Steamed Cabbage and Squash

May 4, 2011 in healthy living, in the kitchen, recipes with 8 Comments

Over the past few months, I’ve been working on incorporating more vegetables into our diet. As we’re trying new vegetables and cooking vegetables in different ways, I’m finding that I simply love vegetables!

Two of my favorites are cabbage and squash. I ate cabbage growing up, only in a stir fry though! The thought of cabbage any other way wasn’t exactly appealing. As far as squash goes, I just started eating it a little over a year ago. It’s delicious!

Steamed Cabbage and Squash is so simple to make!

Ingredients:

Squash (1 medium/large, sliced)

Cabbage (about 2 cups worth diced up)

Butter (about 2 tablespoons)

Salt/Pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in large skillet.

2. Add in squash and cabbage, stir to mix with the butter. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

3. Cover and let steam for a few minutes or until the vegetables reach the tenderness you desire.

4. Serve and enjoy!


This makes a great side dish. I frequently fix this for an easy and yummy lunch. Paxton enjoys the steamed squash and I just love it!

Grocery Budget & Meals: Week 1

May 1, 2011 in finances, frugal, healthy living, in the kitchen with 26 Comments

During the month of May, I’m sharing a glimpse into our food budget and menu planning. Each week, I’ll share the groceries we purchased and a detailed meal plan.

Our grocery budget is currently $175 for our family of 3 and I am considering bumping it up soon to $200 since we are working towards healthier eating, incorporating more organics, better quality milk and fresh from the farm meat. We value our health and we’re no longer trying to eat for as little as possible. We are trying to frugally eat healthy!

Food we began the month with:

Produce: 8 apples, 1 mango, 2 kiwis, 1 orange, 8 ounces carrots, 10 pounds sweet potatoes, 5 pounds potatoes

Dairy: 1 block cream cheese, 3 8-oz blocks cheese, 8 ounces sour cream, 1/2 gallon milk, 3 sticks butter

Dry Goods:

The contents of our pantry.

{We also have a shelf of venison and 4 chicken breasts and chicken wings in the freezer. Of course, this is not a complete list of the foods that we have but most of the food!}

Our grocery trip for the week:

  • Oats $3.39
  • Saltines $1.00
  • Plain Yogurt (organic) $2.69
  • 3 cups Greek Yogurt $2
  • Greens $1.00
  • Green Chilies $.79
  • White Wine Vinegar $2.69
  • Green Salsa $2.69
  • Sloppy Joe Sauce $.79
  • Dijon Mustard $.89
  • Flaxseed Mill $3.79
  • Granola Bars-2 boxes (organic) $2.38
  • Chocolate Chips $3.49
  • Cheese $3.29
  • Fried Chicken $3.29 (marked down…not healthy but easy!)
  • Chicken Sausage (organic) $1.99
  • Sausage Links $2.50
  • Bananas (2.84 pounds) $1.56
  • Cabbage (4.27 pounds) $2.09
  • Mango $1.00
  • Orange $.50
  • Avocados (2) $3.00
  • Lemon $.50
  • Cantaloupe $1.99
  • Eggs $2.99
  • Chips (not pictured) $2.99

Total: $50 (With tax & 10% off coupon)

{$125 left in the grocery budget for the month.}

Our Meal Plan:

Monday

Breakfast-Sausage, Eggs & Toast

Lunch-Leftover Chicken with Homemade Fries

Dinner-Sloppy Joes with Apples & Chips

To Do-Layout Venison

Tuesday

Breakfast-Yogurt & Apples

Lunch-Leftovers for JD, Avocado/Guacamole with Tortillas and Kiwi

Dinner-Grilled Venison, Baked Sweet Potato, Fried Cabbage and Bread

To Do-Make Banana Flax Muffins, Make Bread

Wednesday

Breakfast-Banana Flax Muffins

Lunch-Leftovers

Dinner-At Church

Thursday

Breakfast-Banana Flax Muffins

Lunch- JD out for lunch; Carrots, Mango, Yogurt & Cheese

Dinner- JD at church; Fried Cabbage, Bread with Yogurt & Kiwi

To Do-Make Homemade Mayo, Make Tuna Salad, Soak Tortillas, Layout Chicken

Friday

Breakfast- Sausage & Hashbrowns

Lunch- Tuna Salad for JD, Leftover Cabbage & Fruit

Dinner- Chicken Tacos with Homemade Tortillas

To Do- Cook Rice

Saturday

Breakfast- Sausage Omelets

Lunch- Leftovers

Dinner- Chicken with Fried Rice & Stir Fry Vegetables

To Do- Layout chicken

Sunday

Breakfast- Breakfast at Church

Lunch- Leftovers

Dinner- Smoked Chicken Wings with Homemade Sweet Potato Fries

 

{I apologize for the long post but I wanted to give you as much information so you can get a good idea about our grocery budget and meal planning!}

 

Frugal First Birthday Party

April 26, 2011 in baby, frugal with 6 Comments

On the 16th, my baby turned one! We had a party for him with family on a fairly small budget.

The budget : $100! Now, I know some of you are thinking, that’s not a frugal birthday party at all! And, I do agree! However, when you have family visiting from 1.5 to 3.5 hours away, the least you can do is feed them- remember there is a difference between being frugal and being cheap! Feeding 20 people a decent meal, having dessert and decorations with a $100 budget, that takes a little creative frugality!

Cake:

I made a mini smash cash and cupcakes {using Silicone Baking Cups}. The cupcake stand is made of 2 wrapped boxes! {The 2-5 candles are for Paxton’s Papaw who turned 55-they share a birthday!}

Cost:

  • Funfetti Cake Mix: $2.16
  • Funfetti Frosting: $3.24
  • Candles: $2.80
  • Wrapping Paper: $1.06

Total: $9.26

Decorations:

We created a slideshow of our favorite pictures from Paxton’s first year {I only chose about 750!} This played throughout the course of the party. I saved a lot of money doing this instead of developing a bunch of pictures to display.

We used his blocks to add a personal touch and we developed a favorite birthday picture (using a gift card left from a baby shower!) and put it in a frame we already had. The most expensive decor item for the party is the Dr. Seuss ABC book which I bought for $7.85 (I looked for it used at several thrift/used book stores with no luck). The party “theme” was books and primary colors and this book tied it all together! Of course, we’ll enjoy the book for years and years to come!

I also displayed more of our favorite books! Using these to decorate with was free! I also printed 4×6′s of Paxton’s birthday pictures {using the shower gift card to pay!}

Food:

The cups and straws, we already had! {The cups had survived 4 moves so it was time to use them finally!} Tying a ribbon {from my scrapbook stash} really made the straws look adorable!

We also already had plates, napkins and forks! I spent $1.06 purchasing spoons {which weren’t even used since nobody ate any ice cream…could have saved that $1.06!!}

I used fabric from my fabric stash as a table cloth! The blue, green and red fabric was perfect! I made a mini birthday banner from my scrapbook stash and purchased 4 balloons (red, yellow, blue, green) for $5.29! {Paxton just loved the balloons!}

One of the best parts of the party, other than the adorable 1-year-old and family, Chick-fil-A nuggets! Yum!! We had Chick-fil-A nuggets and slaw, potato wedges, and fresh fruit!!

Food costs:

  • Nuggets: $54.06
  • Potato Wedges: $11.25
  • Fruit: $11.67

Total: $76.98

Total Costs:

  • Cake: $9.26
  • Decorations (book & balloons): $13.14
  • Food: $76.98

Total: $99.38

I was $.62 under budget!

Of course, if we just had cake and decorations, I would have only spent $22.40 on the party, which is a very frugal first birthday party!

Paxton had an absolute blast at his party surrounded by those who love him most! He especially enjoyed eating his cake, opening presents, spending time with grandparents and guests!

A Year of Breastfeeding

April 25, 2011 in baby, healthy living, motherhood with 20 Comments

A week ago Paxton turned one and we reached the goal of breastfeeding one year!

When he was born, I knew I wanted to breastfeed and hoped my body would allow me to exclusively breastfeed to 6 months. Once we reached that goal, I decided to keep going to a year. Now, we are a few days past a year and have no plans of quitting.

He nurses every morning and before bedtime. During the day, sometimes he nurses only twice, sometimes up to four times.

I believe breastfeeding has made him a confident baby. He is occasionally clingy but that’s normally when he doesn’t feel good or is tired. Typically he is friendly and loves spending time with other people. He’ll go to just about anybody and we make friends everywhere we go! Paxton’s waving, smiling or reaching out to people!

I know nursing a toddler is strange to some but I’ve been blessed with a supportive husband who believes this is best for our child and several friends who are pro-breastfeeding!

A few Breastfeeding Benefits:

  • A healthy baby. He’s not been very sick at all! He even had a fever when his daddy had the flu but we continued to nurse and he never got the flu and didn’t have to take antibiotics! He has had 1 stomach bug and breast milk was the only food he could keep down for a day which prevented dehydration and antibiotics! We’ve yet to have an earache!
  • Helps with teething. Nursing helps soothe him when he’s teething. I love that he is able to find comfort when he’s in pain.
  • It’s simple. I don’t have to worry about bottles or sippy cups to feed him.
  • It’s frugal. We haven’t bought a single can of formula and now that he can have cows milk, we’re saving money not having to purchase extra organic milk for him to drink.

I haven’t set any goals beyond this point. We are going to continue breastfeeding probably to 15 months and maybe to 18 months. I’m not going to initiate weaning any time soon but if he does initiate whether it is next week, next month, or in several months, we’ll wean.

Related Posts:

*I know many women struggle with breastfeeding whether it is horrible pain, a baby who won’t latch or lack of milk supply and these are things they just can’t control. I do not think mothers who formula feed their babies are inferior to those who breastfeed, we all love our babies and do what is best for them! I also know that breastfeeding to a year -and beyond- doesn’t work for many mamas! If you’ve nursed 2 weeks, 4 months, 11 months or even to age 2, congrats!

**Be sure to enter the Bamboobies Nursing Pads giveaway going on through Wednesday, April 26th!

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