All You Grocery Challenge starts Next Sunday 6/20/10!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Are you ready?  I am.  I think!  I've been beefing up my stockpile for the past month or so, and I've been scouting out sale fliers ahead of time to plot out the best deals during the challenge.

We are starting with a full cupboard, unlike last year :(, and I've got a pretty full freezer too!

I also have $20 in ECB that expire throughout the Challenge that I'll be using, probably to buy milk and maybe eggs. I have menus planned out for the first two weeks as well.  These are the kind of things we'll be eating:

Dinners:

Roasted Veggie and Cheese Enchiladas, Vegetarian refried beans, Salad

Ratatouille, salad, gluten free bread

Roast Beef, herbed carrots, salad

King Ranch Chicken, Vegetarian refried beans, Salad

Stir Fry (probably with Chicken)

Teriyaki Chicken with veggies and quinoa

Lentil Soup and Quesadillas

Taco Salad

BBQ pork chops, salad, corn on the cob

Gluten Free pasta with home made Marinara, salad

Fire Roasted Veggie Pizza

Burger salad (it's a big green salad topped with a hamburger patty)

Steaks, baked sweet potatoes, salad, steamed veggies

Lunches:

Enchiladas

Salads with  tuna or salmon

Soup

Leftovers

All of our lunches have the "main dish", plus hummus (or tazaiki) and veggies, a piece of fruit and a Kashi bar or a fiber 1 bar. We usually drink water with our lunches.

Breakfast

Breakfasts on the weekdays usually consists of oatmeal, or greek yogurt and fruit, or a piece of fruit with nut butter.

On weekends, we tend to have scrambled egg white with bacon and veggies mixed in, served with bagel thins or Orowheat Sandwich Thins. And fruit salad- It's a family favorite.

This is how we usually eat. The challenge is going to be eating all of what we have in the cupboard and fridge, without running to the store when we get the urge for something that we don't have. We both work long hours, and our jobs are both stressful, so there is always the cop out to pick up dinner on the way home.

I hope that by planning out the meals and having most of the prep work done (I try to chop all the veggies when I come home from the store), and using the crock pot when we can for meals like the pot roast and the BBQ pork chops, it will cut down on the "drive thru" nights.

I pack our lunch either the night before when I am making dinner, or first thing in the morning.  It takes only a few minutes and it is saving us hundreds of dollars.

We'll also be using up our gift cards and free food coupons for restaurants as we are able to during the challenge.  We have about $100 in gift cards and coupons for various establishments all over town.

And don't think that during this challenge we won't have people over. We will probably have dinner guests 4-5 times during the challenge, I have made sure that in our budgeting to allow for extra portions for guests (and leftover s for lunches the next day).

I can't wait to start!