Food budgets and the recession

My weekly grocery bill is going up and up and up. Apparently, the Recession is moving from politicians talking about it to an actuality. I know gas prices are on a real roller coaster here in the greater Cincinnati area. You can drive by a gas station and find gas for $2.86 a gallon on your way to the grocery store, and find the same gas station's price has gone up to $3.09 on the way home! Something's just not right about that. Obviously, gas prices affect food prices. And I'm definitely seeing it in our stores. Ground beef is up to $3 per pound (oh, for the .49 a pound days!) and any decent cut of beef is well over $6 per pound. So I need to start thinking about how to cut my grocery budget. There are only two of us, plus Brayden two days a week, and one cat. However, I do make three meals a day -- Jeff gets a full breakfast every morning, plus I make his lunch for him to take to work, plus dinner. My grocery bill is currently about $140 a week, which includes cleaning supplies, paper goods, and pet food and supplies. I'd like to cut that back to $100 per week, despite the increase in prices. I do know how to cook economically. Putting it into practice is something else. On days that I have Brayden, I prefer something fast -- canned soup and grilled cheese or a frozen pizza, for example. But soup is now up to almost $2 per can, and that's just not economically feasible when I can make one batch of homemade soup that will give us 6 to 8 meals for about $4. I need to plan ahead. Use sale flyers and coupons and come up with a menu for the week, then prepare a grocery list accordingly. I also need to put in some meatless meals. Jeff does like eggs and omelettes for dinner, and we will both eat spaghetti with a plain tomato sauce. I have a recipe for budget rice pilaf using leftover meats and vegetables, and stir fry is also an option that we like. I used to have plastic freezer bags in my freezer -- one for leftover veggies and one for leftover meats. Little pieces of this and that which don't seem worth saving, but when it comes time to make a good vegetable soup, make a world of difference. I also used to save all meat stock in a freezer bag. I'll have to implement those bags again. I'm a loyal shopper. I shop at our local Krogers and have for 20 years. New stores have come and gone, but Krogers has always been my favorite -- clean, nice employees, reasonably good produce, OK meats. There is a new Aldi's in town, but it seems to be mostly prepackaged and prepared foods, which we don't generally eat. But Krogers sends me "loyal customer" coupons -- with at least one every month or so for $16 off my total! And the coupons they send me are for goods I buy on a regular basis. So it's time to cut back on some things -- prepared foods (like canned soups and gravies) and expensive beef cuts -- and use my coupons, study the sales, and plan plan plan ahead. It's definitely going to be necessary if I want to keep my grocery bill at it's usual amount, but even more so if I want to get the grocery bill down by $40 per week. Good news on the financial front last night. Jeff told me that we have used 10,000 gallons of water LESS than last year! Despite water prices going up, our bill has gone down. We put "water saver" faucet thingies in all our faucets, neither of us run the water now as we brush our teeth (we turn it on, wet the brush, turn it off until it's time to rinse -- I hear this saves 8 gallons of water per person per day!), and we did not water our lawn or our garden this past summer. I also try not to run the water thoughtlessly in the kitchen, and make sure our washer is always filled with clothes (no half loads), and that the dishwasher is full before running it. Apparently, something's working! It's been easy to do. All I do is picture living in a poorer country and having to tote water whenever I want it. I doubt those ladies walk away from the kitchen sink with the water running without thinking about it! If you picture yourself carrying all that water, you definitely cut back on the amount of water you consume needlessly.

Meatballs and more

My freezer is full! Yay! A week ago I made bucket o'chili (meaning chili in huge quantitites) and froze 5-6 meals worth. A few days ago I made lentil and ham soup, and this morning froze what was left -- about 5 meals worth. Then while grocery shopping today, I bought 2.5 lbs of ground beef and came home and made meatballs -- enough for at least 6 meals worth. When I cook, I always try to do things in duplicate or triplicate, because it takes no more time to cook 2 lbs of meatballs than it does to make one pound of meatballs. I still have to get out the same ingredients, still have to mix it up, still have to bake it in the oven -- so why not do two or three times the recipe and freeze what's left? I make great meatballs. Just a bit of crunch to the outside, soft on the inside, and full of flavor. I don't fry them, I bake them in a 375 degree oven on a jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides) for about 30-35 minutes. Before I put the meatballs in the pan, I spray it with PAM and then put enough cold water in the pan to just cover the bottom. Once the meatballs are on the pan, in the oven it goes. The water helps the fat drain off and the meatballs aren't greasy like some fried meatballs I've had. My recipe today for meatballs (it varies according to what I have on hand): 2.5 lbs. ground beef 2 eggs 1 tablespoon oregano 1/4 cup dried parmesan cheese (in the green can) 1/2 cup oatmeal 1 cup bread crumbs 1/4 cup water 1 tablespoon dehydrated onions 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1 tbsp worchesteshire sauce Made into medium sized meatballs this made about 60 meatballs. I use them with spaghetti sauce for regular spaghetti, I make meatballs subs, and I even combine them with beef gravy and have them over rice. I also wrap 3-4 up in a tortilla and Jeff takes them to work for lunch. I don't usually put in both bread crumbs and oatmeal, but just had a small amount of oatmeal in a box and wanted to use it up. I tasted one, and they're good! Nice beef flavor with just a hint of italian taste.

A day in the life...

Last night before I went to bed, I thought to myself, "Tomorrow's going to be a good day. I'm caught up on laundry, caught up on housework... I'll do some grocery shopping and then spend the day quilting and sewing..." I jinxed myself. Our phone rang at 7am this morning and it was Mary. She was in a car accident on her way to work. She's fine, Brayden is fine (yes, he was in the car), and that's what's important. The roads were absolutely treacherous -- a fine mist had frozen and then we had snow showers on top of the ice. No salt trucks to be seen (despite the fact they often treat our roads when it's 40 degrees outside and no forecast of snow or ice!). It took us almost an hour to make it the 5 miles to the scene of the accident. The other driver had tried to stop for a red light but didn't make it and T-boned Mary's SUV. We still don't know if he was insured or not. His car was definitely totalled. Mary is insured for liability only. Her car isn't totalled, but it's not good. The passenger side is pushed in and the passenger side door's window popped almost out. I don't know what she's going to do if this guy isn't insured. Her car probably has at least a few thousand dollars in damage, and, although it can be driven, it's not really driveable because of the window. The poor kid gets two steps forward and something new throws her 3 steps back. My heart just aches for her. And my heart aches for Brayden. This is his second bad accident in six months!!! The poor little guy was shaken up, for sure. We took him in our car and had Mary drive her car back to our house, and all he did was sit in his car seat and say over and over, "Momma, Momma...." She took the day off today and he is glued to her side. The poor little guy. So... we'll see what happens. We're all trying not to worry until it's time to worry. We're all mentally drained from the stress of the accident and the stress of the drive over and back on sheer ice covered roadways. My car has a little light that goes on when the car looses traction, and that little light blinked on and off throughout the 5 mile drive... talk about nerve-wracking!

It's a Love Hate relationship

Brayden and Joey (the killer cat) have a love-hate relationship going on. Brayden loves Joey. Joey hates everyone. Brayden has a dog at home that will spend hour after hour chasing anything that Brayden throws for him. Brayden thinks Joey should do the same. Joey sometimes accomodates him, but most times just ignores him. Joey often times scratches and bites Brayden, much to Brayden's (and my) chagrin. All Brayden wants to do is cuddle and pet Joey. All Joey wants is to be left alone. Brayden has learned to watch out for "the look" that Joey gives before he's about to bite or scratch, and Brayden has learned to respect the fact that Joey will, indeed, hurt him at times. But that little boy is BRAVE! I have watched this week as he works to overcome his fears of Joey in his ongoing quest to make friends with him. In this video, you'll see Brayden point at the toy he and Joey are playing with and say, "Umma" (his name for me). That means -- "Could you please get this for me because if I reach in there to get it, Joey's going to bite or scratch me."

Reality Shows

I have to admit, I'm a reality show junkie. Give me a night of The Amazing Race, Big Brother, Survivor (though it depends on who is on the cast -- I see Johnny Fairplay is on the new show coming up next month, and I'm still debating whether I'll watch it or not. "Crude" is not my thing.), The Apprentice, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, or America's Next Top Model (there's just something about being able to watch beautiful, skinny girls get the heave-ho because they're not pretty enough! LOL). I also enjoy the Gordon Ramsey shows, especially Hell's Kitchen, and shows on HGTV and the Food Network to find their next show host. Project Runway is another favorite of mine. And, being life-long NASCAR fans, DH and I love the "day in the life of..." type shows involving NASCAR drivers. I was thinking about reality shows this morning and wondered when the first reality show broadcast. With a little Google research, I found it was apparently a 1950's show The American Family. I would love to see a rebroadcast of that one! Watching life in the 1950's now would be like watching an alien life form's reality show. I'd love to sit with a 15 or 16 year old and watch that show now! No computers?! No cell phones? Every teenager doesn't receive a car for their 16th birthday? Chores? Moms who don't work? Home-cooked meals around a dinner table every night? No credit cards?!? Oh...my...gawd! If I could watch just one reality show, it would definitely be The Amazing Race. With the exception of a few, the contestants on the race are "real people" who race around the world. The show gives the viewers a wonderful opportunity to view other cultures, to watch people deal with travel difficulties and to view a world through different eyes. The contestants don't seem to be taunted into negative situtations as they are in some shows, and conflict resolution is a recurring theme. If we still had kids at home, this would be a show I'd love to have us watch as a family. There are reality shows I don't watch or have watched and don't continue to watch. Crowned comes to mind right away, as does Dancing with the Stars and too many to list from MTV and VH1. Don't give me stupidity or shows so full of bleeps (or worse, not bleeped when they should be). I'm not going to watch sexcipades or temptation shows. I'm not going to watch characters who are just plain rude or mean (which means I'm debating about whether I'm going to watch the next Survivor show, since Johnny Fairplay will be returning). Instead, I want to watch the Rupert's or the James', who you know are just plain good people in real life. Would I be on a reality show? Not on your life. Although Jeff and I would be great on The Amazing Race! LOL Would my life make for an interesting reality show. Not even a little bit. Well, maybe when Brayden Lee is here for the day, but other than that, it would make for a pretty boring show. But reality shows, for me, are a place to connect, watch, and learn about others in unusual situations, and I thoroughly enjoy them!