Soup leftovers, again...

Hey, we never said this plan was going to be full of new and exciting dishes. The secret to saving money on food is saving food. Leftovers and cooking large portions for less people are big time money savers.

Honestly, though... we haven't had to spend anything on food yet. I figured we'd be stuck having to buy at least one thing this week but it looks like we'll hit our goal just yet. This morning I had toast and coffee (starbucks would have been 5 bucks easy, at home is free-ninety-nine) and I had an early day at work so I came home in time for lunch, which was reheated barley soup. Once reheated, the barley takes on a different, more solid texture. With a little salt it was delish, and very very filling. Couldn't finish a bowl of it, honestly.

So my advice for the day, get a hold of some decent plastic sealing containers, preferably microwave and dishwasher safe. The best way to know (without the packaging available) is in the thickness of the plastic. If the container itself is tough to twist or bend with your hands, then it's usually a good item that'll last you a long time. Flimsy ones, like the kind they give you at Chinese restaurants for extra sweet & sour sauce, those are the ones that'll warp in the microwave/washer.

On that same note, you will notice if you keep a plastic container for a long time that it'll develop light scratches on the bottom from utensils and such. After those occur, you'll also start to notice that those scratches retain some of the color from the last food that was in it, even after washing. This is normal, but it is something to be aware of. Just like a cooking surface and the counters in your kitchen, scratches can harbor bacteria and are difficult to clean out thoroughly. The best practice in this situation is if the container is getting very discolored, just toss it. We have some that are like that, but in the spirit of saving money, we're just very thoroughly cleaning everything.

As for dinner, it's still up in the air.

So let me know in the comments what you do to save food? Containers? Freezer bags? Dehydration? Comment!

Nick

End of vacation mode

Nick here, Katie's cooking so I'll do today's update.
We got lucky with the first couple days of the month, since the 1st was on Saturday. We went out for our 1st anniversary on New Year's Eve and that pretty much culminated the end of the "Spend whatever we want on food" year. We accumulated a lot of leftovers and ran on those for the weekend, but it finally hit a point where we need to buy food and had to follow our new rules.

Tonight we made the Easy Italian Chicken Dinner from our little Slow Cooker Cookbook. We posted the recipe last week. The only thing we added to the recipe was some leftover raw carrots, and instead of pasta sauce we used tinned tomato. One can of stewed, diced and tomato sauce. It looks awesome.

As you can see, we started prepping later in the day so we did not slow cook. We are cooking it on high for around a hour, and baking the chicken separate.

We added the carrots we had in the fridge as extras.

We also did the shopping today and spent 20.73. The reason for that silly .73 is due to the fact that Katie was not sure of which kind of barley to get. I didn't even know there were more than one type of Barley. We also had to get 2 canned soups for emergency lunch situations.


Other than this, we are having some leftover bread, and then packing 4 servings of spaghetti (Old...In the pantry), sauce and chicken in to leftover containers for the rest of the week. Along with some leftover chocolate cookie bars. Yeah... We will be running later this week. Trust me!

Pasta recipie...

So much better than store brands...

To make about 1 pound (5 to 6 servings):2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lukewarm water

Place the flour on a large floured surface.
Make a well in the center.  Break the eggs into the well.
Add the salt, oil, and water. Beat the mixture in the well with a fork.
Using a fork, gently start to work the flour into the liquid.
Continue until the dough becomes sticky and difficult to work with the fork.
Use your hands to form the rough dough into a ball.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface.
Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
Cover with a bowl or towel and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
Proceed with rolling and cutting the pasta according to your recipe.

If you want a hint of Basil, add around 4tbsp to the recipe after the eggs have been added. We made ours in a bread machine and then used our new pasta maker to beat the dough together. Its a very eggy tasting pasta! 

<-----Our bread machine. Very highly recommended. We got it for Christmas and now use it at least 2 times a day. Make sure you follow every single direction carefully. Do not let the yeast touch any liquid at the start. Also, make sure its at least lukewarm and not boiling. 

Tonights dinner.....$20 a week officially begins tomorrow!

Today we spent $40 on the necessaries at a local wholesale store. We needed beans, and other condiments to last us over the next 6 months. :-) on top of the $20 a week.

As for tonight, we are baking some Italian herb bread. To have along with chicken pasta sauce over basil fettuccine which is being slow cooked/baked/mixed and chilled as we speak.

The total cost of this meal to feed 6.... $4.

We are using some frozen chicken breasts, some oldish flour, and some pasta sauce which is about to expire.

I cant wait to start back college soon, and I am hoping to actually get some solid followers on this blog. Hopefully, some people will start their own $20 a week blogs. :-).

Nick and I couldent post pics of the bread we made... Its not very attractive right now. However, we will set the table for dinner tonight and then take some amazing photos (hopefully!)

Ta-ta for now!

Good morning fellow twentybuckers :)

After a unsuccessful trip to a local farmers market, we have decided to stock up on the food at a local wholesale place.
The only highlight to driving out there was eating breakfast with Nick, Askim and Jackson (Nicks cousin). We will be doing another pasta tutorial later today, along with a bread tutorial.

It really is the key to eating cheap!

Off to film the bread tutorial now.

Think this would be any good for a Friday or Saturday on the diet plan?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/12874797/Original-Kentucky-Fried-Chicken-Coating-Secret-Ingredients

We love a small amount of fried chicken as a treat after a race... What do you all think? It looks like it would taste good.

Videos of the pasta we made...

Cooking the pasta....

Now for one of the puppy having his one noodle of the day.

Happy New Year.

We just came home from our one year anniversary celebration. We are ready to rock and roll for the $20 a week journey. We have the food (Going shopping tomorrow), and we now have a pasta machine!
No more expensive pasta in the store, we can now make our own. Its our little anniversary present.

Pretty cool eh? :-)


Look at the size of the pasta we made (pre run!)

Please remember to get your "essential grocery" list tomorrow. The one labeled in the post below as "BJ's list". This will hopefully last you 6months through the winter and spring, so you can eat cheap and good.

As I said before...We are working towards finishing a short sale purchase on a house, and each week we will be putting the money we saved from buying food, towards an item we want.

This week we will be ordering the...
To go with our amazing pasta maker...Hopefully it will hold our long linguini.

If all turns out well, we may end up selling some at a farmers market on weekends!

Wishing you all a happy new year!

$20 a week on gas, $20 a week on food...

The part that we are personally struggling with right now is the gas. We both work in opposite directions of each other, and currently have one chevy cobalt, and one trail blazer...
The trail blazer is a huge gas guzzler. Often taking $40 every other week.

On way we are reducing our gas bill is by walking and cycling places. If Nick happens to get this new job, we will be able to cut our gas a lot. This is when we are in the new house of course...

He is able to walk to work and college, and I would be the only one using the car. Also a lot of my classes are online this term, as it was just so expensive to drive to college and back every day. Online classes are a great option for the gas cash strapped.

Another way to reduce our gas bill would be to invest in a Chevy Volt...But being the $40,000 car they are right now I don't think that will happen anytime soon... Still looking for a way to win one of them!

I am hoping in the new year I can get some scholarships to help me through college. Its been such a struggle these past few months with trying to figure out a way to afford that one extra class. Ack!

Will update again later!

MEAL PLANS+SHOPPING LISTS

This morning while drinking my coffee, I saw a program on extreme couponers....I have to say. I was slightly jealous. Spending $5,000 on groceries and getting them for $300 is a huge deal. But then again, I don't have that much pantry space in the new house.

We will be spending about $300 extra A WEEK outfitting our new house with items. Eeesh.
So here is the first meal plan for January. Also, the bulk buying shopping list for the first 6 months. Shouldn't cost more than $30 to set up.
I will also post the recipies below. As I have mentioned before, a slow cooker is essential! Or a large pot on a low heat, if you are home all day.

This is the bulk buying shopping list. I will be going to BJ's to get a majority of this. We are talking year long supplies. The bigger the better.

Leftover containers are key too...



Italian Chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (About 1lbs)
8 ounces mushrooms (sliced)
1 medium green bell pepper (Chopped....Optional!)
1 medium zucchini (diced...Optional!)
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 jar of pasta sauce

Combine all ingredients in crock pot or slow cooker and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is tender.


Savory Mushroom and Barley Soup:
3 cups of water
1 can of diced tomatoes
3/4 cup of each: Onion, celery, carrots
1 teaspoon dried savory leaves
3/4  teaspoons crushed fennel seeds
2 cups white mushrooms
1/2 cup quick cook barley
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients, except barley, salt and pepper in slow cooker; cook on high 4 to 6 hours, adding barley during last 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


Garlic Vegetable soup
2 quarts water
1 can (15 ounces) navy or great northern beans, rinsed, drained
1 pound tomatoes, peeled, seeded coarsely chopped
1 cup each: diced new potatoes, coarsely chopped carrots, cut green beans (1/2 inch), chopped leeks (Some of these are optional. Its all about what you like)
1/2 cup chopped celery
6 large cloves garlic (Minced)
2 tablespoons each: Tomato paste, dried basil leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, except salt and pepper, in 6 quart slow cooker; cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper.



Vegetable soup
1 quart vegetable broth
1/2 cup each: thinly sliced green cabbage, chopped celery, onion, broccoli florets, cut green beans, cubed zucchini, potato (Again, pick and choose!)
1/2 cup uncooked ditalini
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup basil (Pesto or dried)

Combine all ingredients, except ditalini, salt, pepper, in slow cooker. Dont add basil pesto yet if you are using it.
In a slow cooker, cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, adding ditalini during 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in basil pesto at last second!

(Ditalini...http://www.barillaus.com/Products/4/ditalini.aspx.... I had some in my pantry!)



Please comment if you have questions!