Monday : kitchen management day

Meal plans are just that ... plans.  

We went grocery shopping yesterday,   I pretty much stuck to my list and spent  less than thirty dollars on food.   I did, however , buy more vegetables this time than fruit,  the prices were not so good on fruit,  I bought a couple of bananas and some apples.    I also bought broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes, and a cucumber.   A large tub of hummus was two dollars.    Two pounds of frozen French fries were a dollar.  Cottage cheese and sour cream was a dollar.    I didn't get chicken because I'm stocked, but it would have been my rotation protein.   I went to two stores. Going to two stores gives you a better chance of finding the best prices on the food you need.

Kitchen management :

• Make refrigerator bread dough.   Easy to remember 2.2.4.8.   2 T salt, 2T yeast. 4 cups hot water, 8 cups flour.    Stir. Let sit out on the counter for two hours in a tub with a loose fitting lid to let the gasses escape.  Stir down and refrigerate. 
• Make split pea soup.   
• Clean vegetables : celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and cucumber.   
• Fill the popcorn canister and any other thing that needs filling.  Salt and pepper shakers?
• Wash the fridge and organize.   Keeping one type of thing in a shelf or on a door basket makes dining something easier and helps to not let something  get shoved to the back and forgotten; cleaning and organizing the fridge every week keeps that forgotten thing from growing hair prettier than yours.   
• Wash kitchen floor - after you are done!   And, check the microwave.   

I think it is interesting to note that statistics show that 30 percent of a grocery cart is drinks; another twenty percent is snacks.   Loose those categories and you have cut your grocery bill in half.   Now, pay half price for the things you buy most often and you have drastically cut your grocery bill without sacrificing a thing.  If you are a snack person, make your own snacks and buy an air popper and make popcorn.   Or, consider a separate budget for snacks,    If you have a separate envelope of money, you will see more clearly how much you are spending.   If you are in a limited budget, your food money must be for things that are nutrition based.