Simplicity, how old is DS? Would making homemade be an option other than delivery? As a kid, it was a very special treat at our house when we would make our own pizza. We would buy frozen bread dough and let it rise then put it on a cookie sheet and top it out as we wanted....there was always leftovers for lunch on Saturday that way too.

Another thought...is there a way to get DS involved in logging the info onto the forms you created so he has first hand viewing of the costs of everything?


Had the grand opening at the pizza store(my part time job) where I worked a lot this weekend. On my way home, I ordered a veggie pizza that was a 5 pounder at least(the night manager told them to load it up!) for $4. It is a large with 8 slices-came home and packaged that up in one or two slice portions and will have for dinner and lunches this week from it or just put in freezer for later use-should give me 4 to 6 meals.

Had some tomatoes that would not work for salads, so sliced and sauteed them with basil, dill and a touch of butter, then cooked some fresh mushrooms and boneless chicken breast and tossed them all together and put over a pack of ramen noodles(no flavor packet used). Put a splash of Italian dressing too. Dinner for 2 days and even the 2 dogs got some chicken on their dry food....can we say puppy heaven???

Also stopped for some basics at the grocery store-bought some corned beef on sale for 179/lb, cabbage, coffee cream, milk, ground beef and yogurt for $39. 3lb of beef will be cooked and portion packed for freezer(on sale from 3.39 to 1.89), yogurt was 10 for $4-normally 69 each and I love them as an evening treat or for breakfast/snacks.

Just finished cleaning up the kitchen! I made 2 lasagnas, 2 beef and corn bakes, 4lbs of fried ground beef (which I divided into 8 baggies - 7 for the freezer and 1 for tomorrow night's taco salad), 8 pkgs of meatballs and 6 meatloaves. Whew! I'm glad I'm done that for awhile. I usually like to eat fresh, but these will be good on my super busy days when cooking fresh is not an option!!

My March budget included $100 for the b'day celebrations plus $150 (regular monthly grocery budget) plus $25.54 carried over from Feb. grocery budget. $100 + $150 + $25.54 = $275.54

This weekend, I spent a total of $157.35 as follows:

$71.50 for party related groceries
$31.04 for pizza & bread sticks for the sleepover crowd
$17.56 for party supplies including 6 plush animals (party favors)
$37.25 for groceries for the house

Total spent on the b'day celebrations amounted to $120.10.

But it is really hard to keep it separated since left overs from the party will be incorporated into regular meals, and some items bought for the household (such as condiments and spices) got used in cooking the party food, etc. But, in general, I was pleased to be able to keep the party related costs close to what I had budgeted.

$275.54 - $157.35 = $118.19

I have $118.19 left in the grocery budget for the rest of March.

I have 3 whole chickens (uncooked) plus 4 packets of beef curry (sufficient in each packet for approx. 3 meals for the 2 of us) in the freezer for future meals. Plus left overs from the celebrations, including more beef curry and the remains of 2 roast chickens (plan to package some of it for the freezer).

Last night, DD and I had left over pizza and fruit (grapes and cantaloupe) for our dinner.

Today:
B'fast: DD - leftover appetizers (fish balls that had been battered, breaded and deep fried), orange juice; Me - cereal, orange juice
Lunch: DD - leftover pasta & vegetables, last of the leftover cantaloupe, cookies; Me - roast chicken, pasta & vegetables, grapes
Dinner: We will probably finish the last of the pizza and the cucumber/tomato salad; strawberries and whipped cream for dessert.

I splurged a bit today and did some stocking up.

Went to the store that is closing.

Pasta was .88/lb again so I bought 8
Ellios pizza was on sale, I do not buy it much anymore so I got one of those.
Bought some bottles of juice, again a catch-22, I should be drinking more water, but I'm not and being dehydrated is not fun!
Celery, carrots, spinach, potatoes, etc
And they had ice cream, buy one get one free. I really splurged on that.

Total was $55.19 (ouch) but I had $14.32 in savings.

I am still going to do Angel Food Ministries. That is due on Mar 18. I think i am getting 2 packages which will be $52, so I will be over budget but will have a lot to put in the freezer.

Therefore I'm *hoping* April will be a bit less!

This puts me at about $80 for March so far.

Diane, my husband is not big on plain water, either. I've gotten around that by using herbal teas to make iced tea for him. It's far less expensive than other flavored drinks, calorie-free, and chemical-free, and gets him to drink water. He's fond of iced chamomile the best. (My favorite is iced peppermint tea.)

I'm very much sick of cereal... there was a good sale, I bought some, and we went through milk like fiends. Not something I want to continue! So, I'm not buying cereal anymore. Again.

Dinner tonight was roast pork (mmmm... garlic!), honey-glazed carrots, jasmine rice (bought in bulk, and it steamed up perfectly tonight!), salad, and rolls (from frozen yeast dough balls.) I also made a cake this afternoon.

Tomorrow we'll use the pork leftover for sandwiches (either plain garlic, shredded, or with BBQ sauce added); I might get bold and try a black-bean burger recipe, too. But, it's going to be a hectic day, so maybe not. I do need to sit down and make out a loose plan for the rest of the week, though.

Regarding making homemade pizza's. Instead of the frozen bread dough, we've used the frozen roll dough. Everyone makes their own mini pizza's with toppings of their choice (we've done a "pizza bar" at birthday parties) These can also be individually packaged and frozen. just take one out and pop in toaster oven for a quick meal or snack.

Once it's hot enough I will pretty much drink only water loaded with ice, but until then..... Guess I have to suck it up!

Enjoying the celery with my tuna right now. And spinach.

Anyone know if you can grow celery? I didn't see seed packets for it at my garden center yet.

I have celery growing in my backyard in a wine barrel. AND spinach in my garden boxes and I just planted spinach seeds.

Most stuff I prefer to get seedlings rather than seeds since they seem to thrive better.

I already have some spinach seeds earmarked. I was planning on a box or larger planter. Do they need depth?

I'll have to ask around for the celery. And carrots. I am eating so much better

Tonight we had taco salad for supper. Kid requested!!! Fine by me as it's a favorite of mine if it's made the right way! Tomorrow night we will have roasted salmon with baby potatoes. I paid an arm and leg for baby potatoes, but they are such a treat!! I think for breakfast we will have waffles and strawberries, lunch will probably be a raw veggie assortment with yogurt or something along those lines.