I was talking to my nail technician and she thought my $150 budget wasn't such a big deal. Apparently she doesn't spend more than $100 at the grocery store at one time and her family is the size of mine, less the large hungry every once in a while boyfriend. She screwed up her face at me like I was nuts. I said '$100 per week?" "Oh yeah, sometimes less" She quipped. "I'm not talking feeding everyone Ramin Noodles you know. I'm talking real food. No preservatives. How often do you eat out?" I asked. "Oh two, three times a week." she said as if that's what everybody does "Ah ha!" I shouted triumphantly! "The $150 includes going out for dinner, and making breakfast and lunch and snacks and Sunday Dinner." She says, "Whoa - I'm not making all of that. We grab breakfast out and buy lunch too. I'm just talking dinner groceries." Pffft...

Well I did it. And it's been a good learning experience for me. Last week was the toughest, not so much because of my stellar meal planning, but because of the rancid olive oil incident. It screwed things up royally I'm afraid. It made it so that we ate more of other things to compensate for the loss of the quinoa salad.  To be honest, I don't want to look at another chick pea for a while. And because of my schedule I didn't have time to make something else for a few days. We ran out of everything. I have a lemon in my fruit basket, yum. No bread. No eggs. Nothing quick. I was determined to make it through and we have. Really it was lunches and breakfasts that suffered. And even that wasn't the end of the world. I made up some more tuna salad, marinated vegetables in a non-rancid olive oil vinaigrette, We ate oatmeal with blackberries instead of apples. I made another batch of split pea soup. I eventually even made another quinoa salad, it didn't quite have all of the ingredients in it. Not quite as flavourful, but still tasty. We were fine.

CONFESSION: I bought $3.50 worth of food. That would put me over budget. *insert awkward pause* But again for 2 of the 4 weeks I was under budget, so I'm justifying things that way. So there. :P For my $3.50 I bought some organic oatmeal and some tomatoes to get us through the last few days. It has. I made a tasty blackberry crumble last night to go with the impromptu campfire. Yummy. It was like blackberry pie without the pie.

Oh and just so that you know, my daughter lost 5 lbs (she does not need to lose an ounce) and I gained 5 lbs. Is there any fairness in this world?????

Something else that came out of this? Lauren is really starting to look at what is in the food she eats. I'm a proud mama! She went one day without eating hardly anything (she wasn't at home) because everything she looked at was full of preservatives and chemicals. She wouldn't put it in her mouth so she went hungry. This is progress and not progress all at the same time. So we talked about wise choices that she could make while she was out. There is no need to go hungry. Which is probably why I gain 5 lbs and she loses 5 lbs. I don't do hungry.

Speaking of which, I discovered something else on this journey. So cool. You must try. Homemade Microwave Popcorn.

Buy regular kernels from the store. But some paper lunch bags from the dollar store. You have all the ingredients needed. Put 1/4 cup in a paper bag. Fold over the top a few times. Put it in the microwave and pop for 2-3 minutes. Wait until there are 2-3 seconds in between pops and pull it out.



If you want to eat it as cardboard, just put it in a bowl and enjoy. mmmm *insert eye roll* Or if you want it to actually taste like something add a bit of salt and olive oil. Or better yet, a drizzle of organic butter. Now that's yum! Top it with whatever you want. But at least now you know what's in your popcorn. No chemicals, no 'buttery' flavouring. And it's cheap and easy which is important criteria for me.

You may think I'm crazy but I'm going to continue with this budgeting thing. I may up the budget to $160 per week, but it's been so good for us as a family. As much work as it was at first it has been really freeing - which I know I keep saying but I still can't get over. I like the routine of it. So for now I'm going to stick to my envelope budget method for our preservative free food purchases.

Now I need a new challenge.  What should it be?

My mother used to say that pride was a sin, and made damn sure I didn't have any ... but that a story for the therapist.

It's week four ... hallelujah! Not that I'm complaining or anything, but finishing this challenge is going to feel good. I have to say though I am rather proud of myself. Although I haven't bought all my groceries yet for this week, I'm down to just a few items to purchase and $45 to do it with. We're good. It feels good. I did it... hopefully.

Well boys and girls it's week three. Week three means no meat left in the freezer. Week three means I'm into the cans of black beans. Week three means...work.

Last week went rather well. I spent $143, which gave me some extra for this week. Woo Hoo! Seriously. Woo Hoo!

My husband is really enjoying have so many meals prepared for him. Who wouldn't? My daughter still strays from the straight and narrow, but not at home - she wouldn't dare. She comes home and tells me about how crappy she feels when she doesn't eat properly, but somehow that doesn't stop her from loading up on junk. But, maybe, just maybe her little grey cells are picking up her whacko mom's way of eating. One can hope.

Last week I spent $2.50 on two bulbs of garlic at the Farmer's Market. I am still trying to get over that one. This week I was a little more careful. I skipped the Farmer's Market. Actually, in all fairness, it closed at 3:00 and I didn't get there until 3:15, but I still skipped going in theory.

So off to my regular super market I went with my $151.06. This week was a little easier shopping wise as I didn't have to purchase 1/2 cup of cashews, and 4 Tbsp of peanuts. After yesterday's freezer cleaning I have enough little bags of nuts, (don't go there) to last me a life time, well a few weeks at least.

Yesterday I went through my fridge freezer - I was appalled. It was packed full of unmarked 'stuff' that was unrecognizable - little packages of nuts; three, count them THREE bags of prawns (I hate seafood); some Tilapia that had seen better days (again? what's with the seafood?); tiny bags of frozen vegetables with about 1/2 cup in each one; and a Costco size hunk of prosciutto - unsliced of course and left over from some entertaining thing I did at some point (???). But the best of them all was 4 little tubs of chipotle peppers.  Those little jars have about three peppers in them and they are hot little suckers. So I tend to use only one, seal the rest up and stick 'em in the freezer ... over and over again. Am I senile? What is up with that?

I'm like Old Mother Hubbard, except its not my cupboard its my fridge. I am here to tell you that my fridge is bare. It's so bare I can list it's contents. Organic Eggs, Beef roast for tomorrow, 2-3 slices of natural ham, left over spaghetti from last night, Broccoli, Organic Celery (part of the dirty dozen), about 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1 tub of margarine that I'm too cheap to throw out, 1/2 cup organic milk, 1/4 cup of organic half 'n half for my coffee, natural peanut butter, natural jam and condiments. I should take this opportunity to clean my fridge.... ah nope ... too lazy. On my counter I have some apples and one banana in the fruit bowl. And the pantry has stuff in it ... I dunno what. I have to look ... later.

How are we to eat for the next two days you may ask? We will be having a chick pea curry for dinner using cans from the pantry (tastes better than it sounds), brown rice, frozen green beans and leftover naan bread made earlier this week and then frozen. Sunday dinner will be Roast beef, roasted organic potatoes (in the pantry), broccoli and homemade gravy. Dessert will be apple/blackberry crisp. We're covered. I have a fair bit of broccoli so I may make some broccoli soup for a lunch today. Then my fridge will really be bare.

I am also happy to report that I have not gone over budget this week. Our family ate (extremely well I might add) for $150 this week. I even have $1.06 left over. What is odd is it felt rather freeing to be so restrained. Isn't that weird? I guess its because getting groceries (something I used to do every couple of days) was now off my to do list. I didn't have to go to the grocery store - I had already spent my budget for the week, and the meals were planned. I was done. I was able to drive past the grocery store without guilt and that was in itself freeing.

Yesterday I went to the Grocery store with my $10 remaining and bought $3 worth of coffee, Organic eggs on sale for $5 and some more oatmeal to get us through breakfast the next few days. I would never do something like that (buying just a bit of coffee and oatmeal) if not on this challenge - but I was not about to go without my morning coffee - it ain't pretty.

This coming week is going to be more of a challenge. This weekend I will take stock of my pantry and anything that is left in my freezer and then look through recipes. I'll let you know what I come up with. Here's where it gets interesting (for me anyways).

Once again, the challenge is:

I will cook only -

• Preservative free Food
• Real food - no packages
  

I will purchase only -

• Organic of the (dirty dozen) fruits and veggies
  
• Locally grown produce whenever possible
  
• Naturally raised and grain fed meats and poultry whenever financially possible
  
• Free range eggs
• Organic dairy when financially possible

I will do this and feed my family of three with an added hungry and tall boyfriend every once in a while, including Sunday dinner, breakfasts, lunches, snacks, beverages and desserts for $150.00 per week. If we go out to eat it is included in the $150 budget.

I've added another recipe for you to try if you like. Only those who make it to the bottom of the this blog page get to see it - see what you get for your perseverance? Simply click on the picture for the recipe.

Tonight is Spicy Soba Noodle night. I was really looking forward to it. Quick and easy. Yummy. Then I got home. Hubby is in between jobs and has been off for a few weeks. He starts work this weekend (thank God, but don't tell him I said that). He's trying to fill his days with things to do. I keep hinting that working on the garden would be helpful, but he decided to clean the oven. We'll he's not really cleaning it, the oven is cleaning itself. But, I'm sure he felt all proud of himself for pushing the button and turning the handle.

Now it's 7:10 and I still can't access my stove. I shut it off two hours early and I'm waiting for it to cool down and work for me. I'm sorry, did he not think when he put the dang thing on at 5:00 pm with the little timer flashing at 4 hours that maybe just maybe it might cause a problem?

So, I'm blogging. Except I have nothing to say. Actually I do, I always have something to ramble on about.

Here goes the ramble ... I love it when you find something simple, safe and effective. Ladies and Gentlemen - let me introduce you to Chamomile Tea. Here are some things that I use Chamomile Tea for -

1. Drink it at night - duh
   
2. In my bath - great if your skin is irritated, itchy, sun burnt, rashes. (add some ground oatmeal and your skin will be soooooo soft)
   
3. On my hair - it lightens my hair naturally. I like that a lot!
4. For mosquito bites - I discovered that this summer actually. Mosquitoes loved me this year. Put some chamomile tea in a spray bottle. Spray it on the bite and it has something in it that actually numbs the nerve endings (which is one of the reasons it is good for a sunburn too). It would stop the itching, and believe me I had welts this summer from those blood suckers.

I love Chamomile Tea! Especially the hair part. Which reminds me of something funny that I noticed today. I was looking in the mirror and I had this reddish/pink section of hair.   It's quite something! Rather funky. Although I couldn't for the life of me figure out how my hair changed color seemingly overnight. Then it dawned on me - I cut up a beet last night for the salad at dinner (remember the beet from the farmer's market that cost an arm and a leg?). Cut up it looked like a lovely tie dye decoration from the 70's all red with white swirls but it bled like a stuck pig when I sliced it. My hands look like I had murdered something by the time I was done. I must have unwittingly touched my hair to put it behind my ear before washing my hands - and there you have it. Instant funky dye, natural and tastes good too - if you don't mind the hair. I kinda like it. I might do it on purpose one time.

Here's one final thing and it is not about food, well it is in a round about sort of way, but it's more about cleaning.

Here's a link that my sister-out-law sent me - I think it's a great site. Now I should note that I haven't tried all of the ideas here, but none of them can hurt. I will say that I've used it for uses #10, and 9 (which work great by the way) and I will NEVER admit to use #1.

Top 10 Uses for Used Coffee Grounds

Oh my, the stove can now be used, and I'm hungry. It's only 7:45. I'll be eating by 8:15/8:30. How posh.

So I'm just at the beginning of this challenge and already it's daunting. I love cooking, at least I thought I did. But I'm cheap and lazy remember? The cheap part of me is ecstatic, the lazy part not so much. This is a lot of work. Actually its just a different type of work and I need to get into a routine. The shopping took forever - my brain actually hurt at the end of it and I wanted to buy a coffee and relax, but I couldn't or I'd have to count the damn $2 and I didn't have it to spare. Today I need to make some hummus, fresh tomato soup, tuna salad and of course lunch and dinner. Plus I need to work at my own business and fit in a walk or two for me. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels - something I personally hate. I need to plan and focus on one thing at a time. After I right this, I'm scheduling things out and that will be that.

There's a piece of me that is worried about next week before I even get to it. Talk about not living in the present. I'm worried about protein mostly. One can only have so many beans and lentils. I might have a revolt at home. My freezer will be empty mostly except for a turkey, which I'm not cooking.

Again, I just need to get into a routine and get creative with my recipes. A little less meat, more other types of proteins. Any suggestions would be helpful. Like I say to my daughter, one step at a time. Focus on one thing at a time and suddenly you're done.

There was one good thing, Warde, Lauren and I had breakfast together this morning. I cooked up some oatmeal, with an apple and a few organic blueberries (blueberries are part of the dirty dozen), some flax seed and honey. There was a side of egg for some added protein to keep them going through their day. We never have breakfast together, except for Christmas. I didn't realize that until this morning. That part was kind of nice. I told them how many slices of natural ham they could have on their sandwiches (2). Lauren asked for another jar of pickles to which I had to tell her that it wasn't in the budget. That got an eye roll. Then I said all perky that I'd make up a batch of tuna salad for them too for some lunch variety. Lauren looked at me and said, "Oh! This is going to be so much fun." - she didn't mean it. To which I responded with with a smile "Just wait until you get lentils for dinner." "Oh goody." she said. We all laughed.

They are being really good about it all, but it is the first day. Warde's just happy to be saving money, typical man. Lauren is always supportive of me and my endeavors. I'm hoping we all get into

Can I feed a family of three grown-ups preservative free, non-packaged food, sometimes organic for under $21.50 a day? Three meals, plus snacks and desserts? We are about to find out.

Feeding your family with healthy preservative free food in this economy is a challenge. Everything is going up in price. And living where I do in Canada we seem to pay more for everything.

I have a family of three. We all eat for two. My husband especially - that man can eat! Of course he's the skinniest of the bunch. Although my daughter can eat her fair share and she's a skinny thing too. No wonder I hate skinny gluttons. I'm surrounded by them. Again, I digress.

I've decided I'm going to do a 4 week challenge. Here are the rules I've set for myself.

I will cook only -

• Preservative free Food
• Real food - no packages
  

I will purchase only -

• Organic (dirty dozen) fruits and veggies
  
• Locally grown produce whenever possible
  
• Naturally raised and grain fed meats and poultry whenever possible
  
• Free range eggs
• Organic dairy when possible

I will do this and feed my family of three with an added hungry and tall boyfriend every once in a while, including Sunday dinner, breakfasts, lunches, snacks, beverages and desserts for $150.00 per week. If we go out it is included in the $150 budget.

I may use items already in my fridge and freezer which will help until I get used to this budgeting. (I wish I had a garden)

This $150 does not include toiletries, alcohol (thank goodness - I'm gonna need some), pet food or other sundries.

Every Sunday I will withdraw $150 cash and put it in an envelope. That is my budget for the week. If I use it all up before the end of the week I will have to get creative with my cooking.

I will let you all know how the money was spent and the meal plan for the coming week. I will also let you know whether my meal plan was completely out to lunch (pardon the pun) and how I needed to tweak it.

Here's the plan for the next week -

Dinners for the week are:

• Red Lentil Curry, with Spinach and Homemade Naan Bread.
• Maple Pecan Chicken, with Brown Rice and Broccoli
• Spaghetti with meat sauce (ground beef from freezer), salad
• Greek Turkey Meatballs, with spicy sweet potato fries, cucumber & tomato slices
• Spicy Soba Noodles with Chicken in Peanut Sauce, Spinach
• Chick Pea Curry, Arugula, left over Naan Bread
• Roast Beef 'n gravy, roasted potatoes and Broccoli (Roast beef from freezer)
  

Desserts - Banana 'ice cream' and home made no sugar Apple Crisp

Lunches are:

• Tuna Sandwiches, mini carrots, fruit
• Fresh Tomato Soup, Natural Ham Sandwich, fruit
• Fresh Salad w/grilled chicken breast, homemade Ranch dressing, fruit
• Leftovers

Breakfasts are:

• Eggs, 'fried' potato, grapefruit
• Oatmeal with berries or apple, flax seed, cinnamon and maple syrup
• Plain Yogurt, berries, honey, flax seed and cinnamon

Snacks are:

• Whole Wheat Banana mini muffins (homemade)
  
• Homemade Hummus with veggies
• Homemade 'microwave' popcorn
• Fruit with Peanut Butter

Honestly, I hate budgets. As a bookkeeper with my own business I work with numbers all week. Adding (again pardon the pun) more numbers to my week is just nasty. But, things are tight. I'm spending too much on food. Time to tighten the reigns and what better way to be accountable than to make it public? So ... wish me luck.

Not a very funny post I know. But give me a week, this could get hysterical, or I may become hysterical. One of the two I'm sure. I'm thinking when a cauliflower can cost me $5 to purchase this is maybe harder than I realize. What I don't want to do is set myself up to fail. Fingers crossed.

                                                                       **********

UPDATE: The farmer's market is freakin' expensive! Two garlic was $2.50! I spent $12.50 for 4 carrots, 1 beet and 1/2 a bag of potatoes. What?!?! It took me forever to shop today, but I did it. I thought for sure I was over and was going to have to return a bunch of items and embarrass myself at the counter. Instead of chicken breasts we're having Chicken Thighs $9.90kg for free range. As I was running out of money I had to opt for some regular chicken - something I don't want to do - for the other meals (soba noodles and salads for lumch).

Money went like this -

$117.99 Save-on Foods
$ 20.00 Farmer's Market = potatoes, tomatoes, beet, carrots, green onions and 2 heads of garlic
$  1.99 Soba Noodles
$139.98

I've got $10 to last me through the rest of the week. Next week will be tough as I will have no extra meat to grab from the freezer. Oh boy. Beans for dinner. But that's why it's a challenge right?