Sunday, November 16, 2008

The BIG Challenge - Me vs Myself

I am just getting back from church and am inspired, excited, and ready for the challenge!!! 
Craig Strickland, our pastor, has been preaching a wonderful series on getting out of debt and living financially free. The challenge? Spend less money. What do I spend the most money on? Groceries!! Like I said in my last post, I love food, love shopping for food,  love buying food.  Honestly, I don't think I go too crazy at the grocery. My average a week is somewhere around $100 - sometimes more, sometimes less. However, I'm not the only one that goes to the grocery every week. My Dad usually makes a trip to the grocery and to Costco. And, my Mom will venture there to grab a few things too. I'm sure it all really adds up. From church today, I headed to Costco to stock up on meat. I bought two whole chickens, four pork tenderloins, eight chicken breasts, and ten short ribs for $52.83. My plan? To see how many meals I can prepare with the meat I purchased. My goal is to make leftovers from one meal into a wonderful, completely different meal. I am about to clean out and organize the pantry to see what's in there I can use. I hope to only have to buy fresh vegetables at the grocery this week. I will keep up with my shopping lists and totals and will post that as well as the recipes. Here is my meal planning so far -

-Braised Beef Short Ribs over Blue Cheese Grits
-Shredded Beef Short Ribs and Roasted Vegetables over Egg Noodles

-Pan Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Thyme Apple Cider Reduction
-Southwestern Pork Soup

-Grilled Whole Chicken
-Ginger Chicken Wonton Soup

-Lemon and Garlic Roasted Chicken Breasts
-Chicken Enchiladas

This may be a tiny step, but I hope I'm headed in the right direction!!!

1 comment:

Southern Mama said...

OOOO! Yumm-ee!!! Can I come eat at your house! My mouth is seriously watering!