When I was a kid my mom always bought fat free milk. The HH grew up on whole milk. So, when we moved in together we compromised and started buying 2% milk. Well, I asked The Girl to pick up a gallon of milk on her way home from work the other day and she accidentally bought a gallon of fat free milk. HOLY COW MAN…. There is like nothing to it. I might as well be drinking water with a little bit of school glue mixed in for color. Does YOUR family drink milk? If so, what kind?
With only 7 days to go meal times are beginning to get a little creative around here. If you have ever moved before {whether it was 2 miles or 2,000} then you know that moving perishable food is a total pain. So don’t be too surprised next week when I showing off a plate of kidney beans and sliced cheese. 😉
And if that wasn’t exciting enough, the only cooking containers we haven’t packed yet are the Crock Pot, 1 sauce pan and 3 mugs. Everything else {utensils included} have all been boxed up. I guess I should have left out a spatula for the giant sack of pancake mix we need to use up. Oh well, I’m sure flipping over a few hotcakes with a plastic fork will work… don’t you think?
Meal planning for this week: Pasta {x3}, baked potato night, pancake night, cereal night, and fend for yourself night. Breakfast will consist of oatmeal, eggs, more pancakes and chocolate chips. Snacks? Dried beans? A handful of nuts or Crasins? Life, it can get complicated if you overthink it.
I’m pretty sure I can cook everything that’s left in the freezer in the Crock Pot or saucepan with the exception of the dinner rolls. I might have to ask Mrs. HB if I can cook the rolls over at her place. Or who knows, maybe I can cook them in the Crock Pot? Anyone know for sure?
Thank goodness for all the disposable dinner plates and eating utensils my mother liberated last year. We are using them this week. Yay Mom!
I asked the HH if he wanted green beans to go along with his Sunday breakfast and he just glared at me. For someone who doesn’t cook… I think he’s just a little to picky.
On Friday I picked up a pie at Costco, because you know, it was national pizza day AND because we watched Mystic Pizza on the telly.
After my Mother’s procedure on Monday we swung by Panera to pick up dinner {my treat thanks to the gift cards I won playing 31 at my parents Christmas party}. While we were there we ran into One Hundred Dollars a Month reader Laura {Hey Laura!!!}. After we finished yaking it up with Laura we grabbed our to go bags and headed back to my parents place. When we got there I started unloading the bags and noticed we had accidentally picked up someones order in addition to ours {a melted steak sandwich, which my father happily ate}.
I felt so bad!!! And then I was like OH MY GOODNESS… I wonder if this was Laura’s dinner!!! So Laura if you are reading this…. I AM SO SORRY…. And I owe you lunch! I called Panera but they were like…. Eh, forget about it, it happens.
Because it was so late I ended up staying the night at my parents place and in the morning my Mom sent me home with a giant Salami. My Mom has bought The Girl a salami every year for Christmas for I don’t know, like the last 10 years or so for Christmas because it’s the first thing The Girl would go for off the appetizer platters every year at my parents Christmas party. Mom forgot to give it to her back in December but hey, I’m pretty sure we can eat 2 pounds in a week, right?
And last but not least, the HH took me to the Wandering Goose in Seattle after we attended the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. The meal was insanely delicious, and I’ll tell you all about it in my next post.
This week, it’s going to be NUTS…. But you know what? I am totally ready for it!
Have a WONDERFUL Monday everyone,
~Mavis
—->>>> The milk. What kind of milk does your family drink? <——
- Total Spent This Week on Groceries $1.89
- Total Spent in February on Groceries $10.76
- Total Spent in January on Groceries $240.15
Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
jess says
I generally only buy skim milk.. The girl doesn’t drink milk, I only use it for cooking and cold cereal.. Husband prefers it, boy 1 will drink whatever.. boy 2 drinks whatever but he is in HEAVEN if I snag him 2%…
Mary says
1% for cereal & cooking/baking
WHOLE for drinking & cookie dipping…although whole with cream on top is even better
And I find it fascinating that not all whole milk brands have the same creaminess. Trader Joes whole is fine, but Horizon whole is much richer tasting.
Heidi P says
I was raised on 2% (my dad grew up on a dairy farm whole is his favorite) but switched to skim when I got married thinking it would be a healthier choice. Our 4th child is now 16 and the others are out of the house so I’ve been buying 2% for the past year. My hubby and I don’t drink much milk and our 16 year old thinks 2% is heaven. I’m not sure there is that much of a difference between skim, 1% and 2% calorie wise. I need to look.
I love my daily dose of “adventures with Mrs. Butterfield”! Your meals crack me up. Impressive that you’re going to eat everything in your frig and pantry. It would be a challenge to get my family to hope on the mystery meal express.
Lastly, isn’t Costco pizza the best? 10 bucks for a big ol’ pie. Can’t beat the price for the size. Although on a side note, I bought 3 pizzas on Saturday for a work party my husbands baseball team had and asked Costco to “double cut” the pies and the lady on the phone acted as if I’d asked her to do something way above her pay grade. “Double cutting” wasn’t possible. Ha Ha Ha
KC says
Eat up the meal in the aluminum pan (carefully, so as not to damage the pan), clean it out and use it to bake rolls?
Hey, you might even be able to use the aluminum pan to bake scone-like things out of the pancake mix…
Amy Dunham says
So smart….
Jennifer says
Raw whole milk if possible. Organic whole when not. We’re picky about milk and eggs.
Beth says
The HH doesn’t touch milk, I grew up on skim, but I buy 1% now for my little boy and I.
Stephanie from Utah says
Whole milk. We used to buy 2% or less, but once we had toddlers drinking milk, we switched to whole. Too much hassle having 2 different kinds of milk in the fridge. And no way we’re ever going back to skim, too watery!
Wendy L. says
We buy non-fat milk at Costco and enjoy the taste over other brands. We built a raft/boat for the milk carton
derby on Green Lake out of the square containers. It represented a school and did well in the race. Those
containers held quite a few kids in life preservers. They really enjoyed showing their school spirit.
Maria Campbell says
Where are you moving to? Back East like you wanted?
Terri@ The Frugal List says
Do you have any aluminum foil? You could always fashion a pan from foil.
Mavis Butterfield says
Nope.
Leanna says
Whole – used to be 2% but the hubby loves whole though he hardly uses any. I buy a half gallon about every two weeks.
Almond unsweetened – for me – doing Trim Healthy Mama.
Cecile H says
Yes you can cook the dinner rolls in your crock pot and while you are at it defrost that ham and enjoy some pasta Alfredo with diced ham and green beans! Ham and baked beans in the crock pot, and maybe some ham and potato soup! Lots of meals left in the pantry and freezer! lol
Cecile H says
Oh and we don’t do milk! I cook with evaporated milk otherwise it would spoil before we finished it. My son and I are unable to digest it and my hubs has noticed he bloats after drinking it with cookies (awe shucks!) so we do unsweetened almond coconut blend soy for adding to anything where the flavour doesn’t affect the outcome and the dark chocolate for coffee creamer (curbs my chocolate cravings too!)
Ginger says
We use Fairlife Skim and it’s super rich and creamy due to the ultra filtering process. It’s also got half the sugar of regular milk, it’s lactose free, and it contains 50% more protein. It’s expensive, but we only use a half gallon a week.
Laura says
Ha! I made a post! This is beyond exciting for me (and telling that this is the most exciting thing to happen to me in a long time, guess I need to get out more).
That was not my dinner, but thanks for thinking of me anyway. As luck would have it, my daughter (15) scored 2 weeks of free coffee at Panera (prefer the bagels, but hey, free is my favorite price!) so I was actually in the SAME Panera reading your post about my fangirl experience meeting you at Panera. Crazy!!
It was such fun to see you. I had read so many posts about spots in my ‘hood that I knew your folks lived near me. Since it is sorta posh around those parts, I don’t know how many readers you have from the area so I am happy I could represent.
Monkey Boy will enjoy any leftovers from your pantry I am sure and that is MUCH better than moving any of that food!
Also, we drink skim. My kids can’t take the 2% or whole for drinking. A trip to Canada with only those options in hotels was a real downer for them. They drink 3-4 gallons a week, so I try to honor their wishes. Buy whole every now and again for cooking. I can pretty much sub whole milk for cream in all manner of recipes.
Anywho, thanks so much for the shoutout Mavis! Way more excited about it than I should be. Happy travels to you and your family on the big move. Will enjoy any and all updates (and tips for some yummy bakeries along the way–love that!).
Carol B. from Lake Tapps says
Laura – I love this! “Fangirl”… it cracked me up. I also live in the PNW and have imagined running into Mavis. So awesome that you actually did! Congrats on making it in a post. It IS very exciting! 🙂
Laura says
Truth is, I almost didn’t stop to say hello because I didn’t want to intrude. I thought about it a minute and realized that, heck, if I don’t do it now, she will have moved across the country and I wouldn’t have another opportunity to say hello. So, mustered up my courage and interrupted Mavis and her mom. Glad I did it! And glad I am not alone in the excitement :).
suzanne says
No milk but we buy heavy whipping cream and use it for whatever needs a milk like liquid. I think your rolls would cook as dumplings in the crock pot. Equally delicious.
Amy says
You could also use the pancake milk to make dumplings in the canned soup. Yummy.
Joanna says
I grew up with fat free milk (so light and refreshing!), hubby had whole (so thick, and coating, like drinking glue!). As a compromise I get 2%. But I only use it for cereal, cookie dunking, and cooking. We drink water with meals. And I only get a half gallon a week, as we don’t go through it quickly enough for an entire gallon.
Julie says
I buy whole milk for the kids, 1% for my husband and I drink skim. High cholesterol runs in my family, so I need to be careful with dairy. 1% would be my choice if I could drink it daily. Now that I’m used to skim, 1% tastes so good!
Lolly says
2% milk. Kids had whole milk when they were little.
Also, on the post before this….you prolly drink so much hot tea in the winter because your house is like 4°, and you are cold!!! Turn the heat up!
Mavis Butterfield says
NEVER!!!! 😉 I will have to test your theory out next winter when we are on the east coast. We’ll have a wood stove and trust me, I plan to keep things nice and toasty.
Cindi says
That is one of the nicest things about heating with a wood stove. I keep my house toasty warm!
Lolly says
Lol, I was wondering how you’d keep warm enough in the NE winters!!! But then I figured most homes would have a wood stove. I’d love one…but we’re looking at hitting 80° by Friday…sigh….in February, so nope. We had gas logs in our last home, so it was nice to turn them on first thing in the am…then by lunch we’d have the doors wide open to enjoy the fresh air. I hope to one day leave the deep south and get to a place where we have four real seasons!
Laura Z says
I used to buy skim or two percent thinking it was healthier, but now that we know that sugar is worse for you than fat, I have gone back to buying whole. I have friends who make the case that drinking milk in quantity is not really good for people keeping an eye on their blood sugars, and the nutritional benefits of milk have been called into question in recent years. Supposedly there was some Scandinavian study that said that people who drank the most milk had weaker bones than the rest of us.
That being said, we don’t really drink milk as a beverage other than to use it in tea or coffee, but my mother in law offers milk with every meal, even Thanksgiving dinner! I think this is weird, but hey, what do I know? In my house, we grew up drinking lots of iced tea and water.
Jenny Young says
Whole milk…that’s all we drink. Sometimes half &half in tea or even whipping cream if it’s a holiday! We LOVE cream at our house. We fight to be the one who gets that first gulp of milk because all the extra cream is at the top.
Leslie says
Grew up on 2%. Switched to skim when we all that fat was bad. Tried whole when I heard fat is good. Turns out whole milk lasts longer!
Marcia says
My dad had heart disease so he started buying skim in the 70s and 80s. When it was way worse than today. Like chalk. Ugh.
So I drank fat free for a long time, then we had kids and had fat free and whole milk for the kids. Then I got tired of having 2 kinds of milk and switched to 1%. Then started buying milk at costco, so we are at 2% now. Fat free milk has fillers and it’s kind of gross.
I’m super impressed with how you are cleaning out everything in the fridge and freezer and cooking with not much stuff. I can’t wait to see the new place and setup.
Ha my husband made a green bean frittata for breakfast once.
That takeout thing is hilarious. We have the worst luck. Our elementary school does fundraisers a few times a year at restaurants. Well, after the first year when my younger kid started throwing up 2 days after the fundraisers (he was 2 or 3, and touched EVERYTHING and put everything in his mouth)…I said NO MORE. So now we just send one parent and get takeout.
The most recent time was 2 weeks ago. Sent my husband. He got dinner for 4 – burgers for 3, fries for 4, and a grilled cheese for the little kid. Long wait, busy because of the fundraiser. And big kid had the flu, so we weren’t taking him outside anywhere.
Gets home after all that and…the grilled cheese sandwich is missing. I can see all the thoughts going through his brain on his face. Ugh. I am NOT going back there. Are you sure it’s not in there. “Daniel, do you want Nick’s burger? He’s not hungry. How about I make you a sandwich?” I even considered texting our neighbors to bring one home. But 5 minutes later he was out the door to go retrieve it. Completely confused the restaurant because we got the fries and not the sandwich. Ended up with a $5 off coupon though. Which was good because big kid never did eat his food, and wanted to go a week later.
bobbi says
I know someone asked this but haven’t seen the response yet. 🙁 Is the girl going East with you?
I notice things all the time too. I think it is a Sagittarius thing, but don’t know for sure. haha
Heidi says
Hiya,
This has nothing to do with this post. I wanted to let you know that your regional planting post has ads over the text and I can’t read everything I should be starting indoors this month. 🙁
I know you’re crazy busy with getting ready to move and all.
thanks so much for posting the planting guide, it’s really helpful.
Lauren says
Whole milk for hubby and one son. Nut milk for me and the other son.
When are you moving? We are actually moving to Washington hopefully May. Looking to settle above Seattle hour plus away. Any ideas of a town?
Mama Cook says
Lauren, when you day above Seattle, do you mean North of Seattle? With traffic these days, an hour north wouldn’t be too far.
I’d say it depends on what type of neighborhood feel your going for. We currently live in Snohomish…small town feel with easy access to big town amenities! Though we find it super cute that some of the local shops are closed on Sunday! I’m sure Mavis’ readers can chime in here!
Megan says
I get almond milk just because it lasts so much longer. I like skim milk the best but I lived alone for so long and I don’t like to drink to milk so I was just throwing away spoiled milk all the time. So now I get almond milk and I actually use it all before it goes bad! It makes mac and cheese really creamy!
Anne Penkal says
My husband and I had the same disagreement when we got married. Married 34 years now. He grew up on whole milk and real butter and I had fat free and margarine. We compromised on 2% and I switched to butter. Since then everybody’s been saying you need your fats. So We started buying whole milk again I use it instead of half-and-half for my coffee and and I just dilute it when I put it on my cereal, and it isn’t bad at all. I can’t be bothered with buying three different milk products and then maybe some of them going to waste
Gloria says
We are fortunate in Missouri to legally but from the farm. We buy from a farm 15 minutes away, fresh Jersey milk just milked that morning, once a week. Each half gallon has almost a quart of cream we skim and use in our coffee, whipped, and in soups. Nothing. Like. It. When we can’t get farm milk we just use almond milk in baking and homemade granola. I can’t drink store cow’s milk after having the real deal.
HeatherS says
Did you make spaghetti in a crock pot? If so, how did you do it? Our kitchen is about to be torn up for at least a month and I will be cooking with a crock pot, toaster oven and microwave for that time.
Linda says
We used to have 3 different kinds of milk. 2% for hubby,1% for kids and skin for myself. Kids grew up so we still has 2% and skin – far free. Then last spring we bought 2% at the local farmers market. WOW so much better . So only 1 kind at our house now.
Rajena says
My grandpa has swore since I was little that the milk companies added water to the skim milk because there was no way to get it that watery. LOL!!! I choose to believe they don’t but I wouldn’t really put it past them. We have all grown up on fresh from the cow milk but when that isn’t available we get whole milk.
My husband, on the other hand, grew up on powdered milk. When they were able to finally get real milk he was so excited. Well until he tasted it! He thought that was the most disgusting thing ever. He still doesn’t really drink milk and prefers to add some sugar to it when he does. I can’t really remember the story but I think his mom would add sugar to the powdered milk but I could be wrong there.
Gale says
As a kid, we would visit our grandmother and she drank skim milk. It always looked watery and blue-ish. Eww. 2% is as low as I will go. Love milk. Drink it every day. Can’t sleep if I don’t have milk in the house.
AJ says
Whole milk all the way if I have no budget restrictions (I usually go for 2% because of the rate of milk consumption).
I once drank skim milk in college when the cafeteria was out of whole and 2%. I decided next time that happened, I would rather have water. 😛 (No offense to water, just sometimes I crave milk when I’m hungry!)
Heather says
We drink whatever is on sale. I would take green beans with my eggs, especially if someone cooked for me.
Lace Faerie says
I grew up just down the road to a dairy farm. We used to get gallons of milk (in a gallon glass pickle jar) that had 4-5” of cream at the top. There were 5 of us kids and we went thru a gallon of milk a day. When my cousins came to visit during the summer, they would ask for glasses of milk to drink all day long. They were raised on non-fat dried milk. Yech!
When our babies were weaned from the breast, we bought fresh, raw goats milk from a farm just down the road.
Now, I buy whole organic milk. My hubby doesn’t drink milk, so it’s all mine!!!!
Mel says
Someone may have said this, but you can mix the skim milk with cream to make it like 1% or 2%.
Julia says
The fam drinks organic whole milk in a glass bottle. I just heard on NOR how this whole skim milk craze has turned a gerpneration off of drinking milk because it really doesn’t taste good. This has affected the consumption of milk and as a result many dairy farmers are now selling off their cows. BTW whole milk only has 3.5 percent fat and tastes sooo much better than 2 percent
Julia says
I meant NPR, lol
Christine says
I got used to skim milk after a month or so, and the fatter milks would taste too thick. Now, we just use 2% for coffee, tea, a bit over oatmeal…. By the way, we dilute our orange juice half with water, to reduce our sugar intake, and full strength juice is too sweet and thick. One’s body and taste buds can adjust quickly.
Linda says
I don’t drink cows milk. I swapped over to non dairy back in the 80’s. When I use milk for cooking I use unsweetened almond milk