Signs of the Times/Free is good!

Ken took this photo of Brady's hand and piggy bank and it kind of symbolizes my thoughts on how things are going lately with our economy. A few things that happened recently:

Bastian has not brought homework home for weeks. Not since mid January (I think). He told me his teacher wasn't doing homework anymore. I was a little skeptical so I emailed her. He was right, due to budget cuts they no longer have the paper to copy and send home homework packets weekly. Wow. I think they should email them and I could have him do the work online or I could print them off.

I tried several of the recipes that I mentioned in last weeks post. I am trying to cut my food bill down. I made the granola (which was yummy), I added up calories and fat and decided I need to modify the recipe before I make it again. I made Pita bread and that was simple, cheap, yummy and low cal, low fat! I made granola bars that are similar to Nutrigrain bars and they turned out awesome. My kids love them.

Tonight is our pizza/movie night. I am thinking how to cut the cost on that. Usually we order 2 large pizzas to feed our family of 6. We need to be more healthy so I was thinking to order just one pizza and make a big side salad and some homemade bread sticks. We will see how that goes over...

I buy the 93% lean hamburger and we eat that with a meal 1-2 times per week. The other day it occurred to me that we don't need to use an entire pound of hamburger (like most recipes call for). When I bought the last hamburger I divided it into 3/4 pound bags and made a casserole with one portion already. I really couldn't tell a difference. This will save money and I don't have to cut back to the cheap hamburger. (When I was a kid my mom bought ground turkey for 29 cents a pound because it was undesirable at the time, we didn't love it but it is sure a contrast to how things are now)

I was mentioning my meat cutbacks to my sister and she said one recipe that she modifies is Hamburger Helper. She uses one box and only 3/4 lb meat. She follows the directions until it is ready to simmer and then she puts it on a really low heat instead of medium heat. The result is much more soupy. She then adds some other cooked egg noodles that match what came in the box. After a quick stir the whole thing makes more servings due to the extra pasta and the sauce covers it all. I sometimes make Hamburger Helper so next time I do I will try this.

I saw a video online today featuring a 91 year old lady cooking depression era meals on the cheap. She made a meal out of chopped, peeled potatoes fried in oil with onion and cut up hot dogs. She called it poor man's supper. I think you could feed my family for less than $2.00 on that meal.

I read some other blogs that recommend that you go to your favorite restaurant websites and sign up for the email lists. Most of them offer something for free when you do. I am really looking forward to getting my free Coldstone ice cream (on my birthday) and my free blizzard from DQ. Ken and I went to Shari's restaurant the other day and found out that kids eat for free with the purchase of a 99 cent drink on Saturday nights. Ken and I could eat there for $15.00 + $4.00 for the kids and we could eat out for less than $25.00. We rarely eat out with the kids anymore because we just can't afford it. Ken and I both were raised in families that didn't dine out. I remember when I was really little my dad took us to McDonalds for ice cream cones and we thought that was a real treat. I cannot remember a single time that we went to dinner when all of the kids were at home. The most we had was papa whatever's take and bake pizza with a movie rental. My kids are spoiled by comparison.

What are ways that you are cutting back? Anyone have ideas for me?