What Happened to the Grocery Challenge??

I know everyone has been wondering about our menus & the grocery challenge. Well, I gave up after 2 weeks (as I thought I might). There were a few reasons I stopped. One being that we decided to spend the 4th of July with John's parents & they prepared some great meals for us. I didn't think it would be right to continue with the challenge if we had someone else cooking for us for almost 3 days. But the biggest reason was that I was sitting at home during the second week (after having done my grocery shopping & spending my budget) wanting to bake something to freeze but was afraid I wouldn't have enough milk for the week. I decided that it was crazy for me to not do something because I might go over my $75 budget. Maybe I'll try it again next year....Timothy will count next year so my budget would be higher :)

I did find a menu planning service that I wanted to share. It is The Fresh 20. They do "real food" menus using fruits & veggies that are currently available at farmer's markets (& of course at grocery stores). I have used it for the past few weeks. They do 5 dinner menus per week (for 2 adults, 2 kids) & the cost is supposed to be around $80. There are usually 1 or 2 that John & I don't like but there have been some good meals. They also do a good variety of meats/fish so you aren't eating the same thing all of the time. They do use the same meats during the week though. For instance, one week you may have 2 chicken meals & 2 shrimp meals. The next week you may have 2 beef, one fish & one salad with leftover meat. There is a sample menu on their website if you want to check it out.

One other thing food-related to share. You have got to try these cookies....whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip. Best.cookies.ever. You make one batch & can freeze them. Yummy! John & Joshua both approved of these....not healthy but better than store bought!