On A Mission

Whew what a weekend! After that super sweaty seven miles and cleaning spree on Saturday morning, I went shopping at Goodwill with some of my best girl friends and found some amazing stuff. The best find? This designer leather bag for $12 that I am absolutely obsessed with.

It even has the original genuine leather tag!

The top of the bag folds over and snaps shut like so:

And I just LOVE it. The color, the feel, the shape, the size… I have no idea why someone gave it up! The leather is also SO soft to the touch that I had a feeling I just found a hidden gem. And it shouldn’t surprise you at all that I came home and immediately googled Minelli bags to find out how much they retail for. Most of the bags, even used ones, are selling for close to $300. Score!

So you probably know that besides bargain shopping, another thing I am very fond of is grocery shopping. I know many people look at it as a chore, but I seriously love it. So much so, that my pantry, freezer, and refrigerator are literally packed with food pretty much all the time. Since I generally go shopping every week, there are tons of items in my pantry and freezer that I end up hiding behind my new purchases. It has to stop!

For the next few weeks, my mission is to make a dent in the things in my pantry and freezer. I’m limiting my grocery budget down to $35 per week and using that mostly/only for fresh produce. Truth be told, I was originally thinking $25, but then when I went to the store and spent $31.44 I realized that most of what I buy anyways is produce, so $25 is probably unreasonable for me.

For protein, I have tofu, tempeh (x2), eggs, beans, greek yogurt, TONS of cheese, peanut flour, and quinoa to work with. I also have so many grains, breads, beans, cereal, pasta, sauces, and other random things taking up space in my kitchen, and it’s time to start making a dent in it before adding anything else.

To kick off this process, yesterday I made a huge batch of brown rice and quinoa (separately), using up the last of each of these grains in my pantry.

Don’t worry, I still have millet (which I’ve never tried), wheat berries, couscous, israeli couscous, whole wheat pasta, soba noodles and others I’m sure.

Then, I went grocery shopping with my budget in mind to Whole Foods and managed to get a lot of good stuff.

For $31.44, I got:

• Organic Bananas
• Conventional Strawberries
• Organic Sprouts
• Baby Arugula + Mixed Greens
• Blueberries (on sale for $3.99!)
• Organic Plums
• A cucumber
• Organic Frozen Mixed Harvest Veggies
• Shelled Edamame
• Organic Peaches
• Organic Zucchini
• Chives
• Ginger
• A huge unpictured organic sweet potato. I couldn’t get in the oven fast enough, apparently. 😉

Not too shabby considering how much organic stuff I walked away with! Here’s what I have in mind for dinners this week:

• Fried Brown Rice (my new favorite)
• Tempeh Tacos
• BBQ Tofu
• Quinoa Veggie Pilaf
• Flatbread Pizza

I’m actually pretty excited about this challenge. Right now, it’s easy, but I feel like it’ll get a little harder as time goes on and force me to be more creative with my budget and my supplies!

Do you tend to accumulate tons of stuff in your pantry, or are you pretty good about using up what you buy?

PS: Make sure you check out The Great Fundraising Act online auction, going on TODAY with amazing items up for bid. All proceeds will go directly to Susan of the Great Balancing Act, who was recently diagnosed with Lymphoma and needs help covering her medical costs during chemo and other treatment. Let’s show her how amazing our community can be!