Project: Food Budget–Week 17

First of all, before we get to the budget, I have to yell from the rooftop that the last two days in Seattle have been a-MAZ-ing! Oh my goodness. We needed it, too. I was starting to develop webbed feet from all the rain. Today should be more of the same, with clear skies and sunshine and temps in the high sixties. Check out this little forecast I grabbed on Wednesday night:

The good thing about Spring is the weather eventually warms up and becomes quite pleasant. The bad thing is our lake view disappears as the leaves on the trees fill in. It happens in an instant, too: One day, view. The next day, no view! This morning = no view.

Okay, so, putting Spring fever aside, here is my budget damage for the week.

Goal: $75
Actual: $32.84

Say what???

I know! We just really didn’t need much this week. I did have a few more household items on the Amazon Fresh order (there is a $30 minimum for free delivery), but I don’t count things like laundry soap and paper goods in the food budget. For some reason, Amazon put in a package of Thai basil into my order. I have never ordered Thai basil before, and it was really quite tasty!

You might notice strawberry ice cream on the list, which is a splurge. As I mentioned earlier in the week, sometimes when I’m deep into endurance training nothing sounds good. Last night, after a monster workout, the only thing I wanted was strawberry ice cream, and not a smoothie. The real deal! So I loaded up the pooch and we went after the good stuff. Sometimes you have to listen to your cravings.

Menu for the Week:

I have been a single parent this week as 2Chili is off enjoying the Tour of California bike race. In fact, he is enjoying it so much that I saw him on TV. It’s pretty funny to be watching TV and see your spouse in the middle of the action!

So, in the absence of my pickier half, the menu has gone a lot like this:

Quinoa Pasta + Sautéed Veggies + Grated Parmesan Cheese + Herbs = Yum.

This week has held large amounts of volume for my triathlon training, so I went into the week prepared. I made up a big batches of chickpea veggie patties, roasted sweet potatoes, DIY Lara Bars, and protein pancakes on Sunday. I have been chowing down on pre-made items all week. I love weekend cooking for weekday convenience!

Budget Buddies

• Emily Levenson
  • Veggie Converter
  • Dairy-Free Cooking
  • Motor City Girl In the Steel City
  • Veggie Burgher
  • The Happy Cactus
  • Test Kitchen Tuesday
  • Newly Vegan
  • Veggie on the Cheap
  • MeloMeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day
  • The Veggie Life
  • Caroline Cain Holistic Health
  • Going Veggie
  • Under The Apple Tree
  • Be the Change