100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Post Mortem By The Numbers...

Here is a link to my mostly food albums where I post just about every single meal I cook every single day.

This is the 4-burner range (2 of which are wonky, the biggest one included) in the roughly 7.5' x 6.5' (I think I previously reported 7' X 6' but it's slightly bigger than that) kitchen in which all of the cooking happens.

In the past 4 weeks, I spent $390 on weekly grocery runs, and an additional $20 on what I would call band-aid meals - the $8 Panda Express lunch the Man bought that one day I didn't have dinner leftovers to send with him and $12 in coupon fried chicken meals.

The $390 breaks down as follows:

Produce - $101 or 26%
Meat - $96 or 25%
Pantry - $63 or 16%
Dairy - $59 or 15%
Indulgences (wine, desserts) - $31 or 8%
Grains (bread, cereal) - $18 or 5%
Misc. (cleaning supplies, toiletries) - $23 or 6%

Considering how much more expensive all other foods are by the pound, that means we eat a lot of fresh produce. That is something I consciously strive for, and I feel affirmed by the data. :)

Including the aforementioned band-aid meals, we have eaten 225 meals total between me, the Man, the kids (who are with us on the weekends), and very occasional guests.

- 73 breakfasts at an average of $0.76 per serving,
- 75 lunches at an average of $1.09 per serving, and
- 77 dinners at an average of $2.23 per serving.

An overall average of $1.33 per serving.

Included among those meals have been California Rolls, Lasagne, Vietnamese Summer Rolls, Braised Pork with Kale & Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Black Bean & Chorizo Chili, Korean Style Braised Chicken, Sauteed Bulgogi With Shiitakes & Onions, Korean Style Spicy Stir Fried Octopus, Havarti & Egg Croissants, Gumbo, Soy Ginger Beef & Potato Stew, Caprese Croissants, Mole Inspired Chicken Tacos, Fried Whole Fish Thai Style, Sweet Potato Ravioli, Bacon & Egg & Havarti Bagels, Fried Chicken, Kimchi & Bacon Fried Rice, Tandoori Chicken With Aloo Gobi, Pernil With Platanos Maduros Fritos, Korean Bossahm (Lettuce Wraps), Yakisoba, Broiled Salmon With Homemade Tartar Sauce & Collard Greens Braised With Bacon, Udon With Poached Egg, Red Velvet Cake, Club Sandwiches, Brownies a la Mode, Teriyaki Chicken With Tamagoyaki & Garden Salad, Angel Hair Pasta With Fresh Tomato Ragu With Sauteed Mushroom & Romaine Salad, Bacon & Cheddar & Caramelized Onion Omelettes, Arroz con Pollo, Crepes With Spiced Apple & Rum Soaked Raisins, Picadillo Empanadas With Lime & Cilantro & Jalapeno Curtido, and the occasional glass of wine, some sparkling, some not.

That's 35 different dishes inspired by at least 8 different cuisines, and I didn't even list them all (though I did list most).

Considering that, as of this writing, an Egg McMuffin costs $3.29, a Big Mac $4something, and an Angus Burger $6something (the Man just drove past a Cracky D's menu to gather data for me but alas it is breakfast time and lunch prices are not yet up), it's really hard to think of a good reason to pull up to that drive through most days (though I'm not saying we never do or never will).

In the past 4 weeks, we have gone out to eat 3 times. It happens that none of those 3 times was on our dime. But when we do dine out, we average between $20 and $25 per person, largely because a lot of what we like to eat when we dine out in the immediate area is sushi. Since I have the luxury of staying home and cooking almost every meal, it doesn't make much sense to dine out in a not quite ready for primetime restaurant environment.

It is now 9:25 AM, and I have big plans to buy 24 fresh oysters for $20 from a local aquafarm, dress them with a lovely little ponzu-inspired mignonette and some microplaned horseradish and wash them down with a $5 bottle of cava from Fresh & Easy.

It's off to the shower...

shinae

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

100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 27 (Second To Last Day)...

Wouldn't you know the last week of this project I am bogged down with unseasonal heat and chick issues???

I really wanted to go out with a bang, but the heat and the exhaustion together have so far made for an uneventful kind of cooking week. Second to last day of this project, and we find ourselves eating ramen for the second time in a week.

A Honeycrisp apple peel rose - a byproduct of what little
cooking I actually did do today...

I've committed to building up my Google+ page a bit as I think the hangout function there could prove to be very useful when I eventually get up and running with the virtual cooking classes. Let me just say that I don't know how people manage so many social media sites at once because I have a feeling managing G+ and facebook on a daily basis is going to be the fulltime job I haven't been looking for.

In a preemptively splurge-y mood to congratulate myself for getting through this budget mostly on time, I have been researching places in San Diego to buy a slab of foie gras because that and oysters on the half shell with some mignonette and freshly grated horseradish have been on my mind for a long time. And I am pretty sure there isn't a place around here within a quick drive that I would care to pay someone else to prepare them for me. But then again, considering that it's highly unlikely that I will be able to buy just enough foie gras for two, maybe I'll try to find a place in San Diego proper that does a decent foie. The oysters I can source on my own...

But that little splurge aside, we will carry on with the same grocery budget - at least for the foreseeable future in which I am likely not winning any lotteries and still trying to find a way to monetize exactly what I want to do with food in a way that I can feel good about given all my little personal and philosophical quirks. For all the little budgetary sacrifices we're making and how relatively simple a life we are living compared to the ones we used to lead, I know how very privileged and blessed I am to have the luxury to think in such highminded terms about the career path I want to carve out for myself.

And I owe so very much of it to a man who has been so amazingly loving and supportive and emotionally generous from day one. If I told them what an incredibly good and decent egg you are, Dean Robinson, they might not believe me. Thank you. I love you.

BREAKFAST

Extra big bowls of Cheerios because there wouldn't have been quite enough left for another bowl...

   2 bowls of cereal with milk $1.00
+ 2 cups coffee $0.40

= BREAKFAST: $1.40 total, $0.70/serving

LUNCH

Leftovers from last night's arroz con pollo dinner for the Man. An apple and some cheese for me.

LUNCH: $0.75 for apple and cheese.

DINNER 

Yet more ramen and poached egg with some kimchi.

And then, inspired by a pic Kay posted of her dessert crepe at Lucques, I made crepes with spiced apples, bourbon soaked raisins, and vanilla ice cream.

   2 packets of ubercheapo ramen $0.40
+ 2 eggs $0.35
+ green onions & cilantro $0.10
+ 1 apple $0.30
+ 1 egg, some flour, sugar, butter, vanilla and milk for crepes $1.00
+ ice cream $0.60

= DINNER: $2.65 total, $1.35/person

Only $4.80 spent today. LOL. Leftovers and ramen. Reminds me of a much younger version of my life.

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

$75.00 and just one day left in this project. I'm thinking empanadas tomorrow, but the heat might kill that idea...

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 26 (Wednesday) & Something About Waste...

Because she will likely tire of it, I will mention her only one more time this week to say she told me so.

Maria told me to put the other half of those corn tortillas in the freezer, but I didn't. And as a result, my biggest waste in these four weeks:

Adios, supermoldy tortillas. Lo siento... :(

In the past four weeks, I've managed to throw away very little, really. A couple of dried up, half used limes, a little bit of leftover braising liquid, some very small scraps of produce that got too dried up to use and can no longer be sacrificed to the compost pile because we've given up that pipe dream... the serious gardening one, I mean.

And for the negligence that kept me from taking 1 minute out of my life to put them in a freezer bag and shove them in the freezer, I threw away 40 something tortillas that would have lasted at least 5 taco dinners. It's not the money because those tortillas cost all of a buck forty. Just a little disappointment in myself that I let my laziness get the better of me. But you can be sure the next time I have to bring home 80 corn tortillas because the Meximart doesn't let me buy fewer at one time, half of them are going into the freezer immediately.

BREAKFAST

More cereal.

   2 bowls of milk and cereal $1.00
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

BREAKFAST: $1.40 total, $0.70/person

LUNCH

For me, the rest of that pasta. With kimchi, even. Why does pasta sauce taste that much better the day after and the day after? I have some theories, but whatever the reason, lucky for me it does.

For the Man, a cheddar, bacon and caramelized onion omelette.

   2 eggs $0.35
+ 2 slices of bacon $0.20
+ half an onion $0.10
+ some cheddar cheese $0.50
+ some milk, S&P, and oil $0.10

= LUNCH: $1.25 total.

DINNER

Not being able to locate the saffron I thought I had, I opted out of paella and made something similar: arroz con pollo (ahRROHSS kkohn POHyoh) - literally, rice with chicken - with some super sweet roasted red bell pepper and some broccoli and cauliflower tossed in a little olive oil and roasted until the florets had crispy edges, almost as if they were deep fried.

Some homemade aioli (ayOHlee) (something very much like mayonnaise) to go with it all, and a bottle of semi-dry cava to wash it down.

Bubbles make happy. They make you forget
all about all the passive-aggressive, paranoid,
guilt-tripping and crazy-making person
in your life...

   5 chicken drums $2.00
+ onions, peppers, garlic and seasoning for chicken $0.75
+ broccoli & cauliflower $1.50
+ 1 egg, some oil, some lemon juice and some garlic for aioli $0.75
+ 2 cups rice $0.80
+ 1 bottle of cava $5.00

= DINNER: $10.80 total, $3.60/serving for 3 servings.

Saturday:  $18.15
Sunday:  $17.30
Monday:  $11.20
Tuesday:  $7.75
Wednesday:  $13.50

$70.00 spent with two days left to go.

I am trying really hard today not to let my empathy for someone who pretty much makes *LOCO* out of everyone who spends any appreciable time with them get the better of me. There are two sides to every coin, and contrary to some popular thought, compassion can be as much of a weakness as a strength.

Wish me luck.

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 25 Y Algo About !Viva España!...

I am green with friendly envy this morning.

My friend Maria went to a tablao the other night and posted pictures of what looked to be a great flamenco show, and then that fabulous biatch turned around the very next night and went to hear Ferran Adria speak. I could only have been made jealouser if he had cooked for her, but he didn't, so thank Goddess for small favors. Take that, Maria.

Mis zapatos are out of practice. I wonder if the landlord
would mind a little taconeo on these cheap
Pergo floors...

But jealousy aside, I want to thank her for reminding me of a place, a people, a language, and a culture I love and to which I am inexplicably drawn - except for their affiliation to Enrique Iglesias and bullfighting. No one's perfect.

I haven't gotten to travel in a while, but to go back there is next on my agenda. <nudge to the Man>

I think I might make a chicken paella (ppahEHyah - unless you're a Brit and you say it like it's written, which is silly) tonight. Too bad we drank the rest of that tempranillo-grenache last night.

Ohhh... I just remembered there's cava... That and a little Paco de Lucia on cue should make alegría .

That last link, btw, is for a clip from Carlos Saura's Flamenco, which is a visually and aurally stunning introduction to flamenco cante, toque, y baile (singing, guitar and dance). Que te disfrutes. :)

BREAKFAST

Some more of those ham and cheese croissammies with a little dab of strawberry jam to cut through the salt. If you've not tried it, it's not as odd as it sounds. Or, perhaps you will find it oddly delicious.

And in honor of the new gopher hole in our front yard...

   2 croissants $0.75
+ 3 slices of turkey ham $0.10
+ cheese $0.60
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

= BREAKFAST: $1.85 total, $0.95/person

LUNCH

Leftover pasta from last night and a Honeycrisp apple for both of us.

LUNCH: $0.60 for two apples.

For dinner, I'm thinking that chicken paella and steamed or roasted broccoli with a lemon aioli on top and a bottle of cava to wash it down. Because you can't not finish a bottle of cava. Because if Jesus had meant for us to piecemeal the drinking of sparkling wines, they would have come down from heaven with screwtops on them.

I'm guessing about $10 total because of the cava, but I'll be back much, MUCH later with dinner pics and the breakdown.

!Olé!

shinae

DINNER

@6:58 PM - Plan B. Completely wiped out this afternoon by the kind of exhaustion you can only experience by being female, I sat on the couch to write and fell asleep for too long.

Since we had another one of those $5 Church's Fried Chicken coupons for 3 drums, 2 thighs, 2 of their funky chewy biscuits, and a side of something that you're supposed to think is mashed potatoes and gravy, we ate that plus a homemade garden salad with Balsamic vinaigrette made weeks ago.

   Takeout chicken, biscuits and mashed potatoes $5.50
+ lettuce $0.30
+ 1.5 avocados $1.15
+ 1 Roma $0.20
+ 1/2 a cuke $0.30
+ some red cabbage $0.30
+ some after dinner ice cream from last night $1.00

= DINNER $8.75 total, $3.90/person


Saturday:  $18.15
Sunday:  $17.30
Monday:  $11.20
Tuesday:  $7.75

$56.00 spent with three days left to go. I will definitely make that paella for dinner tomorrow. I just hope I don't feel like I'm feeling today. UGH. :|

100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 24 & I Have A Confession To Make...

...And the confession is that I have been watching way too much Housewives drama on TV lately.

No doubt I am indulging in some schadenfreude, but having somewhat interpersonally sequestered myself for the past few years while reassessing the kinds of friendships I wanted and needed, I find that I get some kind of weird voyeuristic fulfillment from watching these women interact like lots of women do.

Of course the fact that they are televised magnifies the drama, but the truth is that many of us who watch do because we can recognize the interpersonal dynamics on the shows to the ones in our lives. After all, these women are cast as the archetypes most of us are or know.

Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't want to be friends with any one of these nutty broads. But in that yin-yang way that all things in life have positive and negative aspects to them, two thirds of my brain is rotting as I watch, while the other third is taking notes on how not to relate with other women.

Since I haven't called any of my friends a *prostitution whore* in the past year, or told any of my girlfriends how to have class while talking about myself in the third person, or called any of them a slut for using the word *cock*, I think I'm taking away some really good lessons.

BREAKFAST

Exhausting weekend, so easy breakfast this morning of Honey Nut Cheerios and black coffee.

   2 bowls of cereal with milk $1.00
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

= BREAKFAST: $1.40 total, $0.70/person

LUNCH

As we didn't have any leftovers from the weekend, and as I'm suffering female type exhaustion, ramen with poached eggs garnished with some fresh cilantro and green onion. Zipped up with a squeeze of lime and some sriracha.

The Man, who works 5 minutes away from home, came home for lunch rather than spend 8 bucks for Panda again.

And the other half of that cantaloupe too...

   2 packets of Maruchan ramen $0.40
+ 2 eggs $0.35
+ misc. garnish $0.15
+ 1/2 a cantaloupe $0.50

= LUNCH: $1.40 total, $0.70/person

SNACK

The last piece of coffee cake and some coffee, shared.

   1 piece of coffee cake $0.50
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

= SNACK: $.90 total

DINNER

Angel hair pasta with a fresh tomato and ground beef ragu. Salad of romaine and sauteed mushrooms dressed with balsamic vinaigrette on the side.

   1/2 a basket of cherry tomatoes $0.75
+ 6 Roma tomatoes $1.20
+ 1 pound of ground beef $2.50
+ 1 head of garlic $0.20
+ 1 onion $0.20
+ some olive oil, oregano and crushed chili flakes $0.50
+ 1/2 a pack of angel hair pasta $0.50
+ a few leaves of romaine lettuce $0.30
+ mushrooms $1.00

= DINNER: $7.15 total, $1.80/serving (4 servings total)

SNACK

The Man wanted to test my poached egg instructions, so he poached two eggs for the first time in his life and was generally happy about it.

SNACK: $0.35

$11.20 spent today with leftovers for lunch tomorrow. YAYYY!!! I just hate myself when I don't have leftovers to pack for the Man's lunch.

Saturday:  $18.15
Sunday:  $17.30
Monday:  $11.20

$47.00 spent with 4 days left to go in this week and this project.

Now for a beer to take the edge off of dealing with things. You know, those *things* in life that come attached to people who create *things* that need to be dealt with.

Cheers.  :[

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 23 & Something About Looking Sassy While Grocery Shopping...

"Babe, where are you going in that outfit? To meet your other boyfriend??"

"If by *other boyfriend* you mean the little Mexican lady who rings up my groceries at Earthgrown, then YES."

Sometimes I think it's a little pathetic that I dress up to go grocery shopping, but I have this closet full of clothes, see. And if they don't go with me on my weekly grocery run, they may never see the light of day again before I get too fat to wear them.

Yesterday, it was a dusty rose cashmere sweater with jeans and these little retro black heels with tiny single bows on the outside and a pair of faux pearl earrings. Hair down, face put on, and a spritz of Bulgari Omnia Green Jade on the wrists and behind the ears.

Clacking around in my heels in a market made for hippies wearing Jesus sandals, did I look and sound a little ridiculous?

OF COURSE I DID.

But you only live this life once, and when you leave it, you can't take your cute clothes with you.

BREAKFAST

As the kids were still stoked on their chocolate Cheerios, those for them.

For the grown folk, honey turkey ham & Monterey Jack croissants.

   2 bowls of cereal with milk $1.00
+ 2 croissants $0.75
+ 3 slices of turkey ham $0.30
+ cheese $0.60
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

= BREAKFAST: $3.05 total

SNACK

Never one to go too long without eating, the Girl asked for a snack, so half a Honeycrisp apple (which are really good, btw - they're new to me) and some cheese.

This week, it seems I can't go too long without another cup of coffee so another two 6 oz. cups for me.

   1 Honeycrisp apple $0.30
+ cheese $0.30
+ 2 cups coffee $0.40

= SNACK: $1.00

LUNCH

With brew day commotion and so much else to do and with kids clamoring for brownies, I decided to do brownies a la mode for lunch for the four of us plus a regular brew buddy, and the Girl thought this was *The Best Lunch Ever*.

   1 package of Betty Crocker brownie mix $1.80
+ 2 eggs and some oil $0.45
+ ice cream for five $2.50 (There was a twofer sale on Breyer's this week)

= LUNCH: $4.75 total, $0.95/person

DINNER

I think I've mentioned before how brew days can become social events. Another friend whom the Man hasn't seen in a while dropped by to participate in brew day, so chicken teriyaki and garden salad meant for 3 adults and 2 kids became chicken teriyaki and garden salad plus some tamagoyaki (rolled omelettes) for 4 adults and 2 kids.

And more brownies for all because, why not?

   chicken $3.00
+ soy sauce, rice wine, sugar $1.25
+ garlic & ginger $0.20
+ 4 eggs $0.70
+ 3 slices of ham $0.30
+ 2 cups rice $0.80
+ half a head of romaine $0.50
+ half a carrot $0.10
+ half a basket of cherry tomatoes $0.75
+ half a cucumber $0.30
+ a little red cabbage $0.10
+ mayo, ketchup, oil, vinegar and some other seasonings for Thousand Island dressing $0.50

= DINNER: $8.50 total, $1.45/serving (for 6 modest servings)

$17.30 spent today, and the Boy is back at his other house this week. I'm going to miss both my goobers.

All the more reason to start up that new blogging project, I think!

Saturday:  $18.15
Sunday:  $17.30

$35.45 spent with 5 days left to go. Tomorrow will probably have something to do with ground beef.

I think it's time for a beer.

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 22 (What We Ate) & Something About Cooking In Vs. Dining Out...

The other day, I told you about how the Man ended up having to go to Panda Express for some guai lo Chinese-y food for lunch and how that lunch cost $8.00. That we spent 8 bucks on a 2-item combo didn't bite as much as the realization of how much more food at how much better a quality we could have made with 8 bucks' worth of groceries at home.

To further illustrate, in the past couple of months, we've gone out to eat on our own dime just a handful of times. And in that handful (something like 4), we have spent more dining out ($400+) than we do for the groceries that feed us, and pretty well I think, for the entire month.

And let's be real - I love Oceanside, but Oceanside is no fine dining haven. Which is to say, we're not eating at places where we can get better food than we get at home. And when we stay local, we're dining out for one of two reasons: variety sushi and a break from the kitchen.

I understand this is a Red Delicious to Fuji comparison.

When we dine out, each person gets to order what they want, and there is no cleanup. I hesitate to include the notion of service in that equation because frankly, what we get for service most days in casual dining environments lately, I'd rather take a number and go pick my food up at the pass-through. (Lest I should be taken the wrong way, it's not that I'd rather that server be out of a job. I'm just looking at it from a bang for my buck perspective. And maybe I think that server needs to brush up on their notions of good service, too...) Further, if the reality for some of us is that almost all restaurant food looks and tastes better than what we can produce at home, all I can say is, practice makes perhaps not perfect, but eventually, definitely better than what you can get at most restaurants.

When we eat in, the whole family *has* to eat the same thing, and someone's gotta wash or at least load the dishes. But let me reframe that from a perspective of a mother who has two pre-teen children with very culinarily doting grandmothers who don't seem to mind making one thing for one child and one different thing for the other. While it is absolutely a grandmother's prerogative to dote, it is not good for children to grow up thinking they can have whatever they want at every meal. It spoils them in a bad way for this little reality of life we try to instill in them from the time they're old enough to be fixated on a big amorphous purple blobcreature that is supposed to be a singing dinosaur:

You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit.

I'm not trying to get anyone to stop eating out. I enjoy a good dining out experience as much as the next gal. But clearly, there are advantages to eating home-cooked meals most of the time, and not all of them have to do with saving money.

BREAKFAST

For me, the Man, and the Boy, coffee cake and a hot beverage:

For the Girl whom we picked up later in the morning because she had a Father-Daughter dinner with her dad on Friday night, a bowl of chocolate Cheerios:

   3 pieces of coffee cake $1.50
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40
+ a cup of coconut vanilla latte $0.25
+ a bowl of Cheerios and milk $0.50

= BREAKFAST: $2.65 total, $0.65/person

SNACK

A fruit and veg platter for all.

   2/3 basket of cherry tomatoes $1.00
+ 2 carrots $0.40
+ half a cantaloupe $0.60
+ some ranch dressing $0.15

= SNACK: $2.15 total

LUNCH

Club sandwich type dealies with bacon, lettuce, turkey ham, avocado and tomato on whole wheat.

    4 slices of bacon $0.50

+ 1 avocado $0.75

+ lettuce already accounted for

+ 1 tomato $0.20

+ turkey ham $1.00

+ 8 slice of bread @ $1.00

= $3.50 total, $0.90/person

KIMCHI

Made more kimchi.

   just under 4 pounds of Napa cabbage $3.80

+ half a head of garlic $0.10

+ a big knuckle of ginger $0.20

+ red chili flakes $0.60

+ some rice, sugar and fish sauce $0.20

= KIMCHI: $4.90 for a half gallon.

DINNER

Easy meals all around - instant udon for dinner. With a poached egg for me and the Man, and plain for the kids who don't like poached eggs.

Some button and crimini mushrooms sauteed in some of the bacon fat left from making the club sandwiches for lunch, and dressed with little lemon and wasabi.

And some fresh kimchi. :)

   4 packets of udon $3.40
+ 2 eggs $0.35
+ mushrooms $1.25

= DINNER: $4.90 total, $1.25/person

$18.15 spent on the first day of the last week.

The Man is brewing today. Some kind of stout, I think, but he is not awake to confirm.

This house is a disaster. I guess my day has been planned for me.

Off to assemble breakfast...

shinae