Welcome back... let's save money.

 I feel like I am so in and out with this blog. I find times where life is less busy and get really excited to write, but then everything rushes in! I am currently still on winter break and therefore in that "less busy" space. (However, the bag of school work, the heap of laundry, and the disorganized closets and pantry beg to differ!)

I always enter the new year with grand plans to eat better, spend less, be healthy... and as with this blog, it falls by the wayside once live gets busy. Its easy to buy "healthy" convenience foods (pre-packaged salad bows, frozen meals, and yes - the occasional school lunch) but they add so much to the grocery bill. I KNOW what I am supposed to eat, I'm not picky (minus artichoke leaves) but I have some family members who are - so I have cookbooks with great sounding recipes, but I have to tweak them or skip them all together due to certain foods. There's also the fact that I plan for one to two weeks at a time, get busy, and don't cook all of the meals. Cans and boxes sit languishing in the pantry, frozen foods sit to get frostbitten, and the fresh veggies get tossed. Such a waste of money and food!

Our household of 5 is now down to 4, with one only eating dinner twice a week- yet I feel like our grocery bill keeps going up, up, up! I will admit that I only know this because the money man tells me so. I will ALSO admit that I am terrible at budgeting, but I am AMAZING at spending. It's a gift! We know our talents in this house and my husband is great at math and money, so he is usually the budget guy. However, I have discovered I CAN actually sit down and look at prices. I CAN plan better to use all of the food we have before we buy more. I CAN be sure the meals we eat are healthy.

So this is my current ADHD hyper-fixation. I spent a few hours planning four weeks last night. I looked at prices, I found unit costs, I looked at left overs and portions. I have our groceries for January (1st-28th) down to about $375. We have an additional cost for the first week due to a taco bar tonight for our New Year's Eve get together - I didn't add that in to the January costs. These amounts also don't include personal care and cleaning items, just food!

The taco bar planning.

I bought a regular notebook from Dollar General. I thought out the taco bar for tonight and later wrote in the cost so I could calculate the actual total of January 1st-7th. The taco bar totaled $35.67 (I didn't add in tax, so that is just stuck on that first week.)

Our first week of January is a total of $110.42. Our usual go-to meals when we are trying to be healthier and cut costs use chicken, turkey, or pork for meats; beans, rice, or whole grain noodles; and veggies (anywhere from canned carrots, to steamed squash, to salads.) I tried to think around those items, but add in some new recipes I have found. I also try to keep a meal meatless each week.

Keep in mind that my meal planning is usually just dinners. I do buy some things for breakfast, but I eat lunch so early at school that I don't usually eat breakfast, I will often have a small snack later in the day when I get home if I am hungry. I have never been a real big early eater. Christopher is home for lunch so he usually hits up left overs or finds something, same with Haley. I pack simple things for school for the two of us that go! Usually a home made "Lunchable" or a PBJ for the kiddo and left overs or such for me. I am the worst when it comes to lunch.

January 1st-7th, 2023

If you feel like reading my chicken scratch...

Sunday: Did I grow up in a western Pennsylvania? Yes, therefore dinner will be pork, sauerkraut, green beans, and mashed potatoes. We aren't a black eyed peas and greens family. This pack comes with two loins, I am going to save the second one for next week!

Monday: Leftovers (of anything... tacos, pork, whatever you can find people. I used to call these "LO / OYO" leftovers and on your own!)

Tuesday: Boneless chicken wings (aka chicken nuggets), potato wedges, celery & carrots. This is adapted from the Instant Loss on a Budget cookbook

Wednesday: You'll notice it says "BTS" here. That's my first day back at school. I always try to note things that may interfere with the usual flow of the week. We are having spaghetti (whole wheat) and meatballs. I am going to make my home made sauce (super easy, tomato puree, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, spices) and I am using frozen meatballs since this is a busy day. We will also have salad and garlic bread.

Thursday: I have clubs on Thursday and Friday after school so I try to plan easy things here. We are dong leftover spaghetti.

Friday: Bean tacos. These are an invention of mine, ridiculously easy and cheap. The idea came to me when my daughters' grandma (my husband's ex wife's mother, who lived with us for a year) told me about her time growing up in Mexico. This is my take on some simple, but filling, foods that she ate. I cook dry pinto beans in the instant pot (1 lb beans, 5 cups of water, better than bullion to taste, 45 min and natural pressure release,) I heat some corn tortillas on the stove, and I crumble some queso fresco. Combine these together for a meal that most of my family loves! There's usually plenty left for lunches or another meal!

Saturday: Chicken Noodle Soup. Probably the bane of my daughters' existence. When I first discovered I could cook I would make a TON of soup. Well, I still do. I cannot cook small amounts of soup, I just don't know how. I boil a whole chicken to make the stock, I add in veggies (what ever I am feeling that day) and then add noodles. I am going to make my family happy by making the viral "Two Ingredient Rolls" which my family has dubbed "Zing Rolls" because of my "2 Ing" shorthand.  I am going to make extra dough to create some bagels for breakfasts the next week. This soup will be eaten on Sunday as left overs and for lunch the next week.

I added in some fruit for the week, a few things for school lunches (I am making an instant pot vegetarian chili for myself and the "Lunchables" for the kiddo,) and I got some fries for Christopher because there's a bunch of broth left from when we made dinner for Christmas (because I can't calculate things!!) and he's going to make poutine for his and Haley's lunches.

When I plan out my meals I try to think of what I already have (I did download the Out of Milk app to try to keep track of what's in my pantry) and what I feel like eating. Again, I get BORED. I have to have variety! I write down the meals and then list out what items I need. As I write them down I added a check to remind myself to check and see if I have that item, these are things I am pretty sure we have. Then I go and "shop" my pantry and fridge to see if I was correct and look for other things that I may have missed. Finally I do my shopping with Walmart pickup. Until the Aldi came, this was usually the cheapest option. It's definitely the easiest for us. Sometimes I need to hit up the Publix for things that Walmart didn't have.

The total for this week was $110.42.

Welcome & Pork Tenderloin with Herb Sauce

     Thank you so much for visiting my little blog! I am hoping that this could become an inspiration for someone, but also a great way for me to share my favorite recipes and keep track of my food!

     A little about me, I have always loved food - at some times I have had my issues with meat and other things (like artichokes, I miss them, but the smell makes me ill now!) I do eat meat now but have just started to eat more pork, I was traumatized by a pig roast when I was younger. Note to parents, it is NOT funny to put sunglasses on a pig when you are roasting it whole, it is also not funny to let your kid eat venison (deer,) tell them its beef and then say, "YOU JUST ATE BAMBI!" Yes, these were some reasons why I didn't eat meat for a while.

     We never thought I could cook. I am the youngest of two and my sister took most cooking duties when we were teens. I ate convenience foods (mac and cheese, ramen) and at the dining hall in college. After college I had mom and then a room mate who cooked. When I started dating Christopher, I started cooking out of a need, he was stressed and pushed to the limit as a single father of two pre-teen girls. I found some recipes online at Moms Who Think, and they became my "bible". I began to experiment more and got some other cookbooks. I then discovered a LOVE of baking. I began making cupcakes like nobody's business! I baked my own (small) wedding cake and about 200 cupcakes for the guests (complete with Cupcake Caps, this was in my pre-making-your-own-frosting days.)

     All of the cooking and happiness added on a few (okay, a lot of) extra pounds and I joined Weight Watchers in February 2011. I have lost about 17 pounds so far, and lately have been at a bit of a plateau. I also have become more conscious of WHAT we are eating. I like to use fresh ingredients and healthier options as much as possible. I like to bake my own bread, make cookies and snacks from scratch and the like. I really enjoy Kiwi Magazine for its recipes and ideas on green and healthier living!

     So, enough about me, I'm sure you'd love to know what I am eating now! I usually plan out two weeks of food ahead of time and do one big shopping trip when I am NOT hungry. I will run to the store a few times during those two weeks for produce and milk (or the "OH-CRAP-we-need-dog food-detergent-etc run.) We spend about $600 a month (or a little more) on groceries for a family of four, which include household cleaning and care items, as well as the dog! Keep in mind that we also pack four lunches a day.

      This is my two week meal plan starting last Sunday. We have strayed a bit from the plan since today my girls wanted Manwich. Their mom passed away in March and today would have been her birthday and she LOVED Manwich. So we will re-arrange. All of these meals are under 300 calories (main entree.) I got most from "The Comfort Food Diet" cookbook by Taste of Home. Others came from a slow cooker cookbook that I have.

     So, Sunday and Monday's meal was "Pork Tenderloin with Herb Sauce." I took some last minute pictures, so they're not the best! We added whole wheat noodles (1/4 c) and green beans.

Pork Tenderloin with Herb Sauce
Makes 6 servings (I stretched it to be 9 somehow)
4oz of pork & 2tbsp of sauce = 238 calories
Points Plus values: 6

Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins (1lb each) *Hormel loins are a little over a pound.
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp butter (I did use the real butter, this is what is called for, I'm sure you can use margarine)
2/3 c half and half (I used fat free)
2 tbsp fresh minced parsley
2 tsp herbs de Province
2 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tsp beef bullion granules
1/2 to 3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I just sprinkled!)

-Cut each tenderloin into 12 slices. Sprinkle with salt.

-In a large non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray, brown pork in butter in batches over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side. Return all pork to the skillet.

-Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over pork. Cook and stir over low heat for 2-3 minutes or until sauce is thickened.

     -Finally I made whole wheat pasta for a starch and added green beans (cooked in microwave) with olive oil, garlic powder and onion powder.

I hope you like this meal, we LOVED it! Have fun cooking!