Week #7 of My Grocery Challenge

Jul 10, 2008 by     3 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Grocery Challenge

Fun times! We are in the village working and hoping to get a lot of work done. I marketed for the summer before leaving Madrid at the cheapest store because the village stores are at least triple the price. Just can’t do that. I have stayed within my budget however. So… this week my 10 Euros went for:

.69-box of whole milk

.99- butter

.23-liter of soda

.90-2 kilos of baking flour

.86-one kilo of sugar

4.29-1 bag of frozen fish (merluza- forgot what that is in English)

.49-3 green peppers

.69- head of lettuce

.79- hamburger buns

—————–

+.07 left over!

+.03 from last week

—————-

+.10cents for next week!

My Menu:

Thursday July 10-chicken rice soup, tamales, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes

Friday July 11-lamb and barley soup, pastrami and swiss cheese sandwiches w/sprouts

Saturday July 12-chicken noodle soup, hot dogs with sauerkraut and swiss cheese on buns

Sunday July 13-cream of tomato soup, hamburgers w/ cheddar cheese on buns

Monday July 14- potato and cheese soup, bean and cheese burritos, salad

Tuesday July 15- hamburger and pasta soup, tortellini w/ cheese sauce, salad

Wednesday July 16-leftovers

This week, I decided to use a lot of the “bits and pieces” I have in the fridge and cupboards. The hot dogs come in big packages and so I plan of adding those once a week until they are gone. They are big FAT ones from Germany and pretty good, as hot dogs go. I made the tamales out of leftover chicken, the torellini is the last of the package I bought and the hamburger pasta soup, will be polishing off the last bit of the ground beef leftover from the hamburgers. I am also using the cheese I had in the freezer to make-up for the lesser amount of meat.

We’re now in the village and the freezer is small. I’m saving the fish for when Ana and Angel come to visit in August.

My Blessings this week:

* our neighbors (and guests for supper) brought us a bottle of wine (again, we will save this for guests)~ it’s the custom here in Spain to bring wine and we hear it is the same in France where are kids live.

* 1 lemon, ½ liter of tomato juice, ¼ of a can of grapefruit slices, 1 cup of orange juice, given to us by a neighbor leaving town.

What the Lord is teaching me:

Our pastor, Angel gave a good and encouraging message on Sunday, using in part, the text from Psalm 27:13-14. Let me quote it for you:

” I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Our pastor was speaking of the trials that we are all facing here in Spain with the hight cost of EVERYTHING and the mortgage crisis in Europe. Some in the church families are struggling more than others. Some of us add to these challenges, the terrible exchange rate, but his last words impacted us and ministered to us. He said,” Now this week, no matter what happens, look to the Lord and what He is teaching you.” Good words, a good reminder and encouragement to those of us who may grow weary in the struggle. So this week:

~I will be CONFIDENT of God’s provision for us.

~I WILL see the GOODNESS of the Lord.

~I will WAIT with anticipation to see Him work.

~I will be STRONG (He is my strength)

~I will TAKE HEART

~and… again (he says it twice) I will WAIT for the LORD.

My tomato plants tomatoes

Here are my tomato plants… they are growing and I should be getting those cherry tomatoes soon! I am also picking the small leaves off the chard for salad greens. I love growing my little pot garden. Please leave your comments and tell me how you are doing. Have a great money saving week!

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3 Comments + Add Comment

  • Anita July 10, 2008 at 9:38 am

    Yes, that is the custom here as well. One night we had a get together with students from neils class and had about 9 bottled lined up on the table! We even had a couple leftover.
    We went to a couples house the other day and we took them a box of chocolates instead. I never go empty handed, flowers are appropriate as well. I don’t really know how to pick a wine though, and I wouldn’t want to take one to a French persons house, I might choose the wrong thing… I will learn I guess. Great job on the challenge. I am convinced I can change my budget to 35 euros a week and not ‘suffer’. There are some things that husband and kiddos really like, so I am providing those, or we could go lower, but I am definitely being frugal and keeping the budget strict. We don’t have a freezer full of food so we need to spend a bit more.

  • pearsonsprogress July 11, 2008 at 10:46 am

    too have been using what’s in my pantry now for the past 6 months or so. We have the privilege of a 99 cent store where everything is exactly 99 cents or less. I can get fresh produce and dairy, canned goods, some toiletries and personal care items. I have been using them along with my pantry items to make meals that cost me $1-2 and will feed us and invited friends. I’ve made soup, spaghetti, chcken rice salad, etc. I’ll also enjoy taking a recipe from my recipe book collection and revamping it to use items that I already have on hand. Have made up many new, tasty and inexpensive meals substituting what I have on hand, instead of buying what is mentioned in the recipe book. You are right! It is challenging and fun, too!
    Love you guys,
    Linda B

  • pearsonsprogress July 11, 2008 at 10:47 am

    HI Mom,
    Your week looks great. It is inspiring every week!
    I love reading your grocery challenge. keep up the good work.
    Love BL