Cooking Club

I forgot my camera! So sorry! The appetizers were all amazing and we had such a great time sitting in Mona's patio and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather.

 We had Leabanese wrapped chicken appetizers that you dip in homemade hummus. Yum! We also had an amazing taboule salad. I am totally addicted! Orange blossom lemonade, and Lebanese Mate.

I made Sun-dried tomato and goat cheese Palmiers. Courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa

Maureen made fruit kabobs with maple cream cheese dip and cherry cream cheese dip. So delicious! We had a great time. Join us next month for traditional holiday dishes and desserts.

Cooking Club

Some friends and I decided to start a Cooking Club. We get together once a month and bring a dish that we want to share. Every month we have a different theme. This month we are working on Appetizers. We are meeting tomorrow at Mona's house. Mona is my new friend and walking partner. She is an mazing cook and baker. She is so talented and kind and generous. I am learning so much from her. Tomorrow night I will post photos from our appetizer day.

October-Harvest
November-Appetizers
December- TBA

Careful Budgeting

This last month I have gotten back into careful budgeting of my food bill. I got out of the habit for about 2-3 months and ouch! I realized I was going over the food budget weekly. Menu planning is essential. This is a typical Wednesday shopping trip for me. I go to two stores and sometimes three. I know it sounds crazy, but it works. They are all close to each other and I can stay under my $150 weekly budget. This includes 6-7 dinners, afterschool snacks and lunches for one week, and 7 or more breakfasts. Its not always easy to stick to it. Last month I went over on one week because of Halloween treats.

For about two months I was trying to stay close to $100. It was extremely difficult to do. I was wondering why and I realized that it's because everything I buy is fresh. Believe it or not, it is cheaper to cook unhealthy and out of a box. Is that insane or what? I refuse to feed my family that way, even if it is cheaper.

I know it isn't easy to stay within a budget especially for a large family, but I know you can do it!