Food Stamp Challenge update 1

Pork meat loaf with sweet and sour sauce, rice and kim chee.

So far we have been doing great on this challenge.  We spent an additional $3.60 up at the local family owned apple orchard right over the hill from us on Sunday.  We took our grandsons apple picking with us and Bradley sampled apples the entire time. :)  That brings our grand total out of pocket so far to $62.54.  I know that does not reflect the real cost of what we are eating due in part to the fact that we are also using things from our pantry and freezer that we already had on hand.  I have a dear friend that is also doing this challenge and she is amazing at breaking down the cost of all her meals...she just blows me away! 

Chicken/potato/corn soup, perfect for a chilly day and it made enough leftovers for 3 more meals.

I have been much more conscious of the cost of our meals and have been trying to only use things that we have on hand after our last grocery trip.  As you can see in the pictures, we have been using the flour, potatoes, celery, and ground pork for those meals.  I also still am making bread every other day.  I do usually cook enough so that there will be leftovers for either dinner another night or for lunch.  Breakfasts around here are usually cereal, oatmeal, toast with peanut butter, pancakes, or English muffins.  I do not eat eggs unless they are in baked goods so we do not go through them very quickly.  I will fix my husband an omelet every now and then though.  

Homemade pepperoni and green pepper pizza.  We also made homemade Canadian bacon. green pepper and pineapple pizza the same night and had lots of leftovers.

Our lunches are usually sandwiches or leftovers and some fruit.  Our dinner since we started this challenge have  been:
~homemade pizzas (pepperoni and green pepper, Canadian Bacon, green pepper and pineapple)
~homemade chicken/potato/corn soup
~pork meatloaf with sweet and sour sauce, rice, kim chee
~Italian sausage and sweet potato bake
~grilled burgers with all the fixings, French fries, carrot sticks, apples
~grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit

Snacks have been bananas, cheese, popcorn, cookies, toast, homemade croutons, apples.

So far, so good!