The Master Grocery List

I posted in my last Mission Monday that I wanted to try and create a master grocery list. Here it is.

Master Grocery List - The number to the left is what I want to buy, to the right is what I want in house at all times

Meat, Poultry, Fish

_____ #s chicken - boneless, skinless (any cut) (5 lbs)

_____ Frozen Salmon filets - bag of 4 (1)

_____ Frozen Tilapia Filets bag (1)

_____ #s of ground beef (3)

_____ #s of ground turkey (3)

_____ #s of ground chicken (1)

_____ Whole chicken (2)

_____ Canned chicken (2)

_____ Canned tuna (4)

_____ Canned salmon (2)

_____ Lunch meat (1#)

Canned Vegetables/Fruit/Sauces

_____ Sweet Peas (2)

_____ Green Beans (2)

_____ Corn(2)

_____ Pineapple(2)

_____ Jars Applesauce (2)

_____ Black eyed peas (2)

_____ Black Beans (2)

_____ Diced Tomatoes (4 small, or 2 big)

_____ Tomato Sauce (2 small, 1 large)

_____ Salsa Mild (2)

_____ Strawberry Jam (2)

_____ Peanut Butter (1)

_____ Spaghetti Sauce (1)

Fresh Food/Baked Goods

_____ Gallons milk 2% (2)

_____ Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese (1 #)

_____ Sliced real Cheese (10 slices)

_____ Yogurt (4 cups)

_____ Cream Cheese (1 block)

_____ Loaf Bread(1)

_____ Onions (4)

_____ Bananas (5)

_____ Apples (6)

Dry Beans/Rice/Pasta

_____ Black Beans (2#)

_____ Split Peas (1#)

_____ Black eyed Peas (1#)

_____ Rice White or Jasmine (1#)

_____ Rice Brown (3 #)

_____ Rice Brown Instant (1 box)

_____ Boxes whole wheat pasta not spaghetti (3)

_____ Boxes whoe wheat spaghetti (2)

_____ Quick oats one box

Frozen Vegs

______ Corn (1#)

______ Peas (1#)

______ Carrots (1#)

______ Mixed vegs any variety (1#)

______ Spinach 1 box

Cleaning

______ Vinegar- 1 gallon

______ Baking Soda - 2 #

______ Washing Soda - 1 box

______ Ivory Soap (for laundry ) 2 bars

______ Borax- 1 box

______ Dish Detergent 2 bottles

______ Stain Remover for clothes - 1

______ Fabric Softener - 1 bottle

______ Tea Tree Oil 1 bottle

______ Paper Towels - 2 rolls

______ Light bulbs 3

______ Sandwich bags - 1 box

______ Gallon Storage bags - 1 box

______ Trash bags 1 box

Personal Care (this is to keep stockpile)

______ Toothpaste 3 tubes

______ Baby Toothpaste 2 tubes

______ Baby Toothbrushes 2

______ Adult Toothbrushes 4

______ Mens Deoderant 3

______ Womens Deorderant 3

______ Feminine pads 2

______ Shampoo and conditioner - adult 2 each

______ Shampoo Baby - 1

______ Soap adult - 4 bars

______ Soap baby 1 extra

______ Tylenol - 1

______ Ibuprofen - 1

______ Daytime cold med - 1

______ Allergy med - claritin - 1

______ Antihistimine - 1

______ Toilet papaer 8 rolls

Do not be anxious

This set of verses has been on my mind a lot lately and brings me great peace. I hope that it will help your peace as well.

Phillipians 4 Verses 4-8 NIV

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Frugal Food- Keilbasa Skillet dinner for 4-6

I make this about once a month and my husband and child love it. It makes enough for a meal for all of us and leftovers for me and the toddler for lunch. It also freezes okay if you add additional tomato sauce or water when you thaw it and reheat.

1 package keilbasa, cut into small sausage rings

1 can tomato sauce (normal size can not the little ones)

1 cup water

1 cup rice - not brown or instant, but even a jasmine rice tastes good in this

1 onion chopped

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

1can of corn drained or about 3/4 cup frozen corn

Garlic and Italian season to taste

Brown keilbasa and cook onion till clear. Add all other ingredients, stir, cover and cook for about thirty minutes till rice is done.

Prices at Aldi's Nov 2010

Keilbasa- $2

Tomato Sauce 55 cents

Black Beans- 55 cents

Corn- 50 cents

Rice-(less than 15 cents for portion used)

1 onion- 30 cents

Total $4.05 for two meals for the family

Wordless Wednesday

Mission Mondays - Organization

Well this week I thought I would make a bit of organization my mission. This may have to be a two week venture with the holiday weekend derailing part of this week. Therefore I am going to try two organizational projects and hopefully my ambition won't shoot me in the foot.
First project, I have been trying for some time to get my pantry and grocery lists organized, to no avail. What I was trying for was a system where I would have a master grocery list and then I could just determine what we did not have in the house and that would tell me what to buy.
I just never seem to have the time, so this week I am going to try and make time.
The other organizational mission I have is the homeschooling supplies and manipulatives need an organized place in our home. I decided to homeschool my daughter this year and like many new homeschoolers I have been picking up things here and there for our homeschool. Unfortunately I did not appropriately visualize where this stuff was supposed to live in my home, and I am worried, especially since I am buying a few years ahead if I find a good deal that by the time she gets to the first grade, I will have forgotten I have something because it was not appropriately organized. My hope is to organize all of it in bins or baskets on a large bookshelf.

Wordless Wednesday

Mission Mondays

I thought I would try something new and add Mission Mondays to this blog. I have a tendency to get up on Monday and think this week I will get more done, I will stick to my schedule more, whatever it may be, and then by Wednesday, I forgot what I was trying to do differently.
Maybe if I put it in writing the plan to motivate change will work better.
This week I am working on me time. I realized the other day that I am taking NO time for myself. This is not good for my family or for my happiness so it has to stop. I am planning to spend 15 minutes a day doing something I want to do, just taking a breath or having a hot cup of tea, or writing this blog. It is not much, but you have to start somewhere. Also if I plan a longer time it just won't happen, so baby steps it is.
I think a lot of women are really good at taking care of everyone but themselves. It seems to be a part of the caregiver nature most of us have. But we can't take care of everyone else when we are run down and tired, so hopefully I can change that cycle a bit in my own home.

The Depression of 2010 survival lessons I learned from the women in my family

My mom and dad are from the generation that has been dubbed the Greatest Generation, born at or near the Great Depression and veteran of WWII. This is odd for some one my age, 35, but it was my normal. I learned a lot of lessons from them that I really thought would just save a little here or there, and then the "recession" hit, and did not go away.
Here are a few things that may or may not help your home, budget and soul.
1- Use it, reuse it, repurpose it, offer it to some one else to use, and then and only then throw it away.
Old clothes can make rag rugs or crazy quilts, boxes can make play things for kids, chicken bones can make stock, an old pot can beocome a planter... get creative, and think outside the box.
2- Food does not have to be gourmet to be good. Some recipes with only a few ingredients can give you what you need, taste good and not break the bank.
3-Think twice before you buy. If you wait a week before you buy that impulse purchase you may find that you can make do with what you have or you never really wanted it at all.
4- Going out to eat should be an occassion. It is much more expensive to eat spaghetti at Olive Garden than make your own. Save the restaurant trips for special days as a treat.
5- There is always someone who has less than you. This is the one I remember to keep my life in perspective when it feels like I am running in place up hill. There is always some one with less food, inadequate shelter, etc that needs your help. Even if it is just 4 cans of food to the pantry or a smile to some one down on their luck, you never know how that will help or brighten some one who really needs it. We never know why they are where they are, or what circumstances brought them there, but we can do one kind deed for them when we see their need.

Homeschooling

I know it has been forever since I posted anything, but I am going to try and do a bit better. This summer the family was sick a lot, and then I started homeschooling my daughter which takes some adjustment time. Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of writing the blog too.

We started homeschooling at the beginning of September, and we are both getting our feet on the ground with learning to be a teacher and student as well as a mom and daughter. My husband and I decided to homeschool her for a variety of reasons, but most of them have to do with a lack of faith in the public school system. We believe that she deserves the best education possible and we don't believe that she will get that in a public school with all the inherent problems of meeting testing standards and teachers having to do crowd control more than teach. I intend to write a more detailed account of why we homeschool at some point, but for now I will just say we know this is best for our family right now.

We homeschool between 1 and 1/2 to 3 hours a day, 4 days a week as my daughter is not quite 2 yet and any more than that seems to be too much for her. Right now I am trying to establish the basics she will need for PreK. We have six subjects (English, Math, Science, Bible/Character, Art, and Physical Education) that we work on in the week with some having more emphasis than others depending on what needs work.

I will say that there have been some challenges, like trying to keep things interesting and age appropriate for a toddler. She loves art, and is doing really well with her alphabet and pre-reading. Math is hard for her, but the concept of numbers is abstract, so I think that will iron out in time.

I am constantly on the look out of for cirricula and activities that I think she will like, or that can make a tedious subject more fun. There are a lot of great blogs out there, and we are starting to get involved in homeschool groups. In NC you don't have to legally declare that you are homeschooling till your child is 7, but some of the homeschoolers have little brothers and sisters that she is getting a chance to do activities with.

More updates and pictures to come soon!