- Do you have Costco or BJs close by? We usually get our meats from there cuz it's cheaper to buy from there as it's in bulk and lasts a good bit. Also I don't know if you cook or not but for fresh veggies I go to local farm market or Asian stores where I can get all sorts of veggies for less money than regular grocery stores.
Something sweet for him could be those little debbie cakes so many varieties to choose from.

What do you like to eat normally?

Chelle - How long is that $120 worth of groceries supposed to last? DH and I do about $100 every two weeks, but we don't bother with the soda. Only sweet things we buy are sugar for his coffee and dark chocolate.

I recently discovered you can make a DELICIOUS chicken in the crock pot. I used to never make whole chickens because they take so long to cook that if I put one on when I get home from work we're not eating til 8. Whole broiler/fryers are actually pretty cheap, usually you can get a 4lb bird for $3 or so. Makes two or three meals, too!

Crockpot really is your best friend if you're looking to cut corners with the meat buying. You can buy tougher cuts of meat, sit em in the crock pot for 6-8 hours, and they come out tender as nothing else.

Chicken drumsticks are usually also ridiculously cheap. It's the skinless boneless stuff that gets pricey.

Otherwise I agree with the farmer's markets and beans/legumes suggestions! Let us know how it turns out.

I don't have time to catch up, so I am not going to try. I have been blessed with the sinusitis and also ear infection. I am trying to get the garden started, but Meara is still not well enough to do what I need her to do. I GIVE UP! DH had better take the kids somewhere this weekend.

Husbands and grocery lists: I don't buy anything for him that I would not eat. So there is no pop in the house. I would give him $10 of the $60 back and tell him that is his snack money and do with it what he wants. If he wants a pop a day, get one at work or buy a case to keep stashed. If he wants something sweet, he can grab a Snickers when he wants one. Because his health is important to me, I am not going to enable him to make bad choices.

I realize that won't work in every marriage, but I just won't have crap in my house. It sets a back example for the kids, who never have had commercial pop, (juice and carbonated water only or organic pop) and it compromises my beliefs.

Hello, What a huge thread! I am not sure If this is today's question but here goes : )

If you could have any job in the entire world, what would it be and why?

Artist. Unfortunately you need to be talented to be an artist. I think if I had the time I could get better but I can never find the time. (Maybe I should give up exercising : ) Being an artist doesn't pay either unless you are hugely successful and I am sure that would take the fun out of it. I would love to spend my days creating beautiful things, no time lines, no input from other people, spending my days looking at beautiful things/places and interpreting them, sounds like perfection to me. I am sure I would miss the stress of my current job though; it is what makes me work hard.

[QUOTE=pintobean;2179897]I finally woke up this morning to do my exercise to keep up with the challenge Nothing like exercising and watching a serial killer show at 6:30 AM in the morning. Anyone watched the show Dexter? I'd heard about the show and since I missed it when they aired it on showtime I decided to watch episode 1 of the show on netflix...love their play now feature Anyway, it was an interesting show. I don't know if I like it yet but I'll watch other episodes to see if the story picks up. In case, I haven't mentioned before...I love crime shows - CSI, Law & Order (all) etc...am I a nut case maybe

I really like Dexter. I also watch crime shows. Criminal minds is my fav. I also watch Close case and all the shows on TrueTV (use to be court tv).

pintobean, we watched the whole first 2 seasons of Dexter on our On Demand. There are some things that bug me about it, but overall, I do like it. Hope you enjoy it!

As for the grocery shopping discussion, I do all the shopping AND coking in our house. Jeff can barely cook a Hot Pocket by himself Since we're not married yet, we don't have a joint account, so we've split the recurring expenses. I pay for cable/internet/phone, HOA (quarterly), and groceries, and he pays the electric, water, gas, and trash (quarterly). And then we split the mortgage. So anyway, I pay for, buy, and cook all our food, so he eats whatever I make, and if he doesn't like it, tough patooties And if he wants any sweets or something I can't handle having in the house (like the big cinnamon muffins he loves), he takes it to his office and leaves it there to eat at work. No junk in our house!

Of course, that's not exactly helpful information for you chelle, so back to the question at hand. I usually spend about $100 a week on groceries, but that's because I'm picky and pay the $4.99/lb for the 99% fat free boneless skinless chicken breasts. If you don't have the irrational aversion to handling raw meat that I do, then you can easily buy cheaper options and just cut off the obvious visible fat I know someone already mentioned beans--I concur. I also make sure to buy things like lettuce whole as opposed to already chopped in a bag because it's cheaper per pound when no one's done anything to it yet. Pasta, even healthier ones, are pretty cheap per pound and can last multiple meals. I'm also a huge fan of frozen veggies since I never manage to use all the fresh ones before they go bad.

Yeah....I am a wonderful wife, but I am no one's short order cook. DH has learned to like:
beans
whole wheat bread
whoe wheat pasta
sauteed or grilled veggies (not fried or boiled to mush)
quiche
brown rice
the absence of Campbell's soup in his life

Adults learn to like food the same way a toddler does...exposure. For most foods, if I toddler is exposed to it 15 times, they will begin to eat it. They have to adjust to the sight, smell, taste texture, and for some foods, it takes a while. Big people are the same way.

Also, if he's hungry, he will eat it.

My husband and I shop separately, lol. I don't eat meat (or dairy or eggs now) and I don't like to buy it either, so I just go buy my meal stuff and then he goes and buys whatever strikes his fancy later. I will prepare meat sandwiches for him though, because I'm just that nice.

Well, I'm not a member of my local garden place, but we do have one here in not-so-big town land where I live! I actually garden at my aunt's house because I have no sun in my yard (beautiful big trees, though). So its kinda the same thing... I always thought about getting one of the plots at the garden place, but then my aunt said she was done gardening, so I just took over hers instead!

I love watching all the crime shows but hate that they are on at 8pm. The kids are still awake and I don't want them seeing things like that. I used to tape everything and watch it during their nap time but now they don't nap. I also would feel guilty if I didn't get it watched. Makes no sense now does it? Now the only show that I really keep up on is TBL.

It is so cute. DS (3.5yo) is on my treadmill. The key is in my possession so he can't turn it on. The display will still work though and he has been using it like a manual treadmill. He just asked me how far he has went. 4:54 and .08 miles He is SO proud of himself. He said he is working up quite a sweat, lol.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I think I'm going to stick with Anna's idea of getting what I want and he can deal or be dealt with.

However I probably wont deprive him of sodas, only because theres nothing else but water in the house atm.

He's a 2 big mac at lunch, health food is crap kinda guy... I've warned him, repeatedly, but alas I'm the broken record and he's still fat...

Maybe when I'm smoking hot he'll think differently

re: community gardening - we have a couple of big community gardens here in Charlottesville. You have to claim plots, though, WAY early in the season, like back in Jan or Feb. You might check with the American Community Gardening Association, you can see if they have any community gardens listed in your area. http://www.communitygarden.org/

re: teaching DHs to love food - I've so lucked out, DH eats anything except fish. He's so easy going. He also can't cook to save his life so it's a good thing too, I don't do the 'cooking separate meals' dance either!

I really don't want to go to the grocery store tonight, but it would be worse tomorrow (much more crowded), so I will go tonight. I need to stick to my list! No junk! I just had a small snack, so I am not tempted by junk or all of the samples they have that look sooooooo good! I am really tired this afternoon and am looking forward to going home and snuggling w/ the dogs and dh too, of course.

Have a great afternoon / evening!

So far I am 5 days on plan (today will make 6!)

Yup, that's about it here, too

All this talk of gardening...I think I have a red thumb (you know, the exact opposite of green on the color wheel)

okay, I'm a dork

Do you watch CSI: Las Vegas? Here is my question about that show: why don't they EVER turn on the lights? They'll be at a complicated crime scene, supposedly looking for the smallest of evidence (a single blood drop, a schmear of peanut butter, a lost button, whatever) but they are searching the house with what looks like itty bitty pen lights. Nobody ever just turns on a lamp. Even the lab is mostly dark. Very strange.