It's tempting, though. I adore the smell of yeast and baking bread. mostly yeast.
Not lazy. Busy!
But, you find a rhythm. It's just hard that first little bit, as you're forming new habits. Eventually, you can't remember why you ever did it the old way, you know?
My children bicker over who gets to grind the wheat. Morgan bakes it for the most part. Really, it's just tossing the ingredients into the kitchenaid, putting the dough into a bucket on the porch steps, and then moving it to the oven. The trick is just leaving everything handy.
Thats nice. Yucky. Here is something even more interesting. I don't see Sucralose in my ingredient list of the 100% WW Bread. Its does have Corn Syrup though.
Chandi
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Mama to 4 girls Alexis 10 Peyton 6 Jadyn 4.5 and Aubrey 2 and Married to my sweetheart, Michael
We stopped eating bread (too expensive and there are other things to take its place). We did try the $1 breads and they were too doughy for us.
Stopped buying crackers and chips and are eating popcorn and tortillas.
We upped our produce bought at a produce market that gets supplies locally (including backyards that come into season and have surplus).
We upped rice, both white and brown.
We are having more soups, made from leftovers or scratch such as vegetable.
Oddly, I found inexpensive meats last time I went shopping, ground turkey, pork shoulder chops, chicken legs and got them to fill in meals here and there.
We have been buying box cereal at Target. WAYYYYY less than markets here.
Milk at Rite Aid or Target.
Sandi..you can do the BREAD! Plus you have older kids who can learn how to do it.
It is so seriously easy. But, yes, I realize that it does take time to get into a rhythm and habit.
Soups..soup,soup, soup...dahl is my fave. Veggie/meat soups from leftovers. We love soup. Potato Kale soup in winter.
Other than that I cannot compare NZ to the States. NZ food is so expensive...
Something that I find really nutritious and inexpenisive...Sprouting. Now for me...I keep forgetting about the sprouts as I don't have a good dark place to store them. But when I lived in Santa Fe, I had a fab spot in my pantry which I was in and out of a millioin times a day and I never forgot them.
They really up your nutrition...good for winter frugalness/nutrition.(when you get to winter) Egg Foo yung..yummy sprout egg meal:P
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"If you only believe what you see, then you are limited to what's on the surface. If you only believe what you see, then why do you pay your electric bill?" Dr. Wayne Dyer
Aldi's and TJ's is very comparable price wise, but I find I can do all my shopping at aldi's (with some creative thinking) and I can't do that at TJ's and remain price competitive.
Plus TJ's is much further away, so gas wise, I choose aldi's.
In case it isn't known, both places are owned by the same person/company. And almost everything I buy at Aldi's is superior in quality to what I buy at the main chains. (not including non food items- I suggest you stay away from detergents)
As far as what we have been eating: Cheap foods. Rice, beans, potatoes, salads... whatever meat is on sale. We eat eggs or hot cereal every day for breakfast. Lunches are usually quesaldillas or apples and peanut butter. Or leftovers.
I have been using my crockpot a TON, since I have my air turned WAY down. Set on 85. I don't want to add any heat to the house. Today we will be having chicken breasts cooked with salsa and beans in the crockpot. I will serve this one rice, and since it's saturday, in which we USED to go out for icecream, I will serve pudding as a treat, and we will play a game.
Location: if this were the wrong decision you'd already know it
Posts: 40,995
Quote:
Originally Posted by freedomlover
We have been buying box cereal at Target. WAYYYYY less than markets here.
Milk at Rite Aid or Target.
HTH
They had an awesome sale here last week - 4/$7 at Target! I think we got 20 boxes and have about five left. <sigh> My kids eat cereal every day and Jack eats it every night before bed.
we just recd our 1st angel food ministries delivery and are super happy with all food we recd
Really?
I did Angel Foods over a year ago and the meat was OnCor salisbury steak, 2 pounds of poor quality pork tenderloin, a bag of beef meatballs and Brown and Serve sausage. The pasta sauce had corn syrup in it. We did use the pancake mix, spaghetti and frozen crinkle cut fries.
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My boys
Amy, abuser of quotation marks and parentheses,
Mama to five sprites
We haven't changed the meals all that much, just changed frequency, etc.
*No extras or non-essentials (sour cream, juices, etc)
*Homemade (dried) bean night 1x/week- cuts bills A LOT
*Pizza night 1x/week- kids think it's a great treat even though it's super healthy
*Bulk brown rice
*No pre-made anything
*No over eating
*No cereal
*If it doesn't serve a nutritional purpose it shouldn't be in the house (of course there are exceptions but seldom)
*Be happy with what we have on hand- this has meant salad nearly everyday since April
*Knowing what we're eating the day before
*No buying bread
*Haven't purchased meat in a long time (dh's aunt's cows, wild game- free)
*Fruit instead of sweets OR homemade "sweets" on occasion when the kids are really antsy for a treat. Popcorn seems to tide them over so they forget about sweets.
We haven't changed the meals all that much, just changed frequency, etc.
*No extras or non-essentials (sour cream, juices, etc)
*Homemade (dried) bean night 1x/week- cuts bills A LOT
*Pizza night 1x/week- kids think it's a great treat even though it's super healthy
*Bulk brown rice
*No pre-made anything
*No over eating
*No cereal
*If it doesn't serve a nutritional purpose it shouldn't be in the house (of course there are exceptions but seldom)
*Be happy with what we have on hand- this has meant salad nearly everyday since April
*Knowing what we're eating the day before
*No buying bread
*Haven't purchased meat in a long time (dh's aunt's cows, wild game- free)
*Fruit instead of sweets OR homemade "sweets" on occasion when the kids are really antsy for a treat. Popcorn seems to tide them over so they forget about sweets.
oh my goodness...just saw your "fka scnookies." where you been? so good to see you!
i read your post on my email just now (so didn't know it was you) and got inspired by your changes...and LOVED the blog/challenge.
popcorn is helping me with not having much food or non essentials in the house. i made some tortillas this week, and we loved them so much that i can think about not buying more bread every time we run out now. i also made some crackers and they served as a nice bread replacement at lunch. and...we had burrittos with those tortillas, and i skipped buying the sour cream. i can not believe it. i didn't think i could eat a burritto without sour cream! growing growing all the time!
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Stephanie, wife to Tim (almost 9 years) and mama to Isaac (3) and Kendall (13 months)
We haven't changed the meals all that much, just changed frequency, etc.
*No extras or non-essentials (sour cream, juices, etc)
*Homemade (dried) bean night 1x/week- cuts bills A LOT
*Pizza night 1x/week- kids think it's a great treat even though it's super healthy
*Bulk brown rice
*No pre-made anything
*No over eating
*No cereal
*If it doesn't serve a nutritional purpose it shouldn't be in the house (of course there are exceptions but seldom)
*Be happy with what we have on hand- this has meant salad nearly everyday since April
*Knowing what we're eating the day before
*No buying bread
*Haven't purchased meat in a long time (dh's aunt's cows, wild game- free)
*Fruit instead of sweets OR homemade "sweets" on occasion when the kids are really antsy for a treat. Popcorn seems to tide them over so they forget about sweets.
Awesome list and I read the blog. Very cool! Would love to work on it...but not while we're gone. The big thing I've been doing is telling my children to drink a big glass of water (and another one) if they come to me 'starving' and it's only been an hour since they've eaten. We're out and about a lot and almost every corner here in the city has a pastry shop or a fresh fruit market (tons of berries!) this time of year and so they're visually reminded of how 'hungry' they are all of a sudden...... It's hard for me too, because really things are ridiculously cheap for us (not for the locals as they make so little ).
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Holly
Homeschooling Mama to two Legomaniacs
"Mama Holly" to the amazing surro-sweeties C (8/05) twins M & M born naturally 8/07!
popcorn is helping me with not having much food or non essentials in the house. i made some tortillas this week, and we loved them so much that i can think about not buying more bread every time we run out now. i also made some crackers and they served as a nice bread replacement at lunch. and...we had burrittos with those tortillas, and i skipped buying the sour cream. i can not believe it. i didn't think i could eat a burritto without sour cream! growing growing all the time!
I'm loving popcorn with nutritional yeast and flax oil as a snack! yum!
I'd love your tortilla and cracker recipes if you don't mind posting them. I've made tortillas a couple of time but they just don't turn out well. They end up either tasting too doughy or getting stiff/overcooked. Not sure what I am doing wrong?
And we love crackers here - DD would live on them if I let her. Thankfully the Whole Foods house brand of rosemary olive oil crackers are pretty inexpensive (and not bad for ingredients) but I'd love to make something like that at home. Also a whole grain flax (or other seed) cracker would be awesome. I have a graham cracker recipe I've been meaning to try.
Not ready to give up my sour cream yet but luckily they seem to regularly mark the brand I get way down at our grocery so I try to buy and use it then. Didn't ever have any luck making my own.
Location: In the Land of Golden Warmth, Surrounded by Majestic Mountains, Inspired by Desert and Ocean, Cocooned in Love
Posts: 2,989
I can't claim to be actively trying to make cheap meals. At the same time, a lot of what we do puts us in that category naturally.
Like Jen, we do a weekly (dried) bean night. I cook pinto beans with garlic in the pressure cooker and we usually eat them with homemade (GF) cornbread (I also saute a veggie). A couple of nights later I'll use the leftovers for refried beans, and we'll have tacos. So that is two cheap meals right there.
When the weather is cool enough we also have a weekly soup night. For me that means it needs to be cooler than 100 degrees, LOL.
Our meat comes from the freezer; we purchased a side of beef last fall. Our veggies and most of our fruit come from a CSA. I have lots of staples on hand as well ~ beans, grains, honey, rice pasta, etc.
Recent meals:
brown rice pasta with sauce or melted butter, sauteed zucchini
beans and cornbread, sauteed zucchini
beef and bean tacos
sauteed chicken tenders, quinoa, sliced cucumbers
steak (freezer), baked potatoes, corn
hamburger patties, rice, sauteed zucchini (yes, we eat a lot of it as it's in season)
This week we're having (in no particular order):
leftover steak, new potatoes, zucchini
hamburger patties, rice, sliced cucumber
grilled chicken pieces, potatoes, zucchini
chicken soup with homemade biscuits
pot roast (freezer beef)
Lunches always include vegetable salads, using whatever is in season with the CSA (which right now has meant no lettuce as it's too hot). To these we add leftover bits of grain, meat, beans, etc. We also eat dinner leftovers with lunch.
Breakfasts are actually expensive for us, because DS#2 eats GF maple buckwheat flakes just about every morning, with raw milk, and neither is cheap. It does however seem to help his digestive issues, so we'll stick with it. The rest of us eat breakfast porridges (cheap!), eggs, fruit, etc.
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Peace,
Kimberly...walking my path; loving, living and learning with an amazing man and two incredible boys.
Last edited by KimberMama : 08-03-2008 at 09:52 PM.
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 13,010
Tonight's eating cheap: we'd roasted one of our homeraised meat chickens to bring to a festival this weekend. Due to various crazy situations involving buckets of rain, we didn't get to eat much out of our cooler, so we brought it home and dh pulled it and made it into enchilada filling...we ate it as burritos w/bit of shredded local cheddar wrapped in tortillas w/lettuce from our garden and hot sauce. No sour cream. We gave it up a few years ago. Cheese is often optional; I've come to love a simple bean and cholula (hot sauce) burrito in a low-carb tortilla (still storebought ). But meat, quinoa or rice is a nice addition sometimes too.
to 4 girls Alexis 10 
Peyton 6 
Jadyn 4.5 
and Aubrey 2 
and Married to my sweetheart, Michael 
).
but luckily they seem to regularly mark the brand I get way down at our grocery so I try to buy and use it then. Didn't ever have any luck making my own.
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