Pantry Raid: Week 1 Grocery Shopping

Any wife and/or mom can attest grocery shopping is one of those necessary evils you just can't escape. Unless somehow you can convince your family to fast in support of starving people in third world countries at some point you will have to grocery shop. No matter how much time you don't have, or how much money you don't have, your family has to eat.

This fact leads me to the inevitable **** WARNING. RANT AHEAD****

... F**K YOU Martha Stewart, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Better Homes and Gardens, (and I hate to add this one) and Rachel Ray! You post/publish/pin/show us all what you claim are "cheap" and "easy" recipes for our oh so busy weeknight dinners... but guess what THEY'RE NOT! They are NOT CHEAP, they are NOT EASY, and sorry Rache they are NOT done in 30 MINUTES!

Here's a thought Martha... instead of titling your steak and shrimp dinner segment "Dinner on the Cheap" how bout calling it what it really is.... "Dinner I can afford and you can't, but I think it's cheap cause I live in a delusional fairy land"

And this wouldn't be a proper grocery/budget related rant with out a special shout out to that B***H Melissa D"Arabian. $10 Dinners????... Come on Melissa! Let me shed a little light on your $10 Dinners for you...

#1. They cost more than $10, even when shopping at Wal-Mart
#2. They only feed 4 people.... 4 people for $10!!! Yeah that's a deal if you're eating out and someone else is preparing your meal and cleaning it up but...
#3. Do the math, $10 per dinner for 30 days (1month) = $300!! Just for dinners. That does not include any other grocery items needed for breakfasts, lunches and snacks.

According to www.census.org in 2010  the median income (by state average) in America was $50,102 annually. Now lets also consider that in a document published by the Department of Commerce Middle Class Task Force in 2010 they defined the median "middle class" income as $80K+. And no I didn't make that up, apparently there is a group of people going around calling themselves the "Middle Class Task Force". I can just see it now, a group of  men and women in their late 30's early 40's living in the burbs, driving SUV's, shopping at Target and doing it all in full tactical gear. But I digress... the point of the statistics lesson is that according to this information 50% of Americans make less than the middle of the middle class. Which would place them in the lower middle to lower class.

If we assume that Mrs. d'Arabian's $300/month dinner budget is roughly 1/2 of the families grocery (food only) budget, then we get a monthly food budget of $600, or %15 of the median annual income. Based on recommended percentages %15 is the maximum recommended amount for groceries. Well isn't that just a slap in the face... so what these people are calling "CHEAP" is the maximum that us "average" people should be spending.

You want "Dinner on the Cheap".. give me some good ideas for 80/20 ground beef. How bout "Beans and Rice 50 ways", or some new ideas on making canned veggies not taste canned. And how about considering the undeveloped taste buds kids who think bubble gum flavored tooth paste tastes good. These aren't folks that are going to jump at the chance to try herb crusted tilapia with mango chimichurri, cucumber gazpacho, or kale.

GET REAL PEOPLE!

                                   ***** Rant concluded *****

Below is Week 1's Shopping list complete with actual prices and total.

Week1
Meal Plan Items	Item	Amount	Price
	Shredded Cheese	1 pkg	1.79
	Celery	1 bunch	0.88
	Green Onion	1 bunch	0.5
	Red Bell Pepper	2 each	0.66
	Pepperoni	1 pkg	2.28
	Zucchini	1 each	0.5
	Red Beans	1 lb	1.08
	Green Bell Pepper	1 each	0.68
	Head of Lettuce	1 each	1.12
Staple Items
	Milk	1 gallon	2.58
	Total Week 1		12.07
	Grand Total		12.07

Pantry Raid: The Plan

In the beginning there was a Meal Plan. And God said it was good.

When the going gets tough, the tough make a meal plan.

Meal Plan, it's whats for dinner.

It's not delivery, it's your Meal Plan

Yo Quiero Meal Plan


Ok. Ok. I'll stop. That last one was a pretty pathetic attempt anyways.

The meal plan is essential. It's the guide, the road map, the security blanket. It's the impenetrable shield against drive through windows, dollar menus and "super-sizing". It's the red caped super hero that swoops in and saves dinner time from the evils of nagging kids, unscheduled overtime, soccer practice, parent/teacher conferences, traffic jams and whatever else causes our evenings to spiral out of control and all of a sudden it's 7pm (or after) and you haven't stepped foot in the kitchen.

Luckily for me, Planning is my middle name. Ok, really it's Elizabeth, but it should have been Planning. On any given day I've got a plan for something (work, cleaning, crafting, errands). My plans have plans. My plans plans have back up plans. See where I'm going with this???

I've inventoried my pantry, freezer and fridge. I scoured my recipe box, pinterest, magazines, my cookbooks and my brain and the result is the following 4 week meal plan.

Week	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Week 1	Veggie Beef Soup	Exception	Italian Pasta Salad	Chicken Salad Sammie	Left Overs	Red Beans and Rice	Ham & Cheese Quiche
Week 2	Pasta w/ Garlic and Tomatoes	Taco Tuesday	Ham and Casserole	Chicken Nuggets	Dogs & Fries	Pork Tenderloin and Cabbage	Spaghetti
Week 3	Breakfast for Dinner	Ham & Pepper Jack Sliders	Pulled Pork Tacos	Baked Potatoes	Burgers	Chicken Broccoli Pie	Chicken Nuggets
Week 4	Asian Stir Fry	Ham and Taters	Sausage Rice & Beans	Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad	Corn Dog Muffins	Chicken & Dumplings	Breakfast for Dinner

Meal Plan: Check!
Up Next: Grocery Shopping..... brace yourselves.

Pantry Raid: Step 1. Assess the Situation

Hehehe.. Dane Cook

Sorry, back on track

The first step to problem solving and crisis management is to assess the situation. In the case of meal planning this means taking an inventory. So I did.

Pantry Inventory

Freezer Inventory

I also took a peek in my fridge and have the following to get me started.........

Item	Amount
Applesauce	1 jar
Baking Supplies & Seasoning	Various
Bread/Bagel Thins	1/2 bag
Burger Condiments	Various
Butter	1 large tub
Cabbage	1/2 head
Canned Biscuits	1 - 8 ct
Carrots	1/2 bag
Creole Seasoning	1/2 jar
Dr. Pepper	1 can
Eggs	1/2 doz
Garlic - Minced	1 jar
Left Over Sausage	1/2 lb
Left Over Potatoes	6 each
Left Over Corn on the Cob	5 each
Mayo	1/2 jar
Onion	3 each
Poatoes	6 each
Salad Dressing	1 bottle
Sliced Cheese	1 pkg

Step 1 - Check!

Up Next: The Plan

An Experiment in Frugality - Pantry Raid

Welcome to Broke! Where uncertainty and stress wait impatiently to greet you each morning and anxiety tucks you in each night. You'll hear unwelcoming phrases like "No we can't afford it" and "it's just not in the budget". Your children will have their little hearts crushed each time you drive by a McDonald's or stroll past a toy aisle. You'll find your shelves and cupboards bare but your mailbox full as new bills appear everyday and paychecks do not. Broke, the place you never look for but always end up.

We inadvertently took a wrong turn somewhere at the crossroads of Budget and Savings and ended up at Broke. And in an effort to re-route and get back on track (and in preparation for the school year and fall schedules/cooking) I've decided to do a little experiment in frugality.

Purpose Statement
We will be eating out of the pantry and freezer for the next 4 weeks/28 days for all dinner, with minimal groceries purchased. An idea loosely based a recurring "Grocery Challenge" I've participated in on Dave Ramsey's MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com forums in the past. Goals of the experiment are

        1. clean out pantry and freezer
        2. Stop us from eating out so much
        3. keep the grocery bill at a minimum.

Materials List

Recipe Box

Pinterest Recipe Boards

Pantry Inventory

Freezer Inventory

Meal Plan

$25 Dollar Average Weekly Grocery Budget - for produce and additional needed ingredients

Procedure and Method

1. Take Pantry and Freezer Inventory
2. Search family favs from Recipe Box and Pinterest Recipes that utilize Pantry and Freezer inventory
3. Create Meal plan for next 4 weeks/28 days
4. Create Grocery List for each week based on Meal Plan and stay within $25 average weekly
5. Follow Meal Plan for each day, prepping the next days meal ahead of time and grocery shopping on the weekend.
6. After 4 weeks/28 days analyze results to determine if experiment was successful.

Experiment Log

Weekly meal plan, grocery list, recipes and grocery bill tally will be posted.

Notes

* Posted grocery list and $25 budget include only items needed for dinners. Regular grocery items such as breakfasts, lunches, snacks, etc are not included in the experiment.

* Groceries will be bought at best local price at the time of purchase and coupon use is encouraged.

* Recipes and quantities are tailored to a family of 4.

* Attempt to insure each meal includes a protein, starch and vegetable or fruit.

* Experiment is not suggested for specialty diets (low fat, organic, vegetarian/vegan, gluten-free, high fiber, etc) AND NO I do not want your opinions or complaints about the menu, it's nutritional value or lack thereof.

Are ya'll ready......yeah me neither, but here we go anyway!