Adapting recipes to what you have on hand

We are not big meat eaters in our family (in case you haven't noticed, based on our recipes).  I wouldn't really say that we are vegetarians, we're just not fans of meat.  I've seen too many documentaries.  I prefer to splurge on more expensive meat, but don't usually have that luxury...so it's a good thing that my kids are big fans.  But every now and then, one of my kids will surprise me and request something with meat in it.  Lately, with my son, it's been meatballs.  I didn't have a recipe for meatballs, so I look on allrecipies.com and found this one.  It's called meatball nirvana. 
The recipe seemed simple enough and I was able to find some suitable meat on sale as a manager's special. I, um, paid a lot ($3.50), but that was all that I purchased for this night's dinner. So I decided that it was worth it (my modifications are in bold).  I like to think of recipe's as more of a guide.  They turned out really good and my son went back and ate all of the leftovers later that evening.  We, of course, served them with spaghetti.  If you go to the barilla pasta facebook page, they will give you a coupon for $1.00 off of 2 boxes of their whole grain pasta.  It was on sale a few weeks back for just a dollar, so I bought a few boxes for 50 cents each.  It's good.  My kids can't tell the difference. 

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1/2 teaspoon sea salt  (didn't have seal salt, just used regular salt)

1 small onion, diced  (I didn't have an onion, so I didn't use one)

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (didn't have garlic salt, so I used garlic powder)

1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (Didn't think my kids would red pepper, so I left it out)

1 dash hot pepper sauce (such as Frank's RedHot®), or to taste  (didn't have it.  Left if out)

1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce  (I didn't have this, but I did have some honey barbecue sauce that I bought on sale with a coupon that I figured was a good enough substitution)

1/3 cup skim milk

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place the beef into a mixing bowl, and season with salt, onion, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, oregano, red pepper flakes, hot pepper sauce, and Worcestershire sauce; mix well. Add the milk, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs. (I was in a hurry and just mixed everything together.  They turned out fine).  Mix until evenly blended, then form into 1 1/2-inch meatballs, and place onto a baking sheet.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, 20 to 25 minutes.               

German pancakes and blueberry syrup

This is the last of the pancake posts.  Honestly, we don't do this one very often because they don't fill us up as much as the other one's that we've posted.  This is a meal that I often make for breakfast if I've run out of cereal.  Speaking of cereal, my Kroger store had kellog's cereals on sale for 50% off.  By combining that sale with coupons, I was able to get several boxes of cereal for just a dollar.  So we're pretty set in the breakfast department right now.  But, nonetheless, here is the german pancake recipe:

6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 Tablesppons butter or margerine

In a bowl, combine eggs, mikl, flour and salt; beat until fluffy and smooth.  But 2 T. butter in each of two pie pans; melt as oven preheats.  Pour half  of batter in each pan.  Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.  Pancakes will puff up (which the kids think is pretty cool).  These can be eaten with syrup, warm jam, or warm fruit.  The fruit obviously makes it more filling.

 I am planning to grow my own blueberry bushes next year so I can have a good supply of fruit to make my own fruit syrup.  Have you ever done that before?  Just put some berries, a little corn starch and some water in a small pot and boil it.  The berries will release their sugary juices and combine with the corn starch to thicken up and make a really yummy syrup.  You can do it with any kind of berry.  Ask around, there may be someone in your neighborhood who has an abundant supply of fruit on their bushes.  They may be willing to just give it to you or sell it to you for really cheap.  A lady that lives about an hour away from us used to have her children cultivate blueberries and sell them in order to earn the money the things they wanted.  Now that they are all grown, she sells them to people in the area for like, $3 a quart.  Super cheap for blueberries!  The neighbor who told me about the blueberry lady would buy about $50 worth and freeze them so she would always have them on hand. 

Buttermilk pancakes

I rarely need more than a cup or two of buttermilk, but only buy it in quarts.  Luckily, buttermilk freezes really well. (Buttermilk is also used for the chicken pot pie a few posts back).  I like the buttermilk pancakes because they have a lot more weight to them and keep us full longer.  This is the recipe that we use:

Mix together in a large bowl:

2 cups flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

In a separate bowl, beat together:
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs

Combine the dry ingredients with the liquid ingredients with a few strokes and them cook them up on the griddle (or a couple of frying pans). 

Swedish pancakes

This is one of my kids' favorite dinners.  My dad used to make these for us for breakfast all the time and they put a smile on my face every time. We called them "daddy's pancakes."  He always made them from memory and he's never written down the recipe.  So when I found this recipe for Swedish pancakes in my "where's mom now that I need her?"  cookbook, I was hooked.  These are kind of like crepes, but you can put whatever you want to on them.  We put butter on them and then sprinkle the butter with cinnamon sugar and roll them up.  They are also delicious with jam or peanut butter (it gets all melty and gooey and I LOVE them).  We usually have to triple the recipe:

3 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
3/4 C. sifted flour
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt

Combine ingredients, beat with wire whip or mixer on medium speed until thoroughly mixed.  Cook as thin pancakes on a medium heat setting.  Brown on both sides, roll or fold in quarters and serve with favorite topping (again, we put the topping on before we roll it).   We often  have a couple of skillets going at the same time to make cooking them go a little faster. 

pumpkin pancakes

This will be the first of 3 posts about pancakes.  Pancakes are easy.  Pancakes are cheap.  Lately, we've really been loving pumpkin pancakes because they have so much flavor AND are made with a vegetable.  So we feel like we're putting a slightly higher nutrition on our kids' plates.  We usually pair them with eggs for protein and a glass of milk for dairy.  Canned pumpkin usually lasts for a year or so, so we stock up on it when it's on sale. Recently we found our store brand pumpkin on sale for $.79.  Not a GREAT deal, but good enough.  We bought maybe 5 cans in hopes that we'll be able to find it even cheaper later on.  Here is the recipe that we use.  I found it on allrecipies.com and was submitted by Ruth.  Thank you Ruth. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a separate bowl. Stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.               

I don't always use the exact spices that she calls for.  It seems like last time I made them, I didn't have any ginger, so I substituted nutmeg.  I think I may sometimes just use pumpkin pie spice, too.  Just whatever I have on hand.  There have also been times when I haven't had brown sugar, so I just mix up a little molasses with 2 Tablespoons of sugar to make my own.  We also don't put maple syrup on them.  We usually sprinkle some powdered sugar on top or just eat them plain.  They are very filling and always put a smile on our face. 

chicken pot pie

I have never made chicken pot pie for my kids.  I don't know why, I just haven't.  But as I mentioned two posts ago, I had to scrounge around for recipes this paycheck.  I had an extra pie crust in the refrigerator left over from Thanksgiving (bought on sale and with a coupon, of course!).  If I didn't have one, I would have made a crust from scratch.  I then combined a can of cream of chicken soup, a couple of diced chicken breasts (cooked), a can of drained corn and a can of french cutgreen  beans.  They weren't my first choice for vegetables, but they were actually pretty tasty!  I poured them into my crust and then dropped a biscuit mixture on top (recipe follows).  I then cooked it at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.   Because this was a new recipe, my kids weren't anxious to try it...but they did.  It wasn't their favorite, and I think that next time I try it, I will add some different vegetables.  I told them to just pick out the parts of the dinner that they wanted to eat.  It usually takes about 3-4 times of exposing my kids to a new dish before they start to eat it without complaining.  I have found that if we offer a dessert afterwards, they are more willing to eat it.  They also eat for an extra glass of kool-aid.  If they don't eat, we don't offer them anything else.  This cuts down on pickiness and we don't waste food and I don't have to spend time preparing double meals for them. 

Here's the recipe.  I had already had chicken pot pie on the menu, but then saw Elmo cooking on the Nate Berkus show.  He just happened to be making chicken pot pie and he put this biscuit recipe on top.  I didn't have any whole wheat flour, so I just used white flour.  It's in his B is for Baking cookbook. 

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 T. cold butter, cut in pieces
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoon olive oil

In large bowl, whisk flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add butter pieces and mix the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until crumbly. Stir in parmesan cheese. Stir in buttermilk and oil just until mixed. 

My kids LOVED the biscuit part.  Here is Elmo's full recipe if you have a few more ingredients on hand (and if your kids aren't fans of cream of chicken soup).  Maybe one day I will try it. 

Elmo’s Chicken Pot Pie
Filling
1 cup cremini or white mushrooms, stems removed
1 T. olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 small celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 small potato, peeled and finely diced
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup vegetable broth or bouillon
3/4 cup low-fat milk
1 c. diced cooked chicken
1/2 c. frozen peas, thawed
1/2 c. frozen corn kernels, thawed
Buttermilk biscuit topping
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 T. cold butter, cut in pieces
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoon olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. With the help of an adult, use a plastic knife to slice the mushrooms, or use your fingers to break them into small pieces.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 2 minutes. Add carrots and celery and cook 5 minutes longer. Stir in mushrooms and cook 3 minutes longer.
Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir to dissolve. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir broth and milk into the vegetable mixture until a smooth sauce forms. Cook on low heat, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and stir in chicken, peas and corn. Pour mixture into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish.
In large bowl, whisk flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add butter pieces and mix the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers until crumbly. Stir in parmesan cheese. Stir in buttermilk and oil just until mixed.
Scoop the biscuit dough with a big spoon, drop on top of the vegetable filling and spread all around the edges of the dish.
Place dish on a baking sheet, and bake 30 minutes, or until biscuit topping is golden brown and the filling bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Stocking stuffers for less

I made all of my children's stockings myself.  For some reason, I made them really large.  Oops.  That was before I realized how expensive it can be to fill them.  Over the last couple of years, we've come up with a few solutions that are inexpensive, but make our children really happy.  Because we don't have a lot of money to spend on food, we choose to not spend money on junk food.  This makes filling Christmas stockings really fun and exciting for our kids, but really practical for us.  We will get them each their very own 20 oz. soda (that they don't have to share!) and a snack size bag of chips.  There are often coupons for candy bars if you look around and you can get them for either pretty cheap or free.  Target often has buy one get on free coupons on gum (which my five year old loves).  At the end of the Halloween season, my grocery store had their bags of snack sized candy on sale for just a dollar.  They also had their great big bags of skittles for just a dollar.  My kids love skittles.  So they're each getting their own bags (the snack sized stuff went into the advent calendar).   I end up spending less than $10 for 3 stockings.  If you look at drug stores throughout the year, you can usually get chap stick, nail polish and all sorts of small things for either free or really cheap.  My CVS often has a 90% off basket with all sorts of good stuff in it.  Because my kids are little, I usually use that stuff for me, but if I had older kids, I would save it for them.

$20 budget for two weeks!

My husband and I decided a couple of years ago that we would not use credit cards.  On occasion, this has made grocery shopping really difficult.  After purchasing gifts for our friends and families, we realized that we only had about $20 left to spend on groceries for the next two weeks.  Rather than pulling out the credit cards, we pulled out items that were in the pantry and took stock of what was in the refrigerator.  The stuffed shells recipe that I wrote about in my last post didn't require that I used the entirety of what I had purchased.  I still had plenty of the pasta shells and an extra bag of spinach in the freezer from when it was on sale.  I had plenty of baking supplies (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, etc.).  I had several cans of vegetables, broth and cream of chicken soup.  Half a bag of potatoes and some left over fresh vegetables.  The week before, my grocery store had a good sale on Philadelphia cooking creme AND I had coupons, so I bought a few containers. There was also plenty of chicken in the freezer.  Based on what I had available, I made a list of what we could possibly eat.  Here it is:

1.  Pancakes and eggs
2.  Cheesy stuffed shells
3.  Chicken pot pie
4.  Lemony chicken popover puff
5.  Chicken Alfredo
6.  pizza
7.  spaghetti
8.  potato soup
9. soup and sandwiches
10.  Fend for yourself night (leftovers, usually)
11.  Homemade quesadillas and rice.
12.  Tostadas
13.  Pumpkin pancakes.

(I'll post some of these recipe's later)

After making my menu, I made my shopping list.  Incredibly, I only needed 3 things:  Syrup, cheese, and cottage cheese.  Obviously, this came in WAY below my $20 budget, so I was able to purchase other items that my grocery store had on sale so that I would again have food available in case money becomes tight.  My Kroger store had cereal on sale for $1.99.  I had coupons for $.50 off one box, which my store doubled.  I ended up getting several boxes of cereal for just a dollar each.  They also had granola bars on sale, which I stocked up on because my children are going to be home during Christmas break and they eat a lot. 

I find so much joy and satisfaction in being able to provide for my family in this way and making my husband's dollar stretch.

Cheesy Stuffed Shells

Here is the Cheesy Stuffed Shells recipe that I referred to in my last post.  I originally got this recipe from the Kraft food and family magazine, Spring 2006 issue.  These are so good.  Last time we made them my husband suggested that I make him a pan all for himself.  We DO qualify for the WIC program.  Any family of six that makes less than $54,000 per year qualifies (and has children under 5).  This program gives our family free cheese and milk and eggs.  So I don't hesitate to use recipes with cheese.  If you don't qualify for this program, Target often has coupons at coupons.target.com for $1/2 of their store brand cheeses.  I usually use these if I need more cheese during the month than WIC allows. 

1 container (16 oz.) low fat cottage cheese
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 cup mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
20 jumbo pasta shells, cooked, drained
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 large tomato, chopped

(We are not big tomato eaters in my family, so I often omit the tomato and don't use the whole jar of spaghetti sauce). 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Mix cottage cheese, spinach, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning until well blended.  Spoon 1 heaping Tbsp. of the cheese mixture evenly into each pasta shell.

Combine spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; spoon half of the sauce mixture into 13x9 - inch baking dish.  Place shells, filled sides up, in baking dish.  Spoon remaining sauce mixture over shells (again, my kids don't really like the sauce, so I put the sauce in half of the pan and don't put nearly.  I would prefer that they get all of the nutrients out of the tomato, but I'm just happy that they're eating spinach).  Cover with foil.

Bake 25 minutes or until heated through.  Uncover; top with remaining 1/2cup  mozzarella cheese.  Bake, uncovered, an additional 2 min. or until cheese is melted. 

saving money on not so cheap dinners

We have a meal that we particularly like.  But it's not quite as cheap as we would prefer.  It calls for mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, spinach and pasta shells.  And several other things.  Because this is a meal that we all enjoy (even my kids), I plan for it and stock up on the nonperishable items when they are on sale.  Bags of frozen spinach often go on sale for a dollar at my grocery store and I can usually find coupons to accompany that sale.  So I buy several bags at once.  When the pasta shells go on sale, I buy several boxes.  That way, when the perishable items (cottage cheese) go on sale, I just have to buy that and I already have everything on hand that I need to prepare this dinner.  It's really good.  I'll post the recipe tomorrow!  These simple things cut the price of the meal in half. 

SOOO....I recommend that you make a list of the dinners that your family enjoys and the ingredients required.  When the non perishable items go on sale...STOCK UP!  When the perishable items go on sale, you are ready to make your meal!  So simple.

Breakfast, lunch and snacks

We qualify for the reduced lunch program.  THANKFULLY...our school system has adopted the Michelle Obama program for healthy food in the schools.  Our children often ask for us to pack them a lunch, but we never do.  This keeps lunch costs down considerably for us.  We simply explain to them that the school can provide them with a lot more healthy food than we could if we send them a bagged lunch.  When I have visited the school, I have been happy to see that they are serving many whole grains and fruits and vegetables.  My picky eater has become less picky and is more willing to try foods that he normally wouldn't. 

One way that we save on gas is to have our children ride the bus to school.  Because the bus comes so early, it's easier to have them eat breakfast at school.  They get a much more nutritious meal than the cereal that we would provide them with.  Read what they are having on Monday:

breakfast - fruit juice, pancakes with blueberries, cereal and milk
lunch - philly beef and cheese sub, roasted peppers/onions, chilled applesauce, baked chips, milk.

My kids probably won't eat the roasted peppers and onions, but maybe they will someday.  The important thing is that they see the food and are given the option to try it.  I can not afford to offer foods to my children that will end up being thrown away, but the school can do that.   

Lunch is at 11:20, so the kids are usually quite hungry by the time they get home at 4:00.  I try to feed my kids snacks that are full of fiber that will keep them full longer.  They're pretty happy with apples and other fresh fruits.  My five year old also really likes yogurt and carrot sticks.  Often I will bake homemade muffins.  Nothing fancy, but this really keeps food costs down.  While prepackaged foods are convenient, they end up costing more in the long run than fruits and vegetables because they don't keep you full quite as long and you end up eating something else 20 minutes later.  Fruits and vegetables may cost a little more initially, but when you consider that they will keep you and your children healthier and that you won't be spending as much on medical care, they're not something that you want to skimp on.  I have found that bananas are probably the most cost efficient fruit.

Poor man's pizza

This is a recipe that we use at least once a week.  It is really easy and really cheap and my kids love it.  I got the recipe from a girl in college named Amy Hecht.  I have no idea where she is or what she is doing, but this is her recipe for DELICIOUS pizza crust.  It is thick and chewy and I prefer it to store bought pizza. 

Yeast Mixture:
1 1/4 c. warm water
2  T. yeast
1 T. sugar

Flour Mixture:
3 c. Flour
1 1/2 T. sugar
1 1/2 T. oil
1 1/2 t. salt

Place the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast and sugar on top.  Make sure that all of the yeast is wet and allow it to sit while you prepare the flour mixture in another bowl.  Just put all of the flour mixture ingredients in a large bowl and stir it up.  Add in yeast mixture and let rise.  Add more flour if needed.  Put a quarter-size amount of oil on pizza pan and spread.  Sprinkle corn meal on the pan (this makes it extra tasty).  Put dough in pan and begin spreading it around.  Flip over and continue to spread out.  Top with pizza sauce, cheese, and other desired toppings.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown and ENJOY!

Many stores sell small jars of pizza sauce for a dollar or less.  We don't like a lot of sauce on our pizza, so I can usually make 3 pizza's from one jar.  I have also used tomato paste and then added oregano, garlic salt and onion powder to it to make my own sauce. 

Shopping as a poor person

Contrary to what many people may believe, shopping at the huge shopping centers really doesn't save that much money. Take Sam's club, for instance.   For me, it is about 40 minutes away, so when I used to go, I felt like I had to buy a whole lot to justify the gas expense.  So I would go and then come home with $300 worth of granola bars and paper plates (which I wouldn't normally buy, but did because they were a "good deal").  Then I would get home and realize that I didn't have anything that I could prepare for dinner.  It just didn't work for me. 
   
I find that the best place for me to shop are the small grocery stores.  I spend the least amount of money there.  I prefer to shop at Kroger, simply because it is the closest one to me.   The key is to shop ONLY what is on sale.  Because the items that are not on sale are typically more expensive than, say, Walmart, I don't buy them.  For me, it REALLY cuts down on impulse buys and I end up with only what is on my list (carefully prepared after viewing that week's circular).  Last week I spent $69 for two weeks worth of groceries.  There were a couple of things that were not on my list, but I picked them up anyway because they were on sale (3 pk. organic Romaine Lettuce for $1.50).

I have also been able to find name brand diapers there on sale for at least 1/2 off.  I've gotten diapers for as little as $2.50.  When they are that cheap, I buy a lot.  Also, Kroger offers a discount on gasoline for every $100 spent.  Right now, they are offering double points (Typically $1 per point, the discount is now $0.50 per point).  This is one of the few discounts available on gasoline aside from using a gas station credit card.  My husband and I only fill our vehicles up once every two weeks.  We always take both cars to fill up on the same ticket (We fill up one vehicle, and then my son holds the gas pump while we pull the other one up to fill that one).  On our last visit, we saved $12 on fuel.  Kroger is also offering 4x fuel points on gift card purchases until December 11th.  It's nice.

Chili Cheese Cups

This meal is one of our easiest meals that can be made even easier when you're in a time crunch and have a little extra money. Here's the ingredient list: Biscuit batter chili cheese That's it! Put the biscuit batter in greased muffin cup, top each with a spoonful of chili and sprinkle with cheese. Pop it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes and you're good to go. Pair it with some carrot sticks to make sure you get your veggies in. The CHEAPEST option of this recipe is to make the biscuits and chili from scratch. I'm not a chili maker, so I spend the buck fifty and buy the canned stuff. I LOVE using coupons and matching them with sales, but I have yet to find any chili coupons. So when chili goes on sale, I buy a bunch and then have them on hand so I can always make these. I had a recipe that I used to always use for my biscuits, but they were a little salty...so I'm not going to post it here. You can go to allrecipies.com and find a goood one, though. My local Kroger store often has pilsbury biscuits on sale for $1.00 a can. I now combine those sales with coupons that I get online. My Kroger store will double coupons. So, for example, if I have a coupon for 30 cents off two cans, I get both cans for $1.40 or 70 cents each. Depending on the size of your family, you probably just need to use one can of biscuits (70 cents), one can of chili ($1.50) and about 50 cents worth of cheese and another 50 cents worth of carrot sticks. Have some refrigerated tap water as a beverage and you've just fed your whole family for $3.20. Less if you made the biscuits and chili on your own, but for $3.20, I sometimes just like to save the time.

Welcome to my new blog! I am a Stay at Home Mother by choice. Despite having a Master's degree, I choose to stay home and raise my children. Not easy. My oldest is seven years old. I also have a five year old, a two year old, and am expecting my fourth in March. My husband is just beginning his third year as an elementary school teacher. We live on what many people would consider not ver much money. When pregnant with my oldest, we made the move to north eastern Tennessee because the cost of living was less than where we were before. This has proven to be a good move. Two years ago, we bought a home in a nice neighborhood. People often marvel at how my family is able to not just survive, but to even live well. We have a few tricks up our sleeve. I will continue to tell you a little about our story as I post on the blog, but I have decided to get to the nitty gritty first. We eat on about $25 per week. How? You may be asking... The answer is pure STRATEGY!!! Which I will be sharing with each of you. Next post will be one of our fast, easiest meals...CHILI CHEESE CUPS