Day 7

For breakfast...oatmeal again but I should mention that we soak our oatmeal overnight. One small rice cup of oatmeal is just the right amount for the two of us in the morning. Soaking it makes the oats creamier and easier to eat.

Lunch: Hubby got leftovers from dinner. I had an apple and a bun from yesterday. That obviously wasn't enough for me because I was starving by the time I got home and ate 3 more buns over the course of the evening. Ditto for hubby. Whoops. On the bright side, the buns were still decently soft.

Dinner: I felt inspired to make comfort food because of this crazy weather today so I made some hot, soothing Corn Chicken. I don't know what else to call it haha. It is fresh corn, zuchinni, onion, diced chicken (two thighs--from the fancy chicken I butchered earlier this week) and stir-fried it with some broth to make a creamy Chinese style casserole dish. As a side, I also stir-fried some jade beans and carrots. Doesn't look fancy--in fact, it looks down right cafeteria disgusting in this picture but imagine it all nice and colorful, like it was in real life. It was also hot and soothing with lots of sauce--perfect for a dark and stormy night.



Tomorrow's lunch shall be leftovers for the Hubby and for me as well except mine is served over shirataki noodles. Since I deboned the chicken thighs, I took that opportunity to make a quick chicken broth out of it by simmering it with some leftover onion tops, carrot peelings, bean ends, and corn cobs. The corn cobs made it distinctly sweet and corny but I can make great use out of it another time.

Total amount spent today: $0
Estimated cost of Dinner: $.25 (2.5 ears of corn) + $2 (2 chicken thighs @ $8/chicken that I cut into 8 pieces) + $.50 (est. cost for 2 cups rice) + $5.00 (2 packs of shirataki noodles) = $7.75.

This is enough for dinner and lunch AND a heaping serving of dinner for my brother (with his own pack of noodles). So really...if I hadn't delivered take-out to my brother tonight, that would have given us 2 extra servings making it a grand total of $1.29 per serving. We were in the 'hood so we thought he'd like a healthy and nutritious meal from his big sister.

I did not account for breakfast (just oatmeal), lunch (leftovers--already accounted for), or random extras from dinner because some were leftovers or fresh (and free!) from my momma's garden.

Day 6

Breakfast: same ole
Lunch: Last of the spaghetti (thank GOODNESS)
Snack: half a macaron & a quarter of a lemon tart from Bouchon in Napa Valley (courtesy of a most beloved sis-in-law).

Dinner: I was craving Jiajangmian but we didn't have the bean sauce at home. Not to be deterred, I made my own version of it with onion, zucchini, Chinese black beans, and tofu. The noodles were from hubby's parent's company--lovely spinach noodles!



I got inspired by one of my friend's pictures of Asian pastries from Vegas and really wanted to try my hand at making some of them. Originally, I just wanted to make Asian style bread--bread that is pillowy, soft, with a fine crumb. You know, the kind used to make brick toast at tea houses. Well...as luck would have it, I stumbled upon gold...I figured out how to make Asian pastries! Yayzers!!

Behold--this is supposed to be "catepillar" buns but we don't have any hotdogs at home so I subb'd it with Spam. Not the healthiest but I plan to give most of these away.



See! Soft and fluffy! It is supposed to stay soft and fluffy overnight too. We'll see if that is the case tomorrow. If it does, then I think I have a winner on my hands.



Here is another variation--I got a little bored so I added some fresh corn and tried out a circular design.



Estimated Cost of Buns: $3 for 10

Day 5

Our meal schedule got completely turned around today. The first night the kidlets were here, they did not sleep well so the following night, they snoozed for nearly 11 hours. We ate an early "brunch" of oatmeal today. The kids ran around a lot so every hour or so, they came running to me claiming near death by starvation. Between brunch and dinner, I fed the kiddies apples, bread with peanut butter, one blueberry muffin, and string cheese. For dinner, the kids and hubby ate their weight in spaghetti with bolognese sauce while I had some shirataki noodles with broth.

Total spent today: $0
Estimated Cost of Food: Too exhausted to count.

Day 4

Sorry! Not a single picture to share today. For breakfast, I made the girls blueberry pancakes. Hubster and I had our requisite oatmeal porridge with blueberries. Hubby had a lunchtime outing and I think he had a margherita pizza while I made spaghetti bolognese over organic whole wheat pasta for the children. The bolognese was a slow process involving organic tomatoes, onions, carrots, zucchini, garlic, seasoned beef, and my secret ingredient: a bit of duck liver pate. I simmered the sauce until the veggies were tender and then I blended it with an immersion blender to make the sauce smooth. The meat was added back to the sauce after the blending.

Then....dinner came. I had a vague notion that Hubby's friends were stopping by en route to the airport today but soon after they arrived, I realized that we should all have grab dinner together. Time was a wee tight so I suggested that we stay in and I'd make dinner. Good thing I made a giant vat of sauce--it was simple to make another package of pasta, some warm bread, and some of that sweet corn we picked up yesterday. I was afraid we didn't have enough food so I asked Hubsters to pick up some lettuce for a salad. I asked for 1-2 heads...he came back with 4.

Total spent on food today: $4 for 4 heads of lettuce.
Estimated cost of food for 7 hungry people: $2 (2 heads lettuce) + $1.25 (avocado) + $.50 (1 onion) + 5 corn ($.50) + $1 (homemade sourdough bread) + $2 (pasta) + $10 (bolognese sauce) = $17.25/7 = $2.46/PP.

I might be off by a few dollars but even so...I think it is safe to say that dinner cost less than $3 a person for today. Not bad for grass fed beef & organic tomatoes!

Day 3 & The End

This morning, we ate savory oatmeal for breakfast. Apparently, savory oatmeal is de rigeuer and I thought it might be a nice way to spice up the morning gruel. We (meaning hubby-I was too busy sleeping) cooked the oatmeal with a sprinkle of salt, several grinds of fresh black pepper, a shaving of parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of flaxseed oil. Upon tasting it, we both quickly agreed that sweetened oatmeal is more enjoyable when breaking one's fast. Would I try it again though? Sure, but as a side dish for dinner.



Our lunches were quick and easy...I had one pork and mushroom jongzi and two tangerines while Eric had one pork & mushroom one and one red bean one. He also got two tangerines and string cheese. I packed him some soup too but he was too full to eat it.

On our way home (as in home to my parent's house), Husband found out that a local grocery store was selling 10 ears of corn for $1! 10 for $1??!? Unheard of since perhaps 1998! I was all for holding firm but husband was so right..10 for $1 is mighty economical and it is YUMMY. We'd be fools to pass up fresh produce at such great prices! So...sadly...after just 3 days...(yes three because we actually started on August 31st), we have given up and purchased food. Since other produce was cheap, we ended up leaving with twenty ears of corn, ten apples, and three onions for $8.11. In case you are curious, this is what we ate on August 31s: Salad with green goddess dressing, avocado, leftover roast chicken, and leftover oxtail soup (courtesy of Mama-in-law.)



Do I feel guilty? A little...because we really didn't "need" to buy it but come October or November when produce is scarce and expensive...we would have kicked ourselves for not enjoying summer's bounty when it was fresh and cheap. We're still going to continue with our experiment except we shall harken back to the early goal of just trying to account for everything we spend and spend frugally (without sacrificing on nutrition) rather than going a month without buying any food.

Oh, and by the way, my Mama totally hooked us up with a fresh zucchini, fresh green onions, and a handful of fresh cilantro today. Dinner was pretty kick@$$ as well.



The fish were $2.49/lb. I'm not sure how many pounds of fish were in that dish but I'd hazard a guess of 2lbs for a total of $5. The live shrimp were SO good! Dad got about 1.5lbs @ $11/lbs for a total of $16.50. The zucchini came from the garden and the tofu puffs probably cost about $2.50. Not including the clear bone broth my Dad made today, the four of us ate about $25 worth of the most excellent seafood. We polished off the shrimp but there was enough squash and fish leftover for them to enjoy another hearty meal.

Although we did not have to pay for dinner with my parents, I thought I would add that into consideration as if we had purchased it ourselves.

Total spent on food: $8.11(produce) +$12.50 (our share of dinner not including leftovers) = $21.61

Tomorrow, actually, tonight, I am babysitting two sweet little girls with appetites on par with lumberjacks. I shall be making them blueberry pancakes for breakfast and spaghetti with Bolognese sauce for lunch and most likely dinner too. Let's see how that fares manana!

Day 2

For breakfast this morning, hubby made us oatmeal with blueberries, a spoonful of brown sugar, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a drizzle of flaxseed oil. I really cannot recall exactly how much everything costs nor do I really know how many servings I get out of each item so for now, let us call it much cheaper than $4.99 for a bowl of oatmeal that the local cafe charges for a similar item. Sans the organic cold-pressed flaxseed oil. No picture, but we plan on eating it every day now so I'll catch up with a photo on another day :)

For lunch, hubs ate yesterday's leftover soup while I had my little sushi. I made it a wee too large so I had trouble popping it into my mouth. Ok, so I stuffed it in but it was neither a delicate nor discreet manner of eating with my chipmunk cheeks out in plain sight.



Dinner was our "meat-free" meal of the day. Although we don't know what our cholesterol levels are, it doesn't hurt to prevent it before it gets to a point where action is necessary. It doesn't look all that special but it was so good!



We used up the last of our salad but we still have two more avocados. Arrgh...I absolutely adore this salad dressing--it's a homemade Green Goddess dressing (made lighter with just plain yogurt and no oil or mayo) and already we are thinking about caving in to buy more salad. For protein, we have some garbanzo beans marinated in a little bit of balsamic vinegar, parsley, and onions. We had a pomegranate that was starting to go bad so I sprinkled some of it on top of the salad. To round out the corners, we indulged in copious amounts of watermelon and the last of my homemade bread. But no worries! I have another batch of dough sitting pretty on my counter for tomorrow's baking.

I do not feel inspired to cook lunch for tomorrow so we're going to eat some leftover zhongzi. We are struggling a little bit with the salad situation...salad is affordable, healthy, and even more importantly, so darn delicious! Wow...day 2...we are already in trouble. What should I do? Spend the $4.79 on 6 heads of organically raised lettuce that will last us about 10 hearty meals? Wouldn't it be MORE wrong to prevent those two beautifully ripe avocados from reaching their full potential?

Decisions...decisions :)

Day 1

I suppose I should share how much we spent in August as a reference point. August was a little skewed because I had friends stay with us for 5 days and we did a lot of driving and eating out. Nevertheless...it might be helpful to see what an atypically expensive month looks like for us.

August Expenses

Groceries: $289.00
Dining out: $300.00
Total on Food: $589.00

This breaks down to about $9.50/day per person out of 31 days. I wonder how much the average person spends on food each day.

In fact, if you read this, please leave a comment and let me know how much you spend on food on average each day!! If you don't know for sure, just tell me how much you spent on food today.

$9.50 doesn't seem too shabby for all meals, snacks, drinks, and tips in a day but I know we could easily trim this down some more. Part of it is not having enough time to cook--the other part is...once you get used to dining out, you kind of just want to continue dining out because it is more fun and generally yummier. The downside, of course, is the health and cleanliness of the food and the cost. Eating one's own cooking is most definitely a better choice all around.

For breakfast today, we had homemade granola bars. Snack involved tangerines and string cheese for both of us.

This is what I packed for hubby's lunch today:


Cucumber Salad with fish sauce


Leftover Indian-style Curry, chicken, and brown rice


As for me, something a little lighter. Leftover chicken, lettuce, and cucumber made its way into Vietnamese-style salad rolls.


For dinner today, I ate random stuff such as bread & cucumber with rou song. It is so good! I was too hungry to wait for dinner to cook so I ate it first. Husband got the good stuff: Korean-style seafood tofu soup (made with yesterday's chicken stock). Coincidentally, this will also be his lunch tomorrow, along with the requisite tangerines and string cheese.



My lunch tomorrow is Japanese-style sushi with cucumber, avocado, rou song, and a bit of rice. Hehe, I like how everything I make is a bastardized version of an ethnic cuisine. I have to make do with what I have, right? Plus, it is a great way of eating the same ingredients without getting tired of it. I'm not sure what we will do for dinner tomorrow, but we haven't had dinner with my parents for a few weeks now. I am going to give them a call tomorrow to see if we can come over--if not, we'll get creative tomorrow!

Total on Food for today: $0
Total of Anything Outside the Realm of necessities: $0

*Necessities include: all school related expenses (books/insurance/tuition), all utilities/mortgage