Meal Plan for 8/30 - 9/4

First of all, I know I said that I wasn't going to buy anything this weekend. However, my loving husband pointed out that anything purchased this weekend wouldn't be posted until Tuesday. Which means I could do the monthly stocking run this weekend - and not be considered over budget. Moreover, the husband did our budget for the last month - and - we stayed within our food budget for the first time in a LONG time. Whee!

I'm only going through Wednesday this week because a hurricane will be off our coast Friday morning. Not sure how that will effect us, but I'll consider Thursday and Friday when/if I have power! We've got plenty of pantry food, so I will be able to whip together something in a hurry if we're up and functioning.

Saturday - Family bowling night and out to dinner. I meant to bring my camera to review a local favorite, but forgot. Next time!

Sunday - Tomato Orange Soup and Bread

Monday - Stuffed Green Peppers (I tutor, but have the say off so I can get dinner on the table).

Tuesday - Quinoa Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Wednesday - Leftovers/whatever (I tutor). There's going to be plenty of food available for everyone, so I'm not too concerned.

Not meeting budget this week.

Yesterday, I posted that I had $84 to spend this week on groceries.

I spent $118.

Darn. I hate it when numbers don't add up. It's like, a math hell.

Anyhow, on the good side, I only have to make it till a week from Monday. My meal plan took me through to Friday anyway. Soooo...I only have to come up with food for Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday we have a party to go to, but it's potluck so that will be more difficult as I will have to get the ingredients for something. However, I still have $34 to spend. If I make something uber cheap on Saturday night, figure out something cheap to make for the potluck (or something made with things I have on hand - ooooh, homemade pita bread and hummus?) I should be okay. I have to factor in buying some fresh fruit and milk for the kids at some point this week - those babies always come first.

I should mention (lest anyone feel sorry for me) - that this budget is more out of determination than need. We pay our bills, all is well, I just have this deep burning need to prove to my husband that I can stay within our grocery budget. Mostly because I never can most months.

So, meal plan, addition:

Saturday: Something with chickpeas - I bought a couple of peppers and unless I need them for something, I think I might try stuffing them with chickpeas and rice. If not that, then I can always toss the chickpeas on some of my French bread for a sandwich.

Sunday: Party. I'm digging the hummus idea as my friend is a middle eastern nut and would love it. I just saw some pita bread recipes online, so that might be just the ticket. If all else fails, I can pull out my French bread with some olive oil and dipping herbs, as that was a HUGE hit at the last party.

Monday: OFICIALLY SEPTEMBER - meal plan to follow! Whoo-hoo!

Meal Planning: 8/22 - 8/29 (post Fay)

So, it's a good week for tomato lovers at my local grocery store. Which makes me excited to try out a couple of recipes this week. I had them "almost" licked a few weeks ago. It's time for another round.

Friday: Something yummy whenever I get hungry as the husband is off preparing for football season (he officiates high school football).

Saturday: CHILDREN FREE PARTY!

No, I'm not at all excited to hang with adults for the evening.

Sunday: Roasted Portobello mushroom bruschetta

Monday: Something out of the freezer for the husband as I tutor.

Tuesday: Stuffed portobello mushrooms.

Wednesday: Leftovers for the husband as I tutor again.

Thursday: Tomato Orange Soup with bread. Cook up some chickpeas for Friday

Friday: Something yummy with some chickpeas. Curried? Asian style?

This week I only have $84 to spend. Can I do it? :)

Being Green: Part One, dishes, plastic, and the US.

Have you ever wondered about those dishes you serve your family's dinner in? I know I do. I started to become concerned last holiday season, when every time I turned around some other toy was being recalled for lead. All of them came from China. Suddenly, I started to realize that EVERYTHING in my house was made in China. Even the dishes. Which made me wonder - if the paint used on toys has lead in it, who is to say that the paint used on my DISHES wouldn't also be filled with lead? From that day on, I vowed to shop American whenever possible.

It occurred to me that this decision was good for me and my community in many ways. (1) I am supporting American jobs. (2) "Made in America" products travel a shorter distance to get to me, thus using less oil and energy. And (3) In my mind, fewer questionable substances.

My first block came when I tried to buy dishes for the family. I'm a fan of stoneware - good, hearty, use for everything, dishware. It TURNS OUT that it's very difficult (and very expensive) to find made-in-America stoneware. They're out there, I just can't afford them right now. It's not like I can run to any second-hand store either, as I said before, practically everything is made in China.

So, I turned away and stuck my head in the sand until I can afford them. Dejected, I ignored the dishes until I became aware of BPA and PVC. What are these? Well, substances found in certain plastics that will find their way into your food given the right circumstances. Substances that are found to bring less-than-desirable results to the human body. Basically, in my research I have found that anything besides a little recycle symbol with a 5 inside of it, means that your plastic is toxic. It's not quite that simple - or drastic, but if you do the research about it, you will find the same. If you don't know what I am talking about, look on the bottom of a plastic bowl. See a triangle made out of arrows? See that number inside? THAT'S the all-important number.

Now, here was my concern - I can't give my kids stoneware. They try to help (think Barney's "clean up, clean up!") Then they break. I need plastic for those occasions that the plate ends up the floor. So, I went to my cupboard to see what I had. Guess what I found? Lots of 7's and "made in China's. JOY. Out they went and in came a whole host of new products:

I now use PYREX glass bowls and (safe) plastic lids for food storage. Did you know that PYREX was made in the USA? I happened to get a great deal on Amazon.com over the Memorial Day Weekend.

I bought plastic plates, bowls, and cups for the kids at Publix. Arrow Plastics are made in Illinois, and sold in a few places. One being Walmart. Another being our local grocery store.

I purchased us all new water bottles from Kleen Kanteen. Made with stainless steel, I don't worry about the affects of plastic or aluminum. They also have a safe plastic sippy attachment for your kiddos.

For lunches, I am investing in the lunchbox bento for my entire family. I bought one for my husband to use this summer, and try out. So far, so good. So long cheapie lunch bags, plastic bags, and juice boxes!

Since I am doing away with excess plastic, I also went ahead and purchased some new bags for my produce. A user of reusable grocery bags, I thought it was so stupid that I brought home plastic with my produce. So, I went ahead and replaced those too. I have yet to use them (got them last week, just after I made our weekly run). They seem simple enough , and I love how the set comes with items meant to keep my produce fresh longer. Less waste is green too!

So, those are the steps we've made as of late. "Being green" is one of those things that you can't ever be "good enough" at. Recently, at my evaluation, my principal asked me what areas I could improve. I included lesson plans and parent contacts as mine - because those are two things that we can NEVER be "good enough" at. There's always some new way to teach something, and there's always a parent that could be called for a situation. Being green is the same. There's always some way that I could do with less, make more out of something already useful, or advocate for world change.

To your right, under green living, is the soft landing blog. That site taught me a great deal about how to best protect my family from unwittingly given chemicals in their food. I also wanted to give you a few more "food for thought" websites and online stores:

- Not Made In China: A blog that discusses toys that are made and not made overseas.

- Still made in the USA: Products and goods made in the USA.

- Reusablebags.com: A GREAT all-in-one store for green goods. I recently purchased my reusable produce bags, Kleen Kanteens, and Laptop Lunch Box all from this online store.

These all deal with how we store and eat our foods, as well with buying American. Tomorrow, I will "school y'all" (yes, that's a southern phrase) on the actual foods.

Hollee, Meal Planner Extrordinnare!

Well, it's been a crazy little bit round here. I'm trying to get all my "chores" done today so I can relax tomorrow and enjoy mother's day. My husband brought me home a beautiful bouquet of flowers, so I want to make sure everything around it looks just as beautiful. Anyhow, some stuff went on last night that delayed my grocery run to this morning, which delayed the outlet mall run for a couple of hours. Got it all in, starting the laundry, and I will do my weekly "zone" of cleaning. I've "invented" a new process of cleaning my house that (I hope) will serve well. If everything goes as I see it, you can expect a post within the next couple of months about my process.

In the mean time - today's post is about meal planning and grocery shopping. I said I would do it, so now I am. I know, I know - I need to get more food (and pictures) up. I will, I promise. In the mean time, I want to share a few day-to-day tips as well.

Every week, on Thursday, my local grocer (Publix) releases their ads. Now, those in Florida will likely argue that Publix is the most expensive grocer. While it does cost more than say, Walmart...it is not unbearably expensive. And, if you shop the sales it is quite affordable. I am very brand specific in a lot of areas, so for me - I know when the sales go. When the sales go, I stock up.

On Thursday evening or Friday afternoon, I start my list. It begins with a list of sale items from the circular that I find online. This week they had lots of berries and citrus on sale. They also had tomatoes, broccoli, Kraft shredded cheese (some now made with milk from hormone-free beef!), and organic romaine lettuce. I also make notes about the items I purchase that don't go into meals, like this week that includes Mott's Apple Juice (BOGO), Post cereal (BOGO), and Nature's Own Organic bread (again, BOGO - and no high fructose corn syrup).

With my "ingredient" list, I head to AllRecipes.com where I begin to search recipes. It wasn't a great week for sales, so I couldn't really get too creative with my weekly menu. In fact, I don't think I'm trying anything new this week:

Friday: I was planning on making Nachos, but didn't make it out to the store. I just made Guacamole instead.

Saturday: Caprese salad (tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, EVOO, and balsamic vinegar), corn (from last week), and some bread in the bread maker.

Sunday: OUT for mother's day!

Monday: Fried rice

Tuesday: Fresh Salad

Wednesday: Hungarian Lesco

Thursday: Broccoli & pasta in a light lemon and garlic sauce with pine nuts and goat cheese crumbled in.

You can see that I really attempted to utilize whatever vegetable and fruit was on sale that week. I have friends that do monthly meal planning, and that doesn't go for me as we use lots of fruits and vegetables in our meals. Come a week later, some of the less hearty veggies and fruits are done for. Its' about all we can do to get through a week!

When I've figured out my menu, I take that and my list of sale items, and put it all into one list. I try to keep the items in categories in the order I go to the store. I keep my list in a very small (4 by 6) notebook, with a pocket in the front cover for coupons.

Anyhow, since i do the meal planning anyway - I will be putting that up on my blog. I'm finding that many have an interest in this, and maybe one of my meals might help peeps in the same area.

Now, off to clean.

Mama said there'd be days like this.

There are two main ways for the frugal cook to save a buck. These are the stockpile and meal planning methods. Of course, there is a third option of starvation - but this is a FOOD blog so let's not go there, okay?

The stockpile method involves buying hefty amounts of on sale ingredients all at once, so as to have a sort of "grocery store" right in your own home. Meal planning involves making a menu for a specified amount of time, and then shop only according to those needs. I happen to do a mixture of both these - and I will walk y'all through the entire process later this week.

However, even with my meal planning extraordinaire skills, it will happen that I run out of meals for the week. In the present case, it's because I (a) failed to plan that the tomatoes purchased Thursday might not make it to Tuesday (I will only eat very fresh tomatoes) and (b) forgot to get cabbage for the Moroccan Stew. SO, that left me with a hungry husband and no dinner.

Oh dear.

This is when having a firm grasp in the culinary saves the day.

I had some cilantro lime rice, green peppers, and corn on the cob that needed consuming before they went bad. I had some onions, pita pockets, mayo, and cheese that didn't need consumption - but were available for my use. So, I whipped up some quick fajita veggies with some lime juice, cumin, onions, peppers, and salt. I boiled up the corn, and nuked some cheese inside the pitas. Then I stuffed each pita with a teaspoon of mayo, rice, and topped with vegetables. Corn was on the side.

It was wonderful!

The mathematician in me takes great pleasure in creating something out of nothing. It's like a giant puzzle that only I can find the answer to.

What puzzle lives in YOUR pantry?

Ah...relief...

This time of the school year is just a DRUDGERY. We have 6 weeks left, and it seems like a zillion miles away. I only have one day off and two half days between now and the sweet, sweet, summer. I know I'll get there - but after weeks like this it seems like I might not.

Anyhow, took a break from everything yesterday to celebrate the return of Grey's Anatomy. Yay.

Today, it is meal planning. I still have two from last week that I never quite got to, so I will incorporate them somehow into the coming week.

At my grocer, there are baby portobello mushrooms (a vegetarian's dream), tomatoes, blueberries, and strawberries on sale. So, I found a few interesting ideas on the cooking bible. I usually fall back on my Vegetarianism for Students cookbook. It has a great, simple, recipe for shrooms in gravy over rice, pasta, or couscous. Wanted to go for something different though.

I'm going to make some blueberry muffins out of my Deceptively Delicious cookbook, a Strawberry Pie, and probably some homemade tomato soup for the freezer. It's a nice thing to defrost and eat. Red potatoes are also on sale, so I printed a couple of ideas to doctor them up too. It's smart to stock up and cook on things that are reduced in price? Why pay full price for tomato soup when I have the craving? I can buy it now, make it, and simply defrost when the yen hits.

Anyhow, I will do my darndest to actually get some pictures on this blog. Eesh. Starting to look a little bare!

The cost of good health.

And no, I'm not speaking of health care.

I just read a really fantastic article about the costs of food increasing and how it is changing the ways families shop. It really hit home with some of the things that we've been struggling with lately.

In our house, I am the "kitchen boss" and J is "money man." I used to do all the money, but it turns out I can't say, "no." So, now J gets this job. Have I mentioned how much he LOVES it?

One constant bone of contention is the food budget. Now, J knows that I work really hard to keep this down. I shop sales, I use coupons religiously, and I comparison shop where possible. Part of the problem is that I live in a medium sized town with small town amenities. We are a fast growing county, and developers can't keep up. I refuse to go to certain stores because the crowds are just unbearable. Still, I go cheap where possible, and I go sales in all the other places. The Internet certainly helps.

The problem comes out in the fact that we refuse to eat crap. I have this mentality that I would rather not eat anything at all, if my only choice is something that has no redeeming value. It either has to taste AMAZING or I know it has to be good for me and tastes pretty darn good. In other words, I can't remember the last time I bought ramen.

We buy organic for the dirty dozen and dairy, and natural in most other places. We have a few indulgences (mostly kid stuff), and eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Mainly, I refuse to feed the kids anything that I can't pronounce. At least I refuse 90% of the time. Yes, we hit McDonald's. The kids love it, and it's a good treat no more than once a month. As are a few other terrible items that have been known to make it in our cart. So sue me for spoiling my kids a little.

But still, it kills me how much it costs to eat well. I spend insane amounts on food and household items. All because I want to raise my kids in a clean home with natural foods, the way God intended. It boggles my mind that it takes two average incomes in our house to be able to meet our dietary and chemical expectations.

Truthfully, I could write a book about my opinions on the American diet, its ramifications on our health, and how I would like to change things for the better. Alas, I have not the attention for a book. Besides, it's already been written. It's just up to us to read the information, and realize that you have one life and one body.