Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Feeding the Family: Getting it All Done

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Today I wanted to answer these frequently asked questions regarding how I feed my family whole foods from scratch:

Are you in the kitchen ALL the time? How do you get all of this done? How do you keep up with all the dishes?

I am in the kitchen a lot…but I don’t live in there. (See, like right now I’m on the computer in the living room instead. :) )  Cooking from scratch and finding good sources for our food does take time…but here are some things I do to make my work simpler:

  • I plan our menus!!!  I can not be efficient in the kitchen without a plan for the week. (Just ask my kids how last week was when our computer was down and I didn’t have access to my site for my menu plan. They’d say, “What’s for lunch?” (at 12:36) and I’d look at them with glossy eyes and say, “Uh…”)  Menu plans are a must for me.
  • I cook simple meals…simple foods.  I rarely cook anything that requires complicated steps or hard to work with ingredients. Meat, potatoes, rice, beans, veggies, fruits, grains, eggs, milk…it’s all just basic food put together into different yummy meals.
  • I wash dishes as I go.  I really do dirty up a lot of dishes in a day…but I try (try) to keep up with them by washing them as I cook. Sometimes they pile up. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up. Sometimes they make me discouraged. But they get done. I have a dishwasher. I have boys old enough to help. I have ten minutes here and there to knock more out of the pile. I love having clean countertops. 
  • I think ahead, plan ahead, cook ahead.  This is one of my biggest cooking helps. I look at my menu plan and know what I’ll need for the week. If I can, I spend several hours on Friday night and Saturday cooking and baking for the week ahead. I’ll make up a double batch of tortillas, cook chicken for broth, bake four loaves of bread (sometimes making a couple of the loaves into cinnamon swirl bread like the picture at the top of this post), brown hamburger meat, cook rice, put together burritoes for the freezer, or any other foods that will make the week ahead run more smoothly. THEN, during the week…it’s like having convenience foods in the fridge or freezer! 
  • I keep a running list of what I need to buy or order.  Usually, I do this online on my co-op website. As I think of something I need to order, I enter it into my online invoice as soon as I can so I don’t forget. The website remembers my order for me and I can just keep adding to it until I submit my order each month.
  • I make tomorrow’s breakfast while I’m cooking tonight’s dinner.  This doesn’t always work (like, I’m not going to scramble tomorrow’s eggs at 6:00 tonight…yuck), but if we’re having muffins for breakfast, I’ll mix them up and bake them while I’m in the kitchen cooking dinner. In the morning, I’ll re-warm them in the oven for a few minutes, or just serve them as is. Or, if I’m making biscuits tomorrow morning, I’ll mix the flour and buttermilk so they can soak overnight…and then just finish them up the next morning. I often make a double batch of waffles, let them cool, then freeze them. Then we have convenient, toaster waffles whenever we need them. LOVE it. I mix up turkey sausage, shape it into patties and stick them in the fridge for the morning.

Those are some of the things I do to keep myself organized and sane during the busy weeks of school work, computer work, laundry, and you know…Chutes and Ladders.

What are some of your best ways of staying organized while you’re cooking? Do you feel like you spend hours in your kitchen?

Visit Tammy’s Recipes for more kitchen tips.

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Today we had a potluck after church. My boys filled their plates and stuffed themselves. Then we let them choose not one but TWO desserts.

We arrived home at 1:38 this afternoon. It took until precisely 1:58 for Elias to say, “Mom, I’m hungry. Can I have a pear?” 

Good grief.

Anyhoo…here’s what I’ll be TRYING to fill my family with this week:

Sunday, Jan. 25
Oatmeal, toast, fruit
Church potluck: chicken and rice casserole, chocolate sheet cake
Leftovers

Monday, Jan. 26
Mini breakfast pizzas, clementines
Beefy vegetable soup, buttered toast
Hearty bean casserole, fruit salad

Tuesday, Jan. 27
Scrambled eggs, peaches
Homemade chicken nuggets and fries, carrot sticks
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad

Wednesday, Jan. 28
Chocolate chip muffins, bananas
Skillet meatballs, lima beans, potato wedges
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Thursday, Jan. 29
Whole wheat sourdough biscuits with butter and honey, pears
Bean dip with chips, fruit-kefir smoothies
Deer steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Friday, Jan. 30
Cinnamon swirl bread, applesauce
Potato wedges, peaches in cottage cheese
Whole wheat pancakes, turkey sausage, scrambled eggs

Saturday, Jan. 31
Mom is Great Breakfast Cake
Lentil soup, cornbread
Chicken fajitas

On the blogging menu this week:

*It’s Bloggy Giveaway Carnival time…be watching for a fun giveaway here!
*I’ll share with you some of my “tricks” for getting everything done in the kitchen, plus we’re going on a field trip in my Feeding the Family series.
*Malachi has a “trick” of his own to show you…if you have little ones or know someone who does, you’ll want to see it for sure!
*More encouragement for all of us in another post in the Women with a Mission series.

Hope to see you throughout the week! Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.

And tell me…can YOU keep your children full…or are yours eating all the time like mine are?  I mean, twenty minutes after a potluck?  And don’t say,
“Oh wait until they’re teenagers”…I do not want to have a panic attack.

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Feeding the Family: Breaking Down our 2009 Food Budget

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I just had a break through moment. Don’t ask me why I didn’t think through our food budget more specifically before. Really…I think this is so cool. Keep reading.

I’ve mentioned that we don’t skimp on our food budget. I’ve told you how important we think it is to “invest in our bodies” and eat whole, healthy foods.

And I’ve told you that we’ve been spending about $500 a month for our family of six. Looking at our new 2009 budget…we are seriously not sure how we can keep it under $500 per month…and not really sure where we can pull another $50-$100 a month (go without shoes, perhaps? turn off the furnace in the winter, maybe?).

Anyway…when I look at that figure in our budget…and maybe when you look at this figure in my budget…$500 to $600 each month on food…that may seem like A LOT OF MONEY.

So, one night at dinner last week…I decided to break it down a little. In between bites of soup…I had the boys do some division (because doing division during dinner is wonderful for your digestion). :)

We went with the $550 figure. Here’s what we came up with and what I found remarkable. I really don’t know why I didn’t break this down sooner:

$550 divided by 6 people in our family = $92 per person for food each month

$92 per person each month divided by an average 30 day month = about $3.00 per day per person

$3.00 per day per person = $1.00 per meal per person

That’s it??? Our family eats a healthy, wholesome meal for $1.00 per person on average? How is that even possible? (btw, I’m sure breakfast is less and dinner is more…and Malachi is less and Matt is more…it’s just an average.)

Here are some ways we figured out that we are able to do this:

  • We have a big garden so I can and freeze a lot of food. We also mooch accept all kinds of extra produce others are trying to give away in the fall that I can and freeze.
  • We get a free deer each year from a hunting friend.
  • The raw milk and free range eggs we get from friends are insanely inexpensively priced. $4 a gallon for organic raw milk from a grass fed cow…that’s amazing. (The cost will soon be going up to $5 a gallon…which is STILL amazing!) And, $1.50 for a dozen free range organic eggs? Amazing. We’re very spoiled.
  • I make almost every thing we eat from scratch. Organic processed foods with more wholesome ingredients are so, so expensive…and not always that much better for you. Making our food from scratch is healthier and much less expensive.
  • We almost never eat cereal.
  • I go easy on the cheese. Cheese can be expensive…especially the raw, organic cheese we prefer. I sprinkle it lightly on pizza and casseroles…and you can’t even tell. I also know how to make my own mozzarella, so that saves money. (Oh my goodness…I’ve been promising forever to tell you how to do that, huh? I really, really will. Really.)

Here is a bit of our food budget break down for you for 2009:

Last year we bought a half of a cow…and I don’t know how it’s happened, because we haven’t been skimping, but we still have a bunch of steak and roast left. (I think it’s something like Elijah and the widow and how God made the widow’s little bit of oil and flour never run out! 1 Kings 17:7-24) Because of the extra steak and roast…I don’t think we’ll need to buy an entire half cow this year. At this point, I think we’ll just be ordering ground beef and stew meat from a farm about an hour away. They raise their cows on grass and organic hay. It is SUCH good meat! We also get our free range chickens from this same farm.

Our meat cost per month for beef and whole chicken should be about $70.00
Milk, 24 gallons/month: $96
Eggs, 12 dozen/month: $18
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Cost for milk, eggs and meat $184

That leaves $366 a month for everything else I need either from my food co-ops, my granaries, my online sources, the farmer’s market, and occasionally the grocery store or Wal-mart.

And for that, all six of us eat VERY WELL for about $1 per meal. God does provide, doesn’t he?! :)

I’m SO thankful that I took the time to break down our food budget further to examine how much it costs to feed our family good, wholesome meals. If you care to share…how much is your monthly food budget? Break it down and see how much it costs for each person to eat a meal! The number may surprise you! How do you feel about the quality of the food you are eating on your budget?

Now, I’ll start taking you shopping with me! I plan to take you to some farms, to my Azure Standard co-op pick up, to some online stores, to the grocery store. Aren’t field trips fun?! (You may want to pack a lunch.) :)

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Read about our 2015, houseful of teenage boys, grocery budget here (if you dare). :)

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I’m finding the BIGGEST grocery savings while following our Simple Meals plans. I love this so much. You must check it out!!

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Women With a Mission: Simple Encouragement for Everyday Life

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Last week, we started this series by talking about how our number one mission as women is our families.  By doing whatever it is that we need to do to take care of our husbands and children…we are fulfilling our number one mission.

Today I want to go to the next step…which is, of course…volunteering to be in charge of a state wide event for your church. KIDDING.  I am SO TOTALLY KIDDING. 

Seriously…the next important piece of our ministry (in my opinion) is simply working to be a light for Jesus to all those around us whenever we leave our homes. I think that sounds a bit cliche…but to me, this is the simplest form of ministry that I can be a part of outside of my home. 

Let me tell you a story…but when you finish reading it you DO NOT get to say, “Oh Laura…you’re so wonderful.”..because this truly was all God and not Laura. Uh-K?

There is a grocery store close to my house where I sometimes shop. A few years ago I got in line to pay…and the gal helping me commented on how cute my baby was (that was Malachi) and oh my there are three more boys behind your cart and wow you have four boys…so we visited a while and I went home.

The next time I went to that store, I got back in this same gal’s line. She remembered me and we visited more. She was so, so sweet…and also maybe a little lonely. Her smile was contagious and I loved visiting with her. She seemed encouraged by our conversation.

Everytime I went to that store, I got in her line on purpose. We kinda became friends. Even when I’d see her around town in a location other than the grocery store, we’d visit and she was always SO excited to see me. 

A year or so passed and I didn’t see her much…she wasn’t working at that grocery store anymore. 

Then out of the blue one day I ran into her at Wal-mart. This time she had a man at her side and was sporting a pregnant belly. She saw me and REMEMBERED me!!! She hugged me like we were long lost friends…introduced me to her new husband and told me when their baby was due.

I ran into her a few more times here and there (yay, God)…and then guess where she showed up next? 

I walked into our church building one Sunday and there she was with her husband and new baby…right in the back pew. I was so excited I ran right over to her…and she broke out in a big grin and hugged me and showed me her new baby and she was so proud. Our family sat with them…that Sunday…and several other Sundays after that…because they kept coming.

They came to our house for Thanksgiving last year. We went to their house for their son’s birthday party. They’ve had another baby since then. We’ve helped with their kids. We’ve taken them food.

I can’t think of Ernie and Melissa without either getting giddy or emotional. 

They are one of the sweetest, most unassuming couples we know. They have lived rough lives. They don’t know all the churchy etiquette. They talk in full voice during a prayer saying things like, “Oh man, he’s got crud on the bottom of his shoe.” (Except they don’t say crud.)  :)

Some of their friends are a rougher crowd. They’ve introduced us to some of their rougher crowd. Some of their friends said they might like to come to church too. Who knows what might happen?

ALL because I got into Melissa’s line at the grocery store…was kind…and had cute kids in my cart. God is so good.

So…mission number two:

When you go out…to the post office, to the grocery store, to the bank, to the dentist, to the library, to the where-ever…do your best to smile, be polite, and make other people feel loved.

This is kinda hard when you are tired or your kids are tired. Sometimes you feel like all you can do is just make sure no one gets lost and nobody falls out of the shopping cart. I get that. Just do your best.

Not everyone you smile at in the store is going to come to church and start asking you about Jesus. Good grief, they may not even smile back at you.

My encouragement today is simply just to recognize that God’s light can be seen in you when you are going about your daily tasks…and he can work through you…even in the most ordinary ways.

Because God’s ways are extraordinary.

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Giving Kids an Allowance…or Not

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I mentioned here that our third son turned seven on Sunday. Turning seven at our house is pretty exciting. Not only do you usually have two front teeth missing, it’s the year you start receiving an allowance.

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I know that not everyone agrees that giving your kids an allowance is a good idea. But let me explain our reasons, and how we handle allowance at our house. Then later, in the comments, I would love for you to share how you handle it (or plan to handle it) with your kids.

Matt and I want to teach our kids how to handle money, how to budget, and how to give. Before the age of about 10, our kids don’t have very many ways to earn money.

On the first day of each month we give our seven and eight year old boys $4 each. Yeah, that’s it. Four bucks a month. I know parents who give five times that per WEEK. Again, this is just something we’re giving them to help them learn a little bit about money.

We decided to give them their allowance monthly because in the “real world” they are likely to only be paid monthly. They need to learn how to manage that.

With their four dollars per month, the boys mostly learn to give and save. They get to figure out (with our help of course) how much goes in the collection plate each Sunday. They get to help buy birthday presents for each other and for their friends. I love watching them pull their money out of their pockets on Sunday morning as the collection plate comes around, or watching them carry their wallet into Wal-mart so they can pick out a hot wheel car for their buddy. They feel ownership – it is their money.

We discourage them to spend their money very often on little toys for themselves when we go to the store. It has surprised us to see that for the most part, the boys hardly ever ask to spend any of their money on a toy or trinket. Occasionally at a garage sale they’ll see something they want. Or sometimes they’ll save up to get something (often pooling their money together to get something they all want). But in general, the money in their wallet just grows.

Now that Asa, our oldest son, is 11, we’ve stopped giving him an allowance. He has had various ways of earning money in the past year or so…and the four dollars a month just isn’t necessary. He has done a great job putting money into a savings account we helped him open last summer. He gives generously each Sunday, and any other time he hears of a mission need or special collection at church. He’s learning to give and save, and we feel like his little four dollar allowance when he was smaller helped him get on the right track. :)

So, now that we are on our third seven year old, we’re finding that this $4/month system really works for us as we’re training our boys.

What works for you? Do you give your kids an allowance? How do you teach your kids at an early age to manage money (or how were you taught)?

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Gratituesday: Quite a Scare

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Saturday night my dad called and said these words:

“Kevin and Michele and the kids were at a basketball game tonight at the juco and Renee fell through the bleachers. They were sitting at the top. They’re on their way to the hospital right now. I’ll call you when I know more.”

Whew. I felt sick to my stomach with fear. (Kevin is my brother…Renee is their two year old.)   Matt, the boys and I prayed together then, and constantly over the next few hours. 

Waiting for the next phone call was yucky (that’s the best word I can think of to describe it). I wanted the phone to ring so that I could hear how she was. I was afraid for the phone ring so that I could hear how she was. Yucky.

I told Matt that in a situation like this if you hear that she “broke her arm” it would actually be a relief.

We finally talked to my dad around 10:15 that night. Renee was okay. But she did fracture her skull. Her vitals looked good. There was no swelling on the brain. She was eating a popcycle. She was jabbering. 

I’m pretty sure Renee’s  jabbering sounded like beautiful music to Kevin and Michele.  Just hearing the words, “She’s jabbering away” was enough to make me cry.

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Here’s Renee in the hospital the morning after her fall. 
I love how she’s smiling for the picture.

After a night in the ICU…she was allowed to go home. When I last talked to my brother, he said Renee is acting normal…running and playing. My question was, “Wow, does she not even have a headache? I’m pretty sure I’d have a headache.”

God is good. I’m SO GRATEFUL for His protection and that Renee is healthy and whole. 
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What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Read the guidelines here, then come link up and share how God is working in your life. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know what you’re thankful for!

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Freezer Meals Worth Sharing

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Malachi is STILL putting the “th” sound into words that really only need the “f” sound. It’s so cute. I’ll never say the word “ditherent” the right way again. Hey, sometimes it’s good to be ditherent. God calls us to be ditherent, does he not?

Anyway…Lindsay is hosting a carnival where we can share nutritious meals that can easily be throzen, ehem, frozen. Check out her site  today as a great resource for healthy meals we can make ahead of time, freeze, and pull out when we need something convenient to eat!

My two favorite freezer meals are:

Cheesy Beef and Rice

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Yum

and

Beefy Enchilada Bake

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Both are easy to make…both are family friendly…both are healthy and use whole ingredients. And now…I’m going over to Lindsay’s to see what everyone else has to share.  Because I could use some new and ditherent ideas for threezer meals.  :)

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Sourdough Recipes For Ya

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Making bread from a sourdough starter is a little tricky to get used to! Here’s an idea to try if you weren’t entirely pleased with how your sourdough bread turned out:

While following these basic steps to creating sourdough bread…in the morning after you add water, flour and salt…instead of placing the kneaded dough in a bowl to raise all day…then shaping the dough into loaves…simply shape the dough into loaves immediately after kneading it in the morning. SKIP the part where it raises in the bowl. I know this sounds weird…but try it. Since your starter has been fed and allowed to sit out all night…the yeast in it is already activated and a double rising the next day may not be necessary! 

The part I like best about this tip is that it saves TIME! My friend, Anne, who has more sourdough experience than I have does it this way every time and her bread turns out beautiful. 

I have yet to experiment much with my sourdough starter with recipes other than bread. However…a couple of you have been kind enough to send me some of your recipes…so I’m sharing those now. 

Here are a couple of Heidi’s recipes:

Sourdough PancakesYum

The night before your breakfast, place the 2-3 cups of starter in a medium size mixing bowl. Add 2 cups warm water and 2 cups flour. Beat well and set in a warm place, free from draft, to develop overnight. In the morning the batter will have gained 1/2 again its bulk and be covered with air bubbles. It will have a pleasant yeasty odor.

Set aside one cup of sourdough starter in the refrigerator jar for your starter the next time. To remaining sponge add:

1 or 2 eggs
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. sugar

Beat with a fork and blend in all ingredients. Add 2 Tbl melted fat. Bake on a hot griddle. Turn once. Serve.

Sourdough Waffles

Set the sponge as for pancakes. Make it slightly thicker. Let it stand overnight. Remove the usual one cup of starter for next time, and to the remaining sponge add:

1 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. sugar
1 tsp. soda
2 eggs
1.4 cup melted fat

Mix well and add fat just before baking. Bake according to directions that came with the waffle iron.

Here are some of Jill’s recipes:

Sourdough Waffles
 
In a large bowl put 1 cup of sourdough starter, add 2 cups of warm water and 3 cups of flour. Beat until smooth, cover and let stand overnight. The next morning beat in 3 eggs, ½ cup of oil, 2 T honey,or Rapadura, 1 tsp of salt. Stir  in a small cup put  ¼ t. baking soda in 1 T water and swirl around quickly and then pour right into the batter. Let stand 30 minutes and then use in a waffle iron. These are fabulous!

Sourdough Pancakes

The night before put 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sourdough starter and 1 cup of milk. Hand mix well and cover and let stand overnight. The next morning add 2 beaten eggs,  1 tablespoon of honey,or Rapadura  1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of soda and 3 T oil. 
Mix together and cook like regular pancakes. These are very yummy.

Fried Cakes  (Jill says, “This is one of our favorite recipes. We don’t fry often but when we do these are so disgustingly good with homemade jam or honey dipped in.”)
 
Mix 1 cup of flour, 2 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of baking soda, 2 T honey or rapadura. Then add 2 cups of starter. Add enough flour to roll in a ball. Roll it out to about ½ inch thick and then cut into pieces and shapes. They should be smaller than a biscuit, probably about half the size of a biscuit. We like making funny shapes. Fry in hot oil and then put on paper towels to cool. 

Thanks Heidi and Jill for helping us out with more sourdough recipe ideas!

Jill also sent me her  Sourdough English Muffin recipe which I will share soon!

I also have a recipe that I will share soon for making sourdough pancakes just by soaking flour in buttermilk overnight (you don’t have to use a sourdough starter). YUM! 

Yay for all kinds of new recipes!
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Visit Tammy’s Recipes for more kitchen tips!

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Elias’ seventh birthday is today…so we’ve had a big party filled weekend. It started with a sleepover on Friday night…and ended with our own family celebration today. The birthday boy always gets to plan the entire menu for his birthday. The boys think this is a very big privilege and begin planning weeks in advance. 

Here’s what Elias chose for Sunday…and what I chose for the rest of the week:

Sunday, Jan. 18 (I’m thinking a few fruits and veggies are in order here, what do you think?)
Homemade cinnamon rolls, milk
Homemade pizza (“with olives and pepperoni”)
Nachos, birthday cheesecake

Monday, Jan. 19
Whole wheat waffles, milk
Spanish rice with chicken, canteloupe
Cheesy turkey sausage stromboli, tossed salad

Tuesday, Jan. 20
Banana bread, applesauce
Taco potatoes, clementines
Lasagna, tossed salad, corn

Wednesday, Jan. 21
Scrambled eggs, toast, apples
Melting snowflakes, strawberry-peach slushies
Crunchy ranch chicken, stir fried rice and veggies

Thursday, Jan. 22
Fruit and kefir smoothies, toast
Veggie omelets, canned peaches
Chicken and biscuits

Friday, Jan. 23
Rice pudding, bananas
Homemade mac and cheese, mixed veggies
Italian roast wraps, fruit salad

Saturday, Jan. 24
Breakfast cookies, pears
Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Swiss steak over rice, green beans

Here’s what’s in the works for blog posts here this week:

If you haven’t signed up for the Personalized Valentine Card giveaway…be sure to come do that here!
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Visit Organizing Junkie for all kinds of menu planning inspiration.

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Feeding the Family: The Kitchen Tour

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Wow, what a great and exciting response to this post, where I promised to take you shopping with me and share more about how I buy food and feed my family a good, wholesome diet on a tight budget!

Over the weekend, I sat down for a couple of hours and put together a list of all the subjects you mentioned either in the comments or by email that you would like to have me cover about Feeding the Family. Here’s a list of the questions from you that I came up with:

  • Where/how do you shop?
  • Where do you buy household products and what do you use?
  • How do you buy in bulk…where/how do you store it/…what about people who have little to no storage space?
  • How did you find a food co-op? What are the options?
  • What is your food budget? How do I figure out which products to buy organically? How do I find good prices for good foods?
  • Share some inexpensive recipe ideas! How about inexpensive healthy snack ideas?
  • Where do you buy your grains? How do you store them? Do you use a variety of grains?
  • Share how you make different kinds of breads.
  • How do you cook to please everyone in my family?
  • How do you go about finding good, local meat, milk, etc.?
  • What are the benefits of organic and/or raw milk?
  • How did you get your husband on board with healthy eating AND spending the extra money for good quality foods?
  • Are you in the kitchen all the time? How do you get all of this done? Is it possible for women who work outside the home to feed their families this way?
  • Tell me more about gardening. What if I only have a small garden space?
  • Where in the world do I begin when I want to make changes toward eating healthier?
  • And…last but not least….I DO want to see your OATS. All 50 pounds of them! What all do you do with them?!

So…those are some of the topics we’ll be covering here over the next few weeks (months?). Far be it from me to keep my bag of oats all to myself.  And…I can’t wait to take my camera over to shoot footage of the cow! 

Before I tell you all kinds of information about how I feed my family I thought I’d take you on a little tour through my kitchen. I figured it might help you understand all the ins and outs of the way I cook if you could first see the kitchen I work in! 

Malachi (my 4 year old) came in during part of the filming of this which makes it SO much more fun to watch than simply hearing my voice and looking at my jars of beans. Also, at one point you’ll hear a big bang in the background where Malachi drops his “kintar” (guitar). 

Now that you’ve been through my kitchen, I can more easily explain the ways we shop, store, cook and eat our food! If you have anything else you would like to see added to the above list…let me know. 

ALSO…so many of you mentioned wanting to know more of my frugal, healthy recipes. I’d love to share more of my recipes with you…but help me out by letting me know what YOUR idea of a frugal amount is? What do you feel like is a reasonable cost PER PERSON per meal?

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