OK, actually, it’s $52.24, as you will see below, so maybe I should have said “More than $50 but Not So Much More That It’s $60”… and I’m only feeding 7 kids for two days of this weekly budget… And I already have alfredo sauce in a jar in the cupboard. I know, I’m a fraud. But that’s all part of the budget menu gig! Incorporating what you already have into what you would like to have and voila! But anyway, that’s not what’s important. I’ll tell you what is important, though!
BEHOLD! THE EXCEL SHEET!
| Menu | |||||||
| Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | |
| P.F. Chang’s J | Alfredo & salad | Baked chicken | Broccoli beef | Huevos Rancheros | Spaghetti | Hot Dogs | |
| Strawberry | carrots | Broccoli | Onion | Ground meat | Jello | | |
| cheese | potatoes | Beef | bell pepper | spaghetti | Mustard | | |
| cucumber | Onion | Rice | cilantro | bread | Ketchup | | |
| Chicken | egg | Strawberries | | ||||
| Rice | chicken | ||||||
| Alfredo | tomato | ||||||
| Carrots | |||||||
| Walnuts | |||||||
| Broccoli | |||||||
| Spinach | |||||||
| Shopping List | |||||||
| Spinach | $2.00 | Hot dogs | $4.00 | ||||
| Strawberries | $2.00 | Chicken | $6.00 | ||||
| Cucumber | $0.80 | Milk | $2.50 | ||||
| Broccoli | $2.00 | Cereal | $5.00 | ||||
| Bell pepper | $0.70 | Eggs | $1.89 | ||||
| Tomatoes | $1.50 | Ground turkey | $5.00 | Budget | $50 | ||
| Cilantro | $0.70 | Bread | $1.50 | Adjusted Budget | $50.00 | ||
| Jello | $2.00 | Hot dog buns | $2.40 | Estimated total: | $56.26 | (with tax) | |
| Italian cheese blend | $1.75 | Chips | $5.00 | ||||
| Spaghetti | $2.00 | Ketchup | $1.00 | Actual total | $52.24 | ||
| Koolaid | $0.88 | Mustard | $1.00 | Remainder | $2.02 | ||
| Nuts | $3.00 | ||||||
| $35.29 | |||||||
| $19.33 | $54.62 | (plus tax) | |||||
Yeah, it might not look as fancy pants as Tansy’s cleanly organized Word table, but let me tell you: What this baby’s lacking in looks, it makes up for under the hood. PACKED FULL with dazzling formulas and equations that automatically calculate the totals and perform the right multiplication to estimate tax down to the penny. Then, once the shopping is complete and you enter in the actual grocery bill total, it is set to automatically calculate and display the remaining amount of funds in your weekly budget. WHAT?! I KNOW!! BUT WAIT! There’s MORE: Multiple tabs allow for quick and easy maneuvering from week to week and make future planning a breeze. Don’t make your next budget menu without Excel! And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
I’m putting on quite the production this week. And how will I do it? MASS production. The oldest of us Couture Girls (“Herbs”), Heather, will be joining us this weekend along with 7 loves of my life, her kids.
Yup, 7 kids.
I’ll admit the task is a bit daunting. I have a tough enough time developing a menu for just Brenden and me. And now the cat. Heaven help us. And this week we’re throwing 8 additional people into the mix. Thank goodness for hot dogs and spaghetti. I’m convinced that both were invented by Italian Catholic moms in dire straits, desperate to find something to feed all those little Giuseppes and Luiggis. But don’t quote me on that.
So, yes, hot dogs and spaghetti. Fortunately for us, it’s Pioneer Day weekend in Utah. For those of you who are as clueless as I was as to what this is, think Fourth of July, only with covered wagons instead of floats and people dressed up in pioneer threads. But still with the fireworks and hot dogs. At any rate, this means that hot dogs and the fixins were all but being given away at the grocery stores (the patron saint of those Catholic moms is smiling).
For the spaghetti, because I’m the cool aunt, I have to make mini meatballs. I’m the cool aunt! What kind of cool aunt doesn’t have mini meatballs in the spaghetti? But here’s the secret weapon: frozen Italian flavored ground turkey. Didn’t know that existed, didja? It does! In the freezer section! Near the bags of frozen chicken! (Classy). Brenden and I discovered it during last week’s shopping trip. At a buck-fiddy a package, it is yet another gift from the gods (especially when you have a husband who is allergic to chicken and pork. Yes, chicken AND pork. And peas and corn. But that’s another story for another time).
“Finding” such good deals allowed me to shift a decent portion of my budget over to mine and Brenden’s Sunday anniversary dinner! ONE YEAR, BABY! But here’s what you’re all still wondering: “What are those 7 kids going to eat for lunch?” “…”
In closing, here’s a recipe from the current week’s menu that I posted on my other blog.
Spicy Asian Honey Mustard Chicken
A long title, which means deliciousness. It seems I’m on an Asian kick. But can you blame me? Asian food is fantastic! This is the first recipe I’ve come up with since being home (at least that I’ve “come up with” that I’ve estimated measurements AND remembered them). Brenden was actually most impressed with the squash (see below). He doesn’t normally like squash, but this, he did!
INGREDIENTS
4 chicken breasts fillets (I used the kind that comes frozen in the bag. We’re gourmet here in the Couture-Scott home)
½c chicken broth (roughly—I just used the juices leftover after defrosting the chicken)
½ onion, sliced
THE SAUCE
¼c honey
¼c yellow mustard
1 pinch dried thyme
½tsp garlic powder
1tsp sesame oil
1tbs soy sauce (Mrs. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos for Gluten Free)
red pepper flakes to taste (I used over a tbs, so you may or may not want to copy that)
1/8c–¼c Rice flour (or a couple tbs of corn starch mixed in water—this will just be just be used for thickener later)
DIRECTIONS
Mix all the sauce ingredients—EXCEPT THE RICE FLOUR—up in something.
In a baking pan, add the onions in a layer. Top with chicken. Add the chicken broth/juice. Add the honey mustard mix, making sure to cover the chicken really well.
Cover with foil and marinate in the fridge for about a half hour. Bring it out and let it set for 10 minutes while you heat the oven to 375.
Cook the chicken at 375 for 30 minutes.
Turn the chicken over and stir in whatever you’re using for thickener. Cook for another 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Serve with white rice and Herby Yellow Squash (see below)
Herby Yellow Squash
I like to think I’m clever with these names.
INGREDIENTS
1 decent sized yellow squash, sliced into thin slices, but not, too thin. You know, edible.
dried rosemary
dried thyme
salt
few tbs of water
DIRECTIONS
In a glass oven-safe dish with a lid, layer the sliced squash, sprinkling LIGHTLY rosemary, thyme, and salt on each layer. Add a few Tbs of water. Cover (with the lid slightly off, just so steam can escape) and bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes.
*Note: if you’re making this with the Spicy Asian Honey Mustard Chicken, you can cook put the squash in when you flip the chicken…I’m sure most of you caught on to that already.
