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!