Saving Money on Bread

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In an effort to spend less money on the groceries while also eating healthy, I am going to attempt to make homemade sandwich bread.

Lately, I have been buying whatever is the cheapest whole wheat sandwich bread that doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup- typically I spend between $2.50 to $4 a loaf. I used to only buy the  Matthew's brand which was $4 a loaf- it is really one of the only brands that is all natural and does not have weirdo ingredients. Considering the fact that my three kids and I (my husband is not really a fan of whole wheat bread) can polish off sometimes as much as two loaves a week, I will be spending $8 a week just on bread.

$8 a week is a lot. Because I am not willing to buy the cheaper stuff to save money I will either have to cough up the cash or find a way to make my own.

I found this recipe tonight (thanks to Money Saving Mom) and it seem like something that will be easy to pull off with the help of my trusty bread machine. I am a little nervous because I have never made dough in the bread machine and then baked it in a loaf pan in the oven but if I mess it up at least all of the ingredients are cheap!

So, wish me luck! I'll be sure and post my victorious loaf of bread or my complete epic fail of a loaf of bread.

Food...

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So here I am. I have a husband, three kids and a dog who all have to eat.

I am trying to spend as little as possible but while saving money is a big deal, time is also a big deal.

I see the awesome deals every week at all of the stores but my reality is that I just cannot run around to get the best prices. In my town I have a Walmart, 2 Dave's Marketplace, 2 Stop and Shops, a CVS and 2 Rite Aids. My beloved Target is 20 minutes away (an honestly, the closest one is terrible compared to the one we used to live near) and my closest Whole Foods is 30 minutes away (insert super sad face here). Online shopping for clothing and random household stuff has definitely been my savior, especially Christmas shopping.

Each week I shop at Stop and Shop (despise it but they have the best sales). I go to Dave's Marketplace when they are having a great sale and Walmart once every few weeks when I need food and the other stores aren't having any great sales. Target is a luxury stop that I only do once every couple of months and BJ's (a warehouse store) is somewhere I go every four or five months because it is so inconvenient to go to.

Rite Aid and CVS are super close to me but I have only been shopping at CVS as I just cannot get out of the house enough to chase drugstore deals at two stores. Even CVS runs are only every few weeks.

Even with cutting coupons I am still spending $100 a week on groceries and household stuff (paper towels, toilet paper, toiletries, etc). I suppose that is really good for where I live but I still feel like a failure sometimes. I honestly go the the supermarket and have a list but always add other things as I am walking through the store. It's never junk food, just stuff that I realize we need because the original list I made is tiny.

The worst part is that lately I have found myself making choices based on price instead of nutrition. How terrible is that? Now, I don't buy chips and junk food but on regular foods I'll take the cheaper option instead of the more expensive healthier option. It's like I am using the fact that I have three kids and no time to excuse the fact that I am buying less healthy stuff.

You know what? I am done with this. We have debt to pay off, rent to pay on our townhouse and a big car payment on our SUV but I am sick of making judgement call on our food. I am sick of buying chicken breast from the grocery store that I cook and don't end up eating because it tastes like crap. I am sick of buying stuff because it is cheaper than something else. From now on nutrition is king. Screw the supermarket meat- it is terrible. I will only be buying meat from Whole Foods- not because I am a snob but because it tastes better (way, way better) and the animals are raised humanely. This means that I will choose food bases on the nutrition factor over the price factor. My kids love certain fruits so those fruits will be bought, even if they cost more.

I am not a snobby food person. I am just a mom who wants to feed her family as healthy as possible. If that means my grocery spending goes up, then so be it. It is my job to teach my kids how to eat healthy so if I have to put off paying off debt longer than so be it.

If I'm going to blow my grocery budget every week (I originally wanted to just spend $75 a week for a family of 5) then I might as well buy the good stuff!

I About Fell Off My Chair...

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Tonight for dinner we had steak tips, french fries, broccoli and eggplant croquettes. Well, the eggplant croquettes were for me because my family is not what I would call adventurous eaters (yes, eggplant is considered a weird thing in this household).

I did the obligatory offering of the croquettes to every one and to my surprise my five year old son said he would try it. That was amazing in itself but then he actually liked it and asked for more! Say what? My child who for the past few years has been adverse to trying vegetables actually just ate eggplant and didn't spit it out with a look of terror on his face. I was so proud of him but then something that made me almost fall off of my chair happened- my husband asked if he could try some too. Seeing picky Tyler chowing down made him think that it may actually be good.

My husband only eats a few veggies- beets, corn, potatoes and sometimes peas if they're mixed in a stir-fry. When I eat my veggies he looks at me like I am eating a pile of rancid dog poo, so him saying he wanted to try the eggplant croquettes was crazy.

Even crazier, my picky husband actually liked it and said I should make them for dinner again. The same thing happened a few weeks ago when I made pumpkin muffins- he thought they were gross but then randomly decided to try one and he now loves them.

So Yo Gabba Gabba was right when they say "try it, you'll like it". That is all I ask- just try the gosh darn food I make and you may actually not want to throw up after eating it. Now I feel inspired to make other weird veggie dishes to get the picky men in my life to eat their veggies.

No Junk For You!

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(make sure you say the title of this in the voise of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld, otherwise it just doen't sound too interesting)

When I started to coupon, I mean really coupon, over five years ago after I had my first child I was a complete coupon psychopath. I ran from store to store getting tons of free stuff, some because we needed it and lots because it was free. At that time every blog that I followed was the same way with pictures posted daily of piles of crap that was bought for free or at least 90% off.

Fast forward to today and I have seen a major shift in what people are buying- it seems that many have turned from "if it's free it's for me" zealots into being more intentional about what they bring into their homes. The piles of Pop-Tarts, Keebler cookies and Betty Crocker fruit snacks have diminished into more produce and natural foods. (my view may be screwed though because I don't really follow too many deal blogs and the ones I do follow I have been reading for awhile- I am sure newbie couponers with newbie blogs are more coupon crazy then us old-timers)

I have also been making this shift to feed my family better, though junk still has a special place in my heart and I still let my kids have treats. I'll never be someone who buys no processed food and all organic because there are just some things that I refuse to give up and try telling my husband to quit the soda- that would be total grounds for divorce. I actually looked back on my grocery shopping posts to see if I have been doing good buying healthier food and guess what? I am not full of hot air; I have literally put my money where my mouth is (meat from Whole Foods is killing me but it is a commitment I made and one that I will keep).

At the same time, I don't in any way think that anyone else should do exactly as I do. If someone else want to buy different types of foods for their families who am I to look down on them? I am far from perfect and have been known to be a completely lazy mom so how can I tell someone else that they are terrible for giving their kid a Pop-Tart? There are some morning where I wish I had a giant box of Pop-Tarts to throw at my kids so they would leave me alone and let me sleep for fifteen more minutes. That is actually one reason why I don't buy a lot of junk food- I am lazy and if it's there I will let my kids shove their faces with it, especially on the days where I am feeling overwhelmed being the mom of three kids under the age of five- which actually seems like it's every day. The moms who do buy said junk most likely have more willpower than me and are able to ration it out properly.

Speaking of Pop-Tarts, my mouth is watering right now thinking about the S'mores flavor. Why oh why can't they make a dairy free S'mores Pop-Tart? And if the did you bet your life I would hide the box form the kids, not because I would want to keep the from eating junk food but because I would want to keep them all to myself.

Homemade Bean and Rice Burritos

I have been obsessed with burritos lately. First I was buying the cheap fifty cent ones at Stop and Shop but then realized there must be a reason why they only cost fifty cents so I started buying $1.79 ones at Whole Foods. They are delicious but a little expensive so I decided to make my own.

I made my burritos with brown rice, homemade refried beans, flour tortillas and lots of chili powder, onions and cumin. I based my recipe very loosely on this one, as in I completely abandoned the recipe and just started pouring spices into the pan (I love spicy food- love, love, love).

How did they turn out? I think they are very good. I overcooked the refried beans a bit so next time I will make sure they aren't as dry. On the opposite end of the spectrum I undercooked the brown rice so it was a tad crunchy so next time I will not be oblivious to the fact that I need to taste it to make sure it's cooked right before using it in a recipe. I think I may buy whole wheat tortillas next time to pump up the health factor and maybe I'll get crazy and add some corn.

I made six decent sized burritos which if bought from Whole Foods would have cost $10.74. From my estimations (don't hold me to this because I am not one for figuring out food costs) I spent about $4 on ingredients for a monetary saving of almost $7. The time it took to make this was not bad at all and I know next time it will take even less time as I sort of know what I'm doing now. It's also nice knowing exactly what is in the food I'm eating so that counts for something in the algorithm of making versus buying.

Pink Slime or Pulverized Cow Anus?

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For the past few weeks I have been slowly moving towards only buying my family all natural meat. I was not doing this necessarily for humane reasons but mostly because it just tastes better.

My husband didn't really care either way what kind of meat I was buying, though he does agree the natural stuff tastes better, but after seeing a story on the news about the infamous pink slime he has forbidden me from buying regular ground beef.

Now, I wasn't going to be buying it anyways but it is nice to have him on board with us eating more natural whole foods and if seeing some pink goo that is made up of the crap left on the slaughterhouse floor is what it took to do that then hip-hip-hooray!

What does switching to buying all natural and grass fed meat mean? Well, first and foremost it means that I will be spending more on meat which to me is a moot point because as long as it is healthier and tastes better then oh well. Second of all it means that I will be shopping at the happiest place on earth, Whole Foods, a lot more which means I'll have to plan my shopping better as Whole Foods is not very close to my house. When I can't get to Whole Foods I will supplement with Stop and Shop's Nature's Promise line of meats as they are all natural, taste very good and do not contain pink slime.

I am not an alarmist by nature and as I said, I was switching us to better meat options before this pink slime being in 70% of the ground beef story came to light. The slime is obviously not going to kill anyone who eats it because the Lord knows that I would be dead by now if it did, but honestly as a mom my benchmark for what I feed my family cannot be "if it was approved by the FDA then it must be good". I don't feed my family the $1 a package hot dogs- they are safe to eat but definitely questionable in the ingredient department. I don't feed my family Hamburger Helper- it is safe to eat but the nutrition is total crap and even I as a novice cook can throw some beef and noodles in a pan to make a homemade version. Plus, I don't like yucky stuff in my food. I am still a picky four year old child at heart and knowing that something I am eating was once used in dog food before a system was devised to make it edible for humans makes me gag. I buy my dog very expensive dog food so I even doubt the stuff he eats has pulverized cow anus in it (but if it does then I won't judge him for liking pulverized cow anus, it's just not my thing).

So please, join me in my journey to feed my family better while somehow trying to stick to my $100 a week budget (this includes groceries, household cleaners, toiletries, diapers, pet food). Notice I said trying- I expect to fail miserably for a bit while I figure this whole thing out called whole foods on a budget. And yes, you will see me buying things that are not whole foods- I have three kids, am lazy by nature and have a husband who enjoys certain foods so all whole foods all of the time is just not going to happen in this house. You can also stay tuned on the chance that I may just say screw it and just start feeding my kids spray cheese out of the can.

Popcorn Time!

We got our new popcorn popper in the mail the other day and yesterday we made some popcorn with it.

My kids thought it was the greatest thing ever. They had a hard time believing that the kernels I bought were popcorn but when the popping started you should have seen their faces! The look of excitement and amazement on their faces just made my husband and I laugh- it is so funny to see such a simple thing as popcorn popping making your children as giddy and they get on Christmas morning.

The popcorn came out good and the kids loved it even though it was completely plain (we did add a little oil to pop it). A cheap, healthy and awe inspiring snack for the kids sounds good to me!

Eating Healthy- Blah...

Recently I have decided to stop buying junk food for myself in an effort to eat more healthy. I also stopped drinking my beloved soda.

So far it hasn't been that bad. If I want a snack I have to settle for the snacks I buy for the kids- wheat Ritz, pretzels, fruit, Cheerios, cheese sticks, Fruitabu roll ups, graham crackers, etc. No more potato chips or sweets- I suppose if it is not good enough for my kids to eat then I shouldn't be eating it either. I really shouldn't be saying I don't eat any sweets because I have been baking from scratch- I made oatmeal cookies last week and this week I made pumpkin bread. Homemade sweets are fine in my eyes because they don't have all of the added junk that store bought sweets or mixes have. To curb my soda addiction I have been having a cup of apple juice every day- I am actually starting to prefer juice and water over soda because it is more refreshing to drink. I do have to say though that if my husband requests a snack I will buy it for him because he is an adult and can eat what he wants (though I may just have to sneakily eat some of his junk food).

It is hard when I go to the grocery store to not cave and buy junk food but if I buy it I will eat it- I have no will power at all. Eating healthy isn't easy if you have crap laying around your house so I just go with the crap doesn't come into my house plan. I am not perfect and may slip sometimes but it is important to me to take care of myself and lead a good example for my kids.

I'm a Crack Addict (but replace the word "crack" with "soda")

I have been drinking a lot of soda lately. I love soda. If I don't drink soda I get a headache (or maybe that is the kids giving me a headache...).

I stopped drinking soda awhile ago only to start back up because of my love for it. I cut back to diet soda a few weeks ago and am now again cutting soda out of my life. Soda tastes wonderful (not diet- diet tastes like crap) but it makes me feel bloaty and gross when I drink it. I can also feel it starting to aggravate my Crohn's Disease which means my body is saying cool it with the fricken soda.

The can you see above was my last can. I will be drinking lots of water from now on. Water is boring and doesn't contain lots of caffeine and high fructose corn syrup but it will have to do. Yeah, water.

Healthy Jello- Even My Son Likes It!

Kids love Jello- at least my son does. I suppose feeding your kids Jello isn't too bad but I really wanted to make a healthier version without all the extra added junk and sugar that the real Jello has. I am trying to feed my kids as wholesome and healthy as I can while getting them to try new things so I thought this recipe was a step in the right direction.

First you start off with three envelopes of gelatin and a can of frozen juice concentrate. I used 100% Apple Juice but you can use whatever flavor you like. Defrost the juice but make sure it is still really cold (I left mine on the counter for awhile).

Pour the juice into a bowl and then pour in the gelatin. Fill the empty can of juice with water and pour into a pan. Bring the water to a boil.

Once water is boiling add the gelatin/juice mix and stir well, until all of the gelatin is dissolved.

Pour mixture into a lightly greased dish- I used a 9 by 13 inch dish but you can use whatever strikes your fancy.

Place dish in the refrigerator to chill for a few hours.

And here it is- Jello made with 100% juice and no added sugar or weird sounding ingredients.

And here is one very happy kid who has no idea that his regular Jello treat has been switched out with something a lot healthier.

Now, this is by no means a frugal recipe- the juice cost me about $1 and a box of four packets of gelatin cost me $1.87, but to me frugal loses out when it comes to my family's health.

Homemade and Healthy Jello- Can't Wait To Try It!

I bought some unflavored gelatin awhile ago when I was thinking of making homemade cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving (I wanted to make a homemade knock-off of the kind that you just dump out of a can) but I just ended up buying the canned stuff because I didn't want to risk disappointing my guests who love the canned stuff.

The purchase was not a complete waste of money because I can use it to make homemade healthy jello- with no added sugar!

I did a search tonight and found this recipe. Once I go shopping and buy some juice I am going to try the recipe out and see if it is a winner with my kids. The only juice I have on hand is usually just orange juice (for my 3 1/2 year old son) because I prefer my kids to just drink milk with meals and water in between meals. It is so funny because my 19 month old daughter does not like juice that much- I give her juice boxes as special holiday treats and she will take a couple sips and then focus on squeezing the juice out all over her high chair tray to make a mess.

My son loves jello so I hope that this new recipe will go over well with him. I'll post about my homemade jello adventure this week.

TV Isn't That Bad For Kids

I don't let the kids watch tons of TV during the week but on Sundays the TV is kind of a free for all. Sundays are our relaxing day so having the TV on keeps the kids somewhat quiet for a small amount of time whereas if there was no TV it would be just complete chaos. My kids' favorite game to play together is Ready, Set, Go in which at the word go each child races either the toy baby carriage or toy shopping carts down the hallway from the family room to the kitchen. It them turns into baby carriage/shopping cart demolition derby.

So yes, the TV is a wonderful thing that keeps my husband and I sane on Sundays (is nothing more wonderful than when your husband asks you how you deal with the kids all day when he is at work because they are just so tiresome to be around- it is nice to know he knows that being a stay at home mom is not a wonderful job to have a lot of the time).

Today my son was watching TV and Little Bill was on Nick Jr. My son came running into the kitchen, opened the fridge and was searching through the drawers. He then said he was looking for a carrot to eat because Little Bill had one. I literally had to pick up my jaw off of the kitchen floor. Once my jaw was picked up I found a carrot (with a huge smile on my face) and washed it and peeled it. I gave it to my son, he took a bite and said it was gross. You know what I did? I gave my son a high five and told him how proud I was that he tried a raw carrot- then I fed it to the guinea pig (whose name is pig). My son would have never tried a raw carrot if I had told him to but because Little Bill was eating one he wanted one too.

TV is not a bad thing. I gives moms a little break during the day and helps them keep a shred of their sanity. It can also be a great learning tool for kids. I swear that Sesame Street had a large part in my son being able to count to ten at a very young age. I don't feel bad for letting my kids watch TV because I balance it with other things. I read books to both of my kids everyday, my kids are constantly running around which drives me crazy but is great exercise for them and we have fun playing silly games together during the day.

So Little Bill, you are all right in my book- you got my son to take a bite of a raw carrot.



Whole Foods

Health is Wealth Chicken Nuggets $4.99

Earth's Best Fish Nuggets $4.99

Mom Made Pizza Pockets $3.79 - Free MC Coupon

Well Kids Chicken Hot Dogs $4.99

Total: $13.77

The cashier took off $4.99 for my free coupon instead of what the price really was- I guess they aren't too used to coupons at Whole Foods.

I am very happy with what I got. The chicken nuggets and fish nuggets are breaded in whole wheat bread crumbs and don't have tons of artificial and junky ingredients. I have been looking for healthier hot dogs for my son and these chicken ones are great- there are only a few ingredients in them and are better for him than beef hot dogs. I now have some foods that I can use to get my daughter to eat meat and open up her food repertoire a bit.

I went to the Whole Foods in Dedham, Ma and wowza- it is huge. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that they have a huge wine selection and that they sell beer. What really floored me was that Whole Foods had wine for $2.99 a bottle (with a screw cap) and really nice looking wine with a real cork for $3.99 a bottle! I will so have to buy some the next time I make a trip there.

Shopping at Whole Foods in general is such a lovely experience (except when I have to bring the kids and my daughter is being a little monster). Everyone is so polite and the store is so nice and neat. It is the polar opposite of the Wal-Mart in my town which I would rather cut off both of my hands than ever step foot into again (horribly ignorant and rude customers and the store is just a hot mess in general). If only I were rich enough to do all of my shopping at Whole Foods but I'm not so I will just have to suffice on once in awhile visits.

Operation No More Picky Kids

My kids can be picky eaters. My son at three and a half years old is getting much better at trying new foods so I guess the major picky eater is my nineteen month old daughter.

My new mission in life (other than making sure my kids don't grow up and need therepy) is to expose my children to as many new and healthy foods as possible. Will it cost more? You bet- but in the long run it seems worth it to me to make sure my kids have a healthy attitude towards food. The more new things they try the more things they will like. I will (try) to do this on a $75 a week grocery budget so I am going to have to get creative in my spending. And no, this does not mean I am going to start buying Organic food. To me Organic food is just not worth it- I would rather buy my family lots of healthy food instead of buying a little Organic food (I do buy organic if the ingredients are healthier than the conventional version or if I can get it at the same price or cheaper).

So please join me on my journey to turn my picky kids into kids who love to try new foods. My first major mission will be to get my daughter to eat meat (she will not eat meat at all- not meatballs, not chicken and not even hot dogs) so I am going to Whole Foods tomorrow to find her the healthiest possible chicken nuggets (she will not eat homemade ones so I am hoping to ease her into it by getting her store bought ones). She has eaten chicken nuggets before but the ones from the grocery store are full of junk so I am hoping healthy chicken huggets from Whole Foods will be her gateway into eating homemade chicken.

Wish me luck!

Disclaimer: I am in no way judging how others feed their kids, this is just what I feel like will work for my family.

Shaws- Just a Quick Trip

Hood Milk $3.89

Shaws Yogurt $2.50

Nursery Water $1.29

Total: $7.68

We needed milk and Shaws has their milk point program going on right now so I decided to make a quick trip there to buy it. Basically, when you buy 6 gallons of milk you get the 7th one free. The only milk my husband likes is Hood or Cumberland Farms which are both $3.89 so I might as well get our milk at Shaws and get a free gallon.

I bought the yogurt to make Homemade Healthy Poptarts from Heavenly Homemakers. I was going to make them today but I was still feeling sick and the thought of trying a new recipe made me feel like my head was going to pop off.

Garbanzo Beans That Kids Will Actually Eat

As I was looking through my folder of random recipes clipped from magazines I found this one for kid friendly chick peas snack (I like to call them garbanzo beans to my son because it makes them sound way cooler).

The original recipe calls for:

(2) 15 oz cans chickpeas

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

I cut the recipe in half because even though they are yummy, my kids will not eat that many garbanzo beans.

Rinse beans in a colander under cold water to get all of the weird can juice off of them.

Pat beans dry with paper towels.

If you want to roast the whole bean then dump the chickpeas onto a cookie sheet. I chose to take off the skin and break them in half because my son does not like the skin and also so that they would be small enough for my daughter to eat without choking. Drizzle with the olive oil and move the chickpeas around to coat evenly with the oil. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 35 minutes (whole chickpeas) or 15-20 minutes (halved chickpeas) until they are evenly browned.

Pour roasted chickpeas into a bowl and add cinnamon and sugar. Mix together until everything is coated.

Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

I am going to make more of an effort to have more homemade healthy snacks on hand because we have really gotten into a pretzel and cracker rut around here. I also need to find ways to trick my daughter into eating meat. The only meat she will eat is chicken nuggets and those are not something that I very rarely feed my kids. I could make homemade ones but they are not the same texture as the frozen ones- I will have to figure something out...

Simple Asparagus Recipe

Tonight our menu consisted of:

Panko Crusted Chicken Breast

Baked Red Potatoes

Parmesan Asparagus

Beets in Vinegar

The panko crusted chicken sounds fancy but it is really just a chicken breast with panko bread crumbs (we love the Progresso Italian Style Panko). We fry it in a bit of oil to get the outside crispy and then finish baking it in the oven- yum! I love the breadcrumbs so much I could actually eat them out of the box with a spoon (don't worry, I didn't).

What really stood out to me tonight was the asparagus- it tasted absolutely wonderful! Near dinner time I realized that I hadn't the faintest idea how to to cook the asparagus I bought on Sunday. Lo and behold I went to my trusty All Recipes and I found the Parmesan Asparagus recipe. It looked simple and healthy- two things that I love.

Basically you coat the asparagus in olive oil, put on a baking sheet and bake for a few minutes on each side. When I made it I spread olive oil on 5 spears (no one in my house would touch asparagus with a ten foot pole) and then sprinkled with garlic salt. I baked for 6 minutes on one side and three minute on the other side at 400 degrees. Then I sprinkled some grated Parmesan cheese on them and proceeded to scarf them down before I even ate my delicious chicken. I never thought I would say this, but I love asparagus.

Is It Really Free...

This week at Rite Aid the TGIF chips are free after +Up Rewards. Great deal, right? I'm not so sure it is, at least for me.

I am the type of person that if it is in my house I will eat it. I have no will power. So, those free chips would get devoured by me and my waistline would no doubt grow a bit. I could get them to donate but come on- do hungry families really need chips?

This is a scenario that as a couponer I find myself in a lot. I used to buy up all of the free or super cheap junk food just because it was free or super cheap. At one time we had tons of fruit snacks in my home due to an awesome Shaws Catalina deal. I don't like my son eating fruit snacks because they are in no way healthy for him, not even a smidge but guess what- because they were in the house we ended up letting him eat them. Same thing with Easy Mac cups that I needed to buy to participate in a Kraft rebate awhile ago- I am vehemently against my kids eating Easy Mac or regualar boxes macaroni and cheese (too much added junk and weird ingredients) but my son ended up eating it because I was feeling lazy at lunch time, it was easy to make and it was just there.

We all have lines that we draw in the sand that we will not cross when it comes to what will will buy for our families and I have recently decided to move my line a bit. I am no longer going to buy food just because it is free if it is something that I don't want us to eat and that I don't think a food bank would want- again, I am pretty lazy and if there is an easier option for food in my pantry I will utilize it whether it is healthy or not. Not having super unhealthy stuff in my home at all times forces me to feed my family healthier. I will still buy treats but I will buy them because I want to (or because my husband requests something), not because I am tempted by them being free.

I used to look at feeding my family healthy as a bit of a burden- it was never easy to get the good stuff free or even very cheap. Now I look at it as an investment in my kids' futures- what I feed them now is going to shape their tastes for the rest of their lives. To do right by them I need to spend a bit more. Besides, in twenty years what is going to matter more- that I only spent $50 a week on groceries for a family of four or that my kids have a healthy relationship with food?

Zucchini Muffins

Yesterday I made my kids some zucchini muffins.

This recipe was my muse but I changed it up a bit to make the muffins healthier. I tried a bite and thought they were good but because I cut way down on the sugar they weren't quite sweet enough for me. My kids loved them though (they haven't had twenty eight years to develop a sweet tooth).

Zucchini Muffins

3 large eggs

1 cup applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups pureed zucchini

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the pureed zucchini, applesauce (instead of whole cup of applesauce I used two containers of applesauce and filled the rest of the measuring cup with enough olive oil to make one cup), sugar and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Grease muffin tins (or line with muffin liners) and fill 3/4 of the way with muffin mix. To make it easier and less messy, I use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tins.

Bake for about 20 minutes (I used the convection feature on my oven so cooking times may vary) or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. You can also make mini muffins (for some reason my kids will not eat mini muffins) but the cook time will be a lot shorter.

Transfer muffins to cooling rack. The recipe makes about 18 muffins but only 16 are pictured because my kids wanted to eat some right away. If I had any ground flax seed I would have added that but I ran out awhile ago and could not believe how much it cost at Shaws.

Here is a picture of my daughter enjoying a zucchini muffin and some yogurt.

Whatever isn't eaten in the next couple of days will be frozen. To freeze, I put the muffins on a baking sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours. Then I transfer them into a Ziploc freezer bag. To defrost you can either leave a frozen muffin out on the counter overnight or if planning that far ahead is not your thing (putting a muffin out the night before is a little too organized for me) you can just pop a frozen muffin into the microwave for about 20 seconds on high.

Having pre-made healthy food like muffins, pancakes and waffles in the freezer is a lifesaver for days when I am feeling lazy and don;t want to put effort into making my kids food. They still get something healthy to eat and I get to indulge in my laziness.

Kiss My Butt Beefaroni...

I am sitting here and thinking "what is up with me?".

I was really gung ho about using coupons and getting tons of stuff or cheap/free but I am just getting plain sick of having to cut things out of my grocery shopping that we need because I don;t want to spend too much.

When I first started to super coupon the deals were awesome. I was able to buy organic and all natural food when my son was a baby for a budget of $50 a week (this was when I was brainwashed into thinking organic was worth it). I bought organic milk every week along with organic veggies and barely any processed stuff. Now there is no way on God's green earth that I could do that. My budget is $65 a week and I am majorly struggling with it.

I have two kids who I want to be healthy eaters. They really like fruit, string cheese, milk, bread, yogurt and crackers. Produce is expensive and I am not one to just buy what is in season. If I find strawberries in January that look good I will buy them no matter what the price- same goes for blueberries and any other fruit that my kids love. My son loves watermelon and let me tell you, if I could find watermelon that didn't look awful I would buy it for him. I will not relegate my kids to eating bananas and apples all winter because I don't want to cough up the extra money to give them a varied diet. I only buy bread that is whole wheat and doesn't have high fructose corn syrup which means no 99 cent loaves for me- a good price for a loaf of bread is $2.50 (I don't freeze bread because it skeeves me out- I am a picky person, I know this). I try to buy my kids yogurt that doesn't have tons of weird ingredients in it, though today I bought my son regular Go Gurt because that is all the ghetto Stop and Shop I went to had and they don't sell Stoneyfield yogurt tubes. My daughter gets the Stoneyfield Yo Toddler yogurt because it doesn't have extra junk in it and it is made with whole milk.

My husband has stuff he really likes and one of them is Starbucks Frappuchino drinks. They are expensive (BJ's sells a 12 pack for $13.99) but he drinks one every day and jeez, he is the main bread winner for the family so how can I begrudge him his coffee drinks? If he makes a special request (like today when he wanted Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes and Progresso Italion Wedding Soup) I buy it.

I guess what I am saying is that I need a budget that works for my family. I want to have healthy food options available and don't want to be stressed about not having a $50 budget for a family of four. Healthier food costs more and not wanting to spend tons of time chasing deals costs more. Those are costs I am willing to incur.

I know that if I spend a small amount on food each week that we could put the rest of our money towards our debt but it is much more important to me to instill good eating values in my children that will maybe follow them through life then to have kids who eat cheap processed food because it is all I can get on a small grocery budget and with not a lot of time to shop (what I mean is that I value time with my kids more than running out to Shaws multiple times in a week to snag catalina for free Hamburger Helper). Feeding my kids Chefboyardee Beefaroni may be a quick and cheap meal now but I don't want them getting a taste for that stuff (I love that stuff because I ate it growing up- I still eat it sometimes when the kids are in bed because bad habits are hard to break; I actually want some right now and wish I had some in the pantry- MMM, beefaroni).

So kiss my butt $65 budget- my new budget will be $75 a week. If I end up being constantly under then I will readjust it because I am not one to just go to the store and spend all of my budget just because I have it. I buy what we need and a few extras that we want.