Week 7 50 Buck Budget

Confession
I want to buy things I don't even really like or would normally buy just because I feel like I can't.  I also have gotten two "Try The World" boxes since I began this, so I have all my little goodies waiting for me until this challenge is over, but TheHub was having a little sugar craving and did eat one of the almond cookies in the Italy box. So I guess technically it is not ALL waiting.  After  this challenge is over we have food from Sweden, Brazil, Thailand, and Italy to sample. When I opened the box from Italy what did it have in it but a lovely little pack of coffee.  Challenge or no challenge I am drinking all six cups off it. Guilt free!

I have also decided to end this challenge a week early. I have learned quite a bit since I began this and don't think an additional week of doing it is going to add anything of value. Plus, it is TheHubs birthday weekend and we are headed to the lake.  As part of his birthday I want to cook whatever he wants. (I imagine it will be grilling a steak or lamb chops, neither of which would fit into this budget)

I am going to the store today and grab a few things we need desperately for the lake place, along with fresh produce plus some snacks for the game day weekend (Amazingly the kefir dip has been such a hit they are actually asking for it, so no dip purchases).  Son2 is going to the lake with us and would like some almonds and TheHub wants some cashews, but neither care that I will continue to get the Fake Fritos from Aldi to eat with salsa.

When we get back from the lake we are starting a new challenge to eat up a good portion of our food storage.  My freezer overfloweth!

Piggly Wiggly
Bananas  .43 lb.  .99
Cucumbers 2/1.00 1.00
Scallions .50
Lettuce .99
Cauliflower 1.50
Grape tomatoes 1.49
Ground chuck 2.99 lb.  2.99
Pork Butt 1.49 lb. 4.66
Bacon 1.49 12 oz.
Taco shells .99
Coconut milk 1.89
17.44

Aldi
Onions .99
Cheese ravioli 1.49
Potatoes 1.69
Butter 2.29
Tortilla chips 1.19
Onion ring (fake Funyons) 2/1.00 (clearance)
Cheddar cheese 1.89
Salsa 1.49
Chocolate milk 1.59
Cheese crackers 1.49
Fake cheerios 1.19
Bread 1.35
Mushrooms  .69 each 1.38
Red cabbage and apples .50 (clearance)
Carrots .49
Marzipan cake mix 1.59 (clearance)
21.61

Publix
Red curry paste 2.27
Tomato sauce 1.25

I spent 42.57 for the week.  If I had realized I had that much left I would have bought some ice cream sandwiches for the lake.


The Meals
Breakfast
Wednesday coffee
Thursday Took Mom for an 8 am Dr, appt.  No time for anything, coffee finally at about 11
Friday coffee, was summoned to Mom's to help her get ready for a luncheon
Saturday toast, coffee,  (both of us) fried eggs (TheHub)
Sunday toast, coffee, (both of us) fried eggs (TheHub)
Monday coffee,  cookie (at about 10:45 but is was the first "food" I ate so I guess it counts as breakfast)
Tuesday coffee, cereal

Lunch
Wednesday bologna sandwich (end of the overpriced bologna)
Thursday Spent the day at Mom's bank, drugstore, house.  Pack of crackers at Mom's
Friday round 2 of Mom's bank and drug store, then helping her clean her luncheon mess, brought a plate of her party food home, stumbled in the entrance when the damn front door jammed (then opened way to quickly), dropped food all over the foyer floor, Shelby the dog had a feast. I ate chocolate chips mixed with a bowl of dry fake cheerios instead. (Should I mention how teed off I was while eating?)
Saturday football game day snack stuff, veggies, dip, nachos (made with cheese sauce purchased a few weeks back and tortilla chips) carnitas
Sunday leftover bbq, baked beans, cucumber tomato and onion salad (leftover from Persian restaurant)
Monday hummus and pita (leftover from Persian restaurant), celery and carrots
Tuesday leftover potato soup

Dinner 
Wednesday cheese ravioli with olive oil and herbs, tossed salad
Thursday TheHub was in Atlanta and got home about 8:30.  We grabbed food from the Persian place, ate at the house and had caramel apple martinis after dinner
Friday TheHub was very late getting in from work to leave for the lake.  We picked up bbq at about 9 pm on the way to the lake.  Oh well!
Saturday spaghetti with meat sauce, salad
Sunday potato soup
Monday red curry chicken, with onions, carrots, cauliflower, sweet red pepper and mushrooms, over rice
Tuesday carnitas tacos, using leftover carnitas, lettuce shreds. tomatoes, onions, and cheese plus the remaining 3ish tablespoons of salsa.

Additional cooking/baking
Flourless peanut butter cookies, loaf pan size marzipan cake, cream puffs

Food 911

I have an insane amount of milk left along with an abundance of eggs, while I was thinking about how to use them I thumbed through our family holiday cookbook.

I am in the process of creating handwritten cookbooks with family favorites for each of my sons, but the holiday one is just recreating one I started when my older two sons were very young and I was flipping through it making critical decisions about what stays and what can be edited out.  As I was looking through it, I saw the recipe for cream puffs and for old fashioned pastry cream.  Since the recipes use a total of nine eggs and a cup and a half of milk (plus TheHub really loves them) I thought it would be a great idea to make them.

The cream puffs are just your basic choux dough, and you can find a recipe for it just about anywhere, but this is the one I use when I am making something sweet.

Cream Puffs
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
5 eggs

Pour 1 cup boiling water in a saucepan, add butter and salt.  Cook on low heat until the butter melts. Add the sugar and flour all at once and beat well over low heat  with a wooden spoon until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan.  Remove the pan from the heat and cool for about 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is fully incorporated in the dough before adding the next.  When all of the eggs are mixed  in and the dough is very well mixed, put it in a pastry bag or a plastic bag with one corner cut out of it.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and pipe golf ball size balls of dough, leaving space around each ball.  Pop them into the oven, do not open the door for at least 20 minutes.  At 20 minutes check them. (I generally take them out of the oven at this point and poke a wooden skewer through the top of each one, then put them back in the oven for about 5 more minutes (This allows the inside to dry well) This is a great time to tell you how I screwed this up. I had no parchment paper so I cut a Trader Joe's brown bag to fit the cookie sheets.  It seems that particular paper does not release the cream puffs like parchment does, so the bottom of every single one stuck, leaving me with just the pretty puffy tops. So instead of cream puffs I made cream half puffs. Oh well!

Take them out  of the oven, remove from the baking sheet and cool on racks until they are completely cool.  You have the option of filling them with whipped cream, pudding, cheese cake filling or  whatever else you can imagine.  Personally I only use this very basic pastry cream recipe.

Pastry Cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup sugar
4 egg yolks

Mix the milk and vanilla and set aside. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a medium sauce pan and whisk it well.  Slowly, slowly add the milk mixture, whisking continually until you have a very nice and smooth mixture.  Turn the heat on medium and cook, stirring continually until the mixture thickens. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the custard mix to cool for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile put the egg yolks in a heat proof dish and beat them well.  When the five minutes is up, slowly pour 1/3 of the milk mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly. The purpose of this step is to temper the egg yolks and bring their temperature up so they will not cook when you add them to the milk and flour mixture.  If you skip this step and just put them straight in the pan, trust me__you will have cooked eggs in your custard. Pour the heated eggs slowly into the remaining milk mixture, whisking constantly yet again. Return to medium heat and cook while stirring until it boils and thickens enough that a wooden spoon drawn down the center of the pan will leave a "trail".  You can store this in the fridge for a day, but you need to have plastic wrap touching the entire surface of the cream.  If it is exposed to air it will form a "skin" and this is just too tasty to waste.

If you made your cream puffs correctly use a pastry bag to fill the interior of your cream puff.  (Or cut them in half and spoon the filling in them putting them back together kind of like a sandwich) Since I only had halves I just spooned it directly onto the half. I followed it with a drizzle of a very basic chocolate glaze

Chocolate glaze
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup confectioners
1 tablespoon milk (add a few drops more as needed)
Drizzle it over the top of the cream puff , or in my case over the cream in the puff half.

Dang these things are good. I ate 2, I don't know how many TheHub ate but there are only 4 left. Feel free to count and do the math if you wish

These are easy, much easier than it sounds and really tasty.  You can use this same recipe, minus the sugar to make cream puffs to fill with chicken salad, tuna salad, crabmeat, whatever savory thing your heart desires.

And now I have 9 less eggs (well except for 4 egg whites and now I have to find something to do with them) and 1 1/2 cups less milk.  Yay!

October Joy List

September was not totally joyless, but I did not get as much knocked off the joy list as I had hoped I would.  I am keeping a joy journal now recounting what gave me joy each day.  It is amazing how many joyful things happen if we stop and take note of them.  

Did anyone else have a September that just flew by?
 1. Volunteer at Independence Place Been 5 times so far.  I find my joy there.
 2. Volunteer with a homeless mission
 3. Mentor at least one person regarding SNAP budget and meal planning
 4. Continue the 50 dollar a week food challenge
 5. Make ice cream
 6. Spend a long weekend at the lake (Labor Day)
 7. Bake bread
 8. Try cooking something I have never made before
 9. Try a new beverage
10. Swim laps 5 times a week
11. Use the eliptical  Started using it and will switch to daily use as the weather/water gets colder
12. Make a Christmas gift
13. Mend at lest 2 squares on the quilt
14. Take food to someone having a rough time
15. Watch SEC football (Roll Tide Roll!)
16. Have Mom up to eat weekly   Started out well but finished the month badly!
17. Take Mom out at least 3 nights during the month
18. Go to a movie by myself
19. See a play or opera
20. Take flowers to someone
21. Reconnect with an old friend
22. Enjoy some free music
23. Learn something new
24. Learn a jazz song on piano (Bonus if it it a Christmas jazz tune)
25. Sit on the deck at night and listen to crickets
26. No  Tv at least 1 night per week.  Read and listen to music
27. Have guests at the lake place
28. Plant a fall garden (Yes I know I am late to the party)
29. Have a back to school swim and hot dog dinner for the neighbors
30. Watch a couple of documentaries
31. Try recipes for 4 different Christmas food gifts including presentation
32. Work with TheHub on a new business plan
33. Be more intentional about gratitude
34. Pray for the entire world
35. Create some artwork (Paint or pen)
36. Keep a daily joy journal noting something particular that gave me joy.
37. Burn a scented candle every day (thanks Laura!)
38. Establish a weekly Cocktail Night (thanks again Laura!) TheHub really likes this one

October Joy List

 1. Pray for the entire world

 2. Volunteer at Independence Place

 3. Volunteer with a food pantry

 4. Learn a piano jazz tune

 5. Find and enjoy some free music Serendipitious, party across the lake with a live band

 6. Mentor someone using SNAP

 7. Reconnect with an old friend

 8. No TV at least one night per week (read and listen to music)

 9. Read 4 books

10. Try a new food

11. Cocktail Night each week (try a seasonal cocktail on the deck, weekly) Caramel Apple Martini,

12. Go to a play or opera

13. Have a small dinner party

14. Create some art 

15. Maintain the daily joy journal

16. Take food to someone having a hard time

17. Be intentional about gratitude

18. Burn a scented candle daily

19. Make at least 1 Christmas gift

20. Reconnect with an old friend

21. Take Mom to see Uncle Bob

22. Visit a small town in Alabama

23. Start Thanksgiving preparations

24. Do the Halloween decoration thing

25. Buy a pot of mums for the front door

26. Buy some mums for someone who can't buy their own

27. Spend a restful weekend at the lake place

28. Work on the family cookbook

29. Work on the lake cookbook

30. Go to a local lecture

31. Have Mom up to eat weekly

32. Take Mom out at night at least 3 times

33. Sit on the deck and listen to crickets

34. Do something totally out of character for me (no idea what yet)

35. Look for the good in every person I encounter (even if it means looking hard)
36. Mend 2 squares on "Nana's" quilt

The First Soup of Almost Autumn

We got back from the lake place and walked into the house which smelled like something had died. Following my nose I found one seriously rotten potato (from a bag I just bought on Wednesday no less) in my wire basket that holds potatoes. (Might I also mention it is in the coolest and  darkest part of the kitchen) Unfortunately every single potato that touched the olfactory offending one had to be cooked immediately.  I washed, peeled and cut out any soft spots, then chunked them in a medium dice and wondered what I was going to make with them.

Even though the day warmed considerably, this morning while we were sitting on the screened porch drinking coffee, we both had to throw a sweatshirt over our tee shirts. (But we did still wear our shorts and flip flops!) to keep from being chilly.  Because of the days beginnings I declared it soup weather. (Hey! We turned the a/c down a little lower and it was cool enough in the house to eat soup tonight!)

Slightly Different from Mom's Potato Soup

5 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion chopped
4 ribs of celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dill weed
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

In a large soup pot add the potatoes, onion, celery, carrots and broth. Cook until the veggies are soft, but not mushy.  Add the milk, salt, pepper, and dill weed and stir gently until it is simmering.  In a small sauté  pan melt the butter, add the flour,  and stir until it is a nice thick paste. (You want to cook it just long enough to cook the raw flour taste, but not enough for the mixture to brown like a roux. ) Stir the flour mixture into the soup pot and cook until thickened. Stir often.  Then add the grated cheese and stir gently until it is melted.  Serve piping hot.

This is a nice thick soup that is hearty enough to serve as the meal.  Normally I would serve a salad along with this, but I was feeling particularly lazy and just didn't want to make one. TheHub  didn't care either, so all we ate was soup and more soup.

Now will someone just let me know what the proper wine pairing for potato soup is.  Pretty sure the cab was  a failure. (But it was not enough of a failure to stop at one glass)

Festive Friday, Let's Hear it for the Boy

Today we are going with a gift for the guys. TheHub is blessed (cursed) with a very heavy beard, so his mantra throughout our married life has been "shave well and shave often".  In addition to his Fred Flintstone beard, he is also cursed with sensitive skin. (To be honest as his beard has grayed he no longer looks like F.F. in the afternoon but let's just keep that our little secret. The beard is still heavy, but gray casts a much lighter 5 o'clock shadow.  So shhhh!)

We have bought every brand of sensitive skin shaving creams known to man, be it gel, soap or cream form and all work to an extent, but still leave his face chapped and itchy. Today I thought I would whip up some oil dense shaving cream for him which would also work well as an extra handmade guy gift.

First purchase or save a foam soap dispenser.  I bought mine at The Dollar Tree and it was filled with grapefruit soap.  I thought it was a good idea since I would just pour the contents of the foaming soap into a decorative dispenser I already have in my powder room.  It was a brilliant idea if you can ignore the fact that the grapefruit bottle is very pink. I think there was a different product with a different scent  in  a clear bottle, but  no, I went for the grapefruit fragrance.  Why?  Not thinking? Or just thinking how good I think grapefruit smells? Dunno! But a dumb ass move on my part. Also if you are getting a bottle to recycle, make sure it has a label rather than the printing inked on the bottle. Rubbing alcohol might take it off, or it might not. I haven't tried yet because none of my guys would be thrilled with the pink bottle anyway.

1/4 cup olive, almond or coconut oil
3 tablespoons shea butter
1/4 cup castile soap
1/4 cup aloe vera gel or honey
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon kaolin clay (optional)
vitamin E
3 drops Rosemary essential oil

Put the oil in a double boiler (I live dangerously and put it in a small pan on low heat.  I have better things to do than boil water just to get something to melt.)
Add the shea butter and heat it just long enough for the shea butter to melt.





                                                                                                                                                                                   






Whisk it rapidly to incorporate the oils . (Yeah right!  I keep chopsticks saved from Chinese take out and use it to stir so I won't have to clean my whisk afterwards.) Continue stirring adding all the other ingredients.
I was unsure about how much vitamin E to add so I used a sewing pin and punctured about a dozen of the capsules, squeezed out the vitamin E into the mixture and got tired of the process, so I stopped. Then I saw the rosemary essential oil sitting on the counter for another project I am doing today and thought it would be a nice, clean manly scent so I added just 3 drops.


This is before the baking soda addition.  That seems to
be what makes everything become really creamy.

Stir and stir and stir a little more until everything is smooth and creamy.  It really does become insanely creamy quickly. Put it into a bottle  and it is ready to use.

















I actually think a regular pump bottle would be just as effective as the foam pump.  This is not so much  a terribly thick lather as it is this a luxurious foamy cream.  TheHub was not around this morning when I finished this so I tried if first on my right leg.  It worked very well, and was not so soapy that it took a lot of rinsing to get it off.  It left my leg seriously smooth.  Then I put it over my face, like a guy shaving would do. I scraped it off with one of those unsolicited credit card junk mail cards, (you know, the ones with YOUR NAME and account number 00000-000-0000000 on them) then did a quick rinse so I could see how it felt on a face.  To be honest my face feels as soft as a baby's butt right now.







 I think this is going to be a winner.  Sons 1 and 2 both shave their heads on a regular basis so I am pretty sure this will be one of their "filler" Christmas presents.  Son 3 not only doesn't shave his head (yet!) but one of his "filler " presents is a beard brush.  Hope springs eternal that will change!

Update: Son2 gave it a try.  He declared it one of the bests shaves he had ever had (other than a hot towel professional one)

50 buck Challenge,Week 6

Confession

I am tired of doing this and am ready to go back to our normal way of life, however abnormal it is to the rest of the world.  The little things I miss other than really good coffee are options. Before, if I decided I wanted fresh pineapple, I went and bought it. If it was a gorgeous night and we wanted to grill a steak, I bought it and we enjoyed it.  If we decided we wanted a Caprese salad I went to the store and bought fresh mozzarella.  My food budget was not extravagant but it was not limited to only what was on sale or what I had on hand. I miss the luxury of impromptu decisions, and I realize now what a luxury it truly is.

Oh, and we did go out to eat Friday night. We are finding we really do need the date night for both entertainment and reconnection.

The Shopping

Sprouts
Red grapes .88 lb. 2.04
Ginger 2.49 lb.  .34
Honeycrisp apples 1.48 lb. 1.64
Red peppers 2/1.00  1.00
10 bean soup mix .99 lb.   .99
6.01

Piggly Wiggly
chicken quarters .49 lb. 4.90
Duke's mayonnaise 3.25
8.15

Persian Restaurant Takeout
Meat pies 2.95 each  5.90
Spinach pie 1.50
7.40

Aldi
Cheese crackers 1.49
Fake Fritos 1.59
Sweet Potatoes 3 lb. .99
Cabbage 1.39
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs 3.27
Bread 1.35
Cheese ravioli 1.69 (clearance)
Chocolate milk 1.59
Pasta* .75
Hamburger buns .89
Canned biscuits .48 each .96
Cheese 1.89 
Pomegranate .69 each 1.38
19.23

Publix
Ice cream 3.00
Caramel topping 2.37
Apple juice 2.00
7.37

I spent 48.16 this week and included the takeout food as part of the budget.  I did not include our Friday night dinner because that is in our T& E budget. I actually have a ton of food left.  I have a couple of tomatoes, 1 bell pepper and 2 red peppers, 2 cukes, 1/4ish head of lettuce, more than half of the cabbage, 1 head of cauliflower, 1 onion, all the sweet potatoes, 3 regular potatoes, a few grapes, 1 apple, both pomegranates, a few limes, 1 carton of processed mushrooms (dehydrated) , 3 chicken breasts (frozen) 11 chicken thighs (boneless skinless, frozen) 7 chicken legs (frozen) the dried beans for bean soup, over 1/2 gallon of milk, 1 quart chocolate milk, about 2 cups of super thick kefir (making "cream cheese" out of it tomorrow), cheese ravioli, canned biscuits, 1/2 loaf bread and 4 hamburger buns.

Needed staples
coffee
butter
popcorn


The Meals

Breakfast 
Wednesday cereal, coffee
Thursday cereal, coffee, grapes
Friday toast, coffee
Saturday Dutch Baby variation
Sunday went to church so coffee only
Monday toast, coffee
Tuesday coffee, peanut butter and jelly sandwich (breakfast lunch combo meal)

Lunch
Wednesday handful of grapes (busy)
Thursday  random leftover stuff from the fridge (don't even remember what)
Friday peanut butter and jelly sandwich, milk, grapes
Saturday leftover pork butt bbq sandwiches, cauliflower salad
Sunday toasted cheese, onion and tomato sandwiches, coleslaw
Monday leftover tomatoes, okra and onion, about 2 tablespoons leftover lady peas, apple
Tuesday see breakfast

Dinner
Wednesday TheHub was out for a dinner meeting, Me, leftover chicken thigh, leftover cauliflower stuffing, fake Fritos, leftover salsa
Thursday TheHub wanted to try the new Persian restaurant 2 meat pies, 1 spinach pie (takeout) salad (home made) tea
Friday out to eat
Saturday leftover cauliflower leftover lady peas, leftover collards (TheHub went to the ball game and had his prepaid meal.  I had whatever)
Sunday broccoli dense chicken divan, brownies
Monday Italian sausage (frozen from shopping 3 weeks ago) with sautéed bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms over pasta
Tuesday variation on a theme of chicken taco (homemade pan fried flour tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, shredded cheese, seasoned cooked and shredded chicken from the .49 chicken quarter sale, leftover salsa) 

Snacks popcorn, peanut butter cookies, brownies, cheese crackers, apples, grapes, celery sticks, carrot sticks, muffins.

Extra cooking  6 minute brownies, 4 ingredient peanut butter cookies, homemade tortillas, plain muffins with hazelnut extract for additional flavor, 2 quarts chicken broth from the bones and 2 leg quarters of the .49 lb. chicken purchase.

* things I have on hand but am applying this weeks sales prices to

Variation on a Theme of Dutch Baby

A few days ago Rhonda from If you do stuff, stuff gets done shared her tried and true recipe for a Dutch Baby pancake.  I tried a small version the next day but ate it plain.  Other than eating a piece of birthday cake for breakfast the day after my birthday, I really don't like sweet things in the morning. It was delicious perfectly plain so I thought I would make it for TheHub and me over the weekend.

Rhonda's Dutch Baby Recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour pinch of salt

Beat the eggs, add the milk and melted butter and stir well, Add the flour and a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Pour into a well buttered pie pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Rhonda suggests serving this with a sprinkle of confectioners sugar and syrup.  I know it is delicious that way and we will try it one late breakfast morning

                                       Pure unadulterated Dutch Baby straight from the oven!

Saturday was one of those glorious unhurried mornings with a beautiful sky and cooler air, so we sat on the deck and had several cups of coffee before we worked up any appetite at all. I went into the house and popped the Dutch Baby in the oven then spent the next 20 minutes on the deck with more coffee and conversation. How great is it to have a breakfast that basically makes itself.  A couple of minutes before it was done I grated about 1/4 cup of cheese and popped three pieces of precooked frozen bacon in the microwave.  When the Dutch Baby was all done and nice and puffy, I sprinkled the cheese over it followed by crumbled bacon.

Oh my goodness! It was so good, better than good in fact! This is going to be a standard at the lake place for breakfast.  It was that delicious and so easy.! Now I am just happy we are going to the lake this weekend so we can have more of this goodness without waiting too long!  College football and a Dutch Baby, life is good!

Sorry all these songs pop  through my brain as I post the title of whatever is my "new happening"! I keep telling myself I am ok, because I don't hear voices in my head, just music.