Day 53 uses up some more of the colored eggs

I found a large beef roast marked down to $1.57/lb at Wrays grocery.  I love beef, so I scooped up this great bargain and asked the butcher to slice it for me.  Slicing roasts is standard procedure in every meat department around here, so I got most of the slicing done before I even got home. 

I cut it into strips before frying it.  I fried up exactly a pound at a time, and put it in the freezer for making a stir-fry. Voila.  Beef that is ready to pop into a stew, stroganoff, or stirfry. We haven't had one for a very long time, maybe not ever on 10for10for10, but usually stir-fry is a staple around here, especially in the summer/zucchini time of year.

 Look at that carrot!  Mercy peeled 4 of them for our stew tonight.  Gargantuan.

Eggs were so cheap last week that I purchased a large number of them.  5 dozen medium eggs were $2.99, and 15 dozen large eggs for $10. That may seem like an outlandish number of eggs, that is because it is!  But we are a fairly outlandish number of people!

 Sarah, our resident nutritionist, tells us that if we had only one food to eat, eggs would be one of the best choices.  They are one of the most complete natural foods we have available.

Well, we are going to be finding ways to eat lots of that complete food, because I have several dozen of them to use up.

Today we had scrambled eggs for breakfast.  We also used up another 14 of the dyed hard boiled eggs in sack lunches as egg salad sandwiches.

I might make a custard this week, too, which my kids have been asking for but has been over budget for me lately.  Custard contains eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla.  Simple.  Milk is on sale this week for only $1.50, so it sounds like a good time, with the cheap eggs, to have a custard.

The trick to making baked custard is to allow one egg and 1/4 cup sugar for every cup of milk (if I have small eggs, then I add an extra at the end for good measure), and a dolop of vanilla.   This flexible recipe allows for making a custard which will fit any casserole dish!

 The custard is baked slowly in a casserole dish which I stack into another larger casserole dish filled with water.  The surrounding water bath keeps the custard from becoming overheated in the hot oven, which would harden the eggs too much.

I might also make a potato salad with eggs.  If you have any good creative ways for me to use up my eggs, send me some ideas.  boothieville@gmail.com or leave a comment on the blog if you like.  To make commenting easy on yourself, just use the "anonymous" choice, and you won't have to register or anything complicated in order to leave the comment.

Our vegetable soup with a beef base. 

The stew includes potatoes, carrots, and cabbage.  No onions, because they are so outrageously priced right now. 

There is a story behind that one.  I usually purchase my onions in 50 pound sacks.  Those sacks were costing between 5 and 7 dollars most of the winter.  I was getting down to the end of my bag shortly after I began the 10for10for10 project, but since I haven't been using very many onions on our budget, I put off purchasing a new bag. 

The week I went in to purchase a new bag, the price had gone up to $10.  I thought it seemed high, so I put off my purchase.  Next time I went in to the store, the bags were up to $13 just a very few days later.  Next trip:  $20.  I've been watching those onion bags each week.  A $24 price tag came shortly, then $30!  This last week I saw the onions for $36/50lbs. 

I don't know what the deal is on onions this spring, but supply must be low, because they are demanding a high price, and getting it!  Here at Boothieville we are substituting onion powder from the bulk food section of the grocery.  The price of onions is just too high!  I have a couple of onions left from my original bag, which I am hoarding for just the right moment.

There is a story with these cups, too.  My mom has had them ever since I was a girl.  We used to get our margarine in them at the store!  I can remember clearly.  She would let me choose which color I wanted every time we would buy more margarine. 

 Since my mom moved into assisted living recently, she gave the cups to us Boothies.  They have had a long life!  Especially for a bunch of free promotional margarine tub/cups.  I bet they have been through a dishwasher 2000 times, and they still look like new.

Trudy likes to take food pictures for me, so she got a picture taken of her.

Charity brought the chicks upstairs for some socialization.

I hold a chick while I am posting on the blog.  I actually have three chicks on my shoulder right now, hiding under my hair as I'm writing.  I want them to be tame when they are hens.

The kids are playing nicely while I am figuring out our food usage and costs.  The dogs love to hang out with them.

You might think that is Noah with Mercy.  Actually, it is Zorro, riding on his rearing steed, Toronado----Neigh, Neeeeiiiiiigggghhh.

breakfast menu:  scrambled eggs and toast, orange juice

Cost:  $2.77

14 eggs:  .79

1/2 gallon orange tropicana OJ, closedated:  .99

1 loaf white bread from store:  .99

sack lunches:  egg salad sandwiches, carrot sticks, potato chips

Cost:  $2.19

14 dyed hardboiled eggs:  .79

one loaf white storebough bread:  .99

24 oz carrots:  .41

potato chips:  no charge, leftover from retreat

afterschool snack:  ice cream

Cost:  $1.79/ box

Supper:  vegetable stew

Cost:  $2.24

7.2 lbs potatoes:  .72

39 oz carrots:  .68

2 lb head of cabbage:  .67

beef flavor from the pan frying the strips: no cost

beef boullion:  .27

Today's total food cost:  $9.57