Ten convenience foods that are cheaper and better at home.

1. Garlic bread. I bought a loaf of french bread for a dollar. How much cheaper would it be if I made my own bread from scratch? I added my own butter, garlic whizzed up in the Magic Bullet and parsley flakes. Cheap and cheerful.

2. Chicken wrap snackers/burritos Try saying that ten times fast. They sell these for two bucks each, but I am sure they could be made a lot cheaper than that at home with grocery store stuff. Imagine with homemade tortillas! Dried beans!

3. Pad Thai. This is essentially a stir fry. Make it at home and eat it with chopsticks.

4. Pizza. I can make gourmet pizza for about half the price of so-so take out pizza, even when I cheat and buy the crust already made.

5. Popcorn/chips Buy a case of microwave popcorn and don't bother with the greasy stuff at the movie theatre. Or better yet, pop from bulk kernels. I always burn it, so I have quit doing this. Try caramel popcorn or marshmallow popcorn for a treat. Buy a big bag of chips and bag them up in snack bags for lunches. I get multi grain rounds and pack a bit of salsa with them. Yum.

6. Chili. I just made a vat of chili for 30-40 people for about .40 a serving at my aunt's party. Seriously, why would I want to pay $4 for a little bowl?

7. Chai tea lattes/espresso. Five bucks a cup?? Puhleese. It's tea/coffee and milk. Enough said.

8. Granola. Oh so freakin' cheap to make at home, plus you know what is in it and you can make a basic one and add other ingredients to your bowl at breakfast. I love this for summer, saves on commercial cereal costs.

9. Yogurt. Again, I love this in the summer for smoothies, baking and breakfast.

10. Jello/ pudding. Buy some containers and pack your own from a big bowl. You get more at lunch and it's cheaper.

Spring Cleaning and Menu Plan

Using the spring cleaning checklist from Cents to get Debt Free as a guide, I began my two day whirlwind cleaning spree. It's taken me much of the first day on the kitchen, but I hope the other chores won't be as time consuming.

Here's my list for Day One (today)

Kitchen:

Wash Dishes-done

Deep Clean Stove-done

Wash out Fridge-done

Sweep and scrub floors-done

Wipe down cupboards and counters-done

Run empty dishwasher with vinegar-done

Garbage/recycling-done

Living room:

P/U garbage and clutter-done

Dust-done

Sweep-done and mop vacuum

Clean sliding glass door

Febreze

Entry way:

Vac and mop

tidy closet (did a major closet overhaul recently so this should be easy)

wash mirror doors

Laundry area:

Vacuum around machines

Mop

Tidy cleaning supplies-done

Wipe down machines

Run washer on empty with vinegar-done

Bathroom #1

Clean organize-done

Menu Plan:

Monday:

Pinto Bean and rice soup (kitchen sink soup)

Cheddar cheese biscuits

Tuesday:

Frittatas and home fries

Wednesday:

Seafood linguine

Green salad

Thursday:

Pizza night.

Friday:

Homemade chili and cornbread for my aunty's party

Saturday :

At my Aunty's Birthday Party outta town wooot!!! Party food!

Sunday:

Leftovers/Soup and sandwiches

You can call me Alvin

I'm a chipmunk, hoarding my nuts for the winter. I can not rearrange my freezer anymore as it is now stuffed. I have reached the point where I must eat all the food, I absolutely cannot buy anymore. This gives me such a satisfying feeling. The minute the weather cools off I seem to get into this frenzy of storing food. I come by it honestly. You see, my relatives are hoarders. Not in the extreme sense where you can't see over our piles of newspapers or anything. We just like to keep stuff. Lots of stuff. The more the better, really. You never know when you might need it! Remember my zippers?

I only keep the most recent two newspapers tops. Otherwise my husband will have a conniption fit. He thinks I must be afraid of starvation or natural disaster. Maybe that is true, but it doesn't come firsthand. This fear was bred into me, I think, from my ancestors. I am of Irish descent, after all.

I also did some baking today, using the same recipe booklet as the banana bread. (In other words, I kind of made things up as I went along.) I made two different kinds of muffins; carrot-pineapple and apple-cranberry-lemon, as well as a zucchini bread. The latter was a huge recipe, it filled my 9x13 pan. I am taking all it to the relatives so they can eat it on Saturday. By then, all the flavours should be just right.

I also finished my menu plan and ordered my first Good Food Box. It will arrive in a couple weeks. I can't wait to see all the fresh goodies from local farms. The price was so reasonable, and I can never seem to get to the farmer's market. I have been meaning to do this for over a year, so I am glad I finally got off my butt and did it.

I am looking forward to the long weekend, but with a smidgen of sadness because after that, summer will truly be over. It's a good thing I love the autumn so much.

We all knew it couldn't last forever

Time sure flies when you're having fun and we've been having our share of it. Now, as the end of summer draws near, I am beginning to look forward to the upcoming autumn and thinking of some goals I would like to set for myself and my family. I wrote previously about beginning to prepare for Christmas and gathering supplies for Halloween.

As for the return of pencils, books and teacher's dirty looks, this reality is beginning to dawn on me as never before. I have purchased the school supplies and there they sit, in the same plastic bag as the day they were bought and plunked unceremoniously on the floor. At some point they will need to be opened, labelled and utilized. My child will need to be reigned in from weeks of late nights, unkempt hair and face washing being deemed optional. Popsicles can no longer pass as a snack. We need routine. In my realization of the impending end of our party time, I sent out a family memo. It read something to the effect of : Summer's almost over! Clean up your own damn messes, you hillbillies! I am not your maid! and so on...The memo, which was read in my absence and was left with sticky Popsicle fingerprints on it, was met with, well... apathy, frankly, but thankfully, no resistance. It was a response something along the lines of; "Meh." Some half hearted attempts have even been made to 1) aim, 2) put the lid down and 3) flush. For these things I am grateful. And yet, I yearn for more. It is my hope to reinstate some kind of order to this household, starting with good short haircuts all around. Well, not for me. I am not that militant. With proper menu planning, chore charts, budgeting and regular family meetings, we will begin to have some structure security, and less panic and low blood sugar at supper time.

These are not new concepts for us. I think the key will be consistency. I have learned much from my fellow bloggers and I continue with the heart of a new student to receive and pass on information I gather and what is useful to me. I will renew and redouble my efforts, taking what I have learned and putting more theories into practice.

Here are my 5 goals for the week:

1)Begin to pack away/donate some of the summer clothes

2) Make yogurt, fruit lax, muffins

3)Write up agenda for family meeting

4)Fill out chore charts

5)Make up a menu plan for September

Menu Plan and Deal of the Day

This goofy grin is proof that $1.49 can make you deleriously happy. That is how much I paid for the lovely salmon coloured pashmina I am modelling for you today. I have had many compliments and envious glances while I wear it and to me, it truly shouts, "Spring is here!'
But enough about me. I had planned on posting a photo of tonight's dinner, which, in my cheeky way, I had named, "White Trash Chinese Food". It was your standard handful of this and that vegetable with last night's rice, stir fried with soy sauce and a little bit of love. I had begun spinning out the details of my witty prose in my head and had just taken a stunning photo and was about to upload it when, alas, my camera batteries had other ideas. They unceremoniously died. One of the drawbacks of being cheap is that I always wait until I am utterly without one. single. battery. left in the house before I pony up the cash for more, therefore, all the battery power I wasted taking vain photos of my self in a pashmina could have been used for bloggy zucchini and last night's rice. Oh well.
Here's what we are supposed to be eating this week. This doesn't always go to plan, but at least I try.
Monday-toast, pastrami sandwiches and orange slices, supposed to be Tacos (substituted White Trash Chinese Food, I am so not in the mood for ground beef) yay! Meatless Menu Plan Monday! Except I didn't plan it. Oh well.
Tuesday, PB baked oatmeal (never got to this last week), egg salad, Fish and potato
Wednesday, yogurt smoothies, toast, Irish stew.
Thursday, pancakes, leftovers, Tacos
Friday, cereal, tunafish and crackers, HM pizza
Saturday, froot loops, yes, froot loops. soup and san, leftovers.
Sunday Pork roast and potatoes

Wish me luck. I'll need it.

Menu Plan Monday

I am trying to get back into the menu planning more regularly again.

Here's what we'll (hopefully) be eating this week.

Monday:

Pancakes, orange wedges

Leftover mac and cheese

Meatloaf and potatoes

Tuesday:

Cereal

tom soup and grilled cheese

Chicken and rice and beans

Wednesday:

french toast

leftovers

sausage peas and pasta

Thursday:

PB baked oatmeal

chicken salad san

crustless ham quiche

Friday:

yogurt, fruit, toast

egg salad san, celery with cream cheese

HM pizza

Sat:

Free choice

Leftovers

HM bread (?)

Sun:

Cereal

veg soup

Chili or stew in the crockpot

Gobble Gobble.

Well, Christmas is finished for another year. Thank goodness! We had a wonderful time and I hope you all did as well. Now it is time to put it all away and get back to real life. After I have a few more days of rest, of course. After all of the eating and cooking and merry making, I am exhausted! We stayed home this year, no travel, just the three of us and had a quiet Christmas at home. But that didn't seem to make it any less hectic. There were several parties and last minute things that still had to be done before the big day. Presently, my turkey carcass is boiling down for turkey soup stock and I have two turkey casseroles in the freezer ready to heat and eat. I also made turkey salad sandwich filling with my new food processor. Turkey is versatile, delicious and a great source of lean protein. It is also fairly inexpensive this time of year, so even though we are a small family, we stuck to tradition and my husband went all out with a grand turkey feast on Christmas day while I was at work. I came home to a fabulous feast! I gladly helped with the clean up and took charge of the leftovers. First thing, I layered them into casserole dishes and popped them in the freezer along with the potatoes and gravy. Presto, two heat and eat meals ready for a busy work night. I had a coupon for $15 off this year, so we got a decent size turkey under budget. We'll have a ham for the New Year. No reason to pare down the festive feast when the leftovers, if taken care of properly, make things easier in the weeks to come. For the ham, I will shred the leftover for easy casseroles and freeze it in bags. Besides, I want to show my son that traditions can still be upheld, even if we are a family of three. I like cooking ahead, it makes things so much easier. I know that we can pull something out of the freezer and eat it with a minimal fuss and it makes resisting takeout even easier, especially since home made tastes so much better and we control the quality and portion sizes.
With all that turkey, I think I need another nap.
Do you have any great turkey recipes? Ideas for leftovers? Feel free to let us know!

Beans, beans the magical fruit...

I am really into beans and legumes lately. They are so economical, make a meal stretch beyond any normal limit and can be seasoned as desired. I usually use dried beans, because they are so cheap and can be stored indefinitely. It has taken me some research and patience on how to incorporate them into my meal planning but it has been worth it. There is something so comforting about a warm, filling meal made with beans. Beans very nutritious and fiber-filled to boot! The most recent things I have made with beans are a split yellow pea and ham soup and burritos. Both turned out fantastically well, if I do say so myself and made enough for me to stock up in the freezer for those I-don't-wanna-cook days. For example, I used up the leftover cubes of ham from a shoulder picnic we bought on sale and a pound of split yellow peas and it made almost a gallon of delicious soup! I could feed an army with that! My best trick is to soak, soak, soak, those beans the night before, preferably, and rinse away the soak water. Then bring to a boil, season and simmer one hour or until tender. If foam bubbles up, skim it away; that to me, is the fart gas. Some people add baking soda to help this, but I worry that it might add a yucky taste to your beans. Add more liquid if you need to. You can then freeze for later use or use in your bean dish. I also find, as in the burritos, pureeing the beans a bit with the other ingredients, or slow cooking until quite broken down in the soup, seems to help with the, uh, flatulence. Although in my house, this is regarded as nothing more than humorous! (Ha ha, bean farts :) Not so good for work and school though...) I used up leftovers for my burritos, so no real recipe to speak of; a half a tomato here, a frozen bunch of tomatoes I saved from another dish, a half onion, a dried bit of garlic, the meat and the beans. I let it all simmer away until it was nicely cooked through and reduced the liquid content. Then I pureed it all in the pot with my hand blender. With the seasonings, (chili powder, garlic and onion salt, whatever I had on hand) the filling turned out very good. This method would also be delicious with some ground round if you prefer a non-meat alternative. Very economical, a few tablespoons in a tortilla, (or maybe even homemade naan bread), fills you up nicely once you add the cheese and salsa and whatever else you like. I had more than enough to put some away and I only used a half pound each of meat and beans. Cheap and delicious, that's what I'm talkin' about!

Hello August

Just got back from two nights in the tent. What a fun time we had with our friends, eating out of a cooler and making coffee on our propane stove. I love camping! It's the ultimate frugal family fun. It is a little tougher to stick to a tight budget, though. As much as I love camp food, with the province wide fire ban, we could not cook on an open fire. This meant that one lunch was Subway sandwiches and I was OK with that. It was so hot, and I just couldn't face a can of ravioli so I certainly did not mind paying for a little convenience. I bought one fountain drink and filled it up again using the ice to cool my own lukewarm canned pop. That was my friend's smart idea. We shopped as we went, not wanting to have too many leftovers to store in the cooler. Most of our snacks were fresh cherries, apples and water. We also had some hummus, pita, baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. I love summer! We visited a friend's property and my son "stole" some just-about ripe apricots from the tree. He carried them to us in a makeshift pouch from his turned up T-shirt. I bit into one and a bug came burrowing out. I screamed and threw it on the ground. Apparently, that was very entertaining to him. He told everyone we met the story of my apricot. Ah, good times. Now that we are home and I have my loads of campy laundry going and washed all the dust out of my hair, I almost feel human again. I planned the menu for the whole month of August using my recipe box, and a cookbook I have from Better Homes and Gardens called Low Cost Cooking. Yes, this book was purchased from the thrift store. Where else? I have had it since I moved out on my own and I highly recommend it for cheap, healthy meals to feed a family. I'm glad to be back at home. Nothing like two dusty nights on an air mattress sleeping to the peaceful sounds of dogs barking, babies crying and generators running RV air conditioning to make you appreciate the luxuries of creature comfort.

Glad I was only twenty minutes from home!

Menu Plan and the Husband seal of approval

I planned another menu for the upcoming week and THEN made a grocery list. I write my menu on a wipeboard, so I can and do change it depending on sales, work schedules and the "ugh, no I'm not having meatloaf tonight" factor. So far, though, it has only been a matter of switching nights and shuffling a bit, mostly due to the Man. I struggled with trying to get him on board without being a nasty harpy. In theory, he agrees with me 100% that we need to get on a proper budget and save and pay down debt, but he also thinks I take this frugality thing a little too far sometimes. (He saw my post on HM pads and shook his head, I was just proving that I COULD do it if I wanted to or had to! Sheesh!!) He could be right, I do like to do things to the extreme and that is why it is good to talk about these things and come to a compromise. Also, what's good for me isn't always what is right for him. All I can do is try to persuade him of MY way, hehe... For example, if we don't get cable, we can buy more DVDs and CDs. This soothes him, a little. It can be very difficult. I don't want to be known as the Budget Police, so I am very concious not to nag about what he buys, whether or not he idles the van in the parking lot (grr) or other things that perhaps I wouldn't do the same way. If I do, he will just rebel and and then where we all be? We'd be with a brand new 42 inch plasma TV on the credit card, that's where. We both realize we have made some financial blunders in the past and are going to try and diligently get ourselves back on track. We are beginning to talk about our goals and what we want to save for and why we should track our expenses. He still giving me his receipts and writing down everything he buys, (even candy, ha ha). I am lucky to have a guy who happily does his share of the cooking and cleaning and child rearing. Otherwise I would not be able to juggle everything on my own, or at least it would be a lot more difficult, not to mention more expensive!

I'm writing that down so everyone who might read this (even though they pretend not to) knows I appreciate my husband very much.

I love you sweetheart.

Here is what we are eating this week:

Sunday: Seafood pasta and salad, (his specialty)

Monday: Roast or Turkey or ham dinner (whatever is the best price)

Tuesday: Chicken and rice and carrots

Wednesday: Macaroni Salad and Cold deli plate (I'm working)

Thursday: Pate Chinois (ground beef, gravy, corn and mashed potato casserole)

Friday: BBQ steak and potatoes and salad

Saturday: use up Leftovers, free for all