Pantry Challenge: Week 4

Here it is! The LAST week of my pantry challenge! I'm actually considering just extending it a little bit because I feel like we still have quite a bit of stuff to eat up. Maybe i'll do a no-spend week next week. We'll see. :)

We made out well this last week. We ended up not leaving for our trip to Idaho until Wednesday morning, so Thursday night's dinner was leftovers/pasta/whatever was in the fridge. We also ended up staying until Friday night, enjoying hamburgers with family and friends up there. Saturday was a lazy day and a rough day on me, pregnancy-wise, so we just ordered in. Papa Johns, baby! (I had enough Papa Rewards points for a free pizza anyway). I pushed the breakfast for dinner back to Sunday night. :)

Also on Saturday, the local farm market opened up! I've been waiting for months to be able to buy local produce again! It's called Petersen Family Farm and I absolutely LOVE buying from them. Such a cute little family farm and it just feels good to support local farmers, don't you think? Anyway, I couldn't resist stopping by and picking up a few things! They don't open full time (Monday-Saturday) until the 13th, so I decided Saturday's spending at the farm could factor into this weeks spending.

Meal Plan: 


Monday-  Five-cheese lasagna with a side of peas and a salad. Pink lemonade to drink.

Tuesday- Leftovers. (It's a HUGE lasagna)

Wednesday- Penne with red sauce and Artisan Bread. Milk to drink.

Thursday- Hot dogs with homemade buns. A side of baked beans and rice krispie treats!

Friday- Out to eat.

Saturday- Mac n Cheese with peas and cut-up hot dogs. Fruit punch to drink.

Sunday- Mexican food! Possibly enchiladas.

Money Spent for the Week:

Petersen Family Farm- $17.75

• A dozen apricots
• 1 2 lb bag of cherries
• Farm fresh eggs
• My FAVORITE Raspberry Jalapeno Jam 

Smith's-  $33.24 ($90.44 before sales and coupons. A 63% savings!!!)

• 5 boxes of cereal
• 2 bags of mini marshmallows
• 15 packets of Kool-Aid (not very healthy, I know)
• 2 tubs of sour cream
• 2 gallons of milk
• 2 Sambazon Acai drinks
• 1 box of Wheat Thins
• 1 2-pack of bar soap
• 6 boxes of Hot Pockets (for quick lunches)
• 1 Stouffer's Party Size Lasagna
• 4 boxes of Hefty storage bags
• 2 tubs of ice cream

Total beginning budget for the month: $150
Total spent at the end of the month: $152.47

Holy cow, I just BARELY went over! I'll blame it on the $3 in impulse buys that my husband threw in the cart that first week. ;)

What a great month! While there were some changes in my plans and some meals that weren't exactly balanced or super healthy, it still feels great to know I can feed my family for only $150! Granted, i'm sure I could have done it for $100, but i'll save that for another time. :)

Thanks for coming along with me on my little pantry challenge journey!

Pure Komachi 2 Chef's Knife Giveaway!!!

Yes, you read that title right. I am doing a GIVEAWAY!
I've been sitting on this one for quite a while now, waiting until I could start posting more regularly.
First, let me note that this giveaway is not sponsored by anyone, I didn't receive anything for free, nor am I receiving any compensation for this. This prize came out of my own pocket and I am having a giveaway simply because I LOVE this knife and want to share it's amazingness with the world!

Let me introduce you to the Pure Komachi 2 Chef's Knife.
Yes, it is pink.
Amazing right?
Sorry if you don't like pink. It won't matter if you win this contest. You will absolutely love this knife anyway.

You may have seen this bad boy appear in some of my other posts:

Don't start thinking that this knife is only for produce though. I literally use this knife for just about everything I possibly can in the kitchen. Cutting up meat (though you have to avoid cutting up frozen meat, as it can be rough on the pretty pink color), slicing through bread, opening packages and cutting twine off a roast chicken, slicing up cheese. The possibilities are endless! Just yesterday, I used mine to hack up an enormous watermelon. She handled it with ease.
(Technically, the knife is colored so you can avoid cross-contamination, but I don't really worry about stuff like that. I just wash it really well, by hand.)

I really do LOVE this knife. Out of everything in my kitchen, it is by far my favorite. More so than my kitchenaid or my set of pink pots and pans, or even my silverware set.

The Pure Komachi 2 Chef's Knife is SO sharp! I've had mine for about a year now and it's still as sharp as the day I bought it! I have an entire knife set that we received as a wedding gift, and while I love it, I almost never use any of the knives anymore, because this one has taken center stage.

Ok. Enough gushing over the knife. Here's how to enter. :)
Simply click this link and follow the instructions!

Pantry Challenge: Week 3

Oh boy. Talk about a complete failure for last week! I barely stuck to the plan at all! Shoot!
Wednesday, Thursday, AND Friday, we (or just myself) ended up going out to eat. Pretty awful, right? Pizza Hut, Jimmy Johns, and IHOP. So bad.

I also ended up spending an extra $4.79 due to a late-night watermelon craving. This baby LOVES watermelon, let me tell ya.

In case you missed them, here are two posts from last week:
Basic Buttercream Frosting
Handmade Gift Exchange

This upcoming week is a tough one, with rent and a car payment being due, so I don't plan on spending ANY grocery money, just in case. Hopefully I can make the last of my Bountiful Basket from 2 weeks ago last yet another week. I have a ton of romaine lettuce, celery, chili peppers, potatoes, 2 spaghetti squash and some cherries left. Plus, half of the watermelon we bought on Saturday.

Meal Plan:

Monday- Pot roast with carrots, potatoes, and celery. Honey Whole Wheat Rolls on the side. (I didn't get around to making this last week, so it'll be tonight's dinner instead.) Milk to drink.

Tuesday- Snacks. Haha! We'll be heading up to Idaho Tuesday night, so dinner will be whatever we can scrounge up. Probably leftovers.

Wednesday- We'll be up in Idaho for a family BBQ! I'll be making and bringing my Tomatillo Salsa.

Thursday- Not sure yet, since I don't know if we'll be back from Idaho in time to make dinner.

Friday- Spaghetti squash with red sauce and a side salad. Water to drink.

Saturday- BFD. Breakfast for dinner. Eggs, toast, waffles, sausage and smoothies to drink. (Another meal from last week that I didn't end up making.)

Sunday- BBQ Chicken Crescents with baked beans and a side salad. Water to drink.


Money Spent for the Week:

Smith's- $4.79 for a watermelon last Saturday

Total spent so far: $101.38
Budget remaining: $48.62

With no grocery spending this week and almost $50 left for the last week of my pantry challenge, I think i'm going to make it under budget! Woo!