$35.00 until Payday

I have some food items to work with already in the fridge/freezer and the cupboard but not enough to serve well-balanced meals for the next four days, so I will do some grocery shopping today with my last $35.00 (borrowed from my dearest daughter who takes tremendous joy in being able to loan me money--sweet soul).

I figure, I can buy some staples to couple with what I already have and manage to whip up some mama magic in the coming days. The following is my staples list, keep in mind the staples are organic so the prices are higher:

Bag of baby carrots=====$2.00
Wedge of Parmesan=======$4.00
Yellow onions===========$2.00
Gallon of milk==========$5.00
Dozen eggs==============$3.00
Tub of vanilla yogurt===$3.50
Bananas=================$2.00
Assorted fruit==========$9.00
-----------------------------
TOTAL==================$30.50

Oh la la, $4.50 to play with--whatever will I do with myself? I'm such a lucky girl, I'm such a savvy shopper, I'm a grocery diva with a head for stretching a dime. These and other such ego stroking self-told lies will be necessary in the coming days and months.

So what do I plan to do with the aforementioned staples? Well, I figure I can mince the carrots, onions and Parmesan together with some salmon, eggs and whole-wheat breadcrumbs for salmon patties over wild rice. Veggies, protein, grain, oh my!

I can use the yogurt with the granola and frozen blueberries that I already have for breakfasts or healthy snacks.

I have some frozen spinach which is always great in risotto and frozen broccoli that can pair well with just about anything--I'd say we've already made it until payday on that mother lode!

My cup runneth over.