Better All The Time

I have to say, I'm getting really good at this No More Grocery Shopping Thing. I've been going once a month for major groceries along with one stop in at the Sunflower Farmers Market and one stop at the Egg Lady's and I have been feeding my family of 6 for under $500 a month. I'm saving hundreds when I compare my current budget with my previous buying habits. And, at a time of economic uncertainty, hundreds of dollars makes the difference between being prepared for a rainy day and being stuck out in the storm.

This months No More Eating Out plan has also been a success (though I have had one stop for pizza and one for french fries at a local deli). The other night Don and I had a date with another couple. We taught them to make bread from start to finish. They provided dinner, we brought all the bread fixins and dessert. When we were discussing what to make for dessert Don had a fabulous idea, a molten chocolate cake with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Who could pass on that the catch was it required a bunch of stuff from the store. So, on reexamining the question we decided not to break our No More Grocery Shopping streak, but to find something at home that we could make. We ended up with the following dessert that came from food storage and the freezer. The eggs came from the cold storage as well. Also, I'm including the fabulous salad dressing that our hostess made to accompany a lovely lettuce arrangement we had with our dinner. I've modified it a bit, of course.

Before I do that I have to thank everyone for their comments this month. I especially liked Kristen's idea. Kristen is very pregnant and has had enough of running around with little kids and a belly, so she just quit. Wanna know how to do No More Grocery Shopping, just do it. Give yourself a time table, say a week or ten days, whatever may stretch you a bit and stick with it. Start with the time limit that is just beyond your comfort zone and then make it longer next time.

I did our major shopping for February today and spent under $300. With that I got several items to restock my pantry and food storage. I have past successes that build my confidence in our ability to stick to our financial and simplification goals. Thanks for keeping me accountable. look for those recipes in the next post.

The Original Fast Foods

I just got off the phone with one of the authors of the book "Original Fast Foods." Click the link and go to their site, it is very thought provoking. Anyway, I have been pondering my experiments of late - how to better stay out of the stores and how to rely more on creativity and ingenuity in our own kitchen - and I was pointed in this direction by two different sources.

So, can we do more with whole food, learn to use them as they were intended and simplify our lives in the process? I think we can. The answer to this question gets to the crux of my purpose behind No More Grocery Shopping. Remember Thoreau and the confines he wanted to shed. I don't want to get rid all commerce and spending in my life, or my nearest and dearest food favorites, but I think I can do better than I have. It was inspiring to talk to someone who is living in line with his convictions and helping others to do so also.

Is life easier when you begin to move outside the confines of the norm? I don’t think so, but is it good? I would have to say a resounding yes. Here’s what I’m learning. A simpler life doesn’t mean an easier life. Go chew on that for a while.

A Success and a Failure

Okay, I made it through the week. This was a high-stress week and my No More Grocery Shopping plan remained in tact. I didn't buy any groceries. And, the load of leftovers we had from the weekend were hugely helpful.

This was our week to go in for our 18 month check-ups at the Moran Eye Center. My husband has a degenerative retinal disease that until now has had no treatment. About two years ago we heard of this miraculous study involving a revolutionary implant that is surgically placed into the eye. So, in July of 'o6 he had surgery to set the implant and we go back every six months for a couple of intensive days of testing, poking and prodding (on him, I'm the companion and driver). Well, we made it through and the leftovers were a huge help. Plus, the kids ate dinner at their cousins one of the nights. Anyway, I was glad I had a master menu and a plan in place, even for those crazy days and nights.

However, we got to today and I am hammered. And, I felt like I needed some time with my kids. Plus, I wanted to reward them for their good behavior all we week, so we grabbed a pizza for lunch. I spent all of ten bucks,, but I know it was a cheat.

As a matter of philosophical observation I have these comments concerning my little slip. When Thoreau went into the woods to live off the land for 2 years, two months and 2 days, he had many who criticised his methods and means. They felt like he failed in some of the details, like he didn't perform his experiment perfectly enough. He had weekly goody drops from his sweet mom who lived a couple of miles away. He went to town too often, he paid too many visit and had too many visitors. My view of my experiment is as his was about living at Walden. It is not about being perfect, it is about being aware and consciously deciding your coarse in life, rather than just letting life happen to you. We make a hundred little trips and errands because we can. But, what if we decide we don't want to live the life of the perpetual errand runner? Then we step back, assess our steps and choose a better way. Maybe we can't, and maybe we shouldn't, eliminate all the confines of our complex society, but we can live deliberately on our own terms if we will chance a start.

I'm making muffins and soups and sauces that all freeze and come out when we need them. It's allowing me to indulge my love for nurturing my family with good food, and meeting my need to have cheap and easy fixes when things are crazy.

So, how are you living more consciously this year?

Four Fabulous Sucesses to Report

So, I chose dine-in (my home) over carry-out on the following recent occasions:

1. Friday night we had 11 kids (including ours) over for dinner and a movie and kept 10 of them over night. We ate pasta, garlic bread, salad and a veggie side. We went through two loaves of Italian bread that Don had garlicked up and closely watched as it broiled; it was a hit. We also went through almost 2 lbs. of pasta. Still, the whole meal for 13 people only cost us about $6. Amazing, I know. Way cheaper, and more delicious than any of my local fast food establishments.
2. Saturday we went to my daughter KC's amateur photography debut. She won second place in a local photography contest. Usually, we would celebrate by going out for ice cream or something fun like that. Well, we did go to the show where her photo was displayed, and we got to admire her image along with other entries. But, when we finished we came home for treats. I think it cost us about $2 for all of us to drink our fill of chocolate malts.
3. Saturday evening was date night. We planned an outing but needed to eat before we left. I made a delicious masaman curry with saffron rice. I'll share the recipe later. The kids were thrilled that I made enough for them as well. They ate in the basement in front of a movie (they were ecstatic because that is a rare treat in itself) and we ate by candle light at the dining room table. I made food for all 6 of us with leftovers to feed us another entire meal. Again, this meal came in under $6.
4. We fed another family along with ours for Sunday dinner. Now, I don't know that I should count this in my not eating out brags yet, because we never eat out on the Sabbath. But, we did experience a miracle with this meal and I wanted to share it. Don made a great Sicilian soup. Bren and I made Penne Fra Diavolo (penne with a spicy sausage sauce), we served it all with home made Italian bread (whole wheat), corn, salad and KC made a fancy sparkling beverage (cranberry juice and sprite). The amazing thing is not that we that we had enough food for 10, but that we had enough left overs for two additional meals, one of soup and one of pasta. I'll need to make more bread, but what we had was enough to supply kids with lunch today. Amazing, huh. And, the price tag on this mondo meal is somewhere around $6.50.

Tune in later this week to see how all these leftovers are going to help me with my no more grocery shopping goal, keep me out of restaurants and fast food joints and further bless my family. It's going to be great.

This is KC's winning photo, Autumn Rose, minus the matting and frame she artfully chose that made this picture stunning.

No More Grocery Shopping PLUS

I'm out of the grocery store again. I examined my master menu, compared it with my master shopping list, checked off the things I needed to make every meal on that menu and went to the store. I spent just under $300 for the needed items and don't plan to go back again for a month. I will stop at the Sunflower Farmers Market if I need produce in a couple of weeks, but since my garage has turned into a big just-above-freezing refrigerator, my produce is staying very fresh outside, and hopefully I won't need to go.

Now, in addition to NO More Grocery Shopping I am also doing No More Eating Out this month. Eating out is one of my favorite past times. I could go on and on about why I love it; from not having to cook and clean to having so many awesome options and getting to try new things. But, this month I have a few goals I want to accomplish with my budget and my creativity so I'm taking a closer look at my expenditures outside of the grocery store. Eating out, for our family, is the next big drainer of resources after grocery shopping. Let's consider it.

Aside from possible nutritional concerns, the only draw backs I see to eating out are first, the budget drain and second, the creativity cop out. The first requires no explanation. You eat out, you spend money that might more wisely or benevolently be spent elsewhere. Enough said. The second is a little more subtle. This is my experience. The two reasons we eat out are these:

1. I have no grace under fire. If we have a very busy day and I am unprepared to feed the masses, I have a tendency to cave in to carry out.
2. Eating out is our automatic, first and favorite way to start our date.

On closer examination here's what we find. If it's a crazy day I generally cop out to take out. In so doing I rob myself and my family the creative opportunity of planning ahead and devising cheaper and easier meals for my family. The fewer of these meals I plan, the fewer I have in my repertoire for the crazy days I'm hoping to improve. It's a vicious downward spiral (I say with a smirk, because as far as vicious downward spirals go, this one could be considered quite benign). Honestly stated, the less I prepare, the less prepared I am if times get tough or I wise up and I don't want to be dependent on the local grab-n-go joint to bail me out for dinner. So, this month I want to kick my creativity into a higher gear and learn some kind of presence under pressure.

As far as date nights go, I'm a little stumped. We don't usually splurge and only spend about $20 on a date night meal. I generally consider this money well spent. We get to go out, away from our beloved brood and reconnect weekly without kids clamouring for needful things. How can I meet this need to get away/reconnect and reach my financial/creative goal of making something better for us? I don't know the answer yet, but I do know that one of my most romantic dinners ever was made by my husband and served in my bedroom at a little table set by the kids. They got to see us light the candles, plate our food and then shut the door. They still remember it, too.

Anyway, I have one more reason for wanting to save the money this month. My husband has a business trip to Amsterdam. Usually when he goes abroad he goes for a long time and is hopping from city to city. This time he has one meeting and is only going to be there a few days. He called me, asked if I'd accompany him (how could I turn him down), bought my ticket (his flight, food and hotel are all paid for, I get to tag along for the price of airfare) and we are set to go. In order to stay within budget we need eat in and eat frugal.

What are your best eat-in suggestions, or date-night ideas beyond eating out? I'm dying for ideas.

Prep for No More Grocery Shopping - Part 2 - Cleaning Out the Spice Cupboards

Hey there. Sorry I missed my Thursday post, it was New Year's Day and we were thick in the fun of organizing our home and getting ready for late holiday guests and New Year revelries. Perhaps I'll post on that next. And, about my posting schedule, I'm moving to periodic posts, rather than a set schedule. Some weeks Tuesday and Thursday are great days to post, others I feel pressure to get other stuff done, and still other times I have something to say another day. So, I am now at a point where I want to say "periodic posts," and if anyone cares to check periodically, they may find something new.

Enough about that. Now to my spice shelves and how having a plethora of well-organized spices blesses me at meal making times and my family when it's time to eat. First, some photos.

Savory spice cupboard before and after. Both are pretty crowded, but now I know how to find everything savory. This is where I keep season salts, garlic, spicy sauces, pepper flakes, and a whole lot of other kinds of good cookin' love.

The sweet spice cupboard used to hold all sorts of items besides sweet stuff. Now I can see what I'm looking for and if it's something like cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, honey or malt, I go to this cupboard.

It may seem like I've got too many condements and additives. But honestly, if I have to live off of plain rice, pasta or potatoes for a while because there's severe winter weather, a job loss, or some other unexpected event, I know these spices are going to be my sanity. If you want to find some great blends and prices on bulk spices and mixes, go to San Fransisco Herb Company and check out their offerings. Atlantic Spice is a sister company and is more condusive to east coast ordering. Both offer high quality products for a lot less than grocery store prices. One more list of items to permanently erase from your grocery shopping list.

Now, here's a great document or two on spices I use that gives my family the variety we need in our life and diet. Always something new and surprising, often good enough to enjoy again. I've included some of my favorite spicy recipes.

Mariah's Spicey Suggestions

Regional Recipes

What are your best spice strategies and recipes? How do you use spices to liven up your meals and menus? Please share, we could all use a little spice.