I accidently saved day 46 to a draft instead of adding it to the blog, and didn't notice until I had already posted the next day. I'll see if I can fix the order, but not now. Maybe after I have had some rest.
Just scroll down to see day 46 and under it day 47.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Day 46 sees another free loaf of bread from the grocery clerk
The chicks had their first outing today, chaperoned by the children. Notice Eppie to the side, all quivering attention, ready to pounce. It was a bit windy and chilly, so the chicks went back home under their heat lamp before long.
Meet Zelda, Noah's chick, who makes the rounds every morning and every evening to give each person a kiss. Noah translates her peeps for her. Zelda always has nice things to say to me.
Christiana shows off her special chick.
Emily's pullet, a golden sex-link, is named Stripes.
breakfast menu: cold cereal and milk
Cost: $1.90
9 servings honey smacks: .90
half gallon milk for cereal and tea: 1.00
lunch menu: hot barbeque and cheese sauce over buns, grapefruit
Cost: $1.73
barbequed turkey: no charge (leftover from retreat)
hoagie rolls: no charge
4 grapefruit @ 5/1.00: .80
19 oz nacho cheese sauce: .90
3 tbsp sugar for the grapefruit: .03
snack: bananas with milk and sugar
Cost: $.58
bananas: no charge, from retreat
4 cups milk: .55
3 tbsp sugar: .03
supper menu: hamburger gravy over rice, green salad with carrots
Cost: $3.40
4 cups brown rice: .92
1 lb hamburger meat, fried: .99
2 romaine hearts: .84
carrots, 5 oz: .09
1 cup flour to thicken gravy: .10
2 oz beef gravu flavor mix: .29
1/2 oz beef soup base flavor: .12
1 1/2 oz ranch derssing: .05
Today's total(for 8 people): $7.61
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Day 47 with company and then more company from Germany!
What started as a quiet morning became more interesting when Trudy's friend Bethany came over for a visit. She stayed for lunch, and then, while I was off to the tax preparer's place, they decided to make cookies. By the time I got home, the house smelled great.
Later in the day we spoke with our former twin exchange students from Germany, Janet and Vanessa, who have flown into town for their spring break (which is a two week vacation in German schools).
They stopped by just as I was about to prepare dinner, so I changed my supper plans to dinner plans, and figured out a new menu on the spot. We added two plates to the table, and then as we began to eat, another special friend arrived, so we added another plate. What a fun surprise! And what stories as we ate!
I had been feeling bad that dinner was so tardy tonight, but God knew why dinner needed to be delayed...so we could have such a nice visit, over dinner, with our friends, and get re-acquainted.
Here is how my plans morphed from pancake supper into company dinner:
On the stove sat some garbanzo beans which had been simmering all day, so as Rodger diced up some onions and Sarah grabbed a can of tomato sauce, I diced up a large potato and got out the spices to make a curry. Trudy mixed up a batch of tortilla dough to make some chapatis, and I whipped up a curry while Rodger and Sarah prepared and roasted the chapatis. Meanwhile the rest of the family entertained the German twins with their chicks downstairs.
To complete the curry meal we added a green salad for color and texture (and to get our leafy greens...) and some canned peaches, the very same batch that the German girls had helped us can while they lived with us! That brought back some memories.
We dressed up our dinner with a tablecloth, nice china, and stemmed glassware for our orange juice. Now, why did I not get a picture of such a picture-perfect meal? I even had my camera out to get pictures of the Germans. But sorry, we ate up all the food before I thought about pictures of curry and Germans eating it with us.
The curry was a success. Everybody ate up, and although there wasn't enough for seconds, there was a sufficiency. Somehow, it is just pleasant and natural to visit while eating a nice dinner. It was a special evening, and the young children went straight to bed afterwards. The older girls are out to coffee with more friends, as well as the German girls.
Later in the day we spoke with our former twin exchange students from Germany, Janet and Vanessa, who have flown into town for their spring break (which is a two week vacation in German schools).
They stopped by just as I was about to prepare dinner, so I changed my supper plans to dinner plans, and figured out a new menu on the spot. We added two plates to the table, and then as we began to eat, another special friend arrived, so we added another plate. What a fun surprise! And what stories as we ate!
I had been feeling bad that dinner was so tardy tonight, but God knew why dinner needed to be delayed...so we could have such a nice visit, over dinner, with our friends, and get re-acquainted.
Vanessa gives Noah a hug.
Vanessa with Christiana and Emily
Three Boothies and two Chukukelus
Our three dinner guests, Vanessa, Onyx, and Janet
A no-flash picture of the girls, with Noah sneaking in under the radar
Here is how my plans morphed from pancake supper into company dinner:
On the stove sat some garbanzo beans which had been simmering all day, so as Rodger diced up some onions and Sarah grabbed a can of tomato sauce, I diced up a large potato and got out the spices to make a curry. Trudy mixed up a batch of tortilla dough to make some chapatis, and I whipped up a curry while Rodger and Sarah prepared and roasted the chapatis. Meanwhile the rest of the family entertained the German twins with their chicks downstairs.
To complete the curry meal we added a green salad for color and texture (and to get our leafy greens...) and some canned peaches, the very same batch that the German girls had helped us can while they lived with us! That brought back some memories.
We dressed up our dinner with a tablecloth, nice china, and stemmed glassware for our orange juice. Now, why did I not get a picture of such a picture-perfect meal? I even had my camera out to get pictures of the Germans. But sorry, we ate up all the food before I thought about pictures of curry and Germans eating it with us.
The curry was a success. Everybody ate up, and although there wasn't enough for seconds, there was a sufficiency. Somehow, it is just pleasant and natural to visit while eating a nice dinner. It was a special evening, and the young children went straight to bed afterwards. The older girls are out to coffee with more friends, as well as the German girls.
breakfast menu: frosted mini-wheats and milk
Cost: $1.68
9 servings cold cereal: .90
9 2/3 cup servings milk: .78
lunch menu: fried eggs and toast with peaches, orange juice
Cost: $3.18
18 eggs: 1.00
toast from 1 loaf of bread: free, courtesy of Albertsons
1/2 cube butter: .13
2 quarts peaches: 1.00
half gallon orange juice: .99
2 tbsp oil for frying: .06
snack: cookies
Cost: $1.08
2 cups flour: .20
1 cup butter: .50
1 tsp salt: .01
soda: .01
1 1/2 cup sugar: .34
vanilla: .02
dinner menu: garbanzo bean curry, chapatis, peaches, salad, orange juice
Cost: $5.37
2 cups(dried) garbanzo beans: 1.00
onion: .10
8 oz tomato sauce: .25
curry spices: .25
salt: .01
romaine, 2 hearts: .84
5 oz carrots: .10
2 quarts peaches, home canned: 1.00
half gallon orange juice: .99
1 batch tortilla/chapatis (about 30): .80
1 oz ranch dressing: .03
Today's total, with 4 guests: $11.31
I'm not sure exactly how to calculate this one on our budget...but I will say that tonight was a beautiful vegetarian meal for 11 people for only $5.37!
a thought about saving money and reducing spending
The ads in the paper all say they want you to save money. Really, they want you to spend money, don't they...beware!
I walked into Safeway with the children yesterday, a store I usually never bother to enter because the prices aren't to my liking. But they had a deal on brownies which made it impossible for me to ignore. $.69 for betty crocker brownie mixes, which I am constantly using for school fundraisers. I haven't seen that price for a coon's age, so we purchased 20 boxes of brownies.
Across the aisle I noticed that the 5 pound bags of flour were also on sale. So cute, so little---baby doll size, to us. But when I calculated the price compared to the 50 pound bags I usually get at Cash & Carry, these little 5 pounders were actually cheaper than the big boys. So I bought 40 lbs of flour, too, at Safeway, of all places. And 5 lb bags are much easier to manouver than those big bags, so I am happy about my surprise bargain.
Anyway, back to my thoughts about learning to save money...walking through a new store made everything a dizzying array of price tags and "savings", items that are totally crying out for impulse buying. Actually, they are threatening your budget, trying to pull the money out of your wallet, away from your account. It's a dangerous place, the grocery store!
I realized then that I really am more experienced than the average bear when it comes to ferreting out an actual bargain. Don't be fooled by what seem to be such high prices in the stores. You can find cheap prices and you can do it on a regular basis, no matter where you live. It does take some thought, and a little bit of space to hold items until you need them.
That is the idea of a pantry. Right now my pantry has 40 extra pounds of flour, among other things. I know I will use that flour in my 10 for 10 for 10 budget, so it does not qualify as an impulse buy, even though I hadn't planned to purchase it when I went into the store.
Butter is on sale in almost every store this week, as well as sugar and other baking supplies. The cheapest butter I have seen here is 99 cents a pound, a once a year price. Since we don't eat any margarine, finding cheap butter is an exciting event at Boothieville.
Have you found any awesome Easter shopping bargains? I'd love to find out about them. I see that asparagus has a good price tag, and we may have asparagus for our Holiday dinner this weekend.
If you are a beginner in pricing, always look for the price per pound or price per ounce on the store labels. What you find may surprise you. Sometimes the larger sized containers are actually more per ounce than the small ones. For instance, this week the 10 lb bags of sugar were more per ounce than the 5 lb bags. Who would have thought it?
For example, most cold cereals cost more per pound than chocolate. Can you believe the prices on cold cereal that Americans have been suckered into? If you have never looked at that before, it will raise your eyebrows! Many cereals cost more than 4 dollars per pound. New york steaks are on sale this week for $3.99. That seems like a splurge, while cold cereal somehow seems like a necessity. Successful advertising, that is all it is.
Cold cereal routinely goes on sale for 1.00 a box, and I always wait until a sale before I purchase any, and then I buy a lot of it. Since we use a box a day, we can travel through cereal at a rapid rate.
One last thought about reducing spending. This one is for us all. Don't shop when you are hungry. Don't make way for the flesh, if you like to think of it in a more spiritual way! It is almost impossible to walk past a whole roasted chicken when you are starving!
I was behind a young mother with 4 children at the checkout counter yesterday. It was exactly meal time. Those kids of hers were working her over something awful, begging for the candy, wearing her down. She did not succomb, but I'm sure she was emotionally exhausted by the end of that shopping trip, because she had shopped when all the kids were hungry. She didn't do herself any favors, that's for sure. It stressed everybody in line behind her as well!
Saving money on food is not as easy as over-spending on food. Prepared food makes for fast and simple eating. It smoothes the way at the end of the day, no doubt about it. We pay dearly for that ease, though. Prepared food is pricey. Budget eating is not actually hard, and not all that time consuming, but I find that it does take thought and preparation.
Thinking ahead is not the American Way, but I am reforming myself and learning to think ahead, and trying not to feel too much like a martyr while I am doing it...
I walked into Safeway with the children yesterday, a store I usually never bother to enter because the prices aren't to my liking. But they had a deal on brownies which made it impossible for me to ignore. $.69 for betty crocker brownie mixes, which I am constantly using for school fundraisers. I haven't seen that price for a coon's age, so we purchased 20 boxes of brownies.
Across the aisle I noticed that the 5 pound bags of flour were also on sale. So cute, so little---baby doll size, to us. But when I calculated the price compared to the 50 pound bags I usually get at Cash & Carry, these little 5 pounders were actually cheaper than the big boys. So I bought 40 lbs of flour, too, at Safeway, of all places. And 5 lb bags are much easier to manouver than those big bags, so I am happy about my surprise bargain.
Anyway, back to my thoughts about learning to save money...walking through a new store made everything a dizzying array of price tags and "savings", items that are totally crying out for impulse buying. Actually, they are threatening your budget, trying to pull the money out of your wallet, away from your account. It's a dangerous place, the grocery store!
I realized then that I really am more experienced than the average bear when it comes to ferreting out an actual bargain. Don't be fooled by what seem to be such high prices in the stores. You can find cheap prices and you can do it on a regular basis, no matter where you live. It does take some thought, and a little bit of space to hold items until you need them.
That is the idea of a pantry. Right now my pantry has 40 extra pounds of flour, among other things. I know I will use that flour in my 10 for 10 for 10 budget, so it does not qualify as an impulse buy, even though I hadn't planned to purchase it when I went into the store.
Butter is on sale in almost every store this week, as well as sugar and other baking supplies. The cheapest butter I have seen here is 99 cents a pound, a once a year price. Since we don't eat any margarine, finding cheap butter is an exciting event at Boothieville.
Have you found any awesome Easter shopping bargains? I'd love to find out about them. I see that asparagus has a good price tag, and we may have asparagus for our Holiday dinner this weekend.
If you are a beginner in pricing, always look for the price per pound or price per ounce on the store labels. What you find may surprise you. Sometimes the larger sized containers are actually more per ounce than the small ones. For instance, this week the 10 lb bags of sugar were more per ounce than the 5 lb bags. Who would have thought it?
For example, most cold cereals cost more per pound than chocolate. Can you believe the prices on cold cereal that Americans have been suckered into? If you have never looked at that before, it will raise your eyebrows! Many cereals cost more than 4 dollars per pound. New york steaks are on sale this week for $3.99. That seems like a splurge, while cold cereal somehow seems like a necessity. Successful advertising, that is all it is.
Cold cereal routinely goes on sale for 1.00 a box, and I always wait until a sale before I purchase any, and then I buy a lot of it. Since we use a box a day, we can travel through cereal at a rapid rate.
One last thought about reducing spending. This one is for us all. Don't shop when you are hungry. Don't make way for the flesh, if you like to think of it in a more spiritual way! It is almost impossible to walk past a whole roasted chicken when you are starving!
I was behind a young mother with 4 children at the checkout counter yesterday. It was exactly meal time. Those kids of hers were working her over something awful, begging for the candy, wearing her down. She did not succomb, but I'm sure she was emotionally exhausted by the end of that shopping trip, because she had shopped when all the kids were hungry. She didn't do herself any favors, that's for sure. It stressed everybody in line behind her as well!
Saving money on food is not as easy as over-spending on food. Prepared food makes for fast and simple eating. It smoothes the way at the end of the day, no doubt about it. We pay dearly for that ease, though. Prepared food is pricey. Budget eating is not actually hard, and not all that time consuming, but I find that it does take thought and preparation.
Thinking ahead is not the American Way, but I am reforming myself and learning to think ahead, and trying not to feel too much like a martyr while I am doing it...
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Day 45, 8 people and more cleaning, quick meals and a funeral
This morning began with us early birds getting out of the house. We went shopping together, all the "littles" and mama. It was a fun outing, although sometimes the grocery store music sends Noah dancing in the aisles.
The children were proud of their bargains. Especially since one of them included their favorite (and usually off limits) cold cereals. This week's deal at Albertsons was an assortment of $1.79 Kellogg's cereals, which included a coupon for free milk---one free gallon for 3 boxes, 2 gallons for 5 boxes, and 3 free gallons of milk with 7 boxes of cereal purchased. I calculated the savings, and when giving the milk a cheap price of $1.99, that meant the cereal boxes were each about $.93. 93 cents is the cheapest cereal I've seen in a long time! Wow. And I chose cereal varieties which were at least 16 ounces.
Albertsons is only 2 blocks from our home, so I didn't have to waste time or gas money for this particular bargain, either. I've got six coupons for free gallons of milk in my purse right now. For the blog, I'm going to charge myself the regular price for milk---$1.99---and make the box of cereal $.93, just for ease of calculation daily. That way I don't have to try to remember which gallons of milk in my fridge were free and which weren't...
This morning included a grave digging and a funeral service for one of the chicks. One of the Buff Orphingtons was looking pretty poorly last night, was still alive this morning, but passed away while we were out shopping. The feed store still had another chick from the same batch available, so we brought home the dead chick's "sister" today as a replacement.
The children dug the grave and performed a full service, which we all attended. We all came up with a good memory of the chick to share after the welcome and the eulogy. A bible was produced and a passage read, after which we all threw a handful of earth over the "casket". Everything was done with proper respect and decorum. Thankfully, the memorial service was short as well.
Cash & Carry had an overstock of bananas today, so we bought all these in the picture for banana bread. The whole box full cost only 30 cents. The kids just can't get over it! 30 cents! They are still firm, too, even though not beautiful. Maybe we'll make some banana smoothies...
We came home to find another box of bananas on our table. These had also been left over from the retreat, but had to get eaten right away. Who better to eat lots of thing fast than the Boothies, right? So they brought some our way. We enjoyed sliced bananas with milk and sugar right then and there. before lunch.
Afternoon snack time was a beautiful thing today. Apple pie with tea is a winner. Everybody got a sizable slice of pie, and our friend Clista ate a piece, too.
Here you see a simple and easy dinner which somehow had a flair. I don't know why baked potatoes make it seem like a fancy dinner. They are the cheapest food, fixed in the easiest way.
The ham slices were another gift from the men's retreat, and there were just enough for us all to have 2 of the half slices. They came already fried, so I just had to warm them up in the microwave.
Ranch dip, in the upper corner of the picture, was requested; also butter, and some leftover sour cream to further dress up the potatoes. I weighed the dip before and after the meal, and only one ounce actually got used.
Having a big bowl of the ranch dip available somehow made everyone feel good. They could choose dip if they wanted, and choices are a nice thing, even though we don't always opt to utilize them, right? This is part of eating psychology...
breakfast menu: cold cereal and milk
Cost: $2.09
2 bowls oatmeal squares for Rodger: .20
7 bowls Honey Smacks for boothkids and me: .70
1/2 gallon milk: 1.19
lunch (with the pre-lunch): sloppy joes, bananas and milk
Cost: $1.92
1 lb hamburger: .99
8 oz can tomato sauce: .25
1 pkg spaghetti sauce: .39
buns: free
8 bananas: free
8 quarter cupservings, measured, 2 cups milk: .26
8+ teaspoons sugar: .03
snack: apple pie and tea with milk
Cost: $1.16
apples: no charge
3 cups flour for crust: .39
1 cup butter for crust: .50
salt: .01
2 cups milk for tea: .26
supper: baked potatoes with cheese and ham slices, mixed veggies
Cost: $2.73
6 lbs potatoes: .60
11 oz cheese @ 1.50/lb: 1.04
sour cream: free
butter, 1 cube: .25
ham slices: free
13 oz frozen peas and corn: .80
salt: .01
1 oz ranch dressing: .03
Today's total, for the 8 Boothies home today: $7.90
If you have read this far, you might be interested to know that you, too, might be able to find really good prices on butter and baking supplies this week in the stores. Here in our town "Top Foods" has tillamook botter for $.99. A really great price for one of our favorite foods! Happy shopping.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Day 44 I remembered at 5:50am to turn off my 6am alarm!
I had left my phone on the dining table overnight, and everybody would have awakened to weezer had I not shut off my alarm at the last moment. Must have been that biological clock working again...
But, it is spring break, so---guess what---no sack lunches this week. Rodger is putting in long hours all week, because the college has its first day of classes beginning today. That means we won't be seeing much of him during all the kids' free time.
We're doing some spring cleaning today and tomorrow. We always need that around here. We are trying to release some of our stuff into the wild...and sing Please Release me, Let Me Go...
Noah, Christiana, Emily, and I watched The Sound of Music this morning before 9 am. The older girls woke up about then, so at least someone got some extra rest.
I am so happy about the leftovers from the men's retreat. It will make a little ease in the budget, which I fully intend to put to good use for our Easter feast. Never has a feast day meant so much as this one! We always celebrate Easter. It is one of our biggest holidays. Resurrection Sunday!
This year will be even more memorable, because of the special-ness of the feast. Usually, I don't want to cook much of anything on holidays, because for me a holiday is a day set aside from the usual, and feasts make a day only more of the usual---cooking and cleaning up---than ever. This time, however, the food seems in itself to make the day more special. The kids are all talking about it. A special day should have special food. I must say, I have never really appreciated this aspect of holiday eating ever before, and I don't think my children have either.
Anyway, to get practical about today, I remembered the awesome barbequed tri-tip pieces of beef from the retreat, and sliced them up as thin as possible. We ate them on the retreat hoagie rolls and savored every bite. We finished off with some jam on the other half of the hoagies, for dessert. Simple for me and yummy beef for the palate.
The little girls cut up 5 lbs of spuds this afternoon and put them on to boil before I would let them watch the conclusion of The Sound of Music. I got the idea of adding the turkey barbeque to the potatoes, and then added some vegetables and boullion and felt pretty smart when it turned out good and tasty. So simple for me on this busy day. I am so thankful for the thoughtful people who sent me some leftovers. Kindness is such a wonderful thing to spread around, and we have received some this week.
But, it is spring break, so---guess what---no sack lunches this week. Rodger is putting in long hours all week, because the college has its first day of classes beginning today. That means we won't be seeing much of him during all the kids' free time.
We're doing some spring cleaning today and tomorrow. We always need that around here. We are trying to release some of our stuff into the wild...and sing Please Release me, Let Me Go...
Noah, Christiana, Emily, and I watched The Sound of Music this morning before 9 am. The older girls woke up about then, so at least someone got some extra rest.
I am so happy about the leftovers from the men's retreat. It will make a little ease in the budget, which I fully intend to put to good use for our Easter feast. Never has a feast day meant so much as this one! We always celebrate Easter. It is one of our biggest holidays. Resurrection Sunday!
This year will be even more memorable, because of the special-ness of the feast. Usually, I don't want to cook much of anything on holidays, because for me a holiday is a day set aside from the usual, and feasts make a day only more of the usual---cooking and cleaning up---than ever. This time, however, the food seems in itself to make the day more special. The kids are all talking about it. A special day should have special food. I must say, I have never really appreciated this aspect of holiday eating ever before, and I don't think my children have either.
Anyway, to get practical about today, I remembered the awesome barbequed tri-tip pieces of beef from the retreat, and sliced them up as thin as possible. We ate them on the retreat hoagie rolls and savored every bite. We finished off with some jam on the other half of the hoagies, for dessert. Simple for me and yummy beef for the palate.
The little girls cut up 5 lbs of spuds this afternoon and put them on to boil before I would let them watch the conclusion of The Sound of Music. I got the idea of adding the turkey barbeque to the potatoes, and then added some vegetables and boullion and felt pretty smart when it turned out good and tasty. So simple for me on this busy day. I am so thankful for the thoughtful people who sent me some leftovers. Kindness is such a wonderful thing to spread around, and we have received some this week.
Barbequed turkey, as I received it.
To the boiled potatoes I added whatever was easy for me. First the bbq, then some pinto beans (left over from the taco night), and some frozen veggies.
Everyone had heaping bowls full, plus seconds. It was really good. And not complicated. I would never in a million years have thought of a barbeque flavored turkey soup, but somehow, it worked well.
We had time to make a pie after supper. I volunteered to peel the apples.
Granny Smiths and Honey Crisps.
Sliced apples with sugar, cinnamon, and flour to thicken, being poured into a whole wheat crust. Never done that one before, either. Whole wheat is the only flour I have right now.
10 apples made lots of filling, even with generous snitching...I had counted that snitching into the measurements.
I put a wheat design on the pie, in honor of my first whole wheat crust.
With the extra dough, I made a little pasty pie (pronounced pass-tee pie)
and Emily made a bite-sized creation.
We are going to eat the pie tomorrow. Something to look forward to.
It is so late that I will have to enter the details in the morning. Buenos Noches.
breakfast menu: the usual cold cereal and milk
Cost: $1.60
8 bowls mini-wheats: .80
8 portions milk: .80
lunch menu: roast beef sandwiches and milk
Cost: $1.30
tri-tip from men's retreat: no charge
leftover hoagie rolls: no charge
jam: .20
half gallon milk: 1.10
snack: chips and salsa, carrots, romaine
Cost: $2.32
13 oz chips: .81
5 oz salsa: .40
16 oz carrots: .27
2 hearts romaine lettuce: .84
supper menu: turkey soup and rolls
Cost: $1.70
5 lbs boiled potatoes: .50
rolls leftover from retreat: no charge
13 oz cooked beans: .15
1/2 lb frozen peas: .49
1/2 lb frozen corn: .49
2 tsp chicken soup flzvor: .07
barbequed turkey from retreat: no charge
bedtime snack for late birds: bananas and cheese
Cost: $.98
quart milk: .55
1 1/2 bananas: .29
2 oz cheese: .14
Today's total, with thanks to the men's retreat cooks: $7.90
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Day 43 Rodger returns home bearing gifts and giving us all a shock
Rodger before the retreat:
Rodger after the retreat:He got a reaction out of everybody, that's for sure! I've never seen Rodger without a mustache ever before in my life, and we have been married more than half my life...
We'll adjust. When I'm not looking at him it seems more like I am talking to him. When I look at him it seems like I'm talking to one of his siblings.
Look at the picture below. Refried beans are not a pretty thing. I will say, however, that refried pinto beans look, to us, more like food than the black beans did.
There is a lot of food value in that bowl of beans for 44 cents.
cilantro for flavor and decor
Emily has taken many of the cilantro tips away already. The whole bundle cost a quarter.
2 ounces of cheese is not very much. Each taco had only a hint of cheese today.
Emily got this in her stocking for Christmas, so I don't charge the family for its use. Only a few drops per taco needed. She and her daddy use it, the rest of us go for more mild salsa.
Christiana's first taco
Emily's first taco
Annie was one of the cooks for the Men's camp. She was given some leftovers as a gift, and sent them along to us, since she lives in a dorm. Whoopie! Hoagie rolls and hamburger buns are not in our usual budget, so we'll mix it up a bit this week.
Nice...
We'll find many good uses for oil, no problem.
Rodger will have sliced tomatoes on his sandwiches, and I'll put the lemonade in the freezer for whenever we have company.
Emily caught me in some deep thought as I was on the laptop. Obviously I was not typing, so I wasn't working on the blog. I must have been reading the news. There was an upsetting article about a family who couldn't get insurance for their newborn baby because it had a pre-existing condition. How can a newborn have a pre-existing condition? You can probably find the article. It was at abc news online.
breakfast menu: cold cereal and milk
Cost: $.80
4 servings mini wheats: .40
4 servings milk: .40
lunch menu: tacos
Cost: $3.00
fresh tortillas: .40
beans: .44
1 lb lean hamburger: .99
lettuce: .35
6 oz salsa: .48
cilantro: .15
2 oz cheese: .19
snack: dark chocolate M & Ms
Cost: $1.49
one package, wiht dollar off coupon
supper: barbequed pork sandwiches, cold cereal
Cost: $1.80
18 halves of barbeque pork sandwiches, no charge, from retreat leftovers
cold cereal, 9 servings: .80
milk: .80
Today's total: $7.10, we did it, even with the m & m's
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)