She Says: Caitlin’s Bean Patties & Week 3 Budget
Hope you had a great Sunday! It snowed a little here and that was nice. I know many get sick of winter, but I don’t.
I did the 70 minute Yoga Downoad today. You should check it out if you can. It’s a donation class based on the idea of “practicing compassion.” I think this important and something I’ve been working on with others. Sometimes people easily annoy me and I need to remember to be more comassionate and patient with these people. We’re all only human with lots of flaws and imperfections.
For dinner I made Caitlin’s Black Bean Burger Patties, but I added some added wheat gluten for extra kicks.
I froze the leftovers and want to start making more and more veggie/bean burgers on my own. They are much cheaper and more delicious than lots of boxed varieties.
Oh, I should share that before dinner I had some of these delicious Krinkle Cut Kettle Chips and they are fabulous. Look at the spices.
Food on a Budget Week 3
Week 1 Total: … $131 (first week in empty apartment)
Week 2 Total: … $99.25
Week 3 … $58.86!!!!
This makes me so happy I can hardly take it. It is possible to not go broke and buy good food!
Whole Foods
Kettle Chips Krinkle BBQ … $3.50
Mesculun Lettuce ($7.99/lb) … $1.52
Whole Foods Wheat Lavash … $2.49
Silk Light Soymilk … $3.00
Bob’s Mill Gold Flax Meal … $4.99
6 Stony Field Farms Yogurts … $4.00
Whole Wheat Flour … $ 2.99
Veggie Broth … $3.39
2 Clif Bars … $1.48 ($.50 off coupon)
2 Clif Builder Bars … $1.83 ($.75 off coupon)
1 Mojo Dipped Bar … $.79 ($.50 off coupon)
Go Green Bag Refund … $.20 off
Total … $31.56
A & P
5 Vitamin Waters … $5.00
1 Bottled Water (it was a thirst emergency) … $.50
3 Pears ($.99/lb) … $3.00
5 Bananas ($.59/lb) … $1.20
3 Oranges ($1 each) … $3.00
Tomato … $1.17
Cucumber … $2.50
Birds Eye Pepper Stir Fry … $2.54
Boars Head BBQ Chicken Breast … $ 4.75
Boars Head American Cheese … $1.56
Total … $24.30
Most Expensive Item: Ground flax.
Biggest Bargain: Clif Bars w/ coupons.
What I Learned: Bananas and oranges were cheaper at Trader Joe’s than at A&P. The vegetable broth was much cheaper at Trader Joe’s than at Whole Foods Maybe I’ll make Trader Joe’s more of a regular thing?!?!
Live and Learn: I saw the Soy Milk on sale at Whole Foods for $3, so I picked some up. Sadly, it was on sale for less at A & P ($2.50). Gotta check the sales first!
Bun in the Oven: In an effort to save money I’m making a loaf of wheat bread instead of buying bread this week. Like the bean burgers, homemade bread is so much cheaper than the store bought version. So, my question for this week is … What do you make for yourself instead of buying at a store that saves money?
Mark and I are about to watch Burn After Reading, so we’ll see ya later.
Oh and if you commented on the video Mark posted, thank you. He didn’t make it, so it’s okay to provide negative feedback. The responses have been interesting for sure. If you get a chance and didn’t already, please check it out here. You can feel free to comment anonymously!
Tags: bean burgers, Food Shopping on a Budget, Kettle Chips, peppers
January 18th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Great job on the budget! I make all our bread, and a few months ago I stopped buying veggie broth, which has actually been a big saver for me because I make so much soup. I just save all the veggie skins and ends all week and keep them in a big ziplock bag in my fridge, and then on Sunday I make a huge pot of the broth and refrigerate (or freeze if not needed for the next few days) in 2 cup portions. It’s probably the easiest thing I do to save money at the store.
January 18th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Great job!!! We’re doing bean burgers one day this week again, I’m so excited!
January 18th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Excellent work finding a grocery rhythm! It always takes a few weeks to get all the basics out of the way.
I am on the tightest budget ever (thanks grad school!), so when I want any bread products — whole grain bread, bagels, wraps (you might even be the one who posted that king arthur flour wrap recipe a while back?), corn tortillas/chips, etc. — I save money by making them myself. I also make my own yogurt (process on my blog) and probably many more things that I can’t think of now. Making food from scratch is so much more rewarding (and much easier on the bank account) than buying them!
January 18th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Nice job on groceries! I did the 70-minute routine a week or two ago and I liked the focus on compassion too. It made me really think about some of the grudges I’m holding.
January 18th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Yay for that budget, sounds like y’all are doing really well. I love keeping up, such good tips
January 18th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
My husband and I make our own bread too. It’s super yummy and a lot of fun to make!
January 18th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Wow, great job on the groceries. Awesome!
MMMmmmm, krinkle cut chips! LOL
January 19th, 2009 at 12:12 am
I am so impressed that you got out of Whole Foods only spending $31!!!!
January 19th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Sarah: Yes, I’ve made and posted those wraps before. Thanks for reminding me.
Caitlin: It was super hard. Especially b/c I was hungry!
January 19th, 2009 at 1:46 am
great job on the shopping, I am trying to only spend 50 dollars for the rest of the month because I now need to buy a GARMIN!! lol love the burgers:)
January 19th, 2009 at 6:15 am
youve really inspired me lately with the budgeting.
and, if I do say do myself, Im kicking some major booty.
that is all
January 19th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Good luck with continuing to make progress with your grocery budget! I really want to start making my own bread and crackers!
January 19th, 2009 at 7:45 am
I make my own tomato sauces instead of buying jarred/premade. It’s so easy using canned tomaotes and such, plus you can season however you want and it freezes well.
I’m slowing getting into making my own bread, same reason as you, it’s so much cheaper!
January 19th, 2009 at 8:17 am
wow….you are one awesome shopper. I also make my own pasta sauce with canned crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce…load it up with garlic and onion. I also have went back to making bread……..I think it may come out even but I like being able to control the ingredients because there are way too many odd sounding ingredients in even the healthy breads.
The black bean burgers look good. I may try them today.
January 19th, 2009 at 8:29 am
i make trips to multiple grocery stores (i enjoy it so it doesn’t seem like a chore) to get the lowest prices i can. like you discovered this week, certain things are cheaper different places…
i need to make some more bean burgers…
January 19th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Hooray for yoga and great groceries!!
January 19th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Awesome job with the budget! One time I made english muffins, which came out so much cheaper than store bought ones! They were super easy and so cheap!
January 19th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Great job with your groceries, you two! I’m very impressed. I love the Whole Foods Whole Deal coupons…I use the bar coupons and Oikos coupons every single week.
I try to make as much of my own bread as possible. If you make a few loafs at once you can slice up the extras and freeze them, they thaw nicely. Also, we make our own veggie broth by keeping veggie scraps in a bag in the freezer until they are ready to use. Its really easy, you can check this post for a little how-to http://bellaeats.com/2008/12/10/quiche-chicken-veggie-soup-veggie-broth-oh-my/ its near the bottom.
Love those bean patties!
January 19th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Hey! That puts you under $30/person for the week, and pulled your average per person spending under $50. Good job!
I bake breakfast muffins and waffles, instead of buying cold cereals and frozen pastries for the kid’s breakfasts. Also, cookies and bars for packing in lunches. Those two things probably make for the biggest savings.
I make about 1/2 our bread here at home. Would like to do more, but some weeks are more hectic than others.
January 19th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I spot a WCMN clif!!! Yay
Fabulous grocery haul!
January 19th, 2009 at 9:39 am
heyyy! thanks for the shoutout!
i am the worst when it comes to dropping grocery cash
January 19th, 2009 at 9:44 am
$58??? Way to go, Heather! That’s a LOT of food for the money.
Uhhh, I make my own whipped cream. And salad dressing. That’s pretty much it. I love the idea of making homemade stocks but never actually do it.
January 19th, 2009 at 9:48 am
you did so much better than me this week! somehow we managed to spend $86?! ugh! I blame the 3 bags of chips hubby wanted, and the pint of ben & jerrys for upping my totals! grrr. oh and we splurged on some seabass filets since it was the only night this week I was going to eat dinner with my husband
once my box of boca burgers is gone I will be experimenting with my own “burgers” – i need to get some wheat gluten to beef up the patties nutritional value!
if you haven’t already, check out justthefood blog (google it) . the chick makes a ton of vegan BURGERS! soo many choices. and she’s coming out w/ a cookbook too!
I make hummus to save money.
January 19th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Great job on budgeting your grocery $! Do you by chance have the bread recipe?
January 19th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Great job on week 3 budget – it looks like you got a lot of food for the money!
January 19th, 2009 at 10:00 am
isnt trader joes the best? I swear they have really good prices on most things. I make my own salad dressing – just evoo, balsamic and a little dijon. I want to start making my own hummus, but havent yet.
January 19th, 2009 at 10:07 am
I wanted to check out that yoga download this weekend but I ran out of time
Trader Joe’s is now on our regular rotation of places to shop. We have found that it is the cheapest place to buy many items we use regularly like cereal, nuts, greek yogurt and tofu.
This week, to save money, I cooked beans from dried instead of buying canned. I’m not sure if it is something I will always do but will when I have the time.
January 19th, 2009 at 11:00 am
$58.86 – OK, you have totally inspired me to do better with my grocery budget! I know a lot of the stores post their sales online. I need to be better about checking before I go shopping.
Your black bean burgers look delicious…especially with that melted cheese. Looks like the real deal to me. I always love the taste of homemade veggie burgers, but I’m too lazy and don’t make them very often. I need to be better about that as I don’t like a lot of the ingredients in commercial brand veggie burgers.
I try and save money by straining my own yogurt. Love the Fage, but not the price! That stuff is so expensive. I buy a 32 oz container of plain yogurt…organic, whatever is on sale, and strain it in the fridge overnight. Not quite as good as my Fage, but it will do.
FYI – Trader Joe’s tries really hard to buy what they can in bulk and pass the savings onto their customers. That is why they don’t always have the same items in stock…cause they couldn’t find a good deal – same for Costco. Love shopping at both!
January 19th, 2009 at 11:00 am
GREAT job on the budget! I always use the Clif coupons, and sometimes the Z bars end up being FREE!
I’ll have to try out those burgers… Caitlin’s black bean and sweet potato patties are one of my favorites!
January 19th, 2009 at 11:01 am
as far as making things at home, i have yet to do so, but i would like to start making my own hummus and bean/veggie patties if at all possible…we shall see!
January 19th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Homemade bread is so much tastier. You’re doing awesome with getting lots of food for a decent price! I like making my own ketchup and hummus and pasta sauces etc. All those condiments and extras really add up.
January 19th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Thanks for posting your grocery finds and the prices. I am trying very hard to do better at grocery shopping on a budget. It is not easy! Trader Joes does have decent prices, on most things.
Since you do not live far from me, which Whole Foods to you go to? There is one in Montclair but it’s small, and not the best at all. i would like to make a trip to trader jhoes this weekend.
http://andreaseats.blogspot.com
January 19th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Congrats on the budget shopping! It looks like you got some great deals!
Speaking of, I need to look for some cheap groceries myself… girl’s gotta save money for traveling and sight-seeing
January 19th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Congrats on keeping your grocery bill so low this week. It definitely takes a little extra work but it’s definitely worth it!
I make hummus at home to save $$s – just 1 can of chickpeas makes a lot of hummus for a little over $1 (when you add the price of 1 lemon and some tahini).
Haha, when I saw “bun in the oven” I thought you were pregnant for a second. I guess you really meant a bun in the oven
January 19th, 2009 at 11:50 am
It always surprises me how reasonable TJs is. Especially on things like bananas and pantry staples.
I make my own “Greek” yogurt by straining plain nonfat generic yogurt. I just put it in a colander with folded paper towels overnight and voila, cheap Greek.
January 19th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
70 minutes of yoga! Way to go! The bean burgers look awesome!
January 19th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Great grocery finds!
To save money, I shop multiple stores and make a bunch of stuff from scratch. I’ve always made my own pasta sauce (I can get 28 oz can of tomatoes for 75 cents), and I’ve started baking my own bread and making my own stocks. In the spring, I plan on starting an herb garden.
January 19th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I’m not so sure that this is going to be enough food for the entire week. I guess we still have stuff in the freezer from the other weeks this month. The bean burgers were really good.
January 19th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Mark: Don’t worry, we still have lots of stuff from the other weeks! We don’t have to buy so much anymore because we have staples and things frozen from past weeks and I know how to make delicious things from a can of beans and salsa.
January 19th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Andrea, The one in Montclair is pretty close to me and I can’t wait for it to be nice so that I can walk there! Yesterday I went to the bigger one in West Orange (I think that’s where it is), but I was still disappointed by their bulk bin selection.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
$58.86!!! That is fabulous. Honestly, I can’t think of anything I make homemade to save money (besides just cooking rather than going out in genera), but now I’m going to start!
January 19th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
I make granola bars. I am very impressed with your grocery shopping, especially since half was at WF.