January Grocery Budget Challenge

It’s a New Year and a new month to save money on groceries. The last few years have been tough financially for most including myself so finding ways of being creative when it comes to food has been a talent. I’ve been able to still buy the foods I like to eat (I am very simple) and prepare them the way I want.

For January, I wanted to start the year off on a healthier note since I made a promise to myself to eat better and exercise. I honestly don’t find eating healthy to be a challenge however, the prices at the stores don’t make it easy at all. For my January trip I decided to visit Frescho, it’s one of the many stores near me that I find to be on the cheaper side of things which stretches my $20. If you are new here, I created a $20 grocery budget & meal challenge for myself, where I spend $20 to create the meal of my choice. Now this is not meant to be a way of life however it has helped me through the years as things became tough financially.

Starting things off I decided to make myself a vegan/meatless dish, I don’t necessarily name my foods, but just wanted to give you an idea of what I am creating and eating. I wanted to get bulgur which is a grain (cracked wheat) I enjoy eating from time to time, with some stewed beans/peas (because either one works) and veggies. I spent $18.94 and I was able to get 2 cans of beans, a bottle of avocado oil, a can of diced tomatoes with plantain and zucchini.

^{_{Stewed red beans with bulgur, zucchini and plantain}}

Now you know I LOVE my salmon, so you know my grocery trip is not complete without a salmon meal. This time I wanted brown rice, something I started eating when I was on an anti-inflammatory diet (I tried this to help reduce inflammation in my body to help reduce my hair loss). I spent $19.63 on this trip and was able to get a decent size salmon fillet, a zucchini, carrot bunch and balsamic dressing. You may be wondering (or not lol) why I got the balsamic dressing, well flavour and oil that’s why lol. There is oil in the dressing that settles on the top when not disturbed and this is what was used to cook the salmon and rice. I’m telling you I got creative, not to say this was never done by anyone else, I just never did this before I started my $20 challenge. For a more visual representation my video illustrated exactly how I create my meals.

^{_{Brown rice with carrots, zucchini and salmon bites}}

Keeping in line with my healthy eating habits, I decided to get some whole wheat flour so that I can make myself bread. Bread is a weakness of mine, so instead of cutting it out, I just opted for a healthier option. This trip I wanted to make a tomato/cheese sandwich. Yup that’s it, this trip would serve as either a snack, breakfast, lunch or even dinner because they are all things I like to eat whenever I feel like it lol (I’m working on this). I spent $19.52 on this trip, and I was able to get a block of cheese, 3 packets of yeast, a lettuce head, 1 orange, 1 tomato, 3 bananas, margarine (not something I really fancy but it’s what I could afford) and whole wheat flour. I love baking bread, so this was an easy option for me.

^{_{Homemade whole wheat bread made into a tomato & cheese sandwich}}

I don’t always have a good plan for breakfast however there is always a trip for strictly fruits lol. I love fresh fruits and every chance I get, I grab as much as I can, so this trip was no different. I wanted to make a fruit salad and to have a much fruit as possible for the month (this is kind of hard because I eat fruits daily). This trip cost me $19.79, and I was able to get myself 1 pineapple (my fav), 2 blueberry pints, 4 bananas, 2 oranges, 1 kiwi pack (contains around 6-7), 1 mango and 1 pomegranate. I live for fruits, so this trip was A+ in my book.

^{_{Fresh Fruit Salad}}

My final trip for the month is what I like to call ‘I wanted what I wanted’ lol. When I started the day I decided on shrimp tacos, I had a vision in my head, and I could even tasted them, so I knew this was what I wanted. By the time I got home and looked at the items I purchased, I had no idea what I got. I spent $19.57 for this trip, and I was able to purchase cabbage (don’t ask me why lol), shrimp, sour cream, tortillas and 1 tomato. Honestly, I had to think about what I was going to create and how I was going to make my tacos. These are by no means authentic tacos these are my tacos lol and they were delicious!

^{_{Shrimp tacos with cabbage and sour cream}}

Overall, my trip for January was successful to me, I was able to get a variety of items to mix and match to create delicious and healthy meals for the month. This is everything I purchased collectively for the month of January.