My favorite Day of the Month!

Today was it. It’s not my favorite day of the month just because it is pay day, although that helps, but it’s really more what pay day triggers for me that makes me happy. Today is:

1) Pay day which means budget allocation day & bill paying day (which used to be my LEAST favorite day before I budgeted)
2) The beginning of my two day monthly grocery shopping
3) Monthly grocery shopping means huge Sam’s shopping trip where I “play the game”

I won the game today by the way. I add everything up in my head as I go through Sam’s Club and have the kids help me remember numbers as we get distracted. The bigger the number and the closer I am to the total at check out the giddier I get. I often do a mid-month Sam’s Club run but it’s the first on of the month that is always a pricey run because I get all of my grocery items that will last throughout the month in one trip. For this trip I was really out of a lot of meats and I have committed to a shrimp dish for my Freezer Friends group so it was a big number. Being the dork that I am I really like to tell the cashier my estimate before the total is rung up. Today I said $332 and it came up at $329 and change and she said, “you won!”
My poor husband has to hear about this for a couple days at least. Now if I had guessed $329 he would be hearing about it for at least a week so he should be ok with just a couple days. He tries to be a good sport but really he just rolls his eyes and by the 10th time I tell him how superbly wonderful his wife is at budgeting and totaling groceries and such he’s had it and must ask me, “how much longer are you going to go on about it this time?”

So anyway, I also hit Walmart today and tomorrow hopefully I’ll hit Aldi’s and then Giant Eagle (compare to Stop & Shop, Piggly Wiggly or Krogers). I keep a price book which I will share at some point where I have compared prices of various items that I purchase on a regular basis. In general I have found that I get the most for my money buying bulk at Sam’s (even better than sale prices at Giant Eagle) and then the best bargains are found at Aldi’s and then Giant Eagle (especially with coupons which I am trying to be better at). So I shop the stores in that order, generally. So whatever I did not find at Sam’s will be bought at Aldi’s and whatever I don’t find at Aldi’s I get at Giant Eagle. That leaves me with nothing but produce runs at a much smaller local store, Heinen’s, which has wonderful produce and a great lunch meat that we like in our house ($5.99/lb or $4.99 on sale), milk runs at Aldi’s ($2.39-$2.69/gallon whole milk), and the bread outlet twice a month ($1.29 loaf or $1.03 on sale). Trader Joes is right by my gym and there are a few things I get there exclusively. It is easy for me to stop in at Trader Joes after the gym but it isn’t a regular monthly stop. It sounds like a lot of trips but I swear to you it isn’t. Before I monthly meal planned I felt like I was always running to the main store, Giant Eagle, and I was paying more than necessary if I had consolidated my trips to other stores and I would swear about the produce quality regularly.

My budget/”envelope system” has been in place for nearly a year and a half now and it feels so good to deposit little bits of money into my pretend envelopes and see goals get nearer and nearer each pay period. Budgeting the money for what we really need it for truly is a better feeling than going out and replacing our broken DVD player without having saved for it first or having a new sweater. I am a simple nerdy budget person and I love it! So happy budget day to any budgeters out there.

Damn the woman who gave me this recipe!

Ok, not really Barb. But the next time I freak out over how yummy something is and demand the recipe, if it is not made of just healthy veggies or something alike, then don't give me the recipe.

Hi, My name is Jenn, I am a sugar addict and my latest serious sugar doses have come from pumpkin cookies with browned butter frosting. Ahhhhhhhhh. Today was my THIRD double batch of these in 2 weeks. At least it is a whole foods recipe (except the white flour, hmm, maybe whole wheat flour would work and I could call them "healthy" -- ha, too much sugar) and involves a vegetable, right?





Here it is, be careful with this recipe and remember what my grandma Pat always said, "a moment on the lips, forever on the hips." It doesn't stop me though. Oh, sorry I must have scanned this in from my recipe book at some point, it's all crooked and what-not but I'm too tired to re-scan it pretty.

Healthy(ish) Quick Breakfast Ideas

Ok, so I'm looking for some, got any? We have children that do not eat eggs. My husband and I eat eggs every day. I'm hoping that one day our egg habit will rub off on the kids. Until then I will continue to occassionally put egg on their breakfast plate in the hopes it enters their bodies. If it's never on their plate then it has NO chance, right? So here are some of our regular breakfast entrees that I think are somewhat healthy, minus the syrup we put on the pancakes:

1) Pumpkin Pancakes http://www.marthastewart.com/article/pumpkin-pancakes?autonomy_kw=pumpkin%20pancake&rsc=image_1
2) Oatmeal Pancakes http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Oatmeal-Pancakes-II/Detail.aspx
3) "Muscle Pancakes" - loaded with protein http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Oatmeal-Pancake/Detail.aspx
4) Breakfast smoothies - blended frozen bananas, frozen berries, yogurt, OJ & protein powder
5) Banana slices with peanut butter on top
6) Turkey Sausages
7) Granola cereal (homemade, any recipe will do it - nuts & craisins/raisins)
8) Popsicles made out of leftover smoothies frozen in popsicle molds
9) French toast (at least I get eggs in them this way)
10) Oatmeal with a sprinkle of brown sugar & raisins or mashed banana & splash of milk
11) Bran muffins w/ raisins or blueberries http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Low-Fat-Blueberry-Bran-Muffins/Detail.aspx

Lately I've really been at a loss for breakfast so I'm looking to branch out. I'll let you know what I come up with. My preference is to stay away from cold cereals. You can choose a healthy cereal but they are just so expensive.

Why I Refuse to Do “Kid Friendly Meals”

I see this terminology used all the time, even on foodie blogs. I can understand and appreciate that the short people who live in my house have immature taste buds. However, I refuse to make mac-n-cheese, hot dogs or PBJs for dinner just because they might prefer blandness over the “foodie” preferences of their mother. This refusal actually has little to do with my desire for yummy food, instead it has to do with more with my theory of parenting. Now raise your right hand and place your left hand over your heart and repeat after me, “I believe that a nutritious diet filled with variety of whole foods and flavors is what is best for my children.” I truly believe it is our duty as parents to feed our children healthy food that is within our capabilities and budgetary constraints. If we are smart and not lazy then our capabilities are nearly endless so really there is no excuse, right? Now no one can ONLY give their children HEALTHY food. To not indulge a sweet tooth or whatever craving here and there would mean overindulgence whenever one could get away with it But if the core of a child’s diet is healthy and they are continuously exposed to new healthy flavorful foods, then shouldn’t these individuals grow into strong healthy adults with good eating habits? This is my hope.

In our house supplying kids with healthy food is a basic requirement to raising kids. It is as important as providing them with shelter, clothing, opportunity for physical activity and love. It does not make us good parents, it just means that we meet their basic needs.

Ok, so assuming that we all agree that providing a child with a healthy diet is important, I haven’t necessarily said why I will not do Kid Friendly Meals because I can hear someone reading this saying, “kid friendly meals can be healthy.” I agree. My kids generally do get Kid Friendly Meals for breakfast and lunch because the foods that my husband and I eat for those meals happen to be kid friendly. For one meal each day I think it is important that they are exposed to flavorful and healthy foods that are often new to them and sometimes even to us. I want them to know that mommy and daddy enjoy trying new foods too. It’s not only healthy, it is fun so we enjoy doing it. In my father’s house when I was growing up it was equivalent to swearing if you said, “I don’t like it” before trying it. To this day I can not stand hearing anyone say that when they haven’t even tried a food. It’s a terrible terrible habit to get into that some people carry into adulthood. To give a healthy food no chance to ever nourish your body based upon looks, smells or one disliked ingredient is a crime. If we do not expose our kids to normal non-kid friendly meals then how will they learn to eat healthy?

I don’t get the Kid Friendly Meal approach to feeding a kid. Why waste away 3 opportunities a day to expose them to a variety of healthy foods? The more often you expose a child to something that you want them to learn the quicker they will master it. So why slow down this food acceptance process by filling them up with buttered noodles 3 days a week till they are 12. I don’t have a 12 year old but I bet it is much more difficult to get a 12 year old who has eaten “Kid Friendly Meals” for half his life to try Moo Shoo Pork than it is a 4 year old who has been trying new Non-Kid Friendly Meals every day since she starting eating solid food.

Spreadable Butter that is actually Butter

Up until a few years ago we used to use margarine. As we gradually shifted to a more whole food diet this was one of the first things to go. I know there are “healthy spreads” but being the skeptic I am cautious to the fact that most things advertised as “healthy” usually isn’t. My husband’s favorite latest example of this is the new “Super Donut” marketed as a healthy donut. So one thing I know for sure is that butter is butter and it doesn’t have any weird ingredients I can not pronounce and have to research. I also know that Canola oil is low in bad fat and high in good fat, so this has been our butter spread for the last several years.

1 lb butter, softened
1 ½ Cups Canola Oil

Blend two ingredients together with a hand mixer. Refrigerate.

I have had a store bought margarine and spreadable butter type products since becoming accustomed to our butter recipe and I have to say that they do not compare. The margarines taste like spreadable plastic in comparison. You will never go back once you use real butter for a while.

The Top Ten Most Significant Things that Make My Household of 5 Tick

This list may change from time to time but for the moment this is the list that appeals to me at the moment:

10.Feeding my Sugar/Caffeine Addiction
9. Working out at 5:30 am
8. Laundry Daily
7. Day(s)-Before Meal Planning (I will explain in another post)
6. Simple Dinnertime Rules
5. Monthly Grocery Shopping
4. Budgeting
3. Monthly Meal Planning
2. Freezer Inventory

The Number One Item on the Top 10 List:
1. Freezer Real Estate

Bread Outlet Stores Rock!

Our household consists of a 6 year old, 4 year old, 18 month old, me and a husband who eats like a teenager. We go through exactly 1 loaf of bread each day. At our local supermarket a good brand name whole grain loaf costs around $2.69 not on sale (I’m sure that has increased like everything else since the last time I checked) and $1.99 when on sale. There are two different bread outlets in our area. One sells whole grain loaves for .89 each (up from .79 a year ago) and the local Pepperidge Farms outlet sells their loaves for $1.29 each. Pepperidge Farm has a “customer appreciation day” on a Saturday about once a month which offers a 20% discount bringing each loaf down to $1.03. Unfortunately the cheaper bread outlet (Schwebels) is a bit of a drive for me and when gas prices skyrocketed I could no longer justify the trip although I honestly never sat down and did the gas/mileage calculation. So let’s say I buy all my bread at the more expensive outlet and I can’t get there on the 20% discount day so I pay $1.29 per loaf. In one month I save $42. I know 42 bucks means different things to different people but that’s real money in this house. That’s $504 a year. Keep in mind that is a minimum savings. Occasionally when gas prices drop and I find the time or if we happen to be near the Schwebels outlet I always make sure I stop in and I also try to hit the 20% sale at Pepperidge Farms least every other month and I just know that the bread has to be closer to $2.89 at the grocer now.

$504 = > 1/2 a terrificly fabulous Christmas budget
More than enough to justify the occassional beer purchase on sale or at wholesale club.
More than enough to justify occassional wine purchases at Trader Joes.
More than enough to justify occassional soda purchase at Aldi's.
The list could go on . . . .

What allows me to fit a bread store run into my hectic three rug rat life is the less frequent grocery store trips that I make due to my monthly meal planning which would have to rank as the second biggest convenience that makes my family life easier and saves our household the most money. I feel a top 10 list coming on soon . . .

Freezer Real Estate

Having substantial freezer real estate must be the number one ultimate convenience that makes my family life easier and saves our household the most money. Before I had an extra freezer in the basement I read up on the savings and preparedness a freezer can bring to one’s life so I put out word to everyone I knew that I was looking to buy a second hand freezer. Of course I didn’t want a very old one or it would suck the savings out of my electrical outlet. I am not a patient person but when I got serious about budgeting I knew that if I was patient I would come across a freezer for the right price. After 9 months of waiting I just happened to be at the right place at the right time and I snagged a 3 year old upright at a tag sale for $50! It has more than paid for itself just in the bread outlet loaves I have socked away in it over the last year and a half.

So, as ridiculous as it may seem to a non-freezer person I have three freezers now. I have a freezer attached to my fridge in my kitchen as most people do, I also have a side-by-side fridge & freezer in the basement that was in our kitchen when we bought our house and to keep it company I now have my $50 upright freezer down there also. With all the freezing I do it really is necessary for me to keep a freezer inventory list (yes I know I’m a dork but it makes me happy). Every three months I empty out each freezer, wipe out the freezers and quickly jot everything down as I put the items back. Some rearranging is always necessary of course but the job gets done rather quickly. Even after I sit down at my computer to update my word document I doubt I spend more than 20 minutes from start to finish if I hustle. The joy my freezer inventory brings me never ceases. I keep it on the back of one of my kitchen cupboards and I cross off things as I use them and I write in items on the blank spaces as I add to the freezers. When I sit down to make my monthly menus I make sure to incorporate the meats and dinners that I already have and save frozen dinners for the times they will be needed the most.

One of my favorite things to do that my freezer inventory list allows me to do is easily provide a meal to my mom friends who have just had a new baby. Friends who know me well know about my inventory so I think they enjoy it when either
before their due date or immediately after having the baby I rattle off all the meals that are already made in my freezer and they get to pick what sounds good to them. This also allows me to be the first one in someone’s house with a hot meal ready to go. I never thought I would be one of those “newborn baby sniffers” but being able to provide a meal to friends with a 2 day old kind of sucked me in.

So here is my latest inventory. I generally keep meats in my side-by-side freezer, meals and bread in the upright, breakfast items and fruits/veggies in the upstairs kitchen freezer.

Homemade Lunch Snacks

This is the first school year that I have had to pack a lunch for one of my kids. My oldest, Carter, has entered the halls of first grade at a parochial school that does not serve lunch so everyone must bring a packed lunch. Being the food Nazi that I am I was determined to provide a healthy homemade desirable lunch snack that would not leave my son feeling deprived and longing for all the other pre-packaged chemical laden foods that I know that other kids will be eating right in front of him. So in late August I set out making 4 different recipes of sweet delectable treats and froze them in individual servings. They were a hit! Of course I am sure that the previous 6 ½ years of brainwashing him that EVERYTHING homemade is better than store bought pre-made junk helped.

We just finished off those 4 recipes that were stashed away and made 3 more batches of similar snacks. We probably went through them faster than necessary because my daughter could not understand that the snacks were for her big brother’s lunches and that I could whip up other things for her at home. So my 4 year old Vivian consumed some of the snacks and if the littlest one, 18 month old Dillon, saw her nibbling on one then of course he had to have one also . . .but overall I think 4 batches that lasted us from the beginning of the school year to October 20th is pretty good.

The adjective “healthy” is used loosely here. I really should describe these snacks as “slightly better than a cookie” and of course everything homemade is way better than store bought, right?

1) Rice Krispie treats made with whole grain Cheerios (generic brand of course) instead of Rice Krispies
2) Playgroup Granola Bars http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Playgroup-Granola-Bars/Detail.aspx -- I don’t think these are great but the kids love them. Healthy qualities include wheat germ and raisins.
3) Chewy Granola Bars http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chewy-Granola-Bars/Detail.aspx -- Made with rolled oats. Carter does not eat oatmeal so I like that a lot of these bars are made with old fashioned/rolled oats. Fiber anyone?
4) No bake cereal bars. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/No-Bake-Cereal-Bars/Detail.aspx Ok this is one that I kept eating. A little too close to candy really to be considered “healthy” but it does have that protein packed peanut butter in it and whole grain cheerios. J
5) Granola Cereal Bars - crunchy http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Granola-Cereal-Bars/Detail.aspx I was surprised that this one was also a favorite with the kids. Oats and peanut butter are the pluses for this one.
6) Peatnuty Caramel Bars http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanutty-Caramel-Bars/Detail.aspx Ok, this one is also way too close to candy and I kept sneaking them. I gave this one out only once a week or less as a treat but at least it has peanuts in it which I can not get Carter to eat otherwise.


It was funny and horrifying to hear my son report on what other kids brought for their lunches. It was his favorite thing to tell me about school the first couple weeks. I’m glad to hear that the kid who brought a sprite every day the first week has been told that soda is not permissible. I would love to know which girl is bringing a salad and bacon every day. Some girl was apparently making the moves on my Carter because she gave him a little Debbie treat but the school started enforcing their “no sharing or trading” lunch policy.

How Budgeting Can Be Fun!

I love to budget because I no longer stress about how I'm going to pay for things like pool passes or license plate renewals and such but I know I am a rare bird. Most people that hear "budget" used as a verb wince in pain. Here is a a way I recently starting really making my budget fun.

We have all heard financial savvy people spout off numbers with regard to our lackadaisical spending habits with quotes like this, "you know, if you took that $3 you spend on your daily coffee at Starbucks and put it in the bank every day instead for the next 5 years and let it grow you would have $1.2 million dollars by the time your retire." We all stop and nod and say "wow" while we clutch our Starbucks coffee so no one takes it away from us. My father recently said I would really have some extra cash once I get my youngest out of diapers. I agreed thinking that I really NEED that money for other things so I know that "extra cash" post diaper life isn't likely.

So I got to thinking about this diaper thing and how I could really put the savings to work when Dillon is out of diapers. So here's what I did. I created another category or "envelope" in my budget account (see "Sample Budget Jenn's way") and I called it "Things I Did Not Buy." In that envelope I am going to put all the things that I really really wanted and might have bought but for the fact that I was disciplined and my budget is too tight to justify. For instance, I really want a new sweater. I even shopped for a new sweater. Do I NEED a new sweater? No, I have other clothes, they are just few in number and I'm tired of them. Does my budget say that I can afford a new sweater? Well with only $45 in my clothing envelope and 3 kids that keep growing feet and a husband who often needs new work clothes, no I can not afford a sweater that I WANT but do not NEED at the moment. Sure, I could squeeze it out of my budget somehow if I really wanted to. I could get the sweater and leave only $10 in my clothing account and build it up again by cutting back on something else and I have done such dumb undisciplined things in the past.

Knowing that I have done this in the past and that I could make it work I went ahead and didn't buy it. Instead, I pretended I bought it and I took out $35 from my clothing envelope and put it in my "Things I Did Not Buy" envelope. Afterall, if I really needed to get that $35 back for clothing I could just take it back from my Things I Did Not Buy envelope. That got me to thinking of all the other things I often buy that I shouldn't. The next day I drove into my driveway and noticed that our yard needed to be mowed. I so very much wanted to call the neighbor boy to mow it because I knew my husband would be busy working over the weekend. But I didn't. Instead I took out the $20 from my Home Maintenance envelope and put it in my "Things I Did Not Buy" envelope. A week later I really really wanted mums at a garden center for $15. My husband asked if those flowers "were the kind that died and never came back" which was his way of gently telling me that it was not a smart purchase with my budgetary constraints. I went home and put the $15 from my Home Maintenance Envelope (I know it isn't maintenance but I have squeezed this kind of purchase from there before) and put it in my "Things I Did Not Buy" envelope. I quickly had $70 that I could live without. So my diaper plan is to save my receipts to find out exactly how much I spend on diapers per month and instead of absorbing it other places I'm going to put that money in my "Things I Did Not Buy" envelope and for every $100 I collect from myself I'm going to transfer it to a CD and watch the millions grow through to my retirement years. :) I am very motivated to potty train now but maybe 18 months old is a bit early.