Shopping Trip March 30

On budget at the grocery store, but headed out of town this weekend, so will be hard to stay under at a restaurant. I think what is the most frustrating about typing this in is seeing all the things I could have made from scratch but bought to make my life easier so we could be outside. Lame excuse since I just was explaining to my oldest that it really doesn't take that much time to make things from scratch vs a box. This is why I type out my list, really makes me face my excuses in a concrete way.

Downtown Grocery
2 Doz Eggs 9.98
Kefir 5.19
1.75 lbs Carrots 2.65
Garlic .84
Onion 1.56
Cauliflower 5.39
Total 25.61

Quality Foods
Taco shells 2.05
#2 Butter 5.00
Buttermilk 2.28
Cottage Cheese 2.70
2 natural pb 4.58
Refried beans 1.29
Hollandaise sauce 1.39
English Muffins 1.59
Tortillas 2.79
Pie crust 2.75
Broccoli 1.36
Strawberries 2.00
Potato 0.26
Rice cakes 1.87
#3 Ground chuck 5.37
Total 37.29


Total 62.90

Menu Monday March 29-April 4

We had my sister's family staying with us on Sunday and plan to be out of town for the weekend. Hope your Easter is blessed with peace and family.

Sunday
Breakfast-Oatmeal
Lunch-Gumbo and cornbread
Supper-Pork roast on flat bread, coleslaw, cantaloupe and grapes

Monday
Breakfast-Caramel rolls
Lunch-Leftovers or pb and j
Supper-Tacos

Tuesday
Breakfast-Pumpkin bread and smoothies
Lunch-Frozen Pizza (#1 in charge of lunch)
Supper-Roasted chicken breast, green beans, wild rice

Wednesday
Breakfast-Eggs and Toast
Lunch-Chicken nuggets, beets and bananas (#1 in charge again)
Supper-Chicken pot pie, cottage cheese

Thursday (Hubby birthday)
Breakfast-Eggs Benedict
Lunch-In town
Supper-Steak, sweet potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower

Friday
Breakfast-Cinnamon toast, fruit and yogurt parfaits
Lunch-Cheese waffles and tomato soup
Supper-On the road, out of town

Chicken Bone Broth

I love making broth. I love how easy it is, how it smells, how it tastes, and how it is pretty much free. Lately every time I roast a chicken, I have thrown the bones back in the oven while I am cleaning up the kitchen. After they brown, I cool them and throw them in a bag in the freezer. Then, when I have a spare moment ( you know, while I am eating bon-bons and watching mexican novellas...) I make broth. Seriously, this is as easy as it gets folks.
Yesterday I was going to make gumbo and found that I was out, so I thought this would be a perfect Frugal Friday post. Here's what you do, follow closely, it's tricky.

1. Grab the chicken bones from your freezer, or the pan you just roasted it in and put them in a pot of water.
2. Add whatever veggies you have in your house. I typically use the tops of my celery, an onion cut in half, 3 smashed garlic, and some carrots. I don't peel anything, skins an all in the pot. Maybe wash them though...
3. Add 2 bay leaves, a small handful of peppercorns, and some parsley or whatever herb sounds good.
4. Boil on low for... well, however much time you have. I have done it for 3 hours, and I have done this in the crock pot overnight. When it first gets going, you need to skim off the foam, that stuff is gross.
5. Strain through a cheesecloth lined colander and refrigerate or freeze for later. I like to freeze mine in pint jars so I have 2 cups at a time. If I know I am making something that requires more, I freeze close to a half gallon. If you are really frugal, you can pick of the meat that is left from the bones at this point. I tend to pick mine over really well before hand, so there is usually not much left to add to the broth.

When this cools down, it will look something like chicken jello, this is normal, it will turn back into liquid when it is reheated so no worries there. We eat a fair amount of chicken, so it seems like I am never at a loss for broth. What is your favorite frugal recipe?

Shopping trip for March 23rd

Way under budget so that we can make up for eating out on our return home from vacation.

Kwik Trip
#3 1/2 Bananas 1.41
#2 Onions .75
Total 2.16

Downtown Grocery
2 doz eggs 9.98

Quality Foods
#5 potatoes 1.39
2 cans mushrooms 1.58
Corned Beef 7.39
Cabbage 1.50
Buttermilk 2.28
Yogurt 2.89
#1 Sliced ham 5.24
Smoked turkey sausage 3.00
Lettuce 4.26
Coupon turkey -.55
Coupon ham -.55
Total 28.41

5 Gallons raw milk 20.00

Grand total 60.55

Menu Monday March 21-27

Sunday-On the road from Nebraska
Breakfast- Pancakes and cinnamon rolls
Lunch- Applebee's
Supper- Subway

Monday
Breakfast-Cereal and raw milk
Lunch- Grilled cheese and applesauce
Supper- Steak, green beans, corn, ranch potatoes

Tuesday
Breakfast- Eggs and toast, white peaches
Lunch- Chicken soup and ham roll ups
Supper-St. Patty's day late Corned beef, colecannon, cabbage (boiled and fried), scones

Wednesday
Breakfast- Pumpkin muffins, bananas
Lunch- Ham and cheese pockets, applesauce
Supper- Grilled chicken legs and wings, corn, salad

Thursday
Breakfast-Cereal and cinnamon toast
Lunch- At school
Supper- Gumbo and corn bread

Friday
Breakfast-Waffles and peaches with whipped cream
Lunch- Spaghetti
Supper- Cheese and bean enchiladas

Saturday
Breakfast- Cranberry white chocolate scones
Lunch-Grilled chicken, green beans, coleslaw
Supper- Pizza and a movie

Hamburger Buns

4 1/2 c unbleached flour
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 c powdered milk
3 T sugar
2 t yeast
1 large egg
3 1/2 T butter room temp
1 1/2 c water plus a bit more
1 egg for egg wash

Mix together flour, salt, milk, sugar and yeast. Pour in one egg, butter, 1 1/2 water and mix with a spoon or paddle attachment until water is absorbed into flour and ball forms. Add more water if dough seems stiff, you want it soft and supple.

Sprinkle flour on counter and knead dough, or if you are like me, swap out the paddle attachment for your dough hook and mix 6-8 minutes or until it clears the side of your mixer bowl. You should be able to stretch a small amount of dough into a translucent window, if it breaks, keep kneading.

Ferment in a covered, greased bowl for 1 1/2 -2 hours, and then divide into 2 oz pieces (18) dinner rolls, or 3 oz (12) hamber buns. Shape the pieces into tight rounds by cupping your hand over the ball of dough and rolling it with pressure against the counter and sides of the dough around in circles. You will feel the ball tighten up, that is what you want. Mist balls with oil, cover with plastic and a towl and leave to nap for 20 minutes or so.

Place buns or rolls on parchment lined baking sheets, pressing the dough balls down if you are making buns to flatten them a bit. Mist and cover again for a hour or better nap until they double in size.

Preheat oven 400 degrees, brush rolls or buns with egg wash and top with sesame, poppy or no seeds. Bake for 15 minutes or until just above 180 degrees. Remove them from the pans immediately and cool on wire rack to prevent having soggy buns.
No one likes soggy buns....

A street in Puerto Vallarta

Pad Thai Pizza

Photo Credit

Tired of the usual pizza? We made a variation on Pad Thai chicken pizza from Clean Cooking last night. Yummy!

1 pre-made pizza shell
1/2 c or more Pad Thai sauce
1 large chicken breast diced
1/2 red pepper chopped
1/2 c onion chopped
3 oz mozzarella shredded
1 c bean sprouts
1/4 c cilantro
1/4 c peanuts chopped (optional)

Spread Pad Thai sauce on pizza shell. Top with chicken, peppers, onion and cheese. Bake according to shell directions. After slicing pizza, top with sprouts, cilantro and peanuts. (Hot chili sauce too, if you are my hubby). This whole works took 15 minutes, and that included the bake time, how easy is that?

Menu Monday March 7-13

This will be a shorter week as we are leaving town again, and that coupled with my itchy desire to clean out my freezers makes for an interesting and cheap menu. Headed back to Nebraska, and the big question is whether to pack food for the trip down, or stop at some dreaded restaurant along the way. If you pack for a trip, what is your favorite food to have in the car?

Sunday
Brunch- Pigs in a blanket and eggs
Supper- Pad Thai and pepperoni pizzas

Monday
Breakfast-Oatmeal and milk
Lunch- PB&J, oranges
Supper- Tuscan Style potato soup, chicken salad pitas

Tuesday
Breakfast- Cranberry and white chocolate scones, keifer
Lunch- Tacos
Supper- Nebraska steak, naan, green beans, corn

Wednesday
Breakfast- French toast and peaches
Lunch- Butter noodles and veggies
Supper- Chicken-a-la-king wraps, apple sauce, cottage cheese

Thursday
Breakfast-Whatever is left in the freezer
Lunch-Spaghetti
Supper-Whatever is left in the fridge (I love leaving town!)

Friday
Breakfast- Cereal
Lunch- Frozen pizza served on paper towels... lol
Supper- TBD

Saturday
At my in-laws, see you in a week!

Beans

When I was little, my dad read me a book called The Bike Lesson by Stan and Jan Berenstein. Each time the dad in the book taught his cub a new lesson he would follow it by saying, "This is what you must never do, now let that be a lesson to you."
Don't leave a pot of beans soaking on your corn stove for two days. When you try to salvage them by washing (and scrubbing) the beans, repeatedly rinsing and adding new water, and then put them on to cook, and they still smell like they have fermented....
Holy cow, who puked!
That was the question I got from my husband when he walked into the kitchen this morning. When I told him what happened, he very nicely suggested I share the beans with the compost pile.
What a thoughtful man.
Actually, I was relieved because there is nothing worse than making a recipe that takes a long time and having it be ruined by one bad ingredient. Besides, my fridge is so overwhelmed with leftovers that we have enough food to feed the neighborhood. To bad it is Friday, the ribs are calling me...
Have you ever had something not quite work out in the kitchen?

Shrimp in a bucket

Menu Monday February 28-March 6

We are back from our lovely vacation where we ate tons of our favorite foods and soaked in culture as well as a bit of sun (and mezcal as well). Now we are back to the grind, but with a bit of a breather as my kids and their parents are taking the month off of activities. With the exception of Wednesday night CCD and karate one day, we are done for the month of April with swimming, gymnastics and wrestling. Swimming starts again in April for #1 and in May for #2 and #3 but just this month off will help tremendously. We also have decided to take the plunge concerning our kids education, so frugality will be a hot topic here, more on that later. Here is the menu for this week.

Sunday
Brunch- Eggs Benedict or homemade egg sandwiches, bacon, bananas
Supper- Roasted chicken, brown rice, garlic green beans, strawberries

Monday
Breakfast-Raisin cookie oatmeal
Lunch-Leftovers from Sunday
Supper-Chicken stir-fry and eggrolls

Tuesday
Breakfast-Eggs and toast, grapes
Lunch-At school
Supper-Ribs with my sister's family, coleslaw, beans, fruity salad

Wednesday
Breakfast-Muffins and yogurt with bananas
Lunch-Pb&J, grapes
Supper-Ham and bean soup, corn bread, oranges

Thursday
Breakfast-Cold cereal and toast
Lunch-at school
Supper-Chicken and rice casserole, salad, applesauce

Friday
Breakfast-Waffles with blueberry syrup
Lunch-Tuna salad and grapes, hummus with veggies
Supper-Fish fry

Saturday
Breakfast-Peach crepes
Lunch-Turkey sandwiches and tortellini soup, peaches
Supper-Homemade pizza and a movie

I'm Back!

Been gone a while,
now I'm back.
Had lots to do,
cut me some slack.... lol!

A taste of the Flylady

As I have mentioned I love Flylady. So I thought that I would move on from the bedtime routine and show you how I start my morning. Since my clothes are already laid out, and my gym bag is packed if I am going, I head straight to the kitchen. I like lists and time lines, they give me a goal even if I don't exactly follow them. Also, this is today's routine, it does vary from day to day, but stays fairly close to this.

5:20 Roll out of bed head for the kitchen. Fill and start teapot, plug in and start up computer, open recipe book to page needed for whatever I have started. Sit at computer, catch up on blogs I follow and wait for teapot to whistle.

5:30 Make tea, finish mixing up breakfast and get into oven or started cooking on stove, run a sink full of hot water to clean up as I go, or make sure there is room in the dishwasher so clean-up is quick, load washing machine.

5:50 If they are not up already, go wake up #1 and #2 ( warning, this process may need repeated for #2 several times) get them to the table, dish up breakfast. Then while I have them as a captive audience, review any after school activities that they may have.

6:15 Send them on their way to finish getting ready (timer set for #2 as motivation) Since they practice a bit of the Bedtime Routine themselves, getting dressed is not an issue, neither is finding backpacks or gloves.... usually...

6:40 Send them out the door for the bus and move on to #3 (#4 is an early riser too, so he is usually getting ready while the others are. Finish getting him ready, dress myself after cleaning up kitchen

7:15-8:00 Roll laundry, make bed, load car, grab water bottle and kids, head out the door.

On Tuesday and Thursday, this is shortened by an hour. Kids have to be at school by 7:30-7:45 so I am at the gym by 8:00 with #3 in tow. The only things that are different on these days are making sure all the kids are up by 5:50, and making a breakfast that involves very little clean up, Tuesday is oatmeal, and Thursday is cold cereal. Sometimes it is like pulling teeth to keep the kids going, but I have to remind myself that I have tired days too. While this works for us, I am always open to new ideas. What do your mornings look like, are you military strict, or do you roll out of bed and take your time with your coffee and your computer?

Shopping trip for January 18th

We hit four stores this time in order to maximize my budget dollar. Here is what we got and how much I spent of my budget so that I didn't have to cry over coupons.

Hmong Grocery
Mirin 2.99
Puddings 1.99
Roasted green peas 2.99
3 Udon noodles 2.67
Basil 1.25
Cilantro 1.25
Coconut rolls 1.29
Total 14.43

Kwik Trip
#3 Onions 1.16
#5 Bananas 1.94
Total 3.10

Downtown Grocery
2 Kifer 2.38
3 doz eggs 8.97
Cucumber 1.40
Celery 2.59
Leeks 4.93
Oatmeal to go 2.94
Red onion 1.58
Total 24.79

Quality Foods
Whole milk .89
Cottage Cheese 2.83
Plain Yogurt 2.89
Natural creamy pb 2.29
Natural crunchy pb 2.29
Ground turkey 4.30
Orange juice 3.34
Coupon -1.00
Total 17.79

5 Gallons raw milk 20.00

Grand total 80.11
Saved budget 44.89
Saved budget for year 100.03

Menu Monday January 18-24

Since I seem to have the grocery budget somewhat in hand, time to add on dining out to that number. Short of packing a picnic every time we are in town for an activity, there is no way we can avoid it completely. I hope that by posting it, I will be more accountable for money spent dining out. My Money program is doing a good job of making me aware already.

Monday (make bars for mission at church)
Breakfast-Green smoothies and cinnamon muffins
Lunch-Bento #3 Peekaboo sandwiches, dates, cheese worms
Supper-Turkey Keema with spinach, rice

Tuesday
Breakfast-Oatmeal, brown sugar, milk
Lunch-Bento #4 Somen noodle bento, meatballs, fruit cup
Supper-In town (wish me luck)

Wednesday (soak peas)
Breakfast-Crepes with peach filling
Lunch-At school (cheeseburgers-mom bento)
Supper-Bacon, leek and tomato soup, no kneed bread

Thursday
Breakfast-Cereal and bananas
Lunch-At school (Italian dippers-mom soup)
Supper-Split pea and ham soup, homemade rolls

Friday-No school
Breakfast-Blueberry pancakes, bananas
Lunch-Garlic alfredo pasta, salad
Supper-Tortellini soup, turkey and asiago sandwiches, apples

Saturday
Breakfast-Kid's choice
Lunch-Roast chicken, green beans, rice
Supper-Pizza (stock in crock pot)

Sunday
Brunch-Eggs and toast, cinnamon rolls, fruit
Supper-Chicken noodle soup, homemade bread, cheese

$5 eggs on a budget

I'll admit, paying $5 a dozen for something that comes out of a chicken's butt seems a bit crazy. Roll with me on this one. Please bear in mind that this is what we do, in no way am I saying that if you don't do things like I do are you a bad person. This works for us, and blogging is just a way for me to share that, not make people feel bad because they can't or don't eat like we do. Believe me, we went through years where we ate a lot of .60 eggs because that was what we could afford, and we were just fine.

Enter my shopping post for this week. Just doing a quick calculation, I figure I make bread at $1.47 a loaf. I bought bread similar to what I make in my own kitchen last week, and it cost me $3.19! That $1.72 difference is how I budget for our eggs. As to why, we eat a lot of eggs. Our whole family will eat a dozen on Sunday mornings and a loaf of bread. That is breakfast for six people for $6.45. Yes it could be much less if I bought conventional eggs, but my husband is rather fond of shakes made of raw eggs and raw milk. Not my favorite, but I don't worry about these eggs carrying some nasty bug like I do conventional ones, and pasteurizing them just seems like they are taking out some of the health benefits...

So there you go. I love that you are commenting on things, it makes me think more about the choices I am making when feeding my family. Sorry the post was so long in explaining, but I have never been accused of saying things the quick way, lol.
How bout you? Are there areas of your household where you have cut back on something in order to afford something else? Do you budget your grocery bill, or just buy whatever looks good?

MOMDAR

Those of you who have kids already know what MOMDAR is. Before our oldest was born, I was so excited some nights I couldn't sleep. After he was born, I was so worried I would miss a cry I couldn't sleep. Later, he cried so much I couldn't sleep. This pattern repeated itself for each of my four kids until they no longer cried in the middle of the night.
Ahhhhh, sleep...
Not.
Apparently the lack of sleep was just training for MOMDAR mode. You know, that feeling that lets you know your kids are doing, saying, trying something they should not be. That nagging signal in the back of your mind that tells you where they are, and what they are doing even if you can't see them. Kids call them eyes in the back of your head. Sometimes that signal even picks up someone else's kids...
This morning I woke up at 4:15 and couldn't, for the life of me, fall back asleep. Fifteen minutes later I knew why. MOMDAR. Apparently it works on ESP mode as well. It must have known that my husband's bath soap was going to fall in the shower, wake up #2 and #3, and just wanted to give me a heads up.
On an up note, we shouldn't be late for the bus this morning...

Help!

Ok, this post was supposed to be something that was working for me. Unfortunately, things are just not working right now. I wish I could take the batteries out of my schedule, hit the reset button and start over, but that is not the case. My calender looks like Crayola threw up on it because I have so much going on, and my grocery bill looks great because we keep eating out! Here is a sample of yesterday...
5:06 alarm going off, hit hubby to hit snooze
5:15 alarm off again, groan, hit hubby, roll out of bed
5:19 realize we are out of milk, start car, find coat (still in pj's) run to neighbors, bother cows, get milk
5:35 get home, start water for oatmeal, agree to let oldest eat last 2 pancakes and last of cereal, hates oatmeal
5:55 have scolded youngest for crying about cereal being gone, pacified him with promise of sugary oatmeal if it would ever cook!
6:16 sigh and tell#2 that if she misses bus she will be very sorry
6:40 shoo #1 and #2 out door, clean up kitchen, roll over laundry, dress self and #4, pack gym bag, kiss hubby goodbye and take #4 for first day of pre-school
7:45 drop off #4, go to Y, laugh at thought of trying to find parking spot
8:00 breath and attempt to clear mind for first yoga class (mind never cleared, yoga hard!)
9:00 pacify irate person who found out my class may change times, take step since yoga didn't raise heart rate (at least not to where it needed to be)
10:30 showered, changed, dropping off #3 at school, meet hubby for coffee and then lunch
12:45 back on the run, groceries to get, have to run home, put away groceries, feed dog, pack bags for tonight, roll laundry, pick up house
4:00 meet hubby, switch cars and kids, drop off #2 gymnastics, go to meet sister to pick up nephew to watch during appointment (read in car)
5:15 appointment done, nephew returned, picking #2 up from gymnastics, meeting hubby after dropping off #1 at swimming for second meal in town
6:15 kiss hubby goodbye (off to meeting) drive to swim, #2 does homework in lobby, keep #3-4 from killing each other, breakdown and turn on sponge bob, scold #2 for not doing homework, scold #3-4 for beating up each other and playing tag in lobby
7:35 can't stand it anymore, take kids #2-4 to car so that at least the other parents can have some peace, text hubby with questions of possible illegal drug use by kids...
8:00 driving home to 3000 viewing of Backyardagins despite swearing no more tv to and from town
8:30 collapse on couch, laundry waiting, kids in bed still yipping, exhausted knowing that hubby will soon be home, hoping that I can stay awake and interested in some personal time with him, rather than him finding me asleep and drooling on a gardening catalog only open to page 3

This is not working for me....

Shopping trip for January 12th

This was a fast shopping trip. I only needed to get a few essential things and while I came in on budget, I still may need to get milk this week. We will see how far I can squeak that one. Plus we have been spending a ginormous amount eating out, so that would explain my coming in under budget. Gonna have to put the kibosh on that one...

Downtown Grocery
2 doz eggs 9.98
#1 butter 2.89
3 boxes cereal 16.57
Tea 5.59
Tomato soup 3.19
Monkey bars 8.98
Arthur o's 3.19
Total 50.39

Quality Foods
Baby carrots 1.59
2 tomatoes 1.73
Buttermilk 1.22
Whole grain bread 3.19
Ham and turkey 4.38
Unbleached flour 2.39
White chocolate chips 5.53
Pineapple 2.49
Total 24.36

Grand total 74.75
Saved budget 50.25
Saved budget for year 55.14