Serves 4
Ingredients
1 large chicken breast, cooked and diced
1/2 c cream cheese
Onion
Tomato
Shredded cheese
Favorite herbs/spices
1 tube crescent dough
Mix chicken, cream cheese, onion, tomato, shredded cheese, and herbs together. Use however much of each you’d like.
Unroll dough but don’t separate triangles. Instead, separate into 4 rectangles and smooth perforations in middle. Place 1/4 of chicken mixture in center of each rectangle. Bring up edges of dough to meet in the middle, forming a pocket. Bake according to directions on dough tube.
If you have a large muffin tin (”bakery” size) put the dough in the cups before filling, for ease, then bake in tin.
August 19th, 2008
Whoops! I’m a little behind here.
Thursday Aug 7
Peanut chicken
Ingredients purchased: Tomato paste
OOP cost: $0.44
Friday Aug 8
Pizza
Ingredients purchased: Cheese
OOP cost: $2.44
Saturday Aug 9
ate at Pecan Street Grill in Pville
Sunday Aug 10
Beef-cornbread bake
Ingredients purchased: Ground beef, cheese, salsa, cornbread mix
OOP cost: $8.17
Notes: Lots of leftovers, still have half the jar of salsa
Monday Aug 11
Falafel
Ingredients purchased: falafel mix, lettuce
OOP cost: $3.26
Notes: Enough falafel mix for another meal
Tuesday Aug 12
French toast
Wednesday Aug 13
Leftovers from Sunday
OOP cost: none
Thursday Aug 14
Chicken popovers
Ingredients purchased: Crescent roll dough
OOP cost: $1.74
Friday Aug 15
Pizza with friends
Ingredients purchased: green pepper, cheese, pepperoni, tomato sauce, red onion
OOP cost: $13.32
Notes: Cheese and pepperoni will last for at least four more meals
Saturday Aug 16
Dinner with friends
Sunday Aug 17
Dinner at Taco Cabana
Monday Aug 18
Grilled cheese
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none
Tuesday Aug 19
Tilapia, salad, bread
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none
August 19th, 2008
Aug. 10 Purchased at HEB Pville
HEB unbleached flour $2.99
Wilsons pepperoni $2.69
Pioneer cornbread mix $.52
Total: $6.20
Aug. 11 Purchased at PetSmart
S’wheat cat litter $9.99 + tax
Total: $10.81
Aug. 11 Purchased at Super Target
Frozen peas $1.72
Iceberg lettuce $.99
Total: $2.71
Aug. 15 Purchased at HEB Tech Ridge
Green bell pepper $.76
HEB large eggs, dozen, $1.99
Red onion $.63
HEB tomato sauce, 8 oz, $.25
HEB shredded mozzarella, 32 oz, $8.99
Brownie mix $1.59
Earth’s Best oatmeal cookies $2.88
Total: $17.09
Aug. 18 Purchased at HEB Pville
HCF hot dog buns $1.14
Pop Secret snack bags (10) $2.79
HEB yogurt 4 oz 4-pack $1.29
HEB wheat bread $1.89
California stir fry veggies $2.69
Zatarin’s jambalaya mix $1.46
Bananas, 2.32 lbs $1.14
Baby MumMums $2.99
HEB jalepeno & cheese chips $2.00
HEB jalepeno smoked sausage $2.00
Jennie-O turkey dogs $.99
Reese’s peanut butter cup $.69
Chicken breasts, 4 lbs $8.96 <—- realized after getting home I could have gotten 5 lbs for $1 more
Triple chocolate chunk cookie dough $2.50
HCF 1% milk, gallon $3.89
Total: $36.42
Total so far: $178.05
August 19th, 2008
Purchased at HEB Pville
HCF 1% milk, gallon, $3.89
HCF vanilla crunchy cones $3.50
Vegetable broth, $1.99
Kashi cinnamon harvest cereal $2.77
Swim diapers $6.99 <—- ugh, but Reese’s reusable one got too small for his fat thighs
Root beer, 2 liter, $1.25
Grapes, $2.21
Tomato paste, 4, $1.00
Thick cut bacon, $2.50
Pork roast, $2.99
HEB salsa, $2.29
HCF hamburger buns, $1.14
Carrots, $1.58
Crescent rolls, $1.74
Whole wheat bread, $1.93
Total: $38.45
Total so far: $104.82
That leaves us with about $95 for the rest of the month. I think that will be fine because for the rest of the dinners we only need some more veggies and macaroni, plus flour to make pizza dough. The rest of the money will go to cat litter, snacks, and probably coffee.
August 10th, 2008
Farmer’s market
apples
butternut squash
zucchini
cucumber
eggplant
potatoes
Total: $14
Central Market
Baby Mum-Mum $2.99
Banana Nut Coffee, .8lb, $7.10
Sour Cream Bunnies $2.00
Cheddar Bunnies $2.00
Falafel mix, bulk $2.27
Punjab curry powder $0.29
Cinnamon buns $3.29
Bananas, $.49/lb, $1.13
Ground chuck, $2.99/lb, $3.08
Total: $24.15
(got a coupon for $5 off $25 purchase)
Total so far: $66.37
August 9th, 2008
Monday August 4
Beef fajitas
Ingredients purchased: green pepper, cheese, tortillas
OOP cost: $4.05
Notes: Leftovers!
Tuesday August 5
Orzo w/tomatoes, onion, roasted garlic, olive oil, and herbs
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none
Wednesday August 6
Quesadillas
Ingredients purchased: technically none, since we used leftovers from Monday. Same food, different format.
OOP cost: none
August 6th, 2008
Purchased at HEB in Pflugerville
HEB large eggs (12) $1.99
HEB flour tortillas (10) $0.89
HCF 1% milk (gallon) $3.89
Dole orange/straw/banana juice (.5 gallon) $2.00
Fruity Pebbles (17 oz) $1 **sale/coupon
Crisco shortening $2.12
HEB tomatoes diced (14.5 oz) $0.68
HEB tomato paste $0.44
HEB mexican blend cheese $2.28
HEB pizza blend cheese $2.28
HEB ranch tortilla chips $2.00
Pork chops $3.01
Bananas (2.38 lbs) $1.17
Green bell pepper $0.88
Nectarines (2 lbs) $2.59
Avocado (2) $1.00
Total: $28.22
August 3rd, 2008
Since this blog is called Confessions of a Northern Transplant I probably should post a confession every once in a while, right?
Like most Americans, we’re in debt. I’m not going to give the actual number, but let’s just say it includes credit cards, student loans for me and the husband, and our car. It’s been a source of consternation for a while now, but recently something clicked and I hardly feel stressed out by it.
Part of the click has been from joining a local group centered on debt reduction. The support there is amazing and I’m learning a lot by reading their perspectives. The other thing was to actually write down all our debt in one place. I used the Debt Snowball worksheet, calculated out the number of payments, and figured out the corresponding month for each last payment. And suddenly everything was OK.
Well, not exactly, but I feel a lot better about the situation. There is a clear destination now, and the road map is pretty clear. Even though all it took was some simple math to get to this point, it is amazing the difference already, in my mind and actions.
As the posts below show, I’m tracking our grocery expenses here, and what we eat. Although we already don’t spend a ton on our food, I think this is still a pretty visible way of tracking our spending and habits. Plus I know lots of people are curious how to spend less money on food and still eat well. Hopefully I can give people some ideas!
August 3rd, 2008
Friday Aug. 1
Pizza (cheese with roasted garlic)
Ingredients purchased: none
OOP cost: none
Saturday Aug. 2
Vegetable lasagna (spinach, zucchini, onion)
Ingredients purchased: none, but I should have gotten more cheese and sauce
OOP cost: none
Notes: Lots of leftovers
Sunday Aug. 3
Pork chops w/ garlic mashed potatoes, salad, and bread
Ingredients purchased: Pork chops
OOP cost: $3.01
Notes: It was a pack of four, so two will be frozen and saved for another meal. The potatoes were leftover from last Thursday and I made the bread.
August 3rd, 2008
(we haven’t finished making the list for the month; I’ll edit this post when we have)
Pizza
Veggie lasagna
Pork chops
Fajitas
Orzo
Quesadillas
Peanut chicken
Pizza
Lentil chili
Beef-cornbread bake
Falafel
French toast
Leftovers
Crab cakes
Pizza
Chicken & dumpling soup
Pulled pork
Tilapia
Veggie stir-fry
Monthly budget: $200
Total spent, week 1: $28.12*
* I did buy a couple ingredients we needed for the lentil chili, in case we don’t go to the store until Sunday.
August 3rd, 2008
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