Amelia’s Grocery Outlet Link!
Hello all! Lordy, today was crazed, but in a good way. I’m so ready to wimp out on the couch.

Menu took a fab turn, as I was dying for some good seafood. AND best of all, I still stayed well within limits, almost got it under $9!. It’s all good!

Here’s the Menu / Cost Breakdown for the day:

Morning coffee: 0.25 (someone emailed me yesterday recommending that I cut out the coffee to save money. How adorable. And so not happening.)

Kids’ breakfast – 0.0 last of the leftover French toast. Super easy, kids loved it.

Adult breakfast – .56 for 4 HB eggs (FYI, eggs are currently at $2.56 for an 18-pack carton). I know a HB egg b’fast sounds like something straight out of the Yawnsville Café, but I have to tell you, if I skip the protein in the morning, it’s my brains that are over easy by lunch. HB eggs are fabulously easy, you can make a mongo batch at the beginning of the week and they’re super easy for meals, salads, snacks. So, there ya go.

Lunch/Snack: $2.70 – Katie had her lunch at school, today it was a tangerine juice box (.15), cheesy crackers for snack (.10), cheese sandwich for lunch (.30), and two all natural, no preservatives added cookies (.15). Robbie had leftover chicken corn soup for lunch ($0), I had a look at the bathroom scale and decided on a cup of coffee to tide me over until dinner (Honest to God, what the #*@* was I thinking over Christmas vacation?!). Hubby brown-bagged it with two huge apples (.70), and some easily reheated chicken corn soup from Sunday night ($0.0). When the kids got the munchies in the afternoon, they snacked on huge sliced apples (1.30).

Dinner: $5.15 – I’m aiming to do a lot of seafood this month. It’s a great way to get me back into post-holiday eating mode, it’s fabulously easy to prepare, incredibly healthy (when cooked correctly), and when I buy it at Amelia’s I can easily get it for a price that will keep it in line with this month’s $300 goal. Tonight, the adults are enjoying Santa Fe Salmon ($1.99/pound) with corn & bean relish, and a side of mushroom risotto ($1.20), along with a small side salad ($0.50). The kids aren’t huge into salmon yet (they’re 6 & 3, after all), so they get hotdogs instead (.45) and a side of corn (.50) (Last of the cake for dessert! ($0.50).

Best of all – SNACK TIME! After the kids go to bed, I popped ¼ cup of popcorn into about six cups and added a ¼ stick of butter (melted, obviously) for a GREAT big bowl at only .35! FAB! Woo HOOOOO! Come to MOMMA, and somebody hand me the TiVo remote.

Day four is complete, I got my evening crunchy snack, and we’re still well within budget limits. I’ve also received no fewer than 22 different recipes for casseroles, soups, stews and pasta dishes in the last three days, all with ingredients purchased at Amelia’s, that will feed a family for under $5, and some even under $2! You guys are fantastic! Keep the great menu ideas coming! Frugal On!

Day 3 total: $9.01. Total for the month: $37.71!