Final Blog

I'm finding it too challenging to update the blog on a daily basis, and when I have to catch up, it is frusterating to go back and figure out what I've counted and what I haven't. I am continuing to track my budget goals on my personal budget software as I always have, so the blog was just a fun redundancy of my regular budget planning. However, since I'm not doing a good job keeping up on daily posts, this blog is becoming more of a chore than it is fun, and that wasn't the point! *smile*

Anyway, thanks for everyone's support, and my hat's off again to Kay for her super-stingy performance. I'm going to turn off comments now, and lay this blog to rest. Thanks again, and happy stingy futures to all! :)

Okonomiyaki (videos)

There are a bazillion and a half different recipes for okonomiyaki (which means, "whatever you like, grilled" in Japanese.) It's a cross between a savory pancake and a pizza. The fundamental ingredients are flour, water, egg and cabbage. The rest is "whatever you like" and it's really good! Here's a fun video showing how one woman makes a very basic okonomiyaki (she uses tempura batter instead of flour and she doesn't mix the egg into the batter.)



Every recipe that you find for okonomiyaki uses different amounts of flour and water. Some use dashi (fish stock) instead of water, or mix katsuobushi (fish flakes) into the water, first. Some use one egg. Some use two. Some recipes also add grated yamaimo (Japanese yam.) So you have to come up with your own preference. Ideally you're supposed to use soft flour, but I think you have to get that at a Japanese market, so I used American flour (which is a medium flour.) Notice in the video above, the woman chose to use water like I did, but sprinkled the katsuobushi on top of her okonomiyaki (that's another variation.) I used one whole egg (including the egg white) and instead of just cabbage, I used packaged coleslaw mix (two colors of cabbage plus carrot).

The toppings/mix-ins are what make okonomiyaki fun.

Ideas are:

Chicken
Roast pork or beef: thinly sliced or ground
Corn
Mushrooms
Leek or green onion
Prawn
Tuna
Squid*, Octopus*, other seafood
Bonito*
Katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)*
Sakuraebi (dried shrimp)*
Benishoga (red ginger)*
Aonori (green seaweed)*

*available at Japanese markets

Once one side of the okonomiyaki is cooked, you sprinkle whatever you want (see above) into the still-wet batter, then flip it and finish cooking it. I made mine plain the first time. Other options are to sprinkle your extra ingredients onto the wet part, then layer even more batter on top, then flip it, as can be seen in the video below...



Once the okonomiyaki is finished - all golden brown and wonderful - then you have to garnish it. You definately want to drizzle on some mayonnaise and brown okonomiyaki sauce (available at Japanese markets.) If you can't find okonomiyaki sauce, you can use tonkatsu sauce, which is available at most mainstream grocery stores in the Asian foods section. I used tonkatsu, and it was delicious.

I really want to find a Japanese market, because I would like to try putting katsuobushi and aonori on top, as those seem to be favorities in a lot of recipes.

I think it would be really cool if anyone wants to try this and let me know how you made it and what worked well for you!

Today I spent $8.68 on groceries. Still $191.32 left to go on the new goal.

If you haven't gotten your fill of Japanese videos, you may get a kick out of this one, too (and more ideas for okonomiyaki)...



Enjoy!

NEW GOAL! (and minestrone recipe)

So, Kay is on vacation and is going to two weddings, so as of yesterday her spending crept up to $774.25. I went to the grocery store again yesterday, so I've spent a total of $705.35. You'd think that I would finally be excited to be beating her (at last), but she says she's going to spend more than she normally would since she's on vacation. Well, poo... that's not challenging. Congrats to Kay for kicking my butt for most of the month.

My new goal, starting today, is to spend less than $200 from now until the end of the month! For this goal, I'm not counting gasoline because I don't have an accurate breakdown of my gas expenditure vs. my husband's, so I'm not confident about what would be a reasonable goal.

However, a couple of years ago, I took a challenge to make it through the month spending only $500 for food and entertainment and non-absolutely vital expenses. Half of that is $250, and there's half a month left in July, so I think $200 is a great challenge.

I'm not counting my utility bills or other monthly bills. This is for everything else... even things like socks!

The Mega Meatloaf is making great leftovers for lunches. By the way, meatloaf makes a great sandwich if you layer it with the mashed potatoes and some raw spinach. I like to toast the bread, first. For dinner last night I made Italian Minestrone Soup and it's REALLY YUMMY, healthy, and CHEAP!

1 med. onion, chopped
1/4 c. celery leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
1 c. chopped carrot
1 c. chopped celery
1 (28 oz.) can tomatoes with liquid
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 c. beef stock or broth
1 c. red wine
1 zucchini, sliced
1 1/2 c. chopped cabbage
1 (14-16 oz.) can white beans or pinto or kidney beans
1 c. elbow macaroni
Water or V-8 juice
Pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. oregano

Saute onion, garlic and celery leaves in olive oil until onions are clear, 5 to 10 minutes. Add chopped carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef stock, wine, bay leaves, oregano and pepper. Simmer until carrots are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add zucchini and cabbage and simmer until they are tender. You may need to add 1 to 2 cups more water or V-8 juice to get desired consistency. Add beans and macaroni and cook until tender. Serve with Parmesan cheese. You can vary this recipe with other beans, vegetables or rice.

I like to keep little single-serving bottles of cheap red wine in the pantry for recipes like this, or stroganoff, etc. This recipe made a huge batch of soup, so hopefully it will last a while. I've got 15 more days and only $200 to stretch to feed and entertain my family of four (and three high maintenance cats)!

MEGA MEATLOAF!!! (my own recipe!)

I got it in my head to make my own meatloaf... my own recipe, I mean. Now this is kind of a big deal, because whenever I (rarely) invent my own stuff, it doesn't usually turn out too well, so I tend to stick to recipes, even for pretty basic things. I'll admit that I borrowed the baking temperature and estimated time from other people's recipes, but the ingredients are all mine.

Mix together:
2 pounds of ground beef
5 tablespoons of brown sugar
A whole lot of ketchup
A cup or two of oats
half of a large onion, chopped very fine
A very generous amount of Worcestershire (I love that stuff)
several dashes of Italian seasoning
garlic salt
an egg
a little milk

There was so much, I had to put it in an 8x11 inch pan (sprayed with cooking oil spray, first). It was BIG! (That's why I call it Mega Meatloaf...hee hee). I then sprinkled brown sugar all over the top and squirted ketchup over the top (in lines, back and forth) kind of like how you might frost a toaster strudel. Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until done.

Serve with mashed potatoes and green beans. Everyone loved it, including the kids! Hooray!

For entertainment today, I babysat 5 other kids in addition to mine at a local park. The ages of all the kids were: 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, and 8. PHEW! We were there for a total of three hours. Then, if that wasn't enough, tonight my own kids bounced on a trampoline in the evening. What a day. No money spent! As of yesterday, Kay has spent $584.26. She's creeping up to where I'm at. Did I just hop out of the gates like a rabbit? I think that 4th of July weekend is what got me. Now it's getting close again...

Leftover-palooza

Friday was leftover enchiladas. Saturday was pizza from Papa Murphy's ($14.98). Today is leftover pizza and I'm also going to make myself scrambled eggs with chopped onions in corn tortillas to use up the leftover ingredients from the enchiladas. We have carrots and bell pepper strips and snap peas for snacks. For dessert tonight we're making chocolate chip cookies with ice cream and chocolate sauce on top.

Activities for the past few days:

*Pete did some papier-mâché with the boys and also convinced them to help trade in some bottles and cans. They used the money to get happy meals and play at the McDonalds playland. Pete bought a burger and soda for himself, but since Kay's not counting her husband's spending, I'm not counting Pete's (although fear of public scrutiny might be good for him...hee hee.)

*Today we went to a union picnic at Oaks Park. The traffic and parking was horrible, but the day was absolutely FREE! We had bbq hot dogs and hamburgers and lemonade (Pete had soda) and ice cream sandwiches and fudge bars, and lots of rides for the kids, and balloon critters for the kids...all free! Being stuck in the car for so long, we got hungry again so we drove through Burger King and got just enough food for all four of us so that we wouldn't be starving ($4.47).

Groceries, including sunscreen for the family and stocking up on little bottles of water and a bunch of super cheap soda for Pete was $57.76. I think this guy could get into the Guiness Book for all the soda he drinks, or should get some kind of sponsorship from Diet Coke. He could be the next Jared, but instead of Subway, he could be the Diet Coke spokesperson. Heh.

If I were more concerned about beating Kay, I'd just let Pete get his soda from the convenience stores (so it wouldn't count) but I'm more concerned with my overall family budget, and getting discount cans of soda and using re-usable ice saves a bunch of money... so, that goes into the grocery budget and counts against me in my battle against Kay. Oh well.

Total spent: $658.83. As of Friday, Kay had spent $532.97.

Enchiladas and Scandinavian Pecan Cookies

Yesterday was uneventful. We ate leftover lasagna and more Valdosta salad. Today I made my specialty...my enchiladas (which we ate with more Valdosta salad, of course, and I am now officially burned out on the stuff.)

1 lb jack cheese shredded
1 large onion, chopped
green chili enchilada sauce
corn tortillas

Dump a little bit of the green chili sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish to thinly coat it. Caramelize onion in skillet, then mix into jack. Heat corn tortillas in the microwave, a few at a time to make them pliable enough to roll without breaking. Roll a little cheese mixture into each corn tortilla (leaving ends open) and lay the rolls into the pan. Squish as many into the pan as you can. Turn some the other direction to fill in all the blank spaces. Top the enchiladas with the rest of the sauce so that they're all wet and sprinkle with whatever remaining shredded cheese there is. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through. Serve with spanish rice.

I like to mix in some chopped, cooked fresh spinach (not frozen, because the texture is not as good) into the cheese & onion mix, and I'll sometimes serve it with shredded lettuce and chopped tomato on top (maybe even with a dollop of sour cream) but this time we skipped all of that because of the Valdosta salad.

Entertainment/dessert was making Scandinavian Pecan Cookies...

In a large mixing bowl, cream 1 cup of softened butter and 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in one egg yolk. Gradually add 2 cups of all-purpose flour until blended. (We used whole wheat flour and no problem with this recipe).

Shape into 1-inch balls. In a small bowl, beat on egg white. Dip balls in egg white (stop laughing), then roll in 1/2 cup of finely chopped pecans. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets (we use Silpat which I very highly recommend...it's next to impossible to burn cookies on a Silpat). Flatten slightly. Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks.

I'm going to try to find some healthier dessert recipes. I really don't like having so much sugary stuff around the house. Holy cow these cookies taste like pure brown sugar. Good, but wowza they're sweet...definately need some tea or coffee or milk to go with them.

I've been coasting on what we have stocked up from all of the grocery trips (although we're out of the staples again, like milk and bread.)

Kay had to get diapers. Ah ha! That's one area that I can definately beat her in. My kids may eat more, but I don't have to buy diapers any more! Yippee! As of yesterday, Kay has spent $495.48, so she's still beating me by $86.14. Reading her blog, I seriously think, now, that she gets waaaay better gas mileage than I do. Damn, I'm going to have to suck it up and deal with it - there's no room in the budget for a hybrid or a motorcycle. It's times like these that I really wish there was some kind of public transportation in this town! Maybe I should get a bike. Hmmmm...nothing in the budget for a bike, either.

I noticed that people who voted in my gas poll pay about half as much as I do (the $600 figure came from me, if you count both me and Pete - he has to drive a lot for his job, and yes, we've looked into carpooling...there's just no one on the same route as he is.) If only the Xebra wasn't a pile of crap, I'd get one in a heartbeat...somehow. Electric cars are awesome. I rode in one in high school (I was the public relations crew chief for our high school electric vehicle racing team.) Electric cars are super, super quiet. It's a really nice ride. If only they'd go faster than 35 mph-ish. (Yeah, so the EV races were not very fast...hey we didn't claim to be NASCAR or something.) Heh.

Milk 101

Never mind about the recipe. Sorry. I mean, I could post the recipe for lasagna... or you could just get it off the back of the lasagna noodle box. *wink* We're eating more spinach salad with Valdosta. Many months ago, Sahale Snacks were on sale - a really good sale, so I stocked up on them. Then I forgot I had them. Then I rediscovered them.... and also discovered that they're all about to expire...

*sigh*

So we're trying to eat as much spinach salad with Valdosta, olive oil and balsamic vinegar as we can. I don't really care for any of the other Sahale Snacks, but the Valdosta is simply awesome.

We made a big WinCo grocery run ($62.86), but there are some drawbacks to WinCo. First of all, they don't carry everything I want, like dishwasher detergent tablets. We also noticed that a lot of the food there is really close to expiration - much closer than you'd find at other slightly more expensive grocery stores. As I watched some of the other families checking out with their shopping carts loaded to the brim, I couldn't help but wonder if they realized that some of their food was going to expire before they ate all of it (unless they were going to freeze a lot of it.) I've kind of noticed, though, that a lot of people don't pay very close attention to expiration dates. I can think of several times, at several different people's houses where I was offered expired food. Once, I was given string cheese that was several months expired.

I get kind of icked out by poor food safety and sanitation. Granted, a lot of "infractions" aren't going to kill anyone. In fact, most of the time no one is even going to get sick (although I think that cheese might have gotten me sick.) It's still not good for you, though. People consume a lot of rancid food without realizing it. I also knew a gal who would thaw meat by putting it on the counter in the morning and using it for her evening meal. I never wanted to have dinner over there because I just couldn't eat the meat that I knew was sitting out all day.

Oh, the other drawback to WinCo is that not everything is cheaper there. Pip is lactose intolerant, so we have to get him the more expensive lactose-free milk. Fred Meyer seems to have their generic lactose-free milk on perma-sale. It's always cheaper there. My soy milk is cheaper at Fred Meyer, too.

We're kind of a picky family when it comes to milk. There are just so many downsides to soy (in spite of what the soy industry's well-funded marketing efforts would have us all believe)... okay, so there are benefits to soy, but there are a lot of downsides too, such as soy's mineral-binding ability and its calcium-absorption-blocking-ability, not to mention the links to breast cancer, and the high amounts of plant hormones (a baby who consumes all soy baby formula is consuming the equivalent in plant hormones as consuming a birth control pill each day)...just to name a few things. My soy formula fed kid had cavities by the time he was two years old and my breast fed kid has perfect strong teeth. My cavity kid also ate a lot of refined sugar in his early years, too, though. The dentist did say, though, that his teeth didn't appear to have formed as strongly as they should have, likely from a lack of calcium. He also has a discoloration on one of his little teeth.

Anyway, in spite of the problems with soy, I drink it myself because after breastfeeding two children, I am disturbed by the idea of drinking an animal's breast milk. It's just weird to me, now. And Pete won't drink anything other than whole milk because of how milk proteins are denatured when the fat content is altered. So we have to have at least three different kinds of milks in the house at all times. Puck happens to be allergic to milk (which is different from Pip's lactose intolerance) so, in theory, he shouldn't be drinking milk at all, but he's asymptomatic so we let it slide.

If anyone cares, lactose is milk sugar, and if you're lactose intolerant, that means that you don't have enough of the lactase enzyme in your gut to digest the lactose... hence, you are "lactose intolerant." To be allergic to milk means that your body has an allergic reaction to the milk protein. It's two totally and completely different things, and yet it shocks me how many people I run into who think that people who are lactose intolerant are "allergic to milk." Many babies start out allergic to milk and actually grow out of the allergy (or at least grow out of the symptoms). Interestingly, the reverse is true of lactose intolerance. As we age, we all become more and more lactose intolerant because we have less and less lactase in our guts as we get older. Perhaps that's another reason for adults to consume the evil soy milk. *shrug* There are folks out there who advocate that humans be completely milk free, but there is no way that I am going to eat enough kale or sardines to get the calcium I need. Sorry, milk is easy. Perhaps the ease will kill me in the long run. *shrug*

I spent $19.50 on the things at Fred Meyer that I didn't (or couldn't) get at WinCo. Pete bought some artificial, re-usable ice cubes from The Container Store so we could save money on ice for $4.99. I had to fill up on gas: $54.20. Total spent overall is: $581.62. As of yesterday, Kay has spent $276.16. How is this woman eating steaks for dinner and still beating me? It must be the cats and the kids. I know she's due to fill up on gas soon... she drove all the way out to the coast this past weekend.

The best day of his life

I've been working a lot, so I'll squeeze in two unexciting days into one blog. Check back tomorrow, late, for a recipe.

Yesterday Pete took the boys to Burger King playland (it's so big, you have to pay to play) but they didn't buy any food, so it was just $2. Pete also rented them a movie for $2.99 and stopped at the grocery store where he spent $13.82. Dinner was leftover goulash.

Today I took the boys to a park and then to the public pool with Kay and her kids. Pool admission for me and the boys was $8.00. I guess that's cheap compared to some entertainment, but it feels expensive to me. I remember when I was a kid it was something like a quarter to get into the public pool. It seems like everything is so darned expensive these days! It was cheaper for Kay because kids under 2 are free.

I've been wondering if I should give myself a handicap in this "contest" *chuckle* because Kay's kids are younger than mine, in many cases she would be charged less than I would. That includes groceries. Her baby is breastfed, and breastmilk is free! Pete also brings his lunch everyday, but Kay says her husband eats out about twice a week (she's not counting her husband's spending) so that would increase my grocery budget as well. She also doesn't have cats. Or maybe I'm just looking for excuses to justify why she's royally kicking my butt right now. Heh.

As of yesterday, she's spent $257.66. My blog is a day ahead of hers, and I've spent $440.07. Tonight we're having leftover goulash again. Tomorrow I'm starting the WinCo plan for groceries that I mentioned in the last blog post. I'll send Pete to work with a grocery list, and he'll stop on the way home.

I'm going to have to come up with even cheaper entertainment. I thought the public pool was a good bet, but after the fact, I don't know if I got my $8 worth. The boys loved it, though - Pip said, "This is the best day of my life!" Well, okay, I guess the "best day of his life" is worth eight bucks...hee hee.

Fireworks and fudge sauce!

JULY 4th

We managed to stretch $37 over seven hours at an Independence Day carnival. That includes parking, admittance, rides, games, food, etc.

Activities: playground, exhibits, vendor booths (window shopping), sack race (both kids got a prize - Puck won the race and got two prizes), concerts, carnival rides, carnival game, fireworks

How did we stretch it? Mostly by packing a large picnic that would last us 7 hours so we could avoid the outrageously priced carnival food. We packed:
*sandwiches
*peanuts
*raisins
*apricots
*graham crackers
*grapes
*cucumber slices
*water
*juice boxes
*vitamin water

We also allowed the boys to buy something from the vendor booths with their own pocket money (Puck had a dollar in coins, Pip had a dollar bill) so they had to take some time to consider their purchases carefully, which I think was a good lesson. Pip bought a wand and turned everyone and everything into rabbits. Puck bought a finger flashlight.

Lastly, when we were in the carnival, we explained to the boys how much we were willing to spend and let them choose how they'd like to allocate the money (prompted with a suggestion) and they agreed to pick 3 rides and one game. It took some time walking and browsing the rides (the browsing in and of itself is free fun) and they were careful to pick only their absolute favorites, which I think was another good lesson and they also savored each one more, I think. The game they played had a guaranteed prize every time (giant inflatable Spiderman mallets.) That worked out well because then they spent time chasing each other and whacking each other (they're still whacking each other and other imaginary things throughout the house, a full day later.)

I did have to purchase a day pack and some ponchos (because the weather report said rain) but I only spent $19.00 on all of that and those are things we can use again and again.

JULY 5th

I played with the boys in the yard while Pete did yard work. The weather was overcast and perfect for our much neglected yard. The boys and I made a SUPER YUMMY dessert and Pete and the boys played video games.

Dinner: Goulash

Mix together cooked elbow macaroni, browned ground hamburger, diced tomatoes, and any kind of cheese (cubed mozzarella works well) and corn. Amount of each ingredient depends on your own preferences. Serve warm or cold.

Dessert: Chocolate Cake with Fudge Sauce

1 package (3.4 ounces) chocolate pudding/pie filling mix
2 cups milk
1 pakcage (18-1/4 ounces) chocolate cake mix
SAUCE:
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fresh mint, optional

*In a heavy saucepan or microwave, prepare pudding with milk according to package directions for pudding. Pour into mixing bowl; add dry cake mix and beat until well blended.

*Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched and edges pull away from sides of pan. Cool on a wire rack.

* For sauce, in a heavy saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Stir in evaporated milk and sugar until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 8 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Serve warm sauce over cake. Serve with mint if desired. (We served it with ice cream, of course!)

Holy cow, that is a good dessert. The sauce is amazing and the texture of the cake is sinful.

Total spent on groceries these last couple days was $40.52. Total spent overall is: $413.26. Crap. Time for a new game plan on the groceries. We've been making pretty cheap meals, but we're going to have to find a way to bring the grocery budget down even more. There's a WinCo on Pete's way home from work, so I'm going to brainstorm the meals and relay the grocery list to him, and he'll pick up cheaper stuff on the way home.

Definately no more movies (unless maybe we go to the drive-in). Wall-e was a great movie that the whole family enjoyed, but at $28 for a matinée, vs $37 for nearly a whole day of entertainment on the Fourth of July, I just don't think going out to the movies is a good value. I feel like I was taken to the cleaners. Next time we'll wait for it to come out on video and enjoy it at home. Heck, for $28 we could have bought the movie (and then some) and the boys could watch it over, and over, and over again. Oh well.

Wall-e

Pete was sent home early today (with pay) as a reward for everyone's hard work. We were kind of bummed to watch everyone on the road, heading out of town to start their 4th of July weekend, knowing that we're just going to be bumming it at home for the most part, so we spoiled ourselves and went to see Wall-e at the movie theater. Normally we'd go to the drive-in (and have a great long evening of fun for only $14 - double feature!). Wall-e was playing there last weekend, though, not this weekend. So we had to drop a whopping $28 to take the whole family to the regular theater (and that was a matinée, even!)

We did sneak in two bottles of water and two juice boxes (that we had from home) and a box of candy ($1.69) that we all shared. Okay, I know it's wrong. I'm sorry! I just can't bear to pay $3.00 for a tiny box of candy, or $4.00 for a large soda. (Forgive me Jebus!)

Then the boys played in the backyard for a while and then we lit off the remainder of their fireworks. Dinner tonight was stew.

Slice up: two carrots, three celery stalks, three gold/yellow potatoes, and one big onion. Toss the veggies in a crock pot with some stew meat and a can or two of diced (or stewed) tomatoes, and a can of tomato paste. You can basically use whatever veggies you want and however many you want, so long as they'll fit in your crock pot. Mine is pretty big. It's oval shaped, not round. Some veggies work better than others. You have to experiment. Fresh always tastes better than canned (except for the tomatoes -- you should used canned tomato products because it's a more intense tomato flavor.) Then season to taste with garlic salt and chili powder. Canned green chilies also taste good in this (we used diced tomatoes with green chilies.) Cook for 6 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Serve with bread or tortillas.

Total spent today was $29.69. Total spent overall is $316.74. As of yesterday, Kay has only spent $184.11. She's heading to the coast for this weekend, so I know she'll have to fill up. Although, by watching her blog and all the driving she does and how little gas she'd used, I wonder if my car is holding late night gasoline parties and sharing its gas with the neighbors or something.

We have a ton of food, now, after all the grocery shopping I've done over the last few days. Time to make it count and let her spending creep past me.

I probably won't blog tomorrow. Check back on July 5th! Happy Independence Day to everyone!

Orange Applesauce Cupcakes

I got gas today... 3/4 of a tank because I was heading to Portland to get a Bowen treatment. Gas was $51.84. Ouch. I also went to the store again because I realized that we were out of cat litter and cat food (and the kittehz won't wait) and I also needed to stock up on some woman products that were on sale and the boys needed no-tears bath soap, and etc, etc. Plus I needed some ingredients for tonight's entertainment (below) which included the purchase of a silicone cupcake baking pan. I couldn't stand to use the old, rusty one any more and I figured I'll be saving money on cupcake liners in the long run. So, unfortunately, groceries were: $61.65.

For tonight's entertainment, the boys and I made some fairly healthy cupcakes (if you don't count all the sugar, of course.)

Orange Applesauce Cupcakes

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream 6 tablespoons of softened butter and 1 cup of packed brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in one egg. Beat in 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce, one teaspoon of vanilla extract and one teaspoon of grated orange peel. In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Gradually add the dry mix to the creamed mixture until blended and then stir in 1/2 cup of chopped pecans.

2. Fill paper lined muffin cups (or greased muffin cups) half full. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

3. For frosting, in a small mixing bowl, cream 1/4 cup of softened butter and 2 cups of confectioner's sugar until light and fluffy. Add one and a half teaspoons of grated orange peel and 2 to 4 teaspoons of orange juice to achieve desired spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes.

For some reason my cupcakes came out crumbly, but I think that may have been because I cheated and melted the butter (because I had forgotten to leave it out to soften.) Either that or it was because we used whole wheat flour instead of white. Still pretty tasty and I would try it again. After the cupcakes, we shot off some fireworks in the street (it's legal in our state). The kids had bought a package of fireworks with their own money, so I'm not couting that.

However, I will count the alarm clock that I bought for Puck for $9.99. He's going through a phase where he really, really needs to feel like he has some control over his life. It had occurred to me not too long ago to get him one of those oversized calendars like teachers use and teach him how to use a calendar. We went through the year, especially this month, and we talked about upcoming events and activities and important dates, and he came up with pictures to draw on those days so he'd know what to expect. He refers to the calendar quite a bit and I've noticed that he's been a lot calmer and happier and more cooperative. The other night, he was really upset because the evening didn't go as he expected and bedtime snuck up on him, so it occurred to me to get him a wall clock (analog, because it's more visual). He really wanted an alarm clock, so I got him an old-fashioned wind-up clock that he keeps by his bed. He took to it really quickly. I explained to him how to read the clock earlier today when we bought it, and tonight, he walked up to his dad and informed him that it was 9 o'clock (he was right.) We had to stay up a little later to let it get dark enough to light off the fireworks.

Total spent today was $123.48. Holy crap. #@%$ing gas! (I should probably curse the cats, too...well, and myself for getting the silicone cupcake pan, but we will use that pan over and over and it won't get rusty like the other one.)

Total spent overall: $287.05. Rats.

Kay has spent $171.11, but she's not blogging at the same time of day as me, so I'm a day ahead.

Oh, for dinner we ate whatever... confetti spaghetti, or the rotisserie chicken I had a coupon for (with more of the spinach and Valdosta salad that I've blogged about before.)

Confetti Spaghetti

Monday the boys and I went to a public water feature and fountain area for about an hour and then an adjacent park for another hour with a picnic lunch. Dinner was confetti spaghetti.

Confetti Spaghetti

*one pound ground beef
*multi-colored bow-tie pasta (or spaghetti or whatever pasta)
*pasta sauce
*broccoli slaw mix (it's meant to be made into coleslaw but it's made with shredded broccoli bottoms, and it comes in a ready-to-make package)

Basically you prepare dinner like you would a normal spaghetti with meat dinner, but boil the broccoli slaw mix with the noodles (there's no mayo or anything in that mix, it's just raw veggies).


Tuesday I took the boys to the library and then we played at a nearby park. For dinner, we took the boys to McDonald's $1.25 Happy Meal night. Yeah, I really wanted to avoid even more McDonalds *sigh* but it's cheap and there are always tons of kids in the play area for Happy Meal night. The boys have a blast. Total cost (including one dollar sandwiches for me & Pete, and his soda) was $5.50.

Had to get some more groceries, including some bulk stuff like bottles of water for these hot days, and some really good meat coupons that we needed to use before they expired. Over both days we spent $81.80 in groceries.

So, so far I've spent $163.57. As of yesterday, Kay has spent $138.11. Don't know what she spent today. I haven't filled up on gas yet, and she has, so I may fall behind fast here pretty soon. However, I have a TON of food in my house right now, including a lot of leftover confetti spaghetti. So, I may be able to coast for a little while.