Our Valentine’s Day

Tim and I celebrated a wonderful Valentine’s Day this year. We kept it simple and the best part was the time we spent together, and the lovely flowers Tim gave me. We decided to make a fancy dinner at home to save on costs. Tim was the head chef and I followed his orders. The dinner turned out wonderful. Since we stayed home we also didn’t need to pay for a baby-sitter. I tried to roughly estimate the cost of our dinner below. I only added the cost of the food we ate, not any leftovers we had. I would estimate that this meal would cost at least $12.00/plate at a restaurant.

Menu:
Stuffed pork chops with apple bacon stuffing
Rosemary potatoes
Salad
Garlic Bread (yes, the top was accidentally burned)
Water

Pork Chops: $3.00
Stuffing with apple and bacon: $1.50
Rosemary Potatoes: $1.00
Salad: $1.00
Garlic Bread: $1.10

Total: $7.60
Per Plate: $3.80

We splurged a little and went out for ice cream for dessert and spent a little over $5.00 for high quality ice cream cones (we still used a coupon). Since we rarely have ice cream it was a delicious treat. Our son (who’s allergic to dairy) was happy to snack on grapes while we enjoyed our dessert.

After dessert, we put our son to bed and watched a movie on Hulu then turned in for the night. Overall, it was a terrific Valentine’s Day and we didn’t blow the bank to celebrate.

Weekly Menu: Potato Soup and Bread Bowls

Here is our menu for the coming week. You can read here about how planning a menu saves us time and money.

Monday: Stirfry
Tuesday: Potato soup and bread bowls*
Wednesday: Lentil/Rice Casserole
Thursday: Homemade Hamburger Helper
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Tim’s cooking Valentine’s Dinner with pork
Sunday: Roast, potatoes

We will splurge and go over our grocery budget a little bit this week to buy some ribs/roast/pork chops that Marsh has on sale for $0.99/lb. The pork comes in a 10-12 lb package and should give us many meals. We will use some of the pork for a fancy Valentine’s Dinner and then have some on Sunday when we are having some guests over. Even though we’ll go over a little on our groceries, we won’t be dining out on Valentine’s Day which will save us some money.

We may soon be raising our grocery budget by $20/month. Tim’s been burning a lot of calories at the gym lately and his appetite has grown. I also have a growing appetite as the baby gets larger and I want to make sure I’m eating as healthy as I can for the baby.

*Potato Soup
2-3 cups chicken broth
2 cups chopped potatoes
1  cup celery (opt)
1/4 cup onion
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cheese
1 can corn, drained (opt)
1/4 cup shredded carrots (opt)
1/4 cup crumbled, cooked bacon (opt)
salt & pepper to taste

Combine the broth, potatoes, celery, carrots and onion in large pot and boil 20-30 min or until veggies are tender. In separate pan combine flour and butter and mix together 2-3 minutes over med heat until mixture darkens. Stir frequently to make sure it doesn’t burn. Add milk and continue to mix for 3-5 minutes until mixture thickens. Add milk mixture to broth and vegetables. Add cheese, corn, bacon, salt and pepper and heat through. The soup will continue to thicken as it sits.

This soup is very forgiving and you can interchange many of the optional ingredients.

*Bread Bowls
6 cups flour (I use 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white)
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons yeast (or 2 pkgs)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
1/3 cup oil

Mix yeast, sugar and water and let rise until bubbly (5-10 min). Mix with other ingredients (dough should be a little stiff). Divide dough into 6 balls. Let balls rise until twice in size, about 45 min. Bake at 400 for 12-15 min.

Don’t Forget to Scour After Christmas Sales

If like my family, you are just starting off and don’t have a lot of Christmas supplies, today is the perfect day to search for bargains on wrapping paper, decorations and perhaps even presents for next Christmas.

Because of holiday traveling I haven’t been able to go to the store yet, but I’m hoping to hit up CVS today after we get our car’s alignment fixed.

I’m planning on CVS having Christmas bargains because I went there a day or two after Halloween this fall and I got a nice wreath, dishtowels and lots of candy for 90% off and only spent a few dollars total. I learned that you can get some steals after the holidays. I also learned to beware of storing chocolate in the cupboard above the fridge because it melts, re-melts and eventually grows mold in less than two months.

If our car gets fixed in a reasonable time and I make it to the store I’ll be sure to add some pictures of my finds.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I am taking a few days off to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. I will be back with more great tips about living on one income later this week. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Gifts From the Heart

This morning I was so excited to receive three big packages at my doorstep from my parents and sister. Since the closest relative on my side of the family is over 10 hours away, I was excited to open the packages and feel closer to my family.

My mom sent me homemade fudge, and carmel in addition to some wrapped presents to open on Christmas. Mom’s carmel and fudge is a Christmas-time tradition to be eaten with popcorn while watching a movie.

My sister was assigned our family for Christmas this year and she sent us this decoration with some other gifts.

This decoration is very meaningful because my mother had one just like it, decorated with tiny ornaments. My sister found one similar to it at a thrift store and repainted it. Her husband then made the star to go on top. I am so excited that my children will have a decoration similar to one I grew up with. Now I only need to find some tiny ornaments.

Although we received some wrapped, store-bought gifts from these family members, the treats and tree are very special because of the significance they hold.

If money is tight for Christmas this year think of what you gifts you can give your loved ones that may not cost that much money but come from the heart.

Dollar Tree Cookie Cutters

I was so excited. I found this set of Christmas cookie cutters for $1. Now we can make some fun decorations to hang on the tree without worrying about our little boy getting into trouble.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am with friends and family today, and hope you are too. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I will be back tomorrow.