First the P*rn.....
Cucumbers, the gift that won't stop giving!
These cuke vines seriously think they are the mops in The Sorcerer's Apprentice movie.
Remember them? Mickey keeps splitting them with an axe and they keep dividing and growing legs.
Well, I keep picking these cucumbers and the vines keep spitting out new ones!
The above photo is what is left of one week's crop after salad making, cucumber slices in vinegar making, tzatziki sauce making and filling a ONE GALLON jar with pickles!
I know I'll regret cursing these babies come January when I am forced to pay $1.50 for ONE half shriveled CUKE!
But come on......this is getting comical!lol
Not much food shopping last week. Hubs picked up milk and pita bread early in the week.
I used the leftover smoked London Broil to make Gyros last week so we needed the pitas. I was able to use up some cucumbers when I made the Tzatziki sauce for the Gyros.
Yay me!
On the way home from our adventure on Thursday(more on that later), we picked up some 'loupes and corn at a farm market. Sunday I bought 3 dozen eggs at Kmart since they were on sale for $1 a carton and I was there already with Daughter college shopping.
Then on Monday, Hubs and I stopped again at the local independent grocer for fresh produce(g beans, squash, celery, peaches), more milk(geez!), OJ and I got snuckered into buying frozen pizzas for the teens. That was almost $20 spent.
Altogether I spent $33.15 in Week 2 on the food shopping.
My savings percentage ran a pitiful 33.27% this week.
Besides the milk, everything was on sale.
I used no Qs because, besides the pizzas, nothing was "couponable".
bleh.
As for a Meal Plan....last week was very free form, meaning, I had some sketchy ideas but Hubs would want to get take-out or go out for lunch(while the teens were still asleep). After a big lunch I wasn't about to make a big dinner, so the teens would have to make their own "food". I say "food" because though they ate at 2 in the afternoon, it was really their breakfast and then #2 son would snack/graze again around 7pm(while Daughter would go with her friend and eat while out), and then Daughter would break out a bowl of cereal around midnight and #2 son would end up banging around in the kitchen around 1am again, making another meal for himself.
I just said to heck with plans and let everyone do their own thing last week. When Hubs and I weren't out lunching it, we'd scare up some scrambled eggs or sandwiches or just throw some leftovers together for ourselves. The day we came home with the corn on the cob from the farm market, I pulled some steaks out of the freezer and we did grilled corn and steaks on the spur of the moment that evening.
I'm still working on this week's Meal Plan.
Sunday was TacoHell Bell since Hubs was still on vacation and I spent all day with Daughter collecting college things. Monday was leftovers since Hubs and I used a gift certificate at a local restaurant for a late lunch so I wasn't cooking dinner.
Dishes I am definitely making this week: Squash Casserole and fresh Green Beans with Bacon.
In the leftover department, I have two ears of corn which will make an appearance in Clam Chowder, and a steak which will become Beef Stroganoff with the addition of mushrooms, onions, sour cream, a lot of paprika and other spices.
Depending on if/when Daughter will be home for meals this week and if #2 son wants dinner when he gets home at 9pm after Marching Band Camp each night, I'll try to just fill in the gaps with something from what is already in the house.
I've spent $174.15 of my $250 food budget with half the month left to go.
I have $75.85 left in my funds.
Is it me, or has the price of food gone up so much for what we normally buy that it's getting very difficult to stay under our old food budgets?
I don't drink coffee and I have quite a large stockpile of it for Hubs currently but I've heard that this item has dramatically increased lately in a very short time frame. Is this true?
I have heard that the drought in much of the country, it is leading to cattle and poultry being taken to slaughter early. The cost and availability of feed grain is making it hard to keep herds/flocks at their current sizes. This is going to make for some cheaper prices in these food items short term, but will eventually lead to higher prices the next year or two since there will be less animals for market.
This makes me want to load up on meats now.
What do you think?
Sluggy
These cuke vines seriously think they are the mops in The Sorcerer's Apprentice movie.
Remember them? Mickey keeps splitting them with an axe and they keep dividing and growing legs.
Well, I keep picking these cucumbers and the vines keep spitting out new ones!
The above photo is what is left of one week's crop after salad making, cucumber slices in vinegar making, tzatziki sauce making and filling a ONE GALLON jar with pickles!
I know I'll regret cursing these babies come January when I am forced to pay $1.50 for ONE half shriveled CUKE!
But come on......this is getting comical!lol
Not much food shopping last week. Hubs picked up milk and pita bread early in the week.
I used the leftover smoked London Broil to make Gyros last week so we needed the pitas. I was able to use up some cucumbers when I made the Tzatziki sauce for the Gyros.
Yay me!
On the way home from our adventure on Thursday(more on that later), we picked up some 'loupes and corn at a farm market. Sunday I bought 3 dozen eggs at Kmart since they were on sale for $1 a carton and I was there already with Daughter college shopping.
Then on Monday, Hubs and I stopped again at the local independent grocer for fresh produce(g beans, squash, celery, peaches), more milk(geez!), OJ and I got snuckered into buying frozen pizzas for the teens. That was almost $20 spent.
Altogether I spent $33.15 in Week 2 on the food shopping.
My savings percentage ran a pitiful 33.27% this week.
Besides the milk, everything was on sale.
I used no Qs because, besides the pizzas, nothing was "couponable".
bleh.
As for a Meal Plan....last week was very free form, meaning, I had some sketchy ideas but Hubs would want to get take-out or go out for lunch(while the teens were still asleep). After a big lunch I wasn't about to make a big dinner, so the teens would have to make their own "food". I say "food" because though they ate at 2 in the afternoon, it was really their breakfast and then #2 son would snack/graze again around 7pm(while Daughter would go with her friend and eat while out), and then Daughter would break out a bowl of cereal around midnight and #2 son would end up banging around in the kitchen around 1am again, making another meal for himself.
I just said to heck with plans and let everyone do their own thing last week. When Hubs and I weren't out lunching it, we'd scare up some scrambled eggs or sandwiches or just throw some leftovers together for ourselves. The day we came home with the corn on the cob from the farm market, I pulled some steaks out of the freezer and we did grilled corn and steaks on the spur of the moment that evening.
I'm still working on this week's Meal Plan.
Sunday was Taco
Dishes I am definitely making this week: Squash Casserole and fresh Green Beans with Bacon.
In the leftover department, I have two ears of corn which will make an appearance in Clam Chowder, and a steak which will become Beef Stroganoff with the addition of mushrooms, onions, sour cream, a lot of paprika and other spices.
Depending on if/when Daughter will be home for meals this week and if #2 son wants dinner when he gets home at 9pm after Marching Band Camp each night, I'll try to just fill in the gaps with something from what is already in the house.
I've spent $174.15 of my $250 food budget with half the month left to go.
I have $75.85 left in my funds.
Is it me, or has the price of food gone up so much for what we normally buy that it's getting very difficult to stay under our old food budgets?
I don't drink coffee and I have quite a large stockpile of it for Hubs currently but I've heard that this item has dramatically increased lately in a very short time frame. Is this true?
I have heard that the drought in much of the country, it is leading to cattle and poultry being taken to slaughter early. The cost and availability of feed grain is making it hard to keep herds/flocks at their current sizes. This is going to make for some cheaper prices in these food items short term, but will eventually lead to higher prices the next year or two since there will be less animals for market.
This makes me want to load up on meats now.
What do you think?
Sluggy
