Day 20, with purple refried beans

 

      Okay, okay, the beans weren't purple, they were black beans.  When mashed and blended for tacos, they took on a purple hue, sort of like paine's grey mixed with cobalt violet.  These beans made the most creatively colored meal we've had in a long time.  Weird, but lovely.

     Starting at the top, spanish rice, shredded lettuce, cheese, picante sauce, tortillas, and refried black beans.  We had enough refried beans for everybody to have more than twice this many beans.  There was leftover everything except the lettuce, with everybody too full to want the rest.

   

Here is Rodger dishing up some spanish rice and refried beans onto a tortilla.  Isn't that a pretty meal?

prepping the lettuce

corn tortilla flour

a ball of tortilla dough, about to get smooshed

the tortilla press lever being pushed down

tortillas being roasted on a dry griddle

potato bread just slashed and ready to slide into the oven

one poodle puppy in the midst of being transformed from mop-dog into her new poodle persona.

Here I am soaking in some sun while whacking most of the fuzz from the little Eppie dog. The clippers weren't working, so I used hair cutting shears.  Notice the pile of fluff on the lower step.  This pile became much larger as Eppie became more stylish.  The children washed our stinky old lover dog, Jackie, while it was shorts-and-short-sleeve weather. 

The day's food in review:

Breakfast menu:  cold cereal and milk, with leftover mashed potatoes for the twins

Cost:  $1.88

one box cold cereal:  1.00

half gallon milk:  .88

mashed potatoes, paid for yesterday

Lunch menu:  tacos and orange juice

Cost:  $4.05

(3/4 lb dried) refried black beans: .30!

oil for the beans:  .03

onion powder for the beans:  .06

shredded cheese:  1.00

homemade tortillas:  .80

3/4 head lettuce:  .70

1/2 gallon orange juice:  .99

1/2 tomato diced for Rodger:  .17

Snack:  none, everybody too full

Supper:  spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread and butter

Cost:  $4.09

tomato sauce:  .67

hamburger meat:  1.33

500 gr noodles:  1.08

 1 loaf fresh potato bread :  .45

10 pats butter:  .20

garlic powder for the bread:  .03

packet spaghetti sauce flavoring:  .33

Today's total cost:  $10.06

 

Day 19, another soft food day, gravy, rice, orange rolls and fresh bread

     This morning started with homemade orange rolls.  They were made with part of my oatmeal bread dough, which I rolled out and topped with butter, sugar and orange zest.

     I didn't frost the rolls, so they had just a hint of sweet goodness.  The sore-mouth sisters dipped their rolls in their tea to soften them up.  The rest of us warmed them in the microwave and ate them with tea.  Some even melted butter on top of their yummy rolls.

     We also ate cold cereal, so breakfast was a major meal expense today.

    Breakfast menu:  orange rolls and tea, cold cereal and milk

cost:  $2.61

1 box of life cereal:  1.00

(we bought 60 of them at Albertson's sale at that price)

half gallon milk:  .88

orange rolls:  .67

3 teaspoons butter:  .06

       Since we were all together at home for lunch, we decided to make it a good one, plus an easy-to-chew one, and by popular vote it was chicken and dumplings.  I also boiled 2 big potatoes and 3 carrots for soft vegetables and more substance.  When I topped the dumplings and vegetables with chicken gravy, it made really a substantial meal. 

 Lunch menu:  chicken and dumplings, gravy, potatoes and carrots

Cost:  $3.22

1/4 natural veg fed chicken:  .99

double batch biscuit dough for dumplings:  1.32

3 organic carrots:  .33

2 large potatoes (30 oz):  .19

1 gravy mix:  .33

1/2 cup flour for thickening:  .05

salt:  .01

  

The kids asked me to put some black beans on to soak.  We'll cook them tomorrow.  Here you can see the black looking water in the kettle on the stove. 

  And, why didn't I take some pictures of the kids hoeing the garden?  It feels like planting time, so the kids were motivated to get things ready.  We're going to save a hundred bucks of rototiller rental by using elbow grease.  They had a good time, with 4 hoes working away, softening up the ground for planting.  I'll try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow.

For snacks we had something very traditional.  Jam and bread.  That is hard to beat, especially oatmeal bread.

Snack:  bread with jam

Cost: $.68,  .48 for the loaf, and .20 for the jam

       For dinner I had planned to make lentil soup, but somebody put the lentils in a "creative" hiding place yesterday when clearing the counters.  So I had to think of something else.  Well, I remembered the leftover bean chili in the frig, which I heated up.  I thought rice would be easy on sore teeth, and easy to make, so rice was on the menu tonight, along with a can of peaches (no prep necessary) and another loaf of my fresh bread with some apricot-raspberry jam.  I love this rice cooker.  Perfect rice every time...

 supper menu:  black bean soup over rice, bread and jam, canned peaches

Cost:  $2.94

 1.5 lb rice:  .96

4 cups black bean chili soup:  .60

1 jar peaches:  .40

1 loaf bread:  .48

1/2 cup jam:  .20

10 teaspoons butter:  .20

Today's total cost:  $9.52 and everybody is full

I have all my calculations and recipes in my little orange journal.  My cell phone's calculator makes figuring portion costs fast and easy, because I always have it with me!

      I made a little cheat sheet with common calculations, without which I couldn't quickly figure the costs of foods and ingredients.  I put things in aphabetical order, which is essential.   It is written in pencil, because prices sometimes change from week to week.

How are we doing? A look at the first two weeks

    Here is a concise look at the daily 10for10for10 total expenditures for the first 2 weeks:

day 1 - $10.00

day 2 - $9.97 (.03)

day 3 - $9.93 (.07)

day 4 - $9.97 (.03)

day 5 - $10.12  (.12 over)

day 6 - $9.75 (.25)

day 7 - 8.42 (1.28)

First Week has $1.84 extra money under budget

day 8 - $8.26 (1.74)

day 9 - $9.88 (.12)

day 10 -  $9.44 (.56)

day 11 - $9.25 (.75)

day 12 - $9.70 (.30)

day 13 - $9.79 (.21)

day 14 - $8.98 (1.02)

Second Week has $4.70 extra money under budget

First 2 weeks under Budget amount:  $6.54

Treat on day 13, ice cream $1.99

Treat on day 18, ice cream $2.99

$6.54-1.99 ice cream= 4.55

 left in the slush fund as of day 13

$4.55-2.99 ice cream= 1.56

 left in the slush fund as of day 18 

Day 18, Soft foods here we come. Do you have any good ideas?

     If you read my last post, you know we have some sore mouths around here.  This morning we took a trip to the orthodontist and got two sets of braces put on. 

     No school today.  It's winter break, so we have have 3 days off school.  Kate is off filming the Apple Bowl contest, Rodger and Sarah have work, but everybody else is pretty relaxed about getting up.  Eat on your own is the way of the day for breakfast.  Cold cereal.  No strict schedules or hurry to the bus. 

     Breakfast menu:  cold cereal, milk, tea

Cost:  $1.88

1 box of cold cereal:  .100

half gallon milk:  .88

  Lunch menu:  peanutbutter sandwiches (while mom is still gone to the ortho appt), yogurt for the brace wearers, an extra bean soup for Rodger, bread with leftover gravy, milk

Cost:  $1.86

peanut butter:  .18

jam:  .20

1 cup bean soup for Rodger:  .

1+ loaf bread:  .39

2 yogurts: .50

leftover chicken gravy, already paid for yesterday:  n/c

1 quart milk:  .44

Snack:  leftover brownies

Cost:  paid for yesterday:  n/c

Supper:  mashed potatoes and gravy, frozen peas and carrots, applesauce

Cost:  $3.59 

7.4 lbs mashed potatoes:  .74

8 oz hamburger:  1.33

gravy mix: .33

applesauce:  .40

1 lab package frozen veggies:  .79


Today's Total:  $7.33
plus
$2.99 for the ice cream for Grandma's birthday to be withdrawn from our slush fund

      This is my mom's birthday, and even though the grown-ups celebrated officially last night, the grandchildren went to visit grandma tonight.  We took daffodils, which have always been a marking of her spring birthday.  They are cheery and beautiful.

     I checked the balance of our slush fund, and we had enough to cover a half gallon of ice cream, which we happily took along with us to the Grossmutter's apartment.  She also supplied a piece of fancy chocolate for each of us.  We sang to her and had a nice visit.  Then home to watch the new Emma PBS special on the computer.  Thumbs up, even if it isn't Gwenyth Paltrow.

Why talk about life and food?

     Why talk about life and food?  Because food happens in the midst of life.  Food has to fit the life.  Food preparation has to fit within the confines of the day, and consumption has to fit the venue and time allotments. 

     Although during most days at school my kids have access to microwaves for heating food, sometimes I get a note that they won't be available.  Other times there are field trips or picnics.  So, sending a frozen burrito on those days wouldn't win me any popularity awards, would it?  Some items get squished in backpacks, and who likes a squished banana?  All those vitamins and minerals go right into the dumpster, which doesn't help the health of my family, does it?

    How do I have to fit our food into our life this week?  Well, I have to fix soft foods.  Why?  Because the twins both got their braces on today, and won't be able to eat anything but soft stuff for several days, that's why.

Look at the new braces.  No more gum or popcorn, carmel or sugar babies!

Day 17, Eagle-watching kindergarteners,oatmeal, the grossmutter's birthday party

Here is some architecture which impressed Noah at the University this morning.

   

 Here's the latest food scoop.  Hilary had picked up some rolled oats for me from the bulk food section at WinCo last weekend and sent it home via the travelers.  So this morning was the first hot oatmeal day in a long time.  I wish we had a WinCo store in this town! Oatmeal at only .51 per pound. 

     Old-fashioned oats make a nice, flaky cereal when the oats are added into already boiling water.  With milk and sugar they really hit the spot on a chilly morning.

     menu:  oatmeal with milk and sugar, applesauce, tea

Cost:  $1.88

  

20 oz oats:  .64

applesauce:  .40

brown sugar:  .20

10 teaspoons butter:  .20

one quart milk:  .44

      I had so much leftover oatmeal this morning, that I am going to add the leftovers to my bread.  Have you ever done that?   Cooked oatmeal adds awesome flavor to any bread recipe.  Try it!

Here is Noah with his class, checking out the eagles.  The bus driver went cruising around, searching for the birds, and guess where he invariably found them.... In trees surrounding cow/calf operations.  If you want to know which ranches have newborn calves and where the cows are calving, just watch for the circling eagles.

     Eagle watching is much more fun if you have binoculars.   In the picture you see about the same view as the naked eye sees.  Not much detail.  I lent my binocs to one of the boys in my group.  We saw lots of eagles, then we went to CWU's biology dept, where we saw lots of  hawk, owl, and eagle specimens and learned more about eagles.

Here is my group in front of a terrarium full of walking sticks.  We became very hungry after a big field trip on the long ride back to school.

Sack lunch menu:  chicken and rice casserole with carrots, celery/peanut butter logs, wedding cake leftovers

lunch costs:   $3.45

1/4 boiled chicken:  .99

1.5 lbs rice:  .96

4 organic carrots:  .44

onion powder:  .03

1 stalk celery:  .70

peanut butter to fill in the celery sticks:  .18

homemade wedding cake (gift):  no charge

extra bowl of bean soup for Rodger:  .15

snack:  toast

cost: $.25 because only 5 people wanted a piece today

cousins came over after school, and one brought candy ring suckers, so everybody was distracted from the usual snack

Supper was a simple affair.  Beef and potato stew.  Trudy made brownies for a basketball awards banquet.  Brownies are a cheap and easy dessert.  I always take brownies to school events and fundraisers, because they are affordable and always the first item gone.  That's a winning combo.

The other night at the Albertsons I saw another kindergarten mom shocked to find me at the checkout counter with 30 boxes of brownies in my cart.  Albertsons puts brownies on sale about 4 times a year at 1.00 per box.  What a deal.  With the eggs and oil, the whole batch of brownies costs only 1.37.

supper menu:  beef and potato stew, pears, yogurt, brownies

supper cost:  $4.36

hamburger meat:  1.57

4 lbs potatoes:  .40

one gravy packet:  .33

1 yogurt:  .25

3 pears:  .44

1 pan brownies:  1.37

    

     Rodger and I ate dinner with my mom at a specially prepared meal in her home.  Almost all my siblings were there and we had a nice time.  Kate took the twins to their award ceremony, along with all the little kids, where they also ate ice cream. 

    

Day 16 March comes in like a lamb and french toast on the menu

    
     Every day can't be the best weather of the year, but each day this week has seemed, if possible, better than the last.  I wish I could be out riding horses in this fine windless day.  Sometimes my hands can just feel the reins pulling against my fine soft leather gloves.
    
     Getting to the bus on time is a Monday morning trial, but everybody made it, barely.  We ate cold cereal, which is the easiest and therefore best for a stressful schedule around here.

menu: life cereal, tea, milk

cost:  1.88, 1.00 for a box of cereal, .88 for 1/2 gal. milk (this week)

     Lunch menu:  ham sandwiches, 1/2 p b & j sandwhiches, carrots, lettuce, mandarins, Rodger also gets a container of leftover soup

cost:;  $4.35

 

ham:   .75

1.5 loaves bread:  .50 (I'm taking advantage of a coupon, 3/$1.00 bread this week)

3 oz peanut butter:  .18

jam: .20

6 large organic carrots:  .66

1 romaine lettuce:  .83

9 mandarin oranges: 1.11

snack:  a gift from my sister's wedding venue:  14 inch round cake, leftover from a wedding

cost:  free

Supper was unusual, to say the least, because I really had a hankering for french toast while the price of bread is so cheap, plus I am cognizant of our need for vegetables and Rodger's limited use of carbs at every meal.  So, we had it all.  At the same meal.

    

Supper menu: french toast with jam or syrup, stir-fry vegetables, canned peaches

Cost:  $3.94

 

bread .49(remember, the white fluff was on sale this week)

12 eggs:  .99

an onion:  .10

1.5 lb broccoli:  1.02

chopped green onion:  .33

1/2 head cabbage:  .20

2 tsp butter:   .04

1 tbsp oil:  .03

jam: .08

syrup:  .16

1 jar homecanned peaches: .50

Today's total:  $10.05

 

Day 15 Sunday with a meal and a half away from home

     Most family members left for church this morning without eating breakfast.  I think I am going to have to make a donation to the church snack fund!  On Sunday mornings at church there are always bananas, apples, orange juice, granola bars, and donuts.  They supply the best snacks I've ever heard of.  Anyway, Trudy had early morning worship team practice, so a whole crew went with her and caught something to eat there.  We only used 3 bowls of cold cereal this morning...

morning menu:  cold cereal and milk for 3 people

cost:  $.69

     For lunch I used some of the chicken broth to make a chicken and rice soup with carrot slices.  Then I hurried off to teach my class while my family ate it up.  $2.42 made an unbelieveably large kettle of this soup.  Every voted to have chicken and rice soup again.   Simple but tasty.  It was actually too thick to really be soup, but almost soup.  Sorry, no time for pictures.

Lunch menu: Chicken and rice soup

Cost:  $2.42

1.5 lb rice:  .96

1/4 chicken:  .99

4 organic carrots:  .44

onion powder:  .03

snack: 7 mandarin oranges, tea, and 3 cups milk cost:  $1.23

      We had small group at church tonight with pizza on the menu.  Our family personally supplied the brownies for dessert.  So today is not a representative sample of a 10for10for10 day, but we have a life, and this is how we spent it today.

Brownies:  $1.37 total

mix:  .99

2 eggs:  .18

oil:  .20

Daily Total:  $5.71

I am donating the rest to the church snack fund.  No Joke.

Tulips are on their way up!

   

Day 14: Saturday, two weeks and fish focaccia

     Hot Showers are a wonderful thing.  Especially after a late night with Jr Hi'ers at the school lock-in.  The little kids and I watched National Velvet and ate cold cereal this Saturday morning and talked about planting our garden. 

     The weather is so beautiful that we just wanted to sit on the steps and soak in the sun's warming rays. Green is appearing in the lawn, and the daffodils near the bricks are almost popping open.  I love the promise of spring.

Breakfast menu: cold cereal and milk,  whenever you wake up     cost: $2.20, 1.00 for a box of cereal, 1.20 for half a gallon of milk

Lunch:  focaccia/pizza and green salad

Lunch cost:  $2.09

green salad:

1 head Iceberg lettuce:  .83

1 carrot, shredded:  .09

1 head leaf lettuce:  .20

(leaf lettuce was on sale at Fiesta Foods 5/1.00, in store special!)

1 cucumber: .50

3 oz dressing:  .18

(and we didn't use it all)

Here's looking at our leafy greens, a lot of healthy goodness for the price!  "Rabbit food" is what we call it around here.

No, there is no fish in the fococcia.  The fish is the focaccia!  I pushed the computer mouse over into the picture to give a sense of the scale of this fish Emily created.  That is a big fish...not everybody eats fish focaccia for lunch.  I love the creativity, and the taste.

today's snack:  the rest of the ice cream and Dr Pepper treat

cost, along with yesterday's snack, is $1.99 for the ice cream, plus only .10 for the Dr. Pepper, and .39 for the Rootbeer, to be accounted for from the extra funds we've saved up on days we ate less than our budget allowed

We bought some harina de maiz, some corn masa, for making tortillas, and, using an idea from Mercedes of "Mercedes and Family" fame, we mixed some flour with the corn flour to make a great tortilla mix.  Here are Trudy's hands mixing the flour with water. 

Here is our first experimental tortilla, first in Christiana's tortilla press, and then on the griddle.  We sampled it, and gave it great ratings.  

 

Below are a whole griddle full of freshly pressed tortillas, roasting on a dry griddle.  To the left you can also see the tortilla press and the bowl of dough balls waiting to be pressed.  We smeared a bit of butter across each tortilla as it finished roasting.  What a wonderful flavor.  And, with the press, tortillas were much faster to produce, with less mess. 

 

Dinner menu:  tacos with homemade tortillas

Dinner costs:  $4.59

Taco's included:

tortilla dough for 35 tortillas:  .78

hamburger meat:  1.57

lettuce:  .84

 1oz salsa each for those who like it:   .40

2 tbsp butter:  .10

Christiana found a moneymaking scheme that worked.  We had her pick up dog piles in the front yard, and both sides were happy, Christiana with her money, and me with no more land mines in the lawn.

Today's Total Cost:  $8.98

plus the $2.10 for the floats, calculated separately