United Way Hunger Challenge Day 3:$11.62 for a family of 5

What a crazy and exhausting day I’ve had. Fortunately last night I baked home made bagels to use for lunch today. It was the first time I have ever baked bagels. Although they didn’t look as good as you buy in the store they tasted great and my kids loved them. I also mixed a bowl of the famous No-Knead Bread from the Sullivan Street Bakery in NY and baked it for tonight’s dinner.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I like to bake. I find a deep pleasure in baking that cannot be explained. Baking for me is theraputic. And the frugal part of me loves knowing that I can bake a loaf of rustic bread ($.21) at a fraction of the cost of buying it. What a wonderful reward that is.

Breakfast was a total of $1.44 for our family.  If you want to see the breakdown go here. For lunch it was not very expensive as well because someone whom shall remain nameless forgot his man-sized lunch I made him and experienced hunger by going without for one meal. For lunch my kids ate 1 (they each had 1/2) home made bagel ($.07) with cream cheese ($.20) and slice of turkey ($.30), 2 apples ($.10×2=$.20), 2 juice boxes ($.25×2=$.50), cheese sticks ($.29×2=$.58), and some chips ($.30×2=$.60).  My son had yogurt ($.31) and small slice of turkey (.30).  I was still pretty full from the oatmeal so all I had was a bagel with cream cheese and turkey ($.57).  For snacks we ate a 1/2 banana ($.09), kiwi ($.10), 1/2 cup of Cheerios ($.11), 2 bagels ($.14) and some edamame ($.20).  Lunch and snacks total were $4.27.

For dinner I made some no-knead bread ($.21) served with about 2 tbls. of butter ($.08), 2 roasted heads of garlic ($.13)-YUM!!, roasted veggies tossed in canola oil ($.10) seasoned with salt and pepper($.10 carrot, $.05 onion, $1 for asparagus, $.12 half a red pepper, $.50 for mushrooms, $.34 zucchini) and 4 small chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper and half a lemon ($2.00 + $.05), I bought them when they were on sale for $1.88/lb) .  I was nervous because my kids wanted to know why we didn’t have rice.  I’m not sure how this happened but I never purchased rice for this challenge because I didn’t think to buy any.  We have a 25lb. bag so it never crossed my mind.  I could have just prorated the amount from my stash but we wanted to stay within the rules of the challenge.  Alternatively I could have walked to Fred Meyers and purchased 1.5 cups amount for tonights dinner but frankly I just didn’t want to.  And in the end it didn’t matter.  Everyone was so full of yummy fresh baked bread with garlic and butter, chicken, and veggies that in the end it didn’t make a difference.  Last week I scored a wonderful deal on fruit at Top Foods.  Apples, kiwis, and lemons for a dime each.  All together I bought 55 pieces.  Initially I had plans to make mini apple crisps ala mode for each person but my kids decided they preferred straight vanilla ice cream ($.12×2=$.24) and I only wanted a few bites anyways.  So I made 1 apple crisp ala mode ($.30 for the apple crisp, $.06 -1/4 cup scoop of vanilla ice cream=$.36 total)   and shared it with my husband using 1 $.10 apple.  It was more than enough for both of us.  And let me not forget the $.10 lemon to flavor my water throughout the day.  I also had 2 glasses of diet soda ($.30) and my kids each had a cup of milk ($.22×2=$.44). So the grand total for tonight’s dinner was $5.91

Altogether we ate approximately $11.62.