Real Food on a Real Budget Giveaway

Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers is giving away three copies of Stephanie's book Real Food on a Real Budget. If you are looking for some guidance on cooking for your family in a real and natural way, and doing it on a budget. This book is 280 pages of information on how to make the most of your kitchen, and do so while maintaining your frugal side. Head on over to Laura's and sign up to win!

Menu Monday July 19-25th

School is out, vacation back home is done and the garden looks like it is on steroids. All in all, I would call this a pretty productive summer, IF I WAS CRAZY!
I plan to "bless" my neighbors with some of the rather ridiculously sized zucchini I found out there last night, and just to make sure they don't hate me, I made chocolate zucchini muffins to take over with them. Here is what we are eating this week... besides zucchini I mean.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
Egg and cheese scramble
Oatmeal
Omelets and fruit
Waffles
Repeat above as needed

Chicken bagel sandwiches, strawberries
Shrimp tostadas
Turkey roll-ups and kefir smoothies
PB and J sandwiches with bananas
Gyros the easy way
Leftovers from supper

Chicken Cordon Bleu, baked potato, green beans (yes from the garden)
Orange Tilapia, pasta, broccoli
Picnic on the 400 block
Whisky Sirloin, brown rice, cucumbers with dill sauce
Sesame chicken, sliced tomatoes and spinach
Tuna melts, cottage cheese
Hash and Eggs

Eggs again, but better

Photo credit

You all know my thing about eggs don't you? My hubby makes raw egg, raw milk shakes in the morning so I felt like the price I was paying for my eggs was worth knowing they were good. So how could these eggs get any better?
Well..... I am a huge advocate for getting to know the people you are buying your food from. So I was talking to one of the owners of the Downtown Grocery the other day, and mentioned that I could not find anyone to share a case of eggs with me in order to get the 10% case discount they offer. That would have dropped my eggs down to $4.50 a dozen. Yes, I know that still seems like a lot, but I have good math to back that one up. Besides, when you consider that we go through a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs in the morning, and that feeds six of us for less than a dollar a person. Try doing that at a restaurant on a Sunday morning!
As I was saying, I was telling Blaine that I had not found anyone to share a case, and as many eggs as we eat in a month, there is no way we are going to eat 16 dozen eggs, 10 yes, but a case, afraid not. So, Blaine tells me that if we are eating 10 dozen a month, why not just come out to the farm and he will sell them to us wholesale.
Are you kidding?
Nope.
Then in the same week (because of the same man) I found an organic milk supplier that charges $5 a gallon for certified organic milk. Sooooooooo, long story short, I raised my milk by $1 a gallon, but dropped my eggs by $1.50 a dozen. More eggs, better milk, and come out $0.50 ahead? I would call that a Frugal Friday! What I want to know is, are you on a grocery budget? Do you stick to it and pay only cash, or tally up your receipts when you get home and try not to cry?

Pretty Flower Bento

This was a bento for my daughter's lunch. There is bread and butter under the salami and cheese flowers and there is a miniature brownie between the dates and the carrots. I also added a thermos of milk and a baby food jar with ranch dressing in it.

Grocery shopping for May 25th

We did really well hitting sales this week, #4 was my big grocery store helper since Quality foods is nice enough to have child sized carts for him to use.

Downtown Grocery
Pita chips 3.49
Gorilla munch cereal 4.69
Monkey bars(2) 8.98
Tomato paste 1.69
Arthur loops 3.19
4/5# Apricots 3.47
Garlic 0.91
Ginger 0.91
Total 31.62

Quality Foods
Natural pb(2) 4.58
Kashi go lean 3.93
Lemon Juice 2.37
Barbecue sauce 0.99
Unbleached flour 2.37
Buttermilk 1.18
Pasta 1.49
2.5# Cabbage 1.23
Sandwich flats 2.50
Cucumbers 1.18
Vidella onion 0.69
1# Deli turkey 4.81
2# carrots 1.69
Shredded wheat 3.95
Tomatoes 3.20
Cherries 2.99
Red pepper 1.52
Puff corn 2.69
Strawberries 2.00
Raisin bread 2.99
Hamburger buns 2.00
Toilet paper 5.98
Total 56.58
Total saved 7.16

Grand total 88.20
36.80 under budget for the week!

Bbq beef sandwiches- crock pot

This is a good way to use a chuck roast in the summer when you don't feel like eating a typical roast, potato, carrot dinner. It also uses the crock pot, so you are not heating up the house running your oven.

3 lb beef chuck roast
1 c barbecue sauce (I made my own, just mixing stuff up in a cup)
1/2 c apricot or peach jam
1/3 c green pepper
1 T stone ground mustard
2 t sucanat
1 small onion sliced
12 kaiser or hamburger buns

Cut the beef into 4 pieces and place in a 4 quart slow cooker. Mix next 6 ingrediants and pour over beef. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Slice thinly and add back to pot to reheat for 20 mor minutes until hot, fill buns and serve with coleslaw and watermelon.

Menu Monday May 23-29

Well, it is officially short timer weather around here. The kids have started counting the days until school is out, and I have to confess, I am too. With the holiday weekend approaching, I am looking forward to the mini break from soccer and football, and the end of swimming lessons. Backpacks will still be need for another week after that, but at that point, we can handle anything. Here is what we are eating this final week of the crazies. Any of you ready to be done with driving or homeschooling?

Breakfast
Brunch-Pancakes with syrup, Denver omelets, toast
Eggs and toast
Yogurt smoothies and cinnamon toast
Oatmeal with peaches and milk
Cinnamon rolls
Pumpkin bread with honey yogurt
Cinnamon roll french toast

Lunch
Leftover nachos, watermelon
Bento box for school picnics
Bbq beef and fruit cups
Lunch at school
Cold turkey sandwiches, lettuce salad
Snacks for lunch

Supper
"Meltdown" nachos
Grilled chicken, rice and salad
Bbq beef sandwiches, macaroni salad, strawberries
Weeknight chicken and pasta
Turkey panini, chips, carrots and celery
Ginger glazed mahi mahi, blue cheese slaw, cherries
Smoked pork shoulder

Bento #3

This was a stay at home meal, but easy to do in a bento box. I made egg salad for the face, sliced eggs and olives for eyes, red pepper mouths and the hair was grated carrot or chives. #3 wanted ears for his, so I sliced cucumber very thinly and added that to his. They pulled them apart to eat them, but they were gone in a flash.

Grocery Shopping Trip May 10

I tried again to keep my shopping to a minimum since we have a bulk order coming up soon and I want to not do too bad on the budget goals. Since I already spent a chunk at IGA on our Mother's Day tapas supper, I had to be more frugal at the store. The easiest way to do that is look for recipes that fit what we have at home in the pantry or freezer and round out the rest of the week with fresh produce on sale. Of course I am stuck in the egg and milk department, but that is, what it is.

2.5 gallons milk 10.00

Downtown Grocery
2 dozen eggs 9.98
Couscous 2.99
Baby red potatoes 1.34
#2.14 Braeburn apples 4.04
Bug bite 0.79
Total 19.98

IGA
Dill pickles 2.59
Broccoli 3.32
Dried beef 3.09
Sweet/sour sauce 1.50
Cauliflower 2.24
Carrots 0.79
Meatballs 5.00
2 tins sardines 2.78
Cream cheese 1.54
Chicken wings 2.50
Tea 1.00
Tomatoes 2.51
Bag 0.99
Marshmallows 1.50
Brown sugar 1.93
White sugar 2.83
Unbleached flour 2.47
2 Bagel packs 2.58
Orange juice 2.50
Ground beef 5.32
Total 49.02
Coupons or sale savings 10.42

Trigs
Chicken breast 3.72
#1 Asparagus 3.91
2 avocados 1.76
#1.86 Bananas 1.28
Mango 0.89
#12.94 Watermelon 5.69
Total 17.20
Total saved 0.92

Total spent 96.20
Coupon or sale savings 9.96

Menu Monday May 9-15

What a wonderful Mother's Day! I opened my personal thumbprint art from my 4-K child before we left the house, and watered the flower from my 1st grader. We went to church where I wore my new beads my preschooler made me, and then across the street to the 6th Street Filling Station to eat breakfast, while carrying the two Right to Life roses I got at church. The kids had stuffed french toast or cinnamon roll french toast (which I have got to recreate at home on the new baking pan from my oldest) and hubby and I had eggs benedict. Then we stopped by the grocery store to get a ham for supper. While we were sitting in the car discussing what to eat with it, hubby suggested we have snacks to tide us over since it was 10:30 and we had just eaten, this turned into just having appetizers for supper. YUMMY! The kids helped cook, and we ended up with our first annual tapas for mother's day supper. On the table were meatballs, egg rolls, grilled chicken wings, bruschetta, homemade tortilla chips, dill pickle rolls, black bean pinwheels and a veggie tray. We had just a couple bites of everything so that left us with no leftovers and just enough room for ice cream afterwards. Since we had spent the day outside doing yard work, it was the best mother's day yet in my mind. Today I will look through the cookbook my husband blessed me with (does he know how to keep a girl's heart or what) and figure out what is on the menu for next week. How did you celebrate?

Breakfast
Eggs benedict
Buttermilk coffee cake and bananas
Toasted banana bread, applesauce
Pancakes
Pumpkin muffins and yogurt
Bagel egg sandwich
Kids choice

Lunch
Grilled cheese, pickled beets
Lunch at school
Lunch at school
Turkey sandwich and fruit cups
Bento box faces
Burgers and home fries

Supper
Tapas
Asparagus primavera, grilled chicken breast
Dirty rice, salad and veggies
Steak, baked potato and broccoli
Chicken penne and salad
Pizza and tortilla crusted tilapia with salad
Sandwiches and tortellini soup

God's Promise

Grocery shopping trip

Ok, so I went over at my first store, but my goal was to to stay at $125 for the week no matter how it ended up at each store. I didn't have enough Scrips for Trigs, but plenty for IGA. I also learned that no matter what, if it is not on sale and on my list, I don't buy it at Trigs... the price difference between it and IGA add up, and I also found things on my list on sale at IGA that were not advertised, like the sandwich flats and yogurt. Someday I will figure this all out! Next week I will overbuy the Scrips, but still stay in my total budget.

Trig's (most expensive store)
Balsamic and Raspberry vinegar 6.18
2 bags Sandwich flats 6.38
organic ketchup 2.79
2 Kashi crackers 6.38
GoLean cereal 2.69
Ginger Ale 2.50
Pretzles 2.39
Salsa 2.49
Blue corn chips 1.99
#1.3 cod fillets 6.49
Turkey sausage 3.00
#1 Salmon 8.00
#1 Carrots 0.79
#1.88 Tomatoes 3.27
Spinach 1.88
Garlic 0.30
#1/2 Mini peppers 2.50
Green onions 1.38
Feta 1.59
#4 Butter 8.00
Cheese 3.89
Cheese 3.99
Store bag 0.89
Total 84.06
Savings 14.11 Coupons and sale items

Quality Foods
#2.5 Oatmeal 4.23
Newman marinara 2.29
2 Quarts Natural Yogurt 5.00
Parchment paper 2.87
Calamata olives 6.49 (yikes)
#1 Honey Ham 7.69 (overcharged)
Strawberries 2.50
2 Cucumbers 0.88
2 Avocados 1.38
Romaine 2.99
Buttermilk 2.32
Artichokes 3.49
2 Sandwich thins 5.00
Head lettuce 0.99
Total 47.28
Savings 5.04

Walgreens
3 boxes Puffs 2.97
3 dish detergants 2.97
3 cans salmon 5.97
3 cans tuna 2.97
Total 14.91
Coupon Savings 11.30

Total spent 146.25 (21.25 over budget)
Total savings 30.45

Menu Monday May 2-8

We are eating from a new magazine this week called Clean Eating, so I hope we can really work in some of the produce that is coming into season.

Breakfast
Pigs under the blanket
Rice pudding with raisins
Eggs and toast
Oatmeal cookie oatmeal
Surprise muffins and smoothies
Cold cereal
Waffles and peaches
Kids choice Saturday

Lunch
PB and J, carrots, peaches
Chef salad, bread sticks
Cheese and jelly sandwiches, ants on a log
Tilapia wraps
PB and J, strawberries
Salmon Quesadillas

Supper
Chicken pot pie, salad
Black bean tostadas, chips and salsa
Chicken foccasia, salad
Grilled tilapia, banana black bean salsa
Cobb salad, bread
Pizza

Starting tomatoes

Nothing like a little green in your house when everything outside still has a touch of brown. It seems like I started our tomatoes only yesterday, and the little darlings have got real leaves on them now. My husband searched high and low (at our local Fleet Farm) for heat mats so that they would get a good start. He ended up splurging on large pots filled with organic compost from our neighborhood ginseng farm so that I would not have to transplant the little guys before they were to go outside. All told, we spent less on heat mats than if we had ordered them from a catalogue, didn't pay shipping, and got trays with 70 expandable pots in them, included. I ordered tomato seeds from Territorial again, and all 30 of them germinated. This gives me the 16 or so I need and plenty to bless my friends with. I plan to reuse the pots and trays again next year, needing only to get dirt to fill them. This way I don't add to the landfill or recycle pile, shop local, and save myself more money next year. My tomatoes are not as big as last year at this time, but these are shorter day ones, so no fear. Next time I will show you my other green beauties...Come to think of it, I may be able to part with a couple more, say, if you were related to me and felt like making a trip up here in a couple weeks to get them... (hint hint)
What about you? Are you itching to be outside? Have you started anything growing in your window?

Favorite place to be at sunset...

Menu Monday April 25th- May 1st

While the hubby's away, the diet will pay....
Every year my amazing husband goes down to Grant county, WI, and helps his friend plant 1000 trees on his land. Ya, I said it and you read it, 1000 trees. I keep asking how this is possible, but I guess between the deer, the weather and some flooding, not to mention that there is a lot of land, it is an annual event he really looks forward to. He loves being outdoors, the weather is not too hot at this point, and his friend generously invites him to hunt there through several seasons during the year. Not to mention that it is quality guy time... I spent the weekend baking for his trip and ended up with pumpkin bread, cinnamon swirl bread, whole wheat bread, cinnamon rolls, cookies and biscuits for both of us. I will miss him terribly over this week, but it is fun spending time with the kids being the priority for a change. Besides, he will drive out to the edge of the property to find a signal so that he can call us every night. In the meantime, the kids got to plan the menu for the week, so that accounts for some of the unusual combinations of things. What can I say, I miss spaghetti....

Breakfast
Sausage biscuit sandwiches
Crock pot oatmeal with brown sugar
Smoothies and cinnamon swirl toast
Eggs and toast
Cold cereal
Waffles with peach syrup
Short order cook Saturday, kids choice

Lunch
Egg Head sandwiches, veggies
School lunch
Pb and J sandwiches, bananas
Turkey and swiss sandwiches, kiwi
School lunch
Chicken noodle, bread and butter, frozen peaches
Grilled cheese, tomato soup

Supper
Souper soup, french bread
Spaghetti and salad
Pancakes, bacon, yogurt
Baked chicken, rice, beets
Maid-Rites, oven fries, salad
Chicken pot pie, beet pickles
Homemade pizza, fruit cups

Groceries purchased: buns, pb x 2, ketchup, tomato soup x 2, dinner rolls, 3 lbs ground beef, bananas, 5 gallons milk $40.58

Chicken mushroom panini bento

This bento was made from leftover panini we had the night before. I made focaccia and then filled it with balsamic chicken with mushrooms, basil, green onions and tomatoes. The photo does this beautiful sandwich no justice whatsoever.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Ok, I know I have never had a Friday Funny post before, and that I am supposed to be focusing on the frugal part of my life, but come on.... this is just funny!

Missing Mr. Olsen

It's Gratituesday, and today I am grateful for the time I had getting to know our neighbor Larry. We were in Florida on vacation over St.Patrick's Day when we got a call that our friends had some bad news to share with us. That morning, Larry had passed away very unexpectedly. We had only known him for four and a half years but it seemed as though he had been in our lives forever. Larry was known as the "Godfather" of the neighborhood, walking it every day to check up on lots with houses and ones he was still farming. He was the man that bought a tiller for his tractor because some of us had large gardens. He planted huge sweetcorn plots so that we could have as much as we wanted and helped us pick it so that it would be fresh. Then he would shuck six or seven dozen so that his wife could help me freeze enough for our family. He was the man who stepped in as a grandfather, when the kids missed theirs because they are so far away. He helped reinforce the value of hard work to our neighborhood children (and a few moms and dads) when they helped him pick rock in the wheat fields. He always smiled and you could never mistake who it was when you watched those long strides taking him back to the house at 5:00 sharp for supper. His strawberries and apples were shared freely as was his sage wisdom. While he is missed, we are ever grateful for the time we had with him. I hope God enjoys the help with any farming issues in Heaven, and I can't help but think he is behind the beautiful April we are having.
Head on over to Laura's at Heavenly Homemakers for Gratituesday and see what everyone else is thankful for.

Menu Monday April 11-17

We got some lovely Nebraska steak from my hubby's parents for a Christmas gift this year. What could be better than that? So we are taking advantage of that to enjoy the beautiful weather that we are having, and grilling our hearts out. Man do I love Spring! I am also trying to continue being extra frugal as I have a Country Life order this week, so I will post what I bought for the week with the menu. Fortunately I have 2 gallons of milk still from last week, so that helps. This will give you just a glimpse into my crazy need to stockpile food...who in the world needs three freezers?

Sunday
Egg and sausage breakfast burritos
Shrimp wraps
Nebraska steak, roasted root veggies (parsnips from garden) salad and homemade strawberry ice cream (berries from Mr. Olsen's garden)

Monday
Eggs and toast
Apples, cheese, whole wheat bread with butter
Leftover buffet with the addition of grilled mushrooms

Tuesday
Whole wheat pancakes with applesauce (Mr. Olsen's apples)
PB and J lunch boxes for school
Roasted chicken salad on sourdough buns, parsnip and leek soup and salad

Wednesday
Blueberry muffin cake
Chicken soup with noodles
Some sort of Chinese dish with egg rolls (not this one)

Thursday
Steel cut oatmeal in the crock pot
School hot lunch
Combo burritos and salad

Friday
French toast with peach syrup
Tuna salad on sourdough rolls, apples
Frozen pizza

Saturday
Bacon, Egg and cheese biscuit cups
Kids choice
Supper with my sister and her family, something from the bottom
of the freezer perhaps...? Sorry Abbie!

Groceries bought for the week:
Mushrooms, onions, loaf of texas toast, one pound hamburger, two dozen eggs, 6 plums, block of cheddar, can of tomatoes, dish soap, broccoli, cilantro
Total: $40.00