This Week in my Frugal Kitchen

Sunday
Breakfast this morning consisted of Cheese Grits, Sausage, Cantaloupe (not pictured), and Toast. 

Grits are very affordable and therefore make a great frugal food. Kroger regularly has this two pound bag on sale for 10 for $10.00, so $1.00 for two pounds of grits.  One serving of grits is 1/4 of a cup, which at this price costs about 5¢ per serving or what you see in this bowl. 
I made four servings, ate one and put three in the fridge for breakfasts later in the week. 
What I love about grits is they are very filling. It saves us money to eat foods low in cost and then we eat less of the more expensive foods like the sausage, which brings our overall total cost of breakfast lower. 
For dinner I decided to make some meatballs. I had several heels of bread in the freezer, so I started out by making bread crumbs out of them. I used about one cup's worth in the meatballs and put the rest of the bread crumbs in the freezer. 

The meatball recipe was just a basic one with one pound of ground beef, the bread crumbs, one egg, a small grated onion, salt pepper, worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder. I rolled them into balls and baked them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 
Dinner on Sunday was Meatballs, Acorn Squash, Green Beans with Onions, and Cantaloupe. 



Monday
On Monday I was called to sub at the last minute, which made me happy as I have car insurance due at the end of the month, so another day on my paycheck is always good. 
For breakfast I took one of the bowls of grits with me to eat when I got hungry. 
For dinner I wanted to make a chicken pot pie since I knew I had a can of chicken in the pantry, but I was going to have to make due with some other items. 
There was no pie crust, so I made one with flour & shortening. I didn't have any mixed vegetables, but I had a can of potatoes in the pantry and took the carrots out of a bag of frozen California blend vegetables.  It tasted different from my ordinary Chicken Pot Pie, but Bailey loved it, so it worked. 
I also had red beans soaking from Sunday that I made in the Instant Pot. We didn't eat these today, but I wanted to make them for this week. I put them in the refrigerator for meals this week. 
Tuesday
Subbed again today, so I took a bowl of the cheese grits for breakfast when I got hungry. I also had cantaloupe that I brought with me. 
For lunch I packed a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, along with some carrots sticks and water to drink. 
Dinner was Little Smokies with BBQ sauce, Green Beans with Onions, Acorn Squash, and Rice and Cheese. I also had to make a fresh gallon of iced tea for dinner. 
Wednesday
I was called to sub at the last minute on Wednesday too. Breakfast was the last bowl of Cheese Grits that I made on Sunday and Cantaloupe. Lunch was pb&j. 
Dinner was the last of the Little Smokies with BBQ sauce and the last of the green beans with onions. 
Thursday & Friday
The red beans I made earlier in the week came into play for dinner tonight. I ended up making chili for dinner tonight and there is plenty left over for dinner on Friday night too. 
This week, like last week, we've been using what we have on hand to make meals, so they may seem boring and/or repetitive to some readers. If you recall I had an added expense last month and needed to be careful with our funds for the time being. 
So you can say we are in "use it up mode", which can get pretty interesting at times. 
On Saturday I woke up at four a.m. wide awake. So, I decided to make the best of it and prepare the food we were taking with us to yard sales. 
I cut up two cantaloupes and put some in a smaller bowl for the road, cut the granola bars I made on Friday night, and made a couple of wraps to take with us. I also made a gallon of tea as the pitcher in the fridge only had about 1/3 left.     For dinner when I get home I'm going to use the last of the chili and make Chili Tacos for dinner. 
Belinda ~ Living within our Means ~