I love the Grocery Store. True Story.
Don't be too surprised, after all it fits right in with my career with Tastefully Simple as I love food, cooking and meal planning.
I find it to be kind of a game each month. My husband and I run a tight budget at our house with a new baby, college loans to pay off, etc. I do our entire monthly shopping that feeds the two of us (me: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks and husband: lunch and dinner, minus the catered lunches they provide at work and he always eats breakfast there) a day for $140.00 a month. People think I am crazy, don't worry I am! I hope though that it shows you that you can eat healthy on a small budget.
Being dairy free honestly has helped. We don't spend several dollars a month on over priced milk and cheese. However, our yogurt and butter does cost a little more but we view those as more of a treat then staples. Our diet really is more of a meat, veggie and fruit with grains on the side. My view on food is everything in moderation but we don't buy snack foods (chips, candy, etc), frozen processed, or boxed foods. I do make some things homemade; such as hummus with pita chips and carrots or oatmeal peanut butter bars (no flour or sugar!!!).
Today I shopped at our local Sprouts - I can't seem to beat the prices anywhere else when it comes to good quality chicken, fruits, veggies and the bulk section (things like quinoa, millet, couscous, oats, brown rice, beans, spices etc). I don't shop the store for really anything other than those four categories and that works because that is really all we need most of the time. Shopping sales, using coupons, and of course purchasing fruits and veggies during the correct growing season can save you tons of money. Today though I did splurge on a spaghetti squash, it was on sale but still a little pricey but I was just really craving it!
At Sprouts this afternoon they had a great sale on chicken. I am normally really picky about meat but we have always had great luck with the taste and quality of their chicken. So today I paid 1.99/lb and bought 5 lbs. I love the beginning of the month when I buy meat in bulk because it means I can come home and repackage it, marinade it and get it put away for our month of meals. With 5 lbs of chicken I was able to make 7 bags all with different marinades and chopped veggies added in. That way I can just pull out a bag for whatever we are in the mood for and pair it with a salad or some fruit and sometimes a grain if we are in the mood. This meat is great for baking, stir frying and of course grilling; which in Colorado we do year round! I always make plenty of dinner so that we can use the leftovers for our lunches later in the week.
Tastefully Simple offers tons of great marinades and sauces. You can take any of our seasonings and add them to EVOO and they work great. However today I wanted to make a homemade one. Here is the once I picked out - I can't wait to grill up this chicken!
Marinade for Chicken
this makes about 2 cups
