Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

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alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I have been off radar lately due to being sick.. I have some medication that is helping in some areas so I am struggling with keeping things going. Last week I was really sick and had my aide pick up a rotisserie chicken. It was free since I used survey money to buy it. I slept almost round the clock on Friday and only woke to go to the bathroom and to let Teddi out. He was so good he did not bother me at all just snuggled down in bed with me..So when I finally felt better I had a bite of the chicken. Teddi was not eating his dog food so I made him a plate of chicken and rice.. Since I was sick so much I would put out his dog food and later realized he had not eaten it and since it is fresh (comes refrigerated) dog food I threw it out since I did not want him to get sick eating dog food that had been sitting out too long. Well he became use to the chicken and rice and finally he was just eating the chicken...ggrrr..He ate almost the whole chicken. It was free but at the same time I have very expensive fresh refrigerated dog food that he will not eat. So I am having a war of the wills with him. Whenever I eat he sits and licks his lips and looks adorable. At the same time I eat I put down his dog food. If he does not eat it in 15 min back in the fridge it goes. We will see who wins the war...I have to be the big dog and win. At least that is my plan..I hope I win...lol.
Janet Alliesmama
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Dgflorida »

I fight a similar battle with the cat.
Momof2Still
Posts: 173
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 10:05 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Momof2Still »

Thanks Dgflorida. I really enjoy reading about all the things you and Janet do outside. I live in a small condo and have a very tiny yard. I am thinking next summer I may try out the square food gardening method.

Janet, I am glad you are feeling better. It is difficult to eat healthy and use up what is in house when you do not feel like cooking. Since I could stand to lose a couple, or 20, pounds, I am hoping cooking for two will assist with that. I think rotisserie chicken is such a wonderful item. I pick one up (sometimes two) at least once a month regardless of how I feel. I love the taste of them, the convenience of them, and the way they stretch.

Still doing well with using up things, and still generating lots of left-overs. This week we did use a lot of the fresh fruits and veggies in house. I think I went a little over board the last time I went shopping, but I love this time of year when there is such an abundance and variety of fresh items. We used up the pears and older apples (sautéed together in butter and brown sugar and seasoned with a little cinnamon). I used some of the bean sprouts, green onions, green beans, and savory cabbage in lumpia. Also used some of the green onions in the crab rangoons. Used the broccoli in chicken and broccoli. We had enough left-overs from this meal for a couple more meals. I also had enough filling from the lumpia to freeze and use in the near future- need to limit the fried foods. I saw a recipe on Food Network (Trisha Yearwood) for veggie burgers made from baked sweet potatoes and chick peas. It was wonderful, but even with cutting the recipe in half, it made 4 (recipe served 6) huge patties- should have cut them down and made 6. RM and I ate a whole patty each the first night, but actually shared one last night. With that I used the plantains and also used the rest of the mini sweet peppers and made mini-pepper poppers- had left-overs of those too. I still have some bean sprouts and green onions that need using very soon, so will use those along with some of the savory cabbage (this will last a few more days), the rest of the green beans, and some carrots, garlic, and onions along with spices to make vegetable chow mein. I think I am going to try to freeze half of the mixture minus the noodles to see how it freezes.

I know I still need to pick up a pkg. of Stevia, and a jar of mayonnaise. Other than that, I plan on using what is on hand, and this will get me to the end of the month. I will certainly meet my goal of keeping to a more severe grocery budget for my pantry challenge for this month. I think I will have about $35.00 left and I still have a ton of food in house, including the freezers. I am certainly blessed- God is awesome and always provides.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Momof2Still wrote: Fri Jun 22, 2018 6:19 pm Thanks Dgflorida. I really enjoy reading about all the things you and Janet do outside. I live in a small condo and have a very tiny yard. I am thinking next summer I may try out the square food gardening method.

Janet, I am glad you are feeling better. It is difficult to eat healthy and use up what is in house when you do not feel like cooking. Since I could stand to lose a couple, or 20, pounds, I am hoping cooking for two will assist with that. I think rotisserie chicken is such a wonderful item. I pick one up (sometimes two) at least once a month regardless of how I feel. I love the taste of them, the convenience of them, and the way they stretch.

Still doing well with using up things, and still generating lots of left-overs. This week we did use a lot of the fresh fruits and veggies in house. I think I went a little over board the last time I went shopping, but I love this time of year when there is such an abundance and variety of fresh items. We used up the pears and older apples (sautéed together in butter and brown sugar and seasoned with a little cinnamon). I used some of the bean sprouts, green onions, green beans, and savory cabbage in lumpia. Also used some of the green onions in the crab rangoons. Used the broccoli in chicken and broccoli. We had enough left-overs from this meal for a couple more meals. I also had enough filling from the lumpia to freeze and use in the near future- need to limit the fried foods. I saw a recipe on Food Network (Trisha Yearwood) for veggie burgers made from baked sweet potatoes and chick peas. It was wonderful, but even with cutting the recipe in half, it made 4 (recipe served 6) huge patties- should have cut them down and made 6. RM and I ate a whole patty each the first night, but actually shared one last night. With that I used the plantains and also used the rest of the mini sweet peppers and made mini-pepper poppers- had left-overs of those too. I still have some bean sprouts and green onions that need using very soon, so will use those along with some of the savory cabbage (this will last a few more days), the rest of the green beans, and some carrots, garlic, and onions along with spices to make vegetable chow mein. I think I am going to try to freeze half of the mixture minus the noodles to see how it freezes.

I know I still need to pick up a pkg. of Stevia, and a jar of mayonnaise. Other than that, I plan on using what is on hand, and this will get me to the end of the month. I will certainly meet my goal of keeping to a more severe grocery budget for my pantry challenge for this month. I think I will have about $35.00 left and I still have a ton of food in house, including the freezers. I am certainly blessed- God is awesome and always provides.
Momof2 I agree that the rotisserie chicken gives me a lot of bang for my buck and in fact many times it is free since I use money made from surveys to purchase it..I earned $ 3.00 the other day so need to either earn another $3.00 or spend $3.00 out of my slush fund.However $ 3.00 out of pocket for a about a weeks worth of meals is amazing. I have always preferred chicken over beef..I grew up on a farm and we had way too much meat to eat. I did an inventory of what I have and made a list of ideas for menu's and going to see how far I can stretch things.. I love reading the foods that you make.. I do love ethnic foods and you are keeping me inspired to look for more recipes. In many ways ethnic foods are cheaper to make at home and more tasty than American food. . Good luck on your challenge to cut the grocery budget and using up what you have..
Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Another unexpected bill has to be added to the old budget and there is very little budge in the budget..There is only a few areas that are not a set monthly amount..one of them is food.. So as Sheila said today "bare bones" except I am out of bones...lol. The other day I cooked some ground chuck and used some of it to make a hamburger for myself and some for Teddi. He had his with rice but more or less sniffed at it and walked away after a few bites...gggrrr.. Have I mention he is spoiled?... lol. I cooked some of the meat for tacos and taco salad. I used 12 oz instead of the 16 oz called for on the taco seasoning packet. It still tasted good and no noticeable problems. I froze half of the taco meat to use at a later date.. Maybe if I was cooking for myself and others it would make a difference in quantity but just for me it is ok. I froze the rest of the ground chuck to use in some kind of a casserole.

Today I made guacamole. I bought avocados for .39 cent each at Aldi's. The other stores in our area are selling them for 4 for 5.00 or maybe a 1.00 each.. I used 3 and then prepped two and froze them for a later date. I keep True Lime powder on hand and it really makes it easy to whip things up that require lime juice. Last year I bought 500 packets on sale and received 500 free.. so I enjoy using them in limeade and in cooking Thai food and Mexican food. I also have their True Lemon product but not as many since I prefer lime juice.. The thing is if you have these products you do not have to go out and buy a fresh lemon or lime when you want to be spontaneous with fixing something at home.. They are pricey especially in the stores but if you go to their web site and hit a sale they are worth the price to have on hand. Also you can usually can get free shipping with their sales.

I am trying to cut back on meat and use it more as a condiment in a lot of recipes more for health reasons than cost. However it will help with the budget to not eat as much meat..Dinner tomorrow night will be a casserole called twice baked loaded cauliflower casserole. I got it off of the internet.. Basically it is like a baked potato but use mashed cauliflower in place of the potatoes. I am using my homemade chicken broth from my free chicken to steam the cauliflower. I try to use everything but the feet, the beak, and the cluck with my free chicken.. I froze the rest of the broth in one cup containers since most of the keto recipes require a cup of chicken broth. I am going to make a clone of Taco Bell's hot sauce for my taco's but just cut back on the heat...It looks fairly simple and the sauce always seems to make taco's taste better.. I need to bake some almond flour biscuits for breakfast. I made ketogenic sausage and gravy this morning but had it on top of toast but the almond flour biscuits really make the difference. I am really well stocked with almond flour and coconut flour all bought on sale. Declaring a halt to buying food from now until the middle of July. The only exception will be food that is really necessary like fresh veggies or dairy and using only survey money and slush fund money. Slush fund money is what I am am able to squeeze out of other budgeted areas like water, gas for my car etc. Feels good to be back in frugal mode.. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Dgflorida »

Congrats on being back in frugal mode Janet.
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