Snap Grocery Haul Week 2

02/07/2015

So this grocery haul was small! Last time I got extra's, this time I just got some real basic items.

Above is part of my haul (the baked beans and apples aren't part of this weeks though). My whole haul was only 14 items and consists of 4 1/2 gallons of milk currently 3/$5 making them cheaper than buying a whole gallon. A few organic bananas, 2 heads of lettuce (romaine and leafy green), 2 things of raspberries, a thing of blueberries, salad shrimp, a $1 small pack of baby ruths, and some cupcake wine for Valentine's Day. Without tax my total is 33.20, without the wine (which we reserve for special occasions) it would have been just $24.20!

In one of my past blog posts I discussed the price of bagged lettuce versus loose. Let me just say, loose wins hands down! I almost picked up some bagged lettuce this trip on clearance for $1.59. My lettuce costs just $1.01 and $1.27, and when I shred it produces MUCH more than that bag full! Another bonus to it being whole is that it can be used easier on sandwiches or even as "bread".

I know many of you are thinking, but you didn't get enough food to last you a week! When I pair the milk with the cereal I bought last week (and still have), use the lettuce for salads (along with the shrimp, some boiled eggs, and grape tomatoes from last week), then I have breakfast and dinner for the week without even considering any other foods I still have from last week or just sitting in my cupboards. Given I only should consume 1200 calories per day doing breakfast, snack, than dinner will probably reach my caloric intake goal... and since my snacks are fruit its also healthy!

Starting tomorrow I'm going to try to remember to track my food intake!

The Dream

02/04/2015

I have a confession to make: I have been pretty depressed lately. The picture above pretty much explains my outlook the last few weeks, maybe even months.

I graduated with my associates two months ago. While that is great news, the not so great news is I don't know what I want to do with my life. I'm 21, and I don't know if I want to continue with my major, or switch. I'm not sure what career I want... I know I want to be a mother, and I want to have a farm, these are two things I've always known.

While the picture above may look really bleak and depressing, every cloud has a silver lining. I don't think it necessarily makes me weak to say I struggle sometimes, it makes me human!

Since I graduated I've been thinking about what I want to do, and where I want to be. To be honest, I haven't figured much out career wise. I figured out quiet a bit life wise though. I'm a simple girl, not a simpleton, but most the things I want are very 1940 isk.

My dream is simple. I want to sell our current house, and buy a place in the country on around 10 acres. I want 2 horses so my husband and I can go riding together. I want pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, rabbits, etc so we can "grow" our own food and know where it comes from and that it has a good life! I want to grow our own fruits and vegetables so we know where they come from and that they are organic. I want to connect with the earth, and the animals, to live outside of the city, where all you see is nature! In addition, I want a place that is CHEAPER!

A big part of my dream is self sufficiency. I don't know what I want to do for work, and I'd prefer to not HAVE to work, whether I chose to or not. The other day it came to me that we are all a few jobless months away from losing EVERYTHING! I want to lower our monthly expenses and have a house we can pay for by time we turn 30.

I've been spending a lot of time looking up properties. The ones in our budget are usually in the middle of nowhere which means no jobs which means no way will that work for us! I have found a couple that could work, but we have to find work before we can move not to mention listing and selling our house (or getting owner financing on the next house, and making sure we could carry both notes until our house sold).

I'm really hoping that soon we will be somewhere else though. I would prefer it not be in our current state but as long as I'm in the country I won't mind. I love the open space, the calm, it's almost indescribable but its heaven to me!

Cleaning out my fridge!

02/04/2015

I decided to clean out my fridge today because it was LONG overdue...It was pretty gross to be perfectly honest, hence the lack of images. Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't full of rotten foods and questionable moldy leftovers! My fridge just had some spots where something dripped (berry juice) and liquified AND crumbs, EWW!

Although I cleaned my fridge so it would be, well, clean; that wasn't my only motivation! Since I'm doing the SNAP challenge my grocery budget is only $200 this month. We do have quiet a bit of food waste, and I really can't afford that this month... especially since some of my grocery choices turned out to be not so tasty!

I have a bunch of groceries bought 2 weeks ago that need eaten asap. It is almost all fruits and veggies, so you know what I'm going to do? JUICE!

I have a cantelope, carrots, celery, peppers, spinach, and pomegranate that are about to turn, so juicing is perfect. It will give me a nutrient rich drink and save all the food from going to either the chickens or the compost pile!

HERE is a not great image of my cleaned out fridge. I'm trying to figure out the best way to organize my fresh foods so I see them and make sure to eat them before they turn! This time I put most on the top shelf, then all salads are lined up on the 2nd, and the drawers at the bottom are full!

Snap challenge: Where I'm at so far

02/04/2015

It is 4 days in to the SNAP challenge and I SUCK! I didn't really consider the month when I decided to do the challenge THIS month. I already cheated on super bowl, and I haven't been writing down what foods I have been eating.

I know there will be a two day exception coming up on Valentine's day weekend, because my husband's job is requiring him to go on a business trip that I'm also "invited" to attend.

I have to say this is harder than I thought. I can do grocery shopping under $200 a month, but that isn't taking in to account when we go out to eat, nor would I normally track WHAT I eat. I'm going to continue and I'll try to start tracking my food so I can give ya'll a week 2,3, and 4 food diary, nutrition, along with my grocery hauls!