Food Stamp Challenge, week 21
By Milehimama on May 26, 2009 in Food Stamp Challenge
Food Stamp Challenge – feeding my family of 10 for $2 per person per day!
Are you burned out on menu planning? I am. I have food, I just might not plan what to eat this week.
We had a crockpot falafel disaster last week. It wasn’t the recipe’s fault. First, I decided that our crockpot probably wouldn’t fit enough flattened patties for 10 people, plus I’m lazy and didn’t want to roll all those chickpea balls. So we had the chickpeas “loose” and I just smooshed them a bit with the potato smasher (still tasted good). Then I discovered that the pitas didn’t keep well in the pantry – should have put them in the fridge. They were full of mold. And we were out of bread and tortillas. Found some corn tortillas in the pantry, so we tried those. I also found that we didn’t have yogurt (used sour cream instead) and that the girls ate all of the cucumbers (my children are weird – they sneak cucumbers!).
We’ll try again another time.
We spent: $129.91 (May 18-24)
Total spent this year: $2655.76
Average spent per week: $126.46
We got:
2 heads cauliflower, 2 bundles (stalks? bunches?) celery, 2# carrots, 14 kiwis, 4.5# apples, 1# strawberries, 2 bell peppers, 1# button mushrooms, 2.5# bananas, 12 ears of corn, 16 oranges,
2# ground beef, 11# shank ham, 4 pkg. hot dogs, 7 gallons milk, 1 gallon Blue Bell ice cream, 4# cream cheese,
5 loaves Sara Lee WW bread (24 oz.), 1 pkg. Sara Lee ww hotdog buns, 4 boxes ww elbow macaroni, 4 boxes ww angel hair, 6# brown sugar, 4# powdered sugar,126 oz. oatmeal,
10 jars peanut butter (18 oz.), 3 large cans crushed tomatoes, 16 oz. ground cinnamon, 8 oz. garlic powder, 2 boxes Frosted MiniWheats, large box generic Cheerios, 1 can hotdog chili,
8 eclairs, 4 cream puffs (sent husband dear to buy peanut butter on sale and he got distracted by the manager’s special rack!), 2 liter 7-Up, 2 liter root beer, 10# ice, 4 pkgs. Mr R safe gum (lots of celebration over the weekend!), raspberry lemonade, 12 pk. Dr. Pepper, 1 Hershey bar.
We’re eating:
Monday – kids, hot dogs; parents, Chinese food
Tuesday – tomato soup, tator tots, grilled cheese sandwiches (Mr R requested this for his birthday dinner!)
Wednesday -fried pork chops (too hot to turn on the oven), green beans, latkes or fried potatoes, applesauce
Thursday -who knows, who cares? Some sort of stir fry with bok choy and peas that are still in the fridge, probably!
*** Updated to add *** Husband dear made a stir fry with ground beef and the veggies, and it wasn’t bad! I never thought of using ground meat in stir fry, even though we make various versions of “dirty rice” all the time. Use what you have, and you might be surprised!
Friday – who knows, who cares? Maybe I’ll have this baby and the kids will get pizza.
*** Updated to add *** I ran to the store after the Dr. visit and picked up some chicken and more green beans, and we had salad too. Yeah, I paid a bit of a premium for grabbing ready to go boneless chicken breasts without waiting for a loss leader, but at $1.69/# it was still cheaper than ordering in!
I told you I was burned out!
What are your “didn’t plan anything for dinner” meals? Our fall back is usually spaghetti marinara – I always have the ingredients for that!
For better menus, check out Laura at OrgJunkie.
For more thrifty grocery shopping, check out Gayle’s Grocery Cart Challenge!
Birdie (2)
ycw (2)
Brookie (1)
Erin Kotecki Vest (1)
Ginkgo100 (1)
Jeanette O'Toole (1)
kaira (1)
Kalye (1)
Love your honesty… who knows/who cares. LOL!
I also love that your kids sneak cucumbers. Madeleine Sophie (the oldest) is crazy about cucumbers and tomatoes, and if they’re in the fridge to her knowledge, they won’t last!
Lerin | May 26, 2009 | Reply
My girls love cucumbers too. We planted some over the weekend.
OK our fallback dinner is chocolate chip pancakes and fruit salade. (Dad and I eat leftovers!) My kids hate leftover and my husband and I hate chocolate chip pancakes so it’s win/win.
I saw an article in our local paper about a woman who’s blog is “www.thecoupongoddess.blogspot.com” (She reminded me of you with all the savings on groceries.)
Praying for you and your family. Do you know if the new baby is a boy or a girl? Best wishes for a health delivery and I’ll be checking daily for updates!!!
patrice | May 26, 2009 | Reply
I hate menu planning, but I hate trying to come up with dinner every night even more. I am in the process of trying to come up with a post-partum menu plan with pre-made frozen meals, crockpot meals and easy/convenience meals my cooking-challenged husband and 10 year old daughter can put together.
Right now I have no fridge/pantry raiders–they all ask, so I’m lucky. but I worry about the future and a house full of hungry teens!
Nadja | May 27, 2009 | Reply
Hmm, our fall back dinners are:
spaghetti
stove top mac and cheese
scrambled eggs and fruit
grilled sandwiches of any sort
As always, I’m impressed by your success with the challenge.
Heather Solos | May 27, 2009 | Reply
My lazy meals are usually something on toast or omlette but I imagine they’re not quite so easy when cooking for so many.
I laughed at the cucumber – I’m sure my daughter would do that too given half a chance.
Susan | May 27, 2009 | Reply
You really are doing great! I keep thinking that I should follow your example and write about how much we are spending to feed our family and what we are getting, but I just haven’t managed to find enough time lately. Maybe when things relax a bit for Summer?
While my husband loves cucumbers, at our house it is the broccoli and carrots that disappear.
Birdie | May 27, 2009 | Reply
You’re doing really well! I just wanted to say that you’ve inspired me to try and feed my family of 5 on $300/month instead of my usual $400/month. Thanks for your inspiration!
Steph | May 27, 2009 | Reply
Scrambled eggs are also popular here. My husband makes “Dad’s Mess” which is basically scrambled eggs + whatever canned stuff we have in the pantry. The kids love it – but I just can’t bring myself to eat an egg, corn, and green bean omelet!
Milehimama | May 27, 2009 | Reply
I’m making the crockpot falafels tonight. I stole the idea from your menu last week. I’m very excited about them (how weird is that?)
Our fall back meals tend to be things like pasta with garlic butter or a peanut butter sauce, a frittata type thing made with whatever I want to use up, or breakfast for dinner (my girls favorite).
Hope you are feeling well!
Millie | May 28, 2009 | Reply
What did you pay, per pound for your gd. beef? I used to pay about $2.50ish but I’ve scored it, day old, for $1.67 lately. I’ve never had a problem with it.
Kaira | May 28, 2009 | Reply
I buy it when it goes on sale for $1.49/# or so for the 73/27 kind.
Milehimama | May 28, 2009 | Reply
I would be interested in that falafel crockpot recipe! Our standby meals consist of some quick cooking grain (quinoa, Israeli couscous or whole wheat couscous) and some sauteed veggies and either beans or tofu – whatever protein we have in the fridge. Really, I just think about what I have in the fridge and either google that + recipe or go to my notebook of recipes I want to try. There are so many things out there that don’t take too much time. Then again, we’re cooking for 2 – not 10! Keep it up.
Tina | May 29, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the recipe!!
Tina | May 29, 2009 | Reply
I read your comments on GWOP and came to your site. First, I’ll be as blunt to you as you GWOPers are to the Gosselins.
The food you feed your family is crap. Call TLC and request a show because you need the money to feed your children better. It is not a game to try and feed kids for the least amount of money. People need healthy food and your menu is sorely lacking.
And your comment about washing kids’ mouths out with soap?(It is posted on your profile.) Gross. I certainly hope you were joking, but I highly doubt it. No child deserves that, shame on you.
From your web site, I see that you must be jealous of the money the Gosselins have made. I hope your family finds a way to be more financially secure. I truly mean this.
By the way, posting on GWOP does not mix with the religious themes on your site. I have never read such hateful, nasty things written about a person (Kate) in my life. And that is besides the gossip and down right lies they post on GWOP. I don’t agree with everything that Kate does, but she certainly does not deserve the kind of abuse you people dish out to her. Search your soul, because GWOP is beyond anything that is good and decent.
"Susan" | May 29, 2009 | Reply
Lisa,
I’m checking out all your “hate” at GWOP but I know from experience that you aren’t abusive. I know because I’ve seen how you treated the situation with C. It is why I consider you a friend – because of your careful, wise and honest way you ascertained the many issues involved with that situation. Susan’s posting is almost laughable – if it were not so sad that she probably believes that nonsense.
I’ll stop with that before I say something that reflects too poorly on my character.
In my opinion, your kids are very well taken care of and blessed for the way you have devoted your life to taking care of them and loving them and training them in the way they should go.
And as for Kate – she’s shameful. I feel sorry for her and her husband but mostly for their kids who haven’t been trained at all. They’re obnoxious!
Kaira | May 29, 2009 | Reply
Okay – so I found 3 comments from you – 2 about CA and another about something else (can’t recall already – so tired tonight!). Anyhow, none of them were nasty, hateful or abusive. They were typical of what I’d consider to be your style – informative and straight forward. Seriously, this couldn’t possibly be what Susan was talking about, could it? Ridiculous.
Kaira | May 29, 2009 | Reply
Lisa,
It amused me to see that you classified one woman’s criticism as “hate mail” when you wrote on your Twitter account. I’m amused because you don’t perceive you criticisms of K.G., C.B.,and (I’m sure) other mothers as “hate,” but when you are criticized–watch out!
I have to wonder what we’d find if reality cams went into your home and what mean messages might be posted about your way of being a wife, mom, and homemaker. I pray for you as your delivery day approaches. In addition to your new little baby, there will be another blessing–you won’t be available to carp about other women!
Susan, I agree that these menus seem wholly inadequate for growing children. I wonder if Lisa simply isn’t writing down all the side dishes, veggies, and fruits that she uses to supplement the rather meager main dishes. I surmise that her husband must not make an adequate living for the family because she feels that she has to live on a food stamp budget. It’s very sad, really because most Catholic churches have a food bank or some other similar arrangement, and I’m sure they’d be willing to assist her.
Heather | May 29, 2009 | Reply
I am stunned by reading your site. You are having your 8th child? I’m sorry, but judging from your menu, your family does not have the money for this!! Your children are not getting the proper food they need. And don’t you think that your two year old should speak first before you invest your time and energy into another child? You also have a bipolar child. That must take a tremendous amount of love, time, etc., etc.,… And you say he isn’t being treated with any medical help? Is this really the right choice? I do not think so. That is a very serious condition and needs medical intervention.
If Kate Gosselin had these situations on her show, you GWOPers would simply freak out. No matter where she gets her money, at least her kids eat well and get medical attention.
"Susan" | May 29, 2009 | Reply
Heather – I called it “hate mail” because it was a comment full of ad hominem attacks holding me accountable for comments I never made, on a site I don’t run, posted by people I don’t know. Also, calling my food “crap”.
Also “hate mail” summed it up in as few characters as possible, a bonus for Twitter, where many people use short hand and short cuts. Twitter is about brevity, not necessarily clarity.
I’m sure there would be many criticisms, because we do many things that most of America doesn’t, and don’t do many things that most of America does.
I am more than happy to clarify anything that is confusing to you.
Thank you so much for your prayers.
Susan – the menus that I post are for one meal. That’s not all we eat all day. Would you care to share your menus, so I could learn what you consider a proper menu for growing children?
Milehimama | May 30, 2009 | Reply
Oh, and no, those aren’t side dishes. I link to some of the recipes in the sidebar.
We actually do eat chickpeas for dinner sometimes (wow, just like millions – or even billions of other folks in the world!). And the kids really, actually do like ratatouille. You should try it – it’s good!
Milehimama | May 30, 2009 | Reply
I’d consider Susan and Heather’s messages hate mail as well.
What clarity they offered – make sure your child is speaking before conceiving again! What a light bulb moment. Someone should really talk to God about the babies he is making everyday. And, shame on my husband and I… Susan would probably have recommended we murder our children (by abortion) that were born before their siblings were speaking. That would be 2 of our children – how foolish of us.
Kaira | May 30, 2009 | Reply
Actually, I don’t believe in abortion. There are many ways to limit the number of children you have without abortions. I also believe that when you love your children, you take the time, resources, and evergy to help them overcome any problems they have. When you have special needs children, they DESERVE extra care, love, and support.
I find it interesting that you feel it is OK to comment about the Gosselins on GWOP, but you don’t want to hear comments about your family even though you are writing about them on your public site.
YOU are putting informaion about them out in public. YOU are holding yourself up as a mother and saying to people, “This is what I do as a mom…” Well, these are my comments about that. I guess you think, “Do as I say, not as I do.” It is OK for you to comment about other families, other moms, but no one can comment about you? That’s plain silly.
"Susan" | May 30, 2009 | Reply
P.S.
Thanks, Heather. I agree, the menus are not good for children or even a pregnant woman! And I found your comments funny and insightful.
"Susan" | May 30, 2009 | Reply
Goodness, the menu’s might not be steak and lobster like some folks might consider a good meal, but hotdogs are good, easy quick before church meals we sometimes have. If your family likes chickpeas, all the power to them, full of protein and other good vitamins. If I am not mistaken, more protein than in steak.
Ginger | May 30, 2009 | Reply
FYI – when I discussed menus, I am talking about your shopping list. Your shopping list is not enough to feed seven kids and two adults properly. Actually, it is sad.
"Susan" | May 30, 2009 | Reply
Susan,
You would have to follow the shopping list every week for a number of weeks or months before you could say that. They have a stocked pantry too, you know. Some weeks the bill is higher because they restocked the pantry; other weeks it’s lower because they’re eating what they already have.
Nobody here is hungry. If they are, the fridge is full, and it’s not locked, so they can take care of it.
ginkgo100 | May 30, 2009 | Reply
My comments about the Gosselins involved possible child exploitation and violation of child labor laws, as the children live on the set of a television show.
While I do blog about the children, I am not paid for it nor have I sold their childhood to the highest bidder.
We ate hotdogs on Memorial Day. I admit it. Sue me. Sometimes, we even eat scrambled eggs for dinner, too. And, I’ve even bought the children a nutritionally void Happy Meal before! The horror.
If you are interested, all of my shopping for the last 21 weeks are fully listed under my “Food Stamp Challenge” tab at the top. Some weeks we buy more food than others, and I try to keep a full pantry. What I buy one week is not necessarily what we eat that week (as evidenced by this week’s menu – we cooked pork chops, which I bought on sale a couple of weeks ago.)
I find it’s easier to stay in budget by stocking up during sales. There is such a wealth of information on the net – may I recommend the links on the Frugal Hacker/Frugal blogroll button, on my sidebar?
Please be warned that there are many other large and/or homeschooling families on the list, so you may not want to click if it will get your knickers in a twist.
I did have a little chuckle though – last month at the dr’s, the children’s pediatrician chided me for giving them TOO MUCH milk!
Milehimama | May 30, 2009 | Reply
Also, “Susan”, please share your menu and shopping list! I used to have a Mr. Linky, but haven’t installed it on the new site.
I look forward to reading the meals of a nutritional expert! Just leave your link in the comments.
Milehimama | May 30, 2009 | Reply
Milehimama,
You’re handling this so nicely on your own. I’ll back out – but only because if I don’t I’ll say something (many things) that I might regret later.
Susan,
We don’t use birth control – God gave us 4 children – we love them and the timing of their births. Thankfully he gave us 2 of them before their siblings were speaking. We love it. All children need and deserve the love, care, devotion, attention, teaching and training… ALL children. I’m confident that Milehimama gives much of it to her children.
Kaira | May 30, 2009 | Reply
I am closing comments on this post. Please direct comments regarding “Susan”, the menu plan, etc. to the Playground Bullies post.
Milehimama | May 30, 2009 | Reply