April winds down, totals and outlook to May

April is winding down but it is going out with a bang here! Friday I barely made it home before a storm hit with extreme high winds which toppled trees and nearly took out some light poles.
I headed home from work and skipped all errands to make it there before the rain came in. I pulled in the garage and right when I hit the button to close the door the storm blew in. This is of course is when a nut flew off the garage door and the arm dropped. I went in quickly, told Phillip and then came out to find the nut. We got it fixed quickly, helps to have a tall honey so we could take care of it without dragging out the ladder. Once inside I flipped on the news and discovered a possible tornado within a few miles of the house so the kids and I set to work getting the bathroom ready to hunker down if the sirens started going off. Logan was scared but helping me gave him something to do. This was our set up which Logan and I talked about and he is prepared to help with again as this is storm season in Texas. 

The storm ended up passing us by quickly on Friday and after Logan was able to call some friends and make sure they were ok we settled into our regular routine. I made enchilada casserole using part of the rotisserie chicken I had thawing in the fridge. I also used the carcass along with the last carrot, some thyme and rosemary I had on hand and 2 ribs of celery in the crockpot overnight to make stock. This is the easiest way to get a rich stock that I usually freeze in portions for any recipe that calls for it! Saturday I took the kids to the library, which required an alternate route because we encountered this damage from the storm.

After Logan was able to visit with his favorite people at the library and check out some books and DVDs we decided to go by the park where we came across this storm damage.

It was still a beautiful day so we went ahead and made good use of the time. After the park I completed a trade and took the kids to McDonald's for ice cream. Logan of course used the time to play some more. I never want to point things out for a pat on the back but this is something that made me sad so I wanted to tell the story. While we were at McDonald's which is in itself is going to cause controversy there was another family walking in. As they were going in the door their little girl dropped one of her dollars which is all the money the family had to spend for her right then. The little girl who was probably 3 years old just broke down crying because they started back to the car. I dug out some quarters I had in my console so she could go in and get something. I know that they could have spent their dollars in a "healthier" way just as I could have but I was just heartbroken that the little girl could not get something because she dropped her money. The controversy is of course that instead of spending $2.00 at McDonald's I could have taken my kids home and fed them something homemade or less processed. My feeling is though that people really need to step back and ponder how I was going to give them a treat and time/people to play with inside for less than $2.00.

Saturday night I used the stock I had in the crockpot along with some frozen carrots, the leftover corn off the cob, more of the leftover chicken, a couple more ribs of celery, and some penne pasta to make a chicken noodle soup. We were free from storms so the night was uneventful other than I decided to cut Turbo's nails myself. This generally gives me a panic attack since I am convinced I am going to cut into the quick. I just took the tips off and all was well. I will take the tips off again in a couple of nights and work until I get them to the length they are supposed to be.

Sunday was Loralee day as Logan calls it. We go to church and he gets to see his friend Loralee which he loves. Nothing dramatic happened until we got home and another storm started to come in. There were tornadoes spotted west of us and so we prepped everything just in case. Dinner was spaghetti as it was easy and quick. I put some mushrooms I had dehydrated into the jarred sauce with some browned hamburger meat. We enjoyed dinner got baths and other bedtime stuff taken care of. It looked like the storm was skirting around us when the kids went to bed. If only we were that fortunate. I woke at 12:30am to the sound of the neighborhood transformer blowing. The power was out again, which luckily the kids were unaware of since they slept through it. Clark woke up about 4:30 and Logan about 5:00 scared because of the dark. After getting a flashlight to Logan so he could potty they all piled in the bed with us. The crowd at school was pretty thin when I dropped Logan off today, guessing with the power out most parents kept their kids at home. I figured the school had power, Clark had a doctor's appointment, Phillip had an interview and I still needed to go to work so Logan went to school!

For the information I know you really want and I have thus far stalled in giving....grocery totals for the month of April. These are way off base from what they need to be and I am going to deal with my emotional issues and stick to the budget in May.

All $89.00 of SNAP money was used up as of 4-23
The cash total is $209.79 as of 4-27
If I add in the money I spent on the 2 Easter celebrations Logan took part in (school and Grandma's) as well as a birthday present we purchased for the boys' sitter than we are at $252.78.

You can see why I am distraught at this total! This is more than I spent per month when I was not using food stamps! Pictures of the fridge and cabinet are to come. The list for May has already been started and will be stuck to. There is still a ton of available items to use this month from my over purchase. The plan as of now is to purchase a basket from the produce co-o p next week so we have fresh fruit and veggies for meals and lunches. This coupled with all the stuff I dehydrated and put up in the freezer should get us through without additional produce. Some of the money I spent was also at the day old bread store so there are several loaves and some bagels still in the freezer which I will figure out a way to make these last the month of May. Tomorrow I will put a tentative budget for the month of May together. I say tentative as Phillip has interviewed a couple of times recently and has another later this week. If any of these jobs pan out then I will have to increase the amount of babysitting in the budget. Fingers are crossed that he gets something soon and we will be back on the $200 a month budget for groceries.

Tonight the dinner plan are 1 of the gifted T-bone steaks cooked in my cast iron skillet. This is the Rosemary Garlic Butter Steak recipe I have tried before with cheaper cuts of steak and it turns out well so I am going to give it a try with the t-bone tonight. This will be served with baked sweet potatoes from the produce purchase and probably a green salad using up the lettuce from the basket and the last fresh mushroom. Planned pictures to come of this great meal.