School Lunches

We qualify for free lunches through the school- which is nice, it does save us alot of money... but I'm not happy with what the school has availible.
Each month we go through the calendar of lunches and cross out the entrees that are not healthy choices and the boys can pick from whats left. Last year the selection was much better- this year, they have one choice. The school does offer something else on those days- salad or meat sandwich. But really, a salad is not going to fill and keep full a growing boy and the sandwich is just 2 slices of store-bought bread and some deli meat... again, not filling- because I know if I were to serve the same thing, my boys would eat at least 3 sandwiches.
This year is even worse in that, as you can see there are a couple days where there is nothing on the menu that I approve of:


And the choices for those days?
Cheesy Macaroni
Corn Dog
Pepperoni Pizza

So, I have been sending a sack lunch on those days.
Regardless of the lunch at school the boys come home starving- they're like hobbits needing 6 meals a day.
The boys are very honest and do only eat what I say. Since the school offers salad or sandwiches they do have a choice between say Spaghetti Spirals or a turkey and cheese sandwich.
They don't drink chocolate milk- I don't know why the school even has that as an option, but they do.
The boys do catch some flack from other kids and many times have been told to lie and just take what they want. But they also understand what healthy is and that pizza or hamburgers every day is not good for them.
I have noticed that with the problem of obesity the school lunches have changed- but only to smaller portions. It would be so much better if they served good food! Growing kids need alot of food- but they need alot of healthy food.
It saves enough money each month that I can't justify only sending lunches, I need to take advantage of the free lunch. But I'm not too concerned- they eat a second lunch when they get home anyway. So overall, their diet is pretty good.

Homemade Laundry Soap

Ok, so this is a different type of cooking. :-) I've been looking into different soap options lately. We started going "No 'Poo" about 5 months ago and followed the advise from that article. So Brian and I just use baking soda to wash and then a vinegar/water rinse when we shampoo. We have both been happy with it, and it takes about the same amount of time to wash our hair.
I didn't have the boys use the baking soda, I thought it might be a little more difficult for them, so I found a Shampoo Bar for them. I got the Rosemary one, because I know lavender gives me a head ache. Rosemary is ok- I think the boys are finally getting used to it. I haven't found anything I like for Naomi yet- there are some good children's shampoos, but so far, what I found is not tear-less. So I'm still looking into that.
When I was ordering their shampoo bar I noticed the same gal had laundry soap. I like this for 2 reasons-- 1) it's much cheaper and 2) it doesn't have chemicals in it. I looked around online and found a few different variations to laundry soap recipes, but since I've never done it before I thought it might be good to try it before I invest in a large amount of laundry soap making supplies. So I bought her Laundry Soap Kit. Everything comes measured out and with easy instructions. I've been using it for a couple weeks now and the clothes come out nice. I'm not big into smells, so to me- they smell more like nothing-- well, I guess clean, because they don't stink! :-)
It was $4.25 + s/h but it made 2 gallons of soap. It says to use 1/2 c. in each load, but I have a HE front loading washer, so I've been using 1/4 c. and put a little vinegar in the "fabric softener" area and I think it's going to take me quite a while to get through 2 gallons! I have it in a bucket right now, but as soon as I find my funnel (boys...) I have 2 gallon milk jugs to keep it in.
BTW- when I took the picture before I started I had my big stock pot out- but I didn't need a big pot after all, just a saucepan.

Being Frugal

Ok, my reason for starting this blog, other than enjoying cooking, eating and taking pictures (what a wonderful combination!)... is to show people how I feed our family for such a small amount, as it is a mystery to some, and they ask. So, I've been trying to figure out how to do this and what I've come up with is to track my expenses and give a dollar amount to each dish. So I hope that helps- though this might take some time, so if you don't see it at the bottom on the recipe post, then I haven't gotten to that recipe yet.

Typically our grocery budget is $300/month.

• When I started making breakfast from scratch it saved us $80/month- that's what I had been spending on cold cereal and milk!
  
• We hunt, (yes, I hunt too!) we get between 5 to 7 deer a year, we butcher them ourselves so it works out to be $.84 per pound for meat. So that does cut my grocery bill down alot through the year.
  
• I do buy turkey during the sales around Thanksgiving- so $15/turkey= 5 meals= $3/meal.
  
• Watch sales: we go through alot of eggs, so when Albertson's has their 10/$10 sale on eggs I buy about 10 dozen. Or during the summer I can get them at the farmers market for $1/dozen as well. Albertson's also has rice on sale now and then 10/$10- both white and brown- which is great and I will buy about six 2# bags- it works out to $.40/meal.
• I compare prices and normally buy generic. Most grocery stores have a "price per unit" on their price code sticker- this is so much easier than carrying around a calculator!
• Menu planning is a must to stay in budget.
• I make pretty much everything from scratch. It's not much more work and it doesn't take long before you have recipes memorized and you don't have to have the recipe in front of you.
• I do not buy pre-made or prepackaged things- except for Mac & Cheese and hot dogs, but that's not often, and spaghetti sauce.
• I grind our own grain- I have no idea how to work this out cost-wise. I buy a 50# bag of each: soft wheat ($14), hard white wheat($14), hard red wheat($14) and rolled oats($30). These last about 6 to 8 months. I grind soft wheat about once every 2 weeks and have it in the freezer for baking quick breads. I bake bread=4 loaves about once a week.
• I use dry beans instead of buying cans of beans-- so much cheaper! It takes a little more time, but I try to plan it around days I know I will be home most of the time.
• Snacks are limited. On school days the boys have a snack when they get home from school- on Saturday they have a morning snack as well- but snacks are not normally much, a couple carrots, apples, oranges, muffin, a piece of toast, etc.
• We don't drink milk or pop and juice, rarely. I don't believe milk is very beneficial- so water it is!
• When cooking (except gravy) I use powdered milk. I can buy a huge box at the scratch and dent store for $4-- normally $15 at Walmart. So using 2 cups for pancakes in the morning is just pennies.
• We don't eat out. When I have a higher budget ($350/month) then we can drive-thru on Sundays- but the boys eat so much- they each need 2 burgers and they are still hungry!

I do not have any picky eaters- I am very thankful for a husband who likes pretty much everything. He won't eat mushrooms or sardines (he is totally missing out on this- oh well, more for me!), but I think he likes everything else.
I have never cooked separate meals for anyone and the kids know this, so they eat what is on the table. There are somethings I know they don't care for, so I do offer things on the side- example: Jesse doesn't care for oatmeal, so I will have toast as well; Luke doesn't care for Peanut Butter Rice, so I serve rolls with it. It's not a stress point- I want the family table to be enjoyable. I do think that because of how we do this, they have learned to not be picky and are very good eaters. Too good sometimes, it seems- but I would rather have that!
When we try a new recipe- we all vote on whether to keep it or not. When they don't like something- they are allowed to say "I don't care for this" or "This is not my favorite", so I have a good idea of what people like and try to have a verity.

We eat every meal at the table. This means we all sit down for breakfast and dinner and lunch on the weekends.

That's all I can think of right now. Hope that gives you some idea of how I work things out!