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Hey everyone - just checking in for a quick hello!
Sending best wishes to all humans and pets who are not feeling well. Condolences to Dew. Hoping Zim is having a fun girl’s weekend and that rkb has a great date night.
Fin – I hated using two oven mitts… they were never both in the same place at the same time. I use something like this (link below), and find it brilliant. But steer clear of the gaudy printed cotton ones that usually have awful ‘kitchen’ designs on them – they’re not nearly as well insulated and are made for their alleged good looks rather than good performance!
Mattie - maybe you could also provide the boys with a basic cook book (or the recipes for their favourite home-cooked meals)! I can't help with budget ideas... I think food generally costs a bit more here in Oz, but on the face of it $75 sounds okay for starters. Do they have transport so they can drive to farmers' markets and cheaper grocery stores?
That's actually almost what I spend for a family of four. BUT...I cook a lot from scratch, and have nearly forty years of grocery shopping behind me, which the average 18yo doesn't have to draw on. I might go $100 a week, but no higher.
We spend less than that, too. We do a lot of leftovers, though. Our food is not varied in any way. However, we are also blessed to live in an area that has low priced produce usually. Scratch cooking is also what goes on in this house. Those pre-packaged foods are way out of our budget.
Yeah, I think a couple of ramen meals never killed anybody, if they can't keep it around that level. I don't spend $150 a week for a kid and a contractor husband, I'm not sure what one college kid needs for $150.
Grocery stores are the last place I'd shop for produce on a budget, so if they can find a farmer's market or a discount produce place they'd be well ahead of it.
Hey mm!
Where I live the farmer's markets are more expensive than the cheaper stores. However, the produce is much better. Since it's from the general area, it's fresher.
I know when Safeway puts out all their clearance stuff. I always buy the 50% off meat and store it in our big freezer. With good timing I can get anything from steaks to ground turkey to chicken breasts. I also raid their hidden shelf of clearance stuff for dented cans which I use in soups/casseroles, slightly crushed rolls of paper towels/toilet paper, cereals, soymilk, and powdered milk.
For produce I try to hit the farmer's market on Wednesday night. If I don't make it I might stop at a fruit stand (I live in the central valley; they are everywhere!) or just the grocery store for the local stuff.
I rarely watch any TV, unless House Hunters International is on. I find it fascinating to to see what money buys in terms of housing overseas. Not a lot, in most cases.
Hey everyone - just checking in for a quick hello!
Mattie - maybe you could also provide the boys with a basic cook book (or the recipes for their favourite home-cooked meals)! I can't help with budget ideas... I think food generally costs a bit more here in Oz, but on the face of it $75 sounds okay for starters. Do they have transport so they can drive to farmers' markets and cheaper grocery stores?
I put my extra crockpot up for grabs, along with a cookbook for it. We'll have to see which boy grabs it. Yeah, they are both guys, and active too. They can eat, and eat, and eat.... I figure if I spend about $200-$250 a week while they are home for the summer, they should be able to survive on $75. I'd like to think I feed them a bit better than they can do on their own.
I can always add more if they present a compelling case. Neither goes to school in an expensive city. They both have cars, but since they are responsible for the gas they also take bikes to school. If they're smart they will bike to class and just use their cars to grocery shop.
I love manager specials at Kroger! Our store just began consolidating them in one area except for what needs refrigeration.
Yep - bought DD a crockpot when she moved into an apt. She then bought herself a George Foreman grill. She has learned how to make all kinds of things and will occasionally get together with a few other students and have a pot-luck and have a game-night. One disadvantage students have is having to share limited refrigerator/freezer space so buying in bulk when something is on sale isn't always an option. I think starting out at $75 and seeing how it works out is a good compromise.
Ove-glove? I'll have to check out the link - I know I don't have one....
Hi to Bulldogdad....
We had a really enjoyable evening with several other couples -sat outside and there was a live band, once the sun sets it really is pleasant out. Temp is just right.
MM - that sounds like a nice evening! Thanks for saying something about cleaning the a.c. coils - I had DH do that since he had the power washer out. He did fix the a.c. - it was another lose wire.
I need to check out these oven mitts - I do need a new one (or two it would seem). I could use something when grilling since I almost burned off my arm hairs yesterday.
I have ove gloves and a cut glove. The cut glove was necessary with kids, animals and a husband running around. Makes it really easy to pick up broken glass. It also makes it a lot less stressful to use a mandoline slicer, so you don't feel like you will lose the tip of your finger when you are cutting away.
Oh and I should have specified - the A/C coils we had cleaned were the evaporator coils not the condenser unit coils...Glad your DH was able to fix the A/C though - I was not envying you spending August with no A/C!
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What's wrong with me that I can't buy TWO oven mitts?