$50 a week: revised

so, i couldn't go more than 1 week without spending more than $50 on my food budget. we're healthy eaters around here, which means buying (mostly) organic and often spending 2x more on expensive products. i did scale back on the extra-foods (buying multiples of one item, just because it's on sale; buying anything luxury like cookies or a special fruit preserve). what i didn't do was compromise the complexity of a typical meal. here is what i came up with as a meal plan for the week (not including lunches/breakfasts):

Friday: teriyaki salmon, brown rice, sauteed cooking greens
[leftovers reused: none]
[CSA produce: cooking greens including kale, swiss chard, and garlic scapes]
[conventional purchases: soy sauce, brown sugar, orange juice, ginger]
[organic purchases: salmon*, brown rice]
*although there is technically no labelling for organic fish, I only purchase wild caught, dye-free salmon

Saturday: mostly unaccounted for since we had potluck food at a birthday party, although i did bring fruit salad
[conventional purchases: cantelope, watermelon]
[organic purchase: grapes]

Sunday: lemon & herb roasted chicken breast on the bone, spinach rice, orange slices
[leftovers reused: none]
[CSA produce: sage, thyme, oregano]
[conventional purchases: lemon, spinach, basmati rice, oranges]
[organic purchases: bone-in chicken breast]

Monday: leftover meal from Sunday, mixed greens salad
[ leftovers resued: chicken meat, spinach rice]
[CSA produce: mixed greens, fennel, cucumber]
[conventional purchases: see Sunday]
[organic purchases: see Sunday, plus grape tomatoes]

Tuesday: zucchini/summer squash casserole, plus mixed fruit salad
[leftovers reused: bread from calzones made last week, fruit salad from Saturday]
[CSA produce: basil]
[conventional purchases: zucchini/summer squash, sundried tomatoes, cheeses]
[organic purcahses: eggs]

Wednesday: meatball calzone, sausage/pepper/onion calzone, and mixed green salad
[leftovers reused: pepper and onions from spinach rice on Monday, mixed greens]
[CSA produce: onion, fennel, radish]
[conventional purchases: sausage]
[organic purchases: beef, garlic]

Thursday: mexican soup, bread, and fruit salad with mango and lime
[leftovers reused: bones from chicken on Monday to make stock, bread, fruit salad]
[CSA produce: mixed cooking greens, onion; thyme, sage, parsley for chicken stock]
[conventional purchases: beans, mango, lime]
[organic purchases: carrots, celery]

Total cost: $72.62
This cost includes the approximate cost of my weekly CSA, plus all staple items not mentioned in the meal plan (yogurt, milk, bananas, blueberries). It does not include the cost of items we consumed that I already have in-stock (flour, sugar, yeast, salt, cereal, and oatmeal].

What I've learned:
- We cut some costs by making our own breads (for the calzone, banana bread for breakfast).
- We also cut some costs by making things from scratch (spinach rice, non-instant oatmeal for breakfasts, chicken stock)
- Making everything from scratch takes only a little extra time, but mostly, lots of mindful cooking and planning
- One major way to cut time is to reuse items, and cook/prep items for a future meal while working on the current one.
- Fruit, in all forms, is quite expensive and probably should be cut back a bit.