Grocery Life

Both this week and last week we've gone over on groceries.  We've had to stock up on basics like flour and oil and we've been hosting a teen sized guest for the last few months on the weekends, so our eggs and milk disappear a little faster.   We have an entertainment budget, $100 a month, to be used on food and alcohol when having guests, which helps monetarily but doesn't simplify our budget. Things do tend to get a little mixed.  My nephew may have a peanut butter sandwich from our normal food budget, but we used taco Tuesday's left over sour cream from the entertainment budget for Saturday's normal budget coffee cake.  

I'm also saving up the entertainment budget for Thanksgiving, which I'm hosting, so I should be pinching pennies but regardless, I'm pretty sure the food budget will settle down and even out by the end of the year.  There's always a lot of eating out and parties, so I'm sure we will catch up.  

This weeks groceries: $55 

Budget: $25 weekly per person 

Last weeks groceries: $70. 

So as you can see, we are at least $25 dollars short in our grocery budget endeavor. $33.00 short to be exact.  

Jerk Tofu and Coconut Rice

I'm not a tofu fan.  My husband hates it.  But about once a month I buy it and force myself to hide it in something like chili or as teensy little peices in stir fry.

However Jerk Tofu has changed the game.  I found a recipe online and thought I followed it pretty exact until the next day when I realized I butchered a important step in the directions.  So, the moral of the story... If you hate tofu, try the baked version of this recipe and then make these changes:  

2.  Don't blend your ingredients.  You can.  I've since done it, but I actually slightly prefer unblended.  Slice your jalapeño thinly and run your garlic and ginger through your microplane. Stir.  Toss in tofu.  

3.  Slice your tofu on the thin side.  About a quarter of an inch thin.  They may fall apart but those peices get a bit crispier and it's glorious.  

There's the recipe. 

Serve with Coconut Milk Garlic Rice. 

1 cup rice (half white/half brown is my favorite combo)

1 cup water

1 cup coconut milk

1 clove of minced garlic 

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add all ingredients, bring to a boil. 

Stir, place a lid on the rice and set the burner on the lowest setting. 

Cook for 20 minutes if white rice, 25 if brown, 

Fluff with a fork and make certain all the liquid has been dissolved.  

Eat with jerked tofu.