What a day, what a day. Can’t wait for the weekend to get a break from blogging! Today I had 2 conversations with 2 different sisters about growing up on canned foods provided by the food bank. Makes me all the more thankful my kids are well fed. This week our eating habits didn’t really change. We’ve been eating how we typically eat and my kids haven’t noticed any change. One vice both my husband and I haven’t partake in a lot is coffee. We usually drink a cup everyday but ever since I gave it up for Lent, I haven’t been drinking very much since Easter. And as for my husband, if I don’t make it, he won’t drink it. Problem solved.
For breakfast my husband had a yogurt ($.64/cup) parfait with home made granola (.30) and a kiwi (.10), one daughter had an egg and cheese breakfast burrito ($.57) and a glass of milk ($.11) , the other daughter a bowl of Cheerios ($.22/cup) w/milk ($.11/cup), and baby boy ate half a banana ($.09) and Cheerios ($.11). I ate a bowl of Cheerios w/milk ($.33) as well. I did manage to make 2 cups of coffee ($.50) to-go for my husband (I get wife points for that). Breakfast was $3.08.
One of my daughters had a friend over so we had one more mouth to feed at lunch time. For the kids I made 2 PBJs ($.85×2=$1.70) , 1 just P-sandwich ($.70), 1 cheese stick ($.29), 2 cups of grapes ($.60), 2 cups of Edamame ($.50), 1 bag of chips ($.30), 1 juice box ($.25), 2 granola bars ($.25×2=$.50), and 1 apple ($.10). Baby boy and I ate left overs from yesterday (freebie) and we each had a glass of milk ($.22). My husband also remembered to bring lunch today .. in fact he ate yesterdays lunch which he forgot to bring to work. He ate 1 giganic turkey bagel (home made) sandwich ($.95), 1 apple ($.10), bag of chips ($.30), granola bar ($.25), and 2 home made peanut butter cookies ($.32). The only person who had a snack was my son. He ate some Cheerios (exciting huh?) ($.11). I offered my kids and their guest a snack but no takers. Total cost of lunch was $7.19
Before I tell you what we ate for dinner I have to tell you about my pre-dinner party for moi. As I was preparing dinner I noticed in my fridge how much cilantro I had left as well as a package of strawberry tomatoes I hadn’t even touched. My mind started to wonder “what could I make with both of these things that would be completely different from what I’ve had this week”. And then it happened. Cilantro Pesto was born. Now I know I’m not the only one who has made Cilantro Pesto but let me tell you, after making some I was loving life.. the foodie life that is. Although I never purchased any olive oil nor did I have pine nuts. This did not stop me. I came up with a lovely recipe which I felt warranted its own blog post.
To make it easy on accounting I will eat ( literally and figuratively) the cost of my little delicacy’s in stead of trying to prorate each tomato bite I ate. The cilantro pesto cost about $.25 for the half cup I made. The strawberry tomatoes I purchased were $1.29. Because I will probably eat this tomorrow I will charge myself $.50 for half the box of cream cheese. This way it will all be free tomorrow. Total cost for this was $2.04
For dinner I made a similar version of the Vietnamese Inspired BBQ Pork salad I posted earlier this month. The slightly adapted version I made today used chicken and I made a few substitutions for ingredients I did not have. For instance, the original recipe I created called for lime and I used vinegar. I made similar substitutions using soy sauce or more fish sauce. The end result was very similar enough to the original that I didn’t notice much of a difference. I used about $.50 of green lettuce, $1 of asparagus, $.10 mung bean sprouts, $.10 carrots, $.10 apple, $.05 of peanuts, $.50 of rice vermicelli noodles, and $2 worth of the remaining chicken I had. The dressing and marinade was about $1 to make. 3 glasses of milk($.33) were served as well as one lemon (.10) to flavor a couple glasses of water. There was only one ice cream sundae served tonight (after her kids went to bed) for a certain late night food blogger. Her dessert consisted of a small 1/2 cup scoop of vanilla ice cream ($.12), some melted chocolate chips ($.10), a spoonful of crushed peanuts ($.05), and the other half of her son’s banana from this morning ($.09). Total cost of dinner and a treat for me $6.14.
Total cost of food served and consumed today was $18.45.
Sig says
Lovely, beautiful photographs, and I love how much green is there!
alice says
Thanks everyone for the supportive comments. I do shop ads. I know people think I am driving out of my way all over the city to buy my groceries but this is simply not true. I live just blocks away from Fred Meyers and QFC (they are both across the street from one another). I often walk to both. I find Fred Meyer prices good overall except the meat in their butcher block. I will only go to the other grocery stores if there is something I really want in their ad which would make it worth my time to go.. such as Top Foods $.10 fruit sale or when Alberstons has their chicken breasts on sale for $1.88/lb like they are having this week. I drive by Albertsons everyday on route to taking my kids to school. Once in awhile I will go to Cash and Carry or Sams Club (They are next door to each other) when I run out of sugar or flour because I buy them in a huge bag quanity.. but again it is usually when I am driving by it anyways.
In N. Seattle where I live, I live within 5 minutes driving to 2 Safeways, 2 QFC’s, Fred Meyers, Top Foods, Sam’s Club, ThriftWay, Cash And Carry, and Grocery Outlet. I am always driving by these stores on a daily basis, but most times I only shop Fred Meyers. Ranch 99 is about 2 minutes from church. The only place I drive out of my way is to the Korean Grocery store HMart in Lynnwood, and even then I go maybe 1 every few months. However, their produce prices are unbelievably cheap. Their regular prices on produce beat any grocery store ads easily. I did do more shopping than usual for this challenge but this wasn’t a typical week either.
Most weeks I will only go grocery shopping once.. but sometimes twice. On average I spend approx. 30-45 minutes making dinner. Because baking is a hobby I enjoy, I will spend a few hours a week baking just like anyone else would do with a hobby. Sorry for the long winded response. I know some people who’ve been following the food bloggers this week think we spend lots of time shopping around town and cooking. This just isn’t true. I’ve just learned to become very efficient in how I shop and cook, after all I have 3 young kids I take care of.
Nurit - 1 family. friendly. food. says
Wow, you are such a good shopper! Such low prices! I need to find out where you do your shopping…. I managed to spend the hunger challenge budger pretty well, but could have bought so much more food with the prices you mention.
Julie says
As always, your photos and food look amazing!
Jim says
This all looks and sounds so good! I love Vietnamese noodle salad and it is one of my indulgences when I want to dine out for lunch at work as we have a tremendous Vietnamese restaurant across the street; prok meatballs are my favorite.
Everything looks so good and I think it’s great the kids haven’t really noticed you’re on a budget.
Peace
~Jim from Musings
Ginny says
Hi! I have been following your Challenge. I am so impressed by it…I manage to survive on a law student budget but I’m not sure I could feed my family in a similar fashion, esp. in the way you do it. It looks so delicious!