After posting some ideas about tips for the family budget, I had many positive responses and am encouraged that many of you will be putting forth an effort to set a food budget and stay within that budget. Take a visit here to view the previous post.
Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy is an excellent resource for money saving tips, menus, recipes, and family organization. After looking it up on Amazon, apparently my copy is the "collectable" edition...oh geez, that makes me feel old. There is a newer edition that Jonni has available in a Kindle version for $7.99. Note: Kindles weren't invented yet when I was starting out as a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) Ha.ha.laugh.
Here are some highlights from the book (the one made of paper):
1. Don't Confuse Frugality with Depriving Yourself
2. Remove Little Wasters of Your Money
3. Don't Buy Everything at the Same Store
4. Make Your Own Whenever Possible
5. Eliminate Convenience Foods
6. Cut Back on Meats
7. Waste Nothing
8. Cook Several Meals at Once and Freeze Them
9. Be Wary of Warehouse Clubs
10. Keep Track of Food Prices and Buy In the Season
Some of these I touched on in the previous post, but here is another area that Jonni mentions that I am going to try to implement this year - Birthdays, Holidays, and Special Occasions. Ok, so going about the normal month with normal spending according to the budget might be well on it's way and under control, but what about the holidays? I don't know about you, but we seem to have this forever going stretch of birthdays of family and close friends that just happens to hit right after Christmas! As if Christmas spending doesn't tighten the budget enough.
This tip from Jonni's book, Miserly Moms, is one that I can see being a tremendous help. Here is what she says:
"When it's time for a special occasion, we tend to throw the budget out the window. We think things like, "oh, it's their birthday" or "but it's Christmas!" I think we make ourselves feel better by not being creative at times like these. Should we be sending the message that love and money are related? I have found that what people really want are your efforts and thoughts towards them."
"So how do I keep the gift and party madness from putting me in debt for months? First, I plan what we are going to spend. I list all of the people we usually buy gifts and/or cards for (birthdays and holidays) for the entire year, and expected graduation or wedding gifts, baby showers, and the parties we usually throw. Then we decide the maximum amount we will spend on each person for each occasion. We then add up the year's total and divide by twelve. This gives us the amount we need to set aside each month in order to achieve those goals. If it's too much for our budget, we scale back on certain events or gift giving and stick to it."
Good tips right? This idea is one that we have also put into practice and that is to cut the costs at beauty shops. For a few years I had very short hair and that style was high maintenance. I had to go at least every 5 or 6 weeks for a trim to shape it up. Men and boys also need frequent cuts for their short hair too. Not a big deal right? Well, multiple that times 3 boys and 2 more girls (that is our family size) and we are talking a spending of nearly $1,000 a year for a $15-20 hair cut for my family. And yes, I know that hair color, highlights, toes, and nails are lovely, but this is a place that I personally was very willing to let go of in order to save money. I have spent over $85 for one visit of a cut and color of which I walked out thinking "Never again. That is almost a week's worth of food." So what do we do? I bought a pair of clippers and scissors and I cut hair. My and my girls hair is long so we rarely need trims. The boys get their trims from me. Not that brave? I don't blame you. But look into beauty schools that offer cuts for discounted prices, barter with a friend who does a nice job of cutting hair, or take the time to compare prices in your area. At least take the time to re-evaluate which areas of beauty care are needed and which are extra so you can cut out the extras.
On to the recipes! Make Your Own Whenever Possible.
Pizza is on our weekly menu and this is my husband's recipe. Although at first it may take you time to learn new recipes and try new things, you will get faster with practice. Just remember the money you will save and the healthier eating habits you are offering your family. Here are some of our go-to recipes:
The dough should be ready by now. Roll it out and make your pizza. I would roll the dough about 1/4 inch thick
onto aluminum foil or you can place the pizza in a large cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray first. Add your favorite kind of cheeses and toppings (don't go crazy here or you'll spend more money). Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 min. or until the edges are slightly brown and the
cheese is melted. If the cheese starts
to brown, take it out.
Fajitas
1/2 lb. chicken breast sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced (optional)
mushrooms, sliced (optional)
3 cloves garlic, diced or mashed
2 T. oil
2 limes (or lemons), squeeze for juice
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
6 large flour tortillas
Toss meat and ingredients (except tortillas) together and marinate for at least 1/2 hour. To cook, layer the chicken and vegetables on a broiler pan and place in broiler for a few minutes or until chicken is done. Discard juices. The meat can also be grilled over the barbecue or pan-fried. If pan-frying, add all of the vegetables and juices to the pan with the meat. Serve on flour tortillas and roll up.
Optional: Instead of using chicken use sweet potato and black beans. Peel and shred the sweet potato (however many for your size family- we used 1 that yielded about 2 Cups). In skillet on medium heat, Melt 1 TBSP Butter or vegetable spread, with 1 TBSP olive oil. Add a bit of olive oil, salt, and garlic to taste. Add 1/4 Cup water to stir in and stem potatoes long enough for the water to cook out of it - watch until tender and don't steam too long or it will get mushy. Last add black beans (drain and rinse from 1 can beans).
Optional: Cheese tortillas are a great lunch option for us. We use the electric skillet and simply put the tortilla on the skillet, add shredded cheese and tah-dah. Some of our kids like mushrooms, some like quinoa, some like black olives, etc. so we can customize the tortillas to how they like. My favorite is to add avocados, black beans, quinoa, and lettuce.
Chicken Stew with Dumplings
4 chicken breasts, cubed
8 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and halved
1/2 bag baby carrots
peas optional
celery optional
64 oz. chicken broth (2 boxes of liquid stock)
salt, pepper, garlic to taste
Fill up stock pot with broth and chicken. The broth should cover the chicken. Then add about another 2 Cups of water. Bring that to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer for 1 hour. Next add the carrots and potatoes and celery is optional. Turn heat up to low boil and cook for 15 minutes. Add peas as option.
Use Bisquick box* for dumpling recipe. Mix and drop on top of boiling soup and keep uncovered for 10 minutes. Then reduce the heat and cover stock pot with lid for another 10 minutes. *I'm sure there is a recipe for dumplings with flour and salt etc. but this is just how we do it! oh dear, breaking a budget rule of using boxes!
Beef Burgundy
2 lbs. Stewing beef (or hamburger can be used)
1 Can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 Cup cooking sherry (or white vinegar)
1/3 Cup water
1/2 pack of Lipton's onion soup mix
serve over rice or egg noodles
Brown the meat and drain. Combine all ingredients in baking dish, tightly cover with foil (OR put in the crock pot on medium for 6 hours approximately). Bake for 3 hours at 350 degrees. Remove the foil cover for the last 1/2 hour if it looks too soupy. Serve over rice or egg noodles.
Hawaiian Banana Bread
3 Cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
(mix above in bowl)
2 Cups sugar
3 beaten eggs
1 Cup veg. oil
2 Cups mashed bananas
1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
2 tsp. vanilla extract
(mix above in separate bowl)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine both mixes, and pour into 2 greased, floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour
French Toast Bake
This is one of the kids favorite for breakfast. We use the last pieces of the bread loaves from the week or if a bag of rolls are about to go stale. I follow this recipe, but only use 3 eggs and it always turns out fine. You can adjust it easily to how much bread you are using too. We have added one mashed banana to this too and it's really yummy.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-oven-baked-french-toast/
Our family dinner favorites: Baked Ziti, Stuffed Shells, Stromboli (using pizza dough recipe), Steamed veggies with teriyaki sauce served over rice, roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, home-made hamburgers/turkey burgers with bake potato wedges, Spaghetti, Soup and grilled cheese
Our family breakfast favorites: wraps with sliced banana and peanut butter, yogurt and graham crackers, cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, scrambled eggs and toast, yogurt w/fruit smoothies, monkey bread
Hope that gets your wheels turning! If you try a few of these recipes, great! Just remember to shop for the best prices or even home made recipes could add up at the register. Take some time to browse on-line for recipes that would suite your family's style too! Enjoy!
Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy is an excellent resource for money saving tips, menus, recipes, and family organization. After looking it up on Amazon, apparently my copy is the "collectable" edition...oh geez, that makes me feel old. There is a newer edition that Jonni has available in a Kindle version for $7.99. Note: Kindles weren't invented yet when I was starting out as a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) Ha.ha.laugh.
Here are some highlights from the book (the one made of paper):
1. Don't Confuse Frugality with Depriving Yourself
2. Remove Little Wasters of Your Money
3. Don't Buy Everything at the Same Store
4. Make Your Own Whenever Possible
5. Eliminate Convenience Foods
6. Cut Back on Meats
7. Waste Nothing
8. Cook Several Meals at Once and Freeze Them
9. Be Wary of Warehouse Clubs10. Keep Track of Food Prices and Buy In the Season
Some of these I touched on in the previous post, but here is another area that Jonni mentions that I am going to try to implement this year - Birthdays, Holidays, and Special Occasions. Ok, so going about the normal month with normal spending according to the budget might be well on it's way and under control, but what about the holidays? I don't know about you, but we seem to have this forever going stretch of birthdays of family and close friends that just happens to hit right after Christmas! As if Christmas spending doesn't tighten the budget enough.
This tip from Jonni's book, Miserly Moms, is one that I can see being a tremendous help. Here is what she says:
"When it's time for a special occasion, we tend to throw the budget out the window. We think things like, "oh, it's their birthday" or "but it's Christmas!" I think we make ourselves feel better by not being creative at times like these. Should we be sending the message that love and money are related? I have found that what people really want are your efforts and thoughts towards them."
"So how do I keep the gift and party madness from putting me in debt for months? First, I plan what we are going to spend. I list all of the people we usually buy gifts and/or cards for (birthdays and holidays) for the entire year, and expected graduation or wedding gifts, baby showers, and the parties we usually throw. Then we decide the maximum amount we will spend on each person for each occasion. We then add up the year's total and divide by twelve. This gives us the amount we need to set aside each month in order to achieve those goals. If it's too much for our budget, we scale back on certain events or gift giving and stick to it."
Good tips right? This idea is one that we have also put into practice and that is to cut the costs at beauty shops. For a few years I had very short hair and that style was high maintenance. I had to go at least every 5 or 6 weeks for a trim to shape it up. Men and boys also need frequent cuts for their short hair too. Not a big deal right? Well, multiple that times 3 boys and 2 more girls (that is our family size) and we are talking a spending of nearly $1,000 a year for a $15-20 hair cut for my family. And yes, I know that hair color, highlights, toes, and nails are lovely, but this is a place that I personally was very willing to let go of in order to save money. I have spent over $85 for one visit of a cut and color of which I walked out thinking "Never again. That is almost a week's worth of food." So what do we do? I bought a pair of clippers and scissors and I cut hair. My and my girls hair is long so we rarely need trims. The boys get their trims from me. Not that brave? I don't blame you. But look into beauty schools that offer cuts for discounted prices, barter with a friend who does a nice job of cutting hair, or take the time to compare prices in your area. At least take the time to re-evaluate which areas of beauty care are needed and which are extra so you can cut out the extras.
On to the recipes! Make Your Own Whenever Possible.
Pizza is on our weekly menu and this is my husband's recipe. Although at first it may take you time to learn new recipes and try new things, you will get faster with practice. Just remember the money you will save and the healthier eating habits you are offering your family. Here are some of our go-to recipes:
Pizza Dough
4. 5 Cups All
purpose Flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 Cup Olive
oil
2pkgs. yeast
(it can be quick rise or regular)
1.5 cups warm
water (about 110 degrees)
4 tsp. white
sugar
1. Measure 1/2 cup of
warm water and stir in the 2tsp. of the sugar until dissolved.
2. Stir in the yeast
into the water/sugar solution.
3. While the yeast is
activating, in your mixing bowel get the flour ready. Place 4.5 Cups of flour into the bowl.
4. Add the salt and
remaining 2tsp of sugar and mix these dry ingredients together
5. The yeast by now
should start to look very foamy of top.
Anywhere from an inch or two of foam.
6. Add the olive oil
and the yeast to your dry ingredients and let it knead for about 10 min. on
low.
Now while the dough is kneading it's time to make the
sauce. (buy generic, as this could get
expensive and make all the work in making the pizza dough not really worth it in
cost)
Pizza Sauce
1 Can 14oz. dices tomatoes.
(I try to find some types of spiced
tomatoes like basil, oregano. I find
the cheapest I can get.)
1/2 Can tomato paste (those little tiny cans)
1 teaspoon of each:
Garlic,
oregano, and basil (If the tomatoes are not already spiced you'll need to add more.
(Note: It is also nice to grow these
herbs yourself during the summer)
1T. of Olive oil
1 T. of sugar.
(I also add 1/4 of red cooking wine on occasion.)
Blend in a blender until smooth.
Fajitas
1/2 lb. chicken breast sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced (optional)
mushrooms, sliced (optional)
3 cloves garlic, diced or mashed
2 T. oil
2 limes (or lemons), squeeze for juice
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
6 large flour tortillas
Toss meat and ingredients (except tortillas) together and marinate for at least 1/2 hour. To cook, layer the chicken and vegetables on a broiler pan and place in broiler for a few minutes or until chicken is done. Discard juices. The meat can also be grilled over the barbecue or pan-fried. If pan-frying, add all of the vegetables and juices to the pan with the meat. Serve on flour tortillas and roll up.
Optional: Instead of using chicken use sweet potato and black beans. Peel and shred the sweet potato (however many for your size family- we used 1 that yielded about 2 Cups). In skillet on medium heat, Melt 1 TBSP Butter or vegetable spread, with 1 TBSP olive oil. Add a bit of olive oil, salt, and garlic to taste. Add 1/4 Cup water to stir in and stem potatoes long enough for the water to cook out of it - watch until tender and don't steam too long or it will get mushy. Last add black beans (drain and rinse from 1 can beans).
Optional: Cheese tortillas are a great lunch option for us. We use the electric skillet and simply put the tortilla on the skillet, add shredded cheese and tah-dah. Some of our kids like mushrooms, some like quinoa, some like black olives, etc. so we can customize the tortillas to how they like. My favorite is to add avocados, black beans, quinoa, and lettuce.
Chicken Stew with Dumplings
4 chicken breasts, cubed
8 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and halved
1/2 bag baby carrots
peas optional
celery optional
64 oz. chicken broth (2 boxes of liquid stock)
salt, pepper, garlic to taste
Fill up stock pot with broth and chicken. The broth should cover the chicken. Then add about another 2 Cups of water. Bring that to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer for 1 hour. Next add the carrots and potatoes and celery is optional. Turn heat up to low boil and cook for 15 minutes. Add peas as option.
Use Bisquick box* for dumpling recipe. Mix and drop on top of boiling soup and keep uncovered for 10 minutes. Then reduce the heat and cover stock pot with lid for another 10 minutes. *I'm sure there is a recipe for dumplings with flour and salt etc. but this is just how we do it! oh dear, breaking a budget rule of using boxes!
Beef Burgundy
2 lbs. Stewing beef (or hamburger can be used)
1 Can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 Cup cooking sherry (or white vinegar)
1/3 Cup water
1/2 pack of Lipton's onion soup mix
serve over rice or egg noodles
Brown the meat and drain. Combine all ingredients in baking dish, tightly cover with foil (OR put in the crock pot on medium for 6 hours approximately). Bake for 3 hours at 350 degrees. Remove the foil cover for the last 1/2 hour if it looks too soupy. Serve over rice or egg noodles.
Hawaiian Banana Bread
3 Cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
(mix above in bowl)
2 Cups sugar
3 beaten eggs
1 Cup veg. oil
2 Cups mashed bananas
1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
2 tsp. vanilla extract
(mix above in separate bowl)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine both mixes, and pour into 2 greased, floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour
French Toast Bake
This is one of the kids favorite for breakfast. We use the last pieces of the bread loaves from the week or if a bag of rolls are about to go stale. I follow this recipe, but only use 3 eggs and it always turns out fine. You can adjust it easily to how much bread you are using too. We have added one mashed banana to this too and it's really yummy.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-oven-baked-french-toast/
Our family dinner favorites: Baked Ziti, Stuffed Shells, Stromboli (using pizza dough recipe), Steamed veggies with teriyaki sauce served over rice, roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, home-made hamburgers/turkey burgers with bake potato wedges, Spaghetti, Soup and grilled cheese
Our family breakfast favorites: wraps with sliced banana and peanut butter, yogurt and graham crackers, cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, scrambled eggs and toast, yogurt w/fruit smoothies, monkey bread
Hope that gets your wheels turning! If you try a few of these recipes, great! Just remember to shop for the best prices or even home made recipes could add up at the register. Take some time to browse on-line for recipes that would suite your family's style too! Enjoy!
I love that book! I read it a while ago, but I'm encouraged to pull it off my bookshelf right now. Thanks!
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