Everyone Pitches In

Making most of our meals from scratch is work. When I was employed and out of the house for 9 plus hours a day five days a week it was really, really hard to make a majority of our meals from scratch. I did the best I could but running in the local grocery store and grabbing a hot roasted chicken and microwavable mashed potatoes was so easy. Ordering pizza on a Friday night just seemed like a nice end to the tough work week. Now that I’m home we still have pizza once a week but we stepped up to gourmet pizza. Homemade, thick, cheese-stuffed crust with veggies and bacon or burger.  Our homemade pizza is better than any purchased pizza we have ever had. The cost difference is huge. The crust cost only cents to make, .54cents to be exact. Making the crust seemed daunting at first but we figured out how to use our stand mixer or our bread maker to combine the ingredients without the mess.

The sauce, cheese (we buy brick cheese and grate it ourselves) and toppings average $7.00. $8.00 for an extra large, extra cheese, meat and veggie topped, stuffed crust, 12 slice gourmet pizza. Yummm!

Now that I am a stay at home-school at home Mom I do not have any excuse to not feed my family healthy, homemade, and low-cost meals. The difference is that now everyone pitches in. The boys and I are home all day and we can have the dinner prep completed before lunch. All the chopping, peeling, and measuring is completed and ready for the oven. Meal prep is a great opportunity to spend quality time with your family. Math, problem solving, planning and motor skills are just some of the skills that can be developed during this time. The boys are willing participants and I overlook many calamities to keep the mood light and cheerful. We have found that including the boys in the meal preparation they are more agreeable to trying new foods and in eating meals that look nothing like their boxed competitors. My husband is “famous” for his homemade macaroni and cheese. Our oldest child (soon to be 22) still request this meal when she is home. The recipe is baked and uses white sharp cheddar cheese so it looks nothing like the blue box that most kids would eat 3 times a day if they could. When macaroni and cheese is on the menu the boys argue over who will grate the cheese which is usually all grated by noon.

My husband works 40-60 hours a week and still pitches in. On his day off he will cook the main meal or help the boys and I. When we first met I assumed I would always do all of the cooking. I am the wife is that not my job? I have discovered that cooking is no ones job and its every ones job. Confused? Everyone regardless of gender needs to know how to cook. Everyone has different tastes and ideas. When everyone is a part of the process then generally everyone ends up happy. Happy = Good and everyone benefits from that.

Groceries for a family of four....only $75 a week

Each week this time of year, usually on a Saturday, I make the 15 mile trek to the grocery store and spend about 40 minutes and $75.00 buying one week worth of groceries and household necessities for my family of four. My two oldest are twenty-one and nineteen and out of the house. That leaves my nine-year old and five-year old to feed, they are both boys and always hungry. I am a stay-at-home school-from-home Mom so I am perfectly able to make our meals and desserts from scratch with is a huge money saver. Although I do not buy whole chicken roasters and cook and separate the meat for meals…I buy the more expensive boneless, skinless chicken breast. The savings would be significant if I would purchase whole roasters but after leaving a 14 year stint as a vegetarian I have trouble with meat still on a bone.


My goal eventually is to food shop only once or twice a month. Living in the northeast the fresh fruit and vegetables can be tricky to keep for weeks at a time so in the winter months it is just not feasible to shop so infrequently. In the summer months home gardens would supply us with our vegetables and we stock up on things like laundry detergent, shampoo, soap and the like with the surplus in our budget. This way when we are buying produce in the colder months we already have a winter supply of non food items stored in the basement and our weekly budget remains the same $75.00.

The following is a random week shopping receipt and menu. Keep in mind when you peruse my menu that I was not totally without food at home and some meal components are from my freezer and/or left over from previous food shopping trips. There is also more suppers than there are days in a week. This is because I like to have some choice already in mind. Many times when I have been inspired I have strayed far from my menu and created wonderful meals all within my $75.00 budget. Another point to make is I live in New Hampshire and food prices do vary geographically. Note there are no fresh tomatoes on my list…it’s March 2010 and the freeze in Florida eliminated the Florida tomato crop and skyrocketed the price of the Mexican tomato crop which I refuse to buy. As a result I plan on researching hydroponic tomatoes growing so I am never in this tomato-less predicament again.

GROCERY RECIEPT

MEAT
80% lean ground beef 18.65 (1.99lb)
Chicken breast 4.49 (2.69lb)
Chicken breast 4.22 (2.69lb)




PRODUCE
Romaine Hearts 2.29
Cucumbers 1.99
6 lbs Mac Apples 3.98
Granny Apples 2.80 (.99lb)
2 lbs carrots .99
2 lbs bananas .97

DAIRY
12 oz Mont. Jack cheese 2.00
12 oz Cheddar 2.00
1 lb Mozzarella 2.99
(all cheese is in a brick/not shredded-that would cost more)
Fr Van creamer 2.99
Whole Milk gal 2.39
1 lb butter 1.99
2 doz Lg white eggs 2.78

GROCERY
2 Chunky PB 5.00
2 Pasta sauce 2.00
3 whole wheat bread 4.50
Strawberry preserves 2.49
Flour 1.99

Total $73.50

MENUS

Breakfast MENU
1) Oatmeal
2) Pancakes -made in bulk in freezer
3) eggs
4) toast

Lunch MENU
1) egg salad sandwich
2) PB & J sandwich
3) supper leftovers

Supper MENU
1) burgers, salad, carrots
2) chicken, cauliflower, cucumber salad
3) spaghetti, meatballs, carrot salad, homemade bread
4) homemade pizza
5) meatloaf, potatoes, brussel sprouts
6) bacon wrapped chicken, cucumber/carrot salad
7) goulash, salad, bread
8) sloppy joes, salad
9) leftover night

SNACKS
1) Apple
2) Banana
3) carrot
4) homemade muffins, cookies, baked goods
*The rule at my house is you never need to ask for a healthy snack you can eat any fruit or any vegetable ant time!

DESSERTS (all homemade)
1) Pie
2) Pudding
3) cake
4) cookies
5) muffins

Headed out to Kathleen's Cottage in Bristol NH...Good Eating!!!