Hot off the French Press

Wake up sleepy head! It's time for free joe. A single serve coffee packet from one of our summer hotel stays worked out great in our french press.

Aleli (aka "Sunrise Medusa") starts the morning line up of baked apple on piping hot oatmeal.

Free apples from the elementary school community garden are an ideal match for our .07 cent a serving meal. A little half and half plus some cinnamon........ all I can say is this dish says yes to me!

So free lunch does exist after all. And this is what it looks like. Kelly, a food worker for the school system, says that the city has offered a grant for this service for the second year now. It's called "seamless summer". It's great for all the workers since they don't have to seek temporary summer employment and great for the 50 or so kids they serve each day per location. It turns out they also serve up breakfast every morning for free. Pop tarts and cereal and muffins. Who knew?

These free lunches get served in the park adjacent to the school. It's a great setting for food, conversation and fun. This city park fills their wading pool just in time to enjoy a good cool down with lunch. The boys hang out pool side with their free chow.

Everyone takes in the easy setting.

The anatomy of a free lunch. Up close and personal we see that sometimes you get what you pay for. And sometimes you luck out. The other ....customers.... told us that the turkey sandwiches were the best and that you could make a pretty decent frozen treat with the chocolate milk. Most of the lunches were just fine, but there were a couple rough spots here and there. We'll let the pictures do the talkin' this time. Look nice and close now.

Since the park was next to the school, and we were still buzzing from our apple find of yesterday, we headed back to the school gardens with our basket.

Inside the apple tree.

Notice all the fruit rot on the ground. A worker walked by to make sure every one was safe while climbing and to press the point that the principal welcomes all to pick freely. The kids found and explored this holey pumpkin on a nearby table. We all learned that rollie polies eat pumpkin. Never knew that before!

We also found some great big wild mushrooms growing in the parking lot, but, not being able to identify them, left them on the ground. One of Aleli's favorite websites for learning about and growing edible and medicinal mushrooms is http://www.fungi.com/. Also, if you've got a half hour to spare one day and would like to know how mushrooms could help save the planet, click on this link http://fungi.com/mycotech/index.html and watch the two videos of the genius mycologist, Paul Stamets. He is on the cutting edge of his field. (Stick through the first several minutes, it gets more and more interesting as it progresses!)

Here is the washing station the school has set up for kids to wash their community garden fruits and veggies. We are quite impressed with the great care this school has taken to make everything kid centered, clean, safe and nourishing.

Kayland, above, enjoys some fresh grapes by the mural in the lunch area of campus where squash and other edibles climb out toward the tables. Kayland and her brothers, Dion and Karon, helped us pick apples and we helped them pick grapes and sunflower seeds. Thanks guys! Really sweet kids!

Here are some of the fruit trees the third graders have planted just outside the classroom doors. EVERY school in America should do this! It is childsplay, science, and P.E. all rolled into one.

In all the excitement over getting to the free lunch on time, we sorta locked the keys in the car. Ooopsy. All turned out well though. Within minutes a triple A service (AAA) was able to free our keys and we were back on the road.

On our way home we spotted two of our favorite locals chatting on a city bench in front of the Grille. James urged Aleli to offer them some fresh fruit from our basket. She was ready to get out of the sun, but can rarely resist these two lovely people when she comes across them in town. As we chatted about local gardens and the origins of these fruits, a total stranger came up to Aleli to ask her if he could buy one of her apples that she was selling. He was shocked to find that they were not in fact for sale. Mind boggling to any modern consumer no doubt! We all made a new friend with the singer from Alabama (Ben), and traded secrets about where the best hidden fruit trees were in town. Ray, above, accepted Aleli's offer of free freshly picked fruit..... but got two for the price of one...... at first. He chose two apples that were stuck together on a tiny branch, but, being a good and fair soul, traded them for a store bought "tentation" apple that he literally pulled from his ( iconic ) straw hat. We gave his apple a mini patty pan squash hat so it would look like him. teehee. We love Ray! You'll probably be seeing him again in the days to follow.

In the evening our three oldest left for a weekend with some family. So it was just Papa, Mama and Baby J at home for a movie and simple pasta dinner. We celebrated the half way mark with of this experiment with a small glass of heart healthy $1.99 wine ( yes..... it WAS Charles Shaw Merlot aka "two buck chuck" for those of you wondering.....and not half bad at that ). We rarely drink wine and found it interesting that a bottle was less expensive than most beverages in the whole store including grape juice. Makes you wonder?? We then took a quick venture into town to take in some live music.

Today's meals came to a total of $4.85

More "pressing" matters:

Tomorrow an article about our experiment comes out in the Claremont Courier. Keep an eye out for it. We'll post a link. There is a photo gallery on the link, but the article will be in the actual paper for a few days before it makes its way onto the website. Make sure to pick up a copy if you get the chance.

http://www.claremont-courier.com/

Tomorrow we'll be "checking in" again to keep you up to date on what we've spent so far and what we've learned....... Pressing on

An apple a day keeps the teacher away!

Someone was hungry. Hmmm, but how to start the day.... Our old friend oatmeal arrived on the scene just in time to help wake up our groggy troops.

Shake the feathers from your hair my pretties. It's breakfast time. Good thing everyone likes this particular breakfast of champions.....( sorry Wheaties) we have at least 7 more pounds of this lovely grain to go. We can do it.

Super charged and ready to go, our little guy catches the true spirit of community by offering his good buddy a bit of sippy cup refreshment on a hot summer's day. Our experiment is paying off already!

In the last few days we heard tell of free kids lunches. In a few locations in our town there's suppose to be free lunch for kids 1-18 years throughout the summer. Kids eat free, adult admission is $2. We tracked down these whereabouts and Papa J headed out with the three older kids while Mom put the baby down for his nap. We had plans to feed the kids this way and Aleli and James would eat leftovers. On the way there the kids spotted an awesome new fresh juice and smoothie shop offering free samples and discounts as part of their opening. Today we could only participate in the sampling, but you can bet we'll be back in a few weeks to support this business and enjoy the fruits of their...... well, fruit!

Juice-O-Rama shares some healthy, SA-WEET flavorful tasters.

Inside JuiceOrama we love that you can also buy some locally grown, organic produce from Amy's Farm. http://www.amysfarm.com/ This farm gives educational tours to kids and grown ups and is a wonderful place to start venturing into food production and/or local food sourcing if you're from these parts. This shop is headed in a really good direction. Hope it does well!

Anyway, the kids got a lesson in punctuality this afternoon. You can miss a really good thing if you're not paying attention to the details. They arrived about an hour and a half too late! No free lunch today.

Click on the calander below to see what we missed:

Where's the beef?

This location just happened to be the kids old elementary school (we've recently moved a couple miles away in town and they'll have a new school this fall). It just so happens as well that they have their own veggie garden that was planted by the students last school year. The third graders have planted dozens of fruit trees all over campus. Again. ABUNDANCE! Last year the principal gave repeat invitations to school families and community members to come and pick food from the garden...... otherwise it will just rot. It was time for more picking.

We bump into our old neighbor and friend in the garden and he asked," where did that fruit come from?". He was pointed in the direction of the ripe fruit and we took this picture of him leaving with these juicy riches. Good finds.

Found an old discarded box and started loading it up with anything that tasted good. These funky beetles inside the grapes above, didn't make the cut.

Our girl went looking for her old teacher. It was a summer day and her teacher was away. She missed her "sssoooo much"! No teacher. Just mint , grapes and perfect granny smith apples. Maybe next time.

James found this apple in the cuff of his jeans on the way out of the garden. The grounds looked somewhat like the apple orchard on our cover page above. Fruit dropping everywhere! This little treat just jumped right out at him!

With no free lunch after all, there was a call home to boil some water.

So it was mac-n-cheese with unbelievably fresh apple slices back at home for the fam. We'll try again another day for the free lunch. Mark that calender.

Grocery Shopping 101:

Excursions to the supermarket these days have been few and far between. Prior to this experiment we would sometimes go to the store 1 or 2 times a day and it wasn't odd to visit a Vons, Trader Joes, and Sprouts Market all in one day. We typically spend between $200 and $325 a week as well. When we shop now we make the most of it. Using club card discounts and coupons is the way to go. Also, look closely at what you are getting for your buck. The price tags below show the cost of an item in ounces. To make the dollar stretch it makes cents to get more ounces per penny. For example, there were some convenient individual packs of Kraft Microwavable Mac & Cheese. The cost per ounce was around 40 cents. We compared that to a 5 pack of regular Kraft Mac & Cheese that weighed in at around 11 cents an ounce. But wait there's less or more depending on your perspective. A generic pack of mac & cheese was closer to 10 cents an ounce (wow, we're actually comparing ounces now!) Would the kids know the difference between the Kraft brand or the Springfield variety. James was standing in front of the pasta isle contemplating a 7 cents savings ( remember to check the serving sizes too) and wanting to make a kid friendly decision. Is this one really the cheesiest?.......... wait what's this? On the flip side of the Kraft 5 pack was a coupon for $2.50 off a 10 pack of Capri Sun 100% juices. All I had to do was purchase the 5 pack of Kraft to be able to use that coupon. The Capri Sun was $2.99 and the store will double up to $1. Decision made!

5 pack Mac & Cheese = $3.99

Capri Sun 100% juice = $4.79

Club card price and doubled coupon that make the juice FREE = PRICELESS!

We tried to go back one more time a few days later for the same deal and the club price for the 5 pack mac & cheese had already gone up to $4.99. That's $1 that could have gone towards..........beans. While at the store we did find a good price on a 14 pack of extra large tortilla's. ( see tag above ) These tortillas were 8.5 cents per ounce and stretched over two meals and were even used to make homemade cinnamon crisps.

And now a word on beans. See this photo below, that's a thrift store find on a kitchen utility that should make it's way into a few meals down the road, or later in the day! These things take cooking to a whole new level by slow cooking, retaining vitamins, and making a house smell delicious all day.

All of this fruit harvesting for survival business has made us way more conscious of the earth. So recycling down at the market suddenly seemed like the best of all possible post lunch activities. It's just left us with more to ponder about waste and necessity and what not. And it also gave us almost 15 bucks! We of course would not add that to our food budget, but it was a moment of connecting the issues of food, waste and the environment.

While at the market there was the opportunity to get a treat for the family using some coupon skills. These Tofutti Cuties were purchased using a coupon printed on-line. This was the only purchase for the day. = $2.39. Lots of places are doubling their coupons again. Check around to see what might have changed at your local supermarkets.

Dinner had been slowly simmering in the Crock Pot most of the afternoon. The smells were positively distracting, so we headed out to the patio for an activity. The kids wanted to plant those Food Not Lawn carrot seeds Mary Beth had gifted them and we also found some good basil seeds that were ready from our own garden. There were some spaces left open in the garden from things we have recently eaten. So we just added seeds, soil, water and a little trust. We'll see what sprouts in the next week or two....

We wasted no time in figuring out what to do with those apples. Some sugar, cinnamon, a little butter and heat would be the beginning of a love affair.

Simmering ever so slowly............. mmmmmmmmmmmm

Wish you could smell this fresh out of the oven!

DINNER

2nd Day Rice & Slow Cooked Pinto Beans

The basics are oh so good slow cooked and properly seasoned!

Baked Apples with Cinnamon & Sugar

EVERY ONE'S favorite! Even a neighbor had to try it and gave it high marks! You'll all be seeing variations of this dish again! The perfect end to a busy day.

Daily Check Out:

$2.39 in Purchase

$3.60 in consumption

TOTAL = $ 5.99 ( a penny in the +)

Be well!

{{{The Jolicoeurs}}}

Extra, extra! Read all about it! 'Matos, Zooks and Eggplants. Oh my!

Millions of American kids can't be wrong. PB&J........good.

Today was to be a day of extras.

Aleli's friend, Laura, stops by with a basket full of fresh picked extras from her garden. We also had a few EXTRA courious people stop by today to see what this experiment was all about. We hope to report more on that later.

We get filtered water from a Glacier water machine. The price of water went up an EXTRA 5 cents this week. Tap Water anyone?

Getting ready to pre soak pinto beans. We need to start measuring to make sure that everything evens out, no room for EXTRA ounces these days. Or is there?