Thrifty Thursday, mix it up!

This is a great website for making your own mixes. Not only does it have seasonings like taco mix, and soups like a basic white sauce, it also has biscuit mix. For us this is handy because we have so many allergies, and it's also great because we can make recipes more healthy by adding wheat flour in place of all white refined flours, use healthier oils, etc. 

We do once a week cooking anyway, kind of a spin-off from once a month cooking. We take Sunday, cook an entire package of ground beef, one of roast, and one case of chicken breast, store in one or two pound packages, and voila! Meat is cooked so *I* can spend time with kids, putting my feet up on a BPD (bad pregnancy day) and meals are much faster. While the meat is cooking, we can also chop onions and bell peppers for meals, other veggies for snacks and for meals, and sometimes dh will cook a ton (no, not metric) of pasta or rice to store in quart bowls to reheat for meals or add to casseroles. 

New (to us) wardrobe

Mentioned that we went shopping at some second-hand stores. We started this way back when Breanna was little, she wouldn't wear anything that hadn't been washed 20 times, due to sensory issues. SOoooo, thought how ridiculous and started buying things that were already washed. not to mention how much money is saved. It seems ridiculous to pay $20 for a pair of jeans when you can buy a pair for $5 that look brand new. Anyway, here's the breakdown

$75 bought us:

Five pairs of jeans for Emily (two from GAP)

Three pairs of jeans for Rachel

One pair of corduroy pants for Rachel

One pair of velour pants for Rachel

Two pairs of jeans for Josh (Levis)

Two pairs of jeans for Breanna

Five long sleeved shirts for Emily (couple from GAP, one Bobby jack that she loves)

Four long sleeved shirts for Rachel

Five long sleeved shirts for Breanna (some from Eddie Bauer)

One funny t-shirt for Breanna ("Go Away...and Stay There")

and 

One really cute purple corduroy dress for Avari from GAP.

I almost never find good jeans for young boys second hand. That's okay. Sam's club had levi's for $7 each a few months back and I stocked up. We got a good deal because Salvation Army's second hand is always 50% off on Wednesdays. AND the other shop gave us two shirts half off due to some small stains (which shouted right out lol!) Everything else was like new. I keep meaning to try the Outreach Center, people have told me they have great clothes, although they probably cost more than what I'm used to...plus they treated one of my friends like crap because she's gay. I don't know that I can look past that. Have opinions, but when you can't treat people like humans, you shouldn't be behind the counter. 

Thrifty Thursday, gas edition

So, inspired by an online blog, I've been doing an experiment on ethanol gas vs alcohol free gas in our vehicle, 2002 Ford Excursion. Jennie C figured out mileage on a full tank of each, and found that her vehicle did much better on alc-free gas. We started with ethanol, but then blew the whole experiment by driving to Dallas...thereby getting all highway miles and nearly 15 mpg (woohoo!)

So, I bought the alc-free gas, and did our normal driving pattern and got 11.9 mpg. (!) 

Then, bought the ethanol gas and after our normal driving pattern, got 12.4 mpg. Hm.

So again, I'm going to say it depends on your vehicle, and perhaps your driving patterns. I'm glad we did it, because it's just more food for thought. 

On one hand....to fill our tank, alc free gas costs $4 to $6 more, and if we're not getting better mileage, it's not worth it thriftywise. 

On the other hand, I do tend to shop at gas stations that are alc free because the stations around here tend to be independently owned and I like supporting small businesses. 

On the other hand, looking at the environment, gas has hidden costs such as drilling, refining, shipping. Gas with ethanol has all of that, plus the hidden cost of growing corn (water, fertilizing, harvesting), refining, and then shipping to gas refineries to make final products. 

On the other hand, producing ethanol actual creates energy so perhaps it works out in the end. 

And in the immortal words of Tevye (surely you got the idea from all my 'other hands'?) what people buy is mostly based on TRADITIOOOON!  Perhaps not the gas they they've always bought (On the other hand, ethanol has been in our gas since the 80's) but on traditional thinking surrounding supporting gas or ag or large chains or independent station owners.  Or perhaps the tradition of buying whatever costs less regardless of the long term cost.

Thrifty Thursday

In honor of thrifty Thursday, some good, plain recipes:

Potato Soup (is that with an 'e'?)


Four potatoes, peeled and diced (~50¢)
half a cup of diced onion (~25¢)
one carrot, thinly sliced (i dunno, a ten lb bag for $3, and I used one?! 7¢)
one celery stalk, thinly sliced (same as the carrot...pennies?)
four cups of water (free)
tsp salt (a penny?)
tsp pepper (a few cents)

Bring to a boil, simmer til veggies are soft

Smash with potato masher

Add two cups of cream (or a can of canned milk 50¢), warm through
Total $1.40 for eight servings

Tomato Soup


two tbsp oil (cents)
half a cup onion (25¢)

heat oil, cook onions til translucent

add 14 oz can of tomato sauce (88¢)
add one can of water (free)
tsp salt (penny)
half tsp pepper (penny)
tbsp basil (say, a nickel)

Less than a $1 for 8 servings

The kids and I threw this together today, and a loaf of homemade french bread (50¢) really brought it all together, thinly sliced and toasted.

and we had three bowls left over for lunch tomorrow, for the lucky folk who get there first.

Thrifty Thursday

So, a day early but still, here's an idea of once a month cooking. It's not OAM, but just since I was making ONE set of enchiladas, there's no harm in making three. etc.

Today I went to walmart and spent $65.

Bought

four 15oz jars of ricotta cheese

two lbs of mozzarella (shredded)

two lbs of cheddar (shredded)

one box of lasagna noodles

one can diced olives (or olipes as baby Rachel called them)

two bags of lettuce

five lbs of bananas

64 oz of Rachael Rays chicken stock (gluten free/corn free and tastes REALLY good)

four disposable cake pans (to make meals for a friend)

family sized bag of chips

family sized bag of snyders pretzels (the only corn free pretzels)

four bell peppers

one lb of kielbasa

(and one 20 DP from the cooler 'blush')

We already had purchased (on big shopping day) beef (6lbs for $15), canned tomato sauce (106 oz for $3), canned crushed tomatoes (106 oz for $2.50), and a mega bag of tortillas from Sam's, as well as a small bag of corn tortillas for Dan (wheat free you know) ~$4 altogether, and a bag of fresh spinach $3. On stock already is rice, wheat free pasta, onions and fresh tomatoes (from the garden) and seasonings (oh yeah, and one cucumber to go in the veggie sauce)

I boiled the burger in a stock pot with water to make stock. Used a pound for the lasagna. Used a pound for spaghetti, saved two pounds for taco meat, and another pound for beef veggie soup)

So, for $90 altogether, I have approximately 11 meals (plus leftovers for lunch, and leftover sauce to make pizzas)

one pan of corn free cheese enchiladas

one pan of regular cheese enchiladas

one pan of regular cheese enchiladas

one pan of spinach lasagna

one pan of wheat-free meat lasagna

four quarts of 'dirty rice'

four quarts of 'dirty rice' with meat

four quarts of veggie spaghetti sauce

four quarts of meat spaghetti sauce

two gallons of beef broth

one taco meal ready to go (just microwave and set out with toppings and shells, +$5)

one soup meal ready to go (just add beef broth and one bag frozen veggies, +$1)

oh, and I forgot, one chocolate cake and four trays of banana muffins. YUM!

And one dirty kitchen...who's dish night is it anyway?!