Ground Chuck Budget

Week 3

2010-06-06T14:44:00.000-04:00

SO. Week 3 is over. It was pretty good, although I spent an entire day (Monday, the holiday) cooking cooking cooking. At boyfriend's request I made bean enchiladas and mexican rice to go with them. I couldn't resist the mangoes that were on sale at Kroger so we had a mango and avocado salad with them. Yummers.

I don't have totals yet because I'm a bum, but I'm pretty sure that we went over budget this week. I needed a veg out weekend on the couch complete with pizza and donuts. I found a new pizza joint, Papa Murphy's. EBT is accepted there so I have to include that cost in my weekly allowance. The good news is that it is delicious and we ate salad with it. The bad news is that the pizza was $10. That's 25% of the weekly limit! I'm going to try and make it last for a few days.

I read an article on the Internets this week about a former food writer who is now living on actual food stamps, not like me and just doing an experiment. Some of the comments were pretty caustic and critical of those who use food stamps or against the food stamp program all together. My "favorite" comment was from a person who was extremely critical of a food stamp participant for purchasing crab legs and other delicious delicacies. I thought, on its face, yes, seeing someone who relies on public assistance to eat purchasing expensive items could produce a caustic reaction. However, there is a whole lot of unknown information there. Maybe this person saved up her assistance money by eating beans and rice for weeks to afford a special meal on a special occasion. Maybe not. What is known to me after doing a bit of research, is that the SNAP program provides a set amount--it doesn't pay for unlimited groceries. If this person didn't budget wisely, at the end of the year (or month), they'll come up short on funds. I wouldn't like this scenario too much, but others may not mind it. Makes me glad I'm a budget fiend.

This coming up week, we're going to just try to eat up what we have in the house--the rest of the enchiladas, pizza and sandwiches before we go on a little vacation (where we will surely blow the budget).

Love and Hugs,

Amelia

Week 2 Totals

2010-05-29T16:29:00.000-04:00

SO. After Tuesday's debacle, we wound up just eating what was leftover in the house, including the pineapple and ham casserole and peanut butter and jelly. This caused us to come in waaayyy under budget, so much under, that had we actually eaten the Debacle, we would have come in just about right on the budget. Instead we are so far under that I can add in some staples that we've bought new this week or opened a new, multi use container this week. Those items are a big container of vanilla yogurt, $2.99; strawberries from the farmers' market, $4; and coffee, $3.29. The coffee is so inexpensive because I did my favorite thing ever--it was on special and I had two coupons. What luck. Total for the week is $33.86.

This week, Boyfriend ate out one dinner and three lunches, the lucky duck. I suppose that's a trade off in working for yourself vs. being employed. Tomorrow we're traveling to Indiana for something for his family, so most meals will be out on the road.

My mom asked me this week if breakfasts were being included. They most certainly are. When breakfast is something small, like a yogurt or a banana, the cost is very minimal, well under a dollar. Will work on posting a week-long menu.

Love and Hugs,

Amelia

"It Smells Like the Crock Pot Has Gas"

2010-05-25T18:20:00.000-04:00

SO. This weekend I got it in my head that I was gonna make a veggie stew with some fresh eggplant and zucchini from the Farmers' Market. I found a recipe in my crock-pot cook book and yesterday evening I set to work chopping and assembling the proper veggies so I could just set up the crock pot this morning and dump everything in.

I peeled and cubed a butternut squash, diligently salted and rinsed the eggplant, sliced the zucchini. I drained a can of tomatoes and a can of garbanzo beans. I unearthed packages of frozen okra and carrot. I measured out raisins and seasonings. I was excited that I could make a good big healthy meal on a tight budget.

This morning I threw everything in the crock-pot and I had chopped up too many veggies, so there's a container with the raw mixture in the fridge. I thought about it all day long. How sweet and savory it was going to be over couscous, how delicious the leftovers will be for lunches.

Then I got home.

Usually when I make something in the crock-pot, like pot roast, a warm and mouthwatering aroma greets me at the door. Today I was greeted with a horrible odor. I thought, oh no. Surely it can't taste as bad as it smells. I prepared some couscous and dipped out some veggies over top. It did, in fact, taste as bad as it smelled. The eggplant stayed nicely firm and the carrots weren't mushy, so those were two bright spots. But the raisins and tomatoes had lost their flavor all together. I couldn't even finish my bowl--I poured it down the drain. I never put food down the drain, but I couldn't bring myself to put another bite in my mouth. Plus, I'm going to trash the raw portion that's still in the fridge.

Then Boyfriend came home. He said, "it smells like the crock pot has gas. We should light a candle." And then he went upstairs. Without dinner.

I was very sad.

Now, my tribulations and setbacks aside, this brings up a related point for those who truly rely on limited funds. What if something spoils and is inedible? This fear could prevent folks from trying new foods outside their comfort zone or rely more on packaged goods, rather than fresh produce and meats.

Peanut butter sandwiches all around tonight.

Love and Hugs,

Amelia

One Week In

2010-05-23T22:21:00.000-04:00

SO. It's the end of week 1 and the total for the week is $41.88. This does include the newly purchased items of ginger, 2 lbs of sugar and a gallon of milk and previously purchased item of hot sauce as new bonus items. Those amounts were added in on top so they will not be counted in future uses, but rather counted the next time they are purchased. I did manage to accidently buy organic greens for Friday's steak salad, which came to nearly $5!  I really need to make sure that I check the prices more carefully in the produce section. I think that's also why I came away with a $7 sack of yellow onions. Had I purchased non-organic salad greens and laid off the ice cream, I would have come in wayyyy under budget.

Between the two of us we had 6 meals out on the week. Boyfriend makes it a point to have a few business related networking lunches and a dinner, while I had a dinner out with a friend and then we induged at the Farmers' Market and I got a crepe with egg, ham, cheese and onion and Boyfriend had a fried green tomato and bacon sandwich. Those things are great, but they're not cheap.  Since the SNAP program doesn't pay for food that can be eaten on location (ie hot bar at Kroger) I'm not counting these items in the $42 a week limit.

This week, we had a very inexpensive meal in the pasta e fagioli ($3.90) and a rather pricey one in what I prepared Friday night (steak salad with ginger dressing, $8.56) and tonight, hoisin beef. It was really tasty, but compared to the pasta e fagioli, it is really expensive ($12.29, including rice and veggies)!  Had we eaten all 42 meals for the week at home, it would have been difficult to make the budget, but the object is for us to not change our lifestyle and see if it's possible to meet this challenge.

Bonus items used up: Whole Carrots
Freezer items used: Stew beef, Asian stirfry veggies

On this week's menu: yogurt, leftover hoisin beef, a veggie stew featuring farmers' market eggplant and zucchini, frozen lunches and possibly my grandma's pork chops and green beans. I also bought some strawberries at the Farmer's Market from Boyd Orchards. YUM.

Updates will continue throughout the week.

Love and Hugs,

Amelia

Progress?

2010-05-20T17:37:00.001-04:00

SO. Tonight I'm going out with one of my girlfriends and Tuesday night Boyfriend went out with the guys. Yesterday Boyfriend ate leftover bonus sloppy joe while I had a peanut butter sandwich and a banana. (What? I had a cavity filled and needed comfort food.) That means that this week's original menu plan has gone out the window and it appears that I will come in significantly under budget.

I am anxious to see what a week will be like once I run out of bonus items and have reciepts for most items in the fridge/pantry.

Oh, and the pineapple ham casserole is tasty. Good for a brunch!

Love and Hugs,

Amelia

A Kamikaze Ham

2010-05-18T17:50:00.001-04:00

So. Yesterday I made a big trip to the grocery, where I learned that many of my staple pantry items are on special. Some of the items that were purchased before this project started now have attributable costs, including canned tomatoes (50 cents for Meijer brand, 66 cents for Kroger brand, and $1 for Hunt's) and frozen veggies (all now 88 cents). Will post reciepts and the Kroger/Meijer circulars at a later date.

When I got home from the grocery I had to stash some of my budget savers in the freezer, including three sacks of frozen veggies (I used two coupons and got one free and two for 53 cents each) and five Healthy Choice dinners (I used two coupons and got them for 77 cents each. Victory is mine!). At that time I ran into the problem most savvy shoppers/leftover lovers encounter: A Kamikaze Ham.

Boyfriend's mom had gifted us with the (frozen) leftover honeybaked ham from Easter and it has lived in our freezer since mid-April, making its presence known at inopportune moments by launching itself out of its happy abode onto the floor. We had made good progress on the freezer stockpile and thought we had thwarted the Kamikaze ham, but with yesterday's additions to the stockpile, it was revived, leaving me with a dilemma.

How do I manage to use this perfectly good ham and make it work in the Ground Chuck Budget?

I don't know that I've come up with a satisfactory answer, but here's what I've got. It's reasonable to think that people are gifted with leftovers from big holidays, so this Kamikaze ham will be considered a bonus item until it's used up. The actual cost to me will be noted and the week will be assigned the maximum for the budget.

The ham will be cut up and thrown in a pineapple cheese casserole. Yes, you heard me. Pineapple. Cheese. Casserole. I am hopeful the Kamikaze spirit does not transfer itself to the casserole dish.

Love and Hugs,

Amelia

Monday, Monday, MONDAY

2010-05-17T09:07:00.002-04:00

SO. Yesterday we spent the entire day in Columbus visiting friends and ate exactly one meal each at home (yogurt for breakfast). I had a pot of pasta e fagioli working in the crock pot that we're going to eat on this week. I added a single Italian sausage link because Boyfriend always wants to know, "where's the meat?" The ditalini was boiled and drained and immediately added to the final dish last night. It makes a whole lot and I learned a new technique for cooking dry beans (see below).

Bottom line, project is now starting Monday, rather than Sunday.

Love and Hugs,

Amelia

Dried beans in the crock pot (prep for another recipe)

1 cup dried beans (not kidney beans or red beans)
4 cups water
1 bay leaf

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and cover. I used a 4-quart but think I would use a smaller one in the future for this amount of beans. Cook on high for 1 hour, then click over to low for 8-12 hours (overnight). In the morning, add other ingredients (veggies, meats, seasonings) and liquid to just cover. Replace the cover and cook on low all day long.

Some things I've read say it's important to get rid of the overnight soaking water to reduce the unpleasant after effects of consuming beans, but other things don't. I've also read that adding a bay leaf can help with this, so I did that.

It's my understanding that a cup of dry beans is equal to a can of prepared beans. This method could be good to cut cost for chili or other such meals and can avoid the dilemma of having to store pre-cooked beans in the fridge/freezer/pantry.

If cooking a larger volume of beans, quadruple the volume of water. (Example: 4 cups of dried beans, add 16 cups of water.)

Update 5/18: Good dinner. Would benefit from the fresh herbs indicated in the recipe and from adding the sausage at a later time. It got kind of mushy and lost in the beans and pasta. I think it will last us 6 meals. Total Cost: $3.20, which does not include bonus items of celery, carrot and bay leaf.

Ground Rules

2010-05-14T13:33:00.002-04:00

SO. This project has been brewing for a few weeks, and I'd been confident that it would be a "snap" to buy groceries and cook for two on $42 a week.  For the first time last night I sat down and tried to plan out how this is gonna work.

And I got scared. This might not work. It's too complicated. How do I count the items I've already purchased, opened and used, like flour and peanut butter and the celebrated EVOO? How will I make do when I have to buy a sack of onions? What if I go over $42 in a week?

I stopped panicking and thought logically (with the help of Lawyer Boyfriend). In the bit of research I've done on the SNAP program, I found that after the one-year marker, any remaining balance returns to zero. That means I will use $42 a week as a guideline on meal preparing. Plus, those funds are supposed to be "supplemental" not the only source of money for food. I intend on taking advantage of sales and coupons, so while the weekly grocery bill may exceed $42, the total cost of meals for the week should not.

For my pantry items which are generally single use, like a can of tomatoes or box of corn muffin mix, that cost will be attributed in the week it is used. For pantry items that are multi-use, like flour and peanut butter that are already opened, no cost will be attributed--I will consider them "bonus items" until a new one is purchased.  That cost will be accounted for at the first opportunity or usage. Onions and other such items that are sold in "multi-packs" (potatoes, carrots, etc) will be attributed by price per unit, determined by dividing the purchase price by the number of whole units in the sack.

Reciepts will be saved and coupon useage, place of purchase, cost per dish, meals out and free meals will all be noted.

In Summary:

1) The weekly grocery bill may exceed $42, but the cost of meals for a week should not.
2) Cost of single use, unopened canned/packaged goods (such as canned tomatoes, box of corn muffin mix) that are already in the pantry will be counted in the cost per dish for the week the item is used.
3) Multi-use, opened goods (such as peanut butter and flour) will be considered "bonus items" until a new one is purchased.  When possible, cost of individual items, That cost will be attributed at the first opportunity or usage, and will then be considered "bonus items" aftewards.
4) Reciepts will be saved for reference use.
5) Coupon useage will be noted.
6) Menu for week will be noted.
7) Cost per dish, and ingredients/recipes (and whether they are from that week's grocery trip, the pantry or are "bonus items") will be noted.
8) Price per unit will be calculated for some produce/multi-pack items and shown when indicated.
9) Meals at restaurants or at others' homes will not be counted, unless a dish is prepared by me. Business meals will not be counted either, but both will be noted on the weekly plan.
10) Much of this process will not be scientific and will instead be arbitrary because I don't like to measure things peanut butter and jelly when I make a sandwich. I will try and be consistent, though.

Love and Hugs,

Amelia