Day 2 Challenge Recap!

Yesterday was Day 2 of the All-You Grocery Challenge. I did a quick WIC shop, got 2 gallons of milk, 1lb of cheese, a dozen eggs, and 2 cans of juice.
Since I have 2 kids on WIC, we get a LOT of WIC stuff. 10 gallons of milk, 2 lbs of cheese, 12 cans of juice, 2 dozen eggs, 72 oz of cereal, and 2 jars of peanut butter per month.

Now, we use a lot of milk- whole, 1%, and powdered. I make at least 2 gallons of yogurt per month- since we eat it every day. So I rarely have to figure out how to use it up. Same with peanut butter and cereal- we don't worry about having too much on hand since we go through a lot of it.

On the other hand, eggs and juice don't always get used as often- so I have to get creative. Everett can't have egg whites yet- admittedly, this is a personal choice, and I'm sure I could have him test them out, but I'm waiting a bit longer since eggs are a high allergy food.

So, in order to be more frugal, I'll occasionally buy the v8 cans as my juice choice from WIC. V8 is one way to sneak extra veggies into the kids- plus I use it instead of water when I'm making tomato sauce. I also use the v8 to make a quickie gazpacho when I see cucumbers and peppers on sale.

As far as the cheese goes- well, we go against the grain here. Most people that are on WIC get American Cheese slices. We usually choose the cheddar, muenster, mozzarella, colby, or monterey jack option. When we get home, I'll shred the cheese myself, and then it's always avalable to us in the freezer! By doing this, I keep our costs down on the preshredded- which is marked up considerably!


Anyways, on to the meals.
Paul- cereal and milk
Anah, Abby, Everett- oatmeal and bananas cooked with milk and served with juice for the kiddos

Lunch-
Paul- provided by work
Anah- Healthy choice soup and slice homemade bread
Abby- peanut butter rollup- one tortilla, slathered with peanut butter and dotted with dried cherries, rolled up into a burrito. Leftover veggies on the side.
Everett- leftover veggies and leftover beans and rice (this kid LOVES spicy food. Weirdo!)

Dinner-
Pulled pork tacos on corn shells, served with quickie pantry salsa, cheese, and the last of the pinto bean mess I made on Saturday.

Snacks- Dried apple chips, blueberries, carrot sticks with hummus.


Quickie pantry salsa- 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilis, big handful each of black beans and corn, squirt lime juice over the top, sprinkle with dried onion and garlic, season to taste with hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Toss together in a large, non plastic bowl (to avoid staining the plastic!!) and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the flavors to mingle and the dried onion to rehydrate a bit. You can use real onions, but dried is just easier for me when I don't have any in the house!