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

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