Final stats

Well friends, the January Grocery Experiment culminated this week with 28 lbs. of wonderful beef in our freezer, purchased from friends at church with some of the leftover January grocery money! Their family raises beef not too far from here. Yeah! It was really a fun experiment, and quite a challenge. Towards the end there we were eating some pretty interesting things. I'd have to say the most uh, interesting, thing was Sweet & Sour Lentils. Let's just say we won't be having that one again. I didn't even make the girls eat it after I tried it myself. ;)
Grocery totals:
Ok, so the final amount we spent in January was $140.76. A bit disappointing, but good nonetheless. We cheated a bit and used grocery money for entertainment-type things such as pizza for the girls and babysitter, a family ice cream run to McD's, beer at the Class 6, lunch between running errands and preschool, and one more Costco run for bananas and milk.
Some of the recipes we did enjoy:
-Spicy Tuna Melt Pie from the 5 Dollar Dinner Mom. (well I enjoyed it. I probably won't make it again because the rest of the family didn't really like it at all)
-The Ultimate White Chicken Chili from Laura Euler's blog, served in sourdough bread bowls from the freezer. This was a huge hit! E, who doesn't like "spicy" at all, asked for thirds! YUM!!! Also, to save a couple bucks I bought dry white beans and cooked them in the Crock Pot first.
-Salsa Chicken from SparkRecipes. Another huge hit and a keeper! (See recipe below)
-Buttery Soft Pretzels from allrecipes.com. A treat we all really enjoyed.
-Baked French Toast ( I used the leftover sourdough bread insides from the bread bowls, placed in a greased casserole, and poured on a mixture of eggs, milk, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla. I let it sit in the fridge overnight and baked the next morning at 350 for about half an hour. This was delicious!)
-Granola from the recipe Sharon used when the boys were little.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken:
-2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
-2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
-1 cup canned diced tomatoes
-1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
-1/2 cup finely diced celery
-1/2 cup shredded carrots
-1 cup salsa
-3 tbsp. fat free sour cream
Put chicken in Crock Pot. Sprinkle with taco seasoning. Spread tomatoes, onion, celery and carrots over top, then cover with salsa. Pour 1/2 cup water over mixture, cover and cook on low 6-8 hrs. Shred chicken with 2 forks. We put this inside warm flour tortillas and put the sour cream on top.

Now on to the next challenge!