Thursday, June 3, 2010

Summer!!!

Summer! :o)
I love summer time.  The pool, bonfires, smores, the beach, walks, kids being home, bike rides, and water fights.  Its good stuff.

Today, I was making my big monthly mental grocery list when I realized that my grocery bill was going to blow up.

REALLY Blow up.

You see... as a foster family, we are super blessed by the school system. Our kids get free breakfast AND lunch.  Every.  Single. Day. 

So my grocery bill has been only providing my kids with dinner 7 days a week and breakfast and lunch 2.  So 33 meals a week.  Now... it will be.. oh hang on, I need a calculator for this.... 63 meals a week. Thats a lot.

So...homeschool moms... what do you feed your kids for lunch and breakfast that is cheap and easy?  Cereal is actually expensive...and not the healthiest option.  Jay and Kiki dont like jelly, so they only eat P.B. sandwiches.  Lunch meat can get costly too.

On another note... my photography business has been picking up a little, and thats a blessing.  I LOVE photography.  I love taking pics... capturing memories.  It makes me happy.  Its like... music and photography are 2 things that God has given me to help make me....me!  I just a birthday party and 1 yr old shoot, and it was a blast.  'Course... being that it was my best friends... it could be no less that fun!
Here are some of my fav pics from the shoot:








Yup... that is one gorgeous little girl! :o)

Oh, and I have to give a shout out to my Handsome Hubby...
THANKS BABY!!

He fixed my puter.  I now am running speadily along with Windows 7!!
My puter had some serious issue back around Christmas and we took to get it fixed, it cost $105 and was only the START of many many issues.  Grrr.  But Mike finially fixed it.  I lost some older pics, but I do have the best of those pics saved online, so its not a total loss.
So thanks honey... you rock.  :o)

3 comments:

  1. Homeschooling Mama of an Extra Large Family ... reporting in on grocery budgets ...

    Breakfast:

    pancakes (made from scratch)
    waffles (from scratch)

    oatmeal
    baked oatmeal

    coffee cake

    french toast


    lunch:

    grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup

    peanut butter (one of our kids doesn't do jam, either)

    top ramen

    mac & cheese with hotdogs in it

    add: homemade cookies, crackers, apples, oranges, (whatever fruit is on sale that week)


    Hope this helps!

    We have 6 kids still at home and we feed our family for about $300/month ... yes, per MONTH ... that's right, $300 per MONTH.

    :) :) :)

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  2. I know as foster parents where I am we are elligible for WIC and other programs that help with food bills. I'd check and see if that is available to you.

    Quesadillas are a family favorite of my kids. I always give baby carrots instead of chips on the side to make things healthier. Try to get your kids to drink water instead or juices or whatever. That saves a lot too.

    Do you have an Aldi's or grocery store like it near you? I save tons of money by shopping there. I need to supplement a little with other stores but the savings really add up. There brand is actually really good and they even have healthy and all natural selections.

    I hope this might help a little.

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  3. Home made bread - makes sandwiches MUCH CHEAPER!!!!!! We do meat & cheese sandwiches- buy in bulk, or pizzas on tortilla shells- little sauce, little cheese, a few pepperonis, sometimes grilled cheese, soups, and yep whatever veggies are in our garden in the summer or on sale! You can also try home make potato chips- MUCH HEALTHIER & CHEAPER! Slice potato thin- spray pan & put in oven- sprinkle a little salt. MMMMMM!

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