Week 5, Day 1 Cookie Disasters

Toast and turkey chili. That's what today was all about.
That and cookies....

Today was our ward's "Better know the Mormons" night.
It was the reason that Paul and I fasted half a dozen times last month and it's going on as I type (Pearl and I had to come home early so that she could go to bed- she's still crying up there and that makes me sad). I brought several dozen cookies because I was afraid there wouldn't be enough as far as treats go- that fear proved baseless as there were at least two tables full. Oh well.
I made Snickerdoodles and some bizarre chocolate chip cookies that I really hope Paul doesn't bring home.

Snickerdoodles:

1 cup butter flavored shortening ($0.89)
1.5 cups sugar ($0.36)
2 eggs ($0.14)
2 t cream of tartar (I have no idea, to be honest, sorry)
1 t baking soda ($0.005- or $0.01)
2 and 3/4 c flour ($0.16)
2 t cinnamon ($0.08)
2T sugar ($0.01)

These are made just like any other cookies. Beat wet ingredients, sift dry, mix and bake (400 for 10 minutes).

Snickerdoodle total: $1.65

Now if you're ever in need of snickerdoodles, you can definitely call on me. I'm pro at snickerdoodles, I'm almost as good at making them as I am at eating them (and I ate an entire batch in a day- gross!). I am not, however, particularly great at chocolate chip cookies. I blame this on my mother who taught me how to cook from a very young age but since she could never get chocolate chip cookies to turn out either, it's all her fault. I found a great recipe that I really loved and it calls for a packet of instant vanilla pudding mix. Today when I got ready to make the cookies, I discovered I didn't have any instant vanilla pudding. In fact, the only pudding I had was cook and serve coconut. Instead of being sane and rational and just using a traditional recipe without the pudding, I decided I was going to go for it anyway. I used the pudding and then when I tasted the dough, I discovered that the pudding mix had coconut flakes in it. Oh bother. I baked them anyway hoping that maybe they would taste a bit like caramel delights or chocolate dipped coconut macaroons (they don't). They're not horrible but they didn't spread out and so they're just little gumdrop-looking-weird-texturey-things. I wish I had taken a picture but I didn't and let's hope that there aren't any that come back for me to show you. I certainly don't want them.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter flavored shortening ($0.89)
1 c dark brown sugar ($0.23)
2 eggs ($0.14)
1 packet instant vanilla pudding ($0.33)
2 cups flour ($0.12)
2 t baking soda ($0.01)
Chocolate Chips to taste ($0.75)

Make like any other cookie. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Total: $2.47

I don't know whether I should count food that I make for other people in my week's total so today was either $4.12 or $0.00. Free sounds nice, doesn't it?

Catch up.

I know it's been several days and I haven't caught up yet.
I thought about going back and making an entry for every day this week but I won't. Instead, I'll make this post a catch up, posting about the meals I made and then calculating the week's total.

This week I made several soups again. I like soup. I especially like soup with turkey and we've had that twice.

White-ish Turkey Chili:

2.5 cups turkey ($0.00)
2 cups frozen corn ($1.00)
1 c Salsa ($0.30)
1 can Rotel ($0.80)
3/4 cup cheddar cheese ($0.83)
2 cups white navy beans ($0.60)
Total: $3.53

This was really easy and really worth it (you pretty much just heat them up). It made enough for at least two dinners and a lunch and that's good because Paul had at least 4 helpings. The rest of this has been frozen and we'll have it again when we're not feeling well.

Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple and Red Lentil Soup

1/4 c butter ($0.28)
1 onion ($0.35)
4 carrots ($0.44)
2 sweet potatoes ($1.76)
1 apple ($0.14)
1/2 c red lentils ($0.15)
4 c veg broth ($0.00)

Total: $3.12

I got the recipe here. I liked this soup with/on bread. It's really sweet and I wish I'd put more spice in it to have more of a background heat but overall it was good. Paul really liked it. It also made a lot... probably enough for at least 2 or 3 dinners.

Turkey Wild Rice/Potato Soup

2-3 cups turkey ($0.00)
2/3 c wild rice (it was all I had) ($0.44)
3 potatoes ($0.45)
4 carrots ($0.44)
celery seed
1 onion ($0.35)
1 cup milk ($0.33)
3 cups turkey broth ($0.00)
water- duh
1/2 c flour ($0.03)
4 T butter ($0.28)

Total: $2.32

I sauteed the onion and the carrots in the butter and then added the flour to make sort of a roux. Then I added the potatoes, cooked wild rice, and turkey, broth and simmered until the potatoes were soft. I felt like the turkey broth was too strong so I cut it with a lot of water and then I added a bit of milk at the very end. Super easy. Our friend Bill went shooting with us yesterday and then stayed for dinner. He's picky and not afraid to say what he thinks and he really liked it. He ate like three servings. I take that as a total compliment considering I just threw that together. Because I added a lot of water we still have a lot of soup left again and we had it for dinner tonight.

Things I made the rest of the week:

I've decided that it's stupid to count the cost of each piece of bread. Even though we only eat probably 3.5 loaves a week I still make 4 so I'm just going to add the $2 cost of bread per week to the day that I make it and then forget about having to tally each piece of toast in the morning.

Paul liked grilled cheese a lot this week and probably went through 2 cups between the grilled cheeses and the quesadillas he had for lunch today ($2.22) (plus $0.60 for tortillas)
We went through 6 eggs this week ($0.18)

Week 4 Total: $15.74
To me that sounds super crazy, but believe it or not we did eat even though we didn't feel well. I know I didn't make anything else. Well, hooray! I'll be better about daily posting this next week. I hope... Pearl's super teething so maybe I'll double up.

Week 4, Day 2

Monday wasn't much better as far as eating goes. Paul had a doctor's appointment in the morning so he had a few pieces of toast and then for lunch he ate a sandwich. For dinner we had leftover Indian Vegetable Soup (there's still enough for another meal- I can't believe that). We had a couple pieces of bread to go with the soup- I like it better (like I like most things) on bread.

Day 2:

Breakfast $0.21
Lunch $0.50
Dinner $0.06

Day 2 Total: $0.77

Week 4, Day 1

So I know I'm posting this a bit late but I've been really sick for a few days and although I've been keeping track of what we're eating, it hasn't been much and I haven't felt like being on the computer much.
Anywho, on to week 4, Day 1.

Sunday morning was the general session of our Stake Conference and I woke up more sick than I'd been previously and my back was the worst it had been in a long time. Because of this, I didn't go and neither did Paul.

When we finally got up and ate, it was only toast. Toast Toast Toast.

Then around 8, we finally got around to eating dinner and dinner was that great old staple, ice cream. .. Yeah. I told you we get lame when we're not feeling well.

Day 1 total: $0.30.

Week 3 Total

So how did we do this week? I haven't yet added up the total but I bet we're under budget. Some of the people I saw doing this gave themselves 30 at the beginning of every week but because we buy a lot of things in bulk that would seriously screw up week totals. I think this way works well.

Drumroll please......

.... and the total is: $29.36!!!! That's an average of 4.20 a day. Go us!

We still have a lot of Indian Vegetable Soup and almost all of the turkey left over. Those will be put to good use this week. We also have most of the carton of ice cream which means we get free dessert this week- hooray!

Week 3, Day 7

I know I promised that I was going to eat healthy on this experiment but when we get all get sick it's hard to not just eat whatever we feel like- don't worry, we've stayed on budget.
On Saturday, Paul ate 4 pieces of toast before he went to a service project. Then he ate some the last of the Chicken Fajita Soup for lunch. I had an apple sometime, I don't know. I hate eating when I'm sick.
After the adult session of stake conference, Paul stopped at Food Lion to pick up some distilled water for the humidifier and he picked up some ice cream that was on sale so that's what we ate for dinner, Neapolitan ice cream.

Saturday's meal totals:

Breakfast ($0.12)
Lunch ($0.14)
Dinner ($2.50)
Day 7 Total: $2.76

Week 3, Day 6

It was ridiculously cold this morning. It didn't get above 40 until noon and, on top of that, there was about 100% humidity and super gusty winds. BOO. Now I know what you're thinking- it's fall, it's going to get cold- and you're right but less than a week ago it was 83 degrees! Anywho, this morning while I was thinking about what to make for dinner I was thinking something more along the lines of a soup with carrots and sweet potatoes because I was so cold but Paul vetoed that- he may be getting tired of soups. He wanted turkey white chili but I didn't want that and so we were at an impasse... until I suggested Cowboy Mashed Potatoes (get the recipe here ) and he quickly agreed.
Cowboy Mashed Potatoes are simple and cheap and they taste good. I first made the recipe because it looks like something I loved doing as a kid- mixing mashed potatoes up with corn or peas or peas and carrots. I wasn't very coordinated with a spoon or a fork and my dad yelled at me every time I tried to use my fingers to put food on said spoon or fork and so it didn't take me long to realize that mixing my veggies into potatoes was not only efficient, but delicious.
Here's the scoop (I only use the measurements in the recipe as a guide):

5 potatoes ($0.75)
a bunch of frozen chopped jalapenos from our garden last year ($0.00)
half a bag of frozen corn ($0.50)
3 carrots ($0.33)
a little bit of minced garlic ($0.00)
1 oz shredded cheddar ($0.14)
1.5 Tbls butter ($0.10)

Cowboy Mashed Potatoes Total: $1.82
We have about 3 cups left over so maybe I'll make less next time.
And to clarify: Yes, I know this is supposed to be a side dish but I don't see why vegetarians can eat a whole bunch of vegetables not mixed up and call it a dinner if this dish can't also be considered an entree.

Here's today's work-up:
Breakfast (cold so we ate oatmeal and eggs as per usual) $0.52
Lunch (Paul had leftover Chicken Fajita soup- there's still some left too- crazy! and I had an apple) $0.14
Dinner: $1.82

Day 6 Total: $2.48
At this rate, I don't know that I'm going to need to take some money out of either last week's or next week's budget to make up for overages this week- awesome!

Week 3, Day 5

Take a moment and sniff- are you doing it? If you smelled turkey, baked potatoes, and broccoli you'd be in my home right now. If you didn't, I bet you're wishing you had dinner here tonight.
Breakfast and lunch were boring affairs again. Paul works all day Thursday and Friday so he has to leave at the same time he leaves for his classes meaning there isn't time for something more than oatmeal. I finished off the blueberry bran muffins and I'm already looking forward to more of them.
After Paul left and I put Pearl down for her morning nap I put a turkey breast in our crock pot with some homemade onion soup mix- super simple and CHEAP- and left that to cook all day long. Even with my nose completely stuffed I caught the odd whiff of deliciousness here and there and it was divine! I couldn't wait to try some of the turkey tonight but then I remembered something awful. Today is the Thursday. I was living in some kind of fantasy land where it was Wednesday but I checked and my heart sank. Today was our ward's last day of fasting for 40 days and we were signed up to take today. I felt awful. I didn't want to blow it for us at the last minute so I thought for a few minutes. Sure we could fast tomorrow but that's day 41 not 40. I finally decided that since I can only fast for the equivalent of one meal plus sleeping time (my milk is very temperamental) I would fast for the second part of the day. So I made the necessary preparations and ended up not getting to try the turkey tonight. Paul said it was good but we'll probably use the oven from now on because he felt like it was a bit greasy. Turkey is pretty much his favorite meal so he's the one who gets to choose.
I'm excited to use the rest of the turkey for a lot more meals. Tomorrow I'll shred it and freeze it and use it for soups and casseroles and turkey pot pie! I love turkey. I find it really comforting when it starts to get chilly. I love the way it tastes, the way it makes my house smell, all the different things you can do with it. I like it so much better than I like chicken and it's fabulous that you can purchase just breasts because there's no need to worry about dark meat.
Because I cooked the whole turkey today and I don't really have an idea yet about how much of the turkey Paul ate, I'm going to charge the whole thing to today and then consider it free when I use the rest of it. So here's what the turkey works out to:

1 young turkey breast purchased on sale for $0.79/lb ($6.72)
1 oz home made onion mix ($0.20)
Turkey Total: $6.92
I think that is a fabulous price!

Here's today's total:

Breakfast ($0.38)
Lunch ($0.44)
Dinner ($7.27)

Day 5 Total: $8.09

I'm not freaking out this time. That extra is for a purpose and if we go over 30 this week we'll make it up by going under next week. That's okay.

Apples.

I'm excited to announce a change in our apple prices! Last Saturday when we were driving home from DC we decided last minute (read: "as we were driving past it on the highway") to stop at an orchard/pumpkin patch we always see but never visit.
Pearl had a cute outfit on and we had been meaning to get some apples for saucing and drying anyways so it was definitely worth the stop both in pictures and deliciousness.
Now I know you may be thinking, "But I thought they fasted on Saturday," and you would be right my friends. May I offer some advice, DON'T GO TO AN ORCHARD WHILE YOU'RE FASTING! It's awful, it really is. They had some guy out working a grill where you could buy hamburgers/hotdogs made at their farm. A lady was making fresh caramel apples right in front of us. People were chomping on apples right and left and there we were. Yeah, just don't do it, it's torture.
The price of their apples was supremely amazing though- $10/half-bushel was they biggest size they had so we got two bushels (one was for our friends though, I can't imagine we'd be able to eat/use 84+ pounds of apples before they went bad unless that's all we had).
All in all it was really fun- even while fasting and with the incessant swarm of giant armored beetles- yuck!
Here are some pictures for my (and possibly yours too) enjoyment. Notice how much nicer they are than IPhone photos?





Lots of fun! We might just have to visit this farm again next year when Pearl is old enough to actually enjoy things a bit more- although she did have lots of fun being carried around and put in weird places.

Week 3, Day 4

So it turns out that I am sick but the best way for me to forget that I'm sick is to just keep on moving. That way I get distracted and don't notice much until night time when I finally sit down and am more than done in. That's alright though, I'm hoping I just get this out of my system quickly and then don't have any more trouble over the winter. That and I hope Pearl doesn't catch it. That would be miserable.

This morning for breakfast I actually had some oatmeal which I'm not always in the mood for but it was nice and comforting. Paul had some oatmeal too and three scrambled eggs and a piece of toast (he has class all day on Wednesdays so he needs a healthy breakfast).

For lunch, Paul ate a sandwich and an apple and I had an apple with some peanut butter.

Dinner was something more special. Tonight we had a vegetable stew with Indian spices and it was yummy! Paul loves lentils and so I just threw some in with some chickpeas (another one of his favorites) and some navy beans and some veggies and simmered with good spices for a long time. I really love the taste of dried beans as opposed to canned beans. There is such a difference. I can't believe I ever paid more money for less taste and nutrition, I'm hooked!

Indian-ish Vegetable Stew:

2 diced onions ($1.20)
1 Tbs minced garlic (it's the dregs of a free bottle, I'll charge when I replenish- $0.00)
3 c chicken broth ($0.00- I make my own)
3 c water ($0.00)
1 c lentils ($0.30)
1 c chickpeas ($0.30)
1 c navy beans ($0.30)
4 stalks chopped celery ($0.40)
5 chopped carrots ($0.55)
Spices (to taste): Garam Masala, Cayenne Pepper, more cumin, Cardamom, black pepper, saffron, ginger

Indian-ish veggie stew total: $3.05
Paul also ate half a packet of saltines ($0.13)

I don't feel bad about that total at all considering how much it made. It's actually kind of ridiculous. I only had a small bowl (it's starve a cold, right?) but Paul had 2 or 3 decent sized bowls and when I checked the pot to see how much was left it didn't look like we'd eaten hardly any. This is going to definitely be at least one more dinner, probably more and then some lunches (I'll post a picture for you to see how much is left).

Here's what today works out to be:

Breakfast ($0.52)
Lunch ($0.46)
Dinner: ($3.18)

Day 4 Total: $4.16
Under budget with tons of leftovers- hooray!

Week 3, Day 3

I apologize in advance that I don't have any pictures to post today, it's been a leftover day and so there's not much to report.
For breakfast I had two Blueberry Bran Muffins and Paul had 2 slices of toast and some oatmeal.
Paul came home for lunch and ate 5 pieces of bread. Pearl pretty much attacked him to make him share each slice with her (she's a bread fanatic!). I had an apple for lunch again. I'm not much of a lunch eater but as soon as my favorites (braeburn) stop being stocked in stores I will switch to left-over left-overs or sandwiches. I love bread and it's hard for me to stop at just a couple pieces so it's partly to conserve resources and partly for waist preservation that I avoid it during the day.
Paul ate his sandwich I made him yesterday for a snack.
For dinner we had leftover tuna loaf (there's still a lunch size portion left) and broccoli. I usually don't like broccoli but tonight I found it delicious. AND it's guilt free! Only 25 calories per cup which is amazing!
See? I told you we had boring meals today. It's just as well though. I'm getting sick now- boooooo. I can't afford to be sick. Oh well. We'll see how things go.

Week 3, Day 2

Today was a more normal day. This morning I went off to class without eating anything which was a mistake. That meant that I was so starving by the time that I got home that I had grand ideas of just what I wanted to stuff my face with, namely bran muffins. Bran muffins? I know, I know. Weird and gross and they make you poop or something but that's what I wanted.
A long time ago (when I was first pregnant), I had the same interest in bran muffins but I didn't do much baking that first trimester and so I never used the box of bran that I purchased. First thing when I got home was to search my cupboards to find that bran. I found the graham crackers that I was looking for for Pearl. I found an old (but still good!) package of pecans that I don't even remember getting which made me extremely happy because now we can have soda cracker pie this weekend! But still, no bran. This made me sad but I still wanted those muffins so because Pearl was still napping, I made a mad dash to Kroger and found a decent package of Organic Wheat Bran for $1.28. When I got back, Pearl was awake so she played in her Johnny Jump Up in the kitchen door way while I whipped up these bran muffins:
They're actually really pretty good. I knew I should have dipped the frozen blueberries in flour to keep them from bleeding but it wasn't that big of a deal (instead of being blue though, they're green which is kinda fun!).

Here is what they work out to be:

1.5 cups wheat bran ($0.42)
1 cup milk ($0.33)
1 apple made into sauce ($0.48)
1 egg ($0.07)
1/2 c brown sugar ($0.11)
1/2 c white flour ($0.03)
1/2 c whole wheat ($0.00- we were given some free wheat to grind)
1 tsp baking soda ($0.01)
1 tsp baking powder ($0.01)
1 cup frozen blueberries ($0.68)

Blueberry-Bran Muffin total: $2.14

This recipe only made 12 muffins and they were alright. We only ate 6 and so they'll last us another breakfast or snack or something. I think if I made them again I would use less blueberries (only because I felt like they were a bit overpowering- I feel like they're the dessert part of the meal and there should be a dessert portion, that makes me a weirdo, I know. I got this recipe off of AllRecipes but I think next time I feel like making muffins I'm going to make another one I like better. This afternoon I purchased a small amount of powdered milk at the same price (but lower quality) that I will get powdered milk at Sam's and that will do a lot to make food prices stay low.

For lunch, I had an apple and some peanut butter. It was delicious! Have I ever told you how much I LOVE Jiff extra crunchy peanut butter? Because I do. A lot. Paul wasn't feeling well so he didn't eat anything. I'm really starting to get worried that the things he things are colds coming and going are actually a full blown case of mono. He slept from 3-7 and is ready to sleep again at 10. Tomorrow we will definitely be calling the doctor to make an appointment.

During Pearl's second nap I made bread again. Usually Thursdays are my bread days but since we were gone last Thursday, I didn't want to make the same mistake I made two weeks ago and make bread on Wednesday only to let it sit and get a little less delicious while we were gone. Here are some pictures:
As you can see, my recipe makes a lot of bread. It's kind of embarrassing that we go through about 3-3.5 loaves a week but it's delicious and healthy and we do eat it two meals a day so that has to count for something.

For dinner we had leftover chicken fajita soup (there's at least one more dinner left in that too). I had a piece of fresh bread with my soup and Paul had 3 so dinner wasn't free tonight but it's not that big of a deal. After I cut up all of the loaves, I realized that I get more slices than I thought I did so it's cheaper but I'll just leave my accounting the way it is.

Here is how today turned out:

Breakfast: ($2.14)
Lunch: ($0.58)
Dinner: ($0.12)

Day 2 total: $2.84
I feel very full so I think that total is fabulous!

Week 3, Day 1

This week we have two fasting days. Because we fasted yesterday, we only did a half- fast today (meaning we ate dinner) and so we do have a meal. Unfortunately, I was so stressed about Pearl falling off the bed and being sad the rest of the day and my friend having a terrible back that when time came to actually take a picture of dinner, I didn't. Sorry, friends. You may count yourself lucky though because that dinner was Tuna Loaf, a huge favorite of mine that probably looks as good as you think it sounds (and to most people it sounds nasty).

Here's what Tuna Loaf works out to be:

1 can evaporated milk ($0.64)
1/2 stick butter ($0.28)
6 oz cheese ($0.84)
1/2 onion ($0.30)
2 cans tuna ($1.24)
2 pieces of bread ($0.06)
2 eggs ($0.14)
2 cups egg noodles ($0.14)

Tuna Loaf Total $3.64

We also had green beans and so that brings our total up to

Day 1 Total: $4.12

We are probably going to get one more dinner and then a lunch for Paul out of the Tuna Loaf but I'm really having fun making things even cheaper so next time I go to Sam's Club (I have to pick up some contacts in like 10 days or so) I'll pick up a box of powdered milk and instead of paying $0.64 for evaporated milk, we'll only pay $0.14. Worth it! and you can't even tell it's in there.

End of Week 2

So for day 5 on of last week we were out of town. Paul took the FSOT in DC (we have to wait 4-6 weeks to find out whether he continues in the process or not- lame!) and so we spent Thursday driving, Friday hanging out at his cousin's house and Saturday driving.
On Thursday we had breakfast (oatmeal) and then we ate a total of 3 sandwiches on the way up- no extra snacks for us and then ate dinner at Paul's awesome cousin Charisse's house. Friday was all food provided to us by our gracious hosts and then (and this was a bummer) we remembered that we were signed up to fast on Saturday for our Ward (church)'s 40-day fast for missionary work. Let me tell you, fasting while on a car trip is HARD! My milk supply was pretty dismal so I didn't fast as long as I usually do and broke down and ate a banana I snagged from Charisse's house for Pearl. Is that pathetic? Taking fruit from a baby? I guess it's not like she didn't have other food and she doesn't even like bananas.

Day 5: Breakfast ($0.50)
Lunch ($0.90)
Dinner ($0.00)
Total: ($1.40)

Day 6 Total $0.00

Day 7 Total $0.00


WEEK 2 TOTAL: $19.30 or $2.76/day

I fully recognize that a lot of this was due to the fact that we had free food for a day and a half and didn't eat for another day. Does that make me feel less proud? No. That's because even if you only count us as eating 4.5 days last week, we still averaged $4.29 which is less than the $4.50 a day we need to maintain to only spend $30 a week- even with that horrendous day! Way to go, us!

Week 2, Day 4

As expected, today was a leftovers day.
This morning we had oatmeal and Paul had a couple eggs and then for lunch there was mulligatawny soup and I had an apple.

Dinner we had an extra. We'd been given a gigantic head of cauliflower a couple weeks ago and I used half for a soup but we hadn't done anything with the other half and it was going to go bad so I roasted it with a little bit of olive oil and some of the dregs of our garlic jar- remind me I need to get some more next time I go shopping. I liked the cauliflower but Paul didn't so there are plenty of leftovers in a bag for me to eat later. The rest of the fajita soup (about 4 cups) has been put in a container and is waiting for Saturday in the freezer.

Sorry that the picture is on its side. I couldn't figure out how to flip it.

It was a pretty uneventful day but man am I tired! I really am exhausted and I wish I knew why. I guess it couldn't have anything to do with having a baby who isn't awesome at the whole sleep thing yet and is teething right now, could it? ;) It's 8:30 and Paul is at the school working on another project with SPSS and I think I may just go to bed now. The thought of going to sleep before 9 really freaks me out. I keep thinking, "but I have to do this and this and this!" Chill, self!

Here's today's total:

Breakfast: $0.50
Lunch: $0.40 (my little apple)
Dinner: $0.10
Day 4 total: $1.00

Week 2, Day 3

Today cost a little bit more than usual. That's alright though because we have left over money from the past two days and the rest of this week we're going to be eating mainly sandwiches because we're leaving on Thursday for Paul to take the FSOT (wish him luck!) and tomorrow we're eating leftovers for both lunch and dinner to prevent anything going bad in our fridge- yuck!

The reason for our overage was this: Last week at Institute (like a non-mandatory extra Mormon Sunday School during the week), Brother Cornelsen told us he'd be gone this week and asked if Paul and I would teach in his place. There are only two other people in our class besides Paul and me, Bill and Mike. On his way out, Bill asked if I'd bring treats and I said sure and then he asked specifically for some Jell-O Rainbow Cake. Rainbow cake was one of my very favorite things growing up. It's simple and fun and I think it tastes awesome!

Here's what Rainbow Cake amounts to:

1 White Cake Mix ($0.98)
3 eggs ($0.21)
2 Packets Jell-O any flavor (I used Peach and Strawberry- super yummy!) ($0.68)
1 container Cool Whip ($1.00)
Rainbow Cake Total: $2.87

After you make the white cake and let it cool, you prick the top at half inch intervals and mix each package of Jell-o with a cup of boiling water and (if you use a 13x9 like I do) you pour each kind over half, sort of overlapping in the middle. After you let it chill for 3-4 hours you "frost" it with Cool Whip and that's it- super easy deliciousness! I suppose I should have just made a cake from scratch but I wasn't thinking about that last night and honestly I was so worried about making sure I was prepared to teach for an hour and a half that I probably would have taken the easy way out anyways. I was worried (only for my waistline) that we'd come back with half a cake to take home but that was silly of me. We only have 3 pathetic pieces left (and I only ate two small pieces so most of the work was done by 3 people!). I really want to watch my sugar intake but I think I may just have to have a piece for breakfast....

I know this looks unappetizing, to say the least, but it was the best looking of the 3- I told you they demolished it!

Tonight's soup cost a little bit more than I planned it to as well which was disappointing but again, I was so flustered today I forgot to put the chicken on to boil and by the time I remembered it was too late to cook chicken AND eat it for dinner. I did some quick thinking and remembered that part of our food storage is some cans of chicken. It's decent quality stuff but I wasn't really planning on using it unless we had no other option but seeing as we're leaving in a couple days and we had the last of the semi dead peppers from our garden to use up, I guess there wasn't much other option. This soup made a lot and I actually think there will be enough left over from dinner tomorrow night that I'll have to freeze some but Paul liked it so much I don't think that will be a problem :).

The little garnish of cheese and sour cream were things I was about ready to throw away anyway so I'm not counting them towards the total but I'll have to use them next time too!

Here's what our super easy Chicken Fajita Soup worked out to be:

1 can Chicken ($1.96- ouch!)
1 packet Fajita Seasoning ($1.11-also ouch but apparently no one makes a generic, what gives?)
1 onion ($0.60)
4.5 peppers from our garden ($0.00!!)
Frozen, Chopped, Jalapenos from last year's crop ($0.00!)
1 can Rotel ($0.75)
1 cup dry black beans ($0.48)
1 bag of Kroger tortilla chips because we're out of tortillas and I won't get to Sam's til Saturday ($1.00)

Chicken Fajita Soup Total: $4.79

The total of this soup alone is more than a day's allowance for both of us, even with the home grown peppers but next time I make it the chicken should be at least $1.50 cheaper, I'll make tortilla chips which will save $0.70, and if possible, I'll mix my own spices. This will make the total $2.59 or less- MUCH more budget friendly.

Here are today's totals:

Breakfast (bowl of oatmeal with the trimmings and 5 scrambled eggs) $0.52
Lunch (1 pb&honey sandwich & 2 apples) $1.26
Rainbow Cake $2.87
Chicken Fajita Soup $4.79

Day 3 total: $9.44

Honestly it's really hard not to freak out looking at that total. I keep reminding myself that tomorrow is only going to cost like $0.34 but we're still looking at over twice the daily budget with today's total. Having money left over from Sunday and Monday will put us in the clear but I was getting really used to only spending a couple dollars in a day- it's fun. So it's our first day of overages and it was a doozy, I made some mistakes I definitely do not plan on making again but I'm sure there will be new ones to discover- that's what keeps us humble, eh? ;)

Week 2, Day 2

Usually on Mondays I don't make breakfast other than a hot cereal or eggs and toast because Paul already gets a late start on work and school owing to my Civil War class but he was just so cute and sweet this morning I couldn't say no so French toast it was.
We LOVE French toast. Paul would probably eat French toast 5 times a week without getting tired of it (and that's saying a lot). I especially love my recipe- it has flour in it and makes it taste better than just egg and milk on bread.
Since breakfast was so late, I quickly made Paul a peanut butter and honey sandwich ($0.30) and cut him some apples ($0.96) (which he didn't eat and will eat tomorrow) and sent him on his way. I didn't feel hungry until I was making dinner so there was no lunch for me... whoops.
Tonight for dinner I made Mulligatawny Soup. I made it for a couple reasons, one was that it had curry in it and Paul loves curry and the second was that it reminded me of "exotic" stories I used to escape in when I was little. I'm glad we tried it because it's delicious!
Here's what Mulligatawny Soup works out to:

1 small onion ($0.60)
2 stalks celery ($0.20)
1 carrot ($0.11)

Paul discovered the price of single carrots by accident when he didn't notice the random carrot in his cart- less calculating for me! :)
4 T Butter ($0.28)
1.5 T Flour ($0.01)
1/4 lb shredded chicken ($0.25)
4 C chicken broth ($0- free from cooking chicken)
1/2 apple ($0.24)
1/4 C rice ($0.03)
1/2 C half and half ($0.24)

Mulligatawny total: $1.96

Okay so it doesn't look THAT appetizing in my phone picture but those chunks of celery, carrot, and apple were SO yummy!

This is what today's total looks like:

Breakfast: $0.54
Lunch: $1.26
Dinner: $1.96

Day 2 total: $3.76

Week 2, Day 1

So I know I promised today would be better as far as far as actually making food for our meals but it was General Conference day 2 and neither Paul nor I feel very well.
Last night I was going thinking about what we were going to eat today and I remembered that we had some frozen Rhode's Roll Dough in the freezer that had probably expired not too long ago (it's a pain to remember to defrost the darn things in time so I almost never use them) and decided to make something my mom made a for Christmas brunch a couple times- pull aparts.
Pull-aparts are super easy and since I purchased the rolls for a steal on some sort of manager's special for $2.09 several months back, they're cheap too. The rolls came in a bag of 36 and I only needed 18 for the recipe (luckily that's exactly how many I had left otherwise they would have continued to take up high-priority real estate for who knows how long), so I'm counting it as a cost of $1.05.
Here's what the Pull-Aparts worked out to be:

18 frozen rolls ($1.05)

1/2 cup Brown sugar ($0.11)
Vanilla Pudding Mix ($0.34)
1 stick Margarine- on sale at Kroger ($0.50)
Pull-Aparts Total: $2.00

For some reason I remember liking these a lot better when I ate them on Christmas morning. Since we didn't like them, we only ate half. I would eat the second half as future breakfasts but I think you can see that they are waaaay too calorie rich and I'd rather waste calories on rice pudding or milk. They did look really nice though:

Tonight since we didn't feel well, Paul had a can of Progresso Soup. I added a little Accent and some black and red pepper to make it a little less canned soupy and that was that. I would have had a can too but I'm still not hungry after lunch (see, chock full of calories!) and my throat hurts.

Here's today's totals:

Breakfast: $0.46 (4 pieces of toast with Jam and 2 plain)
Brunch/Lunch: $2.00
Dinner: $1.24

Day 1 Total: $3.70

For the price of the Pull-Aparts I do wish that we'd gotten more out of them but such is life.

Strawberry Freezer Jam.

For most of my life I didn't eat jam. My mom has never really cared for fruit preserves and so I grew up thinking that the most American lunch you could have was peanut butter and honey not a pb and j.

Paul had the complete opposite experience. He said the only time he had honey was on peanut butter and banana sandwiches (I think that sounds yucky!). When we got married, he wanted jam and since I couldn't get the honey I liked out here and I actually like jam (except grape, gag!) I made the switch. I've always been shocked at how expensive jam is but I never really thought about canning my own. Last week someone on Facebook mentioned canning Pear jam and that sounded DELICIOUS so I All-Reciped it. Nothing came up. I changed my search to just plain jam and there was Strawberry Freezer Jam.

Immediately my mouth started watering. On the rare occasion we had jam in my house it was strawberry and of the freezer variety. I can remember being frustrated with the speed the jars would disappear. I hid the jars as long as I could so in the back of the freezer so that we wouldn't run out. I always imagined it to be this labor intensive process that took hours and hours and I thought that once we were out, we were out for good. I was shocked when I saw that it would literally only take half an hour to make a batch of freezer jam- what had I been thinking?

Organic strawberries were extra ripe and on sale for less than regular strawberries this week at Kroger so I got 2 pints and a thing of pectin. Friday, while Pearl was asleep for her afternoon nap, I cleaned my kitchen, picked up and vacuumed my living room, and made jam- I felt like and uber-productive super mom.

I also got to use my favorite freezer jars instead of having to dig the glass pint jars out of the attic. These hold more, stack, and are way cuter.

This is what it works out to: 2 pints of strawberries @ $2 a piece ($4.10)
1 box of pectin ($1)
4 cups sugar ($0.92)

Grand total: $6.02 OR (as I like to think of it) $0.075 a serving :)

If I were to buy Smucker's Strawberry Jam at Sam's Club, it would cost less per serving ($0.054) but it wouldn't taste like sunshine, it would taste like cooked and processed mediocrity. I thought about not making the jam because it would cost a little more but the point of this food experiment isn't to revel in being as cheap as I can be, it's about being frugal (read:cheap) AND happy with what we eat. $0.02 more a serving of jam? Worth both pennies!

Week 1, Days 1 and 2

On Thursday night we had a cookout with friends. Because it wasn't October until Friday, I made lots of food. Food which we ate through lunch today.
For breakfast both days I had a piece of homemade toast which is 3 cents for me (my homemade bread is about $0.50 a loaf and I get about 16+ pieces per loaf) and Paul had 3 pieces of toast per day ($0.09) and a bowl of oatmeal ($0.13) with a tablespoon of brown sugar ($0.02)and 1.5 Tbls of milk($0.02).
We ate leftovers for lunch yesterday and today and I'm simply not counting that against us- not that it was decadent or anything but I did pay for those with last month's budget and I think that I'm only going to figure out the cost of a meal not the cost of how much we ate of a meal, if that makes sense.
Yesterday while Pearl was taking her first nap I made strawberry freezer jam which I can't believe I haven't been doing before because it was so dang cheap but that's for another post.
Paul felt sick last night and so he didn't eat anything for dinner and I decided to have a bag of popcorn ($0.33). So much for always having healthy meals but hey, it's fiber right?

So yesterday looks like this:
Breakfast: $0.24
Lunch: $0
Dinner: $0.33

Day total: $0.57 Yesterday was kind of a weird day and I know that starting tomorrow (Sunday, October 3) things are going to be much more expensive.

Tonight I made pancakes for dinner because Paul had to go to a meeting at church at 8 and we put Pearl to bed around 7 which left little time. Paul didn't mind at all because he loves pancakes and would eat them every day if I let him. I used a less decadent recipe than usual so pancakes work out to this: Flour ($0.06) Milk ($0.25) Vinegar ($0.01) Sugar ($0.03) Baking powder ($0.02) Egg ($0.07) Butter ($0.14) and then Syrup (which we only used a little of but I'm going to count this the same way I do leftovers, I charge it when I make it and not by how much I use) White Sugar ($0.48) Brown Sugar (0.06) and Mapeline ($0.12)

Today's totals:
Breakfast: $0.24
Lunch: $0
Dinner: $1.24

Day Total: $1.48

I'm going to end each week on Saturday and so I'll total our "week" up (keep in mind again that this was 2 partial days of eating on our $30 a week budget).

WEEK GRAND TOTAL: $2.05

Why $30 a week?

After Paul and I had been married a few months it became apparent that he had some food issues. He loved everything I made but every night without fail he got sick. His already mediocre energy level dropped, his depression got worse, and every night he lay on our couch in pain. I didn't know what to do for him and I couldn't figure out which foods to avoid so we went drastic.
We started the You Are What You Eat diet from Gillian McKeith on BBC and BBCA and it was fabulous! Paul felt a lot better for the most part and it was extremely healthy- unfortunately it was also pretty expensive. I'm ashamed to admit that our food budget has been 400+ for almost our entire marriage.
Now that Paul's medical issues have been sorted and he can eat everything again, I need to reign it in a little. I love cooking and that's part of the problem. I LOVE it and I'm good at it and I've become sort of a snob about food quality and that's okay but there's no good reason that we need to be spending so much money for the two of us.
Last week I was reading online and I found a whole bunch of people committed to only spending $30 a week on food. A lot of them are single people, some are couples and the idea got me excited. I love a challenge and now I have motivation and a definitive number to keep myself under. I decided we'd start on October 1st, the first fiscal of our monthly budget and to keep myself in check, I'm using the envelope system (I've resigned my debit card to Paul).
I personally know a lot of people who actually live on less than 120 a month for food and I completely admire them. In time, I may try and lower our budget but we'll see how this month turns out.
I want to eat healthily because it makes such a difference in Paul's health and I ought to get over my sugar addiction (because it totally is one of those!). I don't know that I'll post every day but I'll try.
We have a decent stock of dry goods already in our house but I'll try my best to calculate the price of everything that I use.