100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 28 (LAST DAY!)...

This is it - the last day of this monthlong project. I'm glad it's over, frankly. And not because our budget ends here - because it doesn't. If anything, we've taken a good look at what we spend to eat some pretty mediocre food in our hood and decided that we should eat out even less frequently than we already do and save up the dining out occasions for meals that really matter.

And given that a big part of my economic contribution to this household at the moment has to do with cooking, I take that responsibility seriously. When the numbers are staring you in the face - $40 for lunch and a beer at a so-so Korean restaurant out when our dinners don't even average $2.00 per serving in ingredients at home, $4.00 tops if we include the beer - it's hard as a fulltime albeit less than perfect domestic goddess to justify eating out just to not have to cook.

But the reason I'm glad it's over is because - and I don't know if you've noticed - I'm ADD. That I've stuck with the mundane task of recording everything I eat for 28 days straight and tallied the numbers even is nothing short of a miracle. And well deserving of foie this weekend. Or if not foie, oysters and very bubbly libations. I am determined to make one or both happen.

There's a quick post mortem to come after this one, but first I want to get the meals out of the way.

BREAKFAST

I used up the rest of the crepe batter from last night and the apples, and we had that for breakfast.

BREAKFAST: $0.40 total for coffee

SNACK

I didn't eat much of the crepes for breakfast and got dizzy hungry mid-morning, so half a PB sammie.

SNACK: $0.25 total.

LUNCH

Still feeling a little funk from the heat and the kinds of difficult interpersonal issues that sap your energy, I opted to make one of the easy comfort meals of my childhood: rice, bacon and kimchi. The Man came home and joined me. That and some honeydew.

   2 cups of rice $0.80
+ bacon $1.00
+ honeydew $0.60

= LUNCH: $2.40 total, $1.20/serving

DINNER

I was so, SOOOOOOOO tempted to beg out of cooking dinner, and the Man would have gladly obliged, but I could hardly have left this last meal uncooked. And the Man, who's been such a sport about this project, this blog, my occupation of the top of the chest freezer in which he keeps all the beer booty, and from which he has to clear my cutting board, my mixing bowls, the produce, the condiments, and my camera just about every time he wants to draw a mug or pull a bottle, was richly deserving of a deep-fried something, so picadillo (peekkahDEEyoh) empanadas with homemade pastry it was.

That plus a cilantro, jalapeno and lime curtido (kkoohrTEEdoh) and a mug of the Man's truly beautifully brewed IPA.

   1 pound of ground beef $2.50
+ onions, peppers, garlic, cumin, bay and some other seasonings $0.75
+ 1 egg, flour, sugar, a stick of butter, some salt, and vinegar for the dough $1.50
+ cabbage, lime, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic and seasonings for the curtido $1.00
+ oil for frying $1.00

= DINNER: $6.75 total, $1.70 per serving (4 servings total)


A whopping $10.80 spent on the last day of this project.

Saturday:  $18.15
Sunday:  $17.30
Monday:  $11.20
Tuesday:  $7.75
Wednesday:  $13.50
Thursday:  $4.80
Friday:  $10.80

$86.00 spent this week. Some pork, cheese, yogurt, and produce odds and ends left in the fridge. I could probably go a couple more days without shopping if I want to clean out the fridge and start clean again, but the childrenfolk are already making food requests for the weekend so so much for the temporary shopping moratorium!

Back sometime in the next 24 hours with some data and retrospective observations on this project.

Thanks for tuning in and for all the comments and words of encouragement here and elsewhere. You made this project go by quickly.

:)

shinae