Last weeks marketing

Jul 5, 2011 by pearsonsprogress    No Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, food, Gardening, Grocery Challenge, saving money

Last week went well. I continue trying to stay below 10€ a week.

Last week we walked to the market and I bought:

2 bottles of soda water

1 whole chicken breast

yogurt

Colombian cheese

Total spent: 10,36€

I’m using up what we have here on hand. I still have meat in the freezer and for side dishes I’m using up the leftover, lasagna, macaroni casseroles & paella that are all portioned out in the freezer. I also took out 1 package of hot-dogs, and pork chops. We have an iron slab that sits on our paella cooker  in the back yard and I’ll be using that today.

Todays meal will be:

skirt steak

macaroni salad (tomatoes, scallions from the garden)

grilled peppers & onions ( peppers from the garden)

Next year 2012 already has several trips we will be making. One to Germany for our conference and one to the USA for my mom’s 80th birthday. We’ll be visiting friends & churches also as the Lord wills. Travel is very expensive from Europe, so every penny (centímo) I save until then is progress.

Day # 12 My Grocery Savings Plan

Oct 31, 2009 by pearsonsprogress    No Comments    Posted under: Grocery Challenge, saving money

Day12 and  I have spent a total of 19,50 euros for the past 12 days.

I baked lasted Thursday so I have plenty of bread, cinnamon rolls, coffee cakes and peach turnovers. Our guest left after lunch and I’m still left with:

9 eggs

10 apples

3 potatoes

1/3 of a zucchini (I cut off a small piece to add to my soup today)

1 tomato (since I pick 1 roma tomato and 3 cherry tomatoes from my ‘almost gone’ summer garden, I still have not run out!)

The truth is, I feel so RICH! There is always plenty of good food here and I enjoy the management of the kitchen and the planning of my meals. I guess I’m just like every other homemaker out there… we just love our job!

Breakfast:

scrambled eggs

toast

homemade sausage (I always have sausage on hand because I make it and then can it in jars… sealed under pressure)

french toast with syrup (I brought back some pancake syrup from the USA last time we were there)

orange juice

Dinner: (Guest here)

1st plate: sausage & white ban soup (using the leftover sausage from breakfast, the broth from the chicken & sausage that I canned and then saved when I opened the jars, kale from my garden)

Chicken filetes

French Fries

Green Beans

Salad

Bread

Cupcakes

Supper:

Tonight we are going with friends to a FREE concert with traditional hymns to celebrate the Reformation. Happy Reformation Day!! We will probably just eat some leftovers in the fridge before we go out.

Day # 8 my Grocery Savings Plan

Oct 27, 2009 by pearsonsprogress    2 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Gardening, Grocery Challenge, saving money

Day #8 and I’ve only spent 5,48€. I like it.  John called the butcher to see about the price of turkeys per kilo and try to order one, so my efforts to save $ for a turkey are paying off in my frugality (comments below)

Today the menu is:

Dinner at 2:

1st plate: a re-worked potato/carrot soup (adding beef broth & hot peppers)

2nd plate:

Fried Chicken Thighs (freezer)

Instant Mashed Potatoes (from pantry)

Fried Cabbage (last of the cabbage)

Sliced Tomatoes (1 left!)

Supper:

Leftover burritos or paella from yesterday

What I have left:

1 tomato

2 potatoes

2 lemons

a few cherry tomatoes from my garden

plenty of Swiss Chard in my garden

a few onions

8 eggs

I spent today: 4,98€ on 2 fresh pumpkins. This was the 1st year ever that I have seen them in the store so John rushed out to buy them. I had hoped for more than 2 so I could can them for pies, but that was all there was. John went for me because I continue with this flu bug!

My total for 8 days on groceries is:  5,48€

I feel that I’m doing well on my savings budget and we got the price per kilo (2.2lbs) for the turkey today: 5,40€ or $8.10 per kilo in USD.  We look forward to sharing our feast with friends on November 21st to celebrate our Thanksgiving.

Friday Pasta Night~ Pasta Puttanesca

Aug 28, 2009 by pearsonsprogress    4 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, recipes, saving money

Hear ye, Hear ye!!  (no, no, the British aren’t coming). I hereby declare Friday night as pasta night! I’m not talking about the same old… spaghetti & meatballs or macaroni & cheese stuff, no, I’m on a quest to find, cook and eat some yummy pasta recipes. Since John and I don’t go out to eat  in restaurants, this will be our ‘night out’.

Hey, we want to find fun things to do that don’t cost a lot of money, try new things and have a party!

Here’s what I’m trying this Friday Night.I got this recipe from:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Pasta-Puttanesca-the-Madames-Pasta-176435

Pasta Puttanesca 

45 min | 15 min prep

SERVES 2

More canning and birthday meat…

Jan 16, 2009 by pearsonsprogress    17 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Canning/Preserving

I suppose that asking for meat for a birthday gift may seems weird to some of you, but to my way of thinking, it is prudent in these interesting days. Here’s what I think:

1. I get to buy the meat~love doing that.
2. I get to cut it up and prepare it.
3. I get the fun of canning it which is a really great activity.
4. I get to eat, share and use it in the coming months
5. I save money by buying in bulk on sale.
6. I have “convenience” food  on my shelf.. ready to eat or use in when we travel~saves time and money!
7. and finally, I get to learn new things, because this is my 1st attempt of canning meat.

Now that’s a lot of “bang for my buck!” So, publicly, “John, thank you for my gift. It is just what I wanted!”

To see a larger view, just click on the image.

15 jars of lovely  brothy shredded beef. Six of the jars have chipotle seasoning added.

I canned 16 lbs of carrots… 3 flavors: PLAIN, cut in chunks, diced and coins; HOT CARROTS, GLAZED SWEET CARROTS

Then I baked bread… so relaxing to do and very quick & easy.

My Christmas gift from John: my pressure canner. LOVE IT!

So there you have my birthday meat story.

Photos of the “grands” + my canned chicken

Jan 13, 2009 by pearsonsprogress    8 Comments    Posted under: Family, Grocery Challenge

For a larger view, just click on the photo. The last photo is part of the 45 lbs of chicken I canned, which I bought on sale. Loving it!

20 Euros for 20 days part 2

Dec 8, 2008 by pearsonsprogress    8 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Grocery Challenge

Balance: 20€

Money spent:

11/28/08- zero

11/29/08- zero

11/30/08- zero

12/1/08- toilet paper 1,05€

12/2/08-zero

12/3/08-zero

12/4/08-chicken bouillon, 3,85€

12/4/08-lettuce, 1 kilo of tangerines, 1,80€

12/5/08-zero

12/6/08-zero

12/7/08-zero

12/8/08-zero

Well there you have it! I have spent 6,70€ to get us by with 13,30€ left to spend the next 10 days. We continue to eat well and frugally.

We did spend money on some Spanish ham, manchego cheese and holiday candy: turrón and sent it to our friend, and mother tongue speaker, Ricardo, who has faithfully worked with us on the Aragonese NT. I also had to spend some cash on butternut squash because I was asked to make a cream soup for 45 ladies this Friday night. I’ll be reimbursed for this so I didn’t include it.

I’m saving money and it looks like I will have what I need for that ROAST BEEF I want to serve for Christmas. I’d like to have a Standing Rib Roast and will cost me more. My menus are planned for when the family comes… one of my favorite/relaxing things to do! Only 10 more days to go!

Our meals for the the next 10days will include:

bean soup

pizza

macaroni and cheese with ham

Spanish tortilla

and toasted sandwiches using the luncheon meat I have in the freezer.

On another note: last week when we returned from the village, I checked the garden and found that it had frozen in Madrid while we were away. All of my potatoes plants were dead so I dug them up to see if any were worth eating. Here is my photo of what I found:

Isn’t  that just GREAT??? I had never grown potatoes before and I can’t tell you the encouragement digging this little guys up! I couldn’t have been happier. I’ll definitely grow them again and I have some “seed potatoes” sprouting in the garage now. In the articles I’ve read on the the internet, they say that seed potatoes should be purchased… well, these just came from our grocery store and did very well!

I was also able t pick these pea pods from my garden to add to salads. Very yummy.

I’m having a great time with all of this! Please leave your comments and tell us what you are doing in this challenging economy. Many Blessings!

20 EUROS for 20 days-Part 1

Nov 28, 2008 by pearsonsprogress    6 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Grocery Challenge

Here we go again! You probably wonder why I challenge myself this way. Good question!

In order to attain my goals in other areas, I have to work with the resources that I have. This time, my goal is to save most of my December grocery money until Dec.18th when our kids, Anita and Neil and grandchildren, Elijah and Ana come to see us. Jerusha will fly in on Dec. 21st. It’s a blessing to have our family with us during the holy-days, so I want all my resources saved for that!

Here are some facts:

My grocery allowance for each month is $400 USD. Now, here is where it can get dodgy; I have to convert that into Euros. Each month the exchange rate is different and I’m happy to say that even though it is not yet (did you hear the  hope?) at parity, it’s improving. We’ll exchange at 1.26 this month which means I’ll have 317,46€ for my grocery money for the month of December. To put things in perspective, that same $400 USD over the summer was worth 243,90 €, so I’m feeling very pleased to get 317,46€!

I’ll budget 20€ of those Euros for the next 20 days leaving 297,46€ to spend when the family comes. In our house, we just can’t have it all.  We save in one area in order to have enough in other budget areas. It’s a reflection of our priorities.

Now, to clarify… we are NOT going to eat on 20€! I am planning on using that 20€ where needed to complete what I already have. If you scroll down a bit on the blog, you’ll see that I have found some good deals on chicken, turkey, garbanzo bean flour, canned tomatoes as well as all the fruits I have canned. In other words, I’m going to try to have 20 days without spending! This is not a sacrifice for me, rather an adjustment to accomplish the greater goal of more treats for my family.

So NOW I begin… I have separated 1- 20€ bill for spending!

Here’s my plan for the 1st 10 days- PART 1:

November 28th (today)- Cream of Green soup (left over broccoli from yesterday, cabbage, spinach, onions & leeks), leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, sliced tomatoes & pumpkin pie

November 29th- Cream of tomato soup (last week I bought a big bag of tomatoes for only .99 per kilo), pan fried German sausages, mashed potato patties, carrots

November 30th- Navy Bean soup, fried chicken, french fries, sliced tomatoes

December 1st- leftover cream of tomato soup, macaroni & cheese with ham, salad

December 2nd- Cream of broccoli soup, fried potatoes & onions with leftover German sausage & eggs & toast

December 3rd- leftover turkey soup, meatloaf, **baked potatoes, broccoli

December 4th-potato & corn chowder, turkey tacos, re-fried beans, salad

December 5th- navy bean soup, *meatloaf sandwiches, sliced tomatoes

December 6th-Split pea & ham soup, turkey rice casserole, salad

December 7th-Turkey soup and *toasted ham and cheese sandwiches after church

* on homemade bread

** I bought a 50 lb sack of potatoes on sale in early November

Breakfasts:

1. oatmeal
2. grits & eggs
3. pancakes
4. muffins

Suppers:

1. Leftovers
2. soups
3. sandwiches
4. spanish tortilla
5. salad

Our little 6lb. turkey ready to go in the oven (it fit into my 8×8 pan!), & 6 jars of cinnamon spice apples which I served instead of the cranberries sauce. People here just don’t know what cranberries are and use the word “arandano” which is a blueberry. I bought the apples on sale for .99 akilo last week. It’s a good thing I did because this week, they are 1,79€ a kilo. All was very yummy, but it would have tasted better with kids and “grands” sitting around the table!

10 Ways I am saving money.

Nov 20, 2008 by pearsonsprogress    24 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Grocery Challenge

* Do you see the little grey box above this photo with a number on it? If you “click” on this, you can leave a comment for me or about this blog.~thank you!

In these interesting and challenging days, I guess we are all looking for ways to save. Here are 10 of my “moves” to reduce spending.

1.) I have 1 or 2 baking days a week. I make the bread for that week; muffins or nut breads for breakfasts; I even make up and cook a couple batches of pancakes. While the oven’s on, I roast potatoes, stick in a casserole like macaroni and cheese or pop in some oven fried chicken. This saves electricity/money by baking everything at once, and I have meals for most of the week. Since we eat our “big” meal at 2pm,  for supper we might have pancakes and eggs or leftovers. It also saves me a lot of time and heats the house (I leave the oven door open after the baking is done to take advantage of the heat, if there are no little ones visiting)

2.) We turn off our hot water heater every night and only turn it on to shower and on baking days. Because we have to call the diesel truck to come and fill our gas tank, we watch the levels very carefully. We also only turn on our heat in the house when we have family or friends over. John and I don’t mind wearing sweaters or sitting on the sofa with a blanket. Our dishwasher and washing machine have water heaters built in to the appliances.

3.) We monitor our expenses in a notebook. I keep a notebook with a page for each of the following: Diesel fuel, electricity bill, phone bill and water bill. I know exactly what I spend each month and why the costs have gone either up or down and we make adjustments accordingly.

4.) We always travel with food. Every time we go to the village, I pack a meal. It can be as little as a sandwich, or  a Tupperware of pasta salad, or even a meal with chicken, potatoes and a salad. If we’re out running errands, there is usually some small snack in the car so we won’t need to buy something while out. Longer trips which take several days (like going to conference in Germany this March) include our picnic hamper that our kids Jesseka and Greg gave us many years ago and a single hot plate that we take with us to cook food in a hotel room. I keep a sauce pan and a small skillet in the hamper with a jar of olive oil, salt and utensils. We can have an egg or fry up a hamburger or even open a can of beans or stew. We eat better,  and cheaper. Those of you who have traveled with us on trips, know that we eat well.

5.) I buy on sale and stock up. When any vegetable, meat, or  fruit is on sale, I stock  up, can, freeze or make jams & chutneys. We always seem to have variety on hand.

6.) We do all of our errands in one day, organizing the route. This saves us gas and time. We always try to be home for lunch at 2pm. We only use the car 2 or 3 times a week.

7.) I make our own prayer cards, labels and stationary using vistaprint.com and pay only for postage.

8.) I keep a notebook with all the categories needed to run the household (different than tip#3). For example, there is a page for car insurance, one for Christmas fund, birthday fund, computer fund, etc. Not all the categories can be funded each month, because there simply may not be enough to go around, but it helps us by adding a dollar or two from each paycheck to cover our expenses. I also have a detailed accounting of all “deposits and expenditures”. I use an ING checking account for this. All the funds are together, but I know the value in each category  because of the pages for each in my notebook.

9.) I’m selling unwanted or seldom used items around the house. A grandson has helped me sell some things I have taken back to the USA (over a year ago) by using Craigslist. I’ve tried here but Europeans are not accustomed to buying like this. I want to continue to work on this area.

10.) I pray for inspiration, wisdom and help from the Lord. This is actually my  greatest and most effective way to save money. I actually feel encouraged by partnering with the Lord in this challenge. When I’m most in need of help, a treat comes in the mail, or a good idea crosses my mind. Last week, neighbors came over with a box of candy (the expensive kind that we would never buy) and a bottle of wine (not the cheap stuff) wrapped in  stacked Christmas motif boxes. These gifts were given to me because I teach their 2 children English once or twice a week and I certainly haven’t expected any gifts! The wrapping will be saved for re-wrapping gifts, the wine will be served to friends and family on a special occasion and the candies saved to share with our children at Christmas time.

More of our photos: the photo at  the top was last weeks muffins and bread.

Canned jams and pickles, a 5 kilo sack of garbanzo bean flour I got on sale for only 4,99 € and industry sized canned tomatoes. Once opened, I’ll divided and freeze for future use.

*for a better look at the photos, just “click” on them

Saving Money…

Nov 9, 2008 by pearsonsprogress    7 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Grocery Challenge

The Garden:

I wanted to tell you that my garden is growing very well. So far, we are eating radishes (well, I am, John doesn’t care for them) and all of our salads are coming from the lettuce I grow. I snip off just enough each day to make our salad. Did you know that radish greens are eatable?  It’s been raining so I’m saving on water too! One of the simple pleasures I have is returning from a week of work in the village to see how much my little garden has grown.

Canning: I have done much this year already and and plenty of jam. The olives are done and I’m looking forward to getting some apples on sale to make apple sauce and pie filling.

Today, John and I have finished the green olive cure and here is the result:

Also, look at these jars of quince that I canned: They will be used for pies and jams this year. Please click on the photo for a larger view. 

Bargains: I bought a ready made pizza on sale at the Lidl (German store) for only 1,40€ after the 30% mark-down. I put on some mozzarella cheese, and parmesan to it’s skimpy presentation and John and I had a fairly decent supper for a good price.

Blessings: We have received some really great blessings from friends. I honestly believe that the Lord is providing for us in this special way. Here are some of the recent blessings from Joye, Debora and Sue:

Jerky, TP, toothpaste, candy, bath soap, pretty smelling bath things, dried cherries, deodorant, 8 cans of albacore tuna, spices, office supplies, lip gloss, tea and more!

I am excited to think of all the recipes I can use that albacore in! I am so thankful for these gals and the wonderful surprise of packages in the mail! It’s a real treat!

Tom and Jeanne sent me the money for my ticket to France!!! Wasn’t that the nicest blessing? I hadn’t seen these grands, or ANY grandkids since they came for Christmas last year. They are so cute and it was the loveliest of treats to be with them. The flight is only 1 hr and 20 mins from Madrid.

Ways I save:

1. I have purchased dried beans; pinto, red beans, white and black beans. I then pressure cooked them separately, divide them in baggies and froze them. I thought at my .49¢ (euro cents) a jar was a good price for the cooked beans, but I can get 6 portions of beans for the price of 2 if I buy them dry, cook and freeze them.
2. Today I once again used my pressure cooker to cook 1 lb (about 500grs) of stew beef. This small amount will stretch to make 3 meals: ♥Shredded beef tacos for today+re-fried beans and salad.♥Nachos (with fried tortilla chips I make, lettuce, salsa, beans & cheese) for Sunday and ♥rolled tacos+ Mexican rice+salad for Monday♥Plus, the added bonus of about 3 cups of really nice beef broth to make a soup.
3. I saved the juice of the pickles I canned last summer and added 3 hard-boiled eggs to it. In 3 or 4 days, these I will have delicious “pickled eggs”.
4. I snip off the tops of my onions from the garden to make “scallions”. I use what I need and dry the rest for future use.

My trip to France: I had a fun trip to France to see Anita and 2 grands, Elijah and Ana. It was relaxing but the weather was rainy the whole time. We got out of the house a couple of times but then, I went to see them, not have fantastic weather.

Please leave you comments! I love to hear from you.