Organic & Thrifty

It’s week two of my month-long Pantry Challenge and today I’ve got an update for you as well as a recap of some of the savings in the works for our household budget, as well as a tale of how 1 pot roast turned into about 5 meals!

First off, an update:  I’ve been so inspired as of late by the whole notion of “couponing”.  Being all about real food and thriftiness, I often am disappointed at the lack coupons available for the products that I like. Real food tends to not have enough of a profit margin for couponing.  And while I want to reserve an entire post for my full analysis of couponing, I do want to say that it’s worth it to keep your eyes open for coupons of the products you actually buy (batteries, toilet paper, baking soda, aluminum foil….you know, the essentials .  At any rate, since making my commitment for a no-spend (or more realistically, a low-spend) January, I’ve found that deals and savings are more apparent to me than ever!

I did some shopping around and we found a better deal on car insurance that will save us about $300 per year. I’m looking into changing our ISP, and if I can get out of our current contract, it wills save us about $360 per year.  And if that works out, then I’m going to cut back our cell phone plans (since I can’t talk and drive anymore!) so I’m hopeful that these few changes alone will help us save even more aggressivly for my yurt homestead! (Dear husband, if you’re reading this, just smile and nod).

I know this sounds funny, but I’ve been keeping a log where I write down every expenditure for the household.  My husband is the real accountant of the family, so my writing down the expenditures is my way of keeping myself accountable to what is being spent.  We have a budget, but it’s not super strict, and I’m trying to reign in my spending over that which I have spending domain.  In particular, that’s food and household supplies.   At any rate, writing down the expenditures is very eye-opening, and it’s helping me be careful about what I spend. I know I should always be careful, but there are times when I’m just not, and I let my culinary desires trump my thrifty sensibilities.  No more.  So far we’ve kept our spending down to bills, a very small amount on food (less than $30 for the whole month so far) and about $60 on household items that should be good for the month and beyond.

One of the ways I’m keeping the food budget so low is that I’m eating as much as possible from the pantry, freezer, and fridge.  It’s amazing how many meals I’ve been able to stretch from my leftovers!!  It’s a challenge to create exciting meals from leftovers, but it sure feels good not to waste food!

One of my favorite meals of this past week was the pot roast we had on Monday.  This meal has been able to stretch for 4 meals so far, and we still have plenty of leftovers!  About half of the leftovers from Monday morphed into a yummy vegetable beef stew that allowed me to clean out the veggie drawer and use some of the veggies I had in the freezer.  Even after eating that meal, I had 1.5 quarts of soup left; enough for a few lunches this week!  With the remaining pot roast, I shredded it with a fork and simmered it into some homemade barbecue sauce and served it with sauteed kale and onions and these yummy butternut squash fries! This dinner we also enjoyed another night….and I think there are still leftovers!  It’s like this leftover fractal that just keeps recursively multiplying!

How is your pantry doing these days?  How well do your leftovers “recycle” and what are your best tips and tricks for tempting small palates with yet another round of  last night’s fare?

Speaking of saving $$$$, be sure to sign up for my awesome Real Food giveaway; grass-fed ghee (a six-pack worth $50)!!!

Do you want to receive e-mail updates? Drop me a line at carrie [at] organicthrifty [dot] com!