Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you at SA! This community has been a source of comfort and advice and has helped me keep on track throughout the year! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Lightbulbs: D is in the kitchen right now changing out the spots to LED. That is 8 watts/bulb instead of 45! Wow! Those bulbs are our Christmas gift to ourselves this year.

Gym: I am teaching weightlifting at noon today. In a way I'd like to just stay home, but actually it's good to get out of the house and exercise! I couldn't run yesterday because it was just too cold and the sidewalks were icy.

Mince Pies: How could I forget mince pies? I had some filling left over from last year in the freezer, and I'm making dough today. We need to leave a mince pie for Father Christmas! And D needs his mince pies. So tonight is traditional New Mexico tamales, salad and mince pies! Then out to see the farolitos with the rest of the city! We're going early so it's not too crowded!

Our menu this week:

Breakfasts and lunches - the usual, except Christmas morning.

Sunday - chicken, roasted cauliflower, rice (using the cauliflower up, and the chicken is from the freezer)
Monday - cod with broccoli and potatoes and aioli (need to use up the potatoes)
Tuesday - penne with butter and pecorino romano with stirfried courgettes
Wednesday - tamales (it's Christmas Eve!) and a salad
Thursday breakfast - sausage (it's in the freezer) and french toast souffle (this is made the night before and popped in the oven in the morning)
Thursday Christmas dinner - I am making cranberry sauce, potatoes dauphinoise (sounds fancier than it is!), turkey, gravy, tarte tatin; my friend is making a sweet potato dish, brussels sprouts with maple and a chocolate dessert.
Friday - Rachael Ray's turkey croquettes with leftover turkey! Going to try baking rather than frying.

It's pretty frugal (and luckily Christmas dinner is a shared effort!). Now we can afford some red wine and the adults can relax while the girls play!

I'm in a much better mood today!

For one thing, I resolved things with my mother (life's too short).

And I got a ton done today around the house since F is playing at a friend's house; that way tomorrow is freed up to do fun stuff with her and not vacuuming!

Last night we went to the Recycled Fashion Show (kids and adults made awesome dresses from TRASH!) - it was amazing! Also very festive. They have booths, too, but I didn't buy anything.

Today we put up our tree; haven't decorated it yet. We'll do that tonight or tomorrow morning. I did put green christmas ornaments in the tree in front of our house. It doesn't have any leaves since it's winter, so the green baubles are not only festive but add some green!

Tomorrow - Winter Festival at our Indian Arts museum. There'll be dancing and storytelling and ornament-making. It's free with our state drivers licenses. Also we have to bake dog biscuits to raise money for the animal shelter (it's F's class service project). And we're going to our neighbor's house for dinner. I'm bringing dessert: a raspberry tart with a cream and mascarpone filling. Gluten free, of course! Big baking day tomorrow. Total cost of tart will be about $8 for all of the ingredients (raspberries were on sale). Not inexpensive, but our neighbor is providing dinner for three of us, so I wanted to do a nice dessert.

When my routine is altered, it's a lot harder to stick to the food budget!

So... F has a soccer tournament next weekend, which not only means traveling about an hour each way on Saturday and Sunday, it also means three practices during the week. They'll be earlier because it's dark earlier, but it still means I need to plan more carefully.

So here's the plan:
- bring snacks in the car on Tue, Wed and Fri (days of the practices) so that there is enough time after school to eat a snack, do homework and get to the fields by 4:30 (before Daylight Savings it was 5:30)
- figure out a plan for food during the tournament and bring a cooler (sandwiches, cheese, nuts, fruit, something sweet)
- make sure that the meal plan has easy meals on Tue, Wed and Fri since we always get home late from practice.

Here's the dinner plan:
S - pasta with zucchini and goat cheese (that's tonight!)
M - tostadas with beans, lettuce, sour cream (I have a couple of ripe avocados, too)
T - posole with salad (posole is a New Mexican dish with green chile, hominy, chicken, oregano, some stewed tomatoes - I make it in the crockpot)
W - asian meatballs (made in the crockpot)
T - v sweet salmon, brown rice, broccoli
F - grilled cheese, tomato soup
S - something from the freezer (made last week in the crockpot!) with peas or salad

I got paid by the gym today (for August! ugh!).... but that's $55 toward the mortgage. Along with $6 I got from a Target rebate and my usual $150 from our budget, I paid down the mortgage principal by $211.

We've paid down an extra $3359 this year so far; the house will be paid off in July 2020 if we don't pay any more down on principal. With my usual $150 per month, it'll be October 2019.

I also cashed out Pinecone today; I should be getting a check for $18 soon (mortgage principal of course!).

I've always meal-planned our dinners. I have a very specific plan and this helps save us a lot of money!

I don't plan our lunches, though, because we often end up eating leftovers (including some leftovers from F's lunches) and I don't want a bunch of wasted food.

F, though, rarely eats leftovers, so I've decided to meal-plan her lunches. What I used to do was just have a bunch of things in the house I could put in her lunch. But I've just made an excel spreadsheet so I know exactly what she'll be eating, and exactly to buy at the beginning of the week. I'll add fruit for my lunch and D's to the shopping list.

The thing that sparked this: F is complaining that my lunches are good and D's are bad. And I noticed he put two starches (crisps and cheesy breadsticks) in her snack one day; no fruit or veg. I was disproportionately upset about it, but still...

We'll see if lunch planning saves money, too. I'll bet it does.

This past week we've had a soccer coach from the UK staying with us. It's so great, and fun, and it's an important cultural exchange for F. So I don't mind the slightly higher grocery bill.

But next week will be "eat out of the pantry" and my grocery trip will be for fresh fruit and veggies only.

I'm going to try to do this on the last shopping trip of every month. I'll report back on how this works.

Anyway, the meal plan:
- something from the freezer with a salad (need lettuce)
- tostadas (need lettuce, I may buy a thing of salsa - not sure we have enough and it will be eaten)
- potato pancakes with a veg (need eggs, 1 onion, veg)
- veggie sushi (need avocado and a cucumber, sushi rice since we only have a little bit - bulk bin)
- chicken thighs adobo with rice and a veg (need one onion and a veg)
- tuna melts with salad (need one can tuna)
- pasta with butter and parmesan and courgettes (need courgettes)

For lunches we need jack cheese and fruit and one tomato for F.

I don't usually like to eat out. It's expensive, and I'm cheap! And I have a lot of dietary restrictions. It took us 2 days to figure out where to eat out on our anniversary. I wanted D to be able to eat somewhere he doesn't usually get to go (when we do eat out, it's not fancy) and D wanted me to be able to eat something besides a dinner salad.

We finally figured it out... F said "Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world!" and I mentioned a sushi place in California that we all love. Actually, I've never been to Japan, but I'd love to have sushi there!

Anyway, D also loves sushi, so we're going to go out for sushi. We usually save our sushi dining for that place in California when we visit my parents, so we're not sure where to go here. But I'm going to ask a friend of mine.

We're using the anniversary money that my parents gave us (thank you, Mom and Dad!). And it was a lot! There will still be money left over, and I want to use it to help buy the Playstation that F and D want for Christmas (so they can play their Fifa soccer game).

Yes, I spent more than I wanted to on groceries by about $20. I'm sure we'll still in budget because I shop on Sat or Sun and there are only four weekends in this month.

I had a list of course and a menu plan, but I think I should have put more thought into it. I bought shrimp (it was on sale but still $7 for a little less than a pound) for pad thai.

Even though we're in budget, I am going to do an "eat out of the pantry" with the exception of fresh fruits and veggies for the end of the month shopping. I am very sure we have plenty of food.

Also, this week's groceries include a crockpot meal which will result in three future meals stored in the freezer. We're really going to need those because F's soccer season has started.

The other thing I overspent on: went to the grocery store hungry and bought myself lunch there (grrr! I had food at home, too!). F and D went to see a local high school play soccer, so they had lunch there (it was booster club day and they had hamburgers).

Tonight: roast chicken and potatoes for D who misses the weekend roast dinners that he had in England. I try to do this for him as often as possible, but sometimes we're too busy. The potatoes are parboiled, and then both chicken and potatoes are cooked in a marinade of lemon juice/olive oil/garlic/thyme/rosemary/tabasco/honey. It's one of my favorite recipes, and not hard at all.

We have good friends who used to live here who are visiting this week. The suggestion was made to go to brunch together, and I can't wait to see them. But instead of eating brunch out, I opted to have them over.

Yes, I'll be cooking and paying for food for six, but it works out way less expensive than going out and getting meals for the three of us.

We're going to have french toast souffle (super yummy; and I will make it tonight and heat tomorrow so all the goop soaks into the bread), muffin cup frittatas and strawberries. And I bought some juice and D will make coffee. Total cost was less than $18.

We would have probably spent about $40 if we went out. Maybe more, because what always seems to happen is the people we eat with get more/sides/coffee/juice/etc. (when we go out we get water and just one meal each), but we split the bill anyway. I never say anything about it; you're all going to say that I should, but I hate doing that. It's just not an option for me.

Inviting people over is not only cheaper, but we'll get to hang out, and the girls can play together outside or in F's room while we chat.

I'm going to take that $17-whatever it came to out of our dining budget, though, rather than groceries budget!

The grocery spending this week was about $80 more than normal - yikes! But there's a reason... we have a British coach from F's soccer camp staying with us. He's 22, and he eats a lot!

But... we get a check for $80 from the camp at some point as a "thank you" - really it's to cover extra food costs. Characteristically, I am not worrying that they'll forget to send it to us.

F is so sad that the coach is leaving this evening. I'm sad, too. We'll miss him!

Just got a notice that the coaches (Brazilian this time) from next week's camp need somewhere to stay. I'd do it, but D thinks it's a bit much to do it two weeks in a row. Next year...

I am sitting her eating a small bowl of what is left at the bottom of the chip bag. I eat it with a spoon (the bits are too small). My husband and daughter leave those little shards, but I'm not too proud to eat them. I get one more serving of chips or crisps that way!

I also eat the stuff that comes back in F's lunch. I try to ask her first if anything fell on the floor or if she spit anything out. She has a habit of just biting off the very tip of strawberries; there's a lot of strawberry left! So even though she's bitten it, I'll totally eat it.

I like the core of fruit (like pineapple and mango). Sometimes I'll serve fruit to F and D, and I take the core for myself. But this is different, because I actually like the core. And otherwise, it'd be wasted!

I've been known to eat the remainder of F's oatmeal as my breakfast (I'm sure I'm not the only mom who does this). And the only juice I ever drink is what she doesn't finish in the morning. But as a result, we only buy one thing of juice a week (and F and D water it down - I've trained them well!).

I don't know if some of this is just ridiculous, but I was thinking about it (you know - because I was eating those chip shards), so thought I'd post.

Do you have any weird, frugal food habits like this?

Some things on my mind:

1. I can no longer hang D's clothes outside on the line to dry because of his allergies (which cause the vertigo). I only very rarely use our dryer, so I have to hang them in the laundry room instead (they take longer to dry there, but that's not a very big deal - we do live in the land of zero humidity, so it's only 2 days instead of 2 hours). Our sheets are another story. I am not supposed to hang those outside in the Spring either, so the plan is to hang them in the laundry room across several hangers and then get the last of the dampness out with 10 mins. in the dryer. Not using the dryer is not only a financial issue for me, but also an environmental one. But my husband's health comes first, obviously!

2. I rented the Last Exotic Marigold Hotel from the library. Cost: $0. We've wanted to watch it for a while. Since I can easily wait to see movies, the library is a really good option.

3. Trying a new recipe tonight, a penne and sausage bake that I saw here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/penne_and_sausage_pasta_3094. It's not my most frugal ($8 for the three of us for dinner, not sure if it'll create any leftovers), but good for a "meat" night. I'm using chicken sausage since we don't eat pork.

4. We went to a house party today for one of our gubernatorial candidates. I really loved what he had to say, and he was smart and eloquent. His wife is an architect (how could I not like him, right?). But I didn't give any money for two reasons: I do a lot of public work, and I have to declare campaign contributions on my proposals. I won't give money because you never know when my political preferences might alienate potential clients. And secondly, when I give money, I like to give it to charitable organizations. On the other hand, if he gets the nomination, I will gladly give my time as a volunteer to help him get elected.

I got paid by the gym yesterday: $60. So that's another snowflake to the mortgage. And I'm happy to see that my gym pay has gone up $10 each month for the past few months. I used to get about $25 or $30.

This means I'll have $210 to put toward mortgage principal at the beginning of next month.

I'm home from the office right now; I came home from lunch, and to start dinner (it's in the crockpot). So I was able to make a hot lunch (which is nearly done cooking). I'm having an artichoke. I love artichokes, and have since I was a kid; so glad they're coming back in season and are on sale right now! I'll have it with a piece of cinnamon raisin toast and some fruit. This is much nicer than the lunches I bring to work!

Thankfully it's a frugal grocery week.

We're having:
- tuna melts
- mexican eggs and spinach
- pasta with courgettes and goat cheese
- asian meatballs over rice
- italian soup with ground turkey (crockpot) - this will make about 4 meals (we'll put three in the freezer)
- tamales out of the freezer and salad
- and tonight we're going to F's friend's house for kids and adult party (two of her friends have birthdays - both boys - that are just a few days apart, so they often have a celebration together)

Now I just have to work out what we're having on which nights. Soccer has started again, which means that on soccer nights we need to having something easy. (That is the mexican eggs, crockpot things, something from the freezer).
Monday - piano (we get back at about 5:45)
Wednesday - soccer practice (we get back late - like 7:30)
Friday - soccer practice (7:30 again!)

It's a juggling act, isn't it? But it is absolutely a requirement for me to have a nice meal as a family.

The grocery shopping came to $88.41
- dinner ingredients $35
- lunch ingredients $20
- fruit $6
- staples $11
- breakfast staples $13
- dessert items $3

OK, need to go wrap birthday gifts and play a game with F.

Our meal plan for the week is intended to use up some food that's already in the fridge, since we are leaving next Saturday to visit my parents in California. (Yay! It's going to be about 80 deg. and since it snowed here today, we're pretty excited!).

Potato pancakes and salad
Tilapia with paprika and curry powder and asparagus
Something out of the freezer (probably chicken black bean corn salsa stew)
Grilled cheese with tomato soup
Chicken tacos and guacamole
Pasta with butter and parmesan with peas

We need to have a little food left for D for the following week since he returns on Monday (F and I are staying longer and returning on the train the following Friday). I will be sure to update you on that!

No Spend Days
So this past week I not only kept track of our No Spend Days (discretionary spending), but also kept track of the triggers that caused spending (and the situations where I didn't spend).

Sunday - NSD
what I did to avoid spending: stayed at home in the morning “hanging out” with the family and doing chores, met friends for tennis in the afternoon (free!)

Monday - NSD
what I did to avoid spending: worked hard, brought a Luna bar to avoid sweets craving (peanut cookie flavor - yuck!)

Tuesday - went to the rolfer (I have an appt. every other month)
what I did to avoid discretionary spending: didn’t enter any shops, brought a Luna bar again (this time coconut with chocolate - yuck, again)

Wednesday - gelato $7
spending trigger - promise to F that we'd get a treat. I wasn't going to get a gelato, too, but they had my favorite flavor (honey) - grrr!

Thursday - NSD
what I did to avoid spending - F has an afterschool class, so there was no time to go to a store

Friday - bought lunch at a local supermarket for me and F (goes into grocery budget, but just should have made something at home)
spending trigger - hunger! not having enough time to eat lunch before F’s friend arrived! store is on the way home! Basically I wouldn't have stopped if it was just me, but wanted the treat for F.

Saturday - NSD (just groceries)
what I did to avoid spending - went to the grocery store after eating, so not hungry for "extras" - went to the library to get books for F, stopped by the office, went home to clean house. Too busy for discretionary spending!

Tonight it's Baker's Wife Potatoes - new recipe; I'll let you know how it turns out. It's a pretty frugal recipe, just potatoes, onion, salt/pepper, some sage (which I have in the freezer from the summer garden), a little parmesan and some veg stock, so I hope it's good.

The meal plan for the week (each meal feeds three of us):
baker's wife potatoes with asparagus ($4)
quesadillas with guacamole ($7.66)
homemade pizza ($8)
black bean salsa chicken ($9 - but we will get three to four meals out of this!)
risotto with sundried tomatoes/goat cheese/spinach - D makes this, but I promise I will get the recipe!
very, very sweet salmon with broccoli ($9)
homemade tamales from the freezer with a salad (? - $1 for the salad)

I spent $111 on groceries, but that's because of the two-for-ones at Sprouts Market. I stocked up on chocolate bars (I keep them in the drawer and have a square after dinner) and Luna bars and some other stuff like tea.

- dinner ingredients $35
- lunch ingredients $26
- fruit $4.50
- staples $12
- breakfast items $18
- dessert ingredients $16 (all those chocolate bars and luna bars!)

The weekend dessert this week was Crostata (this is a long story, but basically, I had an Italian friend call a little town in Italy to get this recipe; I make it gluten free. It is amazing, and the whole family ate it all up in a few hours time).

Last night we got stuck for dinner. This happens only rarely because usually I'm a really good planner. But we found ourselves in this situation:
- picked up D from work late-ish to avoid rush-minute
- I was already hungry because I'd done a really hard noon workout class
- I didn't have a meal planned because we usually eat out once a week
- This was the night to eat out, but no one wanted to
- F had quesadillas for lunch so she didn't want pizza or mexican
- I was wearing pajamas so I couldn't go into the store
- D didn't want to go into the store because he hates going into the store
- I suggested we pick up a cooked chicken but everyone said "yuck"
- We ended up at home eating out of the pantry, which is what we should have done in the first place
- But before that we all argued like little kids (only one of us is a little kid)

So, in my meal planning I've planned for SEVEN meals this week to avoid any problems, even though we're already planning to go out tomorrow night.

Meal Planning (each meal feeds three of us):
- sausage, rice and asparagus ($5.86)
- quesadillas with guacamole and a salad ($8.66)
- polenta and some kind of vegetable ($2.67)
- mexican eggs and peas ($5.45)
- lettuce wraps ($8)
- spagbol (that's spaghetti bolognese) ($8.79)
- baker's wife potatoes with broccoli ($3.45)

I spent $125 on groceries this week, which is very high for me, but I did stock up on a lot of stuff. We are going out of town for a week in March, and the week before will be use-it-up week!

Dinner ingredients $58
Lunch ingredients $34
Fruit $10
Staples $5
Breakfast staples $10
Dessert ingredients $7

I am trying out a new dessert recipe from this Guardian article http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/feb/21/white-chocolate-pudding-roast-cabbage-recipes-simon-rogan: white chocolate pudding with white hot chocolate mousse. I'll let you know how it is!

This week's meal plan (each meal feeds three of us):
- chicken with asparagus and rice ($5.67)
- zucchini socca ($3.68)
- pasta with turkey bacon/peas/goat cheese ($7.61)
- lemon crumbed fish with broccoli ($9.79)
- tuna melts ($4.62)
- potatoes dauphinoise with a salad ($4.23)

Our weekly grocery spend was $96.50. I'm happy with that. My budget allows for $140 each week, but my goal is less than $100. It doesn't always happen... but when it does, I have $40 for savings!!
- dinner ingredients $30
- lunch prep items $35
- fruits $7
- staples $9 (mayo, oregano, etc.)
- breakfast staples $7
- dessert ingredients $8

Meal planning this week...

- tonight - over to friends - we're bringing a big salad (about $3)
- tomorrow - we're going x-c skiing and will eat dinner out
- Lemon chicken with broccoli ($7)
- Homemade Shrimp Sushi ($10)
- Risotto with Goat cheese and Sundried Tomatoes and Spinach ($5)
- Pasta with Goat cheese and Courgettes ($5)
- Posole from the freezer and salad ($1)

We spent $94.20 on groceries
- $35 dinner ingredients
- $24 lunch prep items
- $10 fruit
- $13 staples
- $12 breakfast
- $0 dessert ingredients

I was talking with my brother the other night, and he claimed that to eat "good food" the way that he does, he has to spend about $20 per meal minimum to cook for the two of them. I argued that my least expensive meal is about $2.25 (polenta, red sauce and a salad) total for all three of us, and that most of our produce is organic (I use the guidelines re best and worst foods for pesticides). He argued that it's less expensive to eat meat (he's a vegetarian) which I think is untrue; most of our meals are vegetarian precisely because it is less expensive).

He argued that I wasn't eating the kind of food that he and his wife are eating. I think that's probably true. Our food is probably a lot simpler, and we eat in season and on sale. If we use fresh herbs, it's herbs we've grown in our garden (and I do put the cost of the plants/seeds in my grocery budget). Can you tell he really made me angry?

The meal plan for this week:
- chicken/potato/carrot pasties ($4.50)
- tuna melts with asparagus ($6)
- veggie tacos ($5.50)
- posole and salad (posole is in the freezer, plus $1 for salad)
- pasta carbonara ($3.80)
- asian meatballs ($8.75)
- out one night - tonight, actually!!

Total spent for the week: $116
- $51 on dinner items
- $26 on lunch items
- $9 on fruits
- $15 on staples
- $12 on breakfast
- $3 on dessert ingredients

I bought some things I already had (grr!) but since they are canned items, I know we'll use them sooner or later.

The meal plan for this week (with commentary!):

- pasta carbonara (new recipe! very inexpensive, and soooo good) - $3.81 total
- potato pancakes, applesauce, sour cream (I bought a ton of hashbrowns on sale last week) with salad ($5.00)
- chicken sausages, brussels sprouts and rice (about $6.50 total)
- tilapia (curry powder and paprika) with broccoli and garlic bread - $8.50
- something from the freezer (tamales?) with salad
- mexican eggs and toast ($4.50)

Total grocery spend: $103 (stocked up on some staples)
- dinner items $28
- lunch $26
- fruit $6
- staples $18 (higher than normal because I bought gf loaves of bread on sale to freeze)
- breakfast $13
- dessert $13 (higher because I bought gf flour blend on sale - I already have a lot, but it was 50% off and will get used)

So... the new recipe. I've always loved pasta carbonara, except I was pretty sure I couldn't have it anymore since cream is not a good option for me. Except in the back of my mind, I knew the authentic version doesn't use cream at all, only eggs. When I found this recipe http://www.dinneralovestory.com/restaurant-worthy-carbonara/ I was pretty excited to try it. It was so good! And the whole family liked it (crucial; we had friends over yesterday and E makes something different for each member of the family every night - I won't make anything we can't all eat). I used five strips of turkey bacon.

I have a lot of recipes in our repertoire now. It's been a key to budgeting: I mix up very frugal and slightly less frugal so we're not eating expensive meals every night but we can have fish or chicken a few nights a week. Do you try out new recipes? Any that are yummy and frugal that you want to share?

We're not going out tonight, but I don't have anything planned for dinner either (I plan for 6 days a week and assume one night out). Ugh. I've eaten a super boring but inexpensive lunch (a pear, two fried eggs, chips and salsa leftover from F's lunch yesterday).

D will come home from work and assume I have dinner sorted out.

Options:
- something from next week's food list that we have in the house (but that is probably eggs and I just had eggs for lunch).
- polenta with red sauce and a side salad (we had salad last night; maybe peas?) or grilled cheese sandwiches
- stop by Sprouts and pick up a cooked chicken (the expensive option) and have it with something already in the house (peas?)
- goody plate made up of stuff left over in the fridge: toast, cheese, carrots (but since lunch was sort of unfulfilling, this might not be a good option; hmmm - do meals need to be fulfilling in addition to filling? probably yes)

I think it's the polenta. Inexpensive, warm, yummy.

Tomorrow - will take advantage of Sprouts' sales on gluten free items. Will increase the grocery bill in the short run, but save money in the long run.

F is off of school today, but D works, so I am taking advantage of my self-employed status to hang out with her.

This morning we have been hanging out a home, and right now she's playing minecraft for a few mins.

I was relieved to get an email from F's piano teacher this morning canceling today's lesson. F hadn't practiced much (we are trying to work out a better system for practicing) and we get a credit toward next month's lessons. That means we pay for only three lessons in Feb. rather than four.

So instead we'll do a few quick errands downtown and then go to the gym. F gets her own bench, and she does the motions with just the bar (1 lb.) or dance or play on the ipad. Usually all three over the course of the class.

Then we're going out to lunch! We're going to a Japanese place for bento boxes (they have a lunch special). D eats lunch out once a week, and I eat lunch out once a month, so I don't feel too guilty about this splurge. OK, I must feel a little guilty or I wouldn't be mentioning it. Whatever is left from our dining budget for the month, I use to pay down the mortgage. But it is, after all, the dining budget. I know everyone has issues around money, and I feel less guilty if I deprive myself, but I am trying to deprive myself less when the budget is not in any danger.

I buy stuff at the grocery store for F and D (crisps, scones for D so that he doesn't go to Starbucks, pickles for F, beer and coffee for D). I end up with the rejects from F's lunch as the sides in my lunch the next day, and I don't drink alcohol or coffee (I gave them up a long time ago when I realized how expensive these things are). This is not a rant against my husband and daughter; it's really about me, and I know that. I don't need as many "treats" but when I do give myself a treat, I have to try to not feel guilty!

Do any of you struggle with the guilt thing?

The grocery bill was a lot more than we usually spend, but there is a reason... I stocked up on lots of things since there were great sales and coupons. Many of these things will last us a year. And this should lower the bill for the next month as well since there are many things I won't have to buy.

Weekly Menu:
- tuna melts and tomato soup
- something from the freezer (tamales? posole?) with a salad
- chicken sausage pasta
- shrimp sushi
- baked potatoes and broccoli
- salad to bring to our friends' potluck tomorrow night

Total spend: $192 (actually $182 because I got a $10 off coupon)
- dinner ingredients $81 (but this includes on-sale items that will be used over the course of the next few months: frozen shrimp, chile and hashbrowns for potato pancakes)
- lunch prep items $45 (but this includes stocking up on sale-priced mac and cheese and crackers that were also on sale - should last two months)
- fruits $10
- staples $16.50 (includes stocking up on on-sale camomile and peppermint tea as well as salt that will last at least a year)
- breakfast items $13 (includes masa which will make tortillas for the next 6 months)
- dessert $26.50 (includes gf flour blend on sale, oats that will last the next year or so and four bags of marshmallows, also on sale, which will last a long time!)

Here's the weekly dinner meal plan:
- Socca (chickpea flour pancake with zucchini)
- Crustless quiche and toast
- Posole (this is New Mexican hominy with green chile and chicken - basically a stew)
- "Bad Breath" pasta - capers, kalamata olives, spinach, yum!
- Cod and leeks with turkey bacon and homemade french fries
- Something from the freezer (probably Fagiole soup) with salad

Total spent $109

Breakdown on the spending:
$50.50 on dinner ingredients
$26 on lunches
$3.50 on fruit
$5.50 on staples
$8 on breakfast
$15.50 on dessert (they were having a special on almond milk ice cream - I can't eat dairy, so I bought four which accounts for $10 of this)

The holidays are over, and I'm pretty glad, because although we met our grocery budget, things were not routine. I ended up eating a lot of strange leftovers to use them up.

The menu for this week:
- chicken tacos with guacamole
- asian meatballs and rice
- tamales from the freezer and salad
- very sweet salmon and broccoli
- tuna melts
- risotto with sundried tomatoes and spinach
- one night out

We spent $113 on groceries this week:
- dinner ingredients $38
- lunch prep ingredients $27 (we brown bag all of our lunches)
- fruits $11
- staples $27 (olive oil, bread, oj)
- breakfast items $7
- dessert ingredients $4

The holidays are over, and although I met our food budget, things weren't routine. I found myself eating leftovers from dinners with friends just to eat up the food. So, we're back on a routine now - phew!

Here's what we're having for dinner:
- chicken tacos with guacamole
- asian turkey meatballs and rice
- risotto with sundried tomatoes and spinach
- tuna melts
- very sweet salmon and broccoli
- tamales from the freezer with salad
- one night out

Spent $113 on food this week:
- $38 on dinner ingredients
- $27 on lunch ingredients
- $11 on fruit
- $27 on staples (bread, olive oil, oj)
- $7 on breakfast items
- $4 on dessert ingredients

We eat out one meal a week, so our groceries have to cover all of our meals (lunch, breakfast, dinner). And since I can't have gluten, we spend at little bit more on some things (although mostly I just don't eat a lot of bread or pasta - but I like to have toast sometimes).

I usually shop at two stores for our groceries. I was shopping in the second store, Sprouts, and pretty much done with my shopping and about to pay, when there was a huge pop and all of the lights and cash registers went off. The store was dark, but not too dark to see, and I said to the stockperson who was on my aisle "Can we pay if there's no power to the registers?"

But just then we heard the manager shouting from the front of the store to come to the registers with everything we had in our baskets. I figured maybe they had some alternate system.

There were probably a total of 20 shoppers in the store at the time, and we all headed to the registers. Two Sprouts employees who had been outside collecting carts said that the transformer had "blown up." They said it sounded like a huge pop, and the female employee hit the ground she was so scared, then the transformer started smoking.

Anyway, I got to the front, the guy at the register bagged all my groceries (without scanning them obviously) and then smiled and said "Merry Christmas! Our manager said everything is free!"

Free groceries! I felt bad for the store... but it was a really good PR move (let's say 20 people time maybe $40 each average is not actually that much for the store - they'll probably lose more from spoiled inventory, and maybe their insurance will cover it?).

When I went to my car, I saw the exploded transformer - it was all black. Glad that no one was hurt. And the traffic lights were out up to the next major street.

But, let's return to that very welcome Christmas present - free groceries!

I can't tell you exactly how much the groceries would have cost (about $30) but I will definitely have extra money in our grocery budget left over this month that I can use to pay down the mortgage.

I went to Cost Plus today for Christmas crackers (for my English/Irish husband) and thought that there must be a cheaper source. The only thing I can think of is to visit again after Christmas and see if they're on sale for next year. We have Amazon prime, but they were the same price on Amazon and out of stock.

I know some of you are English living in the US or have English spouses - any ideas?

While I was there I picked up an overpriced Quality Street tin. They didn't have the Cadbury, which we all prefer, but I felt like it'd be a nice surprise for him.

When he got home from work he said "It doesn't feel like Christmas somehow..." I guess at work they haven't put up decorations or anything (I share an office with just one other person and I put up window clings from Target and the silly silver tinsel tree I use year after year)! So I got out the Quality Street tin, and he was really happy!

Tomorrow I'm making the mincemeat for our mince pies; I make them by hand (and no, I don't use suet - I use vegetarian shortening).

At Cost Plus I also got a couple of Aero bars (the mint kind - yum!) to put under the tree as an extra surprise.

Spent more than I wanted, but I figure it was a tradeoff since we aren't having an expensive Christmas dinner. And since we don't go back to the UK for Christmas anymore (not since the Great Christmas Fight of 2005 between D and his sister - don't ask!), I figure he needs a little bit of home this time of year.

I miss Christmas there, too, but we are going back in Summer. I wish we were visiting Ireland, too to see the rest of the family (the relatives that no one fights with!), but not this holiday unfortunately.

Nollaig Shona!