Not much to buy this month!! We need to make room in the freezers for turkeys and hams, so my shopping will reflect that.
Oct.4 QFC-- hoping for markdown milk. I find 6 gallons of whole milk for $2.29 each and a 10 oz container of mushrooms for $1.49. I spent $16.23. The mushrooms will be nice to add to vegetarian gravy. Most of the milk will go in the freezer.
Oct. 5 Dollar Tree. I pick up 3 quarts of soy milk and a 24 oz package of macaroni noodles. Spent $4. The macaroni is a regular at Dollar Tree, working out to 67cents per pound, a good price for our area.
Oct. 10 Cash and Carry wholesaler/restaurant supply. I need sugar, down to my last 1/2 cup. I buy 1 50-lb bag of sugar ($22.82), and while there find vegetable oil (soybean) in 35-lb container for $18.57. Spent $41.39.
Oct. 27 Dollar Tree to pick up 2 more quarts of soy milk. Spent $2
Oct. 28 Totally out of milk for rest of family. I had to buy a gallon of whole milk at QFC for $2.99. Only bought 1 gallon, and will hope to find marked down milk in the next few days. Spent $2.99
Total spent for the month, so far -- $66.61
Oct.30 Stop by QFC on way home from babysitting, hoping to find marked down milk, and YES!!, 11 half gallons of whole milk (what my daughter needs, and what I use for yogurt). I buy all 11 half gallons, at 99 cents each. Spent $10.89. Odd thing -- they also had gallon jugs of skim milk on markdown, but those were $2.59/gallon. By buying the half gallons, I only spent $1.98/gallon.
Some months, it's funny to look back at the month of grocery shopping and see what I actually bought. This month, I bought various milks, macaroni, mushrooms, vegetable oil and sugar. Doesn't sound like a whole lot of variety for the month, does it?
So, last month, we went over our budget, used up the surplus, and spent $63.17 into future months, for a carry forward deficit. Our budget for October is $160, less this deficit of $63.17, for a remaining amount of $96.83.
For the month of October, I spent $77.50. I finished the month with a surplus of $19.33. back on surplus territory -- that always feels so much more comfortable for me!
Friday, October 31, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
This week's lunch round-up: comfort food to help us slide right into fall
The daytime temps have cooled significantly, this past week. I think it's safe to say that it is fall, here, now (no more near-summer high temps, for us). The house is cooler, we're now using the furnace for several hours per day (made it to the 26th with minimal furnace use, though), and baking/cooking keeps me active and warm.
Here's what's on the lunch menu for our family, for this last week in October:
Here's what's on the lunch menu for our family, for this last week in October:
- crabapple sauce muffins (using the tail end of last week's crabapple sauce, plus some not-so-sparkling Martinelli's apple cider, as liquid)
- home-style macaroni and cheese (didn't have much cheddar left, so I added the cheddar we had, plus some shallots and ground mustard for zing, and a spoonful of canned pumpkin for that orange-y cheese color -- ;-) but don't tell my family!)
- leftover baked bean casserole
- leftover curried pumpkin-peanut soup
- carrot sticks
- blackberry-rhubarb sauce
- toasted mozzarella cheese sandwiches
- pbj sandwiches
Monday, October 27, 2014
More beauty on a budget: hair color
Most of you know that I cut my own hair (and surprise, surprise, I don't look like a cave woman!!!) I go in for a professional hair cut once per year (using a coupon -- with tip, I will only get a "real" haircut if I can come out for about $10 -- yeah, I'm a cheap old lady!) After giving myself a trim, I'll often get someone in the family to check and even up the back for me.
I've been wearing my hair plain old, ordinary, shoulder-length, for several years. So, a few weeks ago, thinking my hair needed an update, I followed my daughters, and cut bangs. Meh. . . just center-part bangs, nothing that I thought was anything special. But then, one daughter said I should sweep them off to one side, for side-swept bangs. Much improved!
Hair looking styled -- next up, color. I understand that many women love their gray hairs. Maybe when I have more of them, I will too. But for now, as I tell my sister, they just make the top of my head look dusty. Supposedly, stress = gray hair. Well, my head tells the story of the past few years of my life. A ton of grays came in. So, for the past 3 years, I've been covering the grays with a semi-permanent color. I love it. It looks very much like my natural color, and fades slowly.
I do a few things to make hair color frugal. First, the obvious one, I use a coupon (usually $2 off) to buy the color when it's on sale (often for $6.99/box). So my net cost is $4.99. Not bad. And, I only color my hair once every 3 months. For now, that works for me.
But then, I do one other thing with the boxed color to save money. I only use half of the product at a time.
The brand I use comes in two parts, the developing creme, in an applicator bottle, and the colorant, in a squeeze tube. With a sharpie, I mark the half-way point on the developing creme bottle. I take the lid off, and pour the developing creme, roughly to that mark on the bottle, into a small glass bowl. Then I eyeball the colorant, adding half of that product to the developing creme. I mix the two together with a plastic spoon, and apply to my hair. The hair color can be split for two uses this way. I wash and save the plastic gloves that come with the box. The next time I color my hair, I simply mix the remaining colorant with the remaining developing creme in the creme bottle, as instructed. You cannot mix the two, then save half.
My cost per application, then, is about $2.50. I color my hair 4-5 times per year, so my total hair color cost is $10-12. Not bad.
I have found that most of the drug store brands of hair color have enough product to divide in half for two applications, if :
When I first began splitting my boxes of hair color I couldn't find much info on whether or not this was doable. So, I'm just putting this out there, as yet another person who successfully splits boxes of hair color, for two applications.
__________________________________________________
I've been wearing my hair plain old, ordinary, shoulder-length, for several years. So, a few weeks ago, thinking my hair needed an update, I followed my daughters, and cut bangs. Meh. . . just center-part bangs, nothing that I thought was anything special. But then, one daughter said I should sweep them off to one side, for side-swept bangs. Much improved!
Hair looking styled -- next up, color. I understand that many women love their gray hairs. Maybe when I have more of them, I will too. But for now, as I tell my sister, they just make the top of my head look dusty. Supposedly, stress = gray hair. Well, my head tells the story of the past few years of my life. A ton of grays came in. So, for the past 3 years, I've been covering the grays with a semi-permanent color. I love it. It looks very much like my natural color, and fades slowly.
I do a few things to make hair color frugal. First, the obvious one, I use a coupon (usually $2 off) to buy the color when it's on sale (often for $6.99/box). So my net cost is $4.99. Not bad. And, I only color my hair once every 3 months. For now, that works for me.
But then, I do one other thing with the boxed color to save money. I only use half of the product at a time.
The brand I use comes in two parts, the developing creme, in an applicator bottle, and the colorant, in a squeeze tube. With a sharpie, I mark the half-way point on the developing creme bottle. I take the lid off, and pour the developing creme, roughly to that mark on the bottle, into a small glass bowl. Then I eyeball the colorant, adding half of that product to the developing creme. I mix the two together with a plastic spoon, and apply to my hair. The hair color can be split for two uses this way. I wash and save the plastic gloves that come with the box. The next time I color my hair, I simply mix the remaining colorant with the remaining developing creme in the creme bottle, as instructed. You cannot mix the two, then save half.
My cost per application, then, is about $2.50. I color my hair 4-5 times per year, so my total hair color cost is $10-12. Not bad.
I have found that most of the drug store brands of hair color have enough product to divide in half for two applications, if :
- your hair is somewhat short (mine is shoulder length)
- you are staying close to your original hair color, so that if any hairs don't get thoroughly saturated, it won't be detectable (the color I chose is similar to my natural hair color, but has a tad more red highlights)
- you have relatively few gray hairs to cover (I have under 10% of my total hairs coming in gray)
When I first began splitting my boxes of hair color I couldn't find much info on whether or not this was doable. So, I'm just putting this out there, as yet another person who successfully splits boxes of hair color, for two applications.
__________________________________________________
Friday, October 24, 2014
Stretching my perfume
Have you ever had a bottle of perfume that you liked, but came off way too strong when applied?
I have this lovely tiny bottle of perfume (real perfume, oil-based stuff) that friends gave to me for my birthday.
I do like this perfume, but the fragrance is a bit heavy. Well, I came up with a solution that works for me, and allows me to still wear this perfume, without asphyxiating an elevator full of people. In fact, I have this theory on how much perfume one should wear. If you can smell it a foot away from me, then I have too much on. Only someone whose nose is pressed against my neck should be able to smell it.
My solution -- I put 1 drop of perfume into a small glass dish, then added about 1/4 teaspoon of vegetable oil (yep, ordinary vegetable oil). I stir this up with a toothpick. I apply 1 dab, and that's it. I'm putting on a fraction of the perfume that I would have used, had I just used the cap as an applicator. The fragrance wanes after about 6 hours, so I can add another dab then, if I want.
This seems to be working really well for me. A small dish of my oil and perfume mix lasts for about a week. At this rate, my tiny bottle of perfume will still be in use for the next few years.
I have this lovely tiny bottle of perfume (real perfume, oil-based stuff) that friends gave to me for my birthday.
I do like this perfume, but the fragrance is a bit heavy. Well, I came up with a solution that works for me, and allows me to still wear this perfume, without asphyxiating an elevator full of people. In fact, I have this theory on how much perfume one should wear. If you can smell it a foot away from me, then I have too much on. Only someone whose nose is pressed against my neck should be able to smell it.
My solution -- I put 1 drop of perfume into a small glass dish, then added about 1/4 teaspoon of vegetable oil (yep, ordinary vegetable oil). I stir this up with a toothpick. I apply 1 dab, and that's it. I'm putting on a fraction of the perfume that I would have used, had I just used the cap as an applicator. The fragrance wanes after about 6 hours, so I can add another dab then, if I want.
This seems to be working really well for me. A small dish of my oil and perfume mix lasts for about a week. At this rate, my tiny bottle of perfume will still be in use for the next few years.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Finding the free stuff
My rosemary plants died on me this past season. Sigh. I've now started a couple of new plants from seed, but they won't be near ready for harvest for a year or two.
In the meantime, I've been wanting some rosemary for both flavored vinegar and for drying to use in cooking.
This past Saturday, at the event I worked at our church, we picked a bunch of fresh herbs from the kitchen garden, just outside the church's kitchen door. The ladies have planted this really lovely herb garden with thyme, rosemary, mint, chives, lavender and parsley. Those of us who work in the kitchen regularly, come and go through this back door. I always run my fingers through the rosemary, to sniff it's wonderful aroma.
Well, there were more herbs clipped than actually needed on Saturday. No one else there had any interest in claiming these wonderfully fragrant stems. But I sure did!
I stuffed a bunch of the rosemary into my bottle of thyme vinegar, and have the other stems drying on the kitchen counter, to grind and use this winter.
And, I now know where I can find free rosemary while I wait for my new plants to grow!
In the meantime, I've been wanting some rosemary for both flavored vinegar and for drying to use in cooking.
This past Saturday, at the event I worked at our church, we picked a bunch of fresh herbs from the kitchen garden, just outside the church's kitchen door. The ladies have planted this really lovely herb garden with thyme, rosemary, mint, chives, lavender and parsley. Those of us who work in the kitchen regularly, come and go through this back door. I always run my fingers through the rosemary, to sniff it's wonderful aroma.
Well, there were more herbs clipped than actually needed on Saturday. No one else there had any interest in claiming these wonderfully fragrant stems. But I sure did!
I stuffed a bunch of the rosemary into my bottle of thyme vinegar, and have the other stems drying on the kitchen counter, to grind and use this winter.
And, I now know where I can find free rosemary while I wait for my new plants to grow!
Monday, October 20, 2014
Hi there!
Over the weekend, I worked (volunteered) 2 more events, one large on Saturday, and one smaller one on Sunday. I think I'm just getting too old for this! LOL! I am tuckered! But just two more events to work this month, then next month looks lighter in the volunteer department.
Even so, I still had to make up something for lunches this week. I opted for the easy route for most of it. So, our lunch selections to choose from include:
I finally finished off cooking up the crabapples. I made one more large pot of crabapple-apple sauce, and another container of crabapple juice for making jelly later this fall/winter. And I went ahead and picked the figs, although not ripe this year. I'll make these into fig jam.
Our freezer is so packed that I'm trying not to buy anything that needs freezer storage, so I'll have room for turkeys and hams next month. It's a good thing to have all this food in store!
At Saturday's event, one of the ladies brought in some beet pickles and corn relish that she had made. I didn't try the beet pickles, but did the corn relish and it was delicious. The interesting thing was that she just used canned beets and canned corn for these "preserves". The corn relish would be especially good on the Thanksgiving table. All she did was cook some vinegar, sugar, pickling spice, salt, water, red and green peppers, and onions for a few minutes, then added a can of drained corn. Very simple and it was ready the next day. I'm thinking of adding it to our Thanksgiving menu this year.
One other interesting thing I noted last night. We had a beautiful and warm day yesterday. After dinner the air was still quite warm, so I went out for an evening walk through the neighborhood. Since when did Hallowe'en become a season?! About a dozen houses were elaborately decorated for Hallowe'en. Even though I don't have trick-or-treaters in the family any more, I'm thinking it might be fun just to go out that evening and see all the decorations and kiddies.
I hope you're all having a great week! I'll be able to write more very soon! Take care, all!
Even so, I still had to make up something for lunches this week. I opted for the easy route for most of it. So, our lunch selections to choose from include:
- pumpkin muffins
- blackberry-applesauce
- egg salad for sandwiches
- pbj's
- carrot sticks
- apples
- crabapple-apple sauce
- crazy soup leftovers (all the odds and ends of cooking and salads from the last month, cooked up with a pot of lentils -- interesting flavor!)
- leftover cookies from the weekend
I finally finished off cooking up the crabapples. I made one more large pot of crabapple-apple sauce, and another container of crabapple juice for making jelly later this fall/winter. And I went ahead and picked the figs, although not ripe this year. I'll make these into fig jam.
Our freezer is so packed that I'm trying not to buy anything that needs freezer storage, so I'll have room for turkeys and hams next month. It's a good thing to have all this food in store!
At Saturday's event, one of the ladies brought in some beet pickles and corn relish that she had made. I didn't try the beet pickles, but did the corn relish and it was delicious. The interesting thing was that she just used canned beets and canned corn for these "preserves". The corn relish would be especially good on the Thanksgiving table. All she did was cook some vinegar, sugar, pickling spice, salt, water, red and green peppers, and onions for a few minutes, then added a can of drained corn. Very simple and it was ready the next day. I'm thinking of adding it to our Thanksgiving menu this year.
One other interesting thing I noted last night. We had a beautiful and warm day yesterday. After dinner the air was still quite warm, so I went out for an evening walk through the neighborhood. Since when did Hallowe'en become a season?! About a dozen houses were elaborately decorated for Hallowe'en. Even though I don't have trick-or-treaters in the family any more, I'm thinking it might be fun just to go out that evening and see all the decorations and kiddies.
I hope you're all having a great week! I'll be able to write more very soon! Take care, all!
Thursday, October 16, 2014
It's soup-tober!
I've been super swamped with stuff lately. It seems there is a dearth of potential volunteers in our church these days. I'm doing what I can to help fill some voids, but it takes it's toll. And I think I'm still finding my groove with my daughters' uni schedules, trying to balance with my own pursuits and studies. But life goes on. . .
October is the shoulder month for us. here in Seattle. It's just chilly enough that we could use a bit of heat, but not so cold that we absolutely need to turn on the furnace. Mid-October, our house hovers around 62 to 63 degrees F.
We must be the very last neighbors on our block to turn on our furnace, full-time, every fall. Each year, we challenge ourselves to wait just a little longer. Last year, we made it to October 22. This year, we're hoping to make it to about the 25th.
How do we keep from freezing ourselves silly? Besides wearing multiple layers of clothing, using lap throws and staying physically active, we eat soup for lunch and dinner almost every day. Soup is a very warming meal. Even if I'm just reheating a bowl of soup or chili in the microwave, I feel warm just holding my bowl.
To supplement both the soup meal and the heat in the kitchen, I also plan some sort of freshly baked or toasted bread product to go with dinner. I time this to come out of the oven minutes before we sit down to eat. The kitchen table is just a few steps away from the oven. We enjoy the bread, and some extra heat. Breads might include: biscuits, Yorkshire pudding, muffins, cornbread, or garlic bread, all quick and easy to put together in the late afternoon/early evening.
I'm thinking of charging rent for that chair at the kitchen table that is closest to the oven.
October is the shoulder month for us. here in Seattle. It's just chilly enough that we could use a bit of heat, but not so cold that we absolutely need to turn on the furnace. Mid-October, our house hovers around 62 to 63 degrees F.
We must be the very last neighbors on our block to turn on our furnace, full-time, every fall. Each year, we challenge ourselves to wait just a little longer. Last year, we made it to October 22. This year, we're hoping to make it to about the 25th.
How do we keep from freezing ourselves silly? Besides wearing multiple layers of clothing, using lap throws and staying physically active, we eat soup for lunch and dinner almost every day. Soup is a very warming meal. Even if I'm just reheating a bowl of soup or chili in the microwave, I feel warm just holding my bowl.
To supplement both the soup meal and the heat in the kitchen, I also plan some sort of freshly baked or toasted bread product to go with dinner. I time this to come out of the oven minutes before we sit down to eat. The kitchen table is just a few steps away from the oven. We enjoy the bread, and some extra heat. Breads might include: biscuits, Yorkshire pudding, muffins, cornbread, or garlic bread, all quick and easy to put together in the late afternoon/early evening.
I'm thinking of charging rent for that chair at the kitchen table that is closest to the oven.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
This week's lunch round-up
Again, following with the idea of doing a small amount of cooking over the weekend, I made some pbj sandwiches, a container of carrot sticks, and a large batch of pumpkin muffins on Sunday, leaving me with less to make on Monday. For the week, this is what we're having for lunch:
- pbj sandwiches
- carrot sticks
- pumpkin muffins with cream cheese
- fresh apples
- turkey-noodle-vegetable soup (made a large pot of soup for dinner on Monday, with enough leftovers for a couple of days of soup this week)
- Greek yogurt parfaits (Greek yogurt, chopped nuts, granola, jam)
- toasted cheese sandwiches (will make later in the week, as we run out of the above list of items)
- tomato-basil soup (made from pureed, canned tomatoes, minced onions, basil, oregano, pepper, salt and thickened with a faux beurre manie (a paste of flour and oil instead of butter, to thicken at the last moment -- also, I'll make this later in the week, to round out the last bits for lunches)
Monday, October 13, 2014
Gaining weight on a tight budget: Power-packed oatmeal
(For a re-cap, one of my daughters is recovering from an eating disorder and is in the process of weight restoration. She requires a great deal of calories every day. However, this kind of meal could also meet the nutritional needs of someone needing to gain weight for other reasons.)
This morning, we made another power-packed shake for breakfast, with whole milk, oats, peanut butter, canned pumpkin, cocoa powder, sugar and oil. It topped 650 calories.
But yesterday, we did another weekend, power-packed favorite -- the meal-in-a-bowl bowl of oatmeal.
I make this in the microwave, for ease.
In a microwaveable casserole dish:
For the rest of the family, I make a second, larger casserole dish of oatmeal in the microwave, using water in place of milk, and omitting the addition of oils, butter, whipping cream. I still add fruit/veg, nuts/seeds, crumbled bacon, ham or sausage, and flavors/spices, for interest, variety and nutrition.
This morning, we made another power-packed shake for breakfast, with whole milk, oats, peanut butter, canned pumpkin, cocoa powder, sugar and oil. It topped 650 calories.
But yesterday, we did another weekend, power-packed favorite -- the meal-in-a-bowl bowl of oatmeal.
I make this in the microwave, for ease.
In a microwaveable casserole dish:
- bring 1 cup of whole milk, and a pinch of salt just below boiling (about 2-3 minutes in the microwave).
- stir in, 1/2 cup rolled oats, and any of the following:
- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin, applesauce, or mashed, cooked yams
- 2 to 3 tablespoons finely shredded carrots or zucchini
- 1 tablespoon butter or oil
- 2 teaspoons or so of sweetener (honey, sugar, agave, jam, jelly, maple syrup, molasses)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons peanut butter (or other nuts butters)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped nuts or seeds
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped apple, pear, sliced bananas
- cocoa powder
- pinch spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg)
- ground flax seeds
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- extracts (vanilla, maple)
- minced, cooked ham, or, crumbled, cooked bacon, or, diced, cooked breakfast sausage
- Microwave for an additional minute or two, until the oatmeal is porridge-y consistency. Top with 1/2 cup of additional milk, if desired.
- This is 1 serving.
For the rest of the family, I make a second, larger casserole dish of oatmeal in the microwave, using water in place of milk, and omitting the addition of oils, butter, whipping cream. I still add fruit/veg, nuts/seeds, crumbled bacon, ham or sausage, and flavors/spices, for interest, variety and nutrition.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
An early October lunch round-up
So, I think it's helpful to do an audit on my routines, to see if making a couple of changes could streamline my work, or simplify aspects of other work. So I took a minute to think about how I prepare lunch items for the brown-baggers each week.
It had been feeling like my Mondays were out-of-control busy every week. And I had to scramble to find enough to put into Monday's lunches, on Sunday afternoon, anyway. So, why not get a jump start on preparing a couple of the lunch items for the week, by making them on Sunday.
I'll try this for a few weeks, and see how it goes. This past Sunday afternoon, I made a large batch of pumpkin muffins, a pot of curried pumpkin-peanut soup (thanks, live and learn, for the recipe), and extra mustard-glazed carrots for dinner, to pack into small containers to add to lunches. The rest of the lunch items I prepared on Monday.
Here's the full menu:
It had been feeling like my Mondays were out-of-control busy every week. And I had to scramble to find enough to put into Monday's lunches, on Sunday afternoon, anyway. So, why not get a jump start on preparing a couple of the lunch items for the week, by making them on Sunday.
I'll try this for a few weeks, and see how it goes. This past Sunday afternoon, I made a large batch of pumpkin muffins, a pot of curried pumpkin-peanut soup (thanks, live and learn, for the recipe), and extra mustard-glazed carrots for dinner, to pack into small containers to add to lunches. The rest of the lunch items I prepared on Monday.
Here's the full menu:
- pumpkin muffins
- curried pumpkin-peanut soup
- mustard glazed carrot slices
- carrot sticks (while peeling those carrots for the glazed ones I figured I mght as well peel a bunch more for carrot sticks)
- fresh apples
- apple-cranberry sauce
- peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (made a bunch of sandwiches to try out some new Dollar Tree sandwich containers, they're super slim, and just fit a sandwich)
- toasted pizza sandwiches (these make great breakfasts as well as lunches, at least so says my daughter!) (instructions here, if you don't know what I'm talking about)
- mixed nuts
Monday, October 6, 2014
September Grocery Money Journal
It was a BIG shopping month. I managed to get all my receipts recorded in my notebook, as I went, but not electronically, until now. We are well-stocked, and close to completing my list of "needs" for this winter.
Sept. 1 At Dollar Tree, buy 1 bag of potato chips, 1 box of graham crackers ($2 total, but used "found" money, so doesn't count against budget for month), and 1 box of baking soda -- spent 59 cents out of grocery budget.
Sept. 5 Cash and Carry wholesaler -- checked their online ad that's good for 2 weeks and found a few things I need on sale. Bought 6 gallons of white vinegar ($2.47 ea), 3 five-lb bags of frozen peas ($3.54 ea), 13 oz. container of curry powder ($4.24), 9 oz container ground ginger ($2.88) and 3-lb bag of dried cranberries for holiday and winter baking ($5.87). Spent $38.43.
Sept. 8 Albertson's for canned green beans, 14.5 oz cans for 49 cents ea, w/coupon, limit 12. I buy 12 cans of cut green beans, wax beans and French beans, spending $5.88.
Sept. 8 Dollar Tree, I pick up a box of lasagna noodles and 2 quarts of soy milk. Spent $3
Sept. 12 Cash &Carry wholesaler. This is where I spent a good chunk of grocery money this month. They had some great specials. I bought a case of chunky peanut butter (six 4-lb jars) for $35.88, three 5-lb bags of shredded mozzarella cheese for $11.98 each, one 50lb bag of whole wheat flour for $12.99, and 2 and 1/2 cases (6 #10 cans per case, so total of 15 #10 cans) whole peeled tomatoes for $14.22 per case. They just had 1 bag of whole wheat flour in stock, so I'll come back next week to pick up the other one. Total spent this day, $120.36
Sept. 15 QFC is next to the bank, so whenever I have some banking to do I park between the two buildings and pop into QFC to check for markdowns. I also was needing ground cloves for some baking, and this store has a bulk spices section. On markdown, I found tofu (freezes well -- I used some of the frozen tofu last night in a mushroom gravy over Yorkshire pudding for a simple supper), at 99cents/ lb. I bought 4 cartons. Also found beef hotlinks for $2.69 package (bought 2 packages). These are just a tad fatter than hot dogs. I buy them, freeze 2 to a pack, then when I want pepperoni for a pizza or casserole, I can slice thinly, to use as a pepperoni substitute. It works out to about $3 per pound for pepperoni, (ready sliced pepperoni runs about $5 per pound here).And I found skim milk for $2.49/gallon. They had several gallons there on markdown, but I only bought 3 gallons. I prefer higher fat milk for my kids to drink, but this will work fine in cooking. I also picked up a smidge of ground cloves for baking, at 98 cents. Total spent today, $17.79
Sept. 16 back to Cash & Carry for that second 50-lb bag of whole wheat flour, another 5-lb bag of shredded cheese and while perusing all the aisles, I find #10 cans of Libby's pumpkin for $4.25 each (I buy 4). The pumpkin is the equivalent of a little over 7 of the 15-oz cans of pumpkin each #10 can. So my price per 15-oz is about 60 cents, a great price. I spend a total of $41.97
Sept. 16 My daughters are with me today, and butter is on sale w/coupon ($2/lb) at Fred Meyer (a tip left on my facebook page). There's a limit of 2 lbs, but plenty of coupons at the door. So, my 2 daughters and I each buy our 2-lb limit. They also have whole grain pasta on sale for 79 cents/box (I buy 4 of linguine). Total spent for 6 lbs butter, 4 boxes pasta, $15.16
I'm now up to $243.18 spent for the month, and only half-way through the month.
Sept. 20 Coupon still good at Fred Meyer, and again my daughters are with me as I run errands today. So,armed with our coupons, we buy 6 lbs of butter, plus find 6 gallons of 2% milk for $1.99 each, on markdown. Total spent between the 3 of us, $23.94.
Sept. 26 We're at the fabric store, which also has a $ Tree and Safeway grocery store in the shopping center. I buy 1 bag of marshmallows at $ Tree ($1), and find 1 gallon of whole milk on markdown for $1.74 (I'll use for making yogurt). Total spent $2.74
Sept. 26 Walgreen's has canned olives on sale for 89 cents/can. We pick up 8 cans, spending $7.12
Sept. 26 Cash & Carry -- this week they have onions and carrots on sale, plus still #10 cans of pumpkin. I buy 50-lb bag of onions for $7.98 (I'll store about half of these in the garage fridge. They'll keep through December.) I also buy one 25-lb bag of juicing carrots for $7.98, 2 #10 cans of pumpkin ($4.25 each), and 2-lb bag of yeast for $6.78. Total spent $31.24
Sept. 28 Fred Meyer for eggs (4 dozen for $5, I buy 4 dozen) and find 1 gallon 2% milk on markdown for $1.50. Spent $6.50
Total spending for the month -- $314.72 !!! Wow! That feels like a whole lotta money. However, when I look at my pantry and fridge, we are pretty well stocked.
What did I buy over the month? Lot's of canned tomatoes, canned pumpkin, 15 pounds of frozen peas, canned olives, milk, butter (12 pounds, which will carry us through the holidays and into 2015), fresh carrots, onions, some spices, canned green beans, yeast, whole wheat flour (100 lbs should last 8 months), some eggs (enough for 1 month), 20 lbs of shredded cheese, 6 gallons of vinegar, 3 pounds of dried cranberries, 24 pounds of peanut butter, tofu, pepperoni substitute, and baking soda.
I still have a few items on my list to stock up on, like all-purpose flour, tomato paste and sugar. I'm hoping October won't be nearly as expensive as September.
We had a budget of $160 for groceries for September. I spent all of the $91.55 surplus from previous months, going over budget plus surplus by $63.17. That amount will be taken from October's budget, and hopefully we'll be caught up by November 1. I try not to overspend, but occasionally I have a month with a lot on sale that I want to stock up on. This was one such month!
We spent an average of $73.43 per week, for the month of September.
__________________________________________________________________
Sept. 1 At Dollar Tree, buy 1 bag of potato chips, 1 box of graham crackers ($2 total, but used "found" money, so doesn't count against budget for month), and 1 box of baking soda -- spent 59 cents out of grocery budget.
Sept. 5 Cash and Carry wholesaler -- checked their online ad that's good for 2 weeks and found a few things I need on sale. Bought 6 gallons of white vinegar ($2.47 ea), 3 five-lb bags of frozen peas ($3.54 ea), 13 oz. container of curry powder ($4.24), 9 oz container ground ginger ($2.88) and 3-lb bag of dried cranberries for holiday and winter baking ($5.87). Spent $38.43.
Sept. 8 Albertson's for canned green beans, 14.5 oz cans for 49 cents ea, w/coupon, limit 12. I buy 12 cans of cut green beans, wax beans and French beans, spending $5.88.
Sept. 8 Dollar Tree, I pick up a box of lasagna noodles and 2 quarts of soy milk. Spent $3
Sept. 12 Cash &Carry wholesaler. This is where I spent a good chunk of grocery money this month. They had some great specials. I bought a case of chunky peanut butter (six 4-lb jars) for $35.88, three 5-lb bags of shredded mozzarella cheese for $11.98 each, one 50lb bag of whole wheat flour for $12.99, and 2 and 1/2 cases (6 #10 cans per case, so total of 15 #10 cans) whole peeled tomatoes for $14.22 per case. They just had 1 bag of whole wheat flour in stock, so I'll come back next week to pick up the other one. Total spent this day, $120.36
Sept. 15 QFC is next to the bank, so whenever I have some banking to do I park between the two buildings and pop into QFC to check for markdowns. I also was needing ground cloves for some baking, and this store has a bulk spices section. On markdown, I found tofu (freezes well -- I used some of the frozen tofu last night in a mushroom gravy over Yorkshire pudding for a simple supper), at 99cents/ lb. I bought 4 cartons. Also found beef hotlinks for $2.69 package (bought 2 packages). These are just a tad fatter than hot dogs. I buy them, freeze 2 to a pack, then when I want pepperoni for a pizza or casserole, I can slice thinly, to use as a pepperoni substitute. It works out to about $3 per pound for pepperoni, (ready sliced pepperoni runs about $5 per pound here).And I found skim milk for $2.49/gallon. They had several gallons there on markdown, but I only bought 3 gallons. I prefer higher fat milk for my kids to drink, but this will work fine in cooking. I also picked up a smidge of ground cloves for baking, at 98 cents. Total spent today, $17.79
Sept. 16 back to Cash & Carry for that second 50-lb bag of whole wheat flour, another 5-lb bag of shredded cheese and while perusing all the aisles, I find #10 cans of Libby's pumpkin for $4.25 each (I buy 4). The pumpkin is the equivalent of a little over 7 of the 15-oz cans of pumpkin each #10 can. So my price per 15-oz is about 60 cents, a great price. I spend a total of $41.97
Sept. 16 My daughters are with me today, and butter is on sale w/coupon ($2/lb) at Fred Meyer (a tip left on my facebook page). There's a limit of 2 lbs, but plenty of coupons at the door. So, my 2 daughters and I each buy our 2-lb limit. They also have whole grain pasta on sale for 79 cents/box (I buy 4 of linguine). Total spent for 6 lbs butter, 4 boxes pasta, $15.16
I'm now up to $243.18 spent for the month, and only half-way through the month.
Sept. 20 Coupon still good at Fred Meyer, and again my daughters are with me as I run errands today. So,armed with our coupons, we buy 6 lbs of butter, plus find 6 gallons of 2% milk for $1.99 each, on markdown. Total spent between the 3 of us, $23.94.
Sept. 26 We're at the fabric store, which also has a $ Tree and Safeway grocery store in the shopping center. I buy 1 bag of marshmallows at $ Tree ($1), and find 1 gallon of whole milk on markdown for $1.74 (I'll use for making yogurt). Total spent $2.74
Sept. 26 Walgreen's has canned olives on sale for 89 cents/can. We pick up 8 cans, spending $7.12
Sept. 26 Cash & Carry -- this week they have onions and carrots on sale, plus still #10 cans of pumpkin. I buy 50-lb bag of onions for $7.98 (I'll store about half of these in the garage fridge. They'll keep through December.) I also buy one 25-lb bag of juicing carrots for $7.98, 2 #10 cans of pumpkin ($4.25 each), and 2-lb bag of yeast for $6.78. Total spent $31.24
Sept. 28 Fred Meyer for eggs (4 dozen for $5, I buy 4 dozen) and find 1 gallon 2% milk on markdown for $1.50. Spent $6.50
Total spending for the month -- $314.72 !!! Wow! That feels like a whole lotta money. However, when I look at my pantry and fridge, we are pretty well stocked.
What did I buy over the month? Lot's of canned tomatoes, canned pumpkin, 15 pounds of frozen peas, canned olives, milk, butter (12 pounds, which will carry us through the holidays and into 2015), fresh carrots, onions, some spices, canned green beans, yeast, whole wheat flour (100 lbs should last 8 months), some eggs (enough for 1 month), 20 lbs of shredded cheese, 6 gallons of vinegar, 3 pounds of dried cranberries, 24 pounds of peanut butter, tofu, pepperoni substitute, and baking soda.
I still have a few items on my list to stock up on, like all-purpose flour, tomato paste and sugar. I'm hoping October won't be nearly as expensive as September.
We had a budget of $160 for groceries for September. I spent all of the $91.55 surplus from previous months, going over budget plus surplus by $63.17. That amount will be taken from October's budget, and hopefully we'll be caught up by November 1. I try not to overspend, but occasionally I have a month with a lot on sale that I want to stock up on. This was one such month!
We spent an average of $73.43 per week, for the month of September.
__________________________________________________________________
Friday, October 3, 2014
Sometimes plans have to change, right?
I had planned on getting my September grocery journal posted today, but couldn't finish it up yesterday, as our internet access went out in the afternoon and didn't come back on until sometime in the middle of the night.
The downside, I couldn't do online things. The upside, no distractions in the evening, so I went to bed early, which I very much needed. There's always a silver lining to clouds, isn't there?
I'll get the journal finished up very soon, and have it posted. It's a doozy -- I spent a LOT! But, now that you understand we have some special nutritional needs in our household, when I find specific foods priced very low, I buy all I can, so I can meet those needs.
Beautiful things around here. . .
I bought 2 small mum plants on clearance (79 cents each) at the grocery store last month, planted in pots, then completely forgot to water them in our warm September. The existing blooms died, but I cut them off, and new buds have formed and are now unfolding new blooms. Even more beautiful, the violas and pansies that I got on clearance in spring, and put into pots for the deck are STILL blooming.
The tips of the vine maple trees on the border of the property are just turning autumn colors. Very pretty and a delight every time I step out the back door.
I cut some blooms from the hydrangea, and put in water for the kitchen table many weeks ago. When the water level went down (and I forgot to add more), the blooms dried and stayed their blue color, without going limp. I now have hydrangea blooms for a vase for the winter! Who knew my neglect could be a good thing?!
Our next door neighbor just this week became a grandmother of a beautiful little girl, her very first grandchild! I have a Kohl's $10 coupon to use this weekend, and will go pick out something for the new little baby.
Our car had issues this week, and needed repairs. Doesn't sound like anything wonderful could come from that, right? But, every single person that I encountered through this was soooo kind. They gave me rides places, and as soon as a loaner car freed up, they set it aside for me. And one woman even was kind enough to listen to me the day that I picked up the car, and was having a too-stressed moment. It has been a stressful week (month, year, life . . .), and these people really set my mood back in order. Now that's a beautiful thing!
Anyway,
I hope your week went well and you have a lovely weekend! Be back on Monday with the grocery journal for September!
______________________________________________________
The downside, I couldn't do online things. The upside, no distractions in the evening, so I went to bed early, which I very much needed. There's always a silver lining to clouds, isn't there?
I'll get the journal finished up very soon, and have it posted. It's a doozy -- I spent a LOT! But, now that you understand we have some special nutritional needs in our household, when I find specific foods priced very low, I buy all I can, so I can meet those needs.
Beautiful things around here. . .
I bought 2 small mum plants on clearance (79 cents each) at the grocery store last month, planted in pots, then completely forgot to water them in our warm September. The existing blooms died, but I cut them off, and new buds have formed and are now unfolding new blooms. Even more beautiful, the violas and pansies that I got on clearance in spring, and put into pots for the deck are STILL blooming.
The tips of the vine maple trees on the border of the property are just turning autumn colors. Very pretty and a delight every time I step out the back door.
I cut some blooms from the hydrangea, and put in water for the kitchen table many weeks ago. When the water level went down (and I forgot to add more), the blooms dried and stayed their blue color, without going limp. I now have hydrangea blooms for a vase for the winter! Who knew my neglect could be a good thing?!
Our next door neighbor just this week became a grandmother of a beautiful little girl, her very first grandchild! I have a Kohl's $10 coupon to use this weekend, and will go pick out something for the new little baby.
Our car had issues this week, and needed repairs. Doesn't sound like anything wonderful could come from that, right? But, every single person that I encountered through this was soooo kind. They gave me rides places, and as soon as a loaner car freed up, they set it aside for me. And one woman even was kind enough to listen to me the day that I picked up the car, and was having a too-stressed moment. It has been a stressful week (month, year, life . . .), and these people really set my mood back in order. Now that's a beautiful thing!
Anyway,
I hope your week went well and you have a lovely weekend! Be back on Monday with the grocery journal for September!
______________________________________________________
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Gaining weight on a tight budget (something most of us just don't even need to think about!!)
Sometimes, when an issue pops up within our families, we don't want to share information with others just yet, as it feels very private. Other times, the issue at hand feels so overwhelming to us, that we simply don't have the energy to deal with the comments and input from others. (People say stupid things at time, meaning well, of course. But it's draining to have to deal with inappropriate "advice" AKA criticisms.) So we work within our small group, privately, until we've reached the point that what other people say won't affect our overall approach to the issue.
I've wanted to share some of what our family has been dealing with, here on my blog, for a while. But it just wasn't the time. Presently, I feel we've reached a good place in recovery, and it's "safe" to share.
My purpose in sharing this is to 1) possibly reach out to someone else going through a similarly difficult time in their family's life, so they will not feel so alone in their struggle, but also 2) some information from the recovery process for our situation could be helpful to another family.
One of our daughters has struggled with an eating disorder for a couple of years. She is actively restoring weight right now. It's not an easy process. Many individuals who find themselves needing to regain weight also find themselves requiring an enormous amount of calories and nutrients each day. When you combine this with loss of appetite, the situation can seem daunting.
Eating disorders are just one reason an individual may need to restore weight. When my mom was sick with cancer, weight loss and appetite were a huge struggle for her. Often times, the elderly lose their appetites, and weight loss is a health risk for them, as well. Sometimes, it's just a picky eater in the family with a small appetite to begin with, that necessitates a bit of intervention to put on a few pounds.
It's so hard for us, as eager eaters, to understand the frustration of needing to put on weight, isn't it? I look at a donut, and it magically jumps onto my mid-section.
But, for those who are trying to help a child, parent or other loved one put on a few pounds, I'm going to share some of our methods and "recipes", over the coming month or two. As always, take what works and leave the rest.
The number one tip I can offer other families trying to restore weight with an individual who just doesn't seem to have an appetite, is to set up an eating schedule. For the underweight individual, it can be so easy to go through an entire day subsisting on an amount of calories/nutrients which result in further weight-loss. Before you know it, it's the end of the day, and a daunting amount of food still needs to be consumed. So, for us, having a schedule of 3 meals, 3 snacks works.
We adjust our calorie and nutrient needs based on weekly weigh-ins. The safe amount to gain per week seems to be 1-2 pounds (similar to weight loss recommendations). If we've gained the appropriate amount for the past week, then I look at the next week's activity level, and add or subtract a small amount from each day's requirements. If we over-gained, then I reduce the next week's requirements, and if we've under-gained, then I increase, but all based on the math of 3500 calories equals 1 pound of weight.
I keep this information in a small notebook, so I know for sure what I'm supposed to be doing for meals each week, and we can track progress. I'm getting forgetful in my "old-age"!!
For us, we minimize anxiety around foods and ingredients if I put together meals for my daughter, and she gets her snacks. There will come a time when we transition to more intuitive eating. This is all part of the process of recovery.
Each meal and snack has it's own calorie requirement. To give you an example of how it unfolds for us, for a week when my daughter needs 2800 calories per day, we do 750 for breakfast, 200 mid-morning snack, 700 lunch, 200 mid-afternoon snack, 750 dinner, and 200 evening snack.
Snacks can be hard for us to get in, so we set the calorie requirement for those somewhat low. Another family might do better with fewer calories at meals, and more at snack time, for 6 mini-meals each day.
When my mom was battling cancer, she had similar calorie goals for each meal. Working within these goals helped to keep her weight from slipping dangerously low.
So, one of the biggest obstacles for us with meals is getting in a nutrient-dense breakfast in a short amount of time. There are meal replacement shakes that I know a lot of families use. Working on a tight budget, I'll share what we do that packs the nutrition, while keeping our costs reasonable.
The Nutrient-Dense, High-Calorie Breakfast Smoothie
I plan the next morning's breakfast the evening before, as I'm cleaning up the kitchen. If my plan is something like muffins and milk, my daughter's milk gets boosted to a smoothie. I calculate the calories of the muffin portion, and figure how many calories the smoothie needs to contain.
I set up all the ingredients for her smoothie the evening before, then in the morning, she or I dump it into the blender to whirl it smooth. She often expresses a flavor she's in the mood for, and I work with that.
I use a 1-pint canning jar, and begin adding ingredients to the jar, until I meet the calorie requirement. Cap and refrigerate overnight. Here are some ingredients that we use in our smoothies, but not all of them in the same smoothie!! :
I don't calculate ratios (the 30/30/40) on a daily basis, but every 7-10 days I do a mini-audit of one day's meals, just to see if we're on track.
A suggestion for coming up with a blend of flavors -- think about other meals/foods you've eaten and enjoyed. I make a delicious sweet potato/orange zest and nutmeg casserole. So for one smoothie variation, I add sweet potato, a couple of orange segments, nutmeg, and sweetening to the milk. Apple pie smoothies are good, too. Some applesauce, cinnamon, oats and sweetening added to the milk. And of course, we love peanut butter-chocolate. I add 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin to these, at my daughter's request. Some cocoa powder, peanut butter, sweetening, canned pumpkin added to the milk -- yum. In an issue of Prevention magazine, several years ago, I found a simple tofu and orange juice smoothie recipe. I've done these for myself many, many times. (I like a bit of sweetening in mine; I believe the Prevention recipe was just tofu and oj.) My daughter likes tofu and frozen blackberries whirled into milk.
On extraordinarily busy mornings, sometimes the smoothie IS the whole breakfast. So adding grains in the form of oats or cooked brown rice, plus fruit or vegetables, milk, tofu, peanut butter for protein, and we have a meal in a glass. I've even taken to doing these for myself, when I know I've got a demanding morning ahead of me and no time to cook or eat a hot breakfast.
There you have it -- our version of a nutrient-dense beverage, based on real foods. For a price comparison, Boost nutritional drinks retail for about $1.50 for each 8 oz serving. A nutrient dense, home-made breakfast smoothie like what I serve, containing anywhere from 400-600 calories, costs between 40 cents and a dollar, depending on just how "fancy" we're feeling that day (and how inexpensively I've obtained ingredients).
And I won't even get into some of the "added" ingredients in commercial nutritional drinks. Ugh!!!
_____________________________________________________________
I've wanted to share some of what our family has been dealing with, here on my blog, for a while. But it just wasn't the time. Presently, I feel we've reached a good place in recovery, and it's "safe" to share.
My purpose in sharing this is to 1) possibly reach out to someone else going through a similarly difficult time in their family's life, so they will not feel so alone in their struggle, but also 2) some information from the recovery process for our situation could be helpful to another family.
One of our daughters has struggled with an eating disorder for a couple of years. She is actively restoring weight right now. It's not an easy process. Many individuals who find themselves needing to regain weight also find themselves requiring an enormous amount of calories and nutrients each day. When you combine this with loss of appetite, the situation can seem daunting.
Eating disorders are just one reason an individual may need to restore weight. When my mom was sick with cancer, weight loss and appetite were a huge struggle for her. Often times, the elderly lose their appetites, and weight loss is a health risk for them, as well. Sometimes, it's just a picky eater in the family with a small appetite to begin with, that necessitates a bit of intervention to put on a few pounds.
It's so hard for us, as eager eaters, to understand the frustration of needing to put on weight, isn't it? I look at a donut, and it magically jumps onto my mid-section.
But, for those who are trying to help a child, parent or other loved one put on a few pounds, I'm going to share some of our methods and "recipes", over the coming month or two. As always, take what works and leave the rest.
The number one tip I can offer other families trying to restore weight with an individual who just doesn't seem to have an appetite, is to set up an eating schedule. For the underweight individual, it can be so easy to go through an entire day subsisting on an amount of calories/nutrients which result in further weight-loss. Before you know it, it's the end of the day, and a daunting amount of food still needs to be consumed. So, for us, having a schedule of 3 meals, 3 snacks works.
We adjust our calorie and nutrient needs based on weekly weigh-ins. The safe amount to gain per week seems to be 1-2 pounds (similar to weight loss recommendations). If we've gained the appropriate amount for the past week, then I look at the next week's activity level, and add or subtract a small amount from each day's requirements. If we over-gained, then I reduce the next week's requirements, and if we've under-gained, then I increase, but all based on the math of 3500 calories equals 1 pound of weight.
I keep this information in a small notebook, so I know for sure what I'm supposed to be doing for meals each week, and we can track progress. I'm getting forgetful in my "old-age"!!
For us, we minimize anxiety around foods and ingredients if I put together meals for my daughter, and she gets her snacks. There will come a time when we transition to more intuitive eating. This is all part of the process of recovery.
Each meal and snack has it's own calorie requirement. To give you an example of how it unfolds for us, for a week when my daughter needs 2800 calories per day, we do 750 for breakfast, 200 mid-morning snack, 700 lunch, 200 mid-afternoon snack, 750 dinner, and 200 evening snack.
Snacks can be hard for us to get in, so we set the calorie requirement for those somewhat low. Another family might do better with fewer calories at meals, and more at snack time, for 6 mini-meals each day.
When my mom was battling cancer, she had similar calorie goals for each meal. Working within these goals helped to keep her weight from slipping dangerously low.
So, one of the biggest obstacles for us with meals is getting in a nutrient-dense breakfast in a short amount of time. There are meal replacement shakes that I know a lot of families use. Working on a tight budget, I'll share what we do that packs the nutrition, while keeping our costs reasonable.
The Nutrient-Dense, High-Calorie Breakfast Smoothie
I plan the next morning's breakfast the evening before, as I'm cleaning up the kitchen. If my plan is something like muffins and milk, my daughter's milk gets boosted to a smoothie. I calculate the calories of the muffin portion, and figure how many calories the smoothie needs to contain.
I set up all the ingredients for her smoothie the evening before, then in the morning, she or I dump it into the blender to whirl it smooth. She often expresses a flavor she's in the mood for, and I work with that.
I use a 1-pint canning jar, and begin adding ingredients to the jar, until I meet the calorie requirement. Cap and refrigerate overnight. Here are some ingredients that we use in our smoothies, but not all of them in the same smoothie!! :
- milk (whole milk if possible, 160 calories per cup)
- peanut butter (90 calories per tablespoon)
- dry rolled oats (yes, that sounds weird, right? I found that ingredient on a list for body-building smoothies)
- bananas
- tofu
- frozen and fresh fruit (chopped for items like orange segments or apple slices)
- cocoa powder
- sugar, honey, molasses, agave
- canned pumpkin
- applesauce
- leftover cooked winter squash
- cooked sweet potato
- dry milk powder
- whipping cream, oils
- spices (cinnamon is a favorite for us, but also nutmeg is good) and flavorings (vanilla and maple are both yummy in smoothies)
- leftover cooked brown rice
- homemade Greek yogurt (300 calories per cup, adds a lot of protein and calcium, and good with frozen berries)
I don't calculate ratios (the 30/30/40) on a daily basis, but every 7-10 days I do a mini-audit of one day's meals, just to see if we're on track.
A suggestion for coming up with a blend of flavors -- think about other meals/foods you've eaten and enjoyed. I make a delicious sweet potato/orange zest and nutmeg casserole. So for one smoothie variation, I add sweet potato, a couple of orange segments, nutmeg, and sweetening to the milk. Apple pie smoothies are good, too. Some applesauce, cinnamon, oats and sweetening added to the milk. And of course, we love peanut butter-chocolate. I add 2 tablespoons of canned pumpkin to these, at my daughter's request. Some cocoa powder, peanut butter, sweetening, canned pumpkin added to the milk -- yum. In an issue of Prevention magazine, several years ago, I found a simple tofu and orange juice smoothie recipe. I've done these for myself many, many times. (I like a bit of sweetening in mine; I believe the Prevention recipe was just tofu and oj.) My daughter likes tofu and frozen blackberries whirled into milk.
On extraordinarily busy mornings, sometimes the smoothie IS the whole breakfast. So adding grains in the form of oats or cooked brown rice, plus fruit or vegetables, milk, tofu, peanut butter for protein, and we have a meal in a glass. I've even taken to doing these for myself, when I know I've got a demanding morning ahead of me and no time to cook or eat a hot breakfast.
There you have it -- our version of a nutrient-dense beverage, based on real foods. For a price comparison, Boost nutritional drinks retail for about $1.50 for each 8 oz serving. A nutrient dense, home-made breakfast smoothie like what I serve, containing anywhere from 400-600 calories, costs between 40 cents and a dollar, depending on just how "fancy" we're feeling that day (and how inexpensively I've obtained ingredients).
And I won't even get into some of the "added" ingredients in commercial nutritional drinks. Ugh!!!
_____________________________________________________________
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