Monday, April 13, 2009

What's Cooking 4.13-4.19

Sustainable Food Budget Challenge - April 2009





I was up all last night attending births at the hospital so I barely made it to the shops for groceries before I *had* to get home and collapse into bed. I asked my husband to bring in the food from the car and take a picture of it before putting it away.

I really appreciate his help - I just think it's funny that he didn't take the items out of the bags as I do so you can really see the (to me beautiful) produce. Also missing from the picture is a gallon of organic milk I bought on Saturday - amazingly it was on sale (the "best by" date is today, but I know that it will be fine for another week) for only $2.50.

Last week was the first time in weeks I bought milk from pasture-raised cows and I couldn't bring myself to buy a whole gallon at the price (almost $8), but I learned that a half-gallon is simply not enough for our family. I am currently searching for a local source of raw milk, but it is a very underground operation (it's not legal to sell raw milk commercially in my state) and I'm not having the best luck. Until then I'll keep looking for the late Saturday-night sales of almost-expiration date organic milk.

I spent $36.61 at Amazing Savings for all organic produce and a box of organic kids' cereal and an almost-pound brick of cheddar cheese ($6) from local, pasture-raised cows. I bought the rest of our food from Earth Fare and spent $27.20, mostly on bulk locally-milled whole wheat flour and other grains and legumes.

The big experiment this week is that my husband will try to use some dry wheat gluten flour to make a vegan "loaf" to slice and use in sandwiches. If it is a success I'll post the recipe, if it isn't I hope the chickens will eat it. :)

With the addition of the milk purchase the grand total this week is $66.31. The Crunchy Chicken's (click on image above to learn more) sustainable food challenge is turning out to be quite a success!

Here is what we are eating this week:

Monday:
Pad Thai

Tuesday:
Butternut Squash Ravioli
Green Salad

Wednesday:
Lentil Curry
Brown Rice
Green Salad

Thursday:
Black Bean Enchiladas
Spinach Salad

Friday:
Pizza (homemade dough and sauce)
Roasted Peppers and Onions
Spinach Salad

Saturday:
Falafel
Homemade Pita Bread
Cucumber and Onion Salad

Sunday:
Whole Wheat Pancakes(we didn't have them last week - I forgot I was on call that day when I made the menu)
Bacon
Grapefruit


5 comments:

Paula Bellman said...

I discovered a grocery store in my area that marks down their milk when it gets about 1-2 days away from expiration. The most milk that gets marked down?? Organic! Yay for me. Last week I bought 10 1/2 gallons for 1.00 each. I buy the whole lot of them when I see them marked down.

Stacey said...

Wow! That's an amazing that you can count on that deal! What do you do with 5 gallons of milk? I thought about buying extra but didn't see how I could use it up - then a friend called yesterday and asked if she and my son would like to make yogurt with her and her daughter! I think that would be a great way to use it up - now I wish I had stocked up like you. Well, there's always hope for next week!

Angela said...

Do you make your own yogurt? I've never tried it but I'll bet it's delicious. The Frugal Girl has a post with photos I saw recently.

Stacey said...

I have never made yogurt. My husband and I have big love for yogurt and it's the only thing I have ever seen my son refuse outright - oh, that and applesauce - from the time he was a baby to my few attempts over the years.

My son eats, I think, a varied and healthful diet, but what mom doesn't want her kid to eat more fruits and vegetables? I think fruit/veggie/yogurt smoothies might be a nice way to get in more of the good stuff and I'm willing to give yogurt another try!

Stacey said...

Oops. I meant to write "my husband and I *don't* have big love for yogurt".