Food consumption at my house

We consume a lot of milk, eggs and veggies/ fruits. I cook breakfast lunch and dinner everyday with a light snack in between. I made a vow of my kids to eat at least 1 fruit a day and I always include it with either their lunch or a snack before dinner. I drink coffee everyday and God forgive me if I dont have my much needed cup of joe. So we also consume a lot sugar since I bake a cake at least once a week. My kids dont consume cookies and candies but they do deserve to have a lil sweet every now and then.

We also consume either chicken or pork grilled in our meal everyday. Its healthy but it can get boring sometimes. I try to change it up with different dishes and sometimes cooking it on the slow cooker.

My kids love the chicken noodle soup. I avoid to give it to them as much as possible but sometimes I rather give it to them than run to the nearest fast food joint. But I trick them I add 1 jar of baby food veggie to it like carrots, sweet potato or squash and cook the noodles in it. They love it and eat it without having a clue that their meal got vegetables. :)

I try to stay away from packaged foods but packaged = fast and sometimes I need fast.
My methods wont fit for every familybut it sure works for ours. :)

Groceries List in my Household.

Hey I wanted to share an example of what groceries in my house is like. It runs about $200 a month for a family of 5. Let me know what you do that is similar and what is different.

I lilke to shop at Aldi for a few items but it doesnt carry everything that I like or items that my family enjoy.
So I am gonna start with items that I would get at regular store.

Supermarket Shopping list:
 Ill put the letter R for regular supermarket next to it and A for items that I get at Aldis.

• R 2 large boxes of cereal ( Cheerios, Golden Granham)
• A 2 loaf of whole wheat bread
• A 1 pkg hotdog buns
• A 1 pkg hamburger buns
• A 1 pkg of sliced cheese
• A 2 pkg of string cheese
• A 2 pkg of sliced ham
• R 2 pkg yogurt (danonino)
• A 1 bag of potatoes
• A 1 bag of onion
• A 1 pkg of mix peppers
• A 1 bag of apples
• A 1 bag of oranges
• A 2 bags of baby carrots
• R 1 10 lbs bag of rice
• A 2 boxes of instant rice
• A 2 bags of sugar
• A 1 bag of flour
• R 2-3 packages of Bustelo coffee
• R 1 large package of powdered chocolate
• R 1 large pkg of ritz crackers ( For the Homemade Lunchables) ;)
• R 8 cans of Goya beans ( pink, black, red, kidney etc)
• A 10-15 cans of vegetable (corn, carrots, sweet peas, green beans, garbanzo beans etc)
• A 1 12ct. package of  noodles (chicken flavor)
• R 10 cans of whole wheat chef boyardee. (lasagna, mini 123's)
• R 4-6 baby food jars ( carrots squash and sweet potatoes)
• R 4 bottles of 100% juice
• R/A 3-4 packs of 24 water bottles ( I always buy when its on sale)
• R/A 2 bags frozen onion/ pepper mix
• R/A 4-5 bags of frozen brocolli/
• R/A 4-5 bags of frozen cauliflower
• R 2-3 large trays of boneless chicken breast
• R 2 large trays of boneless pork chops
• A 2 packages of turkey hotdogs
• A 3 packages of turkey ground meat ( great for making patties in the foreman grill)
• A 2 packages of turkey bacon
• A 2 packages of eggs
• R 1 large box of nutrigrain
• R 2 pkg of bagges salad
• A 3 cans of tuna
• A 3 cans of pink salmon
• A 2 pkg of frozen mussels
• A 1 frozen bag of shrimp salad
• A 1 frozen bag of medium shrimp
• A 1 pkg of frozen pancakes
• A 1 pkg of frozen french toast
• A 2-3 jars of peaches

Well here I tried to cover most of the items that are included in my monthly grocery list. Other things such as dish soap toilet paper etc. I get from several stores such as my local supermarket when its on sale walmart and local dollar tree.

I try to separate my grocery budget with $100 for one store and $100 for the other. And always shop with a list. Other items such as milk and bananas I get as a needed basis since we consume a lot of it.

Grow a vegetable garden

I never had a green thumb. Until I decided to try it this summer. I planted a vegetable garden and to be quite honest some made it and others didnt. Well if you want to save money with your groceries and eat healthier give it a try.

The first thing I did was to make a run for the local Home Depot and buy all the essential items. My garden included tomatoes, lettuce, brocolli, peppers, strawberries and parsley. This year we ate 3 tomatoes that grew in a larger pot that I planted. Brocolli and lettuce died since my husband kept refusing to eat the stuff I grew in the garden but since he is a sucker for tomatoes he couldnt say no to the beauties that I had growing in the backyard.

Well as I said before growing a garden is not for everyone I am sure that I made mistakes and next year Ill give it another try and hopefully Ill have wonderful and health veggies and fruits in our table. It will save us money in the long run.

P.S. The peppers are hanging by a thread. The Parsley were a beauty but it died after a long weekend away and nobody to water it. We are still waiting on the Strawberries to grow well berries.

See you next time xoxo

Homemade Laundry Soap.

Hello, I recently started to make my own laundry soap. I always wanted to become more self aware of what I am putting out in the world becoming "green" and all. Well I am gonna share the recipe I found online on several website and with a little experiment its been working out for me.

* 1 cup of laundry detergent
* 1 cup of borax
* 1 cup of washing soda
* 1 cup of vinegar

Mix everything in a 1 gallon bottle fill all the way up with warm water. Let it sit overnight and voila!
I still have to buy soap to prepare my own version of laundry detergent because I cant see myself grating soap to melt it and then pour out in a bottle. Saves me a lot trouble and its nothing compared with what I had to spend before. With 3 kids at home I got squeeze and save where I can.

P.S. My husband its one of the kind of guys that "loves" everything brand name. Since he doesnt keep track of what I buy for the house I keep using my "own" detergent and pouring it in the brand name bottle. He never knows the difference. ;)

I am also gonna be posting my little version for fabric softner as well. Stay in touch.

Cheap Party Pinata

Another of those simple homemade party decorations that you can try to make at home is the piñata.
Actually, many hosts choose this among other homemade party decorations since this is one of those things that make a party, more fun. To make the piñata, you do not actually need to go for the paper type of piñata. To make it really easy for you, why not purchase a cheap large balloon and before you inflate it, fill it with assorted candies and other sweet treats? Then just let your guests go buck wild. Love it!

DIY Cupcake topper

1. You will need: tape, adhesive of your choice, sucker stick, ribbon, and any paper shapes that you want to use. I used a scalloped punch, a smaller circle punch, and a number “1″ punch.
2. Using adhesive, I stuck the “1″ onto the small circle and then I stuck those onto the scalloped circle.
3. With a small piece of tape I taped the sucker stick to the back of the scalloped circle.
4. Then I tied a ribbon on the bottom. Easy Peasy. Now go find a cupcake.
 

DIY Recycled Crayon

1. You will need: letter molds, old crayons with the wrappers peeled off, a baking sheet.
2. Break the crayons into small pieces and fit them into the letter mold. Use more crayons than you think, they melt down.
3. With the molds on the baking sheet, put them into a 350º preheated oven for 15 minutes. After the crayons are melted take them out of the oven and let them sit for a minute. Put the molds into the freezer for 15-30 minutes so the crayon letters will harden faster.
4. When the letters are hardened, pop them out carefully. This isn’t as easy as it looks (sometimes the letters break). If a letter breaks you can just remelt that letter in the mold in the oven, refreeze, and try popping it out again.
5. There you go.
6. Bag them up, tie with a cute ribbon, and add an upcycled notebook.


This is a great and inexpensive gift to kids and teacher as well. Enjoy it. Xoxo