Eating from the Pantry Challenge...

This week/month is a very expensive one for our family. My oldest son turns 5 and we want to have a birthday celebration and invite our family and his friends to celebrate God's blessings. We usually have more medical expenses this month with doctor visits for both of the boys. So this week in particular, we are budgeting big time! I've given myself the challenge to do very little grocery shopping and eat from the pantry this week. I thought it would be fun to put the challenge out there and see if I can actually make it through the week...

So far I've spent under $15 at the grocery store this week. Which is awesome, considering $5.29 of that was spent for a gallon of organic milk. (That is the only item that I won't sacrifice...we love our organic milk-well I don't like milk but my little guys love it!)

Here's what else I ended up with:
3 lbs of Laura's Lean Beef marked down to $3.87-this was a huge blessing & I wished I would have picked up more.
1 gallon of milk $5.29
Bag of Mozzarella Cheese $1.67
Kroger Tortilla Chips $1.
Bananas .57
Sara Lee Turkey $3.98 -$3.00 coupon=.98
Brown Gravy Packets .76
Success Rice $1.82-$1.00 coupon here=.82
Total:$14.96

Dinner Meal Plan for the week:

Monday: Spaghetti w/the Laura's Lean Beef and Sauce and noodles from my stockpile

Tuesday:Getting our free burgers from the TGIF promo on Facebook. Sorry the promo's over though :(

Wednesday:Chicken Stir-fry Rice w/ chicken & Steamer veggies in the freezer and the Success Rice

Thursday:Cheesy Shepherd's Pie (I use this recipe but I make my own potatoes) w/Laura's Lean Beef, Steamer veggies from freezer, potatoes on hand & brown gravy

Friday: Cresent Roll Ups w/Sara Lee Turkey,Cresent's from my stockpile and cooked veggies from freezer

Saturday: Grilled Pork Tenderloin and Grilled Veggie Packet w/pork and veggies from the freezer.

For breakfast we will eat from our stockpile of cereal,oatmeal, eggs and toast.

For lunch we will eat leftovers, sandwiches from the Sara Lee turkey, grilled cheese, and bread from the freezer.

We have fruit, crackers, cheese, peanut butter, and plenty of granola bars for snacks this week, too.

We will see how it goes...and I'll let you know if we are successful at the week's end. :)