Category Archives: Square Food Garden

Sunday Menu Planning and other Random thoughts

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I have really enjoy this 4 day break. One of the main things that has happened is that I am finally caught up.  This upcoming week is a relativity slow one for us. Cheerleading is on vacation, so the kids have swim team practice each day and piano on Friday. My work is also slowing down as everyone (all 3 of us) are working this week a regular schedule so I should be able to get home early most days. As I posted earlier, we are growing the stockpile which means lots to choose from when menu planning.

Breakfast-Cereal, Poptarts, grits, toast and breakfast burritos at least one day.

Lunch- Salad (lettuce is already prepared, tomato and cucumbers from garden), sandwiches, hot dogs or left-overs. I am really encouraging Matt and the kids to eat sandwiches or left overs this week so that we can not waste any food.

Dinner– The exciting news here is that I should be able to eat most night with everyone prior to swim practice! First time all summer.

Saturday- Lunch: Potato salad, Mandarin salad, pasta salad, watermelon.   Dinner- Potluck at the pool.

Sunday- Lunch- Leftovers from the week including Chinese, steak or salads from yesterday.  Dinner- Pimento cheese and bacon sandwich on sour dough bread.

Monday- Grilled chicken, sides will be leftovers from the weekend.
Tuesday- Falafel in the crockpot. The plan is to wrap these up and eat at the swim meet.
Wednesday-Salisbury steak, rice and watermelon.
Thursday-  Options include leftovers, shrimp or chicken nachos . (I will make the decision Wednesday night based on what the refrigerator is looking like and my mood.)
Friday- Pork chops, veggie and fruit.

With our garden in full production, the goal is to freeze a small amount each day, eat as much as we want for lunches and not waste any food!

 

Growing Our Stockpile

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My primary area of focus for the month of July is going to be to grow/replenish our stockpile. The only constraint is the $700 food budget.

The rationale behind this decision has several different aspects. First, July should be the month in which our garden produces the most. Next, and more importantly is that we are running low on items that can no longer be neglected. As we made our menu list for the week, we realized that 4 of 7 meals were going to be chicken. Zaycon also notified us this week of a change in the delivery date of our ground beef order, unfortunately this is our week of vacation.

Our first stop was the “local” meat processing plant- Shuler Meats. We ended up purchasing $230 worth of meat. This may seem extremely high but in reality this meat in addition to the chicken we already have will last 3-4 months.  We purchased 30# of ground beef, chicken drumsticks, NY strip Steaks, cube steak, round roast, beef stew and sausage. Looking at the numbers we have enough meat for 47 meals, that is an average of less than $5 a meal or less than $1 a person per meal. Wondering what we did with all this, glad you asked!  We took 20# of the ground beef and fried it up, freezing it in 1# packs for use in many common recipes and for quick meals like tacos and hamburger helper. The other 10# we made into “Salisbury steaks”.

We have also made trips to Aldi, Costco and Food Lion in the last two days as well. Aldi had an awesome deal on blueberries so I have froze several pints of these for future use. I also purchased a couple of bags of dried beans that have been cooked and frozen. Throwing away food is the biggest waste of money in the US, so I ended up steaming and freezing spinach as well as a bag of apples that became fried apples/apple pie filling to prevent their waste.

Out of our garden, we are getting an abundance of cucumbers, I have made several batches of “cucumber relish” and discovered an awesome recipe for “refrigerator pickles” that the kids love so I currently have 3 gallons of these. Tomatoes are one of the easiest items for me, I simple dice and cook we use these for any recipe that calls for diced tomatoes, tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes. I have even been known to add seasoning to these for recipes that call for Italian style tomatoes. I am able to finish and freeze at least one batch ever couple of day.

The final and smallest way, I am growing our stockpile this month is couponing. I am determined to stick to our budget but hope to add a couple of snack foods for future list if the right sale occurs. Do you have any plans to grow your stockpile this summer?

Saving On Saturday

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sos

This week I have several things to share!

First up is the garden, I have already been able to make: 3 batches of Cucumber relish, most of which is frozen to be enjoyed the rest of the year. 4 bags of squash to be used for squash lasagna.                                                              2 bags of frozen tomatoes (they first started getting ripe yesterday, so I am hoping that by the end of the week I can add 30 or more bags to my freezer.                             1 gallon of pickles, we will be taste testing these to determine if I can make more or not.
We have enjoyed fresh produce almost daily with just enough squash to fry up at least once a week, green beans once a week.   I know that if the temps don’t cool off soon and we start getting more rain then I am most likely at end of both cucumbers and squash but I am praying to see much improvement this week. I was so disappointed today that I ended up finding the first batch (6) green peppers that are rotten. We still have several watermelons, a cantaloupe and at least one pumpkin growing!

Next up for saving was my quick trip to CVS on Sunday. I will be really honest and say that I am becoming a little more disappointed with CVS each week. This week I purchased 3 cases of Diet coke and paid $0, out of pocket!  The sale was 3 for $12, I used a free 12 pack purchased with coke points, 2 ECB from several weeks ago  and the $8 remaining dollars came off a gift card that I received several weeks ago for purchasing $30 of certain products.

Finally, Harris Teeter is running a super doubles event this week. They will double all coupons up to $2, with a limit of 20 daily. I ended up spending $34.08 but saved $74 or 70%.  This  may sound like a high amount but I ended up with 12 boxes of Hamburger Helper, 4 boxes of Suddenly Salad,4 bottles of shampoo, 4 cans of hair spray, 2 bottles of spray gel and 2 bottle of mouse along with several other items. I am so excited because we use ALOT of hair products around here!

How are you saving money?

5 Things Friday

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1. The closing on the re-financing of the house is set for Monday morning at 8am. I will be so glad to get this finished. The company that was eager to help and answer questions up front has turned out to have very sad communication skills. We found out the date of closing when an attorney called to schedule with us around 2pm this afternoon.
2. With the rain the last several days, our garden may not fail! This evening we picked another batch of green beans (plan to use on Sunday), several cucumbers (made another batch of cucumber relish) and more importantly we found a pumpkin, several watermelon and a cantaloupe growing along side of our green peppers. We should also start with tomatoes in the next week.
3. I have managed to demolish our new food budget of $700 this month. I purchased 40# of ground beef to be picked up in July, which puts me currently at $792 for the month. Uggg when does this get better?
4. If the weather cooperates, we will be spending the majority of the day at the pool tomorrow, I am in need of some rest and non stress time BADLY!
5.Both the girls are practicing piano in the morning before I head to work. I was able to recognize one of the songs that each was working on. I am so pleased and proud of the way they are learning music.

Random enough?

Saving on Saturday- Garden

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Today’s harvest

Saving this Saturday is hopefully one that continues all summer long. We are starting to get in some items from the garden. This week, I froze my first batch of cucumber relish and we are enjoying cucumbers and squash on a regular if not daily basis. I am hoping by the end of next week to start freezing some squash as I only have one pack of squash lasagna left. Our square foot garden is the larger and prettiest it has ever been. I am hoping to not only freeze tomatoes but also make some salsa as I have ran out of both of these items.

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More Squash growing!

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Regular Tomatoes

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Lots of cherry and grape tomatoes starting to form.

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Tomato and corn plants are the same height in the back. the small corn is what was planted 2 weeks ago.

 

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Cucumbers going down the hill and squash on the side

 

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last bed planted

 

All about the Food

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The past several months have been a struggle in regards to food/groceries and our budget.  We have been attempting to eat what we have and maintain a $600 a month grocery budget while keeping a crazy schedule. I am very thankful that when school ends this Friday, our schedule will become a little bit simpler because the kids will be able to sleep in a bit later in the morning in addition to getting a nap during the day if we are really late getting to bed. School ending will not have an effect on our grocery budget however. We have been packing lunches all year long so in theory we should be eating the same amount of food.

With our busy schedule it has been several months since I have been able to devote time to restocking our freezer with items that make life easier at dinner and breakfast time. The good news is that this weekend, I have been able to accomplish a little bit of that. I am trying to be creative and use food before it ends up in the composite pile as well.

Saturday cooking included: French toast, deviled eggs, potato salad, mandarin salad, watermelon prep, sour dough bread, banana chocolate chip muffins, Mexican rice and a baked spaghetti.

I made a huge batch of French toast, using sour dough bread that needed to be eaten. The down side to making my own bread at this point is that I have to feed the starter every 7-10 days, I could simple toss a cup of starter after feeding it but that feels like waste to me.  I was able to use up a loaf and half of bread this morning. Matt is also planning to make pretzels for a treat and it will use the same dough as well.

My kids love to help in the kitchen and I know that I need to encourage and develop that skill as well so this weekend, the little three have been taking turns helping to prepare food. Kendall read the French toast recipe and Zach dump in the ingredients. Lily was able to make “mandarin salad” following the recipe with just guidance from me. For Zach next turn, he was able to help dump and turn on the blender for mixing up bread dough. Kendall helped with deviled eggs today as well.  The kids really enjoyed working in the kitchen. I was able to get all the food prepare that I had planned so it was definitely a win this week..

One of the areas that is always a struggle for us is Sunday. I really like the idea of not cooking and having a day of rest. In order for it not to turn into a eat out day. I am trying to prepare things ahead. The muffins were made on Saturday. Lunch was prepared on Saturday night and will cook while we are at church. Dinner is also all prepared and will just need to be heated up or in the case of most of the food just loaded on plates.

Overall I am very pleased with the food progress we made this weekend and hope that with some extra prep we can avoid eating out and still maintain a budget during June.

Now to the menu plan with some notes about our work on Saturday.

Breakfast-French toast (leftovers from Saturday) ,  Banana Muffins (made for breakfast on Sunday) Cereal, Poptarts, grits and toast.

Lunch-Lunches are going to be packed later today(Sunday) and I will be taking either a salad or leftovers.

Dinner– In addition to the kids “normal” practice this week we have a meeting for Matt on Tuesday and for Sheila on Thursday.

Saturday- Lunch: Potato salad, Mandarin salad, watermelon, deviled eggs. Matt needed some meat so he eat leftover steak.  Dinner- Mexican rice with salsa, cheese and chips.

Sunday- Lunch- Baked Spaghetti (noodles left over from last week and I need to use up the mozzarella cheese , Dinner- Left over meat choice of chicken, steak or pork with the sides from Saturday or a salad.

Monday- Hamburger steak with sides ( whatever is left) from Saturday
Tuesday- Tacos
Wednesday-Rice creole
Thursday-  Options include leftovers, breakfast, pizza chicken  or pulled pork. (I will make the decision Wednesday night based on what the refrigerator is looking like and my mood.)
Friday- Cowboy beans that will be reheated in crock pot. We may add some corn bread just to make things fun.

Finally the budget discussion, after much thought, prayer and analyzing the numbers, I have decided to increase my grocery budget to $700 a month beginning in June. Food prices have been on the rise for the past several years and I have maintained the $600 budget for almost 3 years. In addition as the kids are growing they are beginning to eat more. With this realization I will be add the $100 a month in hopes of making the budget more realistic and obtainable . Is your budget changing?

 

5 things Friday

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1. The white van left me completely stranded yesterday. Luckily after some investigating, Matt was able to replace the battery with one we already had so no out of pocket expense.

2. Our house appraisal came in much higher than we anticipated, which sounds like a good thing but it means more choice and decisions to be made. I am going with the lesson my mother taught me “never count your chickens till they hatch.” so waiting to actually share numbers and our new budget after everything is settled.

3. Lily and Kendall have 1 more week of school left. Both are excited for the summer! Lily finished required testing this week and scored 5 out of 5, the highest possible on both Reading and Math.

4.My work is crazy. For the first time EVER, I actually worked 40 hours this week. I was really nervous about going over 40, which is not allowed. I managed to stay inside the 40 by 3 minutes.

5. The weather is much cooler than normal and it has rained every day this week. My garden is loving it! We even have corn spouting from the seeds I planted last Saturday.

 

Saving on Saturday-5/30/2015

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This saving on Saturday was one that sort of happened. If you had ask me even on Wednesday about it, I probably would have not had a clue. First the story and then lots and lots of pictures.

One of my co-workers is starting a small nursery. I decided to take all the plastic trays and small pots that I have been collecting for the past several years. to her to see if she could use.  I did not realize how expensive they were but really I  just hated to throw them away. She was very excited to get them, and a couple of weeks later when I mentioned that one of the pepper plants I planted had died, she offered to bring me some.  She ended up bring me 6 “rainbow peppers” this week. Next my friend bought at Costco a vegtable/herb growing kit at Costco with little seed pods that are guaranteed to grow. She ran out of room and brought five to me on Friday. I was sort of at a lost because we are all out of room in the square foot garden, but mentioned to Matt that I might go see if I could find some wood to add another section.

The abandoned wood pile deserves at least a paragraph of it own. We began really digging in the pile to finish the composite bin several weeks ago. This wood is actually from the deck that was on the house when I purchased it 22 years ago. About 13 years ago before meeting Matt, I had a friend to tear down the old deck and replace it with a larger one. Instead of recycling or even burning to old deck, he simply cut it into 6 foot sections and deposited in the woods behind the house. These boards are now what we are digging out and reusing.

I walked down to the edge of the woods and spotted a section of decking, I was even able to pull it out of the weeds all by myself. After bringing the wood to the front of the house, we knew exactly what section we wanted to add.

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This morning after a trip to Lowes, I planted the remaining 5 “rainbow peppers, three of the garden pods that my friend gave me. After counting out the remaining squares I decided to head in the freezer and plant another 45 stalks of corn.  So the only real cost to this project was $40 worth of dirt that we purchased.  I am very very pleased with the way this project turned out and am also very hopefully that we will reclaim that $40 in the month of August with a second harvesting of corn and peppers. Here are the pictures I took after finishing planting and watering today!

5 things Friday

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1. I sent my list of “sit down” dining reservations over to our travel agent this morning. She will be making these on Sunday! It is so exciting!

2. Today is our 11th anniversary. We celebrated by adding on to the square foot garden.

3. I made our first official harvest of the year, 1 small squash a ziplock gallon bag of dill and another bag of cilantro.

4. We are waiting not so patiently for our house appraisal so that we can refinance.

5. Swim season has officially started with practice 3-4 nights a week. This week I have been working until 6:30 then picking up Zach and Kendall from swim practice before coming home. I really dislike this schedule!

Random Thought Tuesday

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I have lots of these to share!

  • Happy Cinco De Mayo, we celebrated by having cheese Quesada and Mexican Rice for dinner. Matt and I ended the day with margarita wine! Yes we are partying hard.
  • The white van is having even more issues, currently I have a flashing light and it is running rough. I am frustrated. In fact I am so frustrated that we are discussing options for purchasing a new to us car and making payments. The goal right now is to wait several months in order to reduce our debt load and make sure we can afford a new huge monthly expense.
  • I purchased 48 bottles of water at CVS for a grand total of $0.10 yesterday. This was in fact all tax. I have not been shopping regularly at CVS for over a month now but was excited to actually grab a great deal and use ECB at the same time.
  • Our bean plants have spouted! I have had horrible luck with planting seeds this year that I was becoming concerned that the green beans would not grow either. In fact I was trying to find a store to purchase live plants from. But yesterday, they started popping out of the ground and today I am counting a close to 90% growth rate from the seeds.
  • Spring/Early Summer has finally arrived in North Carolina. The high temperature this week are crawling slowly into the 80s. We have not needed to turn on our air condition yet but I am sure it will not be long. The great news is that we have now been a month without use heat or air. Our electric bill should remain below $200 for the month of May as well!
  • Amanda has applied for and been accepted into the community college starting in the fall. I am so excited and proud of her.
  • On Sunday both Lily and Kendall participate in their final cheerleading competition for the year.  Lily’s team received a special honor of best tumbling for the entire day! My plan is to post lots of fun pictures for Wordless Wednesday. Pictures not only of the competition but also from the rides we enjoyed at the amusement park where it was held.