October Assessment

I feel a little bad about not having a treat for you today. Though, as a mother, I really must say that I think you've had quite enough, don't you? Yeah, I have too. I'm a little Halloween'd out.

If, however, you're still in need of a little something, have a look at my favorite pumpkin muffins/bread. They come in three flavors: not so healthy, very healthy, and in between. Or if you're in need of a little detox, take a look at my smoothies (under the 'drinks' label). Here's a good one.

And now on to our Cheap Eat Challenge monthly assessment. I must admit I'm getting sick of all the food we buy/eat.

This month our total--with CSA and milk share came up to $283.80. Subtract $25.00 for entertaining and you get $258.80, which comes out to $8.35/day. More details in Costs.

Here's the breakdown:

Produce: 52.61 plus 27.00 for the CSA
Grains: 39.23
Dairy: 46.27, plus 17.00 for the milk share
Sugars/sweets: 18.39
Fats: 26.69 (whoa, we went a little butter crazy this month)
Meat/Eggs/Fish: 33.80
Beans/Nuts/Legumes: 22.56
Condiments: .25

You may have noticed that last month I kind of sort of promised a Food Waste Friday. It just didn't happen, mostly because when we did waste, I just couldn't handle hanging on to it until Friday--like all those partially eaten sandwiches Emma (quite literally) picked through, or the half drunk sippy cups I found in the girls closet (though, really, what's another day or 2 to week-old milk). When I found them, I tossed them. And we didn't waste much refrigerated food, so that wouldn't have made for a very interesting Food Waste Friday. Here's the skinny on what we did waste:


1/2 beet
bread crusts
milk
1 egg
several parts of sandwiches that Emma didn't finish
1 nearly whole bagel with PB that Mark didn't finish
a small bit of cilantro, though I managed to freeze most of the leftover

Two months to go. What will be different or amazing about them? Um, turkey. And then a whole lot of cookies. I'll probably be giving myself $30.00 for entertainment for the next couple months because we give away/share more food. And in November, we've got family coming for Thanksgiving, so I'm not going to be counting the days they're in town, though I will give you a head's up on how much we spent on our humanely raised turkey (note to self: order that).

Be sure to come to the blog tomorrow. It's our One-Year Anniversary and not to blow any surprises, but I'll probably be giving something away.