Tomorrow

I've slipped into a time warp and it's now tomorrow. Really.
Here's the breakfast burrito grocery list and prices.
Diced green chili $1.59
Safeway Salsa Bean Salsa $2.50 (on sale reg $3.09)
Ortega green chilies (hot) $1.29
3-10pk Tortillas 2.49 ea $7.47
Aluminum foil $8.49 (on sale reg $8.59)
Eggs (buy one 18-pack, get one free) $4.29 for 36 eggs
2 pks O"Brian Potatoes $6.00 (on sale reg $6.98)
2 lbs sausage $4.00 (markdown)
1 lb Montery Jack cheese $4.99 (on sale reg $5.79)

So let's total it up. I spent $40.62. Next time I won't have to buy aluminum foil as there is still plenty left and I saved what I used to reuse so let's say I used 1/3 of the package. So let's reduce the spent to $34.96. I ran out of tortillas so let's say another package would have been good. So let's say $37.45 total. So I would have had 36 burritos from this recipes (in an ideal world that had more tortillas) and so the average price per burrito would have been $1.04 per burrito. You wouldn't have to put green chili on them but I wanted the spice. Or if you buy green chili in season and freeze it, that would lower the price. If you fried your own potatoes I imagine the price would go down further. I think it's worth it just because the burritos are so much better than what I've bought.

As promised.

I've decided for tonight that I will make just one recipe of extra food to freeze. Then more for the weekend. I'll be doing breakfast burritos with this recipe from the Pioneer Woman cooks. For potatoes I usually buy ready made frozen O'Brian potatoes instead of frying my own. Freezing fried potatoes is going to be one of my later projects and I could use those. I'm going to double the recipe because I already know my family likes these and they will probably disappear fast and not just for breakfast.

List of ingredients to buy
2 packages frozen O'Brian potatoes
3 packages of at least 10 flour tortillas, the in between size, not fajita size, not burrito size unless you want giant breakfast burritos
2 lbs breakfast sausage, whatever kind you like
1 lb Monterey Jack Cheese
2 dozen eggs
Seasoned salt, I already have this so I don't have to buy it
Salsa, homemade would be good but that will be next summer
Foil, I'm out
Green Chili, buy in bulk in late summer and it's much cheaper

I let you know tomorrow how much the ingredients cost and how many burritos I got out of this.

Freezer food

For Christmas my sis gave me a book about cooking for the freezer. What? The freezer doesn't eat? Hmmmm. What it means is that you cook for a day, freeze all the meals and then you can eat for a month. I'm going to start this by starting slow. I'm going to make several different dishes and make enough for at least a week if not more. What I have planned so far is breakfast burritos, waffles, meatloaf and some kind of soup. I will also make bread and cinnamon rolls on the weekend. I'll let you know how much it costs and lists of ingredients and recipes if you want to try something similar. This should be interesting.

Freecycle

Have you heard of Freecycle? No? It's great. You join the group (mine is through Yahoo! Groups) and then you receive any emails of offers for free things. Or, if you have something you just want to give away, you send an email through the group and other people see if they want it. It's all absolutely free. Generally you just have to pick up the item. Recently I had to furnish the new place I'm living in and have no extra money. Through freecycle, I got a small TV a sofa and a chair in decent condition. If I ever have anything I don't need, that's the first place I'll think of. Go out, join freecycle and help keep useful things out of the landfills.

Today's cheap lunch

Pepper jack cheese stick $.33
Cheese and onion roll .59

Small Banana .29


Total $1.21 plus tax

I feel better now.

Exercise

It's easy to get caught up in an exercise craze. If you watch TV at all, you are bombarded with exercise equipment, beautiful people that have used the exercise equipment to become beautiful.
Why spend all that time and money? Why buy the equipment, the clothes, buy into the belief that you need all of these things to be healthy.
I'll share my motivation with you. I always get bored with an exercise program eventually. Seems you are just doing the same thing all the time. Yet, I walk nearly every day. My secret? I have a purpose to the walk. I walk across town to meet my carpool ride to work. I have to get there, so there is a purpose to the walk. It makes me feel good in the early morning and I'm getting exercise.
So have a purpose to your exercise. I've even read of people that knit while riding an exercise bike. That way is killing two birds with one stone. Exercise AND knitting progress.
What could be better? And cheaper!

Quick snack

Sometimes my boys want a quick snack and I've started making a list of things I've come across that are quick and cheap and good. That way if they want something, I have a list of ideas.
One of their favorites is cinnamon toast. I just toast whatever bread we happen to have, then butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Lately I've had red sprinkles to put on top as well. It's a hit!