My goal? Feed my family for $2 per person, per day ($140 a week). See my right sidebar for links to each week!

Last week I asked for tilapia recipes - and got some great ones! I planned on making stuffed tilapia, but ran out of time. Then I thought of fried, but ran out of time. By the time I got dinner in the oven, I just put the fish, sliced onions, and dotted with butter. I even forgot to salt and pepper it. It still turned out pretty good.

Why did I run out of time? Someone set the grass around the bayou behind our house on fire. It ended up getting put out with our garden hose, handed over the fence to a policeman, before the fire department showed up.

And then every kid in the neighborhood showed up to find out what happened.

The bayou is where my kids catch their critters.

Then they put them in my mixing bowls.


I spent $98.01. Mostly due to procrastination - I put off going to the store. My "spending week" runs roughly Wednesday to Wednesday, with most of the shopping done over the weekend for the following week. So the shopping for Week 14, Apr. 5-11, took place between Apr. 1-7.

I got:
32 corn dogs, 4# tator tots, half gallon blueberry ice cream, 24 pack ice cream cones, 16 oz. minimarshmallows, 3 rotisserie chickens, 1 loaf whole wheat bread, 1 loaf french bread (no energy to make bread this week.)

84 oz. oatmeal, 18 oz. Kashi Go Lean cereal, 4 boxes whole wheat angel hair, 28 oz. spaghetti sauce, 26 oz. salsa, 64 oz grape jam, 10 oz. blackberry fruit spread, 34 oz. peanut butter, 2 cans pineapple chunks, 1 can mandarin oranges, 2 large jars unsweetened applesauce, 24 oz. raisins

7 doz. eggs, 1# reduced fat cream cheese, 1 qt. half and half

6 mangoes, 3# bananas, large jar of minced garlic, 4# frozen broccoli, 1# frozen green beans, 1# strawberries... some other stuff too but once again, receipt is missing. I'm not the most organized woman, ok?

We're eating:
Saturday, Apr 4 - menu changed, had birthday dinner for X.
corndogs, tator tots, green beans, fruit salad, and cupcakes.

Sunday, Apr. 5 - oatmeal
taco beans and rice w/cheese
corned beef, cabbage, potatoes

Monday, Apr. 6- Dutch baby (eggs are on sale!), orange wedges
spaghetti, apples
chicken, broccoli, french bread, strawberries (plans changed and we were running errands until 8 pm)

Tues, Apr. 7- oatmeal (I'm so predictable)
Homemade version of Spaghettios
White bean pasta with peppers and onions (frozen) More errands, since every place we went on Monday had just closed as we pulled into the parking lot. Yes, three times! So we went out to eat, which blew our entertainment budget for April.

Wed, Apr 8- pumpkin waffles or pancakes kids ate leftovers from restaurant. The kid meals were HUGE!
egg sandwiches, orange wedges
bow tie pasta primavera (just had the girls, the boys went to chess club with husband dear)

Thurs, Apr 9- oatmeal
peanut butter and jelly, cantaloupe
chicken fettucine alfredo, steamed broccoli, strawberry shortcake for dessert (husband dear surprised me!)

Fri, Apr 10- Good Friday -
toast, apples
macaroni and cheese w/peas and carrots, mangoes
burrito bowls (black beans, rice, guacamole, pico, cheese, etc. The kids liked it so much they wanted it again.)

Sat, Apr 11- Pancakes (maybe) or Dutch baby
leftovers
not planned yet due to grocery store procrastination

Look for egg salad sandwiches every day next week... actually, it's not that bad. My kids like hard boiled eggs!

One last peek into our family life:

Labels: cooking, Family Life, Food Stamp Challenge