Vegan, Chickens and Whidbey

I am totally biased, but how sweet is this guy?!?! Melts my heart. 

How about some random's since I have been really bad about updating lately - I am getting really good at posting pictures but the meat is lacking. I guess I can only do one well at a time :)

We are thinking about getting chickens. Yes chickens. Ok, we aren't thinking about it, we are getting them - we just need to build the coup. A few thoughts about chickens. Yummy farm fresh eggs. And how about an amazing learning op for Bear!

Now, Nick wants to call me a Cheagen or a Veager (they are words that combine Vegan and Cheater) but I am thinking I am going to give veganism (ish) a try. The ish is because I am not really going to be vegan

I am already Dairy free and I am going to try to go meat free for a month. Here is where the cheat comes in. I'm keeping eggs and I am keeping wild fish. I'm still full time breastfeeding so really, I need the Vitamin A and B12 that I get from these foods. Yes, I supplement with vitamins, but I think these nutrients are important. I feel so good dairy free so I want to just give it a try. 

Bear and I spent the weekend up in Oak Harbor, WA on Whidbey Island with auntie Amanda! Bear loves her! It was stormy and she has an amazing view from her living room of the Puget Sound and it was so fun to hole up inside and watch the wind tear at the trees and make white caps in the sea. 

Cozy. Fun. Good conversation. And Bear slept the WHOLE 5.5 hour drive home (woke up 6 miles from home screaming because he was hungry :(

The Banana

Verdict: Week 1 Grocery Challenge

Did we eat for $40 this week?

No.

If you recall, we had a little of $2.00 to spend after my Saturday shopping trip. In the mean time, I had a moment of weakness. I went to Whole Foods and drooled over the items. I came away with (and lost my receipt) approximately $11 in food including fresh bread ($.99), a vegan doughnut ($1.99), Hummus (approx 2.24) and some garbage $5.ish Chardonnay. Then yesterday I purchased approx. $11 in Quiznos sandwiches but it was for Jessica (and me) who had just come home with her bundle of joy...so I won't be too hard on myself for that. Nick said he bought a coffee...so lets just say that was $3.50.

We ended the week having spent a grand total of around $65.00 on food and food related items.

Not too shabby!

So what types of things did we eat?

Breakfast was an almond milk and banana and vanilla protein and flax seed smoothie every morning.

Lunch consisted of tuna sandwiches, almond butter and jam sandwiches, pancakes, poached eggs with avocado.

Dinners consisted of rice, chicken, broccoli, green beans, chicken bean and avocado burritos, pancakes, steak, quinoa

The biggest flaw in this whole thing was that Nick basically didn't eat - at least that I can tell. He didn't pack a lunch, and he didn't purchase lunches. Problem.

We are going to try this for a second week. We need to shave $20 off the food spending to actually hit the $40 challenge...but I am pretty sure we were spending around $170 or more each week on food which adds up to a whopping $680 per month just eating. So even getting it down to $60 in a week is a HUGE improvement saving us somewhere around $440 a month.

I will give you the run down on our food purchases when I go shopping again. As it stands, we still have enough food to get us by for a few more days without having to visit the grocery store!

Weekly Grocery Challenge week 1

(He has nothing to do with this post other than being cute)

How is the grocery challenge going? (the $40 a week one)

In a short sentence?

Like CRAP. 

I have never paid much attention to our grocery bill or how much we spend on what. I guess it never really mattered. 

Then I lost my job. 

One income down. 

Then we had a baby. 

Extra expenses.

Then another job was lost. (how do you like that bomb I just dropped on you...and it happened at the beginning of December)

Two incomes down. 

And all of this meant paying more attention which is why I challenged myself to have a $40 weekly budget for food and groceries. 

We lucked out and already had things like frozen chicken, frozen steaks, frozen ground beef, frozen green beans, wild rice, jam, almond butter, 4 cans of tuna (yes I counted), chicken stock, almonds, flour, sugar, some canned soup, protein powder, flaxseed oil, and some other things I can remember right now like beans and tortillas. 

I make this list because you might laugh when you see what I spent $37.78 leaving $2.62 left over until next Saturday. Groceries are expensive. I have been buying them for a long time and just now came to this realization. 

I am still off dairy which complicates things because non-dairy stuff is, lets face it, more expensive. 

Costco

• 3 lbs of bananas = $1.39
• 6 avacados = $5.99
• 2 packs of Daves killer bread = $6.99
• Mushrooms = $3.99
• 36 Eggs = $9.38 (this leaves us 6 eggs short for the week and I can't stomach not eating organic free range eggs, this is my splurge. I think we need to get our own chickens)

Fred Meyer

• 2 half gallon Almond milk = $3.98 on special
• 1 half gallon skim milk (organic because that's how I roll)=$2.50 on special
• Organic green onions = $3.16

See why I laugh? That is rediculous. That is like no food and it is supposed to last for a week. I do get screwed on having to buy almond milk and not being able to eat most bread because they contain dairy but really? This is just flat crazy. Oh and the avocado is necessary because it boosts breastmilk production. 

I am beginning to wonder how much I used to spend and my stomach is turning a little knowing it was a LOT. 

And did you notice the items that aren't even on there? No meat, no cheese, no drinks (other than milk and milk substitute), no broccoli, no spinach...

So tune in for updates as this challenge continues. 

40 dollar challenge

Can a family eat for $40 a week?

That is my challenge. 

Not just eat - but eat healthy. No freezer dinners or extreme couponers buying all the lean cuisine in the freezer at Fred Meyer. No - we are talking fresh food. 

I think the key to doing this is simplification of diet. If we eat many of the same things, I think we can do this. As such, no gourmet items. No experimental foods with lots of ingredients. 

The thing is, we have certain things already that make this challenge easier, but the challenge is to eat on $40 per week for - oh lets just say a month. 

The staple foods are as follows:

Eggs, eggs eggs

Almond milk

Spinach

Green Onion

Mushrooms

Broccoli

Green beans

Avocado

Bananas

Oranges

Tuna

Almond Butter

Jam (I made jam in the fall)

Rice

Bread

I anticipate going through a ton of eggs. Good thing we love scrambles. We will be having between the two of us, a 6 egg scramble with green onion, mushroom and spinach daily for a meal. 

Smoothie - almond milk, banana, soy protein, flax seed oil

Tuna sandwich

Almond butter and jam sandwich

I will keep you all posted on how this goes. 

Jam Success!!!

I am so pleased to say, my jam turned out!!! And yum oh yum! I don't think I can buy jam anymore. I know where these berries are from, I know that the only other ingredient is sugar...what's not to love?

I mixed my Nancy's brand plain honey yogurt with some of my jam and mmmmmm, stamp of approval. This was ridiculously easy and after making "old fashioned jam" without Pectin, I cannot figure out why people think that freezer jam is easier-although I haven't made it. But check this out:

Mash Berries
Add mashed berries to pot, bring to a rolling boil, boil for 2 minutes
Add equal parts sugar to boiling berry mush (1 cup of mashed berries, 1 cup of sugar, etc)
Bring back to rolling boil for 2 minutes
Pour into rotary mixer
Mix for 4 minutes
Pour into mason jars
Put mason jars in large boiling pot of water with towel on the bottom
Ensure that jars arent touching each other and that there is water above the lid
Boil for 5 to 10 minutes
Remove
Place on counter to cool
Listen for "pop" meaning jars sealed themselves

EASY!!

------

My dog is not normal. Most dogs get a treat and eat it practically without chewing. Not my pup. He savors bones. Sometimes he carries them around with him for a while. Sometimes he hides them around the house- he particularly likes to hide them behind pillows on the couch.

Here is is with a treat he got 10 minutes prior, just holding it in his mouth on our bed (Not exactly where I would like him to enjoy said bone) - he eventually went to the living room and carefully dissected it and savored every bite. Silly woofy!

Banana's

Me: Hey Nick, will you grab a bunch of banana's? They are right over there.
Nick: No. You are way to picky about banana's, go get your own bunch.

Does anyone else have a food item that they are ridiculously picky about? For me, it is Banana's. They have to be slightly green, small, no brown spots, no drop marks, not mushy.