Ground Beef Week

Budget.

I hate that word. 

But, alas, we have started a new one.  We have lots of things around the house we have been talking about doing for years, and we're going to finally do them.  So, we're on a budget.

After buying a flight to SC to visit girlfriends this summer and purchasing gifts and a few other things this week, we had $50 to spend at the grocery store.  Husband decided that it was going to be ground beef week - we were going to buy one of the Wegman's ClubPacks and use it throughout the week. 

Monday night was spaghetti.  And it was delicious if I do say so myself.  We love spaghetti.  It's our go to when we want something easy and quick, and that makes a ton of leftovers.  Some people feel the need to make their own sauce...not me.  That's what the jars at the store are for.  So we browned up the meat, added half an onion I had left over, sautéed mushrooms, and added 2 jars of Wegmans brand sauce.  Then I went out to my herb garden and picked some oregano, rosemary, basil and thyme and added them to the sauce.  Dump the sauce into a big pot with all the noodles, and voila! Dinner!

Tuesday night was tacos.  I love tacos too.  A little ground beef, some taco seasoning leftover from last time, and lots of toppings.  We had avocado, chopped tomato, black beans, sour cream, salsa, black olives, and of course cheese, all wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla.  They are very filling, you only need one or 1.5, and usually I'm stuffed!  This time we skipped the chips and salsa, so we both ate 2 - but we figured they had to be a little healthier than the cheese covered nachos that husband always makes.

Leftovers covered lunches and Wednesday's dinner while husband was away on business.  I had a work happy hour last night, so husband made the 3rd and final meal - tomato 'n beef casserole.  (You know it's serious when he actually cooks the dinner I leave for him rather than just making nachos and a smoothie for dinner)  I found it while searching for a new beef recipe on Southern Living a few days ago, trying to be a little creative after the 2 staples.  It had polenta, canned tomatos, onion, zucchini and the main character, ground beef.  He said it was pretty good, so I'll have to try some this weekend!

All in all it was a tasty week!  I don't need to eat spaghetti again for a little while...but we had tons of delicious food and only spent $50 at the store.  This also will last us through the weekend a little with the casserole.

And luckily, our weekly budget resets tomorrow!

Ok, now who's hungry?