Wishing For Pine Needles

Flour Sack Tuesday - Eating from the Pantry

With a multi-state move on the horizon, my grocery shopping habits taken a slight turn.  I am no longer stockpiling.  (Packing and moving boxes of can and dry goods across several states does not sound fun to me!)

Instead, I have set a goal for myself to cook from our pantry and freezer in order to use up every food item here that we possibly can.  The trick to this, I am convinced, is being organized in the kitchen and intentional about meal planning.  This, admittedly, has never been a strength of mine.  In the past, I have relied on my mind alone to scrape together meals and remember what we have on hand.  But, oh my!  Four kids and many commitments later my poor mind can't quite hold it all together anymore.

So, after an evening with a cookbook and a spreadsheet, my first written meal plan was born.  It's not fancy by any means, but it's organized in a way that is useful to me.

This week, the meals I've chosen all come from Healthy Meals for Less by Jonni McCoy.  I've had this cookbook for a couple of years and have had success with the recipes.  They are easy and economical, and there is a "crock-pot" section which is especially helpful during this season of busy evenings.

After choosing the meals based on what I already had in my pantry or freezer, I was amazed at how little I needed at the grocery store for the week!  In fact, after shopping at two different stores, our weekly grocery total came to just $58.19!

The Costco trip came to $29.00 even, and even included more than a week's worth of Special K with Strawberries. (It's our favorite, so when Costco has a coupon for it we can't resist buying it up!)

The Kroger trip came to $31.19.  This trip really contains exactly what we need for meals this week, however, I did buy Pampers baby wipes that I got for about $1.00 per pack (it's a three-pack package) because it was clearanced and I had a good coupon.  I also picked up a few things to put in my girls' lunches, all with coupons.

Next week my goal is to bring it down even lower...anything under $58.19 and more gone from our freezer and pantry will be an accomplishment!

October Grocery Challenge - Final Update

In the midst of Lena's arrival, I've realized that I never posted a final update to the October Grocery Challenge!  (My challenge posts are here and here.)  Although I had much fun trying to maintain a $400/month budget, I must admit that it does not seem completely realistic for our family of five (now six!)

We ended up spending $435.45 for the month which was actually quite close to our goal.  But the catch is that after the 19th, we spent no money at the grocery store thanks to the hospitality of friends and family who brought meals and groceries while I gratefully rested up with our new babe.

Some ways to "trim" the monthly grocery store budget that I would like to try include....

• Couponing even more!
• Purchasing meat from a farmer in large quantities
• Re-joining our CSA
• Baking, baking and more baking
• Trying out Once A Month cooking

Do you have any grocery-store trimming suggestions?

Happy Monday to You!

 

Flour Sack Monday: October Grocery Challenge 2

Joining up with Heather again for the October Grocery Challenge!  (And might I emphasize the word 'challenge...')

Things are different here right now.  With a baby due any minute, cooking and managing the kitchen just isn't as appealing.  I'm afraid my mismanagement has led my poor husband to the store on a couple different occasions to "pick up" this or that.  He's always happy to do it and I love him for it!  But I'm afraid it does lead to a little bleeding in our budget because, you see, he always manages to also "pick up" several items that weren't necessarily on the list.  Hmmmm.

All that being said, we did manage to meet two of the three goals I set last week....

Banana bread was made!

Applesauce was made!

(Sadly, the pesto did not get made.)

Using up fruits and vegetables that are on the way to rotting is one of my favorite ways to elongate their life while providing yummy treats for us here.  I have learned that things don't have to be made in huge batches, either.  Although it's nice to do so, it's also nice to use up what you just happen to have leftover.  Peeling a couple pounds of apples doesn't take that much time! 

Even two loaves of banana bread and one-and-a-half jars of applesauce will provide breakfast and lunch for a few days.

As of last week, we had already spent $307.36, leaving us with $92.64 for the month of October.  My husband's two grocery trip added up to $54.27.

This leaves us only $38.37 for the remainder of the month!  Somehow, I don't think we'll make our original $400 goal, but we'll still try our best.

We have, however, already been delivered some 'baby meals,' which is fantastic considering our baby hasn't been born yet.  (Aren't my friends wonderful?!)  These delicious meals not only are a true blessing and a treat, but they also may help that $38.37 stretch just a little bit further.

Oh, and I almost forgot.  Make that $33.37 that we have left.  I must include the $5 to my friend for a jar of her amazing maple syrup that she and her husband tap themselves.

(Totally worth it!!)

Anyone else want to share their October grocery stories?

 

 

Flour Sack Monday: October Grocery Challenge

For the remainder of the month, I will be joining Heather at Beauty That Moves in a grocery challenge.  Heather's challenge to herself is to spend as little as possible while making it as "whole food" as possible and to move away from living off of what is already in the pantry. 

Here, that won't be entirely the case.  While I do strive to cook with many fresh ingredients, I also rely on what is in my pantry and the stockpile of food items that I have built up.  And although we eat as organically as we can, I'll be the first to admit that not everything we consume is of the "whole" foods variety.

Heather has set a $400 budget for her family and I plan to try that, too.  In the past we've combined all household/personal/pet expenses in the monthly gorcery budget, but for the purposes of this challenge I plan to separate that out and just report on the actual cost of the food we buy.

So....drum roll....so far we've spent $307.36.  Wow.  I suppose the good news for us is that I have already purchased meat for the month, so the rest of my budget will mainly be for produce and dairy.  Only $92.64 left.  Think I can make it?

Some goals for the week:

-To make pesto with this lovely basil before it wilts up....

and to serve my family some homemade applesauce and fresh banana bread!

Anyone in interested in joining in?

Flour Sack Monday: Couponing - A Family Affair

Ah, couponing.  Time-consuming and tedious, but always worth the effort at the check-out lane.  Want to make it more fun?  Involve your kids!

Take, for instance, Saturday morning.  I am sitting at the table with my oldest daughter while we sort through coupons.  She weeds out the expired ones while I organize the new.

Since we women love to chat while we work...while our hands are busy....we did just that.  We spent this time talking about her.  This sweet girl who so patiently waits her turn while we take care of the younger ones finally got some time to talk about whatever is on her growing-up mind.  (She's becoming quite a special young lady, might I add!)

A lovely morning together.  Just she and I.  And many, many coupons.

 
 
 

Flour Sack Monday: Weekend Meal Planning - Morning Cooking!

Weekend meal planning is the hardest for me.  Full Saturdays, spent either working or playing, usually mean dinner hours that come so quickly that I have barely given them a second thought.  And this often means scrambling to find leftovers, order pizza, or even serve the occasional bowl of cereal or Nutella sandwich.  Ahem.

One way I have battled my trend of "reactive" weekend dinners on the fly is to prepare them right after breakfast before any other part of our day begins.

If dinner is made in the morning, I feel a true sense of weekend freedom.  We can leave for an entire Saturday outing knowing we will come home to a warm, home-cooked meal that is all ready!  This little act of preparedness pushes time constraints out the window all while eliminating the temptation to order out and spend unnecessary money just because "there's nothing to eat."

This is also true for Saturdays spent at home cleaning, working on a project or just hanging out in the yard.  Knowing I won't have to stop what I'm doing to make dinner is well worth a little extra morning kitchen time.

Likewise, making dinner before church on Sunday gives us a hot mid-day meal when we return home and opens up the day to rest, work on hobbies, attend the evening service and enjoy uninterrupted time spent together.

Soups, chili, bread machines and crock-pot recipes work fabulous for this, by the way!

(In summary, it's much more fun to be off doing this.....

....knowing we have this to come home to!)

What kind of weekend meal planning tips do you have?

Happy Monday to You!

Flour Sack Monday: Unique and Affordable Storage

Most of us, kids or no kids, probably have a constant need to organize.  Belongings pile up no matter how hard we try to de-clutter by donating, giving away, shredding, or even throwing away (*gasp*) things that are no longer useful to us.  

Because of this seemingly constant need I have to regroup and sort through our things, I am often on the look-out for new and creative ways to store them.  Space is becoming more and more of a commodity around here and nothing helps to create a neat and even peaceful environment like a little purposeful organization.

On a recent and quite lovely day out with a friend, I picked up this cute little side table for $8.99 at a thrift store. 

Yes, $8.99!  Now granted, it needs a little refinishing work done on top, but nothing that I can't live with until I get around to it.

This little gem of a table has become a new addition to our family room as an end table, but more importantly as home to stacks (and stacks) of library books.

It's perfect, I tell you!

What are some clever and inexpensive ways you like to organize your home?

 

Flour Sack Monday: Making Do

Today I'd like to talk about ice.  Yep, frozen water that has become a necessary commodity in our sodas, smoothies, and coffees.  And I absolutely love it!  To me, there is little as refreshing as a tall glass of water filled with ice all the way up to the tippy top. 

In fact, I remember being mortified several years ago after a summer spent in Europe where all of my Diet Cokes were served sans ice.  I missed ice more that summer than any other American thing!

Fast forward to years later in my own home with my own automatic ice machine.  That lovely little invention that many of us have right in our very own freezers.  Like most other technology that makes simply exisiting super convenient, we took our trusty little ice machine for granted.

Until it broke.

After some research and a trip to a parts store, Dan found that replacing it would be several hundred dollars.  And painful as it was, we decided not to plunge that money into something that we could make ourselves for absolutely free.  The old-fashioned way.

(I must admit, we sometimes splurge on a big bag from the grocery store for a few dollars, especially for a mama who is very big and pregnant and who. wants. a. glass. of. ice. water. right. now. thank. you. very. much.)

So here, in the department of ice, we are making do.  Those lovely little chips of frozen water are just a bit more labor intensive for us.  And we live.  After all, it is just ice.

What are some things you "make do" with?

 

Flour Sack Tuesday: On Thrifting

Five Reasons Why We Thrift:

1.  It's fun!  We enjoy browsing through racks and shelves of interesting things that we would certainly not find at Target.  It's the honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned thrill of the hunt.

2.  We can still be picky.  When we go to a thrift store, I am quite choosy about what goes into the cart.  It can be tempting to buy something for 10¢ because, hey, it's 10¢, but I also don't want to add unnecessary clutter to our home.  We try to limit our purchases to what we truly need, with the occasional splurge on a home decor item, book or toy. 

3.  Brand names.  I admit, I am a brand-name junkie.  When we thrift,  I often find my favorite clothing brands that I buy for my family for pennies on the dollar.   In most cases, I would rather buy my favorite brands used than less desirable or unfamiliar brands new.  The selection of brands when thrifting is huge!

4.  Teachable moments.  I have been able to use our trips to the thrift store to show our children just how far a dollar can stretch.  I explain that we could either go to the mall and get 2 shirts for $30 (maybe!), or go to the thrift store and get 2 for $2.  A $28 savings is a fairly easy concept to understand, even at a young age.

5.  More for less.    You can still be just as well-dressed even if the clothes aren't brand new, and you're reusing and saving lots of money all at the same time!  Some thrift stores even offer coupons or discount days.  Our favorite store runs 25% off every Monday and 50% off on holiday Mondays.

One concept that we strive to implement more of in our family is to "buy used and save the difference." 

What are some things you buy used???

 

Flour Sack Tuesday: the Little Things

It's often the littlest things that make us smile the most....

....like bananas for 29¢ a pound and knowing fresh banana bread is right around the corner...

...cooler days and open windows...

...vintage linens from a friend who knows I just love them...

...thrifted books for 29¢ each...

...organized coupons...(finally!)....

...clean quilts drying in the sun...

...a screen door from a neighbor who didn't need it anymore after ours had broken...

...watching this boy kick his ball and feeling another babe kick inside my belly...

and feeling more and more blessed each day. 

Today, our thoughts and prayers go out to those in the East.