A grocery trip to Aldi took a hefty chunk out of my budget for the month.
Before Aldi today: 22.55
Aldi-
Animal Crackers for preschool snack day- 1.19
Cheap wheat bread- .99
Gallon of Skim Milk- 3.19 (note to self: .20 cents cheaper than S-A-L.)
Tax- .19
Total: 5.56
New Balance for the month- 16.99
I still don't trust myself to make decent sandwich bread. As we get to later in the month I may get desperate enough to try making it.
As for the animal crackers- I know I could and probably should have made scratch cookies. However, the last time I labored over pretty (and tasty) frosting heaped cookies I watched over half of them go into the trash can with only a bite or two out of them. This will hurt much less.
We're good on milk for at least another week so I don't intend to do more grocery shopping until then.
Gotta go clean something.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Blog Day Afternoon
You know- I've been thinking that my blog has become my journal and perhaps I should save some of the minutiae for a written diary. Nah! This is more fun so sorry if I'm boring anyone to tears. Look away if you must- I'll understand. On with my blog post:
I love my Freecycle bread maker! Since I'm trying to be as miserly as I can until we get to the end of the month I'm trying to make as much of our food as I can. Today I made this English Muffin recipe. I needed a bread to make pbj's for kids and for hubby to make his breakfast burgers with.
The dough came out perfect and none of the ingredients were anything that I needed to get from a health food store.
I didn't have a big enough round cutter so I used a lid to a mulling spice container. It worked ok but next time I'll just shape the dough with my hands.
They fried up great with just a spritz of cooking spray.
Here they are. They seemed to shrink in diameter after I cut them. Next time I'll make them 1/2" wider.
They taste just like English Muffins- only better. My kitchen smells wonderful and there is a delightful crunch crack noise when you walk across the stray grains of corn meal. MMMM.
Today was lovely and a great time for doing lots of yard work. My Big Girl got completely dirty playing and helping. She knows me well too. When I told her she was filthy she stomped away from me loudly chanting, "No bath. No bath. No bath." Muddy little stinker.
We found a cute little friend hiding under the water hose. Little Guy was fascinated. He kept pointing at it and saying, "Ribbit. Ribbit."
My blessings are many.
I love my Freecycle bread maker! Since I'm trying to be as miserly as I can until we get to the end of the month I'm trying to make as much of our food as I can. Today I made this English Muffin recipe. I needed a bread to make pbj's for kids and for hubby to make his breakfast burgers with.
The dough came out perfect and none of the ingredients were anything that I needed to get from a health food store.
I didn't have a big enough round cutter so I used a lid to a mulling spice container. It worked ok but next time I'll just shape the dough with my hands.
They fried up great with just a spritz of cooking spray.
Here they are. They seemed to shrink in diameter after I cut them. Next time I'll make them 1/2" wider.
They taste just like English Muffins- only better. My kitchen smells wonderful and there is a delightful crunch crack noise when you walk across the stray grains of corn meal. MMMM.
Today was lovely and a great time for doing lots of yard work. My Big Girl got completely dirty playing and helping. She knows me well too. When I told her she was filthy she stomped away from me loudly chanting, "No bath. No bath. No bath." Muddy little stinker.
We found a cute little friend hiding under the water hose. Little Guy was fascinated. He kept pointing at it and saying, "Ribbit. Ribbit."
My blessings are many.
Good Times.
It's a beautiful weekend here in sunny St. Louis. Hubby and Big Girl spent the better portion of yesterday outside working on our drainage pipe issue. He took big chunks of concrete from our driveway repair and filled in the ditch he dug out with the rocks to help with soil erosion. The rest will get tucked under the bay window areas where our sneaky house cats like to hide when they find a way out of the house. I love it when we find a use for things that normally would go in the garbage.
I'm itching to go outside and sprinkle flower and herb seed but the dirty dishes from all of this eating at home has the made kitchen a complete disaster.
Today for lunch I reheated the last three of our veggie dogs. When I want vegetarian baked beans I normally buy Bush's Vegetarian beans (sale stock up). We have no Bush beans. This is what I did instead:
Quickie Beans
1/3 diced onion sauteed in a tablespoon of oil. 1-2 tbs. of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of catsup mixed into cooking onions. 1 tsp. of onion powder. Add a drained can of kidney beans. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook until it's thickened and bubbly.
This was so good and easy that I think I'll never want to buy canned baked beans again.
Now all of our bread is gone and the dirty dishes are piled up. To work I go.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
What we've been eating
This was my tentative menu for last week. I was a day off so we skipped leftovers night.
Monday- cheesy veggie dog Pigs in a blanket (great scratch recipe for biscuits)- salad with lots of tomatoes. Cooked apples
Tuesday- Incredibly Easy Split Pea Soup, Bread and butter
*update- This soup recipe is easy and delicious! It makes a large pot too.*
Wednesday- Sloppy Joes (made with re-hyrdrated tvp. I was going to make a scratch sauce but found one can of Aldi Range Master sauce in the back of the pantry- green beans - orange slices
Thursday- leftovers smorgasbord - skipped because I was a day ahead.
Friday- Pizza Night (mushroom and veggie pepperoni)- ice cream for dessert. I made a scratch wheat crust with my breadmaker.
Saturday-
Breakfast- Blueberry pancakes made with Aldi baking mix, one egg, some vanilla, instant milk, and leftover yogurt (plain yogurt with honey and blueberries mixed in) that Big Girl turned her nose up to. Half a pack of frozen veg. sausage.
Lunch- Store brand white cheddar mac and cheese, broccoli from the freezer, leftover hot dog/hamburger buns, and re-heated sloppy joe mix.
Dinner- Planned: Ravioli from the freezer- leftover corn from the fridge (had planned on glazed carrots)- bread.
Instead we had fried potatoes that needed to be eaten, veggie patties, and fresh bread. Not that nutritious but very good.
Sunday-
Breakfast-
Oatmeal with raisins and brow sugar, leftover fried potatoes, sliced apples/oranges.
Lunch- Scrounged leftovers- veggie burgers on bread.
Lunch -Beanie veg. Weenie- corn bread- (make bbq beans)
This seems like a long boring list- I know. But, I thought someone would be interested in what we've been eating. This is hard.. today Hubby suggested we go to Taco Bell for lunch. But, I'm determined to make it to the week of the 22nd when we'll be out of town for a few days and I can eat out and buy food for our hotel room. When we come back from our short trip, I'll once again pick up my grocery money envelope to see how far we can stretch a buck. It's exciting to see the bulky boxes and plastic bottles start evaporating into the recycling bin as we use them up. Too much food clutter.
Monday- cheesy veggie dog Pigs in a blanket (great scratch recipe for biscuits)- salad with lots of tomatoes. Cooked apples
Tuesday- Incredibly Easy Split Pea Soup, Bread and butter
*update- This soup recipe is easy and delicious! It makes a large pot too.*
Wednesday- Sloppy Joes (made with re-hyrdrated tvp. I was going to make a scratch sauce but found one can of Aldi Range Master sauce in the back of the pantry- green beans - orange slices
Thursday- leftovers smorgasbord - skipped because I was a day ahead.
Friday- Pizza Night (mushroom and veggie pepperoni)- ice cream for dessert. I made a scratch wheat crust with my breadmaker.
Saturday-
Breakfast- Blueberry pancakes made with Aldi baking mix, one egg, some vanilla, instant milk, and leftover yogurt (plain yogurt with honey and blueberries mixed in) that Big Girl turned her nose up to. Half a pack of frozen veg. sausage.
Lunch- Store brand white cheddar mac and cheese, broccoli from the freezer, leftover hot dog/hamburger buns, and re-heated sloppy joe mix.
Dinner- Planned: Ravioli from the freezer- leftover corn from the fridge (had planned on glazed carrots)- bread.
Instead we had fried potatoes that needed to be eaten, veggie patties, and fresh bread. Not that nutritious but very good.
Sunday-
Breakfast-
Oatmeal with raisins and brow sugar, leftover fried potatoes, sliced apples/oranges.
Lunch- Scrounged leftovers- veggie burgers on bread.
Lunch -Beanie veg. Weenie- corn bread- (make bbq beans)
This seems like a long boring list- I know. But, I thought someone would be interested in what we've been eating. This is hard.. today Hubby suggested we go to Taco Bell for lunch. But, I'm determined to make it to the week of the 22nd when we'll be out of town for a few days and I can eat out and buy food for our hotel room. When we come back from our short trip, I'll once again pick up my grocery money envelope to see how far we can stretch a buck. It's exciting to see the bulky boxes and plastic bottles start evaporating into the recycling bin as we use them up. Too much food clutter.
Friday, April 4, 2008
"What's in your wallet?" Tally for today.
Beginning Monthly Balance: $30.00
Pizza Hut- 1.00 tip
Save-a-Lot- Gallon of FF Milk ($3.39) and 3.26 lbs. of apples (2.87) + tax= 6.45
Ending Balance for the remainder of the month: 22.55
OUCH!
And now I have to go make some bread in my breadmaker because we're running low and I didn't want to part with the $ for bagged generic wheat.
Pizza Hut- 1.00 tip
Save-a-Lot- Gallon of FF Milk ($3.39) and 3.26 lbs. of apples (2.87) + tax= 6.45
Ending Balance for the remainder of the month: 22.55
OUCH!
And now I have to go make some bread in my breadmaker because we're running low and I didn't want to part with the $ for bagged generic wheat.
$1 Lunch- $29.00 left in the Grocery budget
I was starving while running errands this morning and knew I didn't want to spend any of our grocery money on junky snacks. Then I remembered that I had a gift card for Starbucks (a Christmas gift) in my wallet. That's much better than any old crumby granola bar. I got a Skinny Vanilla Latte (so good- without all the slimy aftertaste) and three mini vanilla scones. The latte and one scone were enough to tide me over until lunch time.
Once a month or so when I don't have the toddler with me, I try to do something special with my Big Girl when I pick her up from pre-school. Well, today was that day but I really didn't want to take a major chunk out of our grocery money. Then I remembered that she had a free coupon for a personal pizza from Pizza Hut's Book It Program. One small pizza, a scone each, and two waters was just enough for the two of us. And she felt proud of herself for providing our lunch. I left a dollar tip.
On the way out to the car I found stray coupon for a free RedBox movie. So, tonight after our homemade pizza (yes, twice in one day- we like pizza) we're watching Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.
Once a month or so when I don't have the toddler with me, I try to do something special with my Big Girl when I pick her up from pre-school. Well, today was that day but I really didn't want to take a major chunk out of our grocery money. Then I remembered that she had a free coupon for a personal pizza from Pizza Hut's Book It Program. One small pizza, a scone each, and two waters was just enough for the two of us. And she felt proud of herself for providing our lunch. I left a dollar tip.
On the way out to the car I found stray coupon for a free RedBox movie. So, tonight after our homemade pizza (yes, twice in one day- we like pizza) we're watching Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.
Spring Swap Giveaway Winner
The winner by random preschooler drawing is: Rachel.
Please send me an email so I can mail your goodies.
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