Totally not shopping goal related, but we had our first official speech therapy session today. So far the new med seems to really be helping the son's general ability to concentrate and not throw so many temper tantrums, so I was relieved when the speech therapist walked him out to the car and said that the session went pretty well. I was doubly pleased that he actually worked today as Alvah is one of those kids that do NOT bond easily with people, it took him two years to warm up to Shani and actually start to get some work done, so it really made me happy that he's already warming up to his new speech therapist already and he's only seen her a couple of times.
My daughter loves the new therapist because she has a mini-farm going on her property, so we got to go and check out her chickens and got to see glimpses of her horses (they were doing work on the horse yard, so the horses were stuck in the barn and weren't overly happy about it *laugh*). So, here's hoping against hope that progress will be steady, fast and happy with Alvah at the new therapist. Praying hard for that as it's about time the kiddo caught some type of a break.
So, onto shopping goals.
I should be harvesting lettuce from the garden hopefully through this month (need to plant more lettuce and spinach seeds though) and might even start to get some peas and rat tailed radishes to harvest. Since the chard is meant to be picked when it's still at the spinach type of stage, I'll be harvesting that this month and replanting those seeds as well. So, at least those won't need to be on shopping lists this month (I hope...weather is supposed to jump from the lower to mid 60's to potentially the upper 80's by Thursday and the sun is supposed to come out when that happens too, so I might be trying to stop my garden from burning and bolting due to the shock of it all).
My budget for groceries right now stands at 160.00 to 200.00 per month (that includes my cell and any charge up it needs and gas for my car), depending on how much my son is eating through, so hopefully I can fit these things into my normal grocery budget.
Fred Meyer has tomatoes on sale this week for .99 lb. I am going to wait and see what Carrs has for sales starting tomorrow, but I am hoping to get to Fred Meyer to pick up at least a few tomatoes if Carrs doesn't have a good sale on them. I don't get fresh tomatoes at all often as they are normally so-so quality up here and my husband can't eat them with his acid reflux very easily, but I'd at least like to get myself a few tomatoes as I love them :).
I am hoping to pick up cheese this month. Cheese grated off the block is a staple both of my kids will actually EAT (a rarity amongst foods with the son's super picky eating habits) and between general eating and cooking/baking we do go through a lot of it around here, so I am hoping to be able to afford a big block of it (I believe it's five pounds). It runs around 20.00 for the block, so it's kind of tight to squeeze into the budget, but I haven't seen sales on the smaller blocks of Tilamook cheese in a while that were worth getting and it's the only cheese my son likes, so I'm going to work hard on getting that.
Bulk Store:
- Tilamook Cheddar Cheese Block
- Vanilla extract (we go through two tablespoons each time I make ice cream, so we're finally reaching the bottom of the super huge bottle I bought years ago)
Regular Stores:
- Potatoes (depending where there is a good sale)
- Vegetable oil (when you start baking regularly, somehow this stuff doesn't stick around)
- Carrots (baby carrots seem to going on sale regularly around here, so I'm hoping to at least get some of those decently cheap)
- Toilet paper (need to watch for a good sale on that stuff...man regular prices on toilet paper are criminal! I'd normally go through Amazon, but shelling out 20.00 or more just for toilet paper...just doesn't make good sense)
- Milk (extra on top of the usual 4 gallons a week we go through...yes 4...the son will actually drink it out of a bottle, so we definitely encourage it as it's one of the "real foods" he'll consume) to make yogurt and sour cream substitute (strained yogurt is a great sour cream sub out :).
And there you are folks. The shopping goals for this month. How about you? Got anything on your list for this month?
Have you tried making your vanilla extract? It maybe cheaper in the long run and not to mention better. I have been making it for years now and at any given time, I may have 2-3 extra bottles aging.
ReplyDeleteI have made it in the past, but have found that a nearly pint bottle of pure vanilla extract at the store costs me about six dollars and lasts forever, but making my own costs more up front with the beans and alcohol. Then trying to find a place for it to steep becomes problematic around here. I might try it again sometime, but for now I just buy it :).
DeleteBlessing for you and your son. It is fantastic that the meds are working so well. Will continue praying for the success to keep improving.
ReplyDeleteThis month my goal is to stay out of the stores! Of course, I will have to buy if there is a special I just can't turn down.
Good luck!
Go Tillamook cheese!!! We love it and have been to the Tillamook cheese factory many times over at the beach at .......yup! Tillamook, Oregon. I agree that it hasn't been going on sale as much, or for as low as it was for a while. I also agree it's worth every penny.
ReplyDeleteI will buy shredded cheese at Costco that isn't Tillamook, because it's so much less expensive, but I hide that in things. For eating straight, it's Tillamook all the way. I don't know if you can get Bandon cheese there, but it's comparable. (Brandon is on the south Oregon Coast, and I believe that Tillamook bought out the small cheese factory there years ago, but I'm not sure if they still own it) The cheese tastes the same, but is sometimes a few cents cheaper.