Day #16 how to budget

Nov 27, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    4 Comments    Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, Canning/Preserving, food, recipes, saving money, Spain

November 27th, 2011~Sunday

I hope you’ll take the time to watch this 6:21 video I added below. The end of it is the best. It’s a great motivator to reduce spending in one area in order to have money for the things that are important to you.  My 30 day challenge  is to save all  but 10€ of my grocery money in order to add it to the budget line items that need to be funded. It’s amazing how much we already have in  our cupboards and freezers instead of going to the market to buy more.

Here’s a money saving idea for this week: instead of going out to eat after church or work this week, why not dust off that crock-pot.  Put your meat & potatoes (for example) in the morning and the tasty food will be waiting for you when you return in the evening.  Here’s an idea:

Easy to do & good to eat. Why go out to eat?

Crock-Pot Turkey Chili

• 1 lb cooked turkey (chopped)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small can chopped chilies
• 1 can black beans, undrained
• 1 can chickpeas, undrained
• 1 can kidney beans, undrained (or use the white beans but the red gives it a nice color)
• 1 large can diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1-2 tablespoon chili powder, to taste

Add all ingredients to the crock-pot and cook on high for about 6 hours.

If you don’t have any leftover turkey to work with, you can use 1 lb ground turkey; browned or use chicken, pork or whatever you have.

You can  serve this with rice  cornbread,  or tortillas.

For all of you who like to can/preserve; this would be a fantastic recipe to put together (no need to cook for 6 hours) and then pressure can. You’d have it on the shelf  for the upcoming year. A healthier version of fast food.

Here are my menus for today:
Breakfast

Quiche~ still leftovers!!

Lunch
Turkey tacos

salad

Mexican rice

Dinner

Turkey Chili (above) & bread

I have spent so far:

4,27€ out of the 10,00€ I budgeted; leaving: 5,73€ left to spend
I am COMPLETELY out of:

Fresh tomatoes

non-fat milk~ but I have powdered

non-fat yogurt

I’m ‘making do’ without them

* I have 1 onion left but still green onions in the pot on the patio.

Day #6 on my grocery Challenge

Nov 17, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    9 Comments    Posted under: Baking, blessings, Blogroll, Canning/Preserving, food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

November 17th, 2011~Thursday

Yesterday in the kitchen freezer, I did a little inventory and found several packages of pepperoni. I generally buy this in bulk and divide in packages enough for 2 pizzas. This will work in nicely with my menu for today.  Man! it feels so good to use up what I have!

Breakfast:

Fried potato patties (using the leftover mashed potatoes we had earlier this week).

1 fried egg

toast

Lunch will be:

Bean & cheese burritos (using the Gouda cheese I have + the leftover re-fried beans from yesterday + the flour tortillas I have in the fridge)

Salad

Mexican rice I can whip up in a flash with the plain rice in the fridge. I actually made enough rice for 3 meals at the beginning of the week:

1. rice for the stir-fry
2. rice for the Mexican side dish
3. rice for the rice crust I will make for the quiche I’ll serve to house-guests on Saturday morning.

Dinner:

pita bread pizzas- using the pesto I have in the fridge, pita bread, pepperoni & cheese. I also have some dried mushrooms I will re-hydrate to add.

Salad

I’m staying encouraged and have not spent ANY money on food these past 6 days. Wonderful!

I opened the last box of non-fat milk today. When it’s gone, I’ll use the dried milk I have. We still have about 8 boxes of the whole milk (which I don’t drink).  I have my entertainment budget of 25€ or…or $33.75 to spend for our Thanksgiving meal. What does it cost to put on such a meal in the USA?

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Day #4

Nov 15, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    No Comments    Posted under: Baking, blessings, Blogroll, Canning/Preserving, food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

November 15th, 2011~Tuesday

Today will be different than usual. John is on a trip and won’t be home until later tonight. I’m going to just eat some protein since this is fundamental to the diet I’ve been on. For lunch I’ll open a jar of canned meat and scramble an egg for supper.

No need to spend anything on food today! I’m sure glad about that.

Things I DON’T have:

~still don’t have fresh tomatoes or potatoes but we are doing fine without them so far.

~ looks like we may run out of fabric softener before the end of the challenge but that’s o.k, I’ll just do without. It’s nice to have here since all the clothes are line dried.

For several years now I have read the blog

http://www.simplesavings.co.nz and now their $21 Challenge book is offered in the USA. I haven’t read it yet but if it’s in KINDLE form I may order it. It’s a very helpful blog with lots of ideas that have help me with my own challenges even though it is mainly written for those in New Zealand.

Day #3 of the NEW Grocery Challenge

Nov 14, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    No Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Bobbie's Store, Canning/Preserving, food, Grocery Challenge, recipes, saving money

 November 14th, 2011~Monday

Another day of excitement to see how creative I can be with my food budget. I guess we all get our ‘kicks’ in differently and one of mine is to see how far I can stretch the grocery budget.  I love the challenge of that. I also like to eat and cook. I love to shop for food too! All this together makes it even more fun and challenging for me.

Breakfast: John will have the last piece of french toast with an egg. I’m always glad to see that I have used everything and have not had to throw anything out. I will have yogurt as usual.

Lunch: I’m going to make stir-fried rice today. I want to use the last of the chicken breasts from yesterday and I have plenty of rice in the pantry. For vegetables, I’ll add some greens I have growing in the backyard, green onions I have growing in a pot, carrots that I canned in the pantry & green peppers from the garden. I also have rice vinegar and sesame oil to give it that authentic flavor. I like to add a scrambles egg too; which my hens give me daily.

Supper: Hopefully we can finish off the last of that spaghetti! With just 2 of use food tends to last a long time! Since we have our Bible study tonight, we will be eating late. I also made an apple cake to take with us tonight.

I still haven’t spent any money for groceries these past 3 days. Hooray!

Canning meat for Anita

Jul 31, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    12 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Canning/Preserving, food, Gardening

Here’s what I canned this week to take to Anita’s house when the baby is born:

• 7 jars of meatballs in beef onion broth
• 3 jars of meatballs in tomato sauce
• 16 jars of ground beef  with taco flavor
• 5 jars of pork chipote
• 4 jars of cubed pork
• 14 jars of cubed beef
• 4 jars of chicken breasts
• 3 jars of chicken chipote

We’ll be driving to France this week to help out for a week. We are standing by the phone to hear the  good news that the baby has arrived.

I’ll also be taking up plenty of produce from the wee patch of garden I have in the backyard.

Using up the bits & pieces

Mar 24, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    4 Comments    Posted under: Bobbie's Store, Canning/Preserving, food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

watching my pennies

Today is an extra challenge for clearing our those bits & pieces I have around the kitchen. It’s not a challenge because it’s so little, but rather because I want to use as much as possible so I won’t  have to take a  lot back with me to Madrid, plus I don’t want to spend money on any other ingredients. Again, I really hate waste!

Here’s a list of a few things that must be used in the next few days:

6 bananas

bacon

2 hot dog buns

a jar of homemade chili I canned last year

5 chicken hot dogs

1 turnip

4 strawberries

1 stock of broccoli

5 carrots

the last loaf of homemade bread ( I usually make 5 loaves at a time which lasts me for 1 week including all the guests we have)

7 corn muffins

1/2 of  homemade croutons

1/2 a jar of cooked garbanzo (chick peas) beans (which I canned myself last year)

8 eggs

I’m still in the village and don’t have access to my entire pantry, but still we have plenty to eat.

Ok, here’s some of my thinking for today.

Breakfast: John had eggs sausage & potatoes

I had 3 mandarins & toast with smashed garbanzo beans, a drizzle of olive oil & salt~ wow that’s good!

Lunch:

1st plate: leftover pasta salad

2nd plate: 3 chicken  hot dogs wrapped in bacon fried, with the jar of chili over the top, roasted carrots, turnip & broccoli with salt & olive oil

Supper/dinner:

I went ahead and made these while preparing the mid-day meal: Sandwiches that will be toasted in a skillet this evening of: homemade bread, mozzarella cheese, and I popped open a jar of roasted red peppers that I canned last year. We try to end the day with a little lighter meal and eat our largest meal of the day at 2pm.

Tomorrows breakfast I  ‘prepped’ today also, 2 hard boiled eggs, with which I will make a creamed curry sauce over corn muffins & on the side, 1 sliced banana with sliced strawberries.

I also took out 2 of the bacon wrapped hot dogs, put them in the 2 last  hot dog buns and grated a wee bit of mozzarella cheese over them a bit of Dijon mustard and wrapped them up for our ‘on the road’ lunch tomorrow. I ‘ll also make an extra sandwich for John of toasted peanut-butter  & banana sandwich.

Supper for me will be another yummy garbanzo bean paste toast & leftover chili for John with a corn muffin

So, here is the new list using what  have:

6 4 bananas

1 pk 1/2 pk bacon

2 hot dog buns

a jar of homemade chili I canned last year

5 chicken hot dogs

1 turnip

4 strawberries

1 stock of broccoli 1/2 stock of broccoli

5 3 carrots

the last loaf of homemade bread ( I usually make 5 loaves at a time which lasts me for 1 week including all the guests we have) 3/4 loaf left

7 3 corn muffins

1/2 of  homemade croutons

1/2 a jar of cooked garbanzo (chick peas) beans (which I canned myself last year)

8 6 eggs ( from my 3 hens)

A big trip planned & money that needs to be saved

Mar 7, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    2 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Canning/Preserving, food, Grocery Challenge

Handy North American foods!

Well, this month marks the 1 year countdown to the conference we have to attend in Germany. The reality of travel & funds has set in, so being the planner I am, Read more »

Bean Soup~Yum!

Nov 16, 2010 by pearsonsprogress    6 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Bobbie's Store, Canning/Preserving, food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

For me, it really doesn’t matter what kind of bean it is. Every bean has it’s theme! When I make things with garbanzo beans (chickpeas) I think SPAIN. When I cook with black beans I think Read more »

Soup 101

Nov 15, 2010 by pearsonsprogress    No Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Canning/Preserving, food, Grocery Challenge, recipes, saving money

I love making soup. I really do.  I fix soup for our mid-day meal every day for our 1st plate. First and foremost, it’s a very nutritional habit and I’ve been making these for many years. Of course the Spanish culture always begins the mid-day meal with a 1st course and is often times a soup. We get our daily vitamins in these delicious  soups.

I’m also not keen on waste and making a 1st plate can be the answer to using that last carrot or potato in the crisper.

Since I make my own chicken broth, I always have good flavor and nutrients to begin the soup of the day.

Last year I canned zucchini that was on sale and today I opened a jar of the pureed vegetable, added some stock I had in the fridge,  a few seasonings, and to make it creamy, some cream cheese. It’s just good!

Here is how I make Cream of Carrot Soup:

Cream of Carrot:

1. saute some garlic & onion in a bit of olive oil
2. add broth or water
3. add some carrots cut in chunks
4. add one potato
5. salt & pepper
6. bouillon cube if you need it
7. then add the seasoning you like. Carrot soup tastes good with these themes: ¹curry,  ²a bit of cinnamon, ³tarragon… just choose one.
8. When all the veggies are tender I use my immersion blender (hand-held blender) and make the whole thing smooth.
9. a bit of cream, milk, yogurt, sour cream,  or cream cheese can be added if you like.

* croutons can be served with this creamed soup. I make them with leftover bread.

**I like to start my soups in the morning and have it all finished well in advance of the meal.

5 ways I SAVE on my grocery bill

Aug 11, 2010 by pearsonsprogress    6 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Canning/Preserving, Gardening, saving money

Some of you who read this blog know that I occasionally go on these, 10euro a week grocery challenges. Now, keep in mind that there are some months when I need to stock up and spend my full grocery allowance per month which is $400 USD a month or at today’s exchange rate in Europe 307€.   I have often been asked the question, “how can you eat so well on so little money each week?” Read more »