Days 4 & 5 - Eat on $30

Well, day four was a-okay. Day five was a little rough. I managed to make the cozy, comfort dish below on Wednesday, which if you have kids, you have to try it. It is one of those meals that reminded me of being a kid. It has lots of healthy elements, too, so moms (or girl friends/wives who have to find creative ways of sneaking in vegetables) this is a great one to add to your rotation.

While Boise State was victorious, it was by the hair on their chinny, chin, chins. Despite the crappy game, we managed to have a great time. I don't get out much so when I do, I seem to always come home with a couple of hilarious stories. For those of you who don't know me, if there is a weirdo in the facility, I am sure to attract him/her. Guaranteed. I am not sure if it's because of my innocent looks, HA!, or if it's because I'm nice. To everyone. Often times to a fault.

So Heather and I took advantage of two seats at the bar and commenced to drink our $1.75 beers, on special!, and apparently I had taken homeboy's seat. A brief description of homeboy: he had wiry red hair that just reached his shoulders in a mullet-esque way with a matching beard that had to be at least three inches long, and half of his teeth on one side of his mouth were severely damaged. I would guess he was in his early thirties. The important point to remember about homeboy, he was DRUNK. D.R.U.N.K. Drunk.

Well, he returned to the bar and grumbled a bit behind us that I had taken his seat. He then saw the opportunity at hand -- two pretty girls to hit on -- homeboy did not let off for the duration of the game. At first, Heather blatantly ignored him leaving me to answer his questions. I half-heartedly answered trying to appear overly-interested in the football game. Fortunately, the US soccer team was playing Costa Rica in heated match so I was able to split my attention between the two screens. As soon as my attention deviated though, he was right there with another mundane question. I quickly got annoyed and decided that I too would be mute.

I'm not sure this will come across to you, internet, but he kept making this sound, "pssshhhhh" over and over and over, as if he had turrets. It was always right after he asked me a question, which I ignored. He'd make the sound, grumble under his breath about the "world going to shit, not fair, try harder" and shake his head. At this point, Heather started to perk up. This dude was CRAZY!

His running personal commentary caught the attention of everyone around us including the bar tender who had already cut him off. Heather enjoyed inciting his random opinions on life and pirates, as did the slew of boys playing pool behind us. The highlight of the evening was when he told us that "smoking and eating bacon will make you go back in time." Really? Cool! Perhaps even more profound was his distrust of technology. "I will twitter you with my mind!" Everyone enjoyed the comedy that surrounded homeboy, unfortunately the majority of it involved me because that's what happens when I go out. I attract the the crazies. Psshhhhh.

As for our beer consumption, we bought two $1.75 beers, and we did have one charity beer each. I was proud of us for not drinking more considering the circumstances.

Day five of Eat on $30 was by far the hardest. I had my staple string cheese for breakfast along with a cup of green tea. I am DYING for COFFEE. I can't really even talk about it. I get a lump in the back of my throat and want to cry a little. Loud sigh. I came home from class absolutely ravenous and ate the most disgusting combination of leftovers for lunch: mexican pasta and a big pile of sauerkraut and potatoes. Just typing that makes me gag a little. I was so hungry and so determined not to skew from this regime that I wolfed it down. I will say, and this is probably way too much information, that the burps I experienced later came straight from the bowels of Hell. Not a combination I recommend.

I had planned on visiting friends this weekend in Utah, but knowing that I have another mid-term looming on Monday and that this challenge doesn't end until tomorrow, I figured it's best to stay close to home. I know there would be no way I could stay on budget if I visited my food-savvy friends who would want to take me out for sushi or thai or tapas or wine or martinis or any combination of the aforementioned wonderful aspects of my previous life that I miss so dearly. Next weekend, friends. I will have a map charted of where we'll be eating!

Tonight I'll be joining my dad and his cronies at a cabin near Henry's Lake. I figure it will be good for the budget and the soul. I've been promised big fish. If not, I'll sit in the boat and study Piaget and Vigostky. I hope everyone has a great weekend. May you NEVER have to eat the following dish accompanied with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. xoH

Mexican Pasta

1 package pasta, any shape you like

1 pound ground beef (you could use turkey too)

1 onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes with herbs

1 tbs canola or olive oil

1 package shredded cheese

s/p

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to instructions. Heat oil over medium heat and sauté diced onion, pepper and garlic. Cook until translucent. Add beef and season with salt and pepper. Add both cans of tomatoes with juice. Combine the cooked pasta and beef/vegetable mixture in a baking dish. Cover with cheese. Bake about twenty minutes or until bubbly.

Day three - Eat on $30

Between my junior and senior year of college, I was fortunate to spend a summer in Spain. Two professors from my college organized the trip and chaperoned our hodgepodge group of students from Madrid through Northern Spain. We all stayed with host families as part of our cultural experience. When we arrived at the university in Santander there were lots of short, gray haired ladies in cardigan sweaters waiting patiently on the curb.

One by one, my fellow students’ names were called out, “are you so and so?” They would exchange pleasantries and the little Spanish mamas would help them with their bags and off they went. I kept looking around longing for my very own Spanish mama, but no one ever called my name. There was, however, this tall woman standing in the background with fire-engine red hair, tattooed eye makeup and enormous breasts. I paid her no attention and figured my senora was just delayed. She would be there. Dismayed that I was the last student to be picked up, I finally heard, “are you Hailey?” Hailey is difficult for Spanish speakers to pronounce – the H is tricky so usually my name comes out sounding guttural and totally unsexy.

“Yes, I’m Hailey.” Oh. My. God. The siren was my host mom.

To be brief, my host mom was wonderful, and I was so lucky have her. She raised two boys so to have a girl in her home was an experience she reveled in. I was the daughter she never had. We bonded on many levels; she borrowed my clothes, showed me her recent cosmetic surgery (she was newly divorced and hot to trot), we frequented the beaches together – she was always nude, and she also taught me to cook the following dish, tortilla Espanola.

The entire time I spent in her home, she never uttered a word of English to me. As I was boarding the bus to return home, she told my professors she was going to keep me as her own. She even threatened to call my parents and tell them I wasn’t coming back. Then she said something to one of my professors that still baffles me today, “Hailey is a very clever girl, and I’m going to miss her.” Huh, wha?! Clever? Apparently she spent several years studying at Oxford. In England. Where they speak English. There were many occasions when I could have used her English assistance so she must have gotten a kick out of what a moron I was. Some day I’ll make it back to Santander and be brave enough to take it all off on the beach with you, Sandra.

I have successfully made this recipe many times. Of course, when I want to post about it and when I’m on a budget, it fails. It's not just a little burned or the edge fell off. This is a failure of epic proportions. It doesn't even resemble tortilla Espanola. Normally I would just redo it, but this week I don’t have that luxury. I need eggs and potatoes for another dish. My pride hurt and my wrist burned, I’m still posting this meal malfunction. The challenge continues!

A few additional thoughts as the week progresses: I had to go to the grocery store this morning for a non-food item, and it was really hard to stay on task. I found myself staring at the floor just to avoid eye contact with Captain Crunch. But it was on sale!

Tonight’s festivities pose a challenge: beer. Boise State plays Tulsa at 6:00 and since our bunny ears unfortunately don’t pick up ESPN, we have to go to a bar, which usually means beer consumption. I’ll let you know how it goes. I may have to make some friends and drink some charity beer.

Because this was such a failure, I am not posting the recipe. I will redo and conquer at a later date. I blame lack of coffee for its demise :)

Oh yeah, yesterday I ate an apple and string cheese for breakfast, leftover pork and sauerkraut for lunch, and this mess above with some cherry tomatoes for dinner. I was fueled/distracted by several cups of green tea throughout the day.

I’m off to take my first midterm exam. Wish me luck!

Day two - Eat on $30

Eat on $30 day 3 begins! All told, the hard part is over. With the shopping and planning behind me all I have to do now is cook, and that's the fun part. I will be honest in saying, I really miss my cup of coffee. I think more than the caffeine, it's the routine I miss. My coffee intake could use some curbing so perhaps this is beneficial.

I realized that I didn't eat very much yesterday. It wasn't the challenge that caused me to go hungry, I was just busy. I had a cup of green tea and an apple for breakfast. The apples rang up at $1.29/lb and the tea was $2.99 for a box of 16 tea bags. I am going to agree with my challenge cohorts that calculating every penny is a bit of a drag. Jimmy Buffet's song, "I hate math" comes to mind each time I have to pull out my calculator to figure out the portions. It's a good thing I will not be teaching math. I think you all can get the gist of what we spent and how much we are saving.

None-the-less, the leftover pasta was warm and cozy for lunch because our house seems to turn into an icebox in the afternoon. I threw pork chops (by one get one free, at $3.39) seasoned with salt and pepper into the crock pot with two cans of sauerkraut at $1.09 each, and half of a sliced apple. This cooked for over five hours on low heat. I have the recipe for pork and sauerkraut in more detail here . I smashed up four large potatoes with 1/2 cup of milk ($1.50 for half gallon), couple pads of butter (this was one of our freebie items), and salt and pepper.

This is an inexpensive and satisfying dish that makes for great leftovers. There was plenty leftover for both of our lunches today, and it always tastes better the next day.

I apologize for the afterthought photo.

Starvation doesn't lead to good photography.

Day one - Eat on $30

Yesterday was the first day of the Eat on $30 challenge, and I spent the weekend at my parent's house so my ability to track the budget was, we'll just say, a bit skewed. I woke up to the smell of sausage strata and coffee wafting through the house (I will post this recipe soon, as it is one of the yummiest brunch dishes around). While I did feel slightly guilty that I was receiving a delicious, free meal, let's be honest, not that guilty.

We discussed this challenge through our entire brunch. My mom and Heather offered meal suggestions that were both cost effective and delicious. Occasionally my dad would chime in with, "elk stew." Man loves his wild game. Our conversation was one that isn't entirely foreign to the Hodges household -- food is a very common theme. In fact, my mom has turned into a canning maniac this summer. Her pantry is stocked full of fruits and vegetables that she has lovingly canned for darker days this winter. They are fortunate to not only have the farm to supply them with endless vegetables, but they also have a garden in their backyard. With a little foresight and effort, your summer bounty can reward you in February when grocery store produce is more than lackluster. Canning your own fruit, vegetables, salsas and sauces is also cost effective. Mom, Goddess of Canning, if you are reading this, would you please share your thoughts on the topic?

On to adventures in budget shopping. Heather and I didn't make it out to the store last night until about seven o'clock. We had a general menu/grocery list in mind, we also had COUPONS in hand. Without Heather's keen eye for coupon-clipping in the weekend's paper, we would have lost out on $13.24 in savings. We shopped at Alberstons, which isn't my favorite store, but based on the week's ads, they proved to be our best ally.

Our first issue was that we were both starving. We drove by a Little Caesars on our way to the store and both had the same thought: $5.00 cheese pizza! We snapped out of our low blood sugar induced mania and proceeded to kick our budget's ass. We had a coupon for buy one get one free chicken breasts and were dismayed when we learned they were bone in. That's what butchers are for -- removing bones. Pork chops were also on sale, buy one get one free. Heather immediately thought, pork and sauerkraut. We bought two packages of pork chops, three each, for $3.39, respectively. We also bought a package of beef for stew for $3.24. Thank you meat isle.

On to produce. We do live in Idaho so one would suspect that one could get a good deal on taters. One guessed correct! We bought a FIVE POUND bag of potatoes for $.79! I was so pleased I carried the bag around like an infant for the duration of our shopping spree.

My second moment of anxiety was my gravitation towards fresh herbs, more expensive vegetables like leeks and shallots, and organic produce. Sacrifices had to be made, and this was an area that made a big impact. We bought staples that I couldn't cook without, garlic and onions, salad fixings, a few apples, and a handful of other veggies you'll see through the week. I tend to spend a majority of my budget in the produce isle, but I used restraint and bought canned tomatoes with herbs.

Some other random items included fresh and dried pasta, string cheese (my breakfast staple), cheese, milk, eggs, green tea (coffee proved quite problematic and expensive so this will be a serious test).

We caught ourselves a few times aimlessly walking around wondering what else we could do, but then a discounted item would catch our eye and spark an idea. All told, we spent $42.57; we saved $2.72 on bonus buy items, $14.16 with our preferred card, and $13.24 with store coupons. We walked out with grocery bags in hand, heads held high and huge, mischievous grins on our faces. It was almost as if we had done something naughty by saving that much money. Then we realized we'll never be able to go back to our old ways of shopping. We've been saved. We're born again coupon-clippers! Oh lord.

I tried to take a picture of our dinner last night, but my camera battery died. It included a package of fresh linguine at $2.29, one can diced tomatoes with italian herbs at $1.50, 1/2 cup of cream at approximately $.75, one garlic clove at $.5?, handful parmesan cheese $1.69 for the entire bag so we'll say $.40. $5.44 for the meal, $2.72/person. We even had leftovers for lunch today. Not bad.

Right now pork and sauerkraut is stewing away in the crock pot. I'll post today's meals and my lack of coffee tomorrow. So far so good. Talk to you tomorrow.

Eat on $30

For those of you who know me, know that I just committed myself to a major life change -- quit my job to return to school. Currently, I am still looking for a job in this town some have lovingly nicknamed Poca-hell-hole, and my only source of income is student loans. Ouch. I know there are lots of folks who are living in similar circumstances, but there are also lots who are living in far worse conditions.

Enter: Eat on $30 challenge! Tami from Running with Tweezers is hosting a week long hunger awareness campaign that challenges people to eat on $30/person for an entire week. I was immediately inspired and motivated to join the great bloggers who are participating in this important conversation.

I got all wrapped up in the excitement and meal planning, and then I had an epiphany:

Tami was speaking to directly to me . . . to my broke ass who can no longer afford to go to the grocery store and frivolously drop $60 on A MEAL. She reminded me that I am part of this community who should be spending $30 a week on groceries every week, not just for a challenge. I am still digesting that conclusion.

This Eat on $30 challenge is meant bring awareness about hunger and poverty and the disparity that exists in our nation. As bloggers, we've been challenged to only spend $30/person, use nothing existing in our fridges and pantries and share with you our experiences -- so long pumpkin lattes. Sniffle, sniffle.

Check out the other fabulous conversations that are taking place:

• Betty Joan with Trouble with Toast
• Carrie Neal with carrienealland
• Paula with bell'alimento
• The Broke Socialite
• Jimmy with Eat It Atlanta
• Robert and his blog
• Jen with Use Real Butter
• Mike and his blog
• Zach with Mise en Face
• Kristina with TNLocavore.com
• Susan with Doughmesstic
• Another Susan with Frugal Hostess
• Diana with A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa

I'm off to class, but I can't wait to report our shopping trip last night. Here's a preview: we saved $30.12 on our groceries! It was exhilarating. Who new coupon-clipping was so awesome?!