Sunday, July 27, 2008

What does your family eat in a week?




How random is this! Our local Co-Op is asking members to photograph and document what their families eat in a week. Here's the link:

http://www.moscowfood.coop/content/view/545/78/

Below is what I am submitting for the contest. What do you eat in a week?

What the Joneses Eat:
It’s hard to say what a week of food looks like at our house because we usually shop on paydays, about every 15 days or so. We spend $320 a month on food. In an average month that would equal $80 a week, but it doesn’t really work out that way. On payday, we spend $100 and get everything to make meals for two weeks. Then, we go to the store one more time in between paychecks to restock on milk, apples, grapes and the like. Food takes 10% of our total budgeted expenditures. Rent is 20%.

We feed two adults, one three year old, and in a secondary way the 4 month old baby. When we got married 4 years ago, it seemed like food never lasted and could be scarce. (Our budget then was half what it is now). Now we have a well-stocked pantry, and always have delicious food to eat. We invite friends over to eat too. We buy a lot in bulk food bins, rarely let leftovers go to waste, and cook/eat small portions. Rather than let excess fresh veggies go to waste, I shred and freeze them and then re-introduce them into other meals. I constantly “recycle” leftovers, making yesterday’s bean dip into today’s enchiladas and tomorrows taco soup. I make our bread. I don’t know if it saves money to make it, but we usually slice it thinly and the loaves are generally smaller. Overall, I think our sandwiches are smaller because of the bread, which means we waste less meat and cheese with the toddler.

We buy organic milk, get our meat at C&L when we can, and buy Tillamook cheese and yogurt. We don’t have a Costco membership, but our friend does. We go once every few months for a bag of shrimp and chicken breast. Unfortunately, we don’t get to buy organic produce too often, but someday I will have my own yard and garden, and I expect to save big then! We love invitations to other people’s gardens. We shop the co-op for bulk foods, cheeses, and Organic Valley milk. The Co-Op often has the best prices on organic milk, and the quality and selection in the bulk section is awesome.






Costco
1 sleeve of bulk 4 pack of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, honey almond flax
1 chicken breast
16 shrimp
5 ½ cups bulk AP flour

Winco
½ cup cream of wheat
24 oz asst’d. tilamook yogurt
4 bananas
1 can frozen minute made orange juice, from concentrate
3 Hebrew National Hotdogs
¼ lb pork picnic roast
1 chicken leg quarter
2 eggs
3 Hotdog Buns, whole wheat, no corn syrup
1 ½ tbsp fleischman’s yeast
1 ½ tbsp salt
4 flour tortillas, Don Panchos made in Oregon
1/4 lb. cheddar Tillamook cheese from 1 lb. block
1 oz goat cheese
8 tbsp jiffy peanut butter
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp salt
4 tbsp pepper, from peppercorns
½ packet lawry’s taco seasoning
¼ c. Panko crumb
¼ c. Tempura, sun luck
Coconut milk, roland
1 green pepper
3 red peppers
½ cup olive oil and canola oil
1 bag baby spinach
4 onions
2 heads garlic
1 bunch spring onion
1 new potato
2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
3 heads broccoli
1 cup frozen peas
2 lemons
Lemongrass
Cilantro
Basil
Parsley, Italian flat leaf
8 apples
1 apricot
1 bag grapes
6 graham grackers
4 frozen strawberries
4 fresh strawberries
1 cup breyers vanilla ice cream

Safeway
21 cans Dr. Pepper (mom has a serious addiction…okay??)
¾ lb cod
14 oz pinto beans

Moscow Food Co-Op
1 gallon fat free Organic Valley milk
½ cup Fairhaven Rye Flour
½ cup Montana Gold wheat flour
1 c. bulk jasmine rice
½ c. bulk basmati rice
1 cup masa
Tsp crushed red pepper
Wasabi powder
1 14 oz can Muir Glen no salt added tomato sauce

Locally grown
Cherries from Tukey Orchard
6 tbsp raspberry jam from my bosses raspberries in her back yard (so…pectin, sugar, raspberries?)
Chives from my barrel

International Store, Pullman
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
Chili sauce
7 hot peppers
1 ginger root, frozen and sliced

Unknown Sources
1 cub burger (cougar country)
1 chicken strips, fries, two pieces of toast basket (cougar country)
1 pint milk (cougar country)
1 lolipop (from candy bowl at luke’s work)
Goldfish crackers (leftovers from one of dad’s events)


Menu:
Monday: Kashi cereal, 1 banana, 1 container yogurt; leftovers and spinach salad for lunch; snack of cherries and goldfish; dinner at Cougar Country=chicken strips, burger, fries, milk for Abi, water for us.
Tuesday: Kashi cereal, leftover lunch with apple; dinner of homemade baked fish sticks (panko, tempura, cod) and broccoli with wasabi soy sauce, milk; wine and raspberries for mom and dad
Wednesday: Kashi cereal and juice; leftover lunch with apple; goldfish and apples snack; Picnic @ Sunnyside for dinner= hot dogs, soda, chips, fruit salad
Thursday: Kashi cereal, juice; broccoli, spinach, red pepper salad; snack of grapes and goldfish; Vietnamese-style garlic Shrimp, spicy fried rice made from leftover rice, coconut rice steamed, broccoli, steamed; peanut sauce, milk
Friday: Kashi cereal, 1 banana, 1 container yogurt; leftovers lunch with apple; goldfish crackers, juice, and grapes snack; Friday lollipop (1); chicken and bean enchiladas, green pepper and tomato Spanish rice made from leftover coconut steamed rice, strawberry milkshakes dessert
Saturday: cream of wheat with raisins for breakfast, juice; grapes, an apricot, goat cheese, 1 ½ PBJ’s on homemade bread, and crackers for lunch; tamale meat in leftover shrimp marinade with rice for dinner, milk
Sunday: 2 eggs with sausage crumbled in them; 5 homemade tamales for lunch(small), 3 graham crackers and juice for snack; broccoli red pepper chowder (meatless) with homemade bread for dinner

2 comments:

Nicole said...

Your menu sounds delicious. We too buy organic milk. I am interested in your coop. How did you find it and can anyone join? I have been searching for one locally with no luck.

Tracy said...

I think you are doing great to feed four people on $320 per month! Does that include paper goods, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc? We are currently budgeting $400 per month for our family of four (two adults, one four year old, one 3 month old). I'd appreciate any tips you can give me! Unfortunately the only option we have for grocery stores in our town is Save Mart, so no warehouse stores for bulk items.