August 19, 2017
Okay, so maybe it is not that big of a secret. It may actually be kind of obvious to some of you. You may have even picked up on this if you follow my Instagram page (@lisalhester).
So what is it?!
Pick recipes for the week with similar ingredients!!! Watch your grocery bill dip down to affordable! It's kind of silly and seems incredibly obvious! But guess what?! It is not obvious to everyone. It took this ding dong over here about five years to figure that out. I was driving myself nuts trying to figure out meal planning and spent hours trying to put grocery lists together until one day I was hanging out in Pinterest haven and the "duh-bell" rung me over the head. Game changer folks, seriously!
To start, pick the star ingredient. I’ve been getting big bags of Summer Squash and Zucchini from Aldi for 2 bucks so lets’ use that in our example. They are not organic, but I spray and wash them with Thieves Fruit and Veggie spray to at least make sure they are properly cleaned off.
You can use these as the main dish or the sides. Make enough for two meals each, and you have yourself dinner for the whole week. If you are a meat eater you can add some chicken breast with these or add some extra pepitas or beans for added protein.
You can click on each recipe name below to view the recipe attached to my Instagram account!
Here’s the grocery list:
Summer Squash/Zucchini Bag x 3 ($6)
2 Bags Black Bean pasts (~$5)
Quinoa (Pantry item, should already have on hand)
Rice (Pantry item)
Pesto ( $3-$8ish depending on store bought or homemade)
Total: $20-$30 for the week if you add in meats! Not so bad right?! Now, of course, we didn't talk about breakfast or lunch, but if you follow the same idea with breakfast and lunch, you could get your grocery bill down to $60-70 bucks for a couple. Is our grocery bill THAT low? No, of course not. I live with the insatiable hulk and his appetite is draining our bank accounts. But this is totally possible with families who have members with normal appetites.
Now, can we talk about this Apple Cake recipe? I’ve been tinkering with putting quinoa in baked goods. A girl’s gotta get her protein! The results are nothing short of amazing. You must try it!
