Food Waste Friday, 3/9 - Oh, Produce!

On Wednesday July 6, 2011 I decided to finally join The Frugal Girl and begin TRULY attempting to reduce our family's food waste and in the spirit of Mom's Plans I am guesstimating how much the food waste cost our family. 

I've got some nasty produce this week.  The cucumber (.50) on top is quite squishy.  I tried to think of something to do with it, but I was drawing a blank.  A goal for next week is to be more intentional about using them in my and my son's lunches. 

In the bag to the left are some pretty nasty mushrooms (.25) and then the right are too many jalapenos ($1.00)! How could I waste such yummy jalapenos you ask.  I have no valid answer for that.  I simply forgot about them.  I promise I will not let it happen again!

I have a few things in the fridge this week that I will have to really watch and be intentional about (note to self- use those cucumbers!), but seeing how so many of you others salvage your food has been quite benefical for me.  I had a big learning curve here! 

Wishing you a good week next week!

Goals for the Week 3/5

First a review of last week's goals.....

Health and Wellness

• Exercise 5 times and run at least once. I did it!  I did it!  I really did try to make exercising a priority and it worked!
• Lift weights twice.  Nope, I thought about it a lot though....does that count?
• Juice/Smoothies twice a day.  Check!

Kids

• Read with both kids at least once.  I'm really good at reading with A, but C typically reads before I get home and I just have not been able to do this. 
• Spend sometime on Sunday with each child doing something they would like to do.  We had a family game night and we all had a ton of fun!  I also got outside and threw some baseballs with them.  I am so happy I took the time to do this!

House

• Clean and organize one area of my own choosing.  Somehow, I never got around to this.  I have been organizing around the house a lot lately and I thought this would be an easy one to check off.  Darn it!
• Pay all bills and look at finances.  Set up a financial plan for March.  I'm  such a nerd.  I love doing anything related to our finances. 
• Clean the bathrooms.  I genuinely only did this because I didn't want to say failure here.  So thankful I have this list and some accountability to actually complete it!his stuff!
• Make one food item that can go in the freezer for a later time.  I made french fries and am hoping to make fish sticks today.
• Complete one survey and one mystery shop, with money to go into the gift fund.  Check!

School

• Grade two classes worth of papers.  I got a lot done, but not two classes worth.
• Write research plan.  Nope, not good!  I have to get this done.

On to this week.  Where to start.....it is going to be a really busy week.  I have something to do every single day this week after school and my in-laws are coming for a visit this weekend.

Health and Wellness

• Exercise five times.  Run at least once.
• Lift weights twice. (I'm not so sure I will have enough time for this, but at least this way I will try to make sure it happens.)
• Lose one pound :), wish me luck because I am going to need it!

Kids

• Spend quality time with each of them doing something that they choose.
• Play baseball with them once.
• Hold them accountable for picking up their room three times during the week.
• Make a chore chart.  Any advice on the best method to do this?

House

• Clean one area of the house a night so the house is presentable for the grandparents this weekend.
• Vacuum both sets of steps.

Work

• Get a T.O.N. done (How is that for a specific and measurable goal!)

Financial

• Keep the grocery bill under $100.  This will be interesting with my in-laws coming to town.  I never feel like what we have on hand is what they eat and then there are also two more mouths to feed at the end of the week when the groceries have started to run out.  Not that I am complaining though, I really believe I have the best in-laws out there.
• Complete four mystery shops and at least one survey.  I have a tendency to forget the mystery shops because they are phone calls and must be done in a specific time frame which is hard for me, but it can be done.  It would also mean almost another $30 for the gift fund. 

I hope you each have a great and productive week!

Food Waste Friday 3/2

On Wednesday July 6, 2011 I decided to finally join The Frugal Girl and begin TRULY attempting to reduce our family's food waste and in the spirit of Mom's Plans I am guesstimating how much the food waste cost our family. 

It was not a bad week around here in terms of food waste.  I ended up composting some parsnips (free.  I got them from volunteering for my CSA.), half of a lemon (.25) and one mushy cucumber (.50).  All of this will go in the compost bin.  I sure do wish it had been nothing, but overall I guess this isn't bad.  If you know any recipes that call for parsnips that cover their sweet taste I would love to hear it.  I just am not big on sweet vegetables.  I love me some chocolate, but please don't make my veggies sweet, I just can't take it.  How did you do this week?