we start our project/experiment/challenge today. unfortunately, our sale flyers, that usually arrive in the tuesday mail didn't do so, so i'm flying without a net. i have to take stock of what we have, and watch all the in store sales. this should prove interesting.
so we're going to try to break ourselves in gently. tomorrow hubby and i have to take stock of all of our on hand foods. we need to make a list of staples, and we have to make a list of occasional indulgences. thankfully, last night (actually, just a few hours ago) was halloween, so there is plenty of candy in the house. and we happen to be very good at doling out a piece at a time as a reward, so that is a fortunate occurrence. little things are going to be going a long way for the next six months for so.
rudimentary mathematics gives us a figure of $203 per month for a family of 3. when we break that down, it equals $2.25 per meal. that all sounds fine and well, except i have an 8 year old with a taste for rib eye steak. not unless it's FANTASTIC sale, my dear! and i'm going to try to follow the nutritional guidelines and get as many fruits and vegetables on the table as possible. i'm trying to grow some vegetables on our patio, so i hope taht takes off, and i'll be able to help supplement the pantry some, with some fresh veg. and i'm going to be planting some herbs, too. they're expensive at the market, but the flavor cannot be beat. so i'm planting some parsley, rosemary, i've got basil going already, i've got a new method of getting cilantro to grow (i've never had luck with cilantro, it's one of my frustrations!) and i've got some lavender and chamomile for tea starting. i realize it's getting late in the year, so i may have to invest in some thick poly vinyl to shield the plants from the cold. i'm also researching building a cold frame for the balcony, to start planting some crops early in the spring, so we can get them going for the summer. i'm maybe getting a little ahead of myself. but i want this to be a successful experience for us all, especially little one. this could help her to appreciate what she has so much more, and help understand those that don't have what she's blessed to.
tomorrow is a long day of for me. i've got a lot to plan, research, look through and take stock of. i'm cautiously optimistic that we can make a go of this. i'm hoping that it sticks. garry was so tired tonight that we didn't even set the ground rules. i found a site that detailed what is and isn't covered by SNAP, which helps. we won't be using that $203 exclusively for all purchases at the grocery store, our pets are excluded. unfortunately, garry's soda is covered. i've been trying to get him to cut back for years, ever since a bout of kidney stones put him in the hospital.
we will have to see how this goes. i know of one dish that i will be making, for sure. my pasta bolognese. it doesn't sound economical, with 3 pounds of meat, 3 cups of wine, and all. but for us, breaking it down, after all the ingredients are added up, we get AT LEAST 6 meals out of it, more if i don't cook the sauce into the pasta and just top the pasta with the sauce. i roughly added up my ingredients, divided by the number of people that ate tonight, and the 5 servings that were leftover, and i came out with under $2.00 per person. the wine was a freebie from a party my husband had a work, both bottles. we had the pasta already on hand. the tomato sauce was purchased on sale (i'll be stocking up now, i'll also be clearing out space so i CAN stock up!) the big splurge was the meat and the thyme. tonight, we had 6 adults and three kids eating, and running around. there were leftovers. i brought home just enough for a dinner for the three of us. john kept some to take with his lunch to work tomorrow, steve had seconds and maureen really liked it, i cut back on the onion and garlic for her. it's a winner of a meal that makes everyone happy. when i make it just for us, i get AT LEAST 6-7 meals out of the recipe. not too shabby. now, if i could just find six months worth of recipes that were just like that, i'd be happy. i have a lot of reading and researching to do! and people are going to have to expand their palates. that's all there is to it. so we're off and like a toddler, learning to navigate this world. i wish it came with an instruction manual!
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