y'all but I am TERRIBLE about not doing this before going to the store and I end up with a TON of multiples. 

If only mine was this organized ... 

After I figured out what I had, I started making a preliminary menu for the week (or in my case 2) then I started searching the sale circulars for local stores ... This was one of the most time-consuming parts of the day. 

After doing this, and altering my menu some ... I set out to do the ACTUAL shopping ... And y'all this consisted of going to THREE different stores! 

While shopping, I took $30 cash with me and resolved to NOT spend any more than this ... I really think that this helped to cut down on the impulse buys (magazines, snacks, sweets, sodas).

Now for some tips I found on the WWW: 

~ MAKE A LIST & STICK TO IT! This is probably the most important .. Impulse buys really add up. If you do your research on what's on sale, make a list & stick to it, you will save lots of dough in the checkout line!

~ Buy only produce that's in season. This means planning meals around what's actually in season, which isn't always easy but definitely less $$. I also buy a lot of frozen veggies because they have all the same nutritional values as fresh and none of the sodium that canned veggies have. 

~ Learn to use leftovers. I'm NOT fan of leftovers but over the past several months have become a lot better at 're-purposing' food. For example, I made grilled chicken one night and with the leftovers I made pulled BBQ chicken samis (one of our favs). 

~ Don't buy 'convenient' food. It seems so much easier to buy the already cut & washed veggies or an already cooked rotesserie chicken, but it's not always the cheapest route. It just takes a little extra time to do these things yourself and can save a lot of MOOOOOlah! 

~ Going meatless one day a week can really cut down on food costs too ... I don't mind this at all, but for my meat & potatoes guy ... not so much! So we don't usually follow this! :) 

~ Speaking of meatless, beans & eggs are great, inexpensive ways to get your protein in! 

Ok now for some REALLY tasty and REALLY inexpensive recipes! 

Butternut Squash Pizza

SlowCooker Pork Loin 

Pot Roast with Mashed Pots

Garden Pasta

Red Beans & Rice {love Hillbilly Housewife}

Turkey & Balsamic Onion Quesadilla

I hope this helps y'all! :) Sorry for the SUPER long post! 

Happy Saturday! xo! 

Menu Monday

It's that time of the week again y'all ... 

And I'm proud to say that I stuck by my menu last week! {woopwoop}

So here's what's on the board for this week: 

{speaking of menu boards ... be SURE to check out my tutorial tomorrow!}

Monday: Chicken Fried Rice {super simple, always a good thing}

Tuesday: Meatloaf & Roasted Asparagus

Wednesday: Chicken & Dumplings {from my Budget cookbook}

Thursday: Rosemary Chicken & Roasted Potatoes

Friday: Meatloaf samis & Sweet Potato Fries {homemade this time, I'm not cheating!}

Saturday: Farmhouse Hash

Sunday: Veggie Soup

So now let me tell y'all the MOST awesome news ... I went grocery shopping yesterday and spent $30 for the next TWO WEEKS! I totally kicked my grocery budget's butt! And yes, I'm super proud of myself! :) 

So here's why ... One of my best friends Barbara is in Charleston Fashion Week this year! She won the People's Choice in the Emerging Designer competition last year and was asked to be a Featured Designer this year ... She pretty much rocks! 

I so badly want to see the show {obviously} so I'm trying to save some mooolah so that I can do just that! And hey, catching up with my best friends? An added bonus! :) 

Happy Monday y'all! :) 

Menu Monday {1st edition}

Ok I'm going to preface this post with a big MAYBE ... 

As in, this MAY  BE something that I can stick with ...

 I'm hoping that if I post it to my blog y'all will keep me honest. But this seems like  A LOT of planning ... And I'm so not good at sticking to a plan! 

But here goes ... 

Y'all remember the little budget cookbook I picked up yesterday? Well I'm going to try to use it and/or the $5 Dinner website {one of my girlfriends turned me onto it} AT LEAST once a week! 

This means I'll be trying new things AND be sticking to our food budget ... FOR ONCE! The hubs will be so happy! 

And hey, maybe if I'm sticking to the budget I can get that Cynthia Rowley handbag I am SO SO coveting?! Good behavior deserves rewarding, right? Right! :) 

Ok enough about bags ... Onto to FOOD! 

Menu for Jan 31- Feb 4: {but first, can y'all BELIEVE that it's ALREADY Feb?! geeeeees}

Monday: Veggie Soup & Grilled Cheeses {in hopes to heal the SICK hubs}

Tuesday: BBQ Chicken pizzas {using leftovers from Sat's Wii Party}

Wednesday: Slow-Cooker Creole Chicken {I'm going to use chicken breasts because I already have them}

Thursday: Tortellini with a Bolognese sauce {I'll be sure to post the recipe on Wed so if you want to join you sure can!}

Friday: Burritos & Spanish rice {hoping to use the leftovers from Creole Chicken to create them!}

Oh my gosh y'all! If I can pull this off, we may just have a new series on our hands! {cue HEAVY PRESSURE & deep breaths}

Ok ... gotta go check on hubs ... And by check, I mean serve him his soup & grilled cheese with a side of Nyquil ... Poor thing! 

XO! 

Where are you ideas????

So I think I've mentioned before that I REAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLY want to re-do my guest bedroom ... well y'all that need has become a lot more intense this week! But the only problem is ... I have NO CLUE what I want to do! 

Bryan and I are on an INTENSE limited budget right now (especially since yours truly decided happiness trumped employment!) So I've been trying to come up with ideas on how to use things I already have, which of course is not nearly as fun for a self-diagnosed shopaholic! 

So I've been researching ... A LOT! Here's some ideas I've come up with ... 

From the Pottery Barn bedroom inspiration page ... We all know how I <3 PB! 

Just found her blog & LOVE her bedroom 

Vintage plates on the wall? A MUST! 

These 2 are from The Lettered Cottage (y'all know I dig what Layla & Kevin do!) I really really like the simplicity of this room. I'm going for clean lines I think.

So there's a few ideas I've come across ... Notice how different they all are? How will I decide? 

HELP! HELP! 

Back to reality... Well the virtual reality?

So as you all know, I FINALLY became gainfully employeed (after months of job searching) about 4 months ago. Well, as of Monday, I officially have 2.5 days left at my office... I have resigned from my job! I can't believe it... Part of me is really excited to find something that better fits my personality and another part of me is TERRIFIED to be unemployeed ... AGAIN!

Either way it means I am BAAAAAAACK in the blogging world! And man, does it feel good! I am excited to reconnect with my own blog, but SO EXCITED to reconnect with some of the blogs I use to read and follow!

So that's what I've been doing (well, that & procrasinating on laundry) this morning... Catching up on my blogs!

I'm not sure if any of you follow The Lettered Cottage... But Layla has some GREAT ideas and is so fun to read! :)

I just came across a post that is all about updating your house on a SMALL budget... Updates in the house? Small Budget? Sounds PERFECT to me!

Speaking of 'updates' .... I NEED one in our guest bedroom! In fact, I'm in the mood for some thrifting now! Here's to hoping for GREAT finds! :)