Some might remember that I was planning to work through a goal each month this year. I summarized them here. The last goal I wrote about was our garden, way back in May. That project was going fairly well until our little patch was discovered by a bunny with a large appetite. But that's another story. So where have my goals gone?
As usual, life has gotten busy. These past 1-2 months have been especially difficult with one illness after another. In between the stomach flu, the regular flu, and Caleb getting a Staph infection we've been schlepping to a pain clinic in Baltimore to try and deal with this pain I've had for over a year and David's been putting in lots of (required) overtime at work.
Amazingly, in all this, we've managed to draw closer to God and one another. Both David and I have noted that despite all the challenges we feel more connected and invested in our marriage than we have in a while. Not that it was dying or anything dramatic like that, we were just in a "care for Caleb and the house" rut. It's amazing how small gestures can go such a long way in making both of us feel loved. I've been trading my sweat pants for jeans and a cute top more often and David delighted me with a letter in the mail. We've also been taking time to read scripture and pray together each night before bed again. It's quickly become my favorite part of the day.
However, there is one aspect of our lives that has gotten totally out of control. It always seems to get worse the busier life gets. I bet some other home managers out there know what I'm about to say...
Our grocery bill is ridiculous.
I haven't so much been tiptoeing past our budgeted amount so much as sailing over it. To the tune of $150-$200/month (extra) for the past 5 months. That's a lot of overage. As I've talked about before, our budget is set to a number that challenges me, but is completely do-able. So how on earth did I end up going so far over so many months in a row? It's a question that has forced me look at food management habits honestly as I searched for the answer.
It's not like I totally gave up. Even in all the chaos, I was still clipping coupons, planning my meals based on the weekly sale paper, etc. I think that's why this went on so long. I reasoned that I was already doing the best I could. Maybe food prices had gone up? However when I was really really honest with myself, I could pretty clearly see the "leaks" in our food budget.
Leak #1- Waste
I'm ashamed to admit that I'm pretty sure I threw away around $50 worth of food each month just because it had gone bad. Left overs we hadn't eaten, produce that had withered away, things that migrated to the back of the fridge and got lost. Typically, I look through the fridge several times each week and adapt the meal plan as necessary to include left over night or use up an ingredient about to go bad. When I stopped doing that, the inevitable happened.
Leak #2- Lack of Organization
I always think I can skip this step and I am always wrong. Although I was still meal planning, often when I reached the store I discovered I'd forgotten my (insert one: grocery list, coupons, or cash envelope). This led to me purchasing things we didn't need, forgetting things we did need, paying more for the things I bought than I had planned and not knowing how I was doing in relation to the budget because all I did was swipe a card.
Leak #3- No freezer meals
Doubling meals and freezing the excess is such a sanity saver. They're a great for helping resist the call of pizza delivery on a busy night. However, until recently, I hardly ever remembered to double my recipe and keep the freezer stocked accordingly. This lack of foresight led to the following situation:
The scene: both David and I have the flu and have been lying on the couch 90% of the day, except to meet Caleb's basic needs. I haven't been grocery shopping this week. Now it's dinner time.
David: So what's for dinner tonight
Me: I don't have anything planned. There's nothing in the freezer or the pantry. We're too sick to go out to eat and Caleb needs to go to bed soon anyway. I'll have to go to the grocery store, but I'm so sick I wish I didn't have to cook!
David: Maybe we could get something from the Deli?
Me (whining): I just wish someone would show up at our house with food. Preferably my mom. I don't want to leave the house. I'm sick (in case he hadn't noticed).
David: So what do you want to do?
Me: Insert more whining, grumbling and other extremely unattractive behavior.
We ended up going to the store and getting a rotisserie chicken, which I turned into soup and loading up with some other (expensive) pre-packaged meals. This entire ugly situation could have been prevented had a I merely had a meal or two tucked away in the freezer.
This month, I am determined to come in under budget. In addition to correcting the 3 things I wrote about above, I've found a few other things quite helpful:
-Check out the bulk foods section. I've discovered even our very small one contains oats and nestle chocolate chips at about half the price of the bags on the shelf. Score!
- Sometimes organic is a better deal. I've started price checking the organic option before automatically assuming the conventional version is cheaper. I recently paid 1/4 the price for a spice shaker of curry powder this way.
-Keep a running grocery list on the fridge. So simple, but I'd never done it before! It's helped me forget fewer items, make fewer trips into town and stopped the "I have to go to the store and I haven't even made a list yet" scramble.
-Avoid the opportunity to spend. I wait to make a grocery trip until we're running low on a critical staple like bread. This means I often end up substituting ingredients or rearranging the menu plan to use up the things we do have. We have much less waste and I find myself crossing off things from my grocery list before I even had a chance to buy them.
-DIY. For now, all our sweets are home made. I have plenty of baking ingredients here and until I'm sure I can stay under budget, convenience treats like ice cream are off the list. I also started making yogurt from scratch again.
So far we are just under half way through the month and I am just over halfway through my allotted funds. Sadly, that's still a lot better than I've been doing. It may take some creativity, but I feel really confident I can come in at or under budget this month. October has a goal.
Showing posts with label grocery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grocery. Show all posts
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Growing Bacteria in My Kitchen...On Purpose.
Doesn't that title just make your mouth water in anticipation of a dinner invite from our family?
Yesterday, I decided to try my hand at a new kitchen adventure: home made yogurt. Now, you may be asking yourself, "Why would someone want to make yogurt, when there is perfectly good yogurt you can buy at the store?" I know there are people asking themselves this, because those were the exact words that ran through my head when a friend offered me a yogurt maker 4 years ago. I ended up passing it on to my mom because, "she does weird things like that" and never gave it a second thought...Until I had a 10 month old who is consuming yogurt at the rate of 2 quarts/week. You read that correctly: 2, $3.50 quarts of yogurt per week. That would be $28 dollars in yogurt/month, $336 in just yogurt/year. Ouch.
Milk however, is $4.00/gallon from a local dairy here. So yesterday, with the aid of my favorite kitchen appliance the crock pot, I turned 2 quarts of milk into 2 quarts of yogurt. Each quart of yogurt now costs ~1.00, a savings of $240/year. Not too shabby.
Without further ado, here's how I grew bacteria in my kitchen on purpose:
First, I poured 2 quarts of milk into the crock pot and set in on low for 2.5 hours. The milk is heated for sterilization purposes, since you will be leaving it at room temp for quite a while, you only want the right kind of bacteria growing.
Next, I unplugged the crock pot and let it sit (lid on) for 3 hours. The milk must cool to a good incubation temp for the bacteria, somewhere between 90 and 110 degrees.
Then, I wisked in 1/2 cup of plain yogurt with active bacteria (I just used the bottom of the tub from the store) and let it sit, wrapped in a towel for 8 hours.
Honestly, I was a little skeptical. Could it really be that easy? At 10pm last night, I unwrapped the crockpot and found...yogurt. It tastes like and has the same consistency of the store bought yogurt for a fraction of the cost.
It's probably not something I'd bother with if I didn't have such a voracious yogurt eater, but I have a feeling I'll be making quite a few batches during this season of our lives.
Caleb wasn't so sure about his first bite of yogurt way back in March, but now, it's a breakfast staple
Yesterday, I decided to try my hand at a new kitchen adventure: home made yogurt. Now, you may be asking yourself, "Why would someone want to make yogurt, when there is perfectly good yogurt you can buy at the store?" I know there are people asking themselves this, because those were the exact words that ran through my head when a friend offered me a yogurt maker 4 years ago. I ended up passing it on to my mom because, "she does weird things like that" and never gave it a second thought...Until I had a 10 month old who is consuming yogurt at the rate of 2 quarts/week. You read that correctly: 2, $3.50 quarts of yogurt per week. That would be $28 dollars in yogurt/month, $336 in just yogurt/year. Ouch.
Milk however, is $4.00/gallon from a local dairy here. So yesterday, with the aid of my favorite kitchen appliance the crock pot, I turned 2 quarts of milk into 2 quarts of yogurt. Each quart of yogurt now costs ~1.00, a savings of $240/year. Not too shabby.
Without further ado, here's how I grew bacteria in my kitchen on purpose:
First, I poured 2 quarts of milk into the crock pot and set in on low for 2.5 hours. The milk is heated for sterilization purposes, since you will be leaving it at room temp for quite a while, you only want the right kind of bacteria growing.
Next, I unplugged the crock pot and let it sit (lid on) for 3 hours. The milk must cool to a good incubation temp for the bacteria, somewhere between 90 and 110 degrees.
Then, I wisked in 1/2 cup of plain yogurt with active bacteria (I just used the bottom of the tub from the store) and let it sit, wrapped in a towel for 8 hours.
Honestly, I was a little skeptical. Could it really be that easy? At 10pm last night, I unwrapped the crockpot and found...yogurt. It tastes like and has the same consistency of the store bought yogurt for a fraction of the cost.
It's probably not something I'd bother with if I didn't have such a voracious yogurt eater, but I have a feeling I'll be making quite a few batches during this season of our lives.
Caleb wasn't so sure about his first bite of yogurt way back in March, but now, it's a breakfast staple
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
May: New Goal and a Caleb Update
May has arrived (though I'm still not quite sure how we are nearly halfway through the year already) so I guess I ought to set a goal for this month...
To recap, in January my goal was routine. Specifically, to take time in the morning to eat breakfast, exercise, shower, dress for the day and have a quiet time This has been a little sporadic with all the moving, but I'm finding my groove again : ) Though things like exercise have moved to the evening as David and I are taking our daily walk or gardening almost every day.
In February, I wanted to focus on being more loving both in the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth. It was an eye-opening and transforming month that I'm thankful to say has had a long term effect. David was and is amazingly helpful at keeping me accountable in this area.
During March I followed along with Simple Mom's Project Simplify and in April I took a break to focus on moving and Easter.
I've also achieved some mini-goals of mine along the way. Two weeks ago my friend Jen agreed to be my guide at our local farmer's market (somewhere I've been meaning to visit for quite some time). I was amazed at the variety of produce, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese and meat...80% for far less than I pay at the grocery store. I guess that's the beauty of living in Amish country. I'm totally hooked.
Along that line, another mini-goal I've just started is using cash to pay for our groceries. Partially because I'm buying so much at the farmers market now, and they don't exactly take debit, but also because I've heard so many people swear by how much less they spend when they can see the cash leaving their hands.
Yesterday was my first experience of handing over cash at the grocery store (yes, I still shop there too!) and I can definitely say there is something about parting with a portion of money from an envelope that is far more real feeling than just swiping a card. I'm excited (and nervous) to see what's left in our envelope at the end of the month!
My big goal for May however, is to get our garden going. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I've heard the best way to learn is by doing. So, with a few basics in mind I'll be planting lettuce this week and tomatoes after we get home from a week long conference in Baltimore for David's work.
I would put off planting in general until after our travel, but with David's schedule that would probably mean not having a garden at all by the time I put it off for a week here or a week there. Hopefully one of our neighbors won't mind getting paid in vegetables in exchange for doing a little watering while we're gone. If not, it'll be survival of the fittest : )
Last, but not least, a Caleb update! As I mentioned in an earlier post, he hasn't been a big fan of finger foods thus far. I decided to just offer them each day, encourage him to pick them up, but not to push the issue. After a week of alternately smearing the food and completely ignoring it, Caleb has decided it's kind of cool to put food in his own mouth.
Yesterday he fed himself several chunks of banana covered in rice cereal (to stop it from slipping out of his fingers so easily). Then today he ate chunks of mushy carrot and even tried a cheerio (though after he gagged on that I decided I'd either spray them with a little water first or wait a bit to introduce them again). I wish I'd gotten a picture, but I couldn't find my camera. It was a beautiful mess! It's so incredible to watch him grow and change each day.
To recap, in January my goal was routine. Specifically, to take time in the morning to eat breakfast, exercise, shower, dress for the day and have a quiet time This has been a little sporadic with all the moving, but I'm finding my groove again : ) Though things like exercise have moved to the evening as David and I are taking our daily walk or gardening almost every day.
In February, I wanted to focus on being more loving both in the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth. It was an eye-opening and transforming month that I'm thankful to say has had a long term effect. David was and is amazingly helpful at keeping me accountable in this area.
During March I followed along with Simple Mom's Project Simplify and in April I took a break to focus on moving and Easter.
I've also achieved some mini-goals of mine along the way. Two weeks ago my friend Jen agreed to be my guide at our local farmer's market (somewhere I've been meaning to visit for quite some time). I was amazed at the variety of produce, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese and meat...80% for far less than I pay at the grocery store. I guess that's the beauty of living in Amish country. I'm totally hooked.
Along that line, another mini-goal I've just started is using cash to pay for our groceries. Partially because I'm buying so much at the farmers market now, and they don't exactly take debit, but also because I've heard so many people swear by how much less they spend when they can see the cash leaving their hands.
Yesterday was my first experience of handing over cash at the grocery store (yes, I still shop there too!) and I can definitely say there is something about parting with a portion of money from an envelope that is far more real feeling than just swiping a card. I'm excited (and nervous) to see what's left in our envelope at the end of the month!
My big goal for May however, is to get our garden going. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I've heard the best way to learn is by doing. So, with a few basics in mind I'll be planting lettuce this week and tomatoes after we get home from a week long conference in Baltimore for David's work.
I would put off planting in general until after our travel, but with David's schedule that would probably mean not having a garden at all by the time I put it off for a week here or a week there. Hopefully one of our neighbors won't mind getting paid in vegetables in exchange for doing a little watering while we're gone. If not, it'll be survival of the fittest : )
Last, but not least, a Caleb update! As I mentioned in an earlier post, he hasn't been a big fan of finger foods thus far. I decided to just offer them each day, encourage him to pick them up, but not to push the issue. After a week of alternately smearing the food and completely ignoring it, Caleb has decided it's kind of cool to put food in his own mouth.
Yesterday he fed himself several chunks of banana covered in rice cereal (to stop it from slipping out of his fingers so easily). Then today he ate chunks of mushy carrot and even tried a cheerio (though after he gagged on that I decided I'd either spray them with a little water first or wait a bit to introduce them again). I wish I'd gotten a picture, but I couldn't find my camera. It was a beautiful mess! It's so incredible to watch him grow and change each day.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday Favorites Return: Make Your Own Ranch
A few weeks ago I got a big craving for oven baked chicken fingers dipped in creamy ranch dressing. Healthy, I know...
Anyway, I bought this expensive bottle of ranch dressing from the refrigerated section that boasted is was made with only a few ingredients. On closer inspection, it still had ingredients I've been avoiding. Still, better than nothing right? So I took it home, made my chicken fingers and was thankful I had the dressing because frankly, they were bland.
Last night, I tried my hand at chicken tenders again. This time I tried to directly emulate my mother-in-law's method. Apparently I need to watch her more closely because again: bland. This time, I had no ranch dressing, and you can bet with gas prices at one arm and two legs I was not going to take a jaunt out to get some.
I'd seen a recipe for buttermilk ranch on one of my favorite blogs, but assumed it was be too difficult to be worth the effort, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
To my (and David's) surprise, not only was the ranch easy to make, it was the best ranch dressing I've ever had. It would actually be perfect as a veggie dip since it's so thick and creamy. Best of all, it far out-shined the expensive bottle of store dressing at a fraction of the cost.
So, without further ado, here's the link to making your own amazing buttermilk ranch dressing. Oh, and if you're like me and never have buttermilk on hand, here are a couple substitutions:
1/2 plain yogurt, 1/2 milk (this is the one I use all the time)
1 tblspn white vinegar or lemon juice and enough milk to equal one cup
I also omitted the fresh parsley, as I had none.
The work station
The finished product
Anyway, I bought this expensive bottle of ranch dressing from the refrigerated section that boasted is was made with only a few ingredients. On closer inspection, it still had ingredients I've been avoiding. Still, better than nothing right? So I took it home, made my chicken fingers and was thankful I had the dressing because frankly, they were bland.
Last night, I tried my hand at chicken tenders again. This time I tried to directly emulate my mother-in-law's method. Apparently I need to watch her more closely because again: bland. This time, I had no ranch dressing, and you can bet with gas prices at one arm and two legs I was not going to take a jaunt out to get some.
I'd seen a recipe for buttermilk ranch on one of my favorite blogs, but assumed it was be too difficult to be worth the effort, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
To my (and David's) surprise, not only was the ranch easy to make, it was the best ranch dressing I've ever had. It would actually be perfect as a veggie dip since it's so thick and creamy. Best of all, it far out-shined the expensive bottle of store dressing at a fraction of the cost.
So, without further ado, here's the link to making your own amazing buttermilk ranch dressing. Oh, and if you're like me and never have buttermilk on hand, here are a couple substitutions:
1/2 plain yogurt, 1/2 milk (this is the one I use all the time)
1 tblspn white vinegar or lemon juice and enough milk to equal one cup
I also omitted the fresh parsley, as I had none.
The work station
The finished product
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Little Month, Big Challenge
February may be short, but it's an ambitious month in the Gainey household. On top of continuing January's goal of routine (specifically: exercise, quiet time and showering in the morning- yes, I was showering before, just often after David got home!) I've added a few others.
February's goals are to update the budget weekly, stay under my grocery budget and (the one I'm really scared about) stop criticizing and boasting.
My final Feb goal (which David is working on too) is something I've been convicted of quite recently. Both David and I have noticed over the last year our conversations too often center on what "we do right" and what "others do wrong". I'm ashamed to admit that. How do these conversations happen? Well, I think a big part of it is there's a fine line between sharing your heart with your spouse and tearing someone else down in the process.
The advent of social media like facebook, blogs and even the easy accessibility of mass media at any time of the day or night makes it easier than ever for us to compare ourselves to others. And, in the words of John Acuff, "Our internal dialogue has two modes: extreme criticism or extreme flattery." Whether I'm down in the dumps because another mom appears to have her life all together or feeling unreasonably proud of the fact that I cooked while another family went out to eat ('cause you know, we never do that...) it all stems from the same wrong heart: that I can ever evaluate my worth based on another human being.
I've met so many families, many of them Christian unfortunately, who seemed to have an air of superiority about themselves. You could hear it in their disdain for the choices others around them were making and in their bragging about their own morality. This is not the Gospel. And this is not how I want conversations in our family to sound. We are all made in the image of God and therefore each carry unique value and worth, but we are also all broken by sin, often manifesting in very different ways in our lives, but broken none-the-less. This is how I want to view people. It's how I want our children to view people. To be able to see beauty and inherent worth in each person, while still being able to forgive individual failings. Tearing others down extinguishes this truth in our hearts.
How does that look in real life? Here are some verses I'm praying will make their way from my head to my heart:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Phillipians 4:8)
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense" (Prov. 19:11)
"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry..." (James 1:19)
"Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Col. 3:13)
I think it's important that we can be open with one another about what is on our heart, but not at someone else's expense.
I know this won't be an easy habit to build, but I hope by approaching it intentionally and with prayer that February will be a month I get better at showing love in my speech. Isn't love what this month is supposed to be about anyway?
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." -1st Corinthians 13:4-5
February's goals are to update the budget weekly, stay under my grocery budget and (the one I'm really scared about) stop criticizing and boasting.
My final Feb goal (which David is working on too) is something I've been convicted of quite recently. Both David and I have noticed over the last year our conversations too often center on what "we do right" and what "others do wrong". I'm ashamed to admit that. How do these conversations happen? Well, I think a big part of it is there's a fine line between sharing your heart with your spouse and tearing someone else down in the process.
The advent of social media like facebook, blogs and even the easy accessibility of mass media at any time of the day or night makes it easier than ever for us to compare ourselves to others. And, in the words of John Acuff, "Our internal dialogue has two modes: extreme criticism or extreme flattery." Whether I'm down in the dumps because another mom appears to have her life all together or feeling unreasonably proud of the fact that I cooked while another family went out to eat ('cause you know, we never do that...) it all stems from the same wrong heart: that I can ever evaluate my worth based on another human being.
I've met so many families, many of them Christian unfortunately, who seemed to have an air of superiority about themselves. You could hear it in their disdain for the choices others around them were making and in their bragging about their own morality. This is not the Gospel. And this is not how I want conversations in our family to sound. We are all made in the image of God and therefore each carry unique value and worth, but we are also all broken by sin, often manifesting in very different ways in our lives, but broken none-the-less. This is how I want to view people. It's how I want our children to view people. To be able to see beauty and inherent worth in each person, while still being able to forgive individual failings. Tearing others down extinguishes this truth in our hearts.
How does that look in real life? Here are some verses I'm praying will make their way from my head to my heart:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Phillipians 4:8)
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense" (Prov. 19:11)
"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry..." (James 1:19)
"Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Col. 3:13)
I think it's important that we can be open with one another about what is on our heart, but not at someone else's expense.
I know this won't be an easy habit to build, but I hope by approaching it intentionally and with prayer that February will be a month I get better at showing love in my speech. Isn't love what this month is supposed to be about anyway?
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." -1st Corinthians 13:4-5
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
From Scratch
One of my goals for this year is to eat more whole foods and fewer "food like substances" (for more on this topic, I highly recommend Michael Pollan's book: In Defense of Food). This means there will be more cooking from scratch.
I love to make food from scratch. It always tastes better and I enjoy the process of cooking it more. However, like everyone else, my time is finite so sometimes I compromise. I've often wondered how difficult it would really be to eat whole foods for an entire month. When we get back to PA and I have access to a good farmers market again, I plan to take that challenge.
For now, small changes. This week I tried two new things (new things intimidate me, so two in one week is a big deal!)
I've been making my own chicken broth for a while (aka freezing what's left in the crockpot after cooking a whole chicken) but I'd yet to do anything with it. There were weird floating bits of carrot and potato that I didn't necessarily want flavoring my tortilla soup!
Recently, however, I purchased a very sophisticated, expensive piece of kitchen equipment that allows me to deal with this: a strainer (also known as a metal colander). It was about $3. I originally purchased it to strain Caleb's baby food (which it does nicely in combination with a rubber spatula and some pressure. But I'm also finding lots of other little uses for it like steaming veggies and of course, straining weird bits out of my broth! I love multi-purpose items.
So this week, I used my nicely strained broth to make a big pot of tortilla soup. Since I have a nice case of the sore throat/ sniffles right now (hence the increased couch time and # of blog posts) it really hit the spot.
My next adventure was one I've also been meaning to try for sometime: making my own salad dressing. Most store dressings are full of things I don't really want to be eating, but what actually drove me to make my own was the fact I couldn't stand the idea of buying a special flavor of dressing for one salad (beingcheap frugal often drives my efforts to eat healthier...)
Strawberries are in season here in Florida so I decided to make strawberry salad (spinach, red onions, strawberries and feta). I usually pour a poppy seed dressing or balsamic vinaigrette over this. Since I wasn't feeling creative enough to try the poppy seed, I went with the balsamic dressing.
My basic recipe was:
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Honey
Adjust measurements to taste
Shake well in tupperware
It turned our great. Even David thought it was a winner. I'm looking forward to trying other combinations!
I love to make food from scratch. It always tastes better and I enjoy the process of cooking it more. However, like everyone else, my time is finite so sometimes I compromise. I've often wondered how difficult it would really be to eat whole foods for an entire month. When we get back to PA and I have access to a good farmers market again, I plan to take that challenge.
For now, small changes. This week I tried two new things (new things intimidate me, so two in one week is a big deal!)
I've been making my own chicken broth for a while (aka freezing what's left in the crockpot after cooking a whole chicken) but I'd yet to do anything with it. There were weird floating bits of carrot and potato that I didn't necessarily want flavoring my tortilla soup!
Recently, however, I purchased a very sophisticated, expensive piece of kitchen equipment that allows me to deal with this: a strainer (also known as a metal colander). It was about $3. I originally purchased it to strain Caleb's baby food (which it does nicely in combination with a rubber spatula and some pressure. But I'm also finding lots of other little uses for it like steaming veggies and of course, straining weird bits out of my broth! I love multi-purpose items.
So this week, I used my nicely strained broth to make a big pot of tortilla soup. Since I have a nice case of the sore throat/ sniffles right now (hence the increased couch time and # of blog posts) it really hit the spot.
My next adventure was one I've also been meaning to try for sometime: making my own salad dressing. Most store dressings are full of things I don't really want to be eating, but what actually drove me to make my own was the fact I couldn't stand the idea of buying a special flavor of dressing for one salad (being
Strawberries are in season here in Florida so I decided to make strawberry salad (spinach, red onions, strawberries and feta). I usually pour a poppy seed dressing or balsamic vinaigrette over this. Since I wasn't feeling creative enough to try the poppy seed, I went with the balsamic dressing.
My basic recipe was:
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Honey
Adjust measurements to taste
Shake well in tupperware
It turned our great. Even David thought it was a winner. I'm looking forward to trying other combinations!
January Budget Update
Monday marked the end of my personal grocery budget challenge. Did I manage to stay under? In a word: Nope.
The good news: we did successfully eat all our meals for a week based on what was in our pantry though, including one meal with an friend from college (Crock Pot Lasagna) and another meal with David's Dad and two younger brothers. It wasn't all pasta and red sauce though we also ate salmon with green beans and rice, black bean burritos and beans and rice. We ate pretty well, although there was a new recipe I tried that flopped : ( but, fortunately was still edible (cheese makes everything better!)
So what did I blow my budget on? For the most part, non-essentials: Yankee Candles that were 75% off ($6.50 for the largest size!), chocolate chips for cookies we gave to David's brother and friend who moved to New York this past weekend, 50% off Target brand holiday frappe-chinos, which are a special treat for David, and a plunger...we'll let you guess why we needed that...
The items here plus a gallon of organic milk and 2 bags of Dove dark chocolates (our favorite sweet end to the day) on BOGO at Publix are what put me over.
Looking back at the month, I feel conflicted. While $25 doesn't seem like a lot, if I over spend by just that much every month this year it will total: $300, which is a nice chunk of money we could be putting to use elsewhere (say, paying off our mortgage?)
However, I feel like I put the money towards things my family regularly uses that were on deep sale or gifts to brighten someone else's day (which I could technically put under our "gifts" budget, but I don't itemize receipts. It just gets too complicated. Would I have spent the money the same way if the numbers we have set in our budget already stretched us to our limits? (they don't, but they do allow us to give and save, which are both very important to us.) Absolutely not. But do I regret how I spent this month? Not really.
What's your take? Do you stick to the budget no matter what or are exceptions once-and-a-while ok? I know one thing, next month I want to stay under. Those are nice words, but I'm going to start tracking my numbers every week this month to make sure I don't get a "you're almost out" surprise on the last week of the month again. So stay tuned for February's Goal: updating the budget weekly (and of course, staying under).
Note: David showed me how I miscategorized something, which meant I actually ended up coming in under budget after all. However, since I made all these choices thinking it was putting me over I still think the post is relevant. Plus I have a 7 month old, like I have time to rewrite a post lol!
And in the interest of full disclosure I also did our first grocery shop of February on 1/31
The good news: we did successfully eat all our meals for a week based on what was in our pantry though, including one meal with an friend from college (Crock Pot Lasagna) and another meal with David's Dad and two younger brothers. It wasn't all pasta and red sauce though we also ate salmon with green beans and rice, black bean burritos and beans and rice. We ate pretty well, although there was a new recipe I tried that flopped : ( but, fortunately was still edible (cheese makes everything better!)
So what did I blow my budget on? For the most part, non-essentials: Yankee Candles that were 75% off ($6.50 for the largest size!), chocolate chips for cookies we gave to David's brother and friend who moved to New York this past weekend, 50% off Target brand holiday frappe-chinos, which are a special treat for David, and a plunger...we'll let you guess why we needed that...
The items here plus a gallon of organic milk and 2 bags of Dove dark chocolates (our favorite sweet end to the day) on BOGO at Publix are what put me over.
Looking back at the month, I feel conflicted. While $25 doesn't seem like a lot, if I over spend by just that much every month this year it will total: $300, which is a nice chunk of money we could be putting to use elsewhere (say, paying off our mortgage?)
However, I feel like I put the money towards things my family regularly uses that were on deep sale or gifts to brighten someone else's day (which I could technically put under our "gifts" budget, but I don't itemize receipts. It just gets too complicated. Would I have spent the money the same way if the numbers we have set in our budget already stretched us to our limits? (they don't, but they do allow us to give and save, which are both very important to us.) Absolutely not. But do I regret how I spent this month? Not really.
What's your take? Do you stick to the budget no matter what or are exceptions once-and-a-while ok? I know one thing, next month I want to stay under. Those are nice words, but I'm going to start tracking my numbers every week this month to make sure I don't get a "you're almost out" surprise on the last week of the month again. So stay tuned for February's Goal: updating the budget weekly (and of course, staying under).
Note: David showed me how I miscategorized something, which meant I actually ended up coming in under budget after all. However, since I made all these choices thinking it was putting me over I still think the post is relevant. Plus I have a 7 month old, like I have time to rewrite a post lol!
And in the interest of full disclosure I also did our first grocery shop of February on 1/31
Monday, January 24, 2011
Speaking of Eating...
One of my goals this month has been trying to stay on top of the budget weekly instead of letting it pile up. The good news is- we are doing great at meeting our goals. The bad news? I realized today that I have exactly $10.80 left in my grocery budget for this last week of the month.
My mission is to live out of our pantry and actually achieve the goal of staying under (or at) budget. I could pull extra from another "envelope", David even offered to raise the monthly grocery budget this year, but I really want to challenge myself to stay at our current number one more year. We'll see how it goes, but I thought maybe sharing my goal would add some accountability and motivate me even more.
Any great ideas for how to lower your grocery budget? I'm always looking to add another idea to my homemaker tool kit!
My mission is to live out of our pantry and actually achieve the goal of staying under (or at) budget. I could pull extra from another "envelope", David even offered to raise the monthly grocery budget this year, but I really want to challenge myself to stay at our current number one more year. We'll see how it goes, but I thought maybe sharing my goal would add some accountability and motivate me even more.
Any great ideas for how to lower your grocery budget? I'm always looking to add another idea to my homemaker tool kit!
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