October 1 - it begins

Marty and I both slept late this morning - so we opted to skip breakfast. This is not our normal, and won't be a usual cost cutting means, I promise. I did make up a 1/2 batch of refrigerator sweet muffin batter for use later this week.

For lunch we decided on Braunschiger sandwiches (I've been craving them) and potato chips. Marty had gotten the chips on discount last week . . . 0.69 for an 8 oz bag. We typically eat larger portions than what the bag states. I'm figuring 4 servings from the bag instead of the 8 it says.

So - 4.5 cents per slice of bread, 25 cents for the meat and 17 cents for the chips. 51 cents for my lunch, 60 cents for Marty's lunch. He made is meat into two sandwiches. . . I just wanted one (don't need all the bread), but we both had the same amount of meat. I'm drinking water, as usual. . . Marty had 3 cups of milk for an additional 56 cents. (He drinks out of a 12 oz glass and had 2 glasses of milk) Supper will be sticky chicken and baked cauliflower. The chicken we bought yesterday for 75 cents a pound, the cauliflower we bought a week ago (and it needs used) for $1.50. I'm thinking we'll eat the entire cauliflower tonight and about 1/3 of the chicken. Depending on my time, I may not get pictures posted.

Supper tonight! I figure we ate about 1/2 the chicken, 3/4 of the cauilflower, and most of a tomato. . . $1.89 for the chicken, $1 for the cauliflower and .50 for the tomato (technically ours came from our garden though). $3.39 for the meal. $5.06 total for the day (if we divy up our food allowance for the month by day, we're allowed $8.99 per day)

Gearing up for the food stamp challenge this month

Since today is my day off -- I went grocery shopping this afternoon. Aldi's had some incredible deals, that are going to make this a lot easier. . . we also scored a couple whole chickens in the marked down meat at Walmart - .75/lb. Here are our receipts from today:

So today we spent $51.64 on food items. Our total amount allotted for the month is $278.90, so we have $227.26 for the remainder of the month.

Dusting off the blog

So a new year is well into the first month. February and the hunger awareness challenge is coming up fast. Watch my blog for my thoughts, menu plans and recipes for the challenge.

Making do

So we had oodles of leftover hot dogs from the family reunion on Sunday. I'm trying to get creative with ways to use them. I hauled out my old fashioned grinder and in just a few short minutes had two bowls of ground meat- one bowl will become tonight's supper of sloppy dogs (make like sloppy joes but with hot dogs instead of hamburger) and the other will become sandwich spread - like ham salad.

My grinder sits on a shelf in the pantry, all assembled and ready to pull out at moment's notice. It took me less than 5 minutes to put it on the chair (one we keep only because it will accommodate the grinder clamp), and grind the hot dogs. It will be easier to clean than my food processor, used no electricity and always gives me tons of satisfaction to be using the same kitchen "appliances" that my grandmother and mother used. Plus we like the texture of the grinder, far better than we like the food processor.

The light of my life

Well 2 of them at least :) And the only good reason to get out of bed before 6 AM. These 2 are such a joy. Aubrey had me laughing for most of the morning, and Elli is becoming quite the little princess.

Aubrey spied her birthday present under the tree, while we were out at the swing set, so of course we had to try it out. She loved it! So did Elli :D

I forgot how much I love poetry.

My grandmother used to recite poetry to us as we'd do chores, before naps, etc. She'd recite short poems sometimes, but mostly she'd recite the long "story" poems. One of the first poems I can remember reciting was "Hiawatha's Childhood" by Longfellow.

I recited poetry to my kids as well. Doug was pretty much the only one who "liked" it though. His favorite was always "The Spider and the Fly" by Mary Howitt. It's the sort of poem that a preteen boy would like, but I remember when he was in Jr. High and finally "GOT" what the poem was really trying to say.

Deana wrote her own poetry for a long time and had a few published in various magazines, etc. She had a boyfriend that stole one of her poems for a class project and ended up with it being published under his name. She was really hurt by that, and I'm not sure she has written any since.

Do you like poetry? Do you have a favorite poem or poet?

Continuing with the theme of little things

Drinking my juice (yes that's mixed berry juice in the glass) from a wine glass today. I buy odd wine glasses/goblets at yard sales to give as bridal shower "apology goblets". Decided to dust this one off and use it today.

Been reading poetry and listening to worship music online. Trying to refill my spiritual empty feelings.