Our groceries this month........The Good and what to improve

So since the beginning of January I have been participating in a pantry challenge. I have never participated like this before. We did not have overwhelming amounts of food storage, but I wanted to focus on what we had and try to eat it.  So far, we have done really well.  My freezer is almost bare and my daughter looked in and said "We have chocolate ice cream. I didn't know that". At this point I am out of eggs and very low on yeast, rice, and oatmeal. My fridge is pretty sparse. We are working hard.

My spending for the month at this point is under $220, and the month is half over. I do have to shop today.  That is really amazing for us. Now I don't spend the $300-$350 dollars a week on food like some families, but I was finding that it was easy to be spending $150-$170 for a weekly shop with more stops through the week. I have done a few things to help eliminate the extra stops.

• Buy enough milk and bread at the beginning. Those are staples for us.  I put milk in my coffee and without coffee I am not human
• Write a plan, but be flexible. I am good at writing a plan, but I don't always want what I plan. I move things around and make changes. It is working.

So far we have eaten dinner at home for two full weeks in a row with two exceptions. We had take out pizza last weekend with a friend. After cooking for seven nights in a row that was enjoyable. My husband and I also grabbed dinner out this week since the kids were out with my mother and sister. Another nice treat. I am walking in the door most nights after 5:00 and I typically leave between 7:30 and 8:00 in the morning, so not ordering take out is a small miracle.

What I Need to Work On

We have done really well, but our food has been pretty high in carbs. Certainly not what my overall food goal is. Today I want to get more vegetables and put them into more meals. Three of this week's dinners included homemade rolls or biscuits. Delicious but deadly. I need to back off of that.

My carb heavy menu:

Sunday Chicken in Gravy with Biscuits

Monday Baked Omelet with Linguini

Tuesday Skillet Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

Wednesday Out for Dinner

Thursday Chicken Soup with Homemade rolls

Friday Left Over Lobster Sauce from New Year's take out from freezer and fried rice that I threw together with Caesar salad (weird combo but the kids love Caesar)

See what I mean. This week's plan, and yes I already wrote it will include more side veggies like tossed salad. I usually throw raw veggies like carrots on the table too. We will see what the next week brings.