Category Archive

I haven’t been thinking that much about my money lately.  I have my budget and I’m working towards meeting it, and recording each purchase I make.  The markets are up and down (mostly down) the economy makes me worry, gas prices are high, and I worry about my job.  But for the most part, I just live my life, and the money mostly takes care of itself.  This must be a benefit of having a plan.

My weakness this month has been groceries (already, again) but I’m making an effort to eat what I have.  Despite my ban on groceries, I stopped by a new store the other night, but only because I was in the neighborhood (which is at least $5 from my neighborhood) and I wanted to see what it had to offer.  It is a health food store of sorts, with a lot of organic products.  I was mostly interested in their bulk food selection.  I didn’t get much (less than $5) because I didn’t really need much, but I was impressed with the bulk bins and will be back someday, with a better plan.

I did purchase $1 worth of pastry flour, thinking it was something like bread flour and wanting to give homemade bread another go.  It isn’t the same thing, not at all.  However, I found a recipe to use it in since I had the other ingredients on hand.  I don’t really recommend this quick bread, but if you happened to buy pastry flour and don’t know what to do with it, it is not bad.  I also bought wheat bran (another $1) because I’ve been itching for some bran muffins.   I’ve made these before and they were good.  I did some Googling and found you could substitute a concoction of regular milk and vinegar for buttermilk, so I have all the ingredients I need for these too!  (Except raisins, which I dislike.)

I’m still not entirely convinced that all this home baking/cooking really saves me money.  Every bread I’ve tried has failed so far, so I am going to try actual bread flour.  Yeast isn’t exactly cheap either.  I need to find some yeast in bulk, those packets aren’t cheap.  I should make sure they aren’t expired–maybe I have an excuse for my failures!  At least I know exactly what went into my food, even if my pizza crust failed to rise.

Next week when I’m craving something sweet, I’m gong to attempt some Chinese steamed buns (Mantou) to eat with sweetened condensed milk (not the fried ones).  I had them at Dim Sum once, and I looked up a recipe–there is almost nothing to them.  They certainly aren’t a healthy dish (though here is a version that claims to be), but I can have them as a desert.  I am making them partially out of nostalgia–I ate them on study abroad in Hong Kong. The cost of some condensed milk is small price to pay for a happy memory.

In other food related news, someone on my blogroll (forgive me, I can’t recall who) linked to Lynnae’s list of recipe’s for a month.  She has selected quite a few recipes that are frugal and uses beans heavily.  There may be a few new meals there to try out.

By the way, my dad gave my car a listen, and said I should take it to a muffler shop first, because he thinks it is in the exhaust.  If it is the muffler, it will be much cheaper at a muffler shop.  If not, I will take it elsewhere.  He said I may simply need a new muffler (~$100) or it could be the catalytic converter (~$1000) or anything in between.  I’m hoping for a muffler.

I finally got official word that I was accepted to the graduate program I applied to! It is somewhat anti-climatic for two reasons. First, since my employer is paying I wasn’t hoping for funding and my credentials were quite strong, I sort of expected to get in. Second, several weeks ago, I asked T (who attends this school as a full time PhD student with funding) to check on the status. He found that I had been recommended for admission, so it was a waiting game, really. But a long waiting game, considering they told me I would know in 2-4 weeks in February!

What does this mean for my finances? Not a whole lot, actually. It’s a part time program, so I’ll continue to work. I’ll be really busy starting this fall, so maybe I’ll save even more! Also, I’ll be considered a half time student so my student loans will go into deferment. Since they are subsidized, the rate will be 0%. That’ll free up $141 each month for savings, but I think I’ll continue to put $70 into my student loan payoff account. (This month, only $65 of my $141 payment went to principal!)

Long term, a M.S. degree in my field translates to roughly $10k-$15k more than a B.S. with similar experience. It’ll increase my expertise and help me advance more quickly. It’ll open more doors to have a top school on my resume. I also get some sort of stock options when I complete it, but they vest slowly, so I can’t count on that. I already have 9 credits at a lesser (top 50) institution, so I should finish in less than two years if they accept 6 credits.

T thinks I should take the next step and apply for a full time Ph.D for Fall 2009. I don’t even really want to go for my Ph.D., but I’m laid off in January and the economy is still poor, it is a reasonable back-up plan. Obviously, I wouldn’t go without funding. I know that graduate school should be a passion, not a back up plan, so I’m hesitant. While I may be able to pull off a Ph.D. acceptance, I’m less confident that I could pull off funding at this particular university. My previous graduate university offered me funding for my M.S., which is unusual, so there is a chance. However, the competition is extremely stiff at this level.

I suppose I have until fall to think about it. I have my GRE’s, my professors have electronic letters of recommendation that could be revived easily. No need to decide today.

Instead I’ll relish in my acceptance and enjoy my summer before my free time dwindles to zero!

P.S. - If I hadn’t banned myself from the grocery store, I would make Fettuccine with red pepper feta sauce, complete with homemade whole wheat pasta. The only ingredients I’m missing are chicken stock, eggs, and red peppers. It sounds like a meal T would enjoy as much as I would. He sometimes thinks my ideas of a good recipe to try are odd. I suppose it can wait a few weekends!

P.P.S - Sorry if all the food talk is too much. I am not talented enough to start a food blog, so I just sneak my food thoughts into my personal finance blog!

I refuse to tell you how many groceries stores I’ve been in between Saturday and Monday.

Ok, no, I don’t. Four different Ralph’s (they are everywhere!), Whole Foods once, and (the same) Trader Joe’s twice. That is SEVEN. Am I insane? Obsessed? I actually had a whole little meal plan for the week, complete with expected price and a column to fill in the actual price. I think I over planned! Or at least, failed to follow the plan!

On Saturday I did my typical shop at TJ’s, then went to Ralph’s (very close by) to finish off and get the things TJ’s isn’t good at. I forgot a key ingredient for my dinner, so I went back to an even closer Ralph’s to fix my mistake. Three for Saturday.

Sunday we found ourselves near a Whole Foods, so I took the opportunity to purchase some bulk granola. Later that day, we went to Quizno’s for lunch, and while T was getting our subs, I walked across the street to yet another Ralph’s to pick up some garlic. I swear it was in my basket on my first grocery run, but it didn’t make it on the receipt or in the bag. I think I left it in the basket at checkout by accident. Two for Sunday.

After spending so much time in grocery stores, I found myself looking online at a local food co-op I’m considering visiting later on. An ad for organic quinoa for $1.49/lb caught my eye. I’ve only just heard of quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) within the last few months, but suddenly I needed to try it. I was still obsessed with it by the time work ended yesterday, so I swung into TJ’s on my way home and picked some up.

To finish things off, I spent Monday evening with my dad, since he and my mom will be heading back to the Midwest within a week or so. We walked along the beach with his dog and had a dinner near their apartment. He drove me home, but wanted to stop at Ralph’s on the way home. I agreed, and picked up a few apples and a pastry sheet, planning on attempting my first tart sometime in the near future. So, two stores for Monday.

Whew! Now I have more food than I could possibly eat in a week (good thing too!) and have been to more grocery stores than anyone ever needs to go to in a 3 day span. Thus, I am hear-by banning myself from grocery shopping until Monday, June 16th or later! (Except if I run out of yogurt, I’m allowed to buy one of those. Or if T and I decided to share some beer/wine one evening. That’s it though, no other exceptions!) Writing this up only makes me see the utter craziness, and the craziness needs to stop!

However, at least I have some fantastic food coming up! Not only do I have a lot of new ingredients, I have plenty of rice, pasta and other staples, so I should be just fine until at least the middle of this month.

I’ve been trying to like chickpeas. I’ve been trying, but I just can’t. There is something about their texture and scent that I just can’t get behind. I tolerate them, but I don’t enjoy them. I want to like them, because not only are they cheap, but they have protein, fiber and are fairly nutritious. The biggest flaw I found is they are a little high in sodium. I wonder if this would be true if I were to purchase dried chickpeas and make them myself? That sounds like a heck of a lot of work.

Anyway, I wouldn’t say that I dislike the chickpea recipes I’ve tried, but I didn’t feel compelled to make them a second time. Too much chickpea flavor, too little other stuff (not a problem if you think chickpeas are tasty).

The other night, chickpeas in hand, I searched Allrecipes.com for chickpea recipes and found this Chickpea Salad that used ingredients I happened to have on hand. I halved it and used dried parsley (I can’t keep fresh herbs on hand) and pressed the garlic rather than mincing. (There also was a plethora of more fancy chickpea recipes, including chickpea curries and roasted chickpeas and several other salads that could suite anyone’s fancy.)

Yesterday, while collecting my lunch, I saw a container of beautiful berries in the communal fridge. I suffered from momentary lunch envy, but once I tasted my lunch, it evaporated. I really liked it! It wasn’t just okay, it was good. I finally found a chickpea recipe that I can get excited about. The key may be everything but the chickpeas–I love garlic, red onion and tomato, and there was enough flavor to make up for the slightly lackluster chickpeas. I found a new frugal lunch!

Half can of chickpeas: $0.35 I was surprised to find these were much cheaper at Whole Foods ($.79) than at Ralph’s ($1.50, $1.19 on sale). Cheapest yet at Trader Joe’s for .69
1 roma tomato: roughly $1
one quarter red onion: $.15
2 cloves of garlic: Not sure, let’s say $.10
Olive Oil: Negligable, $.20
Lemon Juice: Negligible, $.20
Parsley Flakes: Negligible.
Shredded Parm (optional, but tasty): The bag was $2.50 but I used just a sprinkling. Let’s say $.25.
Total: $2.25

I chose to supplement this lunch with some tomato avocado soup I made several days ago, but I found it quite filling and you might be able to get by just on this if you don’t eat big lunches. Or add some fruit or whatever else you like to eat for lunch. I suppose I don’t need to tell you that. You know how to pack a lunch, right?

As far as groceries go, I’m done for the month. I am $1 over my $145 budget (which isn’t a very small budget in the first place). T suggested cooking some shrimp pineapple curry this weekend, and also some hot spinach artichoke dip. We split the grocery bill for those items, but it really wasn’t in my “meal plan” and shrimp is hardly frugal. It was good and we like cooking together, so I don’t regret it. I certainly can last until next Sunday without spending a dime on food, though I might buy some bread.

I’m need to get in my kitchen and whip up another batch of my chickpea salad for today!

I bought fig jam at Whole Foods yesterday ($4), so I’m down to $30 in groceries for the rest of the month. Why fig jam? I was in Phoenix last weekend and ate at this cute restaurant that served various bruschetta, and I thought I’d recreate their apple, brie, and fig jam version. I still should be able to meet my $145 goal if I can control myself. I’ve been really into trying new recipes lately, but with just $30 left, I think any new creations will have to wait until next month. I’m certainly not acting like someone who is participating in a grocery challenge! (I also want to make this, but I’m unwilling to purchase a tart pan at this point.)

Oh, I also made this cold Tomato and Avocado soup earlier this week (alas, in my blender–a food processor just isn’t in the cards right now). The grocery cost was probably about $15 (avocados were expensive) and it made a huge batch. I’ve ate it for lunch every day, along with some other things (namely Trader Joe’s meatballs). It’s healthy and light, but not quite filling enough for a complete meal.

I have not yet signed up for the June dining out challenge (just procrastinating I guess), but I suspect that it will be pretty easy for me. Lately I’d rather cook than go out to eat. I think I’ll set the bar at $60 (down from original $75), which will allow me to treat T and I to at least one average meal out, then maybe some random Subway or In-N-Out if we get lazy.

Regarding yesterday’s post about layoffs, my manager stopped by yesterday and specifically told me that I would not be subject to layoff at this time (or any time in the near future). From what I gather, this issue might come up again in January, but that is far enough away that I can’t spend time being anxious about it now. The notices are also 60 days, which isn’t that long, but long enough that looking for a new job before you receive one might not be necessary (do you agree with that thought?)

I sit near to two managers and the walls are thin (earplugs are necessary at times). I overheard two people from other groups get layed off late yesterday afternoon. It was quite an unsettling way to end the day (and very distracting).

Well, it is time for me to leave for work. I hope I don’t have to hear that again today.

I’ve been super disorganized with my grocery shopping this month, and I’ve managed to spend $95 of my allocated $145.  Ouch!  I get excited about new recipes I find and want to try them immediately, so I have made several trips to the grocery store for less than $10 worth of food.   However, I do have quite a bit of food on hand, and if I just simply eat what I have, I should be fine to meet my budget.  I swear!

I went to Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) yesterday, which really isn’t the place for a girl on a budget to hang out.  However, I went specifically in search of their bulk food section and wasn’t disappointed.

Granola in yogurt is my favorite breakfast, and I decided to try making my own granola.  I estimated the cost to be about $3 for 2 cups of this (which would be about $9/lb), but maybe I could use less cashews and a lower priced maple syrup to bring the cost down.  The oatmeal was dirt cheap, it was the mix-in’s that brought things up.  The best granola deal seems to be the various organic bulk flavors for about $3.50-$4/lb (not an amazing deal, but tastier than boxed granola).  I could look around for a health food store that offers bulk ingredients at a more competitive price.  So far, I haven’t found making my own granola less expensive than purchasing, and not even more delicious because I burned it!  My next thought was to try making my own yogurt, but perhaps I’m getting too extreme…  Have you ever done this?  Is it cost effective?

Besides granola ingredients (including maple syrup for about $6 and canola oil for $3), I bought to tangelo oranges and a bottle of store brand organic conditioner for $2.  The conditioner was disappointing, but the oranges were very delicious.  I spent a minute suspiciously eying the Naked brand juices.  Can juice really be worth $9 for a small jug? I wanted to try it, but no good can come from it.  Either I like it and start to want it, or i hate it and I’ve wasted my money.

In other food news, I had an out of town friend crash at my place last night, and he inspected the contents of my fridge.  New Castle.  Yogurt.  Cheese.  One egg. Britta pitcher.  Red onion, chopped.  Coffee…. Not much else.  “Do you eat out a lot?”   If he only knew what I could do with the contents of my kitchen! (Mainly the cupboard and freezer, admittedly). What is in your fridge?

The May grocery challenge is going… not well. I have already spent $65/$145, when I’m  only allocated to spend $35/week. That looks bad! However, I have made two trips already, and I usually strive to make one each weekend. I’ve already used this weekends trip, and I should have plenty of food to last through next week.

Still, I was a little silly with my purchases. I usually don’t buy much meat, but I spent almost $7 on meat this week. Want to know how much I spent on cheese? $11.50! While I enjoy good cheese, that does seem a bit excessive. I bought two kinds of parmesan, grated and shredded. I’m not above shredding/grating block cheese myself, but it this case, it didn’t amount to a better deal. The shredded cheese was only $2.50! Also, is Trader Joe’s a good or bad place to buy decent priced cheese? Where else should I look? I also bought, on impulse (!), a box of Belgium butter waffle cookies. Delicious, but not necessary. I’m going to have to be much more careful next week!

Here is yesterday’s shopping trip. I forgot to buy arborio rice (I stink at making lists) which will be another few dollars.

My previous trips included items like eggs, yogurt, granola (breakfast), frozen vegetables, more meatballs, bread, basil and who knows what else that added up to about $31.

What are some things I will be making with all my cheese (and other ingrediants)?

• Croque Mademoiselle
• Risotto in edible parmesan bowls
• Parmesan Wheat Bread
• Edamame and Feta Salad
• Chickpea salad (without the cucumber, with red onion, with red wine vinegar

The menu is a little cheesier and “heavier” than my typical meals, but still may be delicious. I was thinking of trying to make a gazpacho (cold soup) this month, but I can’t find the recipe I used before. It was delicious and included an avocado, didn’t have cucumbers, and had a bit of spice to it. I can’t find it online, so maybe I stole it from a magazine. Let me know if you have a good gazpacho recipe!

Looking over my list and recipes, there really isn’t a huge focus on frugality here. I am certainly paying attention to what I buy, but the biggest reason I don’t spend a ton on groceries is that I don’t buy much meat, I don’t drink milk (purchased for recipes) or juice, and I don’t buy a lot of pre-prepared food.  I am trying to buy more fruit/veggies, but I have to be careful not to let them spoil.

After some consideration, I increased my food budget from $135 to $145. I found we don’t need to go out to eat that often, so I took that extra money from my restaurant budget. (However, perhaps I’m being temporarily subsidized, because the last two weekends my parents have purchased me a rather delicious meal. They will be going back home in early June.) I think sticking to $135 (or even $125) would be entirely possible for me to do without too much struggle. I’ve seen grocery budgets as low as $80 (see lunch challenge)! So why am I increasing it?

I’m tired of asking T to contribute to my weekend dinners, even if it is “fair”. I asked for a contribution this week, and he obliged with a purchase of some snack food for us. I’m not much of a snacker, but I did enjoy the nachos, and there was leftover shredded cheese for me to use. It isn’t that we actually have fights about this, but we have these annoying conversations about who paid for what and when.

It is clear (in my mind) that I’m getting a worse deal. I eat one meal a week at his place (or as many as I want to drive to get) and it is usually spaghetti or frozen pizza (boy cooking!), and he eats at least four at my place, with at least one being something delicious (that he usually helps me make). Last weekend I even served crème brûlée for desert (surprisingly cheap and easy)! Then he’ll remind me that he bought this or that the week before, and I’ll concede. He doesn’t bring it up, but he knows that I make a certain amount of money, and he is on a stipend. My net worth increased by over $2k this month, his probably increased by, at most a couple hundred dollars. Maybe it didn’t increase at all. (Well, his stipend is quarterly, so who knows this exact month)

We don’t live together, so it isn’t quite as easy as just splitting things in half. I tend to buy better food for myself than he buys for himself, so I can’t expect him to spend a certain amount just because I feel like making spring-summer ziti and don’t want to pay for all the cheese involved. He’s content eating a plain sandwich for dinner, but I turn my nose up at that. If I want to cook something more expensive that is my choice. Not his. I just enjoy sharing it with him out of love. It really isn’t much fun to cook for only myself.

It isn’t about the money at all, but about my plan. If I brought it up with him and asked for a standard $20/mo to cover the food he eats, he would likely oblige. But would I really be more satisfied? Does it really matter?   Do I really want to add a creepy banker like dynamic to the relationship?  It just seems like this something I’d be better off just letting go. I tend to get wound up when things don’t go according to my plan (it is a fact, pf bloggers have control issues!), but if I simply plan to spend a little extra, everything will be smooth.

Budgeting isn’t supposed to make me stingy and cheap, it is supposed to give me freedom!

Awhile ago, I stumbled upon a cooking blog called SugarLaws. There are probably many other fantastic cooking blogs out there, but this one is the only one I currently read. She has similar taste in food as I do (except she actually knows how to put a recipe together), so almost every recipe I read I think “I want to try that!”

While the blog isn’t focused on finances, I rarely find odd ingredients that require me to spend $7 on a small bottle of some sauce that I only need for one recipe. Everything is really natural, normal ingredients combined in delicious ways. For example, today she wrote about Strawberry Banana Bread, a very healthy (no sugar) and delicious looking recipe that contains “fresh fruit, 100% whole wheat flour, a smidge of honey for sweetness, and some sour cream. It doesn’t get any more simple than that, and trust me, these are shockingly good.” Even though I only have $8 left in my grocery budget for the month, I could probably buy some strawberries, bananas, and sour cream and make some this weekend.

Or how about Goat cheese soufflés? I admit mine did not really turn out as beautifully as hers. She promised soufflés were easy, but I tried to half the recipe and I used whole wheat flour, which may have confused things. I also didn’t ever get “soft peaks” in my egg whites beating by hand, which probably was a problem. Luckily, I still have half the goat cheese, so I could take another shot if I want. Regardless, the cost of this recipe for me was less than $5 for six servings:
Goat Cheese: $2.49 for 5 oz
Parsley (I cheated and used dried parsley. Not as delicious, but frugal): Negligible. Let’s say $0.10
2 c milk: $0.60
3 Tbs Flour: Negligible. Let’s say $0.25
6 large eggs: $0.75
butter, salt: Let’s just say another $0.75

Here’s another dish that looks delish: Sunchoke Panzanella. It is a more expensive dish at about $10 for 3-4 servings, but it still can fit into my monthly grocery budget. If you can get a better deal on your cherry tomatoes, the price will drop.
2 pints Cherry tomatoes: $4.60
Sunchokes: I still have to locate these. Actually, I’d never even heard of them until this recipe. I did a quick google, and was directed to an article in a pf blog I already read, which suggests they could be as little as $2/lb if I go to a market. She says she saw them at Trader Joe’s, but the one near my house didn’t have them. I think it is smaller than average store.
Sourdough Bread, 4 slices: I’ll estimate $1.50. I bought a whole loaf for $2.69.
3 Shallots: 1.49
Basil Leaves: $0.50 ($2 for a large bunch of them)
2 tbs Balsamic Vinegar: I didn’t have any, so I paid $3.50 for 33.8 oz. That means that 2 Tbs was about $.10
6 Tbs EVOO: Hmm, let’s just say $0.30?
Salt and pepper: Negligible, $.10

I have to be careful when buying fresh ingredients, otherwise I end up with half a bag of wilted spinach (or similar). Since I got a whole bunch of basil for the above recipe and didn’t need it all, I also bought some tomatoes and mozzarella to make these sandwiches (which also use the balsamic vinegar). That is my lunch for the day, and I’m way excited! Mozzarella, tomato and basil is a great combination–it also could be made into a salad. I paid $4 for a hunk of mozzarella (I think I meant to pick a less expensive block) and $2 for 5 roma tomatoes. I used the basil leaves purchased for above recipe, so maybe $1 or $1.50. I’m also using sourdough bread, just because I didn’t want to buy two loaves. I should get many sandwiches out of this, or maybe I’ll try the salad (but I’d probably need more tomatoes for that). Isn’t it beautiful how I picked two recipes that overlap so I can reuse ingredients? That is a skill I generally lack, so I’m pretty proud of myself for that!

So despite my insistence that I’m a food failure, I am improving, thanks to great recipes I find online. I still lack the inventiveness to pull random ingredients from the fridge and whip up a delicious creation, but I can’t be blessed in everything, right? Please share any of your favorite (or newly discovered) recipes with me!!!

I didn’t mean to write another post today. I just need to say that I’m officially starving. Well, extremely hungry at least. I obviously need to incorporate snacks into my diet as well as protein (or a larger lunch).

People questioned my desire for more protein. I guess somewhere in my mind I think protein+exercise=muscles, but I think it is really just exercise+food=muscle. Also, I don’t drink milk. Mostly because I think it is gross and haven’t really drank it for as long as I can remember. I can’t sniff it and tell if it has gone bad, because it always smells bad to my nose. I used to take calcium to justify this, and probably should start again. I do eat yogurt most mornings, but milk is expensive and I hate it so it always goes bad. Knowing my diet, I assume it lacks protein, but never having checked, I could be wrong. I think I’ll take a couple days and see if I am getting enough already, as some suggested. Starting with knowing the requirements, which were harder to find than I expected. It seems 45 grams is my recommended number. Strange that this number doesn’t seem to depend on whether or not a person exercises.

Due to the great suggestions  (thanks everyone!) and then some related browsing, I’ve been ogling recipes for awhile. Oh, this is also due to some work related frustrations….. which I will discuss tomorrow.

Here are my discoveries:

• Baked apples, from Cheap Healthy Good, a blog I recently discovered and plan to frequent
• Broccoli Frittata from Sugar Laws. I love broccoli!
• These chokladbolls also look good. They have nothing to do with protein, but seem frugal enough. Did you know Wikipedia now is also a cookbook?

I considered ignoring all the deliciousness in my cupboards at home, destroying my food budget, and trying some of the new suggestions/discoveries. However, I can wait until next weeks grocery trip. I might still stop by the store on the way home for some graham crackers + peanut butter to bring to work so I don’t run into this snackless suffering again. And some chocolate, just because.

One hour until I can leave/eat!

I spent just $25 on groceries at Trader Joe’s yesterday, and it should feed me all week!  My budget is $30, so if I decide later this week I need something else (chocolate?), I can pick it up!  I turned down these incredibly tempting “Raspberry and Brie in Fillo” appetizer type things ($5), but I’m going to have to try them someday. Soon. They seem like a decadent treat for a nice evening in, perhaps to be enjoyed on the balcony on a warm March evening.

I also spent less than the allotted $25 on dinners out with the boy. I bought us some tasty Mexican from a dingy restaurant by my apartment for about $12, then I bought myself some deliciously unhealthy fast food on Sunday for another $5. Since there are 5 weekends this month instead of just 4, it is probably good to spend a little under budget in this category.  It helped that a friend bought us some (unimpressive) Thai on Thursday and that my dad came through town on Tuesday and introduced me to the aforementioned Mexican joint.

The bad news is that I didn’t buy much in the way of protein at the grocery store. I had some chicken left from a previous shopping trip, but I really can’t get excited about chicken. I’m not vegetarian, but I don’t eat much meat–I just don’t crave it. Beans and tuna aren’t that tasty (to me) either, and fish is pretty expensive comparatively. (Plus I don’t know any good ways to prepare it.)  Actually, I sort of enjoy tuna, but can’t find a good way to eat it, other than tuna sandwich. I’m just so over sandwiches for now. Maybe on a salad, but with what else? Just tuna and greens? Peanut butter sandwiches? I could add those into my diet as sort of a “side dish” to my lunches. Nuts themselves have protein, but they were surprisingly sort of expensive. Does milk have protein? I occasionally make smoothies and could add some sort of protein supplement to them, but that stuff is a little spendy.

Do any of you have any ideas for delicious and inexpensive ways to get more protein into my life?

My weekly grocery budget goal is $30, I spent $35 at Trader Joe’s, then $10 at Ralph’s to bet ground sausage meat for the big batch of breakfast burritos I spent today making (then freezing). Which quite obviously is more than the budget, but the burritos are meant to be split with boyfriend T. He is going to put $15 of gas in my car for splitting the ingredients + labor. If i can get by all week without running to the store for milk/juice or something else random, this week will be in budget.

However, in a quintessential SJean Food Failure, I screwed up the breakfast burritos. Breakfast burritos are an old recipe passed down to me from my mom…. No, I’m joking. My mom did make them and throw them in the freezer for us. In college, she’d sometimes send a batch off to the dorms with me. But it’s just sausage, eggs, cheese and chopped onion rolled into a tortilla. Top with sour cream and salsa. They aren’t the healthiest little things, though you could pony up for the lowest fat sausage ($4.60 instead of $2.50 for 3 less ounces), which I didn’t this time. I did attempt to drain as much grease as I could, probably fruitlessly. Anyway, I made 20 some of these things, running out of sausage halfway through and getting more. Which was odd, since I usually estimate quite well how much I need.

After stacking them up in the freezer and forgetting about them, I was walking along the beach (yes seriously) and it dawned on me. I had completely forgotten to put the scrambled eggs in!! When I was writing the list and I asked “T, what else goes in these? Sausage, cheese, onion… tomatoes?” He said he thought that was it too. I spent an hour and a half making the dang things, and it still didn’t cross my mind! Really, how does this happen?? I’m sure they are still completely edible, just not as intended. So they were less than $1 a piece and would have been even more frugal had I used more egg and less sausage. Eat with cation if you don’t buy the lowfat stuff, but my diet is generally pretty good so one of these when I’m feeling lazy should be just fine.

I’m excited to try out some of the new things I bought. I found the couscous just fine, and even located some ziti in the larger Ralph’s that I went to, though I was totally prepared to substitute penne or similar. I was slightly overwhelmed in the yogurt section, but after a few minutes of searching, I located the Greek style yogurt successfully. We’ll see how my lunches pan out this week, though I still have some sandwich ingredients on hand in case of emergency.

I’ve been eating sandwiches (packed from home) for lunch at work, which is already getting boring. I can eat the same thing day after day for a period of time, but after a few weeks, my taste buds go on strike and demand something new.

I don’t spend a lot on groceries because I buy what I know how to make. Which is, sadly, not much. I don’t necessarily eat sandwiches because they are cheap. That is one factor. However the primary reason is that I know how to make them, and they are quick and simple. Bread, meat, cheese, DONE!

I have this bag of baby spinach from Trader Joes which was an amazing deal, but I got it on Saturday and still haven’t opened it. It only lasts about a week, which means… I really need to eat salads the next few days. I have no idea why I’m not throwing a few leaves into my sandwiches. That is one problem I have–I buy things with good intentions and they go bad when I choose the easier/tastier foods first. Which is why I don’t buy a lot of produce, at least not finicky produce that spoils quickly.

Another problem I have is I flat out buy the wrong things sometimes. I wanted to make mini-pizza’s on english muffins. I bought tomato sauce, which apparently is not quite the same as pizza sauce, though I tried to make it work. Then I ate the english muffins on their own for breakfasts, and now I have pepperoni and mozzarella hanging around waiting to be put to good use.

Or I put “ziti” on my list, the store doesn’t have it, and I realize that not only do I not know what shape pasta it is so I can substitute, but I’m not even 100% sure it is pasta after all. (Well, I know now, but that did me no good then!)

I absolutely love the frugal food posts over at English Majors Money. I perused her archives and came up with several recipes I would like to try. It can be challenging, for me though. I had really never had couscous and am not convinced I’ll be able to find it… And when I do find it, will I be able to cook it? But if I succeed, I won’t have to eat sandwhiches anymore!

I’m going to force myself to wait though, as I have food in my apartment that I won’t eat if I go out and buy more delicious things.

In hopes to add something of value in this post, other than complaining at my failure in the kitchen, I will suggest a “recipe” that I like and actually can make (in less than 5 minutes.)

Ingredients:
Spinach (baby or other size)
Chopped walnuts
Dried cranberries
Feta Cheese
Honey Mustard Dressing

Instructions:
Toss together. Enjoy!

Is it frugal? I’m not sure. Nuts, cranberries and feta aren’t exactly cheap, but the bulk of the meal is the spinach, which sometimes is cheap. Is it good? I love it! And it is easy, which is the clincher for me.

In a side note, Trader Joe’s had decent prices, but the selection was not very good. Did I just go to a small one, or is that normal?

I went on my first full shopping trip since relocating and moving into my apartment. I looked at the current balance of my grocery bill in horror. How on earth was it at $79 already? And they still were ringing up my order!! The grand total was $95, then they swiped my Ralph’s card and it dropped to $70. It is ridiculous that they do that. It is just forcing you to use a grocery card if you want any discounts at all.

Anyway, $70 is still much more than I spend on weekly groceries. About double! Although part of it was because I’m restocking almost everything, it still was a bit excessive. I think my solution will be to make this last two weeks…. so no new groceries until Februrary 12th! I am pretty sure I can do it. When I complain there is no food to eat, I usually mean, there is nothing I feel like cooking and eating.

What on earth did I buy? Well, I won’t copy my whole long receipt, but here are some of the more expensive items on the list.
Chicken breast fillets $8.90. I don’t usually buy meat, actually. I’m not vegetarian, but I’m not a big fan of meat and I don’t really know how to prepare it well.
Frozen Strawberries, huge bag, $8.50 (should last a very long time. For smoothies)
Lunch meat, 2 packages, $5 (much cheaper than buying a sandwhich!)
Peperoni to make English muffin pizza’s: $3.50
Lunch cheese: $4.19, I forgot to price shop this I think
I also bought butter, milk, bananas, coffee creamer, 2 boxes of cereal, frozen broccoli and lots of other miscellaneous items.

There were some things on the list I didn’t get. I had a frugal recipe that called for ziti, so I set out to the pasta isle. When I didn’t find it, I realized I wasn’t entirely sure if ziti was pasta at all. Maybe it was a cheese? So I’m back at home, ziti-less and just looked it up. It was pasta after all. I also could not find any muffin mix to make bran muffins. Maybe no one else likes them?

I liked to have a grocery budget of about $120/month, but I may have to up it. We’ll see.