The 9th Week of my “self imposed” grocery challenge!
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What an interesting time this is! We continue here in the village and have received some “garden blessings”. One of my greatest challenges in this venture, is not so much the food, but rather the toiletries; toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. On the food front, if I run out of potatoes, I can just prepare rice or pasta… but the paper and cleaning goods, are must have items. Also, I have had to buy things here in the village, that I already have at home in Loeches. Still, I am staying within the 10 euros.
Those who know me best know that I enjoy making soups. For us 1 pot of soup lasts 3 meals. So I usually have 1-3 different kinds in the fridge at any given time.
Some of you have commented both positively and negatively about the “lentil & walnut burgers”. We eat lentils anyway and like them, so this is just another way for us to enjoy them. They are on the menu again this week.
This week I started out with 10.02 because I had 2 cents left over from last week.
1.38- 2 liters of whole milk
2.99- 3 kilos of potatoes
.59- bleach (for laundry)
.32- a can of tomatoes
1.88- 4 chicken breast filet’s ( I got this for 30% off)
.99- 8 hotdog buns
1.01- 3 cucumbers
.86-1 kilo of sugar
—————–
0 balance!
My Menus for this week:
Thursday- Mexican Bean and Rice Soup, Salmon patties (leftover from last week) with a bleu cheese cream sauce, rice, sauted zucchini and onions.
Friday- Cream of Potato Soup, chicken filet’s, breaded zucchini, tabbouleh
Saturday-Salmon Chowder, German sausages with sauerkraut and potatoes
Sunday-Cream of Potato Soup, Stromboli, marinated zucchini salad
Monday- Cream of zucchini soup, Chicken breasts, pasta salad
Tuesday-Salmon Chowder, Lentil & Walnut burgers, buns, alfalfa sprouts
Wednesday-Cream of zucchini, Chili and rice
My Blessings last week:
2 homegrown onions- every year I look forward to these. There is no strong “bite” to them and are really wonderful. I also use the tops for soups and casseroles. They are similar to scallions or green onions.
A HUGE head of lettuce-a neighbor brought us this homegrown treat.
2 packages of popcorn from my sister Sue! Treats in the mail! Always fun!
Vegetable seeds to plant from our daughter Bobbie and waiting for me in Loeches! (she said they were in the mail!) I can hardly wait!
“The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise Him-may your hearts live forever!” Psalm 22:26 [show]<div class="esv"><h2>Psalm 22:26 <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.esvapi.org/assets/play.swf?myUrl=hw%2F19022026" width="40" height="12" class="audio"><param name="movie" value="http://www.esvapi.org/assets/play.swf?myUrl=hw%2F19022026" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /></object></h2>
<div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent">
<p class="line-group" id="p19022026.01-1"><span class="verse-num" id="v19022026-1">26 </span>The afflicted<span class="footnote"> <a href="#f1" id="b1" title="Or 'The meek'">[1]</a></span> shall eat and be satisfied;<br />
<span class="indent"></span>those who seek him shall praise the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>!<br />
<span class="indent"></span>May your hearts live forever! (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p>
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<div class="footnotes">
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<p><span class="footnote"><a href="#b1" id="f1">[1]</a></span> <span class="footnote-ref">22:26</span> Or <em>The meek</em>
</p>
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My baking for this week is:
Pizza Bread (for sandwiches and with soups)
Cranberry (dried cranberries) Pecan Bread
Since I don’t generally follow bread recipes, I just made my white bread and added more sugar to the sweet bread. I also plan on making some French toast with the cranberry bread and it might be good for sandwiches. I never measure and I only have 2 bread pans here in the village, so I made an extra round loaf of pizza bread and made “muffins” out of the remaining sweet bread. Also, note that I had a bit of pepperoni left over and a chunk of Parmesan cheese to put in the savory bread along with some Italian herbs. 
Madrid
72°
Rebekah says:
Good work mom! You were down to the penny (euro) this week! How is it possible that you an make bread w/out a recipe? If I did that it would turn out like a brick!
Speaking of bread, I found a Barefoot Contessa recipe for cheddar/dill scones that I’ll make this weekend for breakfast. Yum
Jesseka says:
mom, great work, as usual. We’re going back to our $40/week next week, after returning from vacation. I feel like we have weeks, if not months to use stuff from the pantry. Summer is a great time to do this too, with the fresh produce available. I have peppers of various types and tons of herbs in my tiny yard that I use all the time. We planted 5 tomato plants at the shop where there is more sun and they have tons of fruit on them. Keep up the good work-
Jesseka
John says:
The walnut and lentil burgers are actually quite good.
pearsonsprogress says:
Rebekah and Jesseka,
You guys are doing a great job too! I love hearing all the details.Love, Mom
Anita says:
Excellent.
I have spent 32 euros so far this week. I will need to buy fruit, coffee and trashbags tomorrow. Grrr. i hate buying trash bags!
this week our menu was
PIZZA WITH FRUIT FOR DESSERT
BEAN DIP WITH CHIPS, ICECREAM FOR DESSERT
HOT DOGS AND PASTA SALAD
OPEN FACED TUNA, TOM, AVOCADO AND CUCUMBERS ON THE SIDE
BEAN AND PORK BURRITOS
We will eat leftovers for the next few days. I also baked bread, made cookies and fresh tortillas.
I will make a carrot cake tomorrow to take to a pot luck.
my cucumber plant is finally flowering, so i am pretty excited about that!! Keep up the good work!
-A
Anita says:
yesterday we found blackberries by the side or the road
i picked them and came home and made jam/syrup. it isn’t super thick so it can be for both.
also, neil went to the bakery for a 1 euro loaf of bread. they were out, so they gave him the 3.5 loaf- which is HUGE for 1 euro!!!! ITs ginourmous! the Lord provides through His means… not because of our own connections. wow.
John says:
I continue to be amazed at Bobbie’s creativity on this budget. I have to be careful or I’ll go off my diet and gain more weight!
Quote of the day: “I’ve learned one thing over time that I’ll share with the rest of you, eating is not sufficient exercise to burn excess caloric intake”. I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said that… wasn’t it? (or, Bill Clinton?…)