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Challenges about Budgeting and Grocery Shopping

Budgeting and grocery shopping is one of the best ways to trim down your monthly expenses and daily spending- but there are dozens of challenges out there- especially the advice that is ultimately unrealistic. Here is a list of budgeting and grocery shopping challenges and how you can make them realistic strategies to save on grocery shopping! Challenges about Budgeting and Grocery Shopping Challenge #1- Unrealistic Research I've spent a lot of time scouring Pinterest and have not felt entirely satisfied with the results. Some articles seem too unreasonable to be applicable. More often than not, it comes down to unrealistic costs of groceries . For example, I cannot find 1 gallon of milk at my local Walmart for $1. And our Dollar Tree out in Montana doesn't have a grocery section- we do have a freezer section, but it is only 2-3 doors of frozen dinners. And our bread and produce is not as cheap as the other articles. What I have done to get around this challeng

Meatloaf & Fixings

Meatloaf and Fixings

Meatloaf and Fixings- another $5 dinner which surprised me. Meatloaf was one of the first dinners I 'mastered' as a brand-new adult (aka 18 and living in our own apartment). My mom gave me her recipe as I was becoming a little bored with wrapping chicken breasts in tin foil and baking it in the oven with mixed vegetables.... (thanks Nana for my Intro to Cooking 😉) Anyways, as the weather turns away from hot summer, we can opt for more oven-made dinners and cozy comfort food. Aside from the 30-35 baking time for meatloaf, it only takes about 20 minutes (if that) to prepare; and if I'm set to be especially productive that evening, I spend my time doing dishes and cleaning up the kitchen while the loaf bakes and the potatoes cook. Another $5 dinner!

Meatloaf and Fixings Dinner

Ingredients

  • 1 lbs ground beef
  • 1 onion chopped
  • ½ cup dried oats
  • ketchup
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • Garlic minced
  • Butter for the mashed potatoes and green beans
  • 1 can of green beans $1
  • ~1 cup of Yellow Baby Dutch potatoes OR 2 big russet potatoes
  • ¼ cup milk- or a splash to add to the potatoes

Instructions

  • Bake for 30-35 minutes in a bread pan OR make a loaf and bake on a baking sheet. I opt for the former, but my husband says the latter. 😉
  • Mashed Potatoes: put cleaned baby dutch potatoes in the pot of cold water and boil until soft. Strain potatoes.
  • Melt ~2 TBS of butter and then add the potatoes back to the pot. Mash with a potato masher or immersion blender. *I've never done it before, but you can also make mashed potatoes with a Kitchen Aid mixer, using the paddle. Kitchen Aid Mixers can be used for basically everything....
  • Add up to 1/4 cup of milk to soften the potatoes and mix everything well until the potatoes are as soft or lumpy as you want them. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
affordable side dish for meatloaf and fixings

Make this a Full Meatloaf & Fixings Dinner

[wprm-recipe-roundup-item id="4275"] [wprm-recipe id="2432"]

Enjoy!

Cost at a Glance
  • $2 1 lbs ground beef
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • ½ cup dried oats
  • ketchup, brown sugar 
  • 1 egg
  • Garlic, minced
  • Butter (for the mashed potatoes and green beans)
  • 1 can of green beans $1
  • $~1 cup of potatoes ~$1 (I bought a 1.5 lb bag for $3.77 and took a handful of potatoes)
  • ¼ cup milk

How did it turn out!?


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