Okay, so I am not the greatest at this yet, but I am on a mission as our food budget is very tight. We are working to get out of all our debt as quickly as possible and, to that end, we don't have cable TV, walk many places, and have a very tight food budget. For us, our stomachs were an easy place to blow the budget out of the water. When we are tired, stressed, want to celebrate, etc. (you get the pic. we love food) food is what we used to do. Obviously this was not good for our health, waistlines or budget.
Turns out that cooking from scratch, planning ahead and watching coupons/circulars isn't that difficult and is often fun for me. Also, I enjoy cooking and am able to make at home for lots less $$ many snacks that we used to just blow through (graham crackers, cheese crackers, etc).
Being that I am new at this process and still working out the kinks I don't have much advice. There are many wonderful blogs and articles on keeping the kitchen budget under control. Here is a link to one that has links to many others: http://www.cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2008/03/recession-proofing-your-diet-food.html
Enjoy and happy reading. :)
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Time at the Park and Other Weekend Adventures
Here are some pics from our weekend trip to the park. Joshua enjoyed exploring everywhere in the park and literally ran around for 2 hours non-stop. When we got home he ate dinner, had a bath and crashed, all within 45 min.
In the driveway ready to go.
Watching the ducks and geese
Fill 'n' spill is a great game
These 2 are of Joshua exploring the CA history maze at the park.
Ready to go home with the sun/bug shield on. Also, note the paniers (one full) on the sides of stroller. These will be very useful when Maria is in the 2nd/rear seat of the stroller and her feet are in the stroller basket.
Beautiful blooms around our neighborhood.
Napping in the sun
Crickett
Murphy
Around the house, playing:
Cheers. :)
In the driveway ready to go.
Watching the ducks and geese
Fill 'n' spill is a great game
These 2 are of Joshua exploring the CA history maze at the park.
Ready to go home with the sun/bug shield on. Also, note the paniers (one full) on the sides of stroller. These will be very useful when Maria is in the 2nd/rear seat of the stroller and her feet are in the stroller basket.
Beautiful blooms around our neighborhood.
Napping in the sun
Crickett
Murphy
Around the house, playing:
Cheers. :)
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Spring Fever and Preparing for Planting
Today has been beautiful and we have spent as much time outside as possible. It feels great to be almost completely recovered from our colds. Everyone is feeling much better, though we still have a few runny noses.
Since 1/2 of our stuff, primarily the stuff from the garage and attic, isn't here yet, we don't have our yard toys. Today the gardeners recommended by the landladies came and did trimming, mowing, and general clean up of the front and back yards. Generally, they put down some kind of fertilizer and weed killer. I asked them to not do this since we have little people and beagles. They also took down an old dead pine tree. Now we have wood seasoning for use in the fireplace next winter.
It is amazing how much better the yard looks! Joshua had a great time running around in it and exploring new areas. Anyway, now that the tree is down I can see how much sun per day that portion of the yard is going to get. I am excited to plant a small vegetable and herb garden in that area, as well as putting up some retractable laundry lines in the same vicinity. (Note: it's amazing how quickly stuff dries when the air isn't humid).
I remember last year my brother-in-law, William, reminded us of Square Foot Gardening (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/) and I am excited to try it here. The beds are raised so I won't be having to dig up and till dirt or add stuff to it to make it the right mix. Plus, I have no idea what has been put on the yard in the past and I am going to be growing stuff organically. I may also do some things in containers.
here's a picture from the Square Foot Gardening website of what I am aiming for:
This configuration gives you 16 different square foot growing spaces. Depending on what you are growing, you will have 1, 4, 9 or 12 plants in each square foot (I think that's what I read).
Since 1/2 of our stuff, primarily the stuff from the garage and attic, isn't here yet, we don't have our yard toys. Today the gardeners recommended by the landladies came and did trimming, mowing, and general clean up of the front and back yards. Generally, they put down some kind of fertilizer and weed killer. I asked them to not do this since we have little people and beagles. They also took down an old dead pine tree. Now we have wood seasoning for use in the fireplace next winter.
It is amazing how much better the yard looks! Joshua had a great time running around in it and exploring new areas. Anyway, now that the tree is down I can see how much sun per day that portion of the yard is going to get. I am excited to plant a small vegetable and herb garden in that area, as well as putting up some retractable laundry lines in the same vicinity. (Note: it's amazing how quickly stuff dries when the air isn't humid).
I remember last year my brother-in-law, William, reminded us of Square Foot Gardening (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/) and I am excited to try it here. The beds are raised so I won't be having to dig up and till dirt or add stuff to it to make it the right mix. Plus, I have no idea what has been put on the yard in the past and I am going to be growing stuff organically. I may also do some things in containers.
here's a picture from the Square Foot Gardening website of what I am aiming for:
This configuration gives you 16 different square foot growing spaces. Depending on what you are growing, you will have 1, 4, 9 or 12 plants in each square foot (I think that's what I read).
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