Food Stamp Challenge - day 6

Breakfast today was refrigerator muffins - Marty ate 3, I ate 2 - one got frozen for future use ;) This is the original recipe - I only made up a 1/2 batch earlier in the week, and today was the first batch of muffins I cooked from it. Today I added a sprinkle of cinnamon and a diced banana. REFRIGERATOR SWEET MUFFINS 8 3/4 c. flour 3 c. sugar 1 T. baking soda 1 T. baking powder 2 t. salt 4 beaten eggs 3 c. milk 1 1/2 c. oil Sift the dry ingredients ; mix well in center. Combine eggs, milk and oil. Add all at once to flour mixture. Stir until moistened. Sore in tightly covered container in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Fill 2/3 full. Fold 1/4 c. riasins, nuts, cherries, peaches, etc. into 1 1/2 c. batter for 6 muffins. 190 calories each, plus what you add.

Marty had milk and I had tea with the muffins -- .36 for his 12 oz milk. .05 for my tea. Muffins .12 each x 5 = $1.01 for breakfast. Lunch was thick sliced ham, warmed in a skillet, fried potatoes with milk gravy, and canned peas (blech - I prefer frozen, but Marty can't have them right now). I sliced the peeled potatoes on the mandolin, so it was quick work.

Marty had sliced/diced up the ham we bought earlier for .99/lb. I heated a few of the thick cut slices in a skillet while the potatoes were frying.

Then I made gravy, while the canned peas heated in a saucepan.

.99 for the potatoes, .75 for the ham, .40 for the gravy, .49 for the peas = $2.63 for lunch tea .05 for me, soda .33 for Marty adds in .38 for a total of $3.01 for lunch Supper was the remains of the sticky chicken $1.85 and baked fries .50 - water for Marty and tea for me = $2.40 total for the day $6.42

Food Stamp Challenge - Day 5

So today was not a good day for this. . . we didn't plan very well, and ended up eating out for lunch. I realize that on food stamps, this is not an option - so we'll take this amount out of our allotment for the month. $13.99 for lunch for the two of us - and we drank water! :( Breakfast for me was tea .05 and toast with margarine .15 Marty opted to skip breakfast, but drank about 6 oz milk .18 or .38 total for breakfast. Lunch as above. . . should have taken sandwiches, apples - SOMETHING, even though we didn't plan to be gone during meal time. Supper - hopefully somewhat redeemed here. . . I looked through the fridge and pulled out odds and ends of items that needed to be used. . . a slice of meatloaf, some shredded cheese, the last of the milk, remainder of a sliced tomato. . . HMMMM. . . they became loaded nachos (well, my version at least). I broke up the slice of meatloaf and heated it in a sauce pan.

about .60 worth of meatloaf Then I made a medium white sauce (margarine, flour, milk) and melted in about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese (it was what was left in the bag). .45 for the sauce, .72 for the cheese I diced up the tomato slices .25 and served over tortilla chips .62 Marty had a bottle of soda (on sale ) .33 and I had tea .05 So $3.02 for the meal for the 2 of us

We did find some items on sale today while out -- oil for $1.33, white corn meal $1.15, so that will go for future meals. We also had to buy some jello for Marty - he's undergoing a colonoscopy on Tuesday. We also bought more milk, not as cheap as last time, but still a bargain at $1.89/gal., got some lettuce, cheese and a few other items. Will have to add up our receipts and post our running total, in the next few days.

Food Stamp Challenge - day 4

Last night I made and cooked a batch of sour dough pancakes, so we'd have them this morning. Since the girls were here, I didn't want to me messing with too much cooking.

En Entire batch of 24 pancakes, cost .89 Marty had 4 of them, I had 2, each of the girls had 1. One cup of milk between the girls (each had 4 oz), Marty had 12 oz. I had tea. . . so approx. .78 for breakfast for 4 of us. Marty had his usual 2 sandwiches, chips, banana and 2 sodas for lunch. The girls had leftover tortellini, celery, yogurt and split a soda. I had a braunschweiger sandwich, celery, soda. .56 for my lunch, $1.13 for Marty's lunch, $1.60 for the girls together. Supper tonight is going to be the rest of the sticky chicken, cauliflower, tomato slices - so $1.84 between the two of us. Our total for day 4 = $5.91 We might have a snack later, which will be stove popped popcorn - appox. another .10 - .15 And I just have to share -- here's one reason I didn't take more pictures of food today :)

Food Stamp Challenge - Day 3 Part 2 :)

So here's what we did for supper tonight. . . Tuna patties and fried cabbage. Both tasty, quick, easy, and frugal. Tuna patties are simply drained canned tuna, an egg, bread or cracker crumbs and seasoning (we like Old Bay or chili powder).

.79 per can of tuna x2 , one egg .04, one slice bread for crumbs .04 $1.66 for the tuna patties. Fried cabbage is one of Marty's favorite dishes and it's super fast, easy and frugal. I simply hand chop the cabbage, drizzle with EVOO, season with salt, pepper and onion powder, then fry in skillet until crisp/tender and translucent.

Cabbage was .49/head and we used about 1/2 of the head (it was small) .25 plus a few cents for the oil/seasoning .05 =.30 for the dish $1.96 for the plates of food (total), I had tea .05 and Marty had a soda .21 = $2.52 for the meal for both of us.

Food Stamp challenge - Day 3

So, I didn't make it to Panda Express for the free chicken last night- due to van problems. Marty stopped and got him a serving though. I had some leftover meatloaf, garlic shells, carrot and celery sticks before I left for work. Meatloaf .75, garlic shells .25, carrot sticks .05, celery sticks .10 , tea to drink .05 = $1.20 for my meal.

I took some home popped popcorn for a snack, with a soda popcorn .10, soda .21 for .31 total on my snack.(almost forgot to take a picture of it,

Since I didn't make it to Panda for the chicken, I packed a slice of cheese, 2 slices bread for a cheese sandwich, an apple - and some of the store bought cookies. Cheese .06, bread .10, apple .20, cookies .36 and another soda .21 - total .93

I was exhausted when I got home - so I just grabbed a banana and tea for breakfast, before going to bed. banana .16 tea .05 total .21 for my breakfast. Marty had 2 poptarts .25 each, milk .28 for breakfast for a total of .53 His lunch was basically the same as yesterday - only today he only ate one sandwich, chips, banana, 2 sodas - bread .10, cheese .06, meat .16, banana .16 soda .42 - his total .90 for lunch. I slept through lunch ;) Will update later on our evening meal.

Day 2 of food stamp challenge

I know my photos, will be a bit "off" for most of you. . . I'm working night shifts so my meal times are weird for most of the world. I took a baggie of tortilla chips and some salsa for a snack to work (we eat supper around 4:30 PM before I go to work, and I'm usually feeling hungry around 10 PM) Chips .12, salsa .25

For my "dinner" at around 1 AM, I took some left over tortillini (purchased on sale for $2.89/package)in spaghetti sauce (on sale for .99/jar), and some store bought cookies (on sale with coupon the package was $1.89) $1.29 for my meal. You can see my water bottle in the photo. I fill it every morning when I come home from work, put it in the freezer, then pack it with my lunch. It melts slowly overnight while I work and I sip on it. I also took 2 cans of soda to drink at work ($4.99/case) another .42

total for the food I took to work $2.44 Came home and had one of my usual breakfasts of tea, toast with peanut butter. Tea - .03 for tea bag, .02 for sugar = .05 for the cup, .09 for the toast, and peanut butter .14 (jar of PB $1.89, 14 servings - I measured out 2 TBSP which is slightly more than I usually use)

.28 for my breakfast. Marty had a bowl of cereal with milk for breakfast - .19 for milk, .40 for cereal ($1.99 box, but he has large servings so we figured 2 servings for his bowl) total .59 He packed 2 sandwiches, chips, a banana and 2 sodas for his day today - and a large jug of ice water (his usual meals) .42 for the soda, .20 for bread, .32 for lunch meat $2.89/lb), .12 for sliced cheese (.99/16 slices), .16 for the banana - total for his lunch stuff = $1.13 So far today we have spent $4.44 We have coupons for free honey sesame chicken at Panda Express for supper --

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)