A Charlie's Soap Post - Again! (I love this stuff!)

Yes, it is time for another Charlie's Soap Laundry Powder post.

Why, you may ask?

Because I am scraping the bottom of the bucket and need to buy some more!

I went on Amazon and found it and put it in my cart and found that the last time I purchased it was on March 3, 2011.

That was 3 years ago, folks! That means I have spent $40/year doing laundry.

And it means that, going by the # of loads the bucket says it will do, I have done 333 1/3 loads of laundry each year (that's a lot of laundry!).

I still recommend it. Works well in our hard water (unlike the homemade stuff), doesn't bother my or my kids' eczema-prone skin (like the homemade stuff did), and it's cloth-diaper friendly (if you're into that).

Go get yourself some. They sell smaller containers(cost more/load though) if you feel sorry for your delivery guy or just don't know where you would stash a bucket of the stuff or want to try it before you commit to a 3 year supply. (lol)

(and, no, I'm not being paid to put this out for you all to read. I just love the stuff and am passing the news on to my friends! :) )

Homemade Elderberry Syrup

We've already had one round of sickness already this year, so I decided we need to start taking some elderberry syrup both as a preventative and during any illness we may have.

Purchasing name brand elderberry meds can get really expensive, especially for a family of 5. I am finding that making it myself is a much less expensive option!

Elderberry is rich in vitamin C, antioxidants, flavonoids, beta carotene, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and a whole host of good-for-you things. 

Elderberry has been used to help with flu, colds, sinus issues, and even as a hayfever remedy. (I just recently read about the hayfever usage and might need to consider that next fall!) 

For more detailed info as to how elderberry products work, check out Sambucol's FAQ page, for they say it more eloquently than I can this morning. :)

Elderberry syrup is not a new thing--it has been used for generations.



After all of that information, let's move on to the actual recipe!

I used the recipe at Mountain Rose Herbs for reference, leaving out the optional stuff. With my allergy/sensitivity issues, I figure the less ingredients the better.

Since our elderberries at the farm didn't produce well due to the drought this summer, and I used all of the ones I had in the freezer, I purchased a pound of Frontier Organic Dried Elderberries from the local health food store for $14.99. I wanted to order from Mountain Rose Herbs, but they were out and I wanted to get some ASAP.

I also purchased local(ish) honey from the local health food store for $2.99/lb.

Here's the recipe, the way I made it:

Elderberry Syrup

1/2 cup dried elderberries (or 1 cup fresh/frozen)
3 cups water

1 cup honey

sterilized jar with lid
Strainer
cheesecloth (optional)


1. Put the elderberries and water in a pan, bring to a boil and simmer 30 mins.
2. Mash your elderberries. I used a potato masher. You could use a spoon or carefully use an immersion blender or something similar. Be careful--the juice will stain!
3. Strain your elderberry water into your sterilized jar, pressing to get as much juice out as possible.
4. Pour out a small amount of hot/warm elderberry juice into a small bowl and mix with honey.
5. Pour honey mixture into jarred elderberry juice and stir until combined.
6. Refrigerate.

I ended up with a little over 3 cups of syrup. I expected closer to 4 cups, but I left the stove for a bit and came back to a non-simmering pot, then turned it up and it was boiling. Oops.

Dosage: For everyday maintenance, 1 TB daily. When you are fighting an illness, take 1tsp every 2 to 3 hours.

For ease of pouring, I am repurposing a smaller bottle.

Cost to make this batch came to $4.37. That is less than half what a little bottle of Sambucol would cost me!

I actually like this homemade version better than Sambucol!

Most of my family took to this syrup pretty well, but not my extra-picky middle child. *sigh*  He loves maple syrup, so maybe I will try making a small batch with maple syrup instead of honey.... more expensive, but if it means he will take it...


Obviously, if you have a little one under 2 years old, you may want to use a different syrup other than honey.

June 2012: Groceries

Wow, guys, it's been almost 2 weeks since I have posted on the blog!

Since my last grocery post, I have gone through the food we have in the house and decided that milk was my priority. So, I went to Kroger since I was already in "big town" and purchased 3 half-gallons of organic, pastured milk to the tune of $10.14.

At last count, I had $10.46 left for the rest of the month.
$10.46-10.14= $.32 left!


I have stubbornly refused to go to the store and buy "snacks", because I really really want to not go over on the food budget of $450/month for our family of 5.

Admittedly, we have been eating "weird" snacks. One thing I have been doing is scrounging in the baking cabinet and making "trail mix" with odds and ends in there. Throw some chocolate chips in there with the marshmallows and nuts and you have trail mix, right?

I went through the freezer and I have at least 3 good meals (which will give leftovers for lunches), so I don't HAVE to go to the store, except to add variety to our diets. It's not a MUST, it's a Want To. ;)

I may go to the grocery on Friday, though, before the end of the month, because the kids are not home and I can shop smarter(and saner) without them.  But the food will be for next week, which is the start of a new month.

June 2012: Groceries

Oy vey.
I went to good ol' Walmart yesterday to pick up some things that have been building up on the list over the last few months. I try to avoid that place when I can. I finally had another excuse to go to that end of town (dentist, what an excuse, huh?) and there is no other bigger store on that end, so yeah, I went to Walmart.

Why is it so easy to spend a lot of money at that place when you go in for just a few things?  Ugh!

So, I've picked up some groceries here and there at various stores since my last grocery post...let's see how I did...

Food Store
Milk
Rice Pasta
Spelt
Total: $11.17

Dollar General
Trident(yeah, I guess gum's food...)
Chex
3 Mac 'n cheese
S 4 cans green chilies
2 pkg flour tortillas
Total: $14.21

Walmart

3 lbs Pink Lady apples
3 lbs Gala Apples
4 bags frozen broccoli
4 bags frozen cauliflower
4.5lbs sweet potatoes
3lb bag onions
2 big bags frozen peas (son #1's favorite snack!)

Daisy Sour Cream (the only brand I've found w/o a lot of junk in it)
1 big bag string cheese
large block sharp cheddar
large block mozzarella
2 large tubs Stonyfield yogurt
Gallon Organic Milk...not organic valley, so very likely  not pastured :(
4 boxes Hormel nitrate-free lunchmeat
4 loaves HFCS-free bread

Olive oil
Light Olive Oil

Celestial Seasonings tea
black tea

3 SnackPacks/pudding cup packages
3 boxes granola/cereal bars (because the kids were starving)
2 Honest Kids boxes of juice pouches (boo to Capri Sun now containing HFCS!!!)

2 packs of Trident(maybe this is subliminal....since I got these after going to the dentist, ha!)

Dark Chocolate M&M's (mommy's stash)

Total: $131.43

I think it's time to be a hermit and not go to the store: Total of these 3 places is: $156.81

What I had remaining of my $450/month budget as of last post: $167.27

$167.27-156.81= $10.46 left for the rest of the month!

Frankly, I am surprised I didn't go way over the budget already. Whew! 

Having the kids home all the time does cause a strain on the budget that is not there when they are in school. Either they are going through a growth spurt or are just hungry all the time, it means the same thing:  I need to either give in and make room in the budget, or find something cheap AND healthy for them to eat!

Suggestions, anyone?

June 2012 Menu Planning

As promised, here is my menu plan for the month of June. :)

Breakfasts will consist of the following: Purchased granola bars, homemade granola bars, homemade granola, bacon, eggs, oatmeal, cereal, Sausage sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, toast + nut butter, juice

Lunches will consist of: leftovers, sandwiches, veggies and fruit, the odd chip treat, homemade cookies

Snacks will be: smoothies/Morning Orange Drink(made w/kefir), Apples + nut butter or cheese, Tortilla chips + cheese, salsa, Popcorn, dried fruit/nuts/chocolate chips mix, carrot/celery and hummus, homemade granola bars, homemade cookies and the like

Here is the June 2012 Dinner Plan, by week:

Week 1:
Hamburgers, Green Salad with red peppers and onions
Boneless Pork Loin, Chard from the garden (boiled), potato cakes from freezer
Roasted Chicken, Green beans, Mashed Potatoes, Green salad with cucumbers, peppers, onion
Taco salad (pastured ground beef cooked with added mexican herbs and spices, onions, lettuce, salsa, Daisy sour cream, white corn chips)
Church party-

Week 2:
Hamburgers, Tailgate Salad, Green Salad w/veggies
Mac 'n cheese, hot dogs, red peppers, olives (someone's requested birthday meal, lol, will fill in with a big salad or leftover Tailgate Salad)
Chicken Thighs(what kind to be determined), Veggie to be determined, Rice and salad
Burritos/wraps, using leftover shredded chicken meat
Pizza from scratch, pepperoni and mushroom (this is where I use the spelt flour instead of wheat flour and test it on myself)

Week 3: VBS week--trying to keep it simple and minimal cleanup...
Hamburger Stroganoff, veggie, salad
Hot Dogs, tater tots, veggie tray
Chicken Thighs(crockpot?), veggie, salad
Leftovers? Wraps again? Sandwiches? Anything quick.
Pizza (yes, again! but I don't think there will be any complaints :))

Week 4:
Hamburgers, veggie tray, Pasta salad
??????????????
Roasted Chicken, Green Beans, Potatoes or Rice
Beef/Bean/Veggie Enchiladas
Nachos Grande (White corn chips, pastured ground beef with Mexican seasoning, cheddar, toppings), or maybe Taco Salad again....depends on the lettuce situation


Might be a bit boring and repetitive, but it gets the job done! :)

June 2012: Groceries

I've gone grocery shopping locally and boy did I spend a lot of our $450 food(only) budget!
Before I went, I made a rough list/menu of what we had on hand and then looked at the sale flyer.
I made a list and pretty much stuck to it, filling in what we've run out of and what we need for the next few weeks.

After I went shopping, I sat down and made a June Menu based on what all I purchased the last couple days. I will need to fill in with fresh fruits and veggies, milk, eggs and some other staples later in the month, but for the most part I have the menu planned!

Local Grocery S=Sale
2 pkg flour tortilla
2 loaves bread
1 pkg hamburger buns
1 pkg hotdog buns
Cereal-honey nut toasted oats

Store brand spring water
Marshmallows

2 Tostitos White corn tortilla chips

S 3 small yogurts
block of cheddar
Cheese spread

S 2 pkg Ore Ida Tater Tots

S 2 pkg hot dogs
box of 100% ground beef patties
S 2 pkg boneless pork sirloin(I figure this will make 2 family meals/pkg)
S 2 pkg chicken thighs
Sausage "muffins"
Hormel Naturals lunchmeat
pepperoni

Celery heart
bag of Golden Delicious Apples
head of Iceberg lettuce
head of Romaine
S 2 boxes mushrooms
S 3 red peppers
S 3 cucumbers

S Honest Tea (Ok, this wasn't on the list....)
Total came to $98.48

Food Store
2 Organic Valley Milk
3 dozen local eggs
5 pkg local pastured ground beef
Udi's Gluten-Free Bread
Rice Tortillas
Frozen mushroom mix
Bulk yeast
Cinnamon
Turmeric
2 tubs local(ish) honey
4 boxes teabags
4 cups bulk Spelt(may try this later in the month to see if it bothers me--spelt is an old grain, and hasn't had the genes fiddled with as does regular wheat)
Pumpkin Seeds
Coconut flakes
non-GMO mayo 
Quinoa
 Total came to: $120.13

Food Store
Brown Rice
Sunflower oil
Tinkyada Rice Pasta
Total: $16.39


Discount Grocery Store
This receipt isn't itemized, but we got a cart full of granola bars, cheese, yogurts, frozen goods, tortilla chips, salsa con queso, jalapeno sauce, chocolate cream cheese spread,  ice cream (Ivy's birthday is coming soon!), a frozen pizza, box of 100% hamburgers, 2 cartons of orange juice, pasta sauce, canned beans, and soups.
Total came to: $52.73

$98.48 + $120.13 + $16.39 + $52.73 = $287.73 spent so far this month
$450 - 287.73 = $162.27 left for the rest of the month (eek!)

I will post the menu later this week! :)

May 2012: Groceries

I went shopping today to pick up some milk and some other little thing for the remainder of the month.

At the last grocery post, I had $8.22 left over to play with.


I went to the local Food Store and purchased a half-gallon of milk and some organic raisins(to try in water kefir) and the total came to $6.96.

So... $8.22 - $6.96 =$1.26 left.

I still have a day left of the month, but I think we're going to make it within our budget! Yippee!

May 2012: Groceries

I went to the grocery store on Friday. Why did I do such a crazy thing as to bring 3 kids to the grocery store close to the dinner hour and on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend? Because I wanted to save gas and time. Not sure I saved my sanity, but we survived generally unscathed.

Before going, I checked out the status of what we still have in the house, and wrote a list of things we will need in the next week. While doing this, I remembered that I had about $47 left of the May food budget. 

I only went to the local grocery, not to the Food Store. I may go there next week when I am already in town if we actually do run out of milk and GF bread and eggs (the two things on my Food Store list--but we're not out yet) and if I feel the need for some Udi's bread.

Here's what I got:

Local Grocery S=Sale

Munster Cheese slices
2 pkg Hormel Naturals lunchmeat

2 loaves Aunt Millie's bread
Hellman's Mayo
S 2 bags chips

2 sweet potatoes

Breyer Ice Cream
2 frozen orange juice concentrate

Total came to: $38.57

$46.79 from last time - $38.57 = $8.22 left.

Which means I should probably make my bread from the GF flour I have on hand, rather than buy it. Given the choice, I'd rather have the Organic Valley Pastured milk than the store-bought Udi's bread. If we don't run out of milk, I might spring for the Udi's. I don't want to buy conventional milk if I have a choice.

The only thing On Sale was the chips. But I don't care, since I got only what I needed. I wasn't driven by the sales and I was "mean" and didn't let the kids talk me into getting extras. ;-) Which meant I stayed within the budget.

But...hubby wants us to go to the "cheap food store". We don't get to go very often, sans kids...and it's one of our Fun Things to Do Together...hmmm....should we go or not?

May 2012: Groceries

I went to the store today for a few things.

Ok, ok, there were more than a few things in my cart...but there were only a few things on my list! :)

You're doing your best to keep me accountable, aren't you?


At the end of my last grocery shop, I had $112.09 left of my $450/month budget.

Here's what I purchased today:

Food Store

Dozen Eggs

Coconut Flour

Almond Flour
Organic Tea
Multicolor Popcorn kernels

Total came to: $27.04

Local Grocery S=Sale

S=Head cabbage
Head iceberg lettuce
Romaine lettuce
clamshell container of Spring Mix lettuce on clearance
2# bag of carrots

S=2 blocks of cheddar cheese

2 pkg Hormel Naturals lunchmeat

Frozen orange juice concentrate

David Pumpkin Seeds
2 loaves 100% whole wheat, hfc-free bread
1 bag hamburger buns
(Ok, Ok, I admit it, I am caving on the no-wheat for the family thing!)

Total came to $30.76

Dollar General

2 pkg Flour tortillas
Trident Gum (can you believe they don't have Trident spearmint at the grocery store???)
Sunflower seeds...to grow...but we might eat 'em...eventually, lol


Total came to $7.50

So, $112.09-27.04-30.76-7.50= $46.79 left for the rest of the month

May 2012: Groceries

Well, folks, I went to the local grocery and picked up a few things.

S=Sale item

S 2 bags frozen green beans
S 5 bags frozen peas
S 2 bags frozen corn
S 1 bag mixed vegetables (that was all they had! If they'd had broccoli, I would have gotten a lot of it as well.)

4 frozen burritos for hubby

S 1 carton ice cream

2 packages tortillas so hubby could make more burritos/kids would eat bbq pork roast rolled up in them

1 box black tea
S pack of lemon sandwich cookies

Total came to $25.36

Last week's Big Shop left me with $137.45 - 25.36 = $112.09 left for the rest of the month


Yes, I did resort to buying wheat stuff (burritos, tortillas, cookies)....this is harder than it looks! Old habits die hard, I guess.

May 2012 Menu Planning

Last night and this morning, I sat down and went over what I bought and what I had in the house and made a menu for the month of May. I still have the pork tenderloin in the fridge to do something with, and it's not specifically incorporated into my menu. I have a lot of chicken in the menu, and I might sub some pre-cooked pork meat for chicken on some days. I might also make chili or pulled pork for the weekend.

This week's menu was posted earlier this week over here. I deviated from it a little bit (didn't make No-Bake cookies, had a fresh salad instead of Tailgate Salad, and made Dahl on Weds night for those who didn't want sandwiches--and hubby took leftover Dahl to work the next day)

Breakfasts and Lunches will generally stay the same as I posted earlier.

Snacks will consist of the following, in many combinations:

• Apples+protein (nut butter, nuts, cheese)
• Carrots/Celery sticks with Hummus
• Dried fruit and nuts
• Frozen Fruit
• Frozen Veggies (son #1 loves to eat frozen peas/peas and carrots)
• Watermelon
• Nachos w/grated cheese
• Chips and Salsa/bean dip/hummus
• Cheese Stick
• Pudding cups
• Rice Snacks
• Possibly chips/cheese curls as a treat

And if/when I get around to making them...

• Granola Bars
• Cookies (oatmeal chocolate chip? No-Bake?)
• Fruit Smoothies/Healthier Orange Drink (w/Kefir)

May 2012 Week 2 Dinners:

• Taco Salad (chopped lettuce, seasoned browned beef, onions, sour cream, black or refried beans, broken up tortilla chips)
• Colorful Chicken Casserole (new recipe I am going to try making GF, from Taste of Home: Freezer Pleasers), fried or mashed potatoes, Romaine Salad
• Tuna Salad, Chips, Apples
• Chicken Tenderloins, Sauteed Green Beans, Rice?, Veggie Tray/Salad
• Mexican Layered Dip and Tortilla Chips

May 2012 Week 3 Dinners:

• Crockpot Mac 'n Cheese (or Quinoa 'n Cheese?), nitrate free hot dogs, Veggie tray/Salad
• Chicken Enchiladas, Salad, veggie
• Tuna Salad, Chips, Apples
• Hamburgers, Homemade Fries, Tailgate Salad
• Pizza (frozen for the family, homemade GF for myself)

May 2012 Week 4 Dinners:

• Stir-fry Chicken, Veggies, Rice
• Baked Beans (cold?), Cornbread
• Hamburger Stroganoff (rice or noodles) with mushrooms, Salad
• Roasted Chicken, Green beans, Salad/Veg tray
• Chicken Salad, Chips, Apples

May 2012 Week 5 Dinners:

• Hamburgers, Tailgate Salad, Chips
• Chicken Enchiladas, Salad, Veggie
• Dahl over Rice
• Creamy Chicken 'n Mushrooms (another new recipe I am going to try making GF, from Taste of Home: Freezer Pleasers), Salad

I am sure I will deviate from my plan/switch it up a bit, but at least I know that I have most all of the makings for the above menu in the house (minus some veggies that I still need to get!)

May 2012 Groceries: The Big Shop

It's the beginning of the month of May, and my children have been asking--make that begging--me to go to the grocery store.
As you know, in response to going over my grocery budget last month, I was holding off from going to the store and working on eating out of the freezer and pantry.

My kids thought they were going to die if they had to eat another apple or carrot or celery stick, and it just so happened that I found a good block of time and the gumption to do The Big Shop today.

So I did.

Last night I roughed out a menu and a grocery list. My focus this month is Gluten Free for myself and Wheat-light for the rest of the family.  I "gave" a little in some of my purchases, in that I know there are GMO's in the oils in the chips and some of the nuts(those I didn't realize until I got home--grabbed a different bag than my others).

I went to Aldi and Kroger and it took me about 4 hours! (and I'm plumb tuckered out!)

Here's what I got:

Aldi

2 whole chickens
6 cans Tuna

3 bags apples
10 lb bag potatoes
2 bags onions
red onions
garlic
4 cucumbers
2 boxes mushrooms
box Artisan lettuce
2 pks Romaine hearts
small pack fresh blueberries


2 bags frozen extra fine green beans

2 bags frozen blueberries
2 bags frozen peaches
1 bag frozen mixed berries
1 bag frozen mixed fruit

2 pkg sliced cheese
3 pkg cheese sticks
10 8 oz blocks cheese(3 kinds)
Babybel cheese
2 rounds "cheese wedges"

2 lbs butter

2 boxes OF Oats

2 cans refried beans
6 cans black beans
10 cans mushrooms
5 cans black olives
2 Salsa
4 cans corn
1 jar Dill Pickles
2 cans peas

1 can cashews
3 bags almonds
Sunflower seeds
2 jars dry roasted peanuts
2 bags craisins
1 bag dried cherries

2 pkg corn tortillas

3 bags white tortilla chips
1 bag blue corn tortilla chips
Cheese Curls
"Fritos" (for chili/taco salad)
3 bags potato chips-regular, sweet potato chips, sour cream and onion chips (for the weekly "sandwich night")
Rice Snacks

4 pkg pudding cups (2 vanilla, 2 chocolate)
1 pkg Original Beef Jerky

2 deli style pizzas--for Family Movie Night--this way I can put more effort into MY GF Pizza and the family will be thrilled for something different!

And most importantly--yummy European Chocolate! ;)


Total came to: $191.10


Kroger S=Sale

Nitrate-free hot dogs
2 Nitrate-free bacon
S 2 bags frozen Chicken Tenderloins
Beef patties (I had passed up the Aldi's, thinking Kroger's would be from the USA...no luck. Theirs are from US, Mexico, Australia too...will have to keep an eye out for prefrozen burgers that are from the USA)
2 Hormel nitrate-free lunchmeats

S 4 jars Natural Peanut Butter

2 Lundberg Brown Rice

2 boxes Celestial Seasonings Tea
S 15 Gatorades for hubby
3 Metromint Chocolate Mint drinks for me

S Whole Watermelon

2 GF Cream of Chicken Soup

Daisy Sour Cream
8 (yes, 8--and I did check the expiration dates!) half-gallons Organic Pastured-Cow milk.

King Arthur Gluten-free flour (wanted to seek out a different brand with more protein and less starch, but I was tuckered out at this point and the groceries in the car were thawing...)

Total came to: $121.45



Total spent today: $312.55
Budget: $450 - $312.55 = $137.45 left for the month

In purchasing the milk at Kroger, rather than the more-local health food store, I saved $10, which almost maybe pays for the amount of gas I used to drive there to get all these groceries.  Plus I was able to save, I am sure, in buying things at Aldi as opposed to buying similar things at the more-local-to-me store.

The local grocery has frozen veggies on sale for $1/lb bag, and I plan on going there and stocking up a bit on those. And maybe I will get some frozen orange juice concentrate to use in making Healthier Morning Orange Drink.
Also, I forgot to get/check out the price on frozen burritos for dh at Aldi....and Kroger wanted like $3.89 for just 8 burrito-size tortillas--at that price, it's cheaper to just get the El Monterrey family pack of frozen burritos! I'd make my own tortillas, but I can never get them rolled out to that size, and now that I am GF I don't want constant contact w/working with the dough.....hence buying them.

I can foresee needing to get the following from the health food store in a week or two: eggs, local ground beef, Udi's bread, tea, GF pasta...maybe coconut oil

Now to nail down the menu...

May 2012 Menu Planning

Since I went way over my grocery budget last month, and there's almost 5 weeks in the month of May (gasp!), I decided that this week is the perfect time to eat out of the freezer and pantry and only get bare necessities from the store.  I would like to have cleaned out, defrosted freezers as we enter this new season, and hopefully I will use up those things that need using up!


Here's the menu options for this week:

Breakfasts: Eggs, bacon, toast(with jam, nut butter, cinnamon sugar), Grits with pastured butter, Healthier Morning Orange Drink (we're down to using no additional sugar!), cereal, Homemade Gluten Free Granola, leftovers (aka. dinner for breakfast-to break us into eating gluten-free and not having to buy a lot of GF breakfast cereals and such)

Lunches: Kids have school lunch, hubby and I generally eat leftovers
Snacks: Granola bars(homemade?), apples(nut butter), carrots(hummus), frozen veggies, popcorn, homemade cookies,
Desserts: Elderberry Cobbler, Rhubarb Cobbler, Zucchini Brownies

Dinners:
Monday: Chicken nuggets/GF chicken tenders, Ore Ida Onion Tater Tots, Carrot and Celery sticks, Romaine salad
(I wimped out and went with these because I was out trying to get the grass mowed before the thunderstorms came.)

Tuesday: Spaghetti, using Tinkyada rice spaghetti noodles. I was thinking about doing something along the lines of Gluten Free Chicken Spaghetti Casserole, only making it more Italian-ish than Mexican since I have Zucchini Pesto, onion/peppers, and Mozz/Parm cheese in the freezer and some mushrooms/peppers in the fridge to use up.  If I don't use chicken, I will likely serve cottage cheese as a side for additional protein.

Wednesday: Nut Butter Sandwiches, Apple Slices, No-Bake Cookies

Thursday: Chicken thighs(baked, basted w/bbq sauce?), Cauliflower, Tailgate Salad, rice?

Friday: Pizza...will have to see what I can dream up. I might go with wheat crust on this one for the family! (GF for myself)

Saturday: Beans in the crockpot, GF Cornbread OR Dahl Soup

Some additional ideas:

• Beef Pesto Rice from Carla's Gluten Free Recipe Box <--great site, by the way--check it out!, frozen mixed vegetables as a side
• Pork Loin, sauteed green beans, carrot sticks, rice
• Chili or Enchiladas, using leftover pork loin, chicken broth, green chilies, corn, cumin, chili pwd, etc. I have Masa Mix to make tortillas with.
• Beans and Bacon of some sort

On my shopping list:
Milk
Eggs
Romaine
Apples

I am working on a Wheat-free Menu and Grocery List this week as well.I want to do a Big Shop next week and stock up on a lot of things and don't want to forget anything!

April 2012 Groceries: End of the Month

Sad to say, but this month I have gone over my $450 Grocery Budget, but true to my word, I only purchased milk at the Food Store this last week.

Food Store
Milk
Total: $9.98
 

Editing to add...found a receipt hiding in my purse....$12.76(chocolate/sweets binge...blushing here!)
That brings me to my Grand Total: $494.04.

This is $44.04 over my intended budget!
 Observations/Notes:

• In order to stay on budget, I really do have to keep track and be aware of what I buy, constantly!

• Start keeping track from the start of the month

• Menu Planning is good for knowing "what's for dinner?" and not having to come up with a new idea each night when the clock's running

• Keep away from the junk food! (ok, you can have *just a little*, but not like this last month!)

• Don't shop hungry/with kids if you can help it

April 2012 Groceries: Weeks 3-4

Popping in for an update on my grocery spending. At the time of my last grocery post, I had spent $222 on groceries. I've got a bunch of receipts here, so let's see how I'm doing.

Local grocery S=Sale
Cabbage
Celery hearts
Romaine
Blue Cheese salad dressing
3lb bag of Gala apples
S fresh mushrooms
S 3 cucumbers

S 2 blocks Cheddar
Laughing Cow cheese-garlic/herb

2 cans mushrooms
2 cans green chilies

Corned Beef-because I didn't get much at all this year and still have a hankering for it
Hormel nitrate-free Turkey lunchmeat
Hormel pepperoni sticks--going to try these instead of the other kind I tried and see if they bother me
S Honey ham lunchmeat (because it was on sale and the Hormel nitrate-free is so expensive at this store...compromise)
S Chicken Nuggets

2 bags small tortillas
3 bags burrito tortillas
loaf French Bread for "fancy sandwiches" for Family Night
2 loaves bread
Pretzels
S Cap'n Crunch and off-brand Honey Nut Cheerios (kids really didn't like this...weird, but that's probably good!)

S 2 Lay's potato chips
S 2 bags white corn tortilla chips
S 4 Totino's frozen combination pizzas (so I can only make my own gf pizza on Family Night)

S 4 Honest Teas
S 8-pack of Dr. Pepper.....one of many reasons not to go shopping when hungry and w/kids!

Total: $102.38


Food Store
3 half-gallons Organic Valley milk
3 dozen eggs
parsley
garlic
Chili powder
Sweets 'n Beets chips by Terra Nova (not a hit w/the kids)
Dried Figs
2 bags/boxes GF crackers (nuts/flax, NOT starches)
and a myriad of other things that I can't remember at this time
Total: $57.82

Food Store
4 boxes tea
2 half-gallons milk
Total $27.13

Stites
A mess of bagels, granola bars, cereal, RW Knudsen juices, Cocoa powder, chocolate chips, gourmet chocolate-covered potato chips (meh), yogurts, pack of cookies, pink sweetener, 2 packs Turkey kielbasa, hfcs-free jelly, canned beans, pasta
Total: $61.97

So.... $222+$102.38 + $57.82 + $27.13 + $61.97 = $471.30 Total so far



Bummer, I've gone over my $450 goal for the month. I'm thinking if I'd not purchased so many junk-food sale items, I'd be within budget.  Looking at that one shopping trip with the kids, I really spent a lot more than I had planned to...and was snookered into the "sales"....it was a before-dinner shop. Making a note to myself NOT to shop then if I can help it! (and I can help it....but I had put off a separate shopping trip, thinking to save gas $ and another trip into town....turns out that I may actually have saved more money if I had shopped sans children and earlier in the day).

Another thing I notice is how much wheat is in that one shopping trip! I've recently finished reading Wheat Belly, by William Davis, MD, and all the wheat in my cart (even though I personally am GF) is really standing out to me.

Sigh.

I will go to the store and get some milk this week, since we used the last of it this morning. That's all I will get.

There, I said it here, so I have to stick to it, right?

Review: Vitacost and Mr. Rebates

One way I am able to afford to get better vitamins and supplements for my family is to use Vitacost.com and Mr. Rebates.com together.

With Vitacost alone, I often save around 50% off of the cost of what we buy. That's a huge chunk of cash! And, I usually only order a couple times a year, so I generally order enough to get the free shipping offer. There are often additional offers you can get--just google "Vitacost Coupon Codes" and check out the sites to find a good one that works for you.

Vitacost gives their customers the option of leaving feedback, so this helps me in deciding which products to buy. Unlike some other online retailers, Vitacost gives all of the information about the product that you would get by looking at it in the store. Plus, since you are already at the computer, you can research companies if you have any questions about allergies, etc., and not waste money and time in buying a product that won't work for you! They also have a 30 day money back guarantee if something doesn't work for you.

An additional way that I save on our Vitacost expense is to first log into my Mr. Rebates account and then go to Vitacost from my Mr. Rebates page and get an additional amount back (added to my Mr. Rebates account, which I can then have moved to my Paypal account or request a check in the mail).  The current rebate for Vitacost is 6%. There are numerous other websites that you can save money on with Mr. Rebates as well! Check it out!

Vitacost is currently doing a promotion where members can refer friends and both the friend and the member gets $10 towards their purchase at Vitacost! Win!

Click here to get your $10 towards Vitacost: Vitacost.com Rewards

To sign up for Mr. Rebates, click here to get started:

Happy (frugal) Shopping! :)

April 2012 Menu Planning

I know I'm coming in late on the Menu Planning, but better late than never, right?

First I will let you know what we had for dinner last week, to the best of my recollection.

April 2012: Week 1 Dinner Menu

Monday: Hamburgers (bread for bun, mine was with Udi's but I now know I'd rather not use a bread product at all), Ore Ida Fries (yeah, I wimped out....but since I tested weak to the local grocer's potatoes and The Food Store was out of the organic potatoes that I tested fine with, I opted to take my chances with the Ore Ida GF option)

Tuesday: Macaroni Turkey Bake (using this recipe and tweaking it, making a Cream Soup Base....tweaking that to make it GF, using King Arthur GF Flour Mix), Romaine Salad, fresh veggie tray

Wednesday: Turkey Salad and Chips, Sandwiches for kids who wanted bread

Thursday: A.J.'s Heavenly Pizza

Friday: Hamburgers, Romaine Salad, Sweet Potato w/butter, sour cream, sprinkling of cinnamon sugar


April 2012: Week 2 Dinner Menu

Monday: Hamburger Rice Stroganoff, Romaine Salad (onions, mandarin oranges, slivered almonds as options), baby carrots and leftover chocolate cake for dessert

Tuesday: Hamburgers, Ore Ida Tater Tots, Romaine Salad and leftover dessert(tonight should take care of it!)

Wednesday: Sandwiches (egg salad, using Hain Pure Foods Safflower Mayo-no GMO's and less 'fake' ingredients), Terra Sweets & Beets Chips

Thursday: Pork Roast from the freezer, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Romaine Salad

Friday: Nachos "Grande" or Taco Salad, kids' choice. Using local ground beef, homemade taco seasoning (no GMO corn or gluten).

Saturday/Sunday: I may make a big pot of White/Green Chili using a lot of the leftover Pork Roast. And Cornbread! I might also make some pulled pork sandwiches, but am not sure the meat is fatty enough to do that...and the tomatoes in the sauce might get to us...we shall see...


April 2012: Week 3 Dinner Menu (Tentative, from what we have in the house now...)

Monday: Crockpot___________ or an Oven-Timed____________...Baked Spaghetti?

Tuesday: Bagel Pizzas for the kids (the kids hate the mini bagels and won't eat them for breakfast, so they might become the base for an easy dinner.) Some sort of meat, sauteed green beans/mushrooms/onions/garlic for hubby and I.

Wednesday: Sandwiches, fruit/veggies? Hummus?

Thursday: Hamburger Rice Stroganoff, maybe....or....something else... Meatballs? Meatloaf? Quinoa? Broccoli?

Friday: Homemade Pizza? "Fancy" sandwiches and chips and ice cream treat?

April 2012 Groceries: Weeks 1-2

I know it's late in the month to start with a Groceries topic, but I do have my receipts and I want to really keep track again to see how much I am spending.

I won't bore you with the details of price per item this time, and I can't remember every single thing I purchased at the health food store (they don't itemize other than Grocery, Freezer, etc).

Last month I happened to be in one of the larger towns of the area and went to Kroger(love that store!). Unfortunately, with the near-$4/gallon gas prices, I haven't been able to justify an only-for-groceries trip to Kroger this month. Instead, I have been sticking to the local Community Market and The Food Store(local health food store).

Here's what I've purchased so far at the local grocery (S=Sale):

S 2 bags baby carrots
S Fresh Pineapple
2 Lemons
2 Romaine Lettuce
Onions
2 Mushrooms
Sweet potatoes

S 4 lbs butter

2 packs flour tortillas
S 4 large tubs Daisy Cottage Cheese
S 3 16 oz tubs Daisy Sour Cream,
S 2 blocks cream cheese


S 3 blocks Muenster cheese
S 3 blocks Mozzarella
S 4 blocks Sharp Cheddar

S 3 dozen eggs (they're conventional, but that'll help shave off a little $ this month)

Parmesan cheese wedge

2 cans Cherry Pie Filling
Hodgson Mills GF Chocolate Cake Mix
S Nestle Chocolate Chips

Koeplinger WW Bread
Skippy Natural Peanut Butter

Heath Bars
Dark Chocolate M&M's (no comments here, please, I'm just being honest! ;))
York Peppermint Patties-for the kids to decorate a cake for Easter
Kraft Roka: dont' remember what this was

S 2 bags chips--Lays BBQ--one was NOT GF

S 2 bags Frozen Peas
1 bag Frozen Stir Fry Mix
1 bag Frozen Italian Blend Veggies

S 2 tubs frozen whipped topping


Here's what I've purchased from The Food Store:
1 lb local ground beef
Frozen organic pepper mix
Frozen organic mushroom mix
3 half-gallons of Organic Valley milk
1 Pastured Butter
2 tubs local(ish) honey
1 loaf Udi's Millet Chia bread
2 packages Tinkyada brown rice spaghetti
Oriental seasoning (bulk)
Smoked paprika (bulk)
Raw almonds (bulk)
Raw sunflower seeds (bulk)
Organic corn meal (bulk)
Raw pumpkin seeds(bulk)
GF Oats
Quinoa
Cherry Juice (to use in the water kefir)

Grocery Total so far is: $222


For protein needs, we have pork loin, ground beef, some chicken in the freezer. I roasted a turkey over a week ago and we ate off of it for a few days and I made stock from the carcass and froze that and what meat was left from it.  Eggs/dairy products in the fridge, and some canned meat/fish and beans in the pantry.

I have frozen veggies in the freezer from a sale last month. Also some frozen fruit and rhubarb and such that I need to do something with. Apples in the fridge from the Kroger trip where I bought like 10 lbs at $1/lb.

Now, to make a menu for the next week +...

Update: Charlie's Soap Day 377 and counting...

Over a year ago, I had posted about the wonderful Charlie's Soap purchase I made on Amazon. The price has gone up nearly $6, but I'd say it's still a great price and  heartily recommend it.  There may be better deals out there. :)

I had expected the Charlie's Soap to last me a year, and it was worth it to me at that price.

But guess what? I have only used about half of it and expect the remainder to last me another year!

I worried about it hardening into one large clump with our humid summers. I put a couple of those nitrogen packs in the big bucket as I found them throughout the year(pill bottles, shoe boxes, etc) and haven't had any problem with clumping/hardening.

I have not purchased any other laundry detergent in the last year. I do sometimes use a separate stain remover (one kid in particular is good at getting clothes good and dirty...), or a squirt of Dawn if there are exceptionally greasy stains.

I do not use commercial fabric softener due to allergies. I use vinegar in the rinse(when I remember) and this seems to help my towels be softer and to cut down on static a bit. And I use dryer balls...or I did for most of the last year, but they died so lately I've not been using them.

So....
~Rockin' good price
~No fragrances to cause allergic reactions in myself or my kids
~Cleans well
~Lasts forever


What's not to love?

All in all, I'd say this purchase is well worth the initial cost!

Gardening On the Cheap: The Chard is Sprouting!

I had an interview with a local paper this week, and shared an idea I had found online on how to garden frugally using empty toilet paper tubes and found containers. I planted some chard seeds in them, and they are sprouting already!  The seeds I planted outside a few hours later are not up yet, but I still have hope. :)