You've Gotta Do What You've Gotta Do!

When Husband Andy looked at the grocery and Christmas bills for December, he caught his breath. He didn't say much but I could tell he regretted some of his "Christmas Cheer."

So, I am playing a game with myself the month of January and I am trying to spend only $25 a week on groceries. $25 doesn't go very far, it is true, but I have a side by side refrigerator with the freezer compartment stuffed to the brim as well as a small deep freeze in the garage. I was so tired of Christmas food that I froze a large part of the leftovers. I know there is chicken and pork chops waiting to be cooked and maybe even a stray pizza.

So, this week I made a large amount of chili in the crock pot, served it over rice with onions and cheddar cheese. I also invented a soup with leftover sausage, onions, parmesan cheese, chicken broth and potatoes. I bought a bunch of Kale which was under a dollar, chopped some of it and threw that in there too. It was yummy.

 Another meal was ham and beans. I had the dried beans and pulled Christmas ham from the freezer and, of course, made cornbread.  I made turkey pot pie from leftover deep fried turkey from the freezer and frozen puff pastry. Tonight, we baked potatoes and smothered them with a choice of chicken, cheddar cheese, green onions and sour cream or the above mentioned chili with the same toppings. It was very good and so inexpensive. Andy did dip into my little budget and brought home tangerines so that was a healthy dessert.

Looking through my canned goods, I can come up with lots of meals. Salmon will become Salmon Croquettes and we love tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches for a quick dinner. We love to eat breakfast for dinner and Andy makes up a breakfast casserole using Tater Tots in place of hash browns, onions, cheese and eggs. If he has ham, bacon or turkey, he will mix that in too.

So, this may become more difficult as the month comes to an end but I am sure I can find lots of good ingredients in my cupboards and freezer. Remember all that pumpkin puree I froze? Well, thank goodness; because there is nothing better than pumpkin cream soup.

As for dessert: We were given chocolate truffles and dark chocolate peanut butter cups from Trader Joes for Christmas and boy are they good but..... so rich and so many calories. We allow ourselves one after dinner with coffee or have a little of that famous "Sarah Mason's Dessert-Type Pumpkin Bread" from a few posts ago. I will let you know how my little experiment turns out as the month goes on. I don't think we are going to starve and might even learn something in the process.