Monthly Grocery Budget.

[lazy gardener]

I can't imagine having to deal with all of those buckles and a squirming baby. Last time I was toting babies (grand kids) I was very fond of the hammock style baby slings. They are so easy to use, (and make) and amazingly versatile. You can even position them to be able to nurse a young baby while being modestly covered. However, with an older child, you do have to have one hand available to support them. My grandson practically lived in the sling. When he was out of sorts, which seemed to be all the time!!! the sling and therapy ball were the only things that would calm him.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Lol i wish i could have found one. My sewing/kniting skills are no exsistent i might be able to sew a button but even thats a challange for me. Yeah i gave up on the backpack pretty quickly.

 

[donrae]

I can tell you how I make lasagna, it's pretty easy and you can customize it to your tastes. I don't care for the sausage so much either, so I use ground beef. One pound would probably be fine for your smaller family. I brown that with onion and garlic and Italian seasoning. I make the filling with cottage cheese, to my family it's not that much different than ricotta. If you prefer the ricotta, great. For your size, one 16 oz tub should be good. I mix that with a pound of thawed chopped spinach (you can leave that out if you don't like spinach), an egg, some Parmesan cheese, more Italian seasoning and a pinch of nutmeg, that makes the filling. Sometimes I make my own sauce, but if I'm pressed for time I just use jarred sauce. Our personal preference is for a layer of mushrooms also, but I understand not everyone likes shrooms as much as we do

. I don't pre-cook my noodles, I use the oven ready noodles and lots of sauce and it saves that time and working with hot noodles.

I just make up my layers as I go. It's something like this usually...sauce, noodles, meat, cheese, sauce, noodles, mushrooms, cheese, sauce, noodles, filling, sauce, noodles, sauce and cheese. The cheese is shredded mozzarella, and then I top it with some shredded parm also--we like a lot of cheese

. Just be sure you have lots of sauce, that moisture is what cooks your noodles. Cover and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes until the noodles are tender.

never, ever make just one lasagna! Once you have all the ingredients to assemble one, you might as well make a second one and put it in the freezer.

Mine always seem to stick up over the top of the pan, so when I cover with foil I spray the foil with Pam so the cheese doesn't stick.

I totally hear you about eating the entire pan! I've started making two for each meal. My husband and two boys are low carb, one boy and I eat carbs. I make a larger pan without noodles for them, for us carbers I'm down to making it in a little 9x9 pan. That also helps with portion control! Or, if you want to make a larger pan, immediately repackage some for lunches and stick it in the freezer.

Lasagna is very forgiving, and very fluid. And even if it's not perfect, it's still noodles, meat, cheese and tomato sauce. Kind of hard to go wrong with those

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Donrae i could kiss you lol i get all that but the noodles normally so it would be a perfect solution so we dont wast any thing.

plus it means i save eight bucks for lasagna moohaha i like it!! We like all that stuff mushrooms spanich the works so its perfect plus it means i can sneak vegies in for the two year old lol.

 

[MeepBeep]

I can't imagine having to deal with all of those buckles and a squirming baby.  Last time I was toting babies (grand kids) I was very fond of the hammock style baby slings.  They are so easy to use, (and make) and amazingly versatile.  You can even position them to be able to nurse a young baby while being modestly covered.  However, with an older child, you do have to have one hand available to support them.  My grandson practically lived in the sling.  When he was out of sorts, which seemed to be all the time!!! the sling and therapy ball were the only things that would calm him.

As as at home dad, I found buying the cheapest and lightest car seat, stripping out the harness and belts while lining it with a blanket to be the most convenient carrying method... My three children spent a lot of time in that cheap car seat...

The wife found those 'baby wraps' to be very convenient, that is once you actually figure out how to wrap the darn things properly...

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Lol see that would be my issue as well i am not very good at folding things correctly most of our stuff is hanging up one because we dont have dressers and two because its just easier to hang everything.

 

[donrae]

I went to Cash and Carry yesterday and they had beef on sale. I spent $106. Honey went to the local butcher and they had smoked turkeys on post-holiday clearance, he bought 3 for $67.

total is $429.

 

[donrae]

I've roughed out a menu for the next week...

zucchini casserole
pork chops, green bean casserole and mac and cheese
chicken piccata, roasted veggies and taters
seafood chowder and biscuits
pizza and salad
meatloaf, mashed taters and some veggie
Mom's Special chicken, some type of taters and salad.

I actually have all the meat I'd need for next week. I'll need veggies, milk, cheese, and a trip to the bread store at some point. We're also out of fresh fruit. Cash and carry had a 50lb bag of nice russet potatoes for under $6, so we're eating taters a lot

 

[Outpost JWB]

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Ok well i tried the weekly planning for meals and i kinda like it and i kinda dont lol reasons i like it my husband doesnt ask me a million times whats for dinner he just checkes the menu lol, its easy when there is A plan and somethings dethawed. Theres only one thing i dont like and thats if what i planned earlier in the week for that meal isnt what i feel like lol.