No Clean Eating... Well.. No money...

There have been no new posts because honestly, I am out of 'new' food.  Its crappy, but we're not starving, just bored with the current stash of potatoes and grains.  At least we HAVE food!!

We've been down to whole wheat flour, popcorn, groats,potatoes, yeast and some eggs for a week or so (other than the occasional veggie/fruit that I find on clearance for a great deal that I can stretch a bit).  My husband gets paid every other week... and after being out of work for pretty much the entire year last year (and I work VERY part time), we're still playing catch up.

Add to that vehicles breaking down, and needing gas to get to work, well, variety in the kitchen isn't the priority.

I plan to really plan and budget hardcore with this week's check, though, and do a much better job at stretching our food dollars.

Which means Saturday will be a major prep day and then I will have all kinds of yummy budget friendly goodness to share:)  Plus, my son has picked a couple of gallons of blackberries to sell at the farmer's market on Saturday, so maybe he will come home with some fresh fruits and veggies that I can experiment with as well!

What are your favorite inexpensive meals?

What do you do to stretch the food budget between paychecks (assuming you live paycheck to paycheck like we currently are)?

Healthy Snack: Coconut Oil & Sea Salt Air Popped Popcorn

POPCORN!

My girls and I LOVE popcorn.  I could eat a huge bowl every single day.

I have before:)

I don't do this anymore, but I certainly consider it a treat.  Whole grains, with the bonus of coconut oil instead of butter and its healthier too!

Directions:
Pop your popcorn in the Air Popper
Drizzle melted coconut oil over it (lightly) while it pops
Add some Sea Salt and viola!

Variations:
Put a few drops of flavored liquid Stevia in your melted coconut oil for a 'Kettle Corn' type flavored.  I like using Toffee Stevia the best... YUM!

I used to have a friend when I was a kid whose mom would cook popcorn in oil on the stove and add a tablespoon of vinegar to the unpopped kernels first.  That was THE best popcorn.  It had a tangy taste to it and I've remembered it all these years.  I wish I could figure out how to do it with an air popper, because I always burn popcorn in a pan!

I also finally dragged myself out of my PMS induced depressive funk with a wonderful weekend recharging with my hubby... so I now am back to cooking.  I have some awesome foodstuffs in the oven right now!!  Several Varieties of Mini Quiches, Fritatta and a SUPER hearty Veggie Sauce are on their way to posty-ness!

End of the Month Round Up & Questions??

Here I am again, at the end of another month.  And guess what? 

I spent over $400.00 LESS on groceries this month!

Yep.  I spent less than $800.00 on groceries for 7 people.  I feel really good about that!

And that even includes a wholesale shop through http://www.clnf.org/ buy where I bought 50#s of whole wheat flour and a pound of yeast that I haven't even touched yet!  Plus, I still have tons of groats and popcorn that is untouched ready to use over the next few months.  And my freezer isn't bare either, I still have a lot of chicken breasts, tilapia fillets and veggies.  Along with a gallon of frozen marinara.  I think I'm getting the hang of this!

So... the question is, what are YOUR requests?  I've had several people ask for vegetarian ideas, so I will be making a lot of those this month.

I am still working on the mac & cheese request!  I made some the other day, but it was NOT good.  My least picky child ate it anyway, but honestly, it was a bust.  All grainy and... ick!

I will be making a grocery list and meal plan again tonight or tomorrow and going to a big grocery shop on Wednesday. 

One thing I need to focus on is lunch-type things for packing.  We have a couple of days where we really need to be able to pack foods that don't need reheating, and my hubby needs things that he can take to work.  I need to make some more varieties of protein bars as well.  What kind of things do you pack for lunches... beside sandwiches?  We like to do park days when both my hubby and I have the day off, but we always end up at a loss as to what to pack to take along. 

What do you want to see this month?  What were your favorite recipes last month?  Did you try out a recipe that really worked for your family?  Any questions or suggestions?  Let me know!

I always get to the end of the month and realize that I never did make some of the things I'd planned.  Chicken Pot Pie, for one.  I have to make that soon, before it gets too warm! 

Cooking & Planning with Impending Storms

*Say the following out loud before reading the words in red.  Also be sure to use enough scary sounding inflection to make it really count!:  "Dun, Dun, Duuuuun!" (Can you I am at times a drama teacher?)  Now, read in a newscaster's imminent danger voice:  GO!

Impending Storms. 

Blizzard Warnings. 

Inches, no, wait! FEET of SNOW! 

Schools closing and it hasn't even started yet.

And we live out on county roads.  Which, if you're not aware basically means that they don't get maintained much at all and it doesn't take much for me to get snowed in. 

And I had tomorrow scheduled as my food shopping day.  So, if you're anything like me, you know that means that we're down to the pantry staples, rice, pasta, dried beans... and a few bags of frozen vegges (seriously, what was I thinking with all those peas!?  I've used peas in everything and still have three or four bags left!  Big bags!)  AS well as a bag of carrots, bag of edamame, 2 bags of spinach and 1 small bag of broccoli.

I have seasonings, but no peppers, garlic (no garlic???  whatever will we do!?) and a couple of onions.  Now I'm wishing that I'd waited to make that chili.  Chili on a cold snowy day... yes!  Oh wait, no.  We ate it all.  Silly people.  Lot's of seasonings at least:

I have flour and yeast, a little bit of sweetener left, a few eggs and some cereal.  Oh, and a few potatoes. 

Along with our groats, which would be better with some fruit, but I can do "brown sugar" porridge, and I think I have some raisins.

All this just to say, I probably won't get to my "planned" recipes for a bit yet, but I will definitely have some ideas for those of you who get down to the end of your food budget and need some ideas!  I certainly have plenty of rice, pastas and flours.  Some quinoa and other baking stuff.  We'll be juuuuust fine. 

I think I'm going to enjoy the challenge, but I am still a little disappointed because I have been missing all the new recipes SO much!  I get o flipping excited about meal plans... I'm such a dork:)

And I didn't even take a photo of our 'rice and beans' drawer.  This will turn out to be such a good thing.  I will use up some stuff that I'd probably otherwise forget about. Yes.

So, on the table for tomorrow:  Quinoa & Groats Porridge with cinnamon and raisins.  Experiment with new bread.  Make some sort of veggie something. 

What do you find yourself making when you're at the end of your food budget?  Or you find yourself snowed in for a day or two... or three.  I'm just hoping its not like the bad storm a few years ago that had people withou electricity for days and some for weeks!