Week 36

Week 36
9/23/12

Ground beef 3.63
Flour tortillas 2.29
Half and half 1.89
Milk 1.99
Radishes .89
Avocado 1.99
Cane sugar 3.11
Bread 1.99
Cantaloupe 2.02
Eggs 1.69
Cheese 7.99
Lindt chocolates (2) .78
Kale 1.49
Apples 2.20
Potatoes 1.06
Cottage cheese 1.35
Total 36.36

Yogurt .79
Tax .06
Total .85

Total 37.21


I see the mayor of Phoenix gave this budget a shot and lost 4 pounds. Interesting. He got by on ramen noodles, pasta and coffee. If someone is going to try this for a week, why not give it their all; do some research and find the best deals; go to the market with a list and look for a food co-op. Why not try and help out a little. Nope, a budget this tight is not particularly fun, but it is totally do-able and really, quite frankly, nothing to whine about.

I freely admit, I am flexible, but at the end of the year I will have stayed well with and below my budget - including my little indulgences at the bakery next door. Preparing most everything from scratch is a must, but a loaf of bread doesn't hurt my budget when it's too hot or I don't have time to bake. (And, yes I am over-budget this week - but, watch when I post the spreadsheet).

I'm here to help. I am not about to say it's impossible or a horrible experience. It is neither. It's totally do-able and it has been a great learning experience. As far as buying food on this budget, it is actually, just fine. The things I'd buy more of to cook more of are items not particularly needed: spices, flavorings, cooking with alcohol, expensive nuts and oils. All of these things I am able make do with inexpensively or do without because I would rather have real food. But, quite honestly, I'm doing fine. And, I'm a real person, with a M-F, 8-5 job. Last year I had horrible ups and downs with jobs, and it was not the first time in my life. When I write on this blog, I truly write from my heart and honest to goodness experience. No joke. No experiment. Just one year of living within my means, and, I am sure it will be continued since this experience has been so valuable to me.

I'm here to simply say: Make it work. Learn. Use your kitchen to cook real whole foods, and keep that knowledge forever. This is real life, people, and, real life is not just a weekly experiment.

There's a lot of people in this boat. We can learn, grow and move on taking valuable knowledge with us.

~Julie

Week 35

Week 35
9/16/12

Half and half 1.89
Milk 2.49
Crisco oil 3.99
Ground beef 3.66
Carrots .77
Tomatoes .74
Avocados (2) 2.98
Pinto beans 2.18
Granola 1.94
Cottage cheese 1.35
Peanut butter 1.98
Bananas 1.01
Peaches 2.09
Eggplant .99

Total 28.06

A while back, I bought some graham flour - I was just intrigued by it. I've used it a lot; banana bread and a plain loaf cake, pancakes and even added it to regular bread. It's not expensive; I think it was less than 3.00 for the package by Bob's Red Mill, one of my favorite companies. For pancakes this flour was amazing, sort of like whole wheat pastry flour but with more texture served hot with butter and honey, it was heaven. I just used a very basic recipe and used half all-purpose flour and half graham flour. Don't be afraid to experiment a little (I know this can be a tough subject when on a tight budget), especially with whole grains and whole grain flour.

Last week, I got 2 cookies from the bakery next door - this is going to have to stop. It cuts into my food budget and although they are really good, it's not wise. I'm going to have to make some at home. This is a real life project and I want to be able to share when real life happens to me and how I handle it on my budget. They will be posted as expenses for last week on my spreadsheet -- eek.

I've got zucchini and spaghetti squash almost ready in my garden. I have to say, my garden, was not all that helpful with my budget - although I have had beans, peas, some lettuce and will soon have zucchini and spaghetti squash - it takes some time and experience in the garden to actually do well. The idea of grouping really appeals to me. A salsa garden with tomatoes, peppers garlic and onion, cilantro - maybe all in one whiskey barrel and/or a marinara garden with tomatoes, parsley, basil, rosemary, and thyme. One thing is absolutely certain: next year it is going to be about the tomatoes! Just give me fresh tomatoes of every color, shape and size!

I have a much better idea of what I want to grow next year and the steps to take and the areas of my yard to grow in. I was not at all familiar with this yard when I started the garden, so I now have that knowledge for next year.

My rosemary has grown quite a bit. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs. I love the smell. I think pretty soon, I'll make a loaf of bread with it and some plain muffins with some chopped fresh rosemary. What's left, I will dry for the winter, but, on the other hand I've sort of been tossing around the idea of transplanting it to a large pot to keep in the house for winter. I wonder if this would work.

I think I want to make eggplant parmesan....that sounds really good right now.

~Julie

Take A Look In The Mirror

We have to learn to be more self-reliant. It is so, so important that this is a priority.

In our daily lives living well means living well simply. Getting rid of complicated products and learning simple tasks.

I am not talking about ridding processed food or ready-made things from our lives altogether; I am simply talking about being capable and knowing how to be more self-reliant by knowing how to cook from whole foods.

Being able to bake a loaf of bread.
Being able to think ahead and stocking up.
Being able to go into the market and buy whole foods rather than processed, prepared foods.
Being able to use your kitchen to its full capabilities for the well-being - the nourishment for body and soul - of your family.
Being able to think in an organized way about your family's meals.
Being able to set a budget and follow it, stick to it.

This is not about becoming Little House on the Prairie. It is about becoming more participant in our lives and more self-reliant when it comes to meals.
It is about self-reflection; knowing the needs of your family. Through self-reflection, understanding your family's needs and being able to meet them with a self-reliant, hands-on 'I'm there. I can do it attitude'.

Simple home cooked food.

Whether we want to think about it or not; Our lives start at home with the food we eat. Our mornings, noons and nights for our children and ourselves - our life is created by these rituals.

More and more children are getting breakfast at school, lunch at school, snacks at school! This is meal time, this is how these children, our children - our future generations are being raised. Not with table manners at home - but in benches. I know and understand that these children are hungry and need good nutritional meals - but how are we as parents working to turn this around? Are we going to be able to say 'I raised my child. I made sure he ate a good home cooked meal - cooked by me at least twice a day. I made sure he chewed with his mouth closed and told me about his day. I made sure I knew what he liked didn't like. I was the one who told him to try new things - at least a bite before he could say he didn't like it. Note here: I have one son, so I tend to lean on he rather than she.

How are we going to bond with our children and build our families if not through cooking food and eating our meals together?

Inspired Home Cooking is a lot about the philosophy of what we cook and eat and how we do that within our budget. Our perspective of home cooking from a hands-on working and doing it point of view as it is woven into our daily lives as real people with real jobs and children and chores and relationships and bills to pay. How does home cooking become a priority in our life? We have to make it that way.

What in the hell is our society going to look like in ten or twenty years with a whole generation of children who were raised on meals prepared by strangers and eaten outside the home? Meals are the basic foundation of family.

I needed to hand out the mirrors today. I needed to share what I have been thinking about. I know jobs are hard to come by, I am right there with you. I know feeding a family is stressful and getting help through schools takes a lot of stress off of us - trust me I can speak from experience.

I know our children need to have nutritious meals, but, I would much rather know that a child was given breakfast and dinner by a parent, no matter how stressful the situation. We are raising our children, who one day will be people, and we want them to be responsible, caring adults with self-respect and respect for others. How can we give them this unless we interact with them in the most basic form.

Look in the mirror and study your life as it is now. Maybe there is not a whole lot you can do - it's temporary. But, could you with the simple act of cooking your family's meals make your world a better place?

~Julie

Week 34

Week 34
9/9/12

Eggs 1.69
Milk 1.99
Half and half 1.89
Uncle Sam cereal 3.49
Oatmeal 1.63
Peaches 2.00
Cane sugar, bulk 1.63
Yams 1.82
Tea bags 1.99
Tomatoes 1.02
Bananas .99
Plums 1.53
Onions .65
Sirloin tip 2.35
Pork chops 3.12
Adobo seasoning 1.79
Lindt truffles (2) .78
Flour tortillas 2.59
Pasta penne 1.49
Popcorn 2.39
Total 36.83

Made up for some lost time! And Note to Self: Do not shop hungry! I had just gone on a walk with Duke and stopped at the thrift store - on a small bowl of raisin bran - and hungry. Everything was a possibility; it all looked goooood.

Also, I have to do better on work lunches. I've sort of been lagging and not taking a fulfilling lunch. Of course, I get home ready to eat whatever I can get my hands on. Not good habits. My point of view is that, I am not on a strict diet; I want to be healthy and eat good meals for not just body, but soul, also. I want to take the time and prepare a meal. I want to sit down and eat. It clearly feels right and makes me feel good about myself. Managing stress will be an ongoing issue.

It's funny, I was thinking, I'd just left a very stressful job a month ago and started a great job, basically stress free. And here, I had a few things come up and had to take care of them at night after work...just the timing of it; the kitchen time - my normal kitchen time - was taken up by phone calls and paperwork and messed up my eating pattern. How should I be prepared to handle things that come up in the future? Because, we all know, stressful events are always going to come up.

Remedy:
Having a well stocked freezer is the best one. At the moment, I have some chili beans and frozen peppers - not much. Frozen soups would have helped. Ready to eat salads - potato, egg and pasta would have helped. Instead of going for the demi-baguette, it would've been wiser to just buy a loaf of bread and make an egg sandwich and with a piece of fruit - there's a healthy, economical lunch. My practical mind had run dry. For two weeks out of 34, it's not bad and a learning experience. A very good learning experience, at that. Like, I have always said, life is a contradiction. We want to go one way and fate takes us in another direction - we have to deal with it and then we have to learn to deal with it well.

It's all about learning to repair our faults, once we become aware. Which is what we're doing here in the first place: we're learning to eat well on a sound budget with whole food ingredients made at home.

~Julie

Week 33

Week 33
9/2/12

Cottage cheese 1.35
Bananas 1.47
Walnuts 1.74
Lettuce .99
Chocolate chips 3.15
Avocado (1) 2.00
Milk 1.99
Ground beef 3.35
Subtotal 16.04
Tax .96
Total 17.00

On Wednesday, I got a bagel from the bakery next door.

Bagel 1.00

Grand total for the week:
18.00

My two prior weeks were leaning to the fattening side. I ate lots of cheese and bread with no vegetables to balance it out. Although, two days ago (it's actually Sat 9-8-12) I made pizza, it was full of vegetables and low-fat mozzarella...and I'll probably make another one tomorrow. No meat, just full of flavor. I love making homemade pizza, it's soooo good and so inexpensive. Pizza dough is one of those things, one you get it right you just love it because it is so easy and so much more worth it to make from scratch. Why spend $5 to $10 on something you can make at home for around $2 with good quality, fresh ingredients? Talk about value!

Do you make family favorites from scratch? Dinners that are delicious and healthy that your family looks forward to? I'd love to hear about them!

~Julie

Stress Eating

Stress eating is very common. Just read anything about dieting. The easiest way to lose weight is to eliminate stress, in addition to eating well and exercising. Results come easier when we're in a good mood. Things in our life are bound to affect us, if we let them.

Poor planning this week affected my meals. Poor planning affected what I ate and when I ate it, and in a mortifying way, it was pleasurable to eat badly because it was a reward for having to deal with unpleasant people and unjust situations. Sound familiar to anyone?

Eating should always be a pleasure. Always. Always. Always. Eating a meal should be a pleasant experience. Food is nourishment and will always find its place in our body - and so will fat and salt. Stress eating needs instant gratification whenever and wherever. AKA grazing, piece meals, and simply stuffing your face in the privacy of your own home over the sink or in front of the open refrigerator door. Yup, it happens.

For three nights in a row I made French fries, which I do quite often, a few times a month, just not three nights in a row. I eat a lot of bread, too; just not as a whole meal. I was ravenous, quick and simple and good (not good for me) were all that mattered.

If I'd made myself stop and sit down at the table - or counter in my house - and put what I was eating on a plate with something else to form a meal, I may have had second thoughts about what and how much I was shoveling in my mouth.

I have certain approximations for meal times. The times are usually within around a half an hour of that time. To eliminate snacking, I will put something out that I really want to eat on my plate to have with the rest of my meal. For instance, if I want chocolate, I will put a piece on my plate to have with my meal at mealtime, and wait to savor it. After each meal I really like to have a cup of coffee or tea, for some reason I feel more satisfied - a long time habit, since around junior high, believe it or not.

It's important to identify what's going on in your life and that your feelings are justified. Feel how you're supposed to feel, just don't over exaggerate it to justify why you ate a whole bag of chips or 3 potatoes French fried (in my case x 3). Watch how you react, even with lots of negativity coming your way, try to stay as pleasant as possible and keep a positive attitude.

What is the best thing for stress? Remember, I am just a regular human being speaking from experience. Personally, I find a long walk followed by a cup of tea the best thing for me. Cooking, using my hands is second best to this. Doing something with my hands like cleaning, or really scouring something; prepping like chopping and filling containers for the frig. Feeling accomplished, no matter how small the task, is mighty important.

At the end of the day, curl up with a good absorbing book.

Step away from the brownies, potatoes and bagels! And please SIT DOWN!

Week 32

Week 32
8/26/12

Yes, I am far behind. It was one of those weeks - issues came up. And I had to make calls when I got off work and on my lunch break, only to be put on hold for-ever. Oh, joy. Needless to say, I was a little exhausted. My planning for lunches was really bad, and by the time I got home I was starving - not good. Eeeek!!!

Akmak crackers 2.49
Almonds, bulk 1.50
Cheese, muenster 3.29
Tax .50
Total 7.78

Milk 1.99
Half and half 1.89
Parmesan 3.60
Tuna, 2 cans 2.58
Bananas 1.15
Mozzarella 6.99
Eggs 1.69
Avocado 1.99
Green onions .79
Potatoes, 5# bag 2.19
Green pepper .68
Tomatoes 1.45
Olives, can 1.49
Bean sprouts .68
Total 29.16

Bagel .99
Cheese, provolone 2.19
Tax .19
Total 3.37

8-30-12
Oatmeal cookie 2.00

The grand total of this crazy week?

$42.31

Also, last week I had a bagel that I forgot about, an additional 1.00 (it's been updated).

This week is a classic example of stress, too much to do in very little time - and not thinking ahead. Hey, this week I about had it with the world! Did I mention my commute is an hour total(to and from). When I get home, I'm tired out just from the drive.

Life has a way of saying, Hey, did you forget about this? Or, If you don't take care of this now, it will bite you in the ass later. Yea, I felt like I was on hold most of my free time. And it's still not all taken care of...that will be Tuesday.

Of course, I craved stress food: bagels and cookies. I have to say that oatmeal cookie was one of the best I've ever had, and it was huge. So, I ate it all at once, for lunch - just to spite myself for not packing a lunch and taking care of myself. Don't you just love days like that? Along with my dog who needs some extra special attention these days and a personal writing project, oh, yea, by the way.

It feels like fall! Which means school! I love how the weather changes right around the start of school. I am really interested to learn how parents are feeding their children for school with breakfast and lunch. When my son was in school, we qualified for the lunch program, but he wouldn't do it. It seemed to be some social stigma, he referred to as 'State Food'. So, he took what I could give him. In high school, he just took snacks, brought money for a snack and a drink - and I  made sure there were leftovers and frozen burritos for when he got home.

So, how do you feed your kids for school? Do they like what they're getting? What works and what doesn't?

Please share your stories! Sharing encourages others after people hear stories similar to their own. It is important to help each other - always!

Happy School Days!
~Julie