Cookaholics Bulletin Board

It looks like she relies on a lot of processed food, (you kind of expect that with coupon mavens), but there seems to be some info there that would be very useful. I bookmarked it to check out later. Thanks for the link.

I know I could eat enough to "stay alive" on waaay less money than I spend if I would eat lots of canned veggies and processed crap. Heck, if you ate a steady diet of bologna on white bread, I'm sure you could eat on $1/day. My goal has always been to eat as well as I can on as little as I can. It's a fine balancing act. For example, I could 'get by' with domestic Parmesan, but I like to buy Parm-Reggiano. Sure doesn't help the budget, does it? But I think it's a worthwhile splurge sometimes.

I just wish I had the wherewithal to plan menus. I totally fall apart on that score even though I *know* that is where I could end up saving the most bucks. Kudos to you again, JesBelle, for doing so well.

But menu planning is so easy! --

Step one -- Get my legal pad, spend 10 minutes hunting down a pen.
Step two -- Write down the 2-3 things I've been hungry for lately.
Step three -- Look through Living Cookbook, find 2 more things that look good.
Step four -- Surf CI, CC, and Epicurious, find 1 more thing.
Step five -- Doing good! Spend 30 minutes on BBs.
Step six -- Realize that not one item has fish.
Step seven -- look in all available sources for fish recipes.
Step eight -- Wonder, does shrimp count as fish? Is shrimp in the budget?
Step nine -- Get sidetracked. Just what is pink shrimp, anyway? Good thing I have Google!
Step ten -- Oops, need some easy dishes for busy days.
Step eleven -- Sichuan Noodles are easy, but that means a special trip to the asian market for the fresh sprouts.
Step twelve -- Google sprouters for the 14th time. Decide maybe next month (again).
Step thirteen -- Add 3 1/2 new dinners.
Step fourteen -- Try and decide what side dish to have with that 1/2 dinner.
Step fifteen -- Thinking too hard. Need Peggle break.
Step sixteen -- Realize Peggle sucked up 2 hours and I need to pick Geekboy up at work.
Step seventeen -- Get Geekboy, make dinner, eat, whew!
Step eighteen -- Find 2 great sides dishes for that 1/2 dinner in step fourteen. Now need dinner to go with second side dish.
Step nineteen -- Count items for 500th time.
Step twenty -- Check BBs "for inspiration".
Step twenty-one -- Finally! Fourteen dinners! Reward self with more Peggle!
Step twenty-two -- (2-3 hours later) Add items into Living Cookbook calendar. Realize only half of recipes are actually entered into LC.
Step twenty-three -- Enter new recipes into LC.
Step twenty-four -- Done! Now I just need to post them.
Step twenty-five -- Realize while posting how far over budget I've gone.

See? Easy-peasy!


On that note...

Sun. -- Kumbhi Matar and Dal Methiwali - $2.16/serving -- That's Peas with Mushrooms and Yellow Split Peas with Fenugreek.

Mon. -- Salmon Burgers, Sweet-and-Tart Cucumber Salad, and Oven Fries - $3.86/serving -- But it sounds good, don't it?

Tue. -- Italian Wedding Soup - $2.24/serving -- I always make the full batch of meatballs and freeze them, so this is the second half of the meatballs getting used up. I've also noticed that this always ends up in my planner as "Italian Weeding Soup".

Wed. -- Sichuan Noodles - $1.89/serving -- Somebody here grows their own sprouts, right? How hard is it?

Thu. -- Spaghetti Bolognese and Caesar Salad - $4.16/serving -- This has been put off so often, I'm beginning to worry about the quality of the sauce.

Fri. -- Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew - $1.04/serving - Hmm, if I could shave 4 cents off the price, I might be able to live on this... Naw, no-one could stand to be around me if I ate that many beans.

Sat. -- Catfish Tacos with Tomato and Avocado Salsa - $4.24/serving -- They'd better be good.

Oh, I checked out the $800/year lady's blog. I haven't found much food-budget-wise, but I'm having great fun earning MP3s with Swagbucks.

I almost forgot -- The tallow worked fine. If I didn't know what I had used, I never would have noticed anything unusual. If anything, it seemed slightly less greasy, but that may have been my imagination since I was lookiing for differences.

JesBelle:

Hah!

You know, if you count yourself at an hourly minimum wage, you are waaaaaaaaaayyy over budget.

P.S. Sprouts are expensive? Where do you shop? They're $2/lbs here.

Every once in a while I will grow sprouts, more when my kids were small as they had fun with it. Doesn't take much. Just lay some cotton on the bottom of a tray, wet it, add seeds and shazaam. I can buy special sprouting seeds here, just be sure you don't use ones for the garden unless you are sure they are not treated.

Mary

Fuzzy,
No, the sprouts are cheap, but if I want nice fresh ones, I have to go to the asian market. The ones in the regular grocery stores are always old. Since I'm always planning ahead anyway, it seems like it would be easier to just sprout some beans when I know that I'll be needing them. It looks easy, anyway.

What is the hourly minimum wage for surfing the internets and playing casual games?

Mary,
Shazaam! Captain Bean Sprout! Umm, about how long is a shazaam, anyway?

I think about 3 voila's or half a abracadabra. Depends whether or not you are on the metric system.

It has been a while but I think less than a week.

Mary

Listening to Kris Kristofferson, finishing my Scotty Karate (a nice wee heavy, but not as nice as Under the Kilt), and posting my menus.

Sun. -- Calf's Liver with Port Wine Sauce (Fancy Liver and Onions), Smashed Potatoes, and Buttered Peas - $6.05/serving - !?! It was tasty, though. I will make smaller portions next time. Too spendy and too rich. I just couldn't finish mine.

Mon. -- Crispy Roast Lemon Chicken and Garlicky Greens with Andouille - $4.57/serving - Never tried either.

Tue. -- Salmon with Braised Lentils - $3.92/serving - I was totally crazy for this when I made it last time.

Wed. -- Stromboli and Caesar Salad - $2.21/serving - Wednesday is housecleaning day. I like to keep it simple and low in dirty dishes on Wednesdays.

Thu. -- Mini Meatloaves and Acorn Squash - $3.23/serving - I totally forgot those meatloaves were in my freezer.

Fri. -- Cobb Salad - $2.91/serving - Uses up one of the chicken breasts from Monday.

Sat. -- Ginger Catfish (Trey Cha K'nyei) and Jasmine Rice - $3.03/serving - Also something new.

Had to turn off the Kris Kristofferson. Apparently, I can't type and sing off-key, yet passionately, at the same time. At least, not with a scotch ale in me.

So far this week I've had -- Roast Beef Sandwiches, BLT's & Potato Salad, and Breaded Cod (from TJ's) & Mac-n-Cheese (Homemade). I have no idea what any of it cost. That I actually wanted to eat it and could fix it before I passed out again was good enough. Potatoes are my new BFF with pasta running a close second. I've lost almost all desire for fish -- I had to eat my cod with (gasp) ketchup. Liver is completely out of the question. I had to move the little we have to the back of the freezer because just seeing the package grossed me out. Peas, lettuce, tomatoes, and the ubiquitous potatoes are the only vegetables I want to eat now and 2 of those aren't really even vegetables. I don't want chocolate. I want chocolate stuff -- chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate milk, but not any actual chocolate.

Oh, and I'm about 2 months preggers. Probably why I haven't posted much lately. Who wants to talk about food when they don't even want to eat it?

Okay, I want to eat some of it. I'd kill right now for some strawberry cheesecake ice cream.