The $1 Challenge!!

In these challenging economic times, most people are trying to find way to spend less and save more. We watched a video clip this afternoon about a couple that decided to try feed themselves on only $1 per day, per person. So, they spent the month eating plain oatmeal for breakfast, pb & j sandwiches (1 Tbs. of peanut butter and 1 tsp. of jelly) for lunch, and tortillas with beans, tomato sauce, and a little cheese for dinner. They drank Tang (Blech!!) to get their vitamin C and occasionally ate a banana. The wife felt tired all month (go figure!) and the husband lost 14 pounds. Their conclusion was that it IS possible to feed yourself without spending a lot of money, but that the only foods that are affordable on a small budget aren't going to provide the best nutrition.

While this may be true for a single person or very small families, in our experience the larger the family, the easier it is to stretch the food budget while still maintaining a balanced, nutritious diet. With the rising food costs I've definitely had to increase our food budget, but still manage to feed our family on less than $400 a month. I end up spending a little more during the holiday months, which pushes us closer to the $400 mark, but our usual monthly grocery bill is around $350. That includes all food, paper goods, dog food, cleaning products, & toiletries. If I eliminate the non-food items, we spend right about $300. Divided by 30 days and 8 people, it costs us $1.25 per day, per person to feed our family.

So, what does $1.25 a day get you for the week if you live in my house?

Sunday:
Breakfast- whole wheat cinnamon-swirl raisin bread, toasted
scrambled eggs w/cheese
Lunch- turkey dogs in whole wheat buns,
baked beans,
apples
Dinner- spaghetti w/ chunky veggie sauce,
spinach salad w/craisins & pecans

Monday:
Breakfast- oatmeal w/choice of fruit
whole wheat toast
Lunch- tuna sandwiches
carrot sticks
Sun chips
bananas
Dinner- Stackee-up (brown rice w/curry sauce & choice of veggie toppings
green salad

Tuesday:
Breakfast- fruit & spinach smoothies
Lunch- left-over spaghetti
salad
green beans
Dinner- taco salad- leaf lettuce, beans, tomatoes, onions, olives, cheese, sour cream, salsa,
tortilla chips

Wednesday:
Breakfast- whole grain muffins
bananas
Lunch- tomato-rice soup
whole wheat bread
carrots & cucumbers
apples
Dinner- lentil-brown rice casserole
spinach salad w/hard boiled eggs

Thursday:
Breakfast- egg casserole using left-over bread
bananas or pears
Lunch- pb & j sandwiches
tangerines
carrots & cukes
Dinner- left-overs
green salad

Friday:
Breakfast- whole wheat pancakes
fruit
Lunch- quesadillas w/beans & cheese
green salad
tortilla chips
Dinner- veggie barley soup
spinach salad
whole wheat rolls

Saturday:
Breakfast- cold cereal (my cheat day!)
Lunch- veggie sandwiches (cukes, tomatoes, lettuce, bell peppers, jalapenos, cheese)
deviled eggs
fruit
Dinner- chili
green salad
corn bread

In addition, we always have fresh fruit or veggies on hand for snacking throughout the day and we usually make one or two sweet treats during the week. Cookies, cinnamon rolls, brownies, once in a while a cream pie. I try to make our meals healthy enough that I don't feel too guilty about the sweet stuff! ;) It dawned on me this week that our kids haven't ever tried baked apples, so that will be one of our treats this week. Cheap, easy, and good! (I can even make them in the crockpot and save oven space.)

So, rather than be discouraged by rising food costs let's all rise to the challenge. With a little planning even a big family like ours can be fed on a small budget. It doesn't take more than a few minutes a day to make bread and the results are so much more delicious and satisfying than the processed garbage at the store. One sandwich made with homemade bread fills my biggest kids, while it takes two made with store bought bread to satisfy my teens. Brown rice costs a little bit more than white, but because it contains the bran and germ it's more filling than the white. Food that's more filling = less food consumed = less cost. Dried beans are economical, nutritional, and filling. They're loaded with fiber and are a great source of protein. I cook and freeze baggies of beans to be used in soups, salads, and side dishes, or mashed into refried beans. Soy milk is easy to make, economical, and really good for you. It tastes great, too! Including the costs of shipping the soybeans overseas, a gallon of soymilk only costs me .67 to make.

Here's my proposition for you:

Take the $1 challenge and see how close you can come to feeding your family on $1 per day, per person this week. Send in your daily menues for the week and total food costs. The person with the healthiest, most economical menu for the week will have the dubious honor of being named Queen (or King) of Frugition (frugality/nutrition...I know it's lame, but it's the best I could come up with off the top of my head!) and receive a package of their choice of German chocolates. How's that for a deal?!

What's a girl to do???

We all know there are certain days when a girl's just GOT to take a headlong dive into a vat of warm chocolate have some chocolate. This doesn't hit me very often, but every few months I've GOT to have something ridiculously rich and chocolatey and full of all the stuff this blog isn't supposed to be about. I'd like to say I never succumb, but why lie? I truly do aspire to be as disciplined in my diet as my dear sis-in-law Anne, but I'm not all the way there, yet. Yet! I will, however, keep trying to take steps in the right direction, while realizing that every once in a while I might find myself sliding back into fantasies of secretly living in a hidden cave next to the chocolate river in Willy Wonka's factory, where I can sneak out at night, lean over the bank, and drink til my stomach explodes needing a little treat. These little babies did the trick this time.

Yeah, Baby!! Brownies
3/4 C. butter
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
1-1/2 C. pure cane sugar
pinch of salt
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C. + 2 Tbs. flour
1/2 C. chopped nuts

Frosting:
1/4 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. shortening
pinch of salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. baking cocoa
1 lb. powdered sugar
2-4 Tbs. milk or cream

For Brownies:
Preheat oven to 350. In microwavable bowl melt butter and chocolate. (Microwave for 1-1/2 minutes, stir, then cook 30-60 more seconds.) Whisk in salt, vanilla and sugar. Cook for 2 more minutes. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Stir in the flour and nuts and blend well. Pour into a lightly greased 11x7" or 8x8" pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The sides will be slightly pulled away from the edges of the pan. Cool completely on a rack before frosting. (In chocolate emergencies this only takes about 10 minutes on the balcony in 35 degree weather! ;))

For Frosting:
Beat everything together in a stand mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue beating on medium-high for 10-15 minutes. Let the mixer beat the frosting to a light, airy, silken texture before stopping. Add a little more powdered sugar if it's too thin, or milk if it's too thick.

Dinner roll update

O.K., guys...this is how much I love you all. I've made 3 batches (yes, three) of whole wheat rolls this morning to make sure a half-batch will work and compare the results using dough enhancer vs gluten. The absolute best rolls were made with the gluten rather than dough enhancer, and with the yeast increased to 2-1/2 tsp. I cut the ingredient amounts in half, which would fit in the smallest bread machines. The half batch made exactly 12 medium-size rolls. The gluten gives the best rise and makes the lightest, largest rolls. Mmmmm...

The flatter roll was made with dough enhancer, the other with gluten.



Replacing the gluten with dough enhancer (1 Tbs for a half batch) also made a beautiful dough, but the rolls didn't rise as well as those with gluten. They didn't bake as high either. The texture isn't quite as tender or light as the others, but these would definitely pass if gluten isn't available.

For the absolute best results use gluten. If making only a dozen rolls, make a half batch and increase the yeast to 2-1/2 tsp whether using gluten or dough enhancer.

One of our esteemed judges concurs with our conclusions!

Heavenly Whole Wheat Breat

This one's for you, Tam! I don't have time to make a batch for pictures tonight, but will by the end of the week.

Whole Wheat Bread

Stir together and let sit for about 5 minutes:
2/3 C. hot water
1 Tbs. honey
2 Tbs. yeast

Place in a bread machine:
2 C. hot water
1/4 C. olive or canola oil
1/4 C. honey

Turn machine on "dough" cycle and blend in:
1/4 C. powdered milk or whey powder
1 Tbs. dough enhancer or 1 tsp. vitamin C crystals (from health food store)
1/2 Tbs. sea salt (or regular if you don't have sea)

After blended, dump in the yeast mixture and 3 C. of whole wheat flour. Add extra flour by tablespoons, if needed, just until the flour cleans the sides of the bowl. Let the machine finish the dough cycle, then dump dough onto a lightly oiled surface. With oiled hands, shape into loaves and place in greased pans. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 365. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a baking thermometer registers 190 degrees.

If using a Bosch or Viking mixer, let the machine do the kneading on low speed for 10 minutes after adding all the ingredients.

Delicious, light, dinner rolls for Thanksgiving

When I was visiting my sister in May, a friend of hers brought over a plate of dinner rolls. Being a pretty accomplished bread baker I was eager to try them, if only to secure my position as the "Possessor of the Best Bread Recipe". Wow! Those rolls were eye-rolling good! Amazing! Outstanding! Feather light, not too sweet, not too salty. My mom was also at Tammy's house that day and between the two of us we nearly finished off the whole plate!! 8-0! They were that good. I've worked up two batches in the past couple of days to make sure I could get them to turn out as perfectly as Tammy's friend did. The first time I used white flour (I know, I know...we're trying to get away from it, but the recipe called for it.). They were every bit as amazing as I'd remembered. Banana took a big bite of her first one and said "Wow, Mom! I'll be we'll be eating these in Heaven!" "M" came up to try one later and said "God's going to want you to cook for him, Mom!" Pretty lofty recommendations. These rolls turned out just as beautifully with whole wheat flour as they did with the white. We'll be having the whole wheat version from now on.

Simply Amazing Dinner Rolls

2 3/4 C. hot water
1/3 C. canola oil
1/3 C. honey
1/2 C. gluten (aka vital wheat gluten)
1-1/2 tsp. salt
5-6 C. whole wheat flour
1-1/2 Tbs. yeast

Place ingredients in bread machine in the order given, using only 5 C. of flour to begin with. Start machine on the "dough" cycle. After the dough is well mixed, add additional flour 1/4C. at a time just until the dough forms a ball and comes clean from the sides of the bowl. The dough will still be very sticky, but it will travel around the bowl on the paddle without sticking to the sides when enough flour has been added. Too much flour makes a heavy, tough bread. When the "dough" cycle has finished, remove the dough and knead on a lightly oiled surface with lightly oiled hands. (Don't be tempted into adding more flour!) Shape the dough into whatever shape you prefer. I cut off clumps the size of a racquetball and shape them into nice little round balls. Place them in a greased 9x13" baking pan. 15 rolls of this size will fit nicely, if making slightly smaller balls, 20 will fit. The extra rolls can be placed in an additional pan, or frozen for future use. ** Cover the pan and let them rise until nearly doubled in size, ~30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Makes about 24 rolls.

**To freeze, roll into balls and place on parchment-lined baking tray. Immediately place in a deep freeze. Once frozen, the balls can be placed in Ziploc bags and kept frozen until needed. Let the frozen dough sit out at room temperature for about 2 hours or place in the frig to thaw overnight. After thawing, shape and place in greased pan to rise, then bake as usual.

Perfect Molasses Ginger Cookies

O.K., Mel - as requested, here's the recipe for one of our favorite Fall/Winter cookies. Not only do these fill the house with a wonderful aroma, but the slightly crispy edges contrast beautifully with a soft and slightly chewy center. Perfect with a cup of cider! (Matt and the kids send their thanks for this request since I had to make a batch in order to have a picture!) Going completely cold-turkey on sweets is just setting ourselves up for failure. We're limiting ourselves to one treat day a week and this was it!


Perfect Molasses Ginger Cookies

3/4 C. shortening 1C. granulated sugar
1/4 C. molasses 1 egg
2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves 1/2 tsp. salt
2-1/2 C. flour

Preheat 375. Cream shortening, sugar, molasses, egg, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together and add to the bowl. Mix until well blended. Form walnut-sized balls, then roll each ball in additional sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until tops appear cracked and the cookies are puffed, ~8-10 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.

*Try using non-transfat shortening, unrefined pure cane sugar, 2 Tbs. ground flax mixed with 3 Tbs. water in place of the egg, and barley flour for cookies that still taste great, but are a little less lethal.

*Barley and oat flours are both good substitutes for all-purpose flour in baking. Both options produce a soft cookie with a mellow, slightly nutty flavor. Just blend uncooked barley or oats in a blender or food processor until the consistency of flour.

What does "green" taste like?

If anyone has read my brother Scott's blog, http://beanland.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/hmbg-recap-achieving-and-maintaining-a-healthy-body-weight/#more-383, you know he advocates green smoothies. I find the thought of drinking something green daunting. What does "green" taste like? Grass, earth, compost....I feel my leg and arm pit hair growing just thinking about it. Words like "groovy" and "far out" slip into my vocabulary. "Hey, guys? Has anyone seen my Birkenstocks?" But, I decided to give it a try. I tossed a banana, an orange (the inside of the granola rind), a few frozen strawberries, and a big handful of raw spinach into the Vitamix, added a splash of water and let 'er rip. The resulting concoction was the color of pond sludge, but smelled like banana and strawberry. It definitely confused the senses! But it was delicious!! Each of the kids tried it and attempted to finish off my glass without being caught. No earthy, grassy, or spinachy taste at all. Just yummy fruit loaded with vitamins and nutrients that I otherwise would have missed out on. 4 hours later I still wasn't hungry.