March Menu

March will also be about keeping our expenses low.  We're really trying to sock it to some outstanding debt in order to enter the new house debt free, aside from the mortgage.  We're also having to budget some more for the detox protocol with the integrative practice I'm working with, which of course isn't covered by our very traditional insurance.  But I know we can do it, and the fact that I'm feeling better really is motivational.

To that end, we'll continue making use of things we have in the freezer and pantry.  There will be some essentials we need to stock up on, like frozen berries, coconut milk, almond/soy milk, and fresh greens.  We'll also continue with our typical weekly use of the crock pot in order to save time and energy.

So, here's our plan:

Breakfasts:

• Smoothies with 1 cup greens, 1 cup coconut milk, 1/2 frozen banana, and some berries.  Add in seeds, cocoa powder, turmeric, ginger, etc. as desired.  Fill with filtered water to max fill line.
• Banana bars
• Eggs with leftover roasted veggies or greens
• Oatmeal with various dried fruit, seeds, and brown sugar/molasses
• Overnight crock pot steel cut oats
• Yogurt parfaits with granola, seeds, and frozen berries
• Coffee or tea (using loose tea when possible at home, because it's cheaper and generally better)
• Big boy breakfast:  Paleo pancakes, breakfast meat, eggs, fruit/veggies

Lunches:

• Leftovers
• Snack plate:  cheese, olives, pickles, gluten free crackers, chips and salsa, dried fruit
• Salads

Dinners:

• Crock pot Asian Chicken over rice or quinoa with Asian slaw (I usually make it without the Ramen because it keeps longer)
• Crock pot lasagna soup with gluten free noodles and salad
• Crock pot Thai chicken soup with Asian slaw (using leftover chicken or turkey in the freezer)
• Enchilada casserole with leftover chicken and corn tortillas, served with side salad
• Crock pot beans and rice with fixin's (cheese, salsa, plain Greek yogurt, maybe avocado
• Crock pot venison chili with fixin's (using leftover crock pot beans)
• Paleo dressing with sausage, mushrooms, onions, and celery
• Oven baked salmon with roasted veggies or salad
• Homemade mac and cheese with gluten free pasta and salad

Snacks:

• Cheese and crackers
• Fruit
• Energy bites
• Nuts

Batch cooking:

• Crock pot chicken/turkey stock (I've been trying to make some each week so I can have a cup or two daily and then put some in the freezer)
• Double batch of banana bars (one to eat, one to freeze)
• Energy bites
• Crock pot beans

Groceries to purchase/source at food pantry:

• Almond/soy/coconut milk (we try to do a rotation to get the health benefits from all)
• Cilantro (for Thai soup, Mexican recipes, and chili) and spring onions
• Frozen organic berries for smoothies
• Greens for salads and smoothies (we try to rotate baby kale, spinach, collards, and salad mix, again for health benefits, since each has a slightly different nutrient profile)
• Fruit (organic apples, citrus, pineapple, or whatever is on sale)
• Mushrooms (for Thai chicken soup, though I might use the dried ones we have)
• Avocado

The nice thing about most of these menu items is that they use pantry/freezer items as the base, so we can make them at any point.  The ones that rely on fresh ingredients, we'll try to make back to back so that things don't go bad (cilantro goes quickly, but we can freeze it in cubes for use in chili).

What are some things you plan to make in March?  I'd love to hear from you!

Frugal Accomplishments 4th Week of February

This was a pretty average week for us, aside from some maintenance work that needed to be done to my car.  Thankfully, we've shopped around a bit and have found a few mechanics in town who will do the work at a reasonable price.  The mechanic we chose guarantees the work and parts for a year, which is a nice bonus.  Aside from that, life was about keeping costs low and being creative with what we have.

• All meals were prepped at home including:  double batch mushroom, onion, and sundried tomato quiche with roasted veggies, cooked collard greens and eggs for breakfast, smoothies, oatmeal with raisins, banana bars (really flexible recipe to add in seeds, nuts, etc.), energy bites, leftover turkey from Sunday dinner, and salads.
• Grocery spending was kept to a minimum and we worked really hard to use our frozen and dried fruit toward the end of the week when we ran low on fresh fruit.  We also used shelf stable veggies (potatoes, onions, homemade sauerkraut) later in the week when we were low on salad greens.
• I continued to try to get in my 9 cups of fruits/veggies daily, sometimes subbing dried or frozen items for fresh (I keep kale powder for smoothies when I run out of fresh greens, especially for smoothies.  I'd like to get some red raspberry powder and maybe beet powder for smoothies too.).  This, plus daily homemade bone broth really seems to be helping my health.
• Exercised at home with YouTube videos.  The boys exercised at karate 3 times this week.  I did yoga, cardio, and hand weights at home.  I also made an effort to walk more during the day by parking further from entrances, taking advantage of 10-15 minutes here and there to walk the dog, walk around the school track, etc.  I also used the small trampoline at the Playhouse to exercise while little man played independently one day.
• We took a new approach to a snow day and structured the day much like a home school might operate, at the request of little man.  He was disappointed about missing art at school that day and requested time for an art center at home.  We ran with his idea and he developed a whole list of centers to do that day, including math, reading, free choice (building with Legos), PE (yoga on YouTube for kids), snack, coloring (both coloring pages and cut up brown paper bags), puzzles, and cooking (the energy bites mentioned above).  It was a great day with very little sibling arguing, so we'll definitely continue this strategy when we have snow days or long afternoons.
• Cut up brown paper bags for use as wrapping paper, which the boys colored.  I saved the thicker bottoms for draining the grease from bacon, etc. instead of paper towels.  You could also use the brown packing paper for this.
• Enjoyed my regular yoga class at the Children's Council and earned my monthly parent reward for helping with setup.  This month was a $10 Walmart card.  We plan to use this to purchase baby's birthday present.
• Little man and I had a date one afternoon.  I took him to Starbucks (I had a gift card) and we went to Michael's to buy a gift for a birthday party.  I used a coupon and my educator discount to get the lowest price, and he was very excited about the gift he chose.
• Made goodies for a bake sale at school using ingredients we had on hand.  I chose a no bake for ease of time, and to save on the energy of running the stove.
• Made coffee for the week at home.  If I make 10-12 cups on Sunday, that will get us through most of the week.  We refrigerate the leftovers and reheat as needed in the microwave.
• We washed and hung all laundry to dry at home.
• We've had two pretty successful days with baby on the potty training front. He's stayed in training pants most of the day, and while he's had a few accidents, he knows to go straight to the potty.  Hopefully by next month we'll be out of diapers during the day completely!
• Read a few frugal living blogs and tried to implement some of their ideas.  I would love to go into the new house completely debt free, aside from the mortgage there.  Our plan is to pay down the mortgage quickly there, hoping to clear it in 10-15 years.  By integrating some rental properties there, we should be able to do it.
• I explored another option for a side hustle, which would be teaching online through a private company.  It's something I think I would enjoy, but I really just need to figure out if it would fit our schedule.
• Added a few more items to the eBay bag for listing there.  We hope to have our CSA totally paid for through our eBay sales.
• I sent in more items to ThreadUp using their shipping label and a box we had on hand.  It's nice to have credit there because it allows me to replace items in my wardrobe without shelling out money from savings.  (If you use the link, it's my referral link, so I do get some credit if you make a purchase through that link.)
• We used a baby buck from our Children's Council groups to "purchase" a pack of wipes.  We use cloth wipes at home, but the disposable ones are great when we're out. (We'll probably continue to use them after the kids are out of diapers because they're great for car messes, messy hands when a sink isn't nearby, etc.)
• I took two chicken carcasses from our yoga meal.  The chickens were rotisserie ones, so I combined them with some scrap veggies from the bag I keep in the freezer and made some stock in the crock pot.  These would have been otherwise thrown away, so it was essentially free food.

How did you live and save this past week?  I'd love to hear from you!

Frugal Accomplishments 3rd week of February

This week was all about getting through.  Both Benny and I were down with some sort of viral sinus infection.  We got through with homemade broth (which I started at 3:00 am in the crock pot when I was up and couldn't sleep!) and soup, homemade smoothies, and rest as much as possible.  We saved money by staying at home and eating what we had on hand.

Update:  My mole removal came back clear and there's nothing further to remove!  Thanks for the prayers, all!

Here are the rest of our accomplishments:

• Made all meals at home including:  soup with collards, sausage, tomatoes and kidney beans from our stash in the freezer/pantry, smoothies with greens and frozen berries and bananas, roasted veggies with crock pot chicken, leftover roasted veggies with eggs, and snack plates with cheese, nuts, dried fruit, olives, etc.
• Went to my GP (only a $10 copay for a visit to her vs urgent care or specialist) to rule out flu and strep, since I'd been exposed to both as a teacher.  She said it was likely viral, but called in a prescription for me in case things got worse.  I pushed through the virus with bone broth, soup, rest, hot baths/showers, and loads of hot herbal tea.  Grateful that the boys don't seem to have developed it.
• Enjoyed community meals with Children's Council, at a professional meeting, Tang Soo potluck, and shared meal with Mom.  We brought home leftovers from Mom's since we fixed a turkey and roasted veggies.  Those will get us through many meals this week.
• Benny and little man had their belt promotion on Thursday, which included a pot luck afterwards.  It was a late night, but a very nice ceremony for them.  We're proud of them!
• Continued with my detox protocol and seem to regain health weekly.  I'm back to exercising at home regularly and can do yoga without a problem.  I'm so grateful for that!
• Appreciated several items from the food pantry including fruit, organic yogurt, organic free range eggs, some dried fruit, and a few lunch snacks for the boys.
• Frugal fail:  I spent more at the grocery store than planned.  I ended up taking the boys with me, so I promised they could each choose a fruit that was on sale.  Of course, both chose berries (most expensive, even with being on sale).  I'm working with little man to explain how we make our money go further, but it's baby steps.  Success would be that the boys made healthy choices!
• Made homemade banana bars using frozen bananas from the pantry a few weeks ago and pantry staples.  The boys love these, and they're generally healthy (aside from a few tablespoons of brown sugar).  They make a nice breakfast snack or lunchbox treat.
• Mom gave us a surprise dinner date out, which was really nice.  We ate relatively inexpensively, and I brought home veggies from my fajitas and had them with eggs the next morning.  Benny and I used some of the time to consider how to rework part of the new house plans to make it more usable on the lot.
• We kept the heat low and did all our usual hanging laundry to dry to reduce electric bills.
• Wore pajamas and other clothes (sweaters, jeans, etc.) more than once to save on water and wear and tear on our clothes.
• Brought home leftovers from an event at school.  This will give us cheese to use in quiche and for snacks, as well as olives and pita chips the boys will love.

What did you do to live and save green this past week?  I'd love to hear from you!

Frugal Accomplishments 2nd Week of February

We continued to work toward our goal this week of eating out of the pantry and freezer, saving money.  I worked hard this past week to combine errands and trips into town, since we're living further out of town now.  We did have to spend a bit at the dermatologist's office to have an atypical mole removed, but it's worth it for health.  Here's the details of our spending/saving for last week:

• Meals cooked at home included:  roasted veggies and crock pot chicken, salmon and salad, chili thawed from the freezer, breakfast for dinner (bacon, eggs, collard greens, and fruit), smoothies with greens and frozen fruit, Paleo almond flour pizza crust from Elana's pantry (great first attempt at Paleo pizza crust!) and batch cooked chicken stock for use in soup.
• Saved chicken bones and veggie scraps in the freezer for another batch of stock.  I am finding that consuming at least a cup or two of bone broth is really helping my gut to heal, so I've just got to get into the habit of making some on a weekly basis.  This may mean purchasing some bones from our CSA in bulk, but it will be worth it.
• Enjoyed community shared meals at the Children's Council twice and at a baby shower.
• Used a gift card to purchase a few items at EarthFare, saving on our grocery bill this week.
• Purchased only necessary salad greens, almond milk, and yogurt.  
• There was loads of produce at the food pantry on the Sunday pick up that wouldn't make it until Wednesday, so we got fruit, milk, cheese, and a carton of yogurt for this week.  We also stocked up on bananas to freeze for smoothies.
• Benny and I both won the door prize at our Children's Council support groups, so we have a total of $20 gift card for Applebee's.  We plan to use them later this coming week for a date night.
• Signed up the boys for a free parent's night out at church.  We made sure there's a gluten free option for the meal for baby.
• Dropped off two bags of items we weren't using at Goodwill and got a tax receipt.  (I don't know that we'll need the receipt if we don't itemize, but it'll be good to have.)
• Took a few travel bars of soap from the "free" bin at the Children's Council.  We were running low, and these will get us through until we're gifted more.  (Typically, I receive a few nice bars of soap as teacher gifts throughout the year, so this gets us through.)  We prefer bar soap to body wash because it limits plastic packaging and seems to have fewer chemicals.
• Used and washed our cloth napkins and handkerchiefs.  We usually wash these with towels when we have a full load, and it keeps us from using (and purchasing) paper replacements.
• Found printable Valentine's coloring pages I could shrink to Valentine's size.  Little man has enjoyed coloring these for his classmates, and they were free (minus the cost of cardstock, which I already had on hand).
• Picked up a cilantro plant at the food pantry that I think I can salvage.  This should provide us cilantro for the spring, and I can save the seeds the plant produces in the summer for next spring (or I might try a fall planting).  We also continued planning our garden for the new house, as well as some container options for the rental when the weather warms up.

What did you do to live and save green this week?  I'd love to hear from you!

Frugal Accomplishments First Week of February

• Cooked all meals at home including a whole chicken in the crock pot with pear and cranberry sauce (from America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Easy Prep Edition) which was pretty good, smoothies with greens and fruit from the food pantry, "snack plates" with fruit, crackers, cheese, salami, and veggies, oatmeal from pantry with raisins, dried coconut, and poppy seeds, and breakfast for dinner (paleo pancakes from a Costco mix, bacon, fruit, and egg scramble with tomatoes and dried mushrooms from the pantry).
• Enjoyed a new book, Wild Fermentation, that we purchased with a Barnes and Noble gift card.  It has some beverage ideas that we'll really enjoy, and if we can continue getting organic milk at the food pantry, then we'll get back into making our own yogurt too.  (It was hard to juggle that with little ones at home and at least one of us working full time.)
• Organized the boys' drawers and closet, weeding out clothes that no longer fit for donation or to pack up to save.  Watching Tidying Up on Netflix has inspired us, and the boys can now see all their clothes, rather than digging through a pile of folded items in the drawer.  We will tackle our clothing next.
• Began collecting items to take to yoga for our swap date.  It's nice to have a date to work towards for cleaning out.  I'd love to go through another box or two of stuff before we meet.
• Volunteered at the food pantry to help with pick up and brought home several items.  
• Used a gift card to purchase necessary groceries this week including greens, fruit, coconut milk and eggs.
• Tried a new Paleo stuffed mushroom recipe from Elana's Pantry and we loved it!  (The boys both said they were too spicy though, so I'll adjust the spices next time.)  The recipe only used 1/2 a pound of ground beef, so we browned the other half for past sauce another night.  It was nice to try out a new recipe, and the mushrooms were part of the free items from the food pantry (and organic to boot!).
• Shared meals with Mom twice and had our regular Children's Council meals on Wednesday and Thursday.  I'm grateful for those meals and the support we receive there.  It's a wonderful service they provide.
• Cashed in baby bucks for another Walmart card.  We might use this to purchase organic apples, which are more expensive, but better for us.  The boys love apples, and they often accompany meals and lunches, and I feel better about giving them organic ones.
• I took a few quizzes on Recyclebank to earn two magazine subscriptions.  I really enjoy getting these, and it's nice that I can get them for free.  When I'm done with them, I donate them to classes at school or the public library.  I know they'll get used well there.
• We were grateful for a free date night, thanks to Mom keeping the boys over the dinner hour.  She even kept little man for overnight, meaning that we could enjoy some extra morning time with baby (who is almost 3!).
• Progress continues on the new house with septic permits coming along and work with the builder progressing.  The septic permits are proving to be troublesome, but we're working through it.
• We called the insurance company about replacing windshields on both vehicles (they have stars that turned into cracks on both).  We're trimming our grocery spending this month in an effort to pay for this with very little out of savings.
• Used a free Walmart card to purchase diapers for a baby shower coming up.  I'll also include a packet of information about services our local Children's Council offers, since we've found this so helpful to us.
• Cut little man's hair and Benny's hair at home, saving the cost of hair cuts.  Little man is becoming resistant to hair cuts at home, but I think it's more because he doesn't want to stop what he's doing to sit still for the hair cut.  Any suggestions for how to make them more appealing to a six year old?

What did you do to live and save green this past week?  I'd love to hear from you!