A little brag.

I (try to) go grocery shopping once a week, on Mondays. I usually spend anywhere between $40 and $75 a week on this one trip, and let's be honest here - I usually go on Saturday, too, so we have food for the weekend.

Now that I'm working again and paying for childcare, my budget is just a bit more snug than it used to be. So I decided that this week, I'd shoot for having a minimal grocery list. I was a little more careful than usual in creating my menu plan, taking into account what I have growing in the garden and hiding in the pantry.

• Monday: hot dogs and broccoli slaw. 
• Tuesday: homemade taco pizza and homemade pepperoni pizza, and salad. 
• Wednesday: shredded bbq chicken, cornbread, salad.
• Thursday: Swiss chard fritatta and skillet potatoes
• Friday: Reuben sandwiches on the grill, and extra kraut on the side for a veggie.

We have fruits (apples and bananas and strawberries) and veggies (carrots and fresh peas) for snacks during the week. Lunches each day are leftovers, except for Friday when Matt treats himself. Breakfast is oatmeal for Matt and Cheerios for me.

Would you believe that I spent under $16 for our meals for the workweek?!

This astonishing feat was possible because I used a lot of home-grown or home-canned foods. With the exception of Monday, every dinner had home-grown produce. I have canned corned venison and canned sauerkraut for Friday. I made the pizza dough, and finished some venison taco meat I'd frozen last May (!).

This meal plan was also a good way to use up all the little odds and ends of stuff that we seem to always have laying around. Half a pack of hot dog buns, a couple mostly-empty bags of shredded cheese. I also finished a bottle of Worcestershire sauce while making the bbq chicken.

I am so, so proud of my mad meal planning and shopping skills, and I hope you are, too!