Day 69 I make a big lunch and then get help for supper

Last night Rodger and I were both teaching.  We chatted after class with some couples, and then stopped by the store to get bread and milk.  The late night checker at Albertsons knows us from our after-we-tuck-the -little-kids-in-bed forays to do our grocery shopping.  We always like to chat with him. 

Anyway, lunches had to be easy, because we were pressed for time to make them.  There were some leftovers of rice and gravy from supper, so I put portions into containers.  There was enough leftover for 5 helpings.  For the others, we thawed some ham slices fromt the freezer and made sandwiches.  The older girls requested chef's salad, too, so I grated some cheese and diced up some of the ham, cut some romaine, and put together some simple salads.  Everybody got an apple, so it was easy to take care of the fruit today.

I spent almost 5 dollars on lunch, partly because I let Charity make brownies last night to put in the lunches, so I was feeling pretty scrimped for my supper budget.  Then I got a call from Rodger.  A lady had given him a kettle of clam chowder which was left over.  She couldn't use it and didn't want it to go to waste.  He brought it home and put it in the fridge. Wasn't that nice of her?  And perfect timing for me.  We had clam chowder for supper.  I added crackers to go with the soup.

breakfast menu:  the usual and customary---cold cereal and milk

Cost:  $2.20

11 servings (weighed out my mom) cereal, Capn Crunch and Life:  1.10

milk, half  a gallon +:  1.10

sack lunches:  leftover rice and pork for 5, ham sandwiches for 7, chef salad for 3, granola bars, apples, romaine, brownies

Cost:  $4.81

leftovers:  accounted for yesterday

one box granola bars, 10:  1.00

one batch brownies:  1.01

apples, 3 lbs:  .45

bread, 2/3 loaf:  .70

ham, 8 oz:  .75

2 heads romaine, for sandwiches and plain, and salads:  .52

4 oz cheese:  .38

snack:  capn crunch cereal, dry; apples

Cost:  $1.30

one box capn crunch cereal, divided into baggies:  1.00

2 lbs apples, for the hungry kids who couldn't wait:  .30

by this point, I had spent $8.31, so you can see that I was seriously thinking of only eating some garlic potatoes or the like for supper.  The chowder was a surprise blessing and kindness from someone I don't even know.

last minute supper menu:  clam chowder and saltine crackers

Cost to me:  $.50

chowder:  gift

2 sleeves of crackers:  .50

Today's total:  $8.81