28 Days Later

When Scott and I decided that we would reduce our family's spending by cutting our food budget, we both imagined the longest month ever.  We had never imposed a strict food budget before and our imaginations definitely got the best of us.  We pictured our lives on a food budget as us living off of rice and beans, possibly starving, with cranky children.  We had no concept of what $400 could buy in food terms because we never calculated what we spent.  When we said we would forgo convenience and fast foods, we chose 28 days as our first goal, but basically, 4 weeks was our opportunity to cop-out early if we were miserable.  Originally, we were going to write a blog as a record of our month, but not tell anyone about it.  We were changing our lifestyle for ourselves. but we quickly realized that if no one knew what we were doing, it would be easy to cheat, slip, or give up.  The more people rooting for (and against) us, the more we wanted to succeed.

So here we sit, 28 days later.  What I originally thought would be oppressive has been freeing.  I have renewed love for cooking and I find great satisfaction in scoring a good deal.  Food tastes best when it's free.  I have tried new recipes and reacquainted myself with foods that I'd forgotten.  My children are happy with what they're eating, are taking part in mealtime, and Scott and I don't feel that we're sacrificing nutrition for cost's sake. (Grant is lukewarm on anything that isn't a cracker or a banana, but he's 18 months old, and tomorrow could be different.)  We have 3 days left in our 31 day challenge and I know that Scott and I will keep out thrifty habits going and try to streamline our food buying skills even further.  $400 is a do-able budget, but it took us changing our food philosophy and learning how to better shop and plan to be able to follow it.  I am learning a lot from money-saving experts, old friends, and new friends, and I look forward to the many things I have yet to learn.

Ironically, the movie 28 Days Later has been on TV lately.  Scott and I saw it in a movie theater long ago.  Scott loves horror movies and I like survival stories, so this was a good mix for both of us; even better for me, the actors had British accents.   If they only could have worn period costumes and had dance sequences, it would have perfect, but I digress.  In the film, the hero wakes from a coma to find that a plague has eliminated London's population.  Most of the remaining population are crazy zombies, but a few survivors band together to help each other.  "Hmmm," you're asking yourself, "how do Zombies have anything to do with Kellie's food budget?"  Stay with me, I'll get there.  In the film, the hero simply tries to survive.  That's what I thought this month would be about.  Surviving.  Eating cheap food and getting from one day to the next.  But, in reality, we're doing more than surviving; we're thriving.  We're eating great meals and getting amazing suggestions from a community of friends who help each other.  We're introducing better eating habits to our children and we've reduced snacking and some unhealthy foods.  We're certainly not perfect, I can't wait to see how much cheese we've eaten this month, but for as much as I still have to learn, my improvements are vast.  With a few days left, I know that next month's budget is going to get even better. 

Next month I'll have access to all of the things that were originally "Off Limits" in my pantry and cupboards.  28 days ago, my refrigerator was empty and my pantry was too, except for a bottle of olive oil.  Scott and I are trying to come full circle, trying to get our "our amount spent" is as close to our "amount consumed" as possible.  I know I won't be able to eat every can of tomatoes or corn, and I might even have a few chicken thighs left in my freezer, but we could get close to empty.  The blizzard scheduled for the next 48 hours will certainly help; I was planning on doing our grocery shopping on Wednesday, but I may be snowbound.  It's just as well, even when a pantry looks like a whole lot of nothing, there are meals waiting to be discovered and made.

So here's my thought for today, it's 28 days later, and our life is nothing like a horror movie.

Here's what we ate today

Breakfast
- S Cereal and Milk
- KC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
- C&G Milk
Total $0.59

Lunch
- SKC&G 4 Cheese Grilled Cheese and Tortilla Soup
- C Applesauce
- G Banana
- C&G Milk
- S&K Tea
Total $3.91

Snack
- G Milk and Crackers
Total $0.08

Dinner
- SKC&G Tacos (taco shells, spicy ground beef, refried beans, brown rice, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream)
- G Crackers, Banana and Yogurt
* Charged self $0.50 for use of Spices (cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper)
Total $4.11

Dessert
- SKC&G Banana Milkshakes (banana, milk, ice & chocolate)
- C Banana
- G Milk
- S&K Corn Muffins
Total $0.90

Total Spend $9.59
  
Tomorrow, Size Matters

Crepes: An epic fail with toddlers

My sister and I were talking about our favorite childhood meals and she mentioned crepes.  My grandparents were crepe eaters and I remember that after Grandma made them, Grandpa would turn off the kitchen lights and set the crepes on fire.  I know that the traditional recipe for Crepes Suzette call for Gran Marnier or Cognac, but Grandpa was a tinkerer and engineer and I think the highly flamable concoction that he created included either grain or wood alcohol (which would be really weird.)  Grandpa was a true showman, and he'd spoon the burning alcohol over the crepes and that "special" flambéed crepe would be his to eat.  (Made even weirder because Grandpa never drank alcohol, and if it was wood alcohol used to make the blue flames, I'm not sure it was edible).  Whatever, he was a genius and went to MIT, and I was a kid, so whatever he wanted to do, I wasn't going to argue.

When my mom, who obviously inherited her love of crepes from her parents, would make crepes, it was a much more practical affair.  We filled our crepes with peanut butter and jelly.  I honestly thought that was the typical crepe filling until I was an adult and went to a Creperie.  I saw Nutella, ice cream, fresh fruit and savory options for fillings and PB&J was nowhere to be found.  I'd always eat my crepes from the outside-in, saving the center of the crepe, the "fillet" if you will, for last.  When we'd eat crepes at my house, it was always for dinner.  But since my sister mentioned it, I thought we'd have them for Sunday breakfast.

Crepe batter is simple to make.  A really basic recipe is:
3 Eggs
1 Cup Flour
1&1/2 Cups Milk
1/8 tsp. Salt. 

Blend in blender for a few minutes and refrigerate at least one hour before making crepes an omelet pan.

ADMISSION-Scott bought me a Crepe maker for Christmas when we were first married.  We used it a few times, but it's so gigantic, that an omelet pan and a pancake spatula work just as well.

I made the batter Saturday night because I'm too hungry in the morning to wait an hour for better to do its thing in the fridge.  I also made blueberry compote, using frozen berries, a little sugar and a wedge of lemon and also had fresh banana slices for filling options.  I was confident that Connor and Grant would flip over the crepes.  Not so much.  Connor didn't like that the blueberries weren't fresh, and was confused as to "why are the pancakes so thin?"  He wouldn't eat a single bite until I reminded him that we were heading to the museum after breakfast.  Grant, put a bite of blueberry-filled crepe into his mouth and immediately spit it out.  He wouldn't even look at the pieces of crepe that I put on his highchair tray.  Crepes=Fail.  Good thing I have no plans to take the boys to France anytime soon.  But, Scott and I enjoyed our crepes, and you will too.

Here's what we ate today

Breakfast
- S&K Crepes with Blueberry Compote and Banana
- C Crepes with Bananas and Milk
- G Bananas and Milk 
- S Tea 
Total $2.71

Lunch
- SK&C PB&J Sandwiches, String Cheese, and Yogurt
- G Crackers, Cheese, Yogurt and Milk
- C Apple   
Total $2.71

Dinner
- SKC&G Chicken Thighs, Chicken Rice, Corn and Corn Pancakes
-C&G Milk
Total $2.11

Dessert
- Brownie Bites Cookies
- S Tea
- K Milk
Total $0.13

Special Spend
Sunday Newspaper- $2

Total Spend $9.66

Tomorrow, 28 Days Later

Dish Duty



A Hobart. 



No one likes washing dishes.  And anyone who says they do is a liar or should come visit my house.  When we were in college, Scott worked at a sorority and one of his duties was washing dishes for the 40-plus women in who lived in the sorority house.  On chapter night, that number would swell to about 150 women and I bet the dish amount was staggering.  It was a lot of dishes, but fortunately, the sorority had a Hobart dishwasher.  A Hobart is a huge, commercial  dishwasher that washes, sanitizes, and dries a load of dishes in only a few minutes.  It could clean everything, from piles of silverware to racks of baked on, caked on pots and pans.  How Scott and I wish for a Hobart now!

Even though our grocery budget has shrunk drastically, one area of our consumption has increased: our dish soap and dishwasher use.  We just started the dishwasher for the second time today!  And, that doesn't take into account the things that we don't put through the dishwasher and hand wash.  In total, that's a lot of bowls, plates, cups, silverware, sippy cups, pots, pans, spatulas, knives, and measuring cups each and every day.  I guess I never realized how many dishes are generated when making a meal.  When I imagined myself cooking all of our meals, I definitely glazed over the clean up or else the use of paper plates would definitely have been one of our rules.  The sink always is full of dishes!  I have wondered if the dishes aere reproducing behind my back because as soon as we get the sink empty, it's full again.  It seems impossible that so many dishes get used over the course of one meal, yet meal after meal, the dishes get dirty.

Have you ever counted the number of prep bowls and utensils that are dirtied during the average Food Network program?  Huge.  But, Rachel Ray or Bobby Flay are not getting dishpan hands after the show wraps.  That's what Production Assistants are for!! (and Hobart dishwashers).  Sometimes, I wish for a dishwashing PA. 

Thankfully, Scott hates a sink full of dirty dishes even more than I do, so he is the captain of our dish washing team.  His engineering brain can "Jenga" dishes into our dishwasher when it already seems full.  I am the family pot washer and dish putter-awayer.  When I was a kid, my mom would open the clean dishwasher, look at us 3 girls (this was before baby brother was old enough to help) say, "Top, Bottom, or Silverware." and we would race to put the dishes away.  I preferred putting away the bottom dishes, I loved stacking plates and bowls.  I still love putting away the plates and bowls the most.  But even though I like putting away clean dishes, dirty dishes are my enemy.

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast
- SKC&G English Muffins (with cream cheese or jelly) and Milk
Total $1.54

Lunch
- SKC&G Chicken Nuggets (with ranch, mayo, or ketchup)
- SK&G Banana
- C Apple and Yogurt
- S&K Carrots
- C&G Milk
$3.14

Snack
- G Milk
Total $0.06

Dinner
- SKC&G Meatloaf with pan-fried Potato Squares and Mixed Vegetables
* Charged self $0.50 Spice Fee (Worchestershire Sauce and Garlic Powder)
Total $5.40

Dessert
-SKC&G Chocolate brownie-bite cookies
Total FREE- Thanks double coupon day!!!!  (We actually made $0.31 by buying the cookies)

Total Spend $10.14

Eat-za Pizza

Scottie and I have a longstanding tradition that Friday night is Pizza night.  We rarely buy pizza from a pizzeria and instead buy a less-expensive frozen pizza, and in my father's words, "doctor it up" by adding our own ingredients.  After using a boxed dough mix 2 weeks ago, I received several dough recipes from friends.  Last week, we tried one recipe and this week we tried another.  Pizza dough is really easy to make and I love to let Connor top the pizza that he shares with Grant.  We're finding our normally picky and pokey eater is excited by what we're serving him and he wants to be a part of the cooking process.  I let him make decisions where possible and help in a safe and age-appropriate way.  Feeling ownership and control over what he eats is encouraging Connor to eat more.  He is also becoming a more and more adventurous eater; he again requested mushrooms as a pizza topping, and when we had leftover pineapple from lunch, he wanted that on his pizza too.  What parent can argue with a pizza overflowing with produce?

Today's pizza toppings were sautéed mushrooms, pineapple, sausage, and oven-dried tomatoes.  I raved about the tomatoes last week and haven't stopped telling people about how fantastic they taste.  This is a permanent addition to our pizza, (find the recipe under the "recipes" post.)

While making the pizza dough today, I had to improvise. I didn't have enough flour.  All of the baking I've done over the past 3 weeks rapidly exhausted my flour supply.  Next time I'll buy the big bag of flour.  I was 3/4 cup short and since baking=science, I didn't want to mess with the recipe.  The only thing I found in my pantry (that wasn't off limits) was leftover pancake mix.  I'm not sure what's exactly in Hungry Jack Just Add Water mix, but it helped produce a tasty crust.  I also used my stand mixer again but ended up grabbing the dough and kneading by hand.  I wonder if my sister has ever done dough kneading with her occupational therapy patients: it was very relaxing.

Throughout our family's efforts to change how we eat, I'm glad that many of our favorite food traditions have remained.  We are changing how we execute the traditions, and I think they're actually getting stronger.  Putting extra toppings on a frozen cardboard-tasting pizza isn't a lasting family memory, but seeing the pride on my 3 year-old's face as "his" pizza is served, is priceless.

Here's what we ate today:

Breakfast
- S Cereal with Milk
- KC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Milk
Total $0.70

Lunch
- SKC&G 4-Cheese Grilled Cheese (bread, cream cheese, pepper jack, Monterey Jack, and cheddar cheese. margarine) and Pineapple
- C&G Milk and Yogurt
- S&K Tea
Total $3.29

Snack
- G Milk
Total $0.06

Dinner
- S&K Homemade Pizza (dough, pasta sauce, cheese, oven-dried tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, sausage, and pineapple)
- C&G Homemade Pizza (dough, cheese, sautéed mushrooms, sausage, pineapple)

- C&G Milk

* Charged self $0.50 Spice Fee (Worchestershire Sauce)

Total $5.70

Dessert
- G Crackers

- S&C Cookies

- S Tea (two tea bags in one day?  Easy, big spender! :)  LOL. )

Total $0.41

Total Spend $10.16

Tomorrow: Dish Duty

Bunco: Budget Buster?

Tonight was my quarterly outing to play Bunco, an easy and fun dice game.  I feel fortunate that I have been able to attend a lot of social gatherings this month, but one of the reasons that Scott and I chose to change our food budget in the month of January was because of the many social gatherings that we had planned.  It would have been easier for us, by far, if we hid ourselves away in our house and emerged 31 days later like hibernating bears with a better understanding of our food budget but without sharing what we're learning with others.   By actually living our lives, I think it will be easier to maintain our new budget as our norm. 

I had just attended a book club on Tuesday, and really enjoyed the brownies that I made, but one of our goals of eating less expensively is eating more healthfully.  I decided that even though I was attending Bunco, and had plenty of room in our budget to make a delicious dessert to share, I would not eat or drink anything other than water.  This group of Bunco women are talented cooks and the food that we pot-luck is always a bountiful feast of yumminess.  I knew this would be a challenge, but this month is all about challenging myself to do things that are difficult or are things that I'd rather not do.  It was hard not to indulge in salted-caramel brownies and chocolate chip and pretzel cookies, and the other wonderful things that the guests brought and the host provided.  I caught myself several times absentmindedly reaching for a bowl of toffee nuts on the table.  I guess when forced to be honest about every bite you put into your mouth, the unnoticed bites that are snuck throughout the day are suddenly in focus.  I didn’t want to spend food dollars on food that my family wasn’t offered, it doesn’t seem fair.  Scott had another lunch meeting today and although he'd much rather enjoy the delicious catered meal; he found pleasure in the lunch that I packed.  He is my moral mirror, and our efforts and challenges should be equal.  He has shown extreme dedication when faced with several lunch-meetings, and when faced with my own food challenges, I have to be equally diligent.   I didn't win at Bunco tonight, but because I'm learning self-control, the night feels like a victory.

Here's what we ate today:

Breakfast
- S Cereal with Milk
- KC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
- C&G Milk
Total $0.53

Snack
- G Milk & Cereal
Total $0.16

Lunch
- S Healthy Choice frozen meal, Orange, Corn Muffin, Carrots
- KC&G Chicken Tortilla soup, Corn Muffins
- C&G Bread and Milk
Total $3.18

Dinner
- SKC&G Scrambled Eggs with Cheese, Homemade Skillet Potatoes
- S&K Tea
- C&G Milk
Total $2.22

Dessert
- SKC&G Cookies
- C Milk
Total $0.66

Total Spend $6.75

Tomorrow: Eat-za Pizza

Boats of Oats

When I was a kid, we had two different breakfasts.  If the weather was warm, we'd eat cold cereal like Cheerios, and if the weather was cold, we'd eat oatmeal.  On Sundays, we'd vary our routine and have pancakes, or french toast, or bagels, but the rest of of the week, we were pretty predictable.  We ate either oatmeal or cereal 300 days a year.  We were a busy family, so eliminating guesswork probably made it easier for my parents to get us four kids off to school. 

Flash forward many years.  I'm an adult and I still eat oatmeal almost every day.  I've been consistently eating oatmeal 5-6 days a week for almost 5 years, and it's my perfect way to start the day.  I know, I sound like an oatmeal cheerleader, but it works for me.  When I was fresh out of college and newly married, I ate a lot of waffles with syrup for breakfast and found I was hungry by 10 am.  Only oatmeal, with it's protein and filling fiber, keeps me satisfied until lunch.  Since we live in a cold-weather climate, it's nice to start the day with something warm and Connor and Grant have learned to love oatmeal.  Even though I add a little brown sugar to our bowls, I'm sure it's much healthier than their old favorite breakfast: Poptarts.  I still reserve Sunday for a bigger family breakfast: eggs, or pancakes, or something really fun like donuts or cinnamon rolls, but Monday-Saturday, I'm an oatmeal woman. 

I checked out the Quaker Oats website for some facts about oatmeal and found that a serving of oatmeal has 4 grams of fiber, which is as much as 2 cups of Cauliflower.  Oats also help lower cholesterol and were the first whole grain recognized by the FDA to help reduce cholesterol.  And if you're looking to lose weight, a serving of oatmeal has only 150 calories (which is 2 Weight Watcher's points).  All for seven cents a bowl!!!

That's my seven cents on oatmeal.

Here's what we ate today

Breakfast
- S Cereal and Milk
- KC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
- C Apple and Milk
- G Banana and Milk
Total $0.78

Lunch

Lunch never looked more delicious

- SK&C Chicken Salad Sandwiches (leftover homemade bread, chicken breasts, apple, scallions, celery, mayo, lemon, tomato)

- G Bread and Margarine, Tomato, Yogurt, Milk

- C Yogurt and Milk

Total $3.81

Snack
- G Milk
Total $0.06

Dinner

- SKC&G Homemade Cheeseburgers (beef patties, buns, tomato, cheese, mayo, ketchup) and French Fries, Leftover 5 Bean Taco Soup

- C&G Milk

Total $4.84

Dessert

- SKC&G Leftover Brownies

Total FREE

Total Spend $9.49

Tomorrow - Bunco: Budget Buster?

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's Ma'am

I doubt there is any smell more delicious than the smell of freshly baked bread.  Countless loaves are bought each day from bakeries purely due to the smell that wafts out of the store and onto the street.  Today, my home was a baking heaven.  Today, I baked bread.

Throughout the last 3 weeks, my home has been ripe with delicious smells and not so delicious smells.  Bean Soup, Bacon, Oven-dried tomatoes, Roasting Chicken, Beef Stew-all good smells, SPAM-not so good.  But today, I experienced olfactory nirvana.  I've made cinnamon bread before, but today I made plain, white bread.  I can't recall the last time my bread didn't contain enough fiber to regulate a horse, so white bread is an unfamiliar luxury.  And, I easily found a recipe for bread using all-purpose flour in the booklet that came with my stand mixer.  So far, that booklet is 2 for 2 in recipe greatness.  Thanks Kitchenaid!!

Our bread leftovers.

Bread is remarkably easy to make.  All baking involves following directions perfectly.  I am really great at following minute directions and that's why I'm a pretty accomplished baker.  But I am a cookie baker, and bread always seemed more difficult.  Bread baking doesn't have the same instant gratification as cookie baking (and the raw dough isn't nearly as tasty).  My recipe yielded 2 delicious loaves, one of which I took over to my kind and supportive neighbor.  It made me happy to give something that I'd made to a friend; she regularly shares her baking prowess with my family and it felt good to return the favor.

My neighbor really bailed me out today.  For a few days, Connor has been asking for chocolate and yesterday, he started asking for chocolate cake or brownies.  This is a simple request; I know that I have several boxes of brownie and cake mix in my pantry, but they were bought before January 3, so they're "off limits."  The next time I will grocery shop is tomorrow, but my neighbor mentioned that she was going to bake brownies for tonight’s book club and that she'd figure out how much each brownie cost so I could eat one.  I asked her if I could buy the brownie mix from her, bake it up, bring brownies to her family, save some for Connor, and take the rest of the brownies to book club.  It made the process very complicated, but it ensured that I keep to our rule of paying for every bite that we eat.  She agreed and I was so relieved that I could accommodate Connor’s simple request so quickly while making sure that I wasn't taking dessert away from my neighbors.

At book club tonight (I hosted a different book club last week), our host made an amazing trifle that I simply had to try.  But, I'm a stickler for rules, so after I had my taste (SO worth it) I gave her 50 cents.  I wanted to make sure that I'd paid for what I ate.  I know it's weird, and my friend prepared food as a sign of hospitality, but I've followed the rules that Scott and I established for over 3 weeks and I don't want to start "fudging" with a little over a week to go.  Once the month is over, I'll return to being a gracious guest.

Last night marked 3 weeks into our 31 day budget change and thankfully, Scott's weight has stabilized.  I'm glad he's making sure that he's eating enough.  Connor and Grant’s weights have remained unchanged.  We have spent $313.72 on food (again, including all beverages, alcohol and entertainment) and consumed $262.41.   With 9 days left, we’re poised for the home stretch. 

Here’s what we ate today.

Breakfast
- S Cereal and Milk
- KC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
- C&G Milk
Total $0.59

Lunch
- SKC&G Chicken Nuggets, with Carrots, Ranch Dressing, and Apples
- C&G Milk
Total  $2.17

Snack
- G Banana and Milk
Total $0.18

Dinner
- SKC&G Homemade Chicken Soup (with homemade broth, leftover chicken and carrots, celery, scallion and pasta)  Homemeade white bread with Margarine
- C&G Milk
- G Yogurt
Total $2.73

Dessert
- SKC&G Brownie
- K Chocolate Toffee Trifle
Total $2.35

Total Spend $8.02  

Tomorrow, Boats of Oats

The Bone Collector

A few friends who read my blog suggested that I make soup.  I've already made beef stew, so I decided to put the many chicken thighs that I've purchased to use.  I've been collecting chicken thigh bones in my freezer for a week.  I've also been saving the ends of my carrots, onions and celery in another bag for making stock.  Why waste perfectly a good carrot when I can save the ends when I cut them into sticks?  Besides, the mirepoix gets thrown out at the end of stock making anyway.

Scott thought my bag of bones was a little gross, but I've had two friends admit that they also have bags of bones in their own freezers waiting for stock-making.  I'm glad this is a common practice and I'm glad I now know to do it; I always felt wasteful throwing away chicken bones.  Now I can use them to make stock.  Making stock is pretty easy, but when I wasn't sure how to get all of the bony bits out of the stock pot, I poured the soup through a paper coffee filter and it worked surprisingly well. 

My plan was to have chicken soup for tonight's dinner, but we had the remaining servings of 5 Bean Taco Soup for lunch and I didn't want soup two meals in a row.  Instead, we had chicken tacos and used a few frozen chicken breasts that I bought last week.  It was a nice change from the ground beef or ground turkey that I normally use in tacos and was a smash with Connor and Grant.  I'll move chicken soup to Tuesday or Wednesday and along with it, I want to make homemade bread.  Almost every recipe in The Joy of Cooking calls for Bread Flour and I only have All-Purpose.  Normally, I'd go out and buy the different flour, but instead, I'll do a little Internet research to find a different recipe.  I don't need two flours when one will do.

Scott had a monthly meeting at work today and since it was catered, he took his own lunch.  I know it must have been really difficult to eat soup when there was likely a delicious meal, but Scott is really honest and committed to keeping an accurate food budget.  Besides, it gave him the opportunity to share our story with his co-workers who were very impressed and supportive. 

I went to Aldi today and was amazed how much farther my food dollar stretched.  A few of the great prices that I found was fresh pineapple for half of my normal grocery store's sale price and imitation Ritz crackers for half the price of my local grocer.  This store is definitely worth a look if you've never been.  Just know that they don't accept credit cards and since they don't provide grocery bags, either bring your cloth ones or grab an empty box from the shelves.

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast
- S Cereal with Milk
- KC&G Toast with Margarine and Milk
- C Yogurt
Total $1.08

Lunch
- SKC&G 5 Bean Taco Soup
- S Orange and Cookies
- K&C Jiffy Corn Muffins with extra Corn
- C&G Milk
- G Blueberries
Total $4.95

Dinner
- SKC&G Chicken Tacos (chicken breasts, taco powder, taco shells, tomatoes, cheese, green onion, and sour cream)
- C&G Milk
- G Crackers
Total $3.85

Dessert
- G Cookies
- SK&C Chocolate
Total $0.64

Total Spend $10.52

Tomorrow, Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's Ma'am

SPAM I am.

On Friday,  I made pizza using homemade dough.  Several friends sent me great recipes for dough and I used my stand mixer's dough hook for the first time.  The toppings were caramelized onions and oven-dried tomatoes (I'll put the easy and delicious recipe under the recipes post) and then Scott came home from work.  And he had a can of SPAM.  Actually, it wasn't even SPAM, it was generic meat in a can. 

Scott cooks SPAM

Yikes!!!  What should I do?  I'm sure the look on my face said it all.  Scott is so sweet, he knew our pizzas were going to be a little light on toppings and he really wanted some kind of meat.  Sausage was expensive, so was peperoni and ham steaks.  He briefly considered getting several pounds of ground beef, but since our meals are already planned for the week, he worried that it'd spoil before we could use it all up.  Then Scott saw a sale on SPAM and he remembered that one of his Hawaiian friends used SPAM in a lot of recipes.  Why not be creative with our pizzas?

Mmmm, looks...interesting.

I'll admit, I've eaten SPAM before.  One of my dad's closest friends was really into SPAM so about 20 years ago, dad bought several cans and we tried a few recipes.  The smell of it cooking is a little reminiscent of corned beef hash or cat food, and the taste is about the same.  It's not a taste I prefer, but Scott and Connor liked it.  I couldn't even taste it on our pizza because the onions and tomatoes were so flavorful, but the cooked SPAM did add a great texture.  We only used about half of the SPAM on our Friday pizza, so the rest of it went into Saturday's dinner.  This time, however, I passed on the SPAM, I guess SPAM I am not.

I don't foresee SPAM becoming a pantry staple, but it was good to try something completely out of the norm and my comfort zone.  I look forward to trying another pizza dough recipe for next week's pizza and trying more unusual toppings.

Here's what we ate today

Breakfast
- S Cereal with Milk and Tea
- SKC&G Omelets with Cheese
- C&G Milk, Blueberries, and Yogurt
- G Bread
Total $2.28

Lunch
- SKC&G 5 Bean Taco Soup w/ Leftover Homemade Cheese Puffs
- C&G Milk
- S&K Orange
- G String Cheese
Total $3.82

Dinner

- SKC&G Chicken Thighs with Seasoned Rice & Acorn Squash

- C&G Milk

Total $3.45

Dessert

- SKC&G Leftover Homemade Cookies

Total $0.04

Total Spend $9.59

Tomorrow, The Bone Collector

Our budget takes a SPiN

Tonight Scott and I completed the second of our "tasks that we are requiring ourselves to do."  We went out and played ping-pong with a bunch of friends.  Milwaukee has a cool ping pong bar and for $30 per couple, we played ping pong, had a few beers and enjoyed appetizers.  It was a fantastic time and of course, one of the major topics of discussion was our blog.  It gave me a tremendous feeling to know that so many of my friends have not only read the blog, but are actively following it. 

I feel very fortunate to surround myself with people who are encouraging and wish us success, and I think my efforts in frugality may be contagious.  Several people mentioned that they've started making smarter choices with regard to their own family's spending.  That's awesome! 

I was asked what the first thing I'm going to do once the 31 days is over.  It caught me off guard, I haven't really started to think of our month as ever "ending."  We still have 12 days left, so it still feels like the middle of this effort.  But...hmmm...Is there anything I miss?  I guess I'd like to drink a glass of milk every morning like I used to, maybe not a pint of milk like I used to, but a reasonably-sized glass of milk.  I could do that now, most of our days' consumption has been well below our budget, but I don't.  I think I'd like to feed the boys a meal of their own choosing, and  I know that Connor would choose hamburgers and fries and chocolate milk.  And especially now that it's football playoffs, I miss snacks like popcorn and chips, but once this month is over, I don't foresee myself going to the store and buying 5 bags of chips and gorging.  The point was to try having a food budget for a month and then see if it can become our way of life.  What I will not miss is measuring every item of food.  I don't love measuring glasses of milk in 4 ounce increments.  And maybe I'd like to go out to a restaurant, but a reasonably priced one.  We'll see...

Here's what we ate today

Breakfast
- SKC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Bananas
- C&G Milk
Total $0.83

Lunch
- SKC PB&J (bread, peanut butter, jelly), Carrots with Ranch dressing
- G Bread and String Cheese
- C&G Blueberries and Milk
- S Tea
Total $2.60

Snack
- S Orange
- K Cereal
Total $0.33

Dinner
- S&C Pasta with Peas, Cheese and SPAM, Leftover Pizza
- K&G Pasta with Peas and Cheese, Leftover Pizza
- C&G Milk and Crackers
Total $3.46

Dessert
- C&G Cookies
Total $0.04

Special Spend
- S&K Night out at SPiN $30.00

Total Spend $37.26

Tomorrow, SPAM I am.  

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

Food prices are fluid and always changing.  Food budgets aren't.  I can't understand how families maintain a food budget when prices for staple items like milk, butter, cheese, and bananas change constantly.

To remind ourselves that every food item has a cost, everything in our refrigerator has a label listing the food's overall price and cost per unit.  I have also labeled the items that were purchased prior to January 3 as "Off Limits."  It's a good visual reminder and keeps us honest to our $400 budget since I log everything we eat.  When we first started with our $400 food budget, milk at my local grocery store was on sale for $1.98 per gallon.  I got very used to writing down "Milk-8 ounces-13 cents" in my food log every time the boys had a cup of milk.  When the milk that we'd purchased ran out, we had to buy milk at $2.75 per gallon.  What used to be 13cents was suddenly 18cents for 8 ounces.  I know it's only a nickle, but nickles add up very quickly.  Thankfully, milk recently went on sale for $1.79 at a discount grocery store and we stocked up.  I'm sure that milk prices are cyclical and I'll see $1.98 milk at my local store again, but when?  It's difficult not knowing what's going to be on sale at the grocery store until Wednesday when the fliers come out.  Does anyone have a PhD in grocery pricing who can share this info? 

I used to hate leftovers, but I really am starting to like them.  Today's lunch was mostly leftovers from last night's book club.  Leftovers are basically free food since the cost of the food was counted in the original preparation.  Yay!  Also, I made pizza dough from scratch today, thanks to everyone who sent me dough recipes.  I got to use my stand mixer's dough hook which was a lot of fun.  Since I've been cooking most of my family's meals from scratch, I've gotten to use a lot of my neglected kitchen gadgets.  I've resurrected my stand mixer, my mortar & pestle, my six-sided grater, my crock pot, my tea pot (did I mention that we heated so much water for tea in our coffee pot that we broke it?!?) and my vegetable peeler.  And I don't think my measuring cups and spoons have ever been used as much as they have in the last 2 1/2 weeks.

Challenges for the coming week are making soup stock for the first time and trying to bake bread.  We'll see how those things go. 

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast
- SC&G Cereal with Milk
- K Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
Total $0.54

Lunch
- SK&G Leftovers
- C Sandwich (bread, mayo, leftover bacon) and Milk
- G Banana and Milk
Total $0.45

Dinner
- S&K Pizza (homemade dough with cheese, oven-dried tomatoes, balsamic carmelized onions, spaghetti sauce, Spam, and mushrooms)
- C&G Pizza (homemade dough with mushrooms, Spam, and cheese) and Milk
Total $4.72

Dessert
- S&K Leftover cookies and tea
Total $0.02

Total Spend $5.73

Tomorrow, Our budget takes a SPiN       

Hosting a party for under $40

Potato Nests with Bacon Scallion Sour Cream

One of the "Tasks" that Scott and I assigned ourselves as we cut our food budget in half was to host a gathering at our house and to serve refreshments, including wine.  Faced with a limited food budget, it would be easy to cloister ourselves from our friends and our normal habits.  Scott and I are social people.  We enjoy a large circle of very supportive friends and it didn't seem fair to not include them in our efforts tochange our spending habits.  If our families lived closer, I'm sure one of our rules could have been to host a family dinner, but we decided upon hosting an event, having a night on the town and we've recently added, having a family outing, the costs of all of these events must come out of our $400 budget. 

Apples with Caramel-Nut Dip

Tonight I hosted a book club for a social group of which we're members.  Book clubs can be tricky, because this group has a lot of members, making it difficult to estimate how many people would attend.  I've been to book clubs with 4 people and I've been to book clubs with 15 people.  It depends on the weather, the location, and ultimately, the book.  I'm also a notorious over-planner, if I'm expecting 10 guests, I make food for 20.  A great fear of mine is running out of food.  Tonight, I was one of 8 lovely ladies who enjoyed a lively discussion and delightful food.  2 of the attendees sweetly brought food to share and I felt bad explaining why I couldn't accept their generosity.  I hope they understand, but I'm really proud of what I was able to accomplish.

PB&J Cookies

I will be honest, hosting tonight's event was one of the things that I was most fearing and most looking forward to this entire month.  I regularly host things at our house, board meeting, book clubs, playgroups.  I always make too much, serve too much, spend to much.  Armed with only a $40 budget, I knew I had to get creative.  I set aside $20 for wine.  Half of my budget gone.  $20 for wine doesn't seem like a lot, and it isn't, $20 can easily be blown on one bottle.  I bought 6 bottles for that amount.  My grocery store sells a house brand of red wine that is pretty good.  I also bought 2 bottles of pinot grigio and used a coupon to make each bottle $4.  Not bad in price and not bad in taste.  This crowd is a lot lighter drinkers that I'm used to, I have lots of wine leftover.

Cheese Puffs with Lemon Chicken Salad

With only a $20 food budget, I knew I had to work smart.  I knew I wanted to serve a menu that included 2 hot, savory appetizers, one fruit with dip and one dessert.  I did some savvy shopping and created my 4 dishes for $13.70, including leftovers that will feed my family for lunch tomorrow and dessert for almost a week.  Food: Apples with a Caramel Peanut Dip, BP&J Cookies, Cheese Puffs with Lemon Chicken Salad, and Potato Nests with Bacon and Scallion Sour Cream.  I've put the recipes under the recipe posting, but I'll insert pictures here.

It was a challenge to make everything by hand.  Without a large budget, I was unable to rely on foods that were already prepared.  I've often lamented that my grocery store didn't have any high-end savory appetizers and I think I've found recipes that solve that problem.  It is hard to find recipes that are both "company worthy" and cost effective and I think that's one thing that keeps people from entertaining in their homes.  I know that having several appetiser recipes that taste a lot more expensive than they cost will make my a much more confident party host. 

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast

- SKC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar

- S Taost with Peanut Butter

- C&G Banana and Milk

Total $0.70

Snack

- S Orange

- G Crackers and Milk

Total $0.43

Lunch

- S Egg Sandwich (2 slices bread, 1 egg, 1/4 cup cheese, 1Tbsp mayo) 

- S&K Leftover Potatoes

- K&C PB&J

- G Chicken Nuggets and Yogurt

- C&G Milk

Total $2.14

Dinner

- SKC&G Pasta with Sauce, Mixed Vegetables

- C&G Milk

- S Tea

Total $1.55

Dessert

- C Cookies

Total $0.04

Total Spend $4.86 + $40 for book club refreshments

Tomorrow, Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

 

          

A Corny Story

I want to tell you a story about my father, actually about my grandmother. 

My family has an unusual way of eating our favorite family meal.  When my husband was new to my family, he thought our custom was strange until he tried it and heard this story...

My father was born in 1941 and some of his earliest memories are of the difficult and sacrificing times of World War 2.  Like most families, rationing was a part of his life and to help feed her family through the winter, my grandmother grew a garden and canned and preserved food.  I can only imagine how hard it must have been; it is so easy to take food for granted when it's constantly available in limitless quantities.  One day, Grandmother went to the cellar to take down a jar of peaches to add to the family's Sunday pancakes. When she found that she had none, she looked at her dwindling stores of food and took up what she had--a can of corn.  She mixed the sweet corn into the batter and served it to her family with pride.  My father's family looked at her corn pancakes and said nothing, they were so grateful for the food and fellowship of their family that they could find nothing to complain about.  They were grateful for all that they had and they found the pancakes delicious. 

So much of a family's history is tied to the foods they eat.  To this day, my family always eats our pancakes with corn kernels as a tribute to the ingenuity of my grandmother and the courage it takes to feed a family during times of struggle and hardship.  It might be a corny story, but I think of my grandmother every time I eat pancakes with corn and it makes me proud.

Here's what we ate today,

Breakfast
- S PB&J
- K Oatmeal w/ Brown Sugar
- C&G Eggs, Toast, Bananas and Milk (Connor's choice)
Total $1.08

Snack
- S Banana
- G Milk
Total $0.23

Lunch
- SKC&G Split Pea Soup, Carrots and Ranch Dressing
- C&G Leftover Mac & Cheese, Carrots, Milk
- S Tea
Total $1.62

Dinner
- SKC&G Pancakes with Corn, with Syrup and Margarine, Oranges and Blueberries
- C&G 1/2 Chocolate Bar
- K Tea
Total $3.55

Total Spend $6.48-Wow, breakfast foods make CHEAP meals!!!

Tomorrow, Hosting a Party for less than $40

Grant's War

Before I get to the crux of today's post, I want to hit you with some figures as yesterday was the 14th day of our $400 challenge.

We have spent $206.60 as we fill our once empty pantry and refrigerator with the basis of our meals for the next two weeks.  We have consumed $131.17 worth of food, about $9.37 per day. 

Scott has lost 8.4 lbs.  Changing our eating habits wasn't supposed to lead to this much weight loss so we decided that he needs to get more food.  The boys' weight remains unchanged, but Connor has been eating a lot more than usual and Grant has been eating less than he normally does. 

Ahh Grant, my good eater.  Hungry, Hungry Hippo, where have you gone?  One of Grant's nicknames is "Eater X" after a competitive major league eater, but the past few days he's been really frustrated at dinnertime and I think it's because he's missing his favorite foods.  Connor is willing to accept homemade mac and cheese, but Grant is looking for the unrealistic orange color.  Connor really likes chicken thighs, but Grant wants chicken nuggets.

Feeding toddlers can be tricky.  Grant wants to eat many of the same foods that we do, but choking is still a major hazard.  I want to cut everything he eats into tiny pieces, but when he sees that our food isn't cut up into non-choking pieces too, he isn't happy.  I'm not willing to cut my sandwich into 1cm squares.  I don't prefer my apple slices without skin and in fingernail-sized pieces.  I do not like 1/8 of a grape. 

Grant's speech is limited so his main method of communicating is a high and loud screech.  Seriously, he should be able to communicate with dolphins.  When he's in the playroom, it's pretty easy to figure out what he wants.  Screech at a book means "Let's read this book." Screech at the ball popper means "I've shoved a non-fitting toy into the ball popper, fix it."  But a screech at the dinner table is difficult to interpret.  Does he need more milk?  Does he want more peas?  Does he see our neighbor's dog?  Does he want something else?  I've sat with him trying sign language for countless hours, without success.  We've been working on saying "more" over and over but to no avail, he would rather scream.  His speech therapist says that some kids are just born stubborn.  Grant's more than "stubborn," he's immovable, unwavering, unstoppable.

I know I could just stay the course with him and assume when he's hungry enough, he'll eat. But I don't think my eardrums or sanity can wait him out.  And I don't want to be cruel, meal times are supposed to be fun for our family.  And when Grant screams throughout the entire meal, no one is having fun.

After noting Scott's weight loss, we decided that in addition to Scott eating more, we needed to make sure that Grant gets at least one food at dinnertime that he is comfortable with.  If he tries and refuses the meal that we are eating, he can then have either chicken nuggets, a yogurt, cheese, bread or a banana.  Chicken nuggets aren't the healthiest thing I can offer, but just like we're not eliminating some of Scott and my favorite foods, we should remember to serve foods that Connor and Grant love.  I may be raising the white flag, but I'm willing to lose this battle in order to win our war.

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast
- SKC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
- C&G Milk
Total $0.52

Snack
- S Banana
- C&G Crackers, Cheese and Milk
Total $0.55

Lunch
- SKC&G Grilled Cheese (bread, cheese, margarine) with Mayo and Ketchup
- S&K Orange & Tea
- C&G Blueberries & Milk
Total $3.11

Dinner
- SK&C Baked Potatoes (with broccoli, sour cream, margarine, cheese, and bacon)
- C&G Chicken nuggets (with ranch) and Milk
Total $4.10

Dessert
- SKC&G Cookies
- C&G Milk
Total $0.50

Total Spend $8.77

Tomorrow, A Corny Story

Murder, She Ate

If you ask Scott what my least favorite kitchen activity is, he would tell you it's pulling meat off of bones.  Specifically, I hate pulling chicken off of the bone.  I am forever grateful that I do not raise chickens because the idea of cleaning a chicken is almost too much to bear.  If you've ever read anything by Paula Deen, she talks often about how much she loves pulling apart chickens, how she finds it relaxing.  Naps are relaxing and so are massages and reading is very relaxing, yanking breast meat off of a carcass is a little too visceral to be relaxing.

For some reason, that has started to change for me.  Since I decided to rework my family's food consumptions, I have become less squeamish with my food.  When Scott and I talked about reducing our family's food budget, I took a few days to think about it before agreeing to it.  I had to decide if I was ready to cook all of our meals for the next 30 days so I tried to roast an entire chicken, my first ever.  I was used to buying boneless, skinless chicken breasts that were individually wrapped which is as far from "gee, this used to be a part of an animal" as you can get.  Remarkably, handling that bird didn't seem to make me squeamish.  I guess when you've bought and prepared your food, you feel a pride of ownership.  It's kind of like changing a diaper: it's not something I enjoy, but when it's my own child, it ceases to be gross.

So from baby poop back to chicken thighs, how's that for a transition?  I've made a lot of chicken thighs over the past 2 weeks--4 dinners, to be exact.  I have enough chicken thighs for 5 more dinners and I think I'm getting pretty good at cooking them.  I can de-bone the meat like a pro.  It makes me feel connected to my food and to the generations of people who have cooked food similarly.  It's "real cooking," rather than "reheating."  This is cooking that can be found in a cookbook, rather than instructions on the side of a box.  This is how my grandmothers cooked.  It's like Laura Ingalls Wilder, Paula Deen, a Cavewoman and I are all holding hands around a batch of chicken thighs singing "Kumbaya" or something.  Or maybe at least we could be humming the theme song to "Murder, She Wrote."       

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast
- SKC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
- C&G Banana with Milk
Total $0.64

Lunch
- SK&C Leftover Beef Soup
- C&G Homemade Mac & Cheese (noodles, margarine, sour cream and cheese) and Milk
- S&K Tea
Total $4.06

Dinner
- SKC&G Chicken Thighs with Mashed Rutabega and Peas
- C 1/2 PB&J sandwich
- G bread
Total $2.47

Dessert
- K Cereal
- SC&G Cookies
- C&G Milk
Total $0.51

Total Spend $7.72

Tomorrow, Grant's War

Who's the BOSS?

I love sandwiches.  If asked "If you could only eat one food every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?"  My answer is always "sandwiches."  Thankfully, Scott loves sandwiches too, and before we had kids, we loved to sit on the couch, watch sports and eat sandwiches.  We are expert sandwich makers who use a lot of really cool ingredients and if you've read the post where I admitted that I have seven kinds of mustard in my refrigerator, you now know why.

One day our local grocery store was out of the bread that we always use for sandwich making (Pick 'N Save out of something?  Gasp!  Shock!!) and we were sad.  As we walked away from the deli counter, Scott spotted a cooler full of huge sandwiches that had been made using "Our" bread.  We were both so disappointed at the prospect of not having "Big, Giant Sandwich" for lunch that we bought it.  It was called "The B.O.S.S." or "Big, Oversized, Sub Sandwich."   At $6, it's a lot less expensive than the sub that we normally make.  We took it home and were pleasantly surprised; it tasted pretty good and it is huge.  We can feed our family for 2 lunches from one sandwich.

I'm sure someone can find a way to make a sandwich for less than $6, but in my opinion, The BOSS is a rare treat that's nice to look forward to, especially when there's football on. 

Here's what we ate today

Breakfast
- SKC&G Pancakes with Corn and Syrup
- S&K Tea
- C&G Orange Juice
Total $1.35

Lunch
- SKC&G 1/2 BOSS and Apples
- C&G Crackers and Cheese
Total $3.96

Dinner
- Beef Stew (made with Meat, Carrots, Celery, Onion, Potatoes, Margarine, Flour and Spices)
- Homemade Biscuits (made with Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Margarine and Milk)
- Charged self 50 cents for spice use
- C&G Milk, Banana
Total $3.77

Dessert
- SKC&G Cookies 
Total $0.28

Total Spend $9.36

Tomorrow, Murder She Ate

Blame it on the Rain (Check)

I hate rain checks.  I hate it when my local store runs out of stuff that's on sale.  And my local store runs out of sale items a lot.  It's almost a bigger surprise when the store does have the items I need than when it doesn't.  And when my local grocery store is out of a particularly good item, I get a rain check.  At  Pick N Save, rain checks are only good for 2 weeks, which means that I generally have a well-intended, long-forgotten and ultimately expired pile of rain checks in the bottom of my purse.

This morning after sledding, I dropped Scottie and the boys at home so the kids could eat lunch before Grant's nap.  I wanted to run to the store to use a rain check for the chicken thighs that we loved (and were cheap) the week before.  It was too valuable a rain check to forget about.  Then I remembered that it was also double coupon day and if I could get my order up to $25, I could double 5 coupons and I had a sweet coupon for soup.  As I looked around the kitchen for things to add to my grocery list, it dawned on me, "Make up your meal plan for the week, dummy!"  So I did.  It was easy and it only took a few minutes.  Then I went to the store, bought what I needed, and realised that I had actually bought the majority of our meals for the next 2 weeks!  Scott was impressed, but not as exalted as I felt.  I totally wanted to give myself a high five, which of course, I did.

Here is the highlight of my shopping trip:  Oatmeal was on super, super sale.  And if I bought 5 items from a list (including oatmeal), I'd get a free carton of orange juice.  Since the items were things I already intended to buy, free juice found it's way home with me.  Connor was so excited for the rare treat of juice (and juice at dinner) that he promptly spilled his glass.  He was devastated, but the juice was easily cleaned up and his glass quickly refilled ('cause it was FREE!) and all was right in the world again.     

I'll still need to buy a few groceries this week: Aldi for a few staples like cheap carrots, low price bananas, pasta sauce and milk, and Walgreen's (who knew!) for eggs, but I've got almost everything I need for our next 45 meals!  That seems so far away and so relieving.  I'll also have to do some additional shopping for the Book Club I'm hosting on Thursday--can I be a gracious host on a $40 budget (including wine)?  I can't believe that 2 days ago I was in turmoil over what to feed my family and now I feel like a ton of stress has been washed away.  I blame it on the rain check.     

Here's what we ate today.

Breakfast
- SKC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
- C&G Bananas & Milk
Total $1.05

Lunch
- C&G Leftover Pizza, Hard Boiled Eggs, and Milk
- S&K 1/2 of a BOSS Sandwich
Total $3.73

Snack
- G Milk and Yogurt
Total $0.44

Dinner
- SKC&G Lemon Chicken Thighs, Acorn Squash with 2 Tbsp Margarine and 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar, Mixed Vegetables
- C&G Milk
Total $3.11

Dessert
- S&K Cereal
- C Cookies
- S Tea
Total $0.37

Total Spend $8.70

Tomorrow, Who's the BOSS?

Shopping without an Ego

Not all grocery stores are created equal.  Some have pretty logos, some have great lighting and others have produce in perfect pyramids.  But who is paying for these bastions of food, these temples to all things edible, consumable, and ultimately buy-able?  We are.

I did a little online surfing and checked out the websites of my local grocery stores: Pick 'N Save, Trader Joe's, Save a Lot, Sendik's, and Aldi.  A few of the stores put their weekly fliers online and I was amazed how widely the prices vary from store to store on similar items.  At one store, bananas were "On Sale!" at 49cents per pound, while another store boasted an "Everyday Value" of 39cents.  The baby carrots that I thought were a deal at a dollar a bag are half that price at Aldi.  Walgreens sells eggs for 50cents less than a grocery store's sale price.  I don't really care whether my bananas say Chiquita or Dole, fruit is fruit, carrots are carrots, and eggs are eggs.  I'm starting to understand and accept: don't judge a store by it's logo, location, or clientele.  Sales are sales and sometimes, the best sales are at unfamilliar stores.  I'm not a snob, I want cheap carrots.  My family has shopped at Aldi since I was a kid; I used to defend "Dr. Sweet" as my favorite soda brand all over the playground. 

I sent my husband to a store near his office; the area suffers considerable economic blight and the store is bare bones.  They sell mostly generic brands, don't have grocery baggers, and a uniformed city police officer patrols the store.  But what they do have are cheap prices.  And, they reward customer loyalty better than other area stores.  I signed up online and was instantly e-mailed a $5 off coupon on a future $25 purchase.  That's 20% off groceries that are already less expensive than other stores!  My dollar goes far at Save a Lot indeed!  But I will be frank, I will not drive 8 miles each way with my children to shop at this store.  I will happily send my husband who works a minute away. 

So I guess my thought for today is this: if you want to save money, don't limit yourself to one store (even if they have cute bags or an apple pyramid.)  If you drive past a store on a regular basis, stop in and check it out.  You might be surprised by great savings.  You don't have to be loyal to only one store.  Grocery stores aren't your friends, they're not going to bring you chicken soup when you have a cold...but they'll happily sell it to you.

Here's what we ate today

Breakfast
- K Oatmeal and Coffee (at Starbucks)
- SC&G Omelet (4 Eggs, 2/3 Cup Cheese, 1Tbsp Margarine), leftover Cinnamon Roll
- C&G Milk
Total $3.57

Lunch
- SKC&G Grilled Cheese (1 Tbsp Margarine, 3 slices Bread, 1/2 Cup Cheese), leftover Beef Stew, Orange, Banana
- C&G Milk
Total $2.07

Snack
- G Milk and Cereal
Total $0.09

Our pizza.
The Balsamic carmelized onions were amazing!

Dinner
- S&K Homemade Pizza (Boxed Crust, 1/2 cup Pasta Sauce, 1/4 Can Mushrooms, 4 oz Beef, 1/2 Cup Cheese, Caramelized Onions (2 Onions, 4Tbsp Olive Oil, 1Tbsp Balsamic vinegar), Spices)
- C&G Homemade Pizza (Boxed Crust, 1/4 Can Mushrooms, 3/4 Cup Cheese)
- Spices: Oregano, Garlic Powder, Salt, Pepper, 1 Tbsp. Flour, Vinegar (charged 50cents for spice use)
Total $4.86

Dessert
- C&G Cookies
- S Tapioca Pudding Cup
Total $0.52

Total Spend $11.02

Tomorrow, Blame it on the Rain (Check)

Eating without an Ego

I wanted to write today about eating without an ego, but instead I have chosen to write about my own ego.

Today started off as a crappy day.  I started my morning ten minutes behind schedule and I felt like I was behind all day.  Days like that stink, and I wanted to slip into my bad old habits.  I knew a bad day was bound to come along, but it didn't make it's arrival suck any less. 

Today I was tired of meals that weren't instant.  I wanted to give up on my budget and order a quick and easy meal...delivered.  I wanted to give up on myself and the changes I'm trying to achieve.  I felt like my every waking moment was devoted to what my family was eating and my kitchen's walls seemed like they were closing in.  Within this challenge of lowering my family's food budget, I stated putting needless pressure on myself to not only find foods that were inexpensive, but also nutritious and delicious.  Sure, I can feed my family the same 3 meals every day for 31 days and do it cheaply, but once the month is over, I don't think they'd be willing to continue.  And my goal shouldn't be to reduce my budget for only one month, I should be striving to reduce it permanently.

Right now, I don't have the cooking expertise to create 3 completely original, fresh, cheap, healthy, and exciting meals per day.  But I'm not striving for perfection.  And thankfully, I can learn and the Internet is full of recipes.  I have never created a meal plan before, but again, there are thrift wizards who can teach me this skill.  I have great friends who are willing to share their thrifty secrets.  And, while I thought I was using coupons correctly, it turns out that I have no clue.  But I have never presented myself as an "expert " on anything; mine is the average American family and if we haven't learned to cook, to create a meal plan, or to use coupons, I'd bet a lot of other families haven't either. 

 Over the past 10 days, I've received many supportive e-mails, money-saving suggestions, and positive comments and they mean a lot.  Food is a personal thing and it's hard to admit when you're doing things wrong and difficult to allow others to read the challenges that come with making a lifestyle change.  It is so easy to judge.  Looking back, I'm not proud that I regularly fed my family fast food, but I did, and I've learned, and you know what? I will likely visit McDonald's again some day.  And since I'd never calculated what my family was spending on food, is it any wonder that we were spending over $800 per month?!?  Before our budget, mealtimes were easy; I could rely on high-priced conveniences and fast food to fill gaps in my non-existent meal plan. But I can't now because we are still learning how to live within a budget.  As we learn more and gain an ability to plan, I'm sure we'll be able create a different kind of "normal."  A better normal.

There are lots of families who spend far more on food than we used to and lots of families who are able to feed their families for far less.  But this is a blog about me and my family and our struggle to change our relationship with our food dollar.  And today, "struggle" is exactly what it was.  But today is over and tomorrow is here and since it's Friday, we're making homemade pizza and I'm excited.

Here's what we ate today

Breakfast
- S Cereal and milk
- KC&G Oatmeal with Brown sugar
- C&G Bananas and milk
Total $1.03

Lunch
- SKC&G Homemade Mac and Cheese (made with macaroni, 1 Tbsp margarine, 1 Tbsp flour, 1 Cup milk, 1 Cup cheese, and salt, pepper and nutmeg *charged myself an additional 50cents for nutmeg and flour), 2 Oranges
- C&G Milk
Total $1.93

Dinner
- SKC&G Beef Stew (made with 3 potatoes, 3 carrots, 3stalks celery, 2 onions, 1/2 can of mushrooms, 1.3 lbs of beef, water, 3 Tbsp of margarine, 3Tbsp of flour, and salt, pepper, garlic and sage*charged 50cents for use of flour and spices), Applesauce
- G bread
- C&G Milk
Total $6.52

Dessert
- SK&C Cookies
- G milk
Total $0.65

Total Spend $10.13

Tomorrow, Shopping Without an Ego

Recipes

So far, I've found it daunting to serve meals that are 1) cheap 2) nutritious 3) are meals, rather than a collection of ingredients on the same plate. If you look at what we've eaten, most of our dinners are protein, starch, vegetable. Little has required an actual recipe or involved multiple ingredients. I tested the frugal waters with last night's Lower-fat Chicken Divan. It tasted good, didn't cost a lot and the boys ate it. So tonight I got creative again. I also decided that if I was faced with permanently living on a $400 monthly budget, I would still have my spice rack and I should use it. I decided that for every meal that I use spices from my existing supply, I should charge myself a 50 cent "Spice fee." I can't imagine a way to measure and price a dash and a pinch, so I want to be fair, but also encourage myself to try some of the recipes that I've found.

I have gotten a lot of great recommendations for low-price meals, and I definitely will try to make my own stock and chicken soup in the next week. I will update this post with recipes as I find them and I hope you'll share recipes for me to try.

Braised Carrots --From the Joy of Cooking
Since Grant is too young to eat raw carrots, this is a simple, delicious, and great way to use up any half-used bags of carrots in the refrigerator. I don't even think it matters if the carrots are old and dry looking because they're cooked in water which should rehydrate them! I used a bag of baby carrots, 1 Tbsp. margarine, and 1 Tbsp. brown sugar. Cost of the entire dish was $1.11

1 pound carrots, peeled, quartered lengthwise and cut into sticks (or a bag of baby carrots)
1/2 C. water or stock
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 tsp. sugar or brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Simmer, covered over medium heat until the carrots are tender, 15-20 minutes. Then uncover for a few minutes more. If you want, add chopped fresh parsley, chervil, tarragon or thyme and ground black pepper to taste

Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Banana
This combo sounds more like a Stage 2 Gerber meal than "people food," but it is pretty good, and Grant devoured it. Rachel Ray and Paula Deen have delicious-sounding full-fat recipes that would make any Thanksgiving table proud, but here is my lower-fat, lower-cost version.

4 sweet potatoes
1 banana
Juice of one orange, and zest of one orange
1 Tbsp. margarine
1 Tbsp. sour cream
1 ounce milk
salt and pepper to taste
Nutmeg, cardamom, and clove to taste

Peel and cube potatoes and place in a pot of salted water. Bring water to a boil and cook until potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes, depending on size of potato pieces. Drain potatoes and put back in warm pot. Add orange juice and mash together until liquid is almost absorbed. Add peeled banana, orange zest, margarine and sour cream. Mash together. Add milk if mixture isn't creamy. Season with salt, pepper and spices to taste.

5 Bean Taco Soup
I learned this recipe years ago at a Weight Watcher's meeting. I have made this many times for friends and family and it is SO easy to make, really delicious, healthy and it makes a gigantic quantity of soup tso the cost per serving is very low. The hardest part of this recipie is opening all of the cans! We will be having this next week.

5 undrained cans of any bean (I always use 2 cans of black beans)
2 undrained cans of diced tomatoes
1 undrained can of corn
1 envelope of Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing powder
1 envelope of McCormick taco powder

Pour all cans into a big pot, pour in both envelopes of powder. Stir and let simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Cool slightly and serve! The soup can be "dressed up" with cheese, sour cream, taco chips, etc., but add-ons may deminish the low-fatness of the soup and raise the cost.

Easy Corn Muffins
I have grossly underestimated the wonders that can come out of a Jiffy Corn Muffin mix! I made super-cheap corn muffins that were delicious and while it's not the sweet, dense-as-a-cake cornbread that I remember from my college days, I will definitely make it again and again.

Basically, follow the instructions on the side of the Jiffy Corn Muffin mix but add either 1/4 Cup canned corn or 1/4 Cup creamed corn to the batter. Make sure to let the batter sit for a few minutes before re-stirring it and dividing it into 8 muffin liners. Bake according to box instructions and enjoy! Entire websites are devoted to the recipes that can be made with Jiffy boxed mixes, all of which should be budget-friendly, so Jiffy should definitely be a part of your thrifty pantry.

Here's what we ate today

Breakfast
- S 2 Servings of cereal with 4ounces of Milk, Orange
- KC&G Oatmeal with Brown sugar
- C&G Milk
Total $0.80

Lunch
- SKC&G 1/2 can of leftover mushroom soup, 1/2 can of leftover chicken soup, 20 Crackers, 3 ounces of cheese, 2 string cheese, 12 ounces of milk and 2 oranges
- C&G String cheese, leftover carrots and milk
Total $1.39

Dinner
- SKC&G pork chops, mashed sweet potatoes with bananas, apple sauce
- $0.50 "spice fee"
- C&G Milk
Total $5.70

Dessert/ Snack
- C&G Banana & milk
- S&K Cookies
Total $0.53

Total Spend $8.42

Tomorrow, Eating without an Ego