Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby nomikins » Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:40 am

It could be the bread, and it could be that calories in = calories out. Maybe you are at a balance. Or is it TOM? Or Salt? You also know well all the little nibbles and bites here and there add up. Be honest with yourself. Are you drinking enough water? If you aren't properly hydrated, the body holds onto water to keep functioning. Just another thought. :-)
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby bunsofaluminum » Fri Jul 15, 2011 6:35 am

nomikins wrote:It could be the bread, and it could be that calories in = calories out. Maybe you are at a balance. Or is it TOM? Or Salt? You also know well all the little nibbles and bites here and there add up. Be honest with yourself. Are you drinking enough water? If you aren't properly hydrated, the body holds onto water to keep functioning. Just another thought. :-)


Hey girl

Nah, I'm not nibbling at all. I mean, I did eat about ten baked chips on Wednesday, and I had chips and salsa for my dinner meal one night in the past week, so I don't count those as "nibbles". Twice, the bread was the "starch" for a meal (not a "nibble") The other times I had bread, it amounted to one slice, toasted upon arrival home after work, and very hungry so I had toast to tide me over. I wasn't mindlessly reaching for salty, high fat, or sweet "munchies"... As far as I can see, looking over my menus for the past week, whole wheat bread is the only non MWL variable. And I had some every day, which surprised me. I was under the delusion that I was eating a piece once or twice a week. :roll:

anyway, not anymore. This didn't start out as a MWL challenge (though as I've said, it is mostly MWL simply out of meeting the "eat cheap" challenge...MWL foods are inexpensive.) But starting today it's a challenge to eat ONLY MWL, for under $3.00 a day.

oh, I'm pretty sure I'm not getting enough water. That was another thought I had. I'm just finishing up with Cousin Charlotte's visit, but the water could be an issue.
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby bunsofaluminum » Fri Jul 15, 2011 6:42 am

Woke up real slow this morning, and I have a headache. I'm glad it's Friday and it's PAYDAY! I gonna follow Katydid and see what $21.00 will get me at the discount store...wait, it's two weeks' worth, so I'll spend $42.00...half at the discount store, and half at the produce stand? I want garbanzo beans, so I will probably hit costco. A case of 8 for about $5.00.

FRIDAY, JULY 15

B:
.10 cup of rice
.25 for quarter head of cabbage
.05 for half an onion plus one free onion
.40

L:
.53 serving of cheezy steel cut oats (without spinach)
.15 for 1/4 bag of greens
.05 salad dressing
.73

D: don't know. don't care. how's that? :lol: Kidding, mostly but this headache sucks.
Possibly hashbrowns and salad greens, but i also hope to get to the grocery store. maybe rice and beans?

D: Colcannon (Irish dish of mashed potatoes and saute'd cabbage)
.30 l.o. saute'd cabbage
.20 two potatoes from the crockpot
.06 for 1/4 c almond milk
.56

I may have seconds for dinner. I just ate, so I'm gonna give it 20 min to hit my brain. So far, and possibly for the whole day:

GRAND TOTAL FOR FRIDAY $1.69
Last edited by bunsofaluminum on Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby janluvs2heel » Fri Jul 15, 2011 7:03 am

Hey Buns,

One other thing that could be stalling you, the nutritional yeast. I remember reading I think in Jeff's column that he doesn't use it, it is maybe 40 calories a T. You eat those cheezy oats a lot, dont they have that in them? That could add up quickly & then when you have the bread & the chips, well, there you go.

Oh, & I eat oatmeal on my MM almost everyday, too, but other than that, it is potatoes.

Yes, eating this way does cut your appetite, that's for sure!!

You are doing what I did a few months ago, going over your food choices, seeing what you can cut out. For me, it was the little extra fat that was sneaking in foods that I didn't think I was eating that much of either. Good luck at the grocery store today.
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby bunsofaluminum » Fri Jul 15, 2011 7:18 am

janluvs2heel wrote:Hey Buns,

One other thing that could be stalling you, the nutritional yeast. I remember reading I think in Jeff's column that he doesn't use it, it is maybe 40 calories a T. You eat those cheezy oats a lot, dont they have that in them? That could add up quickly & then when you have the bread & the chips, well, there you go.



yes, that's my favorite oatmeal recipe. It's been a few days now since i had them, but they are generally "what I have for breakfast"... but also, aren't oats pretty high in fat? Dang.

well, I can't think about it anymore. I'm pretty sure, if I keep on this way, eating very simple, no seconds, no nibbles, no munchies MWL choices, the weight will start dropping again. I know darn good and well, 180 lbs is NOT my ideal weight.
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby nomikins » Fri Jul 15, 2011 7:24 am

Well, you never mentioned TOM. :shock: Up the water, maybe that will help. My DH has a theory that it takes two weeks to really get the effect of diet and exercise, numbers-wise, as the body calibrates to the changes. Sometimes I think he's right.

With regard to beans. Have you ever considered dry beans? They are so much cheaper. Cook up a huge batch and then freeze them in 1.5 cup increments (about a drained can's worth). You can cook in the crockpot overnight, and by doing a different bean each day, you'll have a nice variety of beans in less than a week. That would really help the budget.

Good luck, I'm rootin' for ya. :nod:
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby bunsofaluminum » Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:45 pm

I had colcannon for dinner tonight.

During the day, I had the crockpot working on red potatoes, onion, and garlic, so that there would be something waiting when I got home from work.

I took two of the potatoes and some of the onion and garlic out and smashed them on a plate. (pastry blender worked perfectly for this) Dribbled a bit of almond milk (less than 1/4 c, more than two TBSP) on it and mooshed it all together.

Then I put the rest of the saute'd cabbage from this morning on it (heated up the cabbage first) and ate it. I felt like it needed salt, so... IT WAS YUM! I am Irish by descent and this is THE classic Irish dish, though I don't remember ever eating it with my family on St Patrick's Day. We do the FAR LESS TRADITIONAL corned beef and cabbage. (Not anymore. Next time, I'm bringing colcannon and Irish soda bread. :nod:)

I'm gonna have some more. I ate more than 20 minutes ago and still feeling hungry. I'll only have one tattie, though.

this dish is definitely a repeat. I'd like to make it with proper, smooth, blended mashed potatoes, not just jumbled up on the plate as I did. And then mix the cabbage in with it? ooooh! *drool icon* ... We need a drool icon...
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby janluvs2heel » Fri Jul 15, 2011 6:37 pm

I eat oatmeal everyday & if I have it, I put about 1/4 c. of almond milk on top so I dont think it is that, but it might be a combination of all those things. Just do like Mike T. says, dont eat fat!! It is so simple a child can do it. :lol: :lol:

Dont fall for the time of the month thing, that is just temporary & will go away anyway. :unibrow:

I just mentioned the n.y. because I remembered reading that you liked that. See me, I like it if I have spaghetti, but other than that, never use the stuff. But that is me.

Have a great weekend Bunso!! I like that name.
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby bunsofaluminum » Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:29 pm

SATURDAY, JULY 16

B:
.20 two potatoes
.40 ~ half lb cherries
.60

L:
.65 cheezy steel cut oats
.65

Snack:
.40 half pound of cherries

Had a piece of french bread :( it was free, but it was BREAD.

D: Italian Summer Squash Medley over Rice
.60 for three yellow squash (3/4 lb)
.04 one clove garlic*
.63 a cup and a half of rice
FREE onion
$1.27

GRAND TOTAL FOR SATURDAY $2.92

*The garlic. I love garlic. I always put at least three cloves in any dish that I make that has garlic...usually more...but today, with less than one whole head of garlic available, I chose to use just one clove and make the garlic stretch.

DA-DA-DAAAA! SU-PER FRUGAL!
Last edited by bunsofaluminum on Sat Jul 16, 2011 6:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby bunsofaluminum » Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:37 pm

got my co-op order today. It was two shares of produce, amounting to 25# of food, for $20. That comes to precisely .80/lb for cauliflower, nectarines, plums, cherries, yellow summer squash, fresh baby carrots, tomatoes...etc.

When I make food with this stuff, I'm just going to use the .80 per pound for what I fix. It might make things more expensive (but less expensive across the board, compared to grocery store prices)

This is cool, because I prepaid two weeks ago, and I have a full fridge without having to spend money on groceries! :D

also, making garbanzo beans from dry. They were $1.29 for a lb, and that made six cups cooked which comes to .22 a cup. One can of beans is 15 oz, (which I'll call two cups, though is it by weight or volume, because canned beans have fluid in the can) and I can get canned garbanzos for .53 a can at costco which is .27 a cup. Hm, that's five cents per cup which actually is quite a bit. Adds up, eh, just like the little "just a bites" :lol:

k gotta go my totally dorky boy is forcing me off the computer.
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby bunsofaluminum » Sat Jul 16, 2011 6:12 pm

Debbie. wrote::drool: There is your drool icon ;-)

Hey, I was wondering about that almond milk. Youve got the bread and chips figured out, but you have been also having the almond milk. Remember, its not the one item here or there, rather it is this item, that item and then another one, everyday that add up.


Just some more thoughts.


I thought of that, myself, and it would be good to figure out the fat content and calories of the stuff (I make it at home, so it is just raw almonds and water) ...but I'm not going to stop putting my 1/4c (usually less) on my oatmeal. It cools it, and I like the flavor. So,...well, I'm gonna see what going without the bread does for this next week or so. And I not gonna stress over it. I KNOW, eating this way consistently DOES take the lbs off. :) So, I'm gonna keep on doing it, and watch and see.
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:55 am

MONDAY, JULY 18

B:
.30 two servings Zoom wheat cereal
.06 for 1/4 c almond milk
FREE raspberries
.36

.10 potato

L:
.20 two cups rice
.64 cup of home cooked garbanzos
.35 half bag of salad greens
.05 salad dressing
1.24

D: (planned)
crockpot potatoes, saute'd yellow squash and onions, steamed garden baby carrots
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby nomikins » Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:47 am

also, making garbanzo beans from dry. They were $1.29 for a lb, and that made six cups cooked which comes to .22 a cup. One can of beans is 15 oz, (which I'll call two cups, though is it by weight or volume, because canned beans have fluid in the can) and I can get canned garbanzos for .53 a can at costco which is .27 a cup. Hm, that's five cents per cup which actually is quite a bit. Adds up, eh, just like the little "just a bites".



Buns, it's actually 1.5 cups of drained beans per 15 oz. can. So, for $1.29 for a pound of beans, you got four cans worth of beans at about 32 cents per can.

You are saving 21 cents per can over the costco price of 53 cents. That is a big difference!

$1.29 for a pound of dried beans
makes six cups of beans for 21.5 cents per cup

1 can = 1.5 cups of beans (drained measurement)
Costco beans = 53 cents
Home cooked from dry = 32.25 cents

One pound of dried beans cooks up to six cups finished product, which is the equivalent of four cans of beans.

Costco - four cans of beans cost $2.12
home cooked costs $1.29


Ok, I'll stop now. :lol:
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby kittyadventures » Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:25 am

actually if you drain the beans and then measure them, a 15 oz can yields exactly or slightly more than one can of beans. Just so you know. I don;'t like the juice they put in there with the beans... I know it is probably just bean juice but there you go.. I always rinse mine. :-D

I rinse and measure all mine... I could be wrong about the garbanzo beans but I will check tonight. I know it is that way for all my other canned beans: black, pinto, kidney, and canelloni(little white) oh and also for lima beans.

Also Buns this is sooo cool... I locve seeing how inexpensive your meals are.
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Re: Bunso's Eating on the Cheap

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:09 pm

[quote="nomikins]

Buns, it's actually 1.5 cups of drained beans per 15 oz. can. So, for $1.29 for a pound of beans, you got four cans worth of beans at about 32 cents per can.

You are saving 21 cents per can over the costco price of 53 cents. That is a big difference!

$1.29 for a pound of dried beans
makes six cups of beans for 21.5 cents per cup

1 can = 1.5 cups of beans (drained measurement)
Costco beans = 53 cents
Home cooked from dry = 32.25 cents

One pound of dried beans cooks up to six cups finished product, which is the equivalent of four cans of beans.

Costco - four cans of beans cost $2.12
home cooked costs $1.29


Ok, I'll stop now. :lol:[/quote]

:shock: I stand amazed
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