Have you heard this news, about the flame retardant showing up in peanut butter? Because as you may recall, I, a pregnant person, have been eating peanut butter nearly every day for lunch for the past month or so. Needless to say, I was not happy to hear this, both for obvious reasons (while I am admittedly on the upper end of the pregnancy-paranoia scale, the risk of the baby suddenly bursting into flame inside the womb has not been of great concern) and because we had just purchased an enormous amount of peanut butter last time we went to Costco. It was filling, cheap, and delicious on homemade bread, and now I’ve got to stop eating it completely. It’s most likely going to drive our weekly budget up a bit as we experiment with lunch substitutes; this week we’re going to try bread and cheese, since 8 oz. blocks of Cabot (sharp cheddar and pepper jack) are still on sale for $1.99 at Grocery Outlet.
This is a bit of a splurge-y week, so I expected us to go over a little bit, and indeed we did—but not by too much. We made two trips: one to Grocery Outlet and one to regular ol’ Fred Meyer (Kroger).
Items purchased for this week:
• 2 lbs. Colby jack cheese: $6.99
• 2 8 oz. blocks Cabot cheddar: $3.98
• 4 oz. pasteurized feta: $2.49
• Plain nonfat yogurt (large container): $1.79
• 12 corn tortillas (YES, it’s true, I’m not making them—they’re simply going to be fried for weeknight Mexican lime soup, and I knew I wasn’t going to have time to make fresh ones, press them, cook them, and then fry them just for a soup topping): $1.19
• 12 flour tortillas (those who know of the honey-lime chicken enchiladas know these must be store-bought): $2.39
• Green enchilada sauce (again, you don’t eff around with the honey-lime chicken enchiladas): $2.79
• 3 lbs. bananas: $1.99
• 1 very large seedless watermelon (I still can’t get over how cheap this was at Grocery Outlet…the same one was $7.99 at Fred Meyer): $3.99
• 4 limes: $1.34
• 1 3/4 lbs. Granny Smith apples: $1.52
• 1 Napa cabbage: $1.31
• 2 large shallots: $1.41
• 1/4 lb. pine nuts: $5.13
TOTAL: $38.31
Meals for this week (some will yield leftovers for lunch; also, we’re having company next weekend, hence the shortened list):
-Honey-lime chicken enchiladas
-Thai fried rice with pork
-Farfalle with kalamata olives, pine nuts & sun-dried tomatoes
-Mexican lime soup
-Khao soi
Breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dessert:
–Hot oatmeal “granola” with walnuts and blueberries
-Garden eggs and homemade bread
-Leftover Asian cabbage slaw
-Yogurt and jam
-Apples and bananas
-Watermelon (for dessert)
-Homemade bread and cheese
-Snow peas, strawberries and raspberries from the garden
The $35 a Week Project 