A Week of Meals & Snacks

After visiting my friend Courtney in GA- I was inspired, once again to trim my grocery budget and shop wisely!!!!It is challenging to make healthy meals and snacks without breaking the bank! This week we stayed under $200(including cleaning and a few other household items). I shopped at Sams and Genaurdis(a local Safeway).

Tacos
Made with lean ground beef(93%)seasoned with cumin, garlic, a dash of cinnamon, onion powder(my kids do not like onions but like the flavor) and a little hot sauce. Then I add some taco sauce. Idon't add the spice pack in the taco kit because it has monosodium glutamate. I cut that out when I can...really bad for the brain.
Served with taco shells & low fat four cheese Mexican cheese blend, fresh corn on the cob and a tossed salad with grape tomatoes & cucumbers(Sams has a huge organic green salad blend for under $4 that will last you all week).

Chicken Corn Chowder Casserole
2 cans of chicken corn chowder soup(Campbells Chunky in the red can), 1 lb of radiatore pasta, Old Bay Seasoning to taste(we use a lot!!!) 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese(we like sharp).
Boil pasta to al dente, stir in soup, cheese and sprinkle with seasoning- I usually sprinkle all over- toss and sprinkle(a good covering) and toss again. You can bake- but we don't- just eat right away! I don't use soup a lot when cooking b/c of sodium and also other canned food additives- but this is just our favorite. I made it up when Skylar was little.

Gingered Salmon(Alaskan,I got that at Sams, we have enough for several meals 3 lbs) Gene broiled it for about 7 min on each side(you oven may be different). He brushed on the Makoto ginger dressing(get it in the cold salad section) before he broiled. Served with brown rice and a salad.

Greek Chicken (see previous post for recipe)served with rice garden sald topped with feta cheese & a homemade greek dressing(olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, salt & pepper).

Pasta Primavera
Favorite pasta tossed with broccoli florets, red and orange peppers. Dress with lemon olive oil and freshly shaved Parmesan cheese. Serve with Bocca burgers.

Pancakes with Coconut syrup and toasted macadamia nuts. Served with bacon!

Take out Pizza ($10) we live in Italian Country- so pies are everywhere- good price and excellent. We had this on Wednesday in between dance lessons and church. An in the car picnic!!!

Pasta with Vodka Sauce
Pasta with a store bought(no alcohol) vodka sauce, bacon and organic peas. Around here you can get excellent Italian products!!!! Served with a garden salad.* 10/3/09 update I added chicken to this last night. I browned the thin chicken breast in a little olive oil and garlic then covered in sauce and simmered. Served with spahetti- this was awesome!!!!

Snacks for the week include red grapes(Sams), bananas,organic apples, popcorn,kashi crackers & nature valley bars (we had these already- I buy them when they go on sale) and baby organic carrots.

No homemade desserts this week- we have been on the road for two weeks so have a lot to catch up on...so for dessert I got breyers ice cream on sale- 2 for $5 and then I had a coupon!!!So I got 2 for $4!!! I bought some pecans to go on top of the vanilla-and we had some caramel sauce(easy to make)Gene loves that!!! Also got Oreos on sale 2 for $6. We will save one package for next week- I have a project to do with Selah using them. *Update 10/3/09 We did make coconut scones last night!

Breakfast was Kashi strawberry cereal, oatmeal or yogurt.

For lunch we had left overs, sandwiches(this week tavern ham was on sale), grill cheese (Selah's favorite- I buy organic cheese slices) and a side of fruit.

We go through two loafs of bread and two cartons of milk(organic) a week,1/2 gallon of OJ, and a large container of apple juice...and our $200 also included bathroom cleaning supplies,paper products, a huge thing of hand sanitizer that will last us a year and Odor Ban that I use to disinfect with.

A lot of details- but hopefully this will help someone out there! Praising Him for provision. He is always more than enough!!!