Well, we survived another week of Eating From the Pantry. We only made one quick trip to the store and purchased the following:
A bag of grapefruit
A bag of oranges
A gallon of milk
A 16-oz. block of Cheddar cheese
Organic lettuce
4 packages of frozen veggies
Our total was a little less than $25–which is all we've spent on groceries this month and it's halfway over. I think we're going to make our goal of only spending $75 total on groceries this month.
Except, we are definitely going to have to buy eggs. Because I came out to the kitchen earlier this week to discover this:
I'm not exactly sure what that was all about but I do know that it involved two little girls who were apparently trying to "help" by concocting something in the kitchen.
And I couldn't help but be a little cracked up about it. (Yes, I know, I just had to throw that in there!)
I'm glad my girls are eager to learn how to make things… now I just need to teach them to learn how to clean up after they cook and we'll be all set.
Ahem.
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Aw, that is too cute that your girls were trying to help!
My son was always interested in making food, so when he was 9, we enrolled him in a local cooking class for kids. Once a week all the little ones would make and eat a whole dinner from scratch – including dessert – and then all the recipes were put into their very own cookbook.
The women who created the class were two stay-at-home moms who earned extra income (and much appreciation) from this.
To this day, my son – now grown – is a whiz in the kitchen and never serves less than a three course meal to guests.
Now THAT is adorable! They were probably inspired by one of your many freezer baking days! 😉 Thanks for sharing a smile today. There’s been so much heartache lately…it’s good to be reminded of the bright spots in this world. Blessings!
We have been tight on finances which has made it easier for dh to go along with eating from the pantry. This week has gone well and I’m pleased. Dh is usually very mood driven with his food. I grew up in a family of good cooks and you ate what was offered without complaining. Dh was allowed to be more picky. This pantry challenge has been good for me because I’ve come up with good things and offered choices but not “free reign”. We participate in a wonderful thing called Bountiful Baskets. It’s a fruit and veggie co-op. We get a basket every other week and the price is only $15. It’s first quality and the variety is fantastic. They also offer great breads at a good price. I just got a basket today and as I was making my meals for next week I very carefully looked at what we received and I’m planning from there. Sunday dinner will be Stuffed Peppers. I volunteered today at our pick up site and was given a few extra peppers so there are enough for dinner. BB is all over Arizona and they also have pick up locations in Utah, Idaho, and a few in Washington. Some locations even offer organic. It’s 100% volunteer run. A true co-op. If anyone is interested just go to http://www.bountifulbaskets.org
I have a “helpful” 2-year old too, so this kind of thing is common at our house. Handy tip for cleaning up raw egg – Sprinkle it with salt and let it sit for a couple minutes. The salt makes it solidify a bit, so it’s easier to wipe up. Something I learned working in a cafeteria in college. Handy when you drop a flat of 5 dozen eggs! 🙂
My daughter loves helping in the kitchen too and I cringe whenever she picks up the eggs, or dumps half the measuring cup outside the bowl. I just take a deep breath and try to remember that she is little and learning- and try to watch her closer the next time!
Ewww….raw eggs make such a mess. They were inventive though! We had an incident that involved oats and other ingredients at our house this week. Children can sure get themselves into some interesting situations. The key is to keep our sense of humor in “chaos”.
Ha! Reminds me of walking into my kitchen right after my two year old dumped the whole bag of flour off the counter onto himself and the floor! I also took pictures!
If you can run to Walgreens tonight, you can do the Maxfresh toothpaste deal (use a coupon to get it free or for $.24). Then use the $2 RR for their 99 cent eggs. That’s how I got mine this week.
I think your home would be a fun one to grow up in… 🙂
Good for you for smiling upon your sweet girlies and this experimentation.
It is also good for your readers to see that somewhat wasteful, crazy things happen in your home, as well. I am enjoying your recent sharing of some frugal failures. Often I convince myself that I’m the only one who just can’t get things together. A recovering perfectionist, for sure.
Blessings.
how cute that the kids’ cookbook is right out there with the mess 😉
My little one loves to cook too – like others have said, these are those fond memories for the future. If you were closer, I could give you a dozen eggs – we have hens. 🙂
Laura
http://www.tenthingsfarm.blogspot.com
Yikes! That’s one of the few things I would use paper towels for. I had to clean up quite a few eggs once, and didn’t have any. It was great. Wasn’t even the kids’ fault either. I was the one who dropped the carton.
We haven’t done any shopping at all this month.
To save money this week, these are the things that we did in addition to what we normally do:
We put a piece of tape over the reader on my toner cartridge, enabling me to keep printing schoolwork from my printer (because the toner wasn’t really empty; it just read “empty.”)
I did root propagation to start two new blackberry bushes. If they take, I’ll have saved us $16 plus tax for the cost of two new bushes.
It was warm enough that we were able to turn the heater off most days and nights this week.
Since we are low on margarine, we ate our pancakes, waffles, and potatoes this week without any.
Later today I’ll be making a nightgown for my daughter from two old flannel pillowcases that were given to me.
My husband also worked from home most days so he didn’t use much gas.
I used silicone baking mats instead of PAM while baking bread.
It will be interesting to see what else we can do to save money next week without leaving the house!
Awwww that’s so neat that you captured the little mess. It probably wasn’t too fun to clean up but at least you got a good laugh out of it!! =)
It’s so wonderful that they are trying to help! I know you’re proud of them… even when they make a mess! 🙂 Cute picture.
That’s funny! 🙂 My 2 year old recently decided to start helping me cook – mixing, pouring, etc – nothing over the stove. This week, we were making eggs for breakfast or lunch (can’t remember). He grabbed one and cracked it and before I could stop him, he pulled it apart over his lap! I couldn’t help but laugh, because he wanted to help. I just have to show him how to do it over a BOWL! 🙂
That is adorable! So glad you saved the evidence, even if you were a little upset. Great stories for memory lane.
That’s just too cute though! You’ll look back on it with fondness. Those tiny little girls experimenting at being like mommy! But all those eggs gone…bummer!
I wish I had a blog to detail my trip but I spent $31.14 and saved $80.25!!! Thanks for all you do. It has taken me some time but I am building up a great stockpile and saving a bundle!
Oh, yeah, when you are on as tight of a food budget as your family, they definitely can’t be experimenting with food!
My sister did this once. She wanted to play Julia Child. With Flour. And peanut Butter…
Ahem…