When I started the meal planning I was afraid it was going to be this huge, daunting thing. I was pleasantly surprised! It was a good month to start because we are leaving for Florida Friday so I had 1 less week that we needed to cook for. If I can do it for 3 weeks, why can't I do it for 4! I'm so happy that it went well.
I've been talking a lot about doing things to get less possessed food in our home. I'm really excited about this! I have been searching for things that we can make here at home like taco seasoning, cream of 'whatever' soup, ketchup, bread, granola bars etc. I'm slowly going to be rotating these things into our house - I don't want to take on too much too fast and the cost of ingredients can add up. I've really been doing a lot of homemade bread and I'm slowly getting the hang of it - any tips would be helpful! Part of my problem I think was using expired yeast, but it's all I had on hand this month. LUCKILY my hubby loves a good dense bread :) My attempt at pie crust was a success at least! I'll be making a homemade chicken pot pie this month for one night of dinner, and I'll be attempting homemade granola bars this month too.
Another thing I've decided to do it to make homemade cleaning supplies. Not only is it WAY cheaper, but way better for the home and the people in it. Store bought cleaners are very harsh and very dangerous if not properly stored when children are around. My husband is especially excited about this - he wants to be as natural as possible with the cleaners.
I'm also going to be making homemade laundry detergent! The website I found says you get 577 loads for $6.00 which is REALLY good! It's liquid (you can do dry instead if you want, but I like the liquid) and it supposedly cleans really well. I'm picky about detergent, so we will see.
In my kitchen, I am running out of storage when we go shopping all at once. My cupboards get REALLY full and I try to organize, but stuff still gets hidden. SO, with part of our tax return, we went to IKEA and got some really awesome shelves. We don't have room for them in the kitchen, so we put them in the guest bedroom, but they are going to be used to store excess food.
I know it may seem really weird to some people, but THIS; being a stay at home mom, is my dream job. I LOVE DOING THIS! I find myself being very excited about how I can help our family out. I get fulfillment cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, and especially with watching our son! I hope you all are able to find your dream job too :) (And I hope I can keep doing this!)
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
One Week into Meal planning
You've been dying to hear how we're doing, haven't you? I know you have. Well, I'm here to satisfy your curiosity!
Menu planning is going GREAT so far! It's only been a week, but I actually LOVE it. I'm serious. It seemed daunting at first but it really is wonderful to take all the guess work out of what we're eating each day. I used to cook based on what my husband or I were in the mood for, but now I find myself being in the mood for what we're making that day - we actually look forward to it! It takes some time figuring out what the plan will be, but I've made a list of all the meals I can think of (and I add to it as I find new ones) and then try to mix it up as much as possible while adding in the ones my hubby really loves or requests. When I first started the Menu, I just planned the main part, not the sides or veggies, but now I'm changing that and writing down exactly what we will eat. For example: Stuffed Chicken with craisins and baked green beans (this is one of our favorite meals and really easy!).
Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday night we go to the chiropractor right at 5 pm. These nights require meals that I can cook in the crock pot or that don't take long to put together because by the time we get home we're usually pretty hungry! I've made a list of the meals that work well for this and they are reserved for these days. Things like Pot roast, BBQ chicken, Soups, Grilled chicken, etc are all nice meals for these nights.
You may also be wondering how we are doing with what we spend each month! You aren't? Well...I will tell you anyways! When I keep track, it works out that our month starts on the 15th. That's when I go shopping so the menu starts then and goes til the 15th of the next month. The month obviously isn't over yet, but I've been keeping track of every purchase since February 1st just to get an idea of what we spend and how much of it is necessary.
You should be proud of me! I put my credit card in the freezer!! I put it in a bowl and filled the bowl with water and it is no longer usable until I chip all that ice away! (I saw this in a movie years ago and thought it was silly but it REALLY IS A GOOD IDEA!) Damon keeps the other copy in his wallet for emergencies, but he doesn't go out shopping (for food and household items) like I do. He doesn't get tempted like I do :) By just having the check card it really makes me think; DO WE REALLY NEED/HAVE MONEY FOR THIS!? Usually, the answer is a resounding NO!
How my grocery list works...Each day I look at my Menu and get the required food out to thaw. If I use the last of an item (example; bag of frozen mixed veggies) I put it on my grocery list. This does not mean I will buy it next month, it just lets me know that we are out and I need to get more. I technically make TWO lists each month. One is everything we don't have and the next is things from that list that we are going to use on the new month's menu.
Make sense so far?
I am kind of OCD and I categorize my lists. Meat, veggies, fruit, sides, grains, dairy, beans, seasonings, sauces/condiments and extras are BOLD so I can find them easier while I'm shopping and then underneath are the items that correspond to them.
Here's an example of what part of my list may look like:
DAIRY:
milk
butter
yogurt
sour cream
cheese
SIDES:
Soup Noodles
Rice A Roni
Au Gratin Potatoes
MEAT:
Chicken Breasts
Pork Roast
Ground Beef
Most of these items are in the same area of the grocery store so as I get each item I scratch it out. This makes it easy to see what I'm still in need of.
I have 3 different color highlighters that I use (I know--geeky, right?)
Yellow signifies things that can be frozen - this helps me to know amounts I can buy. If it can be frozen I can buy more of it without it spoiling before we use it.
BBQ Chicken in the Crock Pot:
-Chicken breasts (frozen is fine!) I have 6 in there right now because Damon likes these leftovers for work.
-BBQ Sauce - I use half of a large container of sweet baby rays - you can't really go wrong here.
-1/4 Brown Sugar
-1/4 Apple Cider Vinegar
-Crushed Red Pepper Flakes to taste
Mix BBQ, Brown Sugar, Vinegar and Red Pepper in bowl. Layer bottom of crock pot with chicken. Pour sauce over top of chicken. Cook on low 4-6 hours or until chicken is tender.
We eat the chicken breasts whole but you could easily shred the chicken and put it back in the sauce for 15 more minutes to make pulled chicken sandwiches.
We eat ours with Cheesy Broccoli Rice A Roni and then a veggie. I'm not kidding, it's so good you'll never cook it another way.
What's the other recipe, you ask?
It's pie crust! I got this recipe off of Pinterest last week because my dad wanted a fresh strawberry pie for his birthday! I could have easily gone and bought a pie crust, but I've been talking about trying stuff from scratch and why not try this? I've never made a homemade crust before, but this one seemed easy enough and it was! It just took a little bit of ahead of time planning because it has to sit in the freezer for a bit before you bake it.
Here it is:
Homemade Pie Crust for Sweet or Savory pies:
-1 1/2 c all purpose flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 vegetable shortening (I used great value brand crisco)
-1/4 butter (next time I make this I may try all butter - not sure what difference it would make)
-4-5 TBSP Ice Water (I actually ended up using 6 but I've read this could change every time you make it. Add little at a time and stop adding once it starts holding together)
Butter a 9" pie plate and set aside.
In a large bowl mix together salt and Flour
Cut in the butter and shortening with a pie cutter (I used 2 forks) until it looks like a coarse meal.
Slowly add in ice water (actually use ice in the water) and mix with a wooden spoon until a ball is formed.
Put dough between 2 sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap and gently roll out to size you need.
Transfer to pie plate.
Freeze for AT LEAST 30 minutes - or as long as overnight.
This recipe only makes ONE piece of crust so if you need a top, you should double it.
You can either bake it empty (make fork prints in it so that it doesn't bubble and so that it cooks evenly) or fill it with filling and then cook it.
Cook it at 425 until lightly browned.
I tried this recipe twice, once without freezing it. It was flakier when I froze it which I liked better, so I really recommend freezing it.
Also, the second time I tried it, I added a tsp of sugar to the dough and I liked that too.
This crust is good for savory or sweet pies - and everyone who ate it Sunday really liked it.
ENJOY :)
I hope you're not all totally bored by my posts and I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday :)
Menu planning is going GREAT so far! It's only been a week, but I actually LOVE it. I'm serious. It seemed daunting at first but it really is wonderful to take all the guess work out of what we're eating each day. I used to cook based on what my husband or I were in the mood for, but now I find myself being in the mood for what we're making that day - we actually look forward to it! It takes some time figuring out what the plan will be, but I've made a list of all the meals I can think of (and I add to it as I find new ones) and then try to mix it up as much as possible while adding in the ones my hubby really loves or requests. When I first started the Menu, I just planned the main part, not the sides or veggies, but now I'm changing that and writing down exactly what we will eat. For example: Stuffed Chicken with craisins and baked green beans (this is one of our favorite meals and really easy!).
Every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday night we go to the chiropractor right at 5 pm. These nights require meals that I can cook in the crock pot or that don't take long to put together because by the time we get home we're usually pretty hungry! I've made a list of the meals that work well for this and they are reserved for these days. Things like Pot roast, BBQ chicken, Soups, Grilled chicken, etc are all nice meals for these nights.
You may also be wondering how we are doing with what we spend each month! You aren't? Well...I will tell you anyways! When I keep track, it works out that our month starts on the 15th. That's when I go shopping so the menu starts then and goes til the 15th of the next month. The month obviously isn't over yet, but I've been keeping track of every purchase since February 1st just to get an idea of what we spend and how much of it is necessary.
You should be proud of me! I put my credit card in the freezer!! I put it in a bowl and filled the bowl with water and it is no longer usable until I chip all that ice away! (I saw this in a movie years ago and thought it was silly but it REALLY IS A GOOD IDEA!) Damon keeps the other copy in his wallet for emergencies, but he doesn't go out shopping (for food and household items) like I do. He doesn't get tempted like I do :) By just having the check card it really makes me think; DO WE REALLY NEED/HAVE MONEY FOR THIS!? Usually, the answer is a resounding NO!
How my grocery list works...Each day I look at my Menu and get the required food out to thaw. If I use the last of an item (example; bag of frozen mixed veggies) I put it on my grocery list. This does not mean I will buy it next month, it just lets me know that we are out and I need to get more. I technically make TWO lists each month. One is everything we don't have and the next is things from that list that we are going to use on the new month's menu.
Make sense so far?
I am kind of OCD and I categorize my lists. Meat, veggies, fruit, sides, grains, dairy, beans, seasonings, sauces/condiments and extras are BOLD so I can find them easier while I'm shopping and then underneath are the items that correspond to them.
Here's an example of what part of my list may look like:
DAIRY:
milk
yogurt
sour cream
cheese
SIDES:
Soup Noodles
Au Gratin Potatoes
MEAT:
Pork Roast
Ground Beef
Most of these items are in the same area of the grocery store so as I get each item I scratch it out. This makes it easy to see what I'm still in need of.
I have 3 different color highlighters that I use (I know--geeky, right?)
Yellow signifies things that can be frozen - this helps me to know amounts I can buy. If it can be frozen I can buy more of it without it spoiling before we use it.
Green lets me know what store I'm buying
it from. If it's green it means I get it from Aldi. It means it is cheaper than
if I got it at Walmart without sacrificing good flavor or quality. Every penny
counts, right? For example, buying "hint of lime chips" at Aldi are
$3 cheaper than buying name brand at Walmart! That's a BIG difference! Although
Aldi has good deals, I do not buy certain produce or meat from them - I've
found bone fragments in ground beef and the produce doesn't seem very fresh to
me..
Orange means that we are out of the item but don't necessarily need it because it's not on our menu for the month. If I have it highlighted in orange, I only buy it if we have enough extra in the budget. If we don't need it and don't have the money, we don't buy it.
OK, enough about the menu planning, you want to know what I've been cooking, don't you?!
I've been busy and don't really have time to share it all with you (sorry, I do have a 3 month old baby remember?!) but I will share 2 recipes today :)
The first one is so yummy! This recipe is on our menu for today - and probably will be in each month at least once, if not more. It's the BEST bbq chicken I have ever had and ever made and it's so easy.
Here it is..are you ready for this? My house smells so good right now!
BBQ Chicken in the Crock Pot:
-Chicken breasts (frozen is fine!) I have 6 in there right now because Damon likes these leftovers for work. -BBQ Sauce - I use half of a large container of sweet baby rays - you can't really go wrong here.
-1/4 Brown Sugar
-1/4 Apple Cider Vinegar
-Crushed Red Pepper Flakes to taste
Mix BBQ, Brown Sugar, Vinegar and Red Pepper in bowl. Layer bottom of crock pot with chicken. Pour sauce over top of chicken. Cook on low 4-6 hours or until chicken is tender.
We eat the chicken breasts whole but you could easily shred the chicken and put it back in the sauce for 15 more minutes to make pulled chicken sandwiches.
We eat ours with Cheesy Broccoli Rice A Roni and then a veggie. I'm not kidding, it's so good you'll never cook it another way.
What's the other recipe, you ask?
It's pie crust! I got this recipe off of Pinterest last week because my dad wanted a fresh strawberry pie for his birthday! I could have easily gone and bought a pie crust, but I've been talking about trying stuff from scratch and why not try this? I've never made a homemade crust before, but this one seemed easy enough and it was! It just took a little bit of ahead of time planning because it has to sit in the freezer for a bit before you bake it.
Here it is:
Homemade Pie Crust for Sweet or Savory pies:
-1 1/2 c all purpose flour
-1/2 tsp salt -1/4 vegetable shortening (I used great value brand crisco)
-1/4 butter (next time I make this I may try all butter - not sure what difference it would make)
-4-5 TBSP Ice Water (I actually ended up using 6 but I've read this could change every time you make it. Add little at a time and stop adding once it starts holding together)
Butter a 9" pie plate and set aside.
In a large bowl mix together salt and Flour
Cut in the butter and shortening with a pie cutter (I used 2 forks) until it looks like a coarse meal.
Slowly add in ice water (actually use ice in the water) and mix with a wooden spoon until a ball is formed.
Put dough between 2 sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap and gently roll out to size you need.
Transfer to pie plate.
Freeze for AT LEAST 30 minutes - or as long as overnight.
This recipe only makes ONE piece of crust so if you need a top, you should double it.
You can either bake it empty (make fork prints in it so that it doesn't bubble and so that it cooks evenly) or fill it with filling and then cook it.
Cook it at 425 until lightly browned.
I tried this recipe twice, once without freezing it. It was flakier when I froze it which I liked better, so I really recommend freezing it.
Also, the second time I tried it, I added a tsp of sugar to the dough and I liked that too.
This crust is good for savory or sweet pies - and everyone who ate it Sunday really liked it.
ENJOY :)
I hope you're not all totally bored by my posts and I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday :)
Friday, February 15, 2013
Shopping Day
Shopping day is like Christmas for me. I don't get to go shop for clothes and fun stuff for the house whenever I get the shopping urge because we are trying to spend less money. I shop for groceries once a month on the 15th. I enjoy the challenge of seeing how much stuff I can get without breaking the budget we have set. Today my sister went with me to help push the second cart (Yes, the second cart!) My groceries took up one cart and all the household things like toilet paper, paper towels, pet food, wipes, shampoo, brita filters, diapers etc were all in the second cart. Whew!
You may ask "How can you shop only once a month!? What about produce!?" Well, I make a monthly menu and the things like Fajitas that have fresh peppers in them get cooked at the beginning of the month and other things that can be frozen get cooked at the end of the month. Make sense? Now, I've been buying once a month and freezing stuff for a while now but this is the first month I've tried a menu and specifically shopped to feed us for the month. Things like onions, bread, milk, butter, frozen veggies, flour tortillas, meat, cheese, all gets frozen until we want to eat it.
When I got home I had to split the ground beef into smaller bags (it was 5 lbs but I put it into 6 bags...we usually don't need a whole pound of meat). I also put tortillas into separate bags, 8 tortillas to a bag and then froze them. THEN I cut up all the onions until I was in tears and put those in a bag to freeze as well. My friend Liz gave me this idea -and it's genius! I have many meals that require one onion but I rarely have them on hand because they go bad. This does not work well for if you're sauteing onions though - that is better left to fresh ones so those meals are made early in the month. Other things like pot roast can use the frozen ones!
Now, this is the first time I've done a monthly menu and it may seem a little daunting but I'm actually pretty excited to do it. I have a few meals on it that are freezable (i.e. lasagna, enchiladas, chili, pizza [we buy pre made pizza crusts with sauce and freeze that and then just add the cheese. Cheaper than frozen pizzas and WAY better], etc) so while Damon is working tomorrow I'm going to be cooking. I'm going to make these meals ahead of time and freeze them so if there is a night when I'm sick or have no energy to cook, I can just pull them out and bake them! Then I'll just trade the meal I had originally planned for the night when I'd had the frozen meal. Easy Peasy :) I'll have one day of a lot of work and then I'll just be prepared.
check back with me in a few weeks, I hope I'm still as happy!
OK on another not budgeting note, Liam is 3 1/2 months old! He's getting so big and he is so smart! Being a wife and mom is so fulfilling! I've never been so happy.
I am so blessed!
You may ask "How can you shop only once a month!? What about produce!?" Well, I make a monthly menu and the things like Fajitas that have fresh peppers in them get cooked at the beginning of the month and other things that can be frozen get cooked at the end of the month. Make sense? Now, I've been buying once a month and freezing stuff for a while now but this is the first month I've tried a menu and specifically shopped to feed us for the month. Things like onions, bread, milk, butter, frozen veggies, flour tortillas, meat, cheese, all gets frozen until we want to eat it.
When I got home I had to split the ground beef into smaller bags (it was 5 lbs but I put it into 6 bags...we usually don't need a whole pound of meat). I also put tortillas into separate bags, 8 tortillas to a bag and then froze them. THEN I cut up all the onions until I was in tears and put those in a bag to freeze as well. My friend Liz gave me this idea -and it's genius! I have many meals that require one onion but I rarely have them on hand because they go bad. This does not work well for if you're sauteing onions though - that is better left to fresh ones so those meals are made early in the month. Other things like pot roast can use the frozen ones!
Now, this is the first time I've done a monthly menu and it may seem a little daunting but I'm actually pretty excited to do it. I have a few meals on it that are freezable (i.e. lasagna, enchiladas, chili, pizza [we buy pre made pizza crusts with sauce and freeze that and then just add the cheese. Cheaper than frozen pizzas and WAY better], etc) so while Damon is working tomorrow I'm going to be cooking. I'm going to make these meals ahead of time and freeze them so if there is a night when I'm sick or have no energy to cook, I can just pull them out and bake them! Then I'll just trade the meal I had originally planned for the night when I'd had the frozen meal. Easy Peasy :) I'll have one day of a lot of work and then I'll just be prepared.
check back with me in a few weeks, I hope I'm still as happy!
OK on another not budgeting note, Liam is 3 1/2 months old! He's getting so big and he is so smart! Being a wife and mom is so fulfilling! I've never been so happy.
I am so blessed!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Finances
DISCLAIMER: This is a hard subject to talk about, but I only am getting through tight finances because other people had the guts to share their situations and ideas with me. I hope this can be a help for other people, and I'm willing to hear ideas and support from people too. This is just planning, I will fill you in as time goes by! Please do not judge me or my family for what I share in this post. I am NOT asking for financial help in any way - please do not take it as a plea for help.
Damon and I have had some tight times lately since Liam has arrived. We knew it would be hard financially once Liam was born, but I'm a worrier and I feel like that's all I do lately! Since I'm not working, it has been a day to day, paycheck to paycheck sort of situation. It seems like things keep happening to set us back a step and we haven't been able to save anything in a while. You know the saying, "When it rains, it pours." Seems like that's our life right now!
Finances are one of the biggest stressers in a marriage and it's something I've always worried about (even though the Bible says to trust...[Prov 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart..] and [Jer 29:11 "I know the plans I have for you says the Lord.."] It's an every day battle for me to give it up to Him). I don't want my marriage to suffer because of it so I'm doing what I can to save every penny we can.
I'm looking for a nanny job so that I can bring Liam too, but it's been slow going. (I had something all lined up but after a week she decided to drop out of school so I lost that opportunity. Bummer.)
Thankfully, with the help of family, our baby purchases were kept to a minimum! YAY! We really saved money by accepting what people gave us at our shower and by finding everything else at thrift stores/sales. Before Liam was here I worked up a list of what we would need and the prices for them (Target & Walmart) and it added up to about $1,400. We didn't have that much to spend and I started getting scared (of course)! WELL, I needn't have worried because I didn't get a single thing I didn't ask for off of our registry (we received probably 70% of the list!).
We also were given boxes and boxes of baby clothes! Liam is 3 months old now and to this day I have spent a total of $12 on clothing him! (I had to get summer clothes for when we are in Florida in March.) For my birthday and Christmas I asked for needed things like diapers, wipes, baby monitor, etc. We were able to stock up on diapers up to size 2 with gift cards. Things you want just don't take precedence anymore when you have a baby and tight finances!
Another thing that threw us off track with saving was Liam wasn't breast feeding so I had to pump and then I wasn't producing enough milk so I had to supplement with formula which is EXPENSIVE! The blessing in that is we realized that he was intolerant to my milk and his colic went away on formula. (see earlier post Colic)
This is where I hope people don't judge; Because our income is so low, and since I didn't have health insurance when I became pregnant, we qualified for Badger Care and WIC. I know a lot of people don't appreciate people who are on this, and they think that everyone using Government help are slackers, but we really are trying and do work hard. Because we have Badger Care, our hospital bills were completely paid for. This is such a blessing because if I didn't qualify, I would have tried a home birth to save money. As a result, I would have needed an emergency ride to the hospital because Liam was delivered by emergency c-section. (see earlier post Liam Anthony Petras) Without help, we would be in debt up to our eyeballs. I'm so thankful that those who need it have help. Our family realizes what a gift that is and we do not take it for granted.
Even with help, things are very tight. SO instead of sitting on my butt and worrying about everything, I've decided to do something about it! Since I haven't been working, I've been doing all I can to try to help us save money and to spend wisely. Damon works about 26 hours a week but his job isn't offering any more hours right now. My job as his help-meet is to do what I can to stretch what we are earning.
I've done a little research and as a result have decided a few things. Here's my list of ideas:
Our shopping day is the 15th of every month since that's the day we get our Foodshare, so our menu month starts then.
I've created a meal plan going from February 15-March 15. We will be on a family vacation from March 8-17. Our family is responsible for one meal while we are down there - I did not make a list for that. I also have not made a list for snacks on the road but we will be bringing all our food instead of purchasing from fast food and gas stations. (we are driving straight through-24ish hours)
here is the menu I created:
-I am going to keep track (starting Feb 15) with how often we go through things like toothpaste, dog and cat food, diapers, wipes, toilet paper, etc so that we can budget for those things every month.
-I will also keep track of gas and how often we fill up/how many gallons we use so that we can budget that as well.
Stay posted for how things are going!
Damon and I have had some tight times lately since Liam has arrived. We knew it would be hard financially once Liam was born, but I'm a worrier and I feel like that's all I do lately! Since I'm not working, it has been a day to day, paycheck to paycheck sort of situation. It seems like things keep happening to set us back a step and we haven't been able to save anything in a while. You know the saying, "When it rains, it pours." Seems like that's our life right now!
Finances are one of the biggest stressers in a marriage and it's something I've always worried about (even though the Bible says to trust...[Prov 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart..] and [Jer 29:11 "I know the plans I have for you says the Lord.."] It's an every day battle for me to give it up to Him). I don't want my marriage to suffer because of it so I'm doing what I can to save every penny we can.
I'm looking for a nanny job so that I can bring Liam too, but it's been slow going. (I had something all lined up but after a week she decided to drop out of school so I lost that opportunity. Bummer.)
Thankfully, with the help of family, our baby purchases were kept to a minimum! YAY! We really saved money by accepting what people gave us at our shower and by finding everything else at thrift stores/sales. Before Liam was here I worked up a list of what we would need and the prices for them (Target & Walmart) and it added up to about $1,400. We didn't have that much to spend and I started getting scared (of course)! WELL, I needn't have worried because I didn't get a single thing I didn't ask for off of our registry (we received probably 70% of the list!).
We also were given boxes and boxes of baby clothes! Liam is 3 months old now and to this day I have spent a total of $12 on clothing him! (I had to get summer clothes for when we are in Florida in March.) For my birthday and Christmas I asked for needed things like diapers, wipes, baby monitor, etc. We were able to stock up on diapers up to size 2 with gift cards. Things you want just don't take precedence anymore when you have a baby and tight finances!
Another thing that threw us off track with saving was Liam wasn't breast feeding so I had to pump and then I wasn't producing enough milk so I had to supplement with formula which is EXPENSIVE! The blessing in that is we realized that he was intolerant to my milk and his colic went away on formula. (see earlier post Colic)
This is where I hope people don't judge; Because our income is so low, and since I didn't have health insurance when I became pregnant, we qualified for Badger Care and WIC. I know a lot of people don't appreciate people who are on this, and they think that everyone using Government help are slackers, but we really are trying and do work hard. Because we have Badger Care, our hospital bills were completely paid for. This is such a blessing because if I didn't qualify, I would have tried a home birth to save money. As a result, I would have needed an emergency ride to the hospital because Liam was delivered by emergency c-section. (see earlier post Liam Anthony Petras) Without help, we would be in debt up to our eyeballs. I'm so thankful that those who need it have help. Our family realizes what a gift that is and we do not take it for granted.
Even with help, things are very tight. SO instead of sitting on my butt and worrying about everything, I've decided to do something about it! Since I haven't been working, I've been doing all I can to try to help us save money and to spend wisely. Damon works about 26 hours a week but his job isn't offering any more hours right now. My job as his help-meet is to do what I can to stretch what we are earning.
I've done a little research and as a result have decided a few things. Here's my list of ideas:
1. Meals:
A. Create
a Weekly Menu ONE month in advance so I know what to shop for when I do the
monthly grocery shopping. This will help to avoid random purchases.
B. Make
meals in advance and freeze them for days when I don’t feel like cooking.
C. Plan
to cook enough so that there are leftovers for Damon to bring to work for lunch
so that he doesn't have to stop at the Gas Station before work.
D. Make
homemade as much as possible.
2. Groceries,
paper items, and clothes:
A. Use
cash as much as possible. Especially for things like clothes and groceries.
B. Buy
clothes at thrift stores like Goodwill and Savers. Avoid buying full cost
ANYTHING.
C. Buy
groceries when on sale. Even if it means going to different grocery stores.
Compare prices: using Sam’s club for staples and Aldi and Walmart as much as
possible for everything else.
D. Buy
groceries only ONCE a month. This saves on extra shopping trips and random spur
of the moment purchases.
E. Freeze
as much as possible so it lasts as long as possible: Milk, juice, onions,
cheese, veggies, fruit, bread, meat, etc.
F. Buy
paper items like paper towels and toilet paper in bulk – use off brands as much
as possible.
G. Deodorant,
shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, face wash, moisturizer, razors,
etc all should be bought when on sale and only as needed. Sticking with a
certain brand isn’t necessary. Whatever is cheapest is best – except deodorant.
H. Use
coupons but remember that off-brands sometimes have better deals than coupons. Remember,
Walmart has price match!
I. Use
as much “free” meat as possible. (Venison and fish) Buy in bulk, repackage and
freeze all others.
3. Pets:
A. FIND
COUPONS when purchasing pet food
B. Budget
vet bills – at this point we can kind of know when they are needed.
C. Cat
food is cheapest I can find, but may need to downgrade dog food.
D. Figure
out how long the food lasts so that we can budget it.
E. Ration
when we buy bones for them or get bones that last a long time.
F. We plan to breed Denali and Gambell. Up front there will be vet bills while she's pregnant and we need to budget for these, but we will make good money on the puppies since they're pure bred. We need to be prepared for consequences of all puppies not selling and must take that into consideration before breeding. (Anyone want a pup!? LOL)
4. Debt:
A. Pay
off Credit Card and then forget about it.
B. Use
Auto Pay whenever possible so payments don’t get missed.
C. Get
OUT of DEBT (This is most important right now)
a. Pay
off bigger debt first so interest doesn’t build up.
D. Going
out to eat, new clothes, and driving distances to see family are not needs,
they are EXTRAS and should not be bought until bills are paid off each month.
a. Only go out to eat when coupons are available.
E. If
we don’t have money, we don’t buy it. Credit card is not considered money.
F. If
we don’t have enough money to pay the bills we may need to cancel things (like
cable, Netflix, chiropractor)
G. Because
we owe family money: IE- we owe Beth and Kevin rent and a car payment and Kim a
cell phone payment- that does not mean we don’t have to pay on time just
because they’re family. These things come before extras.
H. Set
aside any extra money for savings. We should decide our goal increase per
month.
I. Start
a savings account for Liam and put money in it every month. Even $10 is good.
J. Do
not go into debt for household things like couches and tables. Save up for them
and use cash. (Or credit ONLY to be paid off right away)
Here is the grocery list:
MENU:
-I shop once a month only for the meals planned and the allotted snacks (for days Damon works).
-Meals are marked in Yellow.
-I can prepare some of these and freeze them as close to the 15th as possible (Lasagna, Enchiladas, etc) so if I am tired and don't feel like cooking I can just trade meals without going totally astray of my menu.
-We have chiropractor appointments 3 days a week at 5 pm- they are marked in orange. Those days will need faster meals or meals that can be prepared ahead of time in the crock pot.
-Every other Wed we go to a friend's house for dinner and then the opposite week they come to our house so we plan for 4 people those nights instead of 2. These even out since every other week I don't have to prepare food at all.
-I usually make more food than one meal so that Damon can bring leftovers for lunches.
-We will be gone March 8-17th so I don't have to plan meals for those days and I will not be shopping on March 15th but on March 18th. (this is an exception)
LIST:
-On the grocery list freezable items are marked in Green - I buy more of these at one time.
-WIC items have a star by them
-Each item has a number by it telling you how many of each I need
-When I shop Feb 15 I will be marking what each item costs so that I can have an idea of price per item for every month so I can get as close to budget as possible.
This endeavor is going to take a lot of time and energy but in the long run it will be worth it and I think it will save money. I used to shop once a month but would not have ideas for meals and would just randomly buy things that were running low in the house. If I wanted a meal that I didn't have everything for, I would run to the grocery (usually mega because it was close) and spend more money when I could have just made something I had in the house.
Things like clothes and eating out will be on hold until we can get on track. When we are able to buy these things again, they will be second hand clothes and eating out will only happen when we have coupons.
Damon's grandma Cleaver got us kleenex, toilet paper, and paper towels for our first anniversary (paper anniversary!) and we haven't had to buy any of these things since October! It has really been a big help :)
Eventually things like this will be added to the list again.
-I am going to keep track (starting Feb 15) with how often we go through things like toothpaste, dog and cat food, diapers, wipes, toilet paper, etc so that we can budget for those things every month.
-I will also keep track of gas and how often we fill up/how many gallons we use so that we can budget that as well.
Stay posted for how things are going!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Chicken Noodle Soup
I've had so much fun cooking lately. We're trying to buy less processed things because first of all, they're really expensive, and second, they're really not that good for you. As a result, I'm cooking more from scratch. It's a lot of work, but it's been really rewarding. Not only has it been keeping me busy while I'm not working, but Damon's really enjoyed eating it :)
Tonight (well actually, I started it last night) we had homemade chicken soup! It's my sister Taylor's recipe, and it was SO YUMMY! And fairly easy.
A few weeks ago I made a chicken. After I made it, Damon picked all the extra chicken off of it that we didn't eat, and I froze that and the bones. I had used a recipe online that turned out really yummy and juicy.
Last night we got home from family night and I pulled out the bones and put them in the crock pot. I just covered the bones with cool water and let it sit on low all night long til about 1 this afternoon (must cook it at least 8 hours). I seasoned it last night, but this being my first time making soup I went on the safe side and didn't salt it enough (we found out when we sat down to eat it tonight) I put in lowry's, salt, pepper, oregano and basil.
By the time we woke up this morning the house smelled amazing! I let the broth cool for about an hour and then strained it into a pot using a thin kitchen towel (I didn't have cheesecloth). I chopped up fresh carrots and celery and put that and the leftover shredded chicken in the pot on the stove along with some barley.
Now, you could totally do it with noodles but we thought the barley might be a little better for us, and we both love it. Next time I will probably add more. I cooked that for about 2 hours til the veggies were soft and the barley was done. We both added a little salt to our bowls, but it was so delish and easy that I will definitely do it this way again!
Here you can see the broth after I strained it but before the veggies >
Fresh veggies and the chicken I froze! ^
The veggies in the
3 tsp salt
The recipe calls for an egg white wash but I used butter instead. Bake at 400 degrees
for 17-20 minutes.
The bread was delish but next time I may use less wheat flour.
I hope these recipes are helpful to all of you. I really urge you to try the soup. It's not as hard as it sounds and it's so good.
Tonight (well actually, I started it last night) we had homemade chicken soup! It's my sister Taylor's recipe, and it was SO YUMMY! And fairly easy.
A few weeks ago I made a chicken. After I made it, Damon picked all the extra chicken off of it that we didn't eat, and I froze that and the bones. I had used a recipe online that turned out really yummy and juicy.
Last night we got home from family night and I pulled out the bones and put them in the crock pot. I just covered the bones with cool water and let it sit on low all night long til about 1 this afternoon (must cook it at least 8 hours). I seasoned it last night, but this being my first time making soup I went on the safe side and didn't salt it enough (we found out when we sat down to eat it tonight) I put in lowry's, salt, pepper, oregano and basil.
By the time we woke up this morning the house smelled amazing! I let the broth cool for about an hour and then strained it into a pot using a thin kitchen towel (I didn't have cheesecloth). I chopped up fresh carrots and celery and put that and the leftover shredded chicken in the pot on the stove along with some barley.
Now, you could totally do it with noodles but we thought the barley might be a little better for us, and we both love it. Next time I will probably add more. I cooked that for about 2 hours til the veggies were soft and the barley was done. We both added a little salt to our bowls, but it was so delish and easy that I will definitely do it this way again!
Here you can see the broth after I strained it but before the veggies >
The veggies in the
broth as it's
cooking >
<The finished
product!
I'm also making Amish bread too, but I didn't get started soon enough so we aren't having it for dinner, but for more of an after dinner snack :) It was really easy, and even if you're not a big bread maker you could make this.
What you'll need for the bread:
4 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp Butter
3 tsp salt
1 1/2 C hot water
2 Tbsp rapid rise yeast
5 C flour
Put all ingredients but the flour into the mixer (I used my kitchenAid) and let it sit for a few minutes so the yeast can start to work. Add the flour in small batches (I used half wheat, half white) and mix with a dough hook for 8-10 minutes. Remove and place in a bowl that has been greased. Let it rise for 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size. Pinch down and divide into 2 round loaves and place on a greased cookie sheet. cut slits on top and let rise again.
The recipe calls for an egg white wash but I used butter instead. Bake at 400 degreesfor 17-20 minutes.
The bread was delish but next time I may use less wheat flour.
I hope these recipes are helpful to all of you. I really urge you to try the soup. It's not as hard as it sounds and it's so good.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Cooking
Lately, money here has been a little tight with me not working. As a result, I've been very careful when grocery shopping that we have good meals planned and that we aren't going out to eat very much at all (even though we love it). I try to shop only once a month (usually the 15th) and it really does take a little planning but this month we are doing very good! I've been taking some pictures of the meals I've been cooking because I wanted to share with all of you! Now, most of the meals I've been trying recently I've gotten off of Pinterest (a very cool website where you can pin other website links all to one place) but some are tried and true recipes I got from my mom.
Last week we invited my sister Taylor and her hubby Jon over for dinner because we wanted to ask them if they would be guardians of Liam (and any future children we may have) if something were to happen to Damon and me (heaven forbid). They said yes! SO for the occasion, I made a double batch of Broccoli Cheese Soup and I made it from scratch :) I made 3 loaves of Beer Bread to go along with it. We had some beer on hand that hadn't been finished, and were both craving bread. It was SO easy! Even my sister Katie could make it! We had had some beer in the fridge that was going to get skunky if we didn't use it, so the bread was a perfect remedy. We didn't eat all of the bread of course, so I brought some to my parents house when we went for dinner Sunday and Mom made homemade bean soup with ham in it - which I will have to try to cook on my own. It's very delicious. Here are the directions for my soup and bread: Remember I doubled the soup and froze some for another day.
Broccoli Cheese Soup
1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 medium chopped onion
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half cream
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb fresh broccoli
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 cup carrot, chopped small
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 oz grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Saute onion in butter. Set aside.
2. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and add the half and half.
3. add the chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes
4. add the broccoli, carrots, onions and chicken. cook over low heat 20-25 minutes.
5. add salt and pepper. Can be pureed in a blender but I didn't do that. Return to heat and add cheese. Stir in nutmeg.
Beer Bread Recipe
yields 1 loaf
3 cups bread flour (all purpose works too, I used half wheat half white)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
12 oz can or bottle of beer (Choose your favorite, I used MGD)
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter, melted.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Pour in beer and mix until just incorporated. Spread batter evenly in prepared baking pan. pour melted butter over top of dough.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the top is browned. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Broccoli Cheese Soup
1/2 medium chopped onion
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half cream
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb fresh broccoli
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 cup carrot, chopped small
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 oz grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Saute onion in butter. Set aside.
2. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and add the half and half.
3. add the chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes
4. add the broccoli, carrots, onions and chicken. cook over low heat 20-25 minutes.
5. add salt and pepper. Can be pureed in a blender but I didn't do that. Return to heat and add cheese. Stir in nutmeg.
Beer Bread Recipe
yields 1 loaf
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
12 oz can or bottle of beer (Choose your favorite, I used MGD)
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter, melted.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Pour in beer and mix until just incorporated. Spread batter evenly in prepared baking pan. pour melted butter over top of dough.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the top is browned. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Tonight for dinner I also made a pot roast. It's one of our favorite meals and since we were given a deer by Damon's dad and Elaine, it's a very cheap meal for us but still very hearty and tasty! (with lots of leftovers for Damon's lunches at work)
Pot Roast
1 round or steak roast (I used venison, but beef or pork works too)
1 bag of baby carrots (or whatever cut your heart desires)
desired amount of potatoes chopped into small chunks (I didn't use them this time)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
one packet of dry onion soup mix
teriyaki sauce to taste
1-2 cups of any kind of wine (red port works best but I've also used whites-tonight I used white)
I don't really measure anything...you can't really go wrong. If you like more gravy, use more wine and maybe another can of soup.
Put roast in a medium sized crock. Top with onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, teriyaki sauce and wine. Pour veggies over top of that. Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 4 hours. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. If I don't have carrots or potatoes I'll make instant mashed potatoes and put frozen peas in them (which I always have) and then serve the roast on top of that. It works in a pinch and is just as yummy.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
Using cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly) Spoon tsp of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter and gently swirl with toothpick. Sprinkle streusel evenly over muffins.
As for Liam, he's 2 months old now! He's smiling and mimicking and growing like a weed :) My heart melts when he looks at me and it's such a blessing being his mommy!
Pot Roast
1 round or steak roast (I used venison, but beef or pork works too)
1 bag of baby carrots (or whatever cut your heart desires)
desired amount of potatoes chopped into small chunks (I didn't use them this time)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
one packet of dry onion soup mix
teriyaki sauce to taste
1-2 cups of any kind of wine (red port works best but I've also used whites-tonight I used white)
I don't really measure anything...you can't really go wrong. If you like more gravy, use more wine and maybe another can of soup.
I also made blueberry muffins for breakfast tomorrow! I got this recipe from Pinterest as well, and Damon tried one already and said they were great. Even the batter is really delicious but has raw egg. Here is that recipe:
Blueberry Muffins
Streusel Topping
5 Tbsp Butter, softened
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/3 c flour or until crumbles are pea sized
Muffins
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 1/8 cup plus 1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp water
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup veggie oil
1 cup buttermilk (I didn't have this and used half and half instead)
2 tsp vanilla
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
Prepare standard muffin tins with nonstick spray or liners. Bring 1 cup blueberries, water, and 1 tsp sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing the berries with fork several times and stirring frequently until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced by half. this will take about 6 minutes. Let cool.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)
Using cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly) Spoon tsp of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter and gently swirl with toothpick. Sprinkle streusel evenly over muffins.
Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm. 17-19 minutes. Cool in muffin tin 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack and cool.
Again, I got the bread, soup and muffin recipies on Pinterest and they're all under my recipe board. I will continue to try to keep you all posted about what's cooking :)
Denali and Gambell think they are his babysitters, how funny is that! :)
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