End of June update

It's amazing to think that I used to write in this blog 2-3 times a day. Since I've been doing this for almost two years, I guess it only makes sense that my entries would peter out.

But the anemia/anxiety issues I've been dealing with lately have also affected this, as they have affected my attempts at limiting the budget. It's hard to convince oneself not to use the charge cards to eat out when one can no longer remember how to prepare something as simple as chicken. And when the iron deficient anemia-related fatigue kicks in, it's probably dangerous to be in the kitchen.

For safety and flavor.

So, let's summarize June.

I spent about $200 on groceries. It's $190-something right now but hubby needs deodorant, we're out of sugar and nearly out of cooking spray. Husband will probably head to the store tonight.

I'm proud of that figure, especially since I don't have my full wits about me to shop aggressively and in an organized fashion.

BUT...

We spent 13% of this month's income (nearly $260) on dining out which is unacceptable when I had to withdraw $400 from the savings account to survive this month. Again, I "blame" my poor planning and inability to function, but my goal this month is to curb that. No more credit cards! Not when we're so close to making ends meet.

That also said, $23 of that dining out bill was to treat a friend who spent several hours working on a substantial project for me. And $32 was my daughter's birthday dinner. And $35 was lunch out with the family at TGI Fridays for the last day of school when the bill came out unexpectedly high.

So, if we can act fiscally responsible for a week or two, I may allow a dinner out for Bastille Day, but a cheap one. Though we do have a 30% off coupon for Mex Tex Trio...

My goals for July:
- Desired goal for grocery budget: between $150-$200
- Desired goal for dining out budget: $75-100 ($0 would be nice but it ain't happening)
- Desired goal for food preparation: bake a large batch of bread and biscuits for the freezer. The only bread products I have left are tortilla shells from Aldi, one multigrain biscuit, and crackers.
- Brainstorm meals for these 100 degree days we've been having

Successes for June:
- While we have not eaten many formal meals, in it summer, so we've indulged in some cheese, cracker and fruit platters. This is a simple and quick dinner for the heat.
- We have eaten salad with/for at least one meal every day, keeping our veggie count up even when we got low on fresh veggies.
- My husband has brought home strawberries, blueberries, blueberries and raspberries from the store. I have served one of these at least once a day and had them available for snacking. My in-laws have brought watermelon several times as it is dear daughter's favorite, and I refuse to pay $5 for a watermelon. I also picked up dates at Forks Mediterranean Deli because they are one of my favorites and I love them.
- I have had cream of wheat with berries made with almond milk for most breakfasts.
- I have increased my red meat intake from once to twice a month to once a week.

For my final commentary for this entry (as I wait for the ginger pork I recreated from the recipe at the end of May-- I had more pork in the freezer thanks to a concerned friend, I had frozen the leftover sauce from last time, and I still had steamed baby carrots in the freezer from work) I wanted to bring up soy.

Three people have mentioned soy to me this week.

One believes it's evil and unable to be digested (um... the Japanese?). One read an article on processed soy and the chemicals used to extract "stuff" out of soybeans (which I believe is the same way they get oil from olives if you buy commercial olive oil. I'm told cold pressed is the way to go if you want to avoid olive oil processed with lye). The final person is working toward a cruelty-free diet and is now "down" to free range organic poultry and sustainable seafood.

So, my thoughts...

Any food product, whether carbs, soy, analog meat products, dairy or meat, needs to be part of a healthy balanced diet. Everything in moderation. To me, this includes homemade baked goods, ice cream and the occasional bag of commercial chips.

I have never used analog meat products in place of meat. When I use them, I use them as an ingredient in its out recipe, not as a simple replacement for meat. I may crumble Morningstar vegetarian sausage products into a scramble of potatoes and corn as a protein source as for the flavor, but I don't usually try to make a vegetarian meat loaf with some sort of soy product instead of ground beef. My mentality has never been to replace meat, but to use less of it and find other foods to become the center of meals.

My goals in meal planning are simple, at least to me. I try to include fruit, green veggies and orange veggies at least once a day. I usually use one protein source-- for instance if I have eggs, I won't have meat and cheese, too. If I have beans, I'll save the cheese for another meal. I don't serve meat more than every other day (thereabouts), more like once a week.

My daughter drinks one glass of chocolate soy milk or vanilla almond milk a day, one glass of 100% juice, and sometimes a glass of juice diluted with seltzer, and water the rest of the day. I use soy milk/almond milk for my daughter because there are no artificial ingredients (like but not limited to high fructose corn syrup).

I also use minimal processed foods. My big weekness is boxed mac and cheese, which we have about every other week when Daddy cooks. Usually with broccoli, cauliflower or peas.

And we have pasta about once a week and rice about once a week.

And we never have American cheese, though when given a chuck of velveeta we eat it. But my daughter prefers extra sharp white cheddar.