Much ado about menus and saving money

Another Monday, another week of planned menus and groceries already purchased!

Planning meals and then shopping accordingly is the first of the money saving tips that I have implemented this month. By sticking to my list, I was able to get out of Costco with a total spent of only $37. I think it's a record. I like the prices on dairy and some produce (10 lbs of organic carrots, anyone?), but if I vary from my list, I end up with things I don't really NEED.

I did the rest of my shopping at HEB, the ubiquitous (at least in TX) grocery chain. For the month (and we're 10 days in), I've spent $105 on groceries. If I can keep my entire month at $400 or less, I'll be delighted.
Another of the money saving tips I've been doing this month is making my own bread (recipe here).

We love the taste. It costs $4-5 per loaf to buy bread like this at the grocery store, so we are saving bundles in bread alone. I make 2 loaves almost every day. It only takes me about 15 minutes of work, and that includes washing the dishes afterwards. Yesterday I made a chocolate peanut butter spread that I found on pinterest from peanuts, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, salt, and a little peanut oil. Breakfast this morning was our peanutella on bread topped with sliced bananas and accompanied by a glass of milk. You can find the recipe here at Smitten Kitchen.

Without further ado, here is the menu for the week.

Sunday: Baked potatoes topped w/cottage cheese, baked acorn squash, garlicky green beans
Monday: Best baked manicotti, rosemary garlic bread, green salad
Tuesday: West African peanut soup with chicken
Wednesday: BBQ chicken sandwiches, homemade buns, baked beans, cucumber slices, carrot sticks
Thursday: Whole wheat brown sugar banana bread pancakes
Friday: Homemade pizza
Saturday: TBD/leftovers

I'll be putting a whole chicken into the crockpot later today and using the meat for both Tuesday and Wednesday, plus making chicken stock for the soup Tuesday.

It's going to be a yummy week! What are you cooking?

I'm linking up: