Thoughts on Groceries, and food in general

I figured out why we go through groceries so fast. It seems that no matter how much I buy or spend on groceries, we consume them at the same rate. And its a case of "eyes are bigger than the stomach"

I mean, take the last month for example. We would spend $90 on groceries, which is supposed to last two weeks at least, and it would be gone in a week. We were eating seconds and in my husbands case, sometimes thirds. The food was so good. He would take leftovers to work too, and then suddenly... well we are out of food and there's still a week to go. No money, because we spent it all on catching up on bills. So we are hungry for a week, living on once-a-day ramen noodles.

This happened twice, for both pay periods. Although I did get a little more creative, it still ended up that we didn't have a lot leftover, both in food and in money.

But I have recognized the problem and have since started to correct it, starting with groceries this week. This week, my budget was $40 but I spent $70 (heh) Clearly I need to get in a better habit of shopping. I only bought everything on my list, however, and I only bought items on sale.

I also bought a few staples too, to stock up my pantry.

Anyway, what I am saying is.... I am working on portion control in my diet I also need to work on it in my budget and groceries too. For instance, I bought a package of chicken breasts. It was $1.99/lb but 2.55 lbs. Three breasts. In the past, I would have cooked them just like that. One for me, one for Brian, and one for his leftover lunch. Turns out..... That's a lot of chicken. 2.5 lbs over 3 breasts? That's insane! Considering the average weight was 12 oz of each breast- that means there were 4 servings! I was eating four servings of chicken at a time. Goes to show you why I wasn't losing weight! I thought- a chicken breast, that's 140 calories a serving. one breast= one serving. NOOO WRONG.

I weighed each breast on my handy dandy electronic scale and then cut each piece into 4ths. I got 12 servings out of 3 breasts- which makes me feel better that I paid $5 for it. I then wrapped each piece individually in wax paper and put it in a freezer bag. Ta-da! I bet Brian will freak when I show him how small a serving actually is.

I also bought a block of extra-sharp cheddar cheese (12 oz) and cut it in half. 6 oz got put into a freezer bag, and the other 6 is going to be shredded, probably tonight. That will go in a baggie too, and stay in the fridge.

Gallons of milk were on sale too, cheaper than a half gallon. We usually go through a gallon every two weeks, so I just grabbed one of those. I had rinsed out the half gallon jug and filled it up from the gallon. I stuck that in the freezer. Yeah, you can freeze milk. It's exciting.


I got my own veggies to make my own V8 (though its really V2- spinach and cauliflower, with tomatoes) and I am going to freeze that as well, in ice cube trays. I totally need a bigger freezer.

I am also going to make my own bread-products, like biscuits, pizza crust, and bread. Yeah I'll have to be careful with the bread, but really, I don't *crave* bread. I *crave* cheese. So I will be ok as long as I don't make cheddar biscuits. Plus, how spoiled would Brian be if he got to take his sandwich to work made with homemade bread?!

I'm starting to seriously consider looking into getting a farm. Just think how many pounds of beef you can get from one cow? How many fresh eggs you could have from a couple of chickens! And a little garden too. Gosh, I better start pinching my pennies now because I am not going to do all that work alone. I'll need a farm hand or something. And our Corgis could herd the cattle. Squeal!


That's it. That is my ultimate dream. A small farm with a couple chickens, a couple cows, a small garden, and Corgis. Wow. I had no idea that I would end up figuring out my ultimate dream in a blog. Weird. I'm not in any rush to buy a farm or work on one, but I will be saving up for one. Haha.