Food Stamp Budget: A summary

Our grocery shopping is done for this week. Assuming we don't need to buy more (and we shouldn't) I can now give you a breakdown for the month.

Not counting the week that was a wash because I was sick, based on a maximum benefit for food stamps in King County, we had $245 to spend on food. We spent $183.44, leaving us with $61.46 left for the month.

Week One:
Spaghetti with Sauce, Italian Sausage, Homemade Baguette
Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato Soup
Fusilli with Creamy Pancetta and Pea Sauce
Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Tomatoes
Sandwiches with apples for lunch
Lemon blueberry muffins for breakfast

Week Two:
Wash, I was sick

Week Three:
Pork tacos with homemade corn tortillas
Buttermilk Oven "Fried" Chicken, Roasted Asparagus
Barbecued Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes
Sandwiches with apples for lunch
Lemon blueberry muffins for breakfast

Week Four:
Shrimp tacos with homemade corn tortillas, Mexican rice
Spaghetti with sauce and Italian sausage
Oriental Steak with Asparagus and Wild Rice Pilaf
Parmesan Chicken and Rice
Sandwiches with apples for lunch
Lemon blueberry muffins for breakfast

As food goes, this isn't an unusual month for us. I suppose we wouldn't have sandwiches as often for lunch, but we might. It just depends on my whims. And, other than our spice cabinet and other pantry items being off-limits, this wasn't terribly hard. We do typically go out to eat more often than we did this month, but, overall, it wasn't that bad. I think the hardest thing, at least for Alex, was that we couldn't buy alcohol (so no beer with his tacos!).

I'm grateful that we make enough money to buy what we want and eat what we want. But it's nice to know that, with a little effort, if we had to stick to a budget for food we could do so and eat how we like.