I am excited to be participating in the 4 week Grocery Challenge offered by All You magazine! The basic goal is to feed the entire household nutritious meals they will enjoy for $25 or less per person week.
We are a somewhat unique household for this challenge because we are a family of three-five adults any given week! This means that we are on several different schedules so "family meals" are not always feasible. Most food needs to require minimal additional prep time from the individual eating it. SO introducing us, I am wife, mother and sometimes daughter in the household and do all the shopping and most of the food preparation. My husband is out of state at a business convention this first week of the challenge so I didn't include him in the budget for this week since he is "living" there. Most of the time he teaches at the local college afternoons and evenings so he wants a portable "lunch" to take and then a supper when he gets home. Our older child is 21 and a recent college graduate, usually works in the afternoon and often volunteers in the evening and has an active social life. He is more inclined to eat "left overs" and likes having a nice variety of food and lots of it! Our younger child is a 19 yo college student. Over this summer she is working both in retail and babysitting which leads to a variety of shifts. She likes to take a meal for her break when she is at the store and often takes another if she is leaving one job to go directly to the other. Last on this list is my mother who is retired and enjoys traveling the country and visiting her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She is going to be staying with us for the last 3 weeks of the Challenge so my budget will reflect her presence as well. She enjoys spending time preparing healthful snacks for herself and to share and I'll include directions for those.
