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| Dinner in a pumpkin (link to recipe below) |
I was a bit disappointed when I looked at my Quicken monthly totals for grocery shopping. I'm at $265.14 for the month, but I haven't shopped yet for this week. My goal for the month is under $500 for our family of five. (And a half! I'm expecting!)
This month, to save money, I am faithfully PLANNING MEALS. I've been making bread at home, have not purchased any breakfast cereal, and am cutting back on Costco trips to twice a month instead of every week. The trick for me to get out of Costco without spending my entire grocery budget (!) is to go in with a list and stick to it. This week, I made room in my fridge for 4 gallons of milk and made sure when I went last week to pick up a box of diapers and wipes.
This week, in particular, I'm trying to maximize what I already have at home. My vegetable stir fry tonight was almost a disaster when I discovered that the frozen vegetables I had planned on using had horrible freezer burn. I improvised by using the mushrooms, bell pepper, and carrots I had on hand, and they were fine.
Monday: brown rice, meatballs, vegetable stir fry, and sweet & sour sauce (dessert: microwave brownies in a cup)
Tuesday: cauliflower soup, crusty bread, green salad
Wednesday: baked manicotti (I have extra filling from last week), crusty bread, green salad
Thursday: Southwest potato-corn chowder, crusty bread
Friday: Dinner in a pumpkin, green salad
Saturday: pizza
Sunday: TBD
Yes, I do make bread almost every day. My boys are fairly picky eaters. I insist that they taste what I have prepared, but if they don't want to eat more than a bite, they can make themselves something else to eat. If I have bread on hand, they can eat bread and cheese or pbj sandwiches with carrots and cucumbers on the side. Not the most varied diet, but that is their choice for now. One of my brothers survived on mashed potatoes, pancakes, and toast for years. He ate a peach for the first time in college, if you can believe that. His palate has broadened somewhat in recent years, so I have hope for my own sons.
My in-laws take a different approach to pickiness at the dinner table. "You get what you get, and you don't get upset." If you want to eat dinner, you eat what has been prepared or you go hungry. It works well for their family.
Are there picky eaters at your house? What's your approach? Leave me a comment and tell me about it.
P.S. Check out my giveaway HERE.
I'm linking up:
2 comments:
Wow, Erin! Congrats on your pregnancy!! I didn't know! (How's that for exclamations?) You have such a cute blog... I need to start following along. I go through phases where I don't blog but look at blogs or where I blog/don't look at blogs. I need to learn to do a bit of both.
Feel well! :)
I like a mix of the two approaches to picky eaters that you mentioned. I have one picky eater and one who eats everything, literally everything! I have yet to find something he doesn't like or won't eat at all. If my picky eater has tried the same meal a few different times and still doesn't budge on liking it, I try to have leftovers or a sandwhich available. Sometimes he ends up picking between two things he doesn't like, but it is his choice. And I don't feel like a short order chef all the time!
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