I haven't forgotten about this blog....

In October, our computers all died. It was ridiculous. As soon as we got one fixed it was finals time and that meant there was no time for me to be on the computer (it also marked the first time in months that we'd used more than $30 for food in a week because Paul's ulcers came back and he had to go on strictly fruits and vegetables). Then we went to Colorado for Christmas and I didn't pay any attention to what we were eating.

Since the beginning of the year, we've had a couple good weeks but Paul still has major ulcers and so our budget is probably running around 40-50 a week- still way better than it used to be but not good enough for the blog or for my preference. I figure we only have another couple weeks of this and then I'll be back blogging about our $30 a week adventures. WOOO

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