Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food Project Update - FINAL

Well...this is it...the last day of July. We have the rest of today and our dollar-s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, cabinet-clearing, clean-up-the-food project for July is over! Tomorrow is August 1st and we will be in a whole new ballgame! YEAH! 😄

I have to say...it's been quite an experience and we've learned many lessons along the way. At first it was something that I didn't even know for sure that we could do, but, with the Lord's help and guidance, we did and what a blessing it's been! We saved money (in fact, we didn't even miss the money that we were shorted at the beginning of the month), cleared out our cabinets, cleaned out our freezer, and was, literally, able to start all over with fresh food and a fresh, new food plan. 

After discussing what a blessing this project has turned out to be, John and I have decided to do a repeat performance come January. We figure mid-winter and after the holidays would be a great time to go at it again. If everything goes as well as it did time, we plan to make this a regular biannual event. Saving money and doing with (and using up) what we've got on hand is always a wise idea.

Now that we've got the food situation is in hand, our next focus is to clean up toiletries and cleaning supplies that have been sitting in the cabinets before buying more. I've got several partially used bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body spray, body lotions, and liquid hand soap that needs used up. Many of them are seasonal. 

For instance, I've got several partially used bottles of pumpkin-scented lotions and liquid hand soaps that were purchased last fall at Bath and Body Works. When Christmas 2016 came, I set the lotions and soaps up in the bathroom cabinet and that's where they've been ever since. We have used up several newly purchased bottles of lotion and liquid hand soap since then. No more! Until every drop of what's in the house is used up and gone, I will not be buying anything new. It doesn't matter if we used pumpkin-scented liquid hand soap in October or August. It washes our hands just the same. 

Another thing that I have on hand are household cleansers. Some are still here from when my dad was alive. When we moved in, I just put some of those things under the sink and they're still there. I will not be buying (or making) any fresh ones until the old ones are gone. New or old, their cleaning power is still the same and they can be used up.

All of these things put together should result in more $$$ being saved over the course of the next several months.

Well...that's it! The final installment of our dollar-s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, cabinet-clearing, clean-up-the-food project for July! It's been a lot of fun sharing this journey with all of you here and I'm already looking forward to doing it again in January! 

Have a blessed week ahead!

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food Project Update - Week #4

Week #4 of our dollar-s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, cabinet-clearing, clean-up-the-food project for July is drawing to a close and the month is nearly over. In just a few short days August 1st will be here and this challenge will be behind us. That means that this week is a transition week for us. Yeah! 😄

At the beginning of the week my husband and I did an end-of-month inventory. We were basically down to nothing in the freezer except a few containers of frozen broth, frozen nuts, dry beans, and a few grains. We figure that these will continue to keep so, for now, we are not concerned with cleaning them up. As soon as fall arrives, though, that will change. At that point we will be ready to concentrate on warm and filling bean dishes, soups, and stews of all kinds. 🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁

After inventorying the freezer, we defrosted and cleaned it, making it ready to fill with a fresh supply of meat, vegetables, and fruits. 

As for the kitchen cabinets, they were pretty empty, as well. There were a few things...spices, tea, sweeteners, and a few canned items. We will continue to clean those items up before buying more. They will be included in upcoming menus as we make the transition from this project back into regular meal planning...which may never be "regular" again. 😃

You see, as we come to the end of our clean-up-the-food challenge on one hand, I am gearing up to start Trim Healthy Mama on the other. I have dabbled with it in the past, but my goal is to jump into it with both feet and try to stay on plan as much as possible. Now is a good time. All the not-so-great food (and there wasn't a whole lot of that to begin with, but what there was) is gone now and I am pretty much free to start with a clean slate without guilt. 

It is not in my plan to buy a bunch of specialty ingredients with this. My plan is to start strong with a variety of good, basic foods and keep my menu plans simple. I want to be a good steward with what the Lord provides and plan wisely. Once I get going I will probably fall into more of the 'budgeting mama' category, but, right now, we needed everything.

On Tuesday I was able to plan ahead and get started. The nearest Aldi to us in Missouri is 40 miles away at Carthage. I had to be in Carthage that day anyway, so I went ahead and did my usual end of the month shopping, while keeping my THM goals in mind. 

Like I said, this is a transition week for us. We had already cleaned up the pancake mix and boxed cereal; now it was okay to go ahead and stock up on my Trim Healthy Mama pancake ingredients without feeling guilty. The stuff that needed used up was gone and, now, we only have the good stuff in the house. It is very freeing emotionally.

All of the meat in the house was gone, except a few cans of chicken and fish that will fit in perfectly with THM. There was no fresh meat at all, other than what had been planned out in the final week of menu plans...mostly fish...and now all of that is gone, too. At Aldi's I purchased chicken tenders, ground turkey, grass-fed beef, and lots of salmon fillets. I also purchased plenty of eggs and egg whites.

(Note: We usually only make it to Aldi once a month, so I buy a month's worth of food at a time.)

Now, as we wind down the final few days of July with the last of our dollar s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, cabinet-clearing, clean-up-the-food meals, we anxiously look forward to digging into our fresh stock of delicious, nutritious, and healthy new food stock beginning August 1st. It's not going to be easy to wait, but, hey! We've made it this far! What's three more days???

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food Project Update - Week #3

Here we are at the end of Week #3 of our dollar-s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, cabinet-clearing, clean-up-the-food project for July and things are still running smoothly. To be honest, by doing this and not spending a lot for groceries this month, we haven't even missed the shortfall at the beginning of the month. Praise the Lord!

THINGS ARE GETTING A LITTLE BIT WEIRD

I have noticed that things are beginning to get a little weird with the menu planning this week, but they're probably not as weird as they will be by the end of next week! LOL! 😆 

We are just now starting to notice real changes in what's actually left in the freezer and cabinets and menu planning is becoming increasingly more challenging. I've definitely had to put more thought into things and go to extra trouble to prepare things made of what's left on hand, but it's been well worth it and it is freeing in so many ways!

#1 -  For the first time in my life I feel like I'm actually gaining some control over food instead of allowing it to control me. I feel that I'm in charge of telling it what is going to be done with it instead of it telling me what I have to do with it. Does that make sense to anyone else out there? Does it sound crazy?

#2 - Portion control - Because food items are limited food portions have become smaller. This is good! I don't leave the table feeling stuffed and I am finding that less food per meal is just as satisfying. More so, in fact! And, ultimately, I am cutting calories without even trying to. This is wonderful!

#3 - Once this project is over, I won't have to worry about what's in the cabinets and freezer, because there won't be anything (not much anyway). I will be able to start fresh and plan menus ahead of time. I will be able to shop on-purpose, and specifically, for those pre-planned menus. I have wondered what that must be like. Now I can find out! 😊

TURKEY BACON

Supper meals have been the main focus of my menu planning with this, but breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas have been interesting and fun, too, and fresh items, for which I am very thankful, have played a huge part in rounding things out. 

For instance...

One of the things that had been in the freezer for a while was a package of turkey bacon. It had gotten shifted around and had slipped to the bottom. 

I thawed and cooked the entire package at one time. The first thing that I did with it was make blt's for lunch using the fresh lettuce that I had purchased at Walmart and the last of the fresh tomatoes that I had purchased from a friend who has a vegetable stand. They were delicious!

Next I saved back enough bacon to use for a supper of turkey bacon, eggs, and toast. That was good, too.

Last of all, I took what bacon was left and crumbled it into bacon bits to be used in salads and omelets. 

One pound of turkey bacon can go a long way! 😮

PROTEIN SNACK BALLS

Another thing I did this week was to make up a double batch of protein snack balls. These make great snacks to take to work and can even be enjoyed for breakfast!

I had bought the ingredients to make them quite some time ago, but...for whatever reason (forgot about it, too busy, too tired, too lazy...WHAT EVER!!!)...for whatever reason, I didn't make them before and the ingredients were still in the cabinet...or, at least part of them were. I double checked everything to see what I had on hand and what I could use up in the process of making them. It was AWESOME!!!

I had plenty of honey...three partially used containers of different varieties of honey. Two of the jars (small ones) had been given to us; the other one I had purchased and it was the freshest. I completely used up the two jars that had been given to us and only a tiny bit of the freshest honey, so that was good. It equaled two more containers out of the cabinet!

Next, I had a package of powdered peanut butter, a partially used jar of fresh natural peanut butter, and a full, unopened jar of fresh natural peanut butter. I mixed up the powdered peanut butter and finished off the amount needed with the partial jar of fresh natural and only a small amount of the jar that, up until that point, had been unopened. Two more containers down!

I had new or freshly opened containers of coconut oil, oatmeal, and cocoa, so I used those and had some left of each.

Next, came the seeds. I used up an open package of chia seed and part of a newly-opened package. I did the same with the sunflower seeds. (Two more empty packages out of my cabinet! Yeah!) 

And, last of all, normally I use mini chocolate chips in my protein snack balls, but dh (who "doesn't eat sweets") has a habit of dipping into them a few at a time until the whole package is gone. I didn't have any. 

My second choice of alternate ingredients for this recipe is raisins. We had already used the last of them up in other things during this challenge, so I didn't have any of those, either. 😞

So...my third choice? (Which this is the very first time ever of having to go for a third choice.) Would it be coconut or nuts? I had both and either one would be good, but...which one? I made my choice based on the fact that the nuts were in the freezer and they would be fine in staying there; the coconut, on the other hand, had been in the kitchen cabinet for a while and there was just the amount needed to finish up this recipe, so...coconut it was! (And ANOTHER package out of the cabinet!!!)

When I got done with this recipe, my kitchen trash can was half full of empty packages and a whole bunch of space was freed up in my cabinet. It was awesome!!! 😆

Now...that was probably waaaay more details and information than you wanted to know, and a lot of you probably do this kind of stuff every day...no big deal...but, for me, it is truly exciting (and freeing) to be able to deliberately take this stuff on and make it happen.

I will end there. No use in further taxing you with all of my boring details! LOL! 😆 I'm just having a blast whittling stuff down. It's becoming a game and I'm winning!!! 

Have a blessed weekend and I will see you again next time!

Until then...
~Rebecca


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Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food Project Update - Week #2

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Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food Project Update - Week #2

Week #2 of our clean up the food project is nearly over and so far, so good!

For the most part, we have managed to stay on track with menu plans and, slowly, but surely, the older foods that we have determined to clear out are disappearing.

I did pick up a few fresh items this week (butter, eggs, yogurt, coconut milk, cashew milk, garlic, romaine, and cabbage), plus purchased fresh potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini from a friend who raises vegetables to sell at an area farmer's market. These items will continue to round out the meats, grains, cereals, and canned goods that we have on hand. 

In addition to that, a friend passed on cereal, cheese, juice, canned goods, and a few other items that she couldn't use, to us and, in turn, we are passing most of those items on to other families that can use them, because we can't eat all of it either. 

One thing I know is this...we have an abundance of food in this house and, no matter what we do, food just keeps coming in. I'm not complaining; I'm just saying. 

I do praise God for His abundant provision, but I need His wisdom and direction in dealing with food on a daily basis, because food and proper eating is something that I have struggled with my entire life. I am finally starting to figure out why it's such a struggle (it's all fear based), but I'm still not quite sure what to do about it or how to do things differently and stick with it on a consistent basis. Please pray for me in this area. 

Anyway...that is my update for Week #2. I keep thinking that at some point this challenge is going to become challenging, but, thus far, things are still running quite smoothly.

Of course, we're only half way through the month. We'll see what the next two weeks hold. We might have to carry this thing over into August! 😲

That's it for now!

Until next time...
~Rebecca


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So far things are going very well with this clean-up-the-food challenge. I purchased fresh items and a few things to round out what we had on-hand at the end of June, so, thus far the challenge hasn't been too challenging. I'm sure that that will change as the month moves on.

A couple of things that we've done to focus on cleaning up what's on-hand are...

- We had an opened box of lasagna noodles left over from last Christmas, an almost full carton of cottage cheese, some Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella. I made a pot of sauce, combined the cheeses, and made a big pan of lasagna. Without ricotta it wasn't our usual fare, but we don't usually have lasagna except on Christmas Eve, so it turned out to be a real treat that lasted several meals.

- My husband prefers oat pancakes made from scratch and I normally only eat Trim Healthy Mama pancakes (page 223 of the original book). That explains why the three boxes of pancake mix that had been given to us by a friend were still in the cabinet at the beginning of this challenge. When we took the food inventory, one of the first decisions we made was to use up the boxed mixes before spending any more money on ingredients for our preferred pancakes. To do away with the gooey texture and boost the nutrition, for each batch of pancakes made per box instructions, we simply added two heaping tablespoons of raw wheat germ and a bit more water. It made all the difference in the world! The boxed mixes are being whittled down and my husband and I are actually enjoying them. I do have a boiled egg on the side with mine to add some protein. 

Well, that's it for now. You all have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you again soon!

Until next time...
~Rebecca

My Weekly "Home Blessing"

Dollar S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Cleaning, Clean-Up-The-Food Project Kick-Off

HEARTH AND HOME Newsletter - July 2017

Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food Project Kick-off

Greeting, Dear Friends!

Well...here it is July 1st and we're ready to kick-off our "Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food" project and I'm excited!!!

On Monday (6/26) my husband and I took a complete inventory of food on-hand. In a notebook I wrote three headings: cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer. Then, I listed every single food item that we had on-hand in the appropriate category.  Knowing what we had on-hand would make it easier to plan meals, plus it would help us know we needed to purchase in order to round things out. We concentrated on using up leftovers and odd bits and pieces of partially used packages of food over the last week of June.

I did our usual end-of-the-month shopping on Thursday (6/29). Normally, this is a really big shopping day. It's usually the only time I make it near an Aldi's and I like to stock up. At Aldi's and Walmart combined I typically spend around $200-$250 the last week of the month. Now, that includes food, paper goods, household and cleaning products, pet food, office supplies, and other miscellaneous items here and there as needed, and, even at that, I always end up making at least one extra trip to Walmart during the middle of the month (usually it ends up being more like two or three). 😮 In fact, in going back through recent receipts, I am ashamed of the amount of money that I've been spending at Walmart! No more! I need to get a handle on this and I am thankful for this wake-up call!

On this week's trip (6/29) I only spent $25.92 at Aldi's and $99.94 at Walmart. Most of that was on fresh items (fruit, vegetables, bread, milk, and yogurt), paper goods, and cleaning supplies. The rest of it was on the few items needed to round out items on-hand in order to turn them into complete meals.

Well, that's my kick-off report! My plan is to update our progress on a weekly basis. Pray for me to have wisdom, creativity, fortitude, and self-control in the days ahead. I really, REALLY want (and need) to make this work. Thank you all so much!

Until next time,
~Rebecca

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Please read Rebecca's Hearth and Home Blog online @ http://rebeccashearthandhome-proverbs31heart.blogspot.com/ and, if it has touched or inspired you in some way, please, leave a comment and let me know. I love hearing from my readers! 

Dollar-S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, Cabinet-Clearing, Clean-Up-The-Food Project Plans For July

Due to changes in insurance coverage and extra payments being taken out all at once, July promises to be a few hundred dollars shorter than normal. No biggie! We'd be okay, either way, but, in light of the shortfall, we decided that July would be the perfect to time to institute one of our dollar-s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g, cabinet-clearing, clean-up-the-food project months, so...that's what we're doing!

Our plan is to begin by doing a complete food inventory to see what we have on hand. I will do the end-of-the-month shopping, as usual, toward the end of this week, but, I will not do a full shop. I will only purchase fresh items and items needed to round out what we have on hand. I will post my progress throughout the month and share meal plans and recipes as I can. 

I am excited about this challenge and am excited to share it with you! 

Until next time...
~Rebecca