re-thinking frugal

We have been re-thinking frugal around here.
Well, the kids haven't.
They are impossible to deal with sometimes.
These children continue to believe there is an endless supply of
free money coming from...somewhere.
Actually, I have moments that I pretend to believe that too.
That's a whole other problem.
Lucy did say the other day,
"I need to turn off the TV to save some electricity."
Thata girl.
Perhaps we are getting through to them.
At least the little one.
Maybe.

I've been focusing on groceries the last couple of months.
According to this site, one can widdle-down the food budget
to $50 per person, per month.
At first, I was like...okie dokie...I can do that.

Well, it turns out that, okie dokie...I CAN'T do that.
I think we are spending around $75 per person, per month.
Although...if I were to dig a little deeper in my research,
I'm sure I'd find two boys who are each consuming
about $140 each...and two tiny girls, $10.

So anyway,
I'm NOT a coupon gal.
I've tried.
It doesn't work for me.
For many, many reasons.
Don't make me list them all here.

But suffice it to say that if I do come upon a coupon for something
that we use/consume on a regular basis, I will do my darndest
to use it at my next shopping trip.
So that generally shaves off about 75 cents a month on my
total food bill.
That kind savings is padding our retirement quite nicely.

Ok so, do you all have any idea how much you spend each
month on food?
Do you try to stay within a strict budget?


Please tell me your magic formulas for keeping your food costs
super low.

Please tell me you have magic formulas. Please.

homemade convenience foods

It's been a while since I've done a frugal post.

So, I'd say it's time.

This subject always strikes a chord in some of you thrifty gals.
I just love that.

Since we homeschool all four kids,
(All.four.hungry.kids.)

*Mercy be*

and two of them being teenage BOYS,

lunchtime is an issue.

*side note: my punctuation was out of control in that last "sentence."

We need quick-fix mid-day meals, but unfortunately,
that usually leads to convenience foods,
aka, pre-packaged, calorie-loaded, obscene amounts of fat,
salt and other things I won't even attempt to pronounce,
(not to mention high $).

But still,
we eat them.

So in an attempt to pry ourselves away from
this cycle of chemical dependence,
I spent two+ hours of my life (that I'll never get back)
frying chicken strips.
Some were for dinner that night,
and the rest I froze individually, then put in a zip-lock
bag so we can pull them out and eat conveniently for lunches.

I was fairly to highly disappointed when all my efforts only
filled one gallon-size bag.


And it left me in a whirl of wonder if I saved any money at all.

Just so you know, as much as I went out of my way to take the above
pic without my kids seeing, in a desperate effort to save myself from harassment,
Nick saw it on my camera and did the obligatory
teenager eye-rolling.

But...
at least they taste dee-licious.
I really do have a knack for fried chicken.

Anyway...
I'd love to hear some of YOUR similar ideas!


~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And only because I know some of you will ask,
here's my "recipe" (it's not an exact science):

Mix a gob of flour (white or wheat, or both),
salt, pepper, LOTS of Cajun seasoning.

Cut chicken breasts into strips,
roll in flour,
then in an egg/milk mixture.

Then back into the flour mixture.

Fry in a generous amount of canola oil
in a cast-iron skillet.

Put fried chicken on a wire rack with a pan underneath
to catch excess grease.
*This is essential to them staying as crispy as possible*

If necessary,
just before serving, pop in the oven, under the broiler
to re-heat a bit.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Now don't forget to give me some of your ideas, OK?

Oh and one last thing...I should note that I DO realize
that fried chicken is far from healthy.
But it's a better alternative than pre-packaged chicken
nuggets, which my kids tend to eat a lot of.