I have a $50/week grocery budget for 2 adults (central Kansas). I have a separate budget for all other weekly non-grocery household purchases. So far this YEAR I've spent $736.41 out of $800 - which includes a large amount of grain purchased for storage, a years worth of agave nectar (we don't use white sugar), and a years worth of Morning Moo's (a whey-based milk substitute that is a fraction of the price of store-bought milk). When the garden is in full swing and I don't need many groceries, I'll use the extra grocery money to purchase grass-fed beef from a friend. I also regularly purchase local bison and locally-grown whole/processed chickens. I get some pork from a cousin who raises a few hogs for slaughter. Annually, I spend about $10 a week for meat (on average). I stick primarily to whole foods and cook from scratch. I also mill all my own flour and make our breads and baked goods. "Convenience" foods are ones I make from scratch like a wholegrain Bisquick Substitute, a wholegrain pancake mix, "instant" refried bean mix made from pinto bean flour I mill, dried soup mixes from dehydrated foods, pudding mixes made with dried milk powder, etc. Commercial cereal is unknown round our house. It's cheaper to make granola and mill our cooked cereal products since whole grains are still relatively cheap compared to commercial cereal (which might have 17 cents worth of grain in a $4 box of cereal). I mill flakes or chopped multi-grain cereal mixes, or finely milled farina/cream of wheat or rice. They are made for pennies from whole grains/seeds/beans we keep in large amounts in storage. I also make my own bulgur. Breakfast is some kind of a homemade bread or cooked cereal, homemade kefir and 100% fruit juice smoothie, and a small amount of meat. Lunch is often leftovers, sandwiches or wraps, or frozen soup/stew/chili, eggs (made every which way). A favorite lunch is a chunk of cheese, some almonds, celery and an apple. Snacks are usually air-popped popcorn, nuts, dehydrated (at home) zucchini chips (a good potato chip replacer), and dehydrated (at home) apple slices or other fruit. Our daily food intake is based on the old Basic-Four: 4-servings Bread/Cereal 4-servings Fruit/Vegetables 2-servings Meat or Meat Alternative 2-servings Dairy This is how I vaguely plan menus.... It's also easy to switch days around when necessary. Monday - Big Meal - A large cut of meat that can be used for several meals; added to the soup pot; ground, sliced or shredded for sandwich meat - this includes roast beef, turkey, or chicken, meat loaf, etc., and all the fixins. Tuesday - Leftovers from Monday Wednesday - Stir-fry and brown rice - may or may not include meat Thursday - International (Italian, Mexican, etc.) Friday - Vegetarian (once a month dinner out with friends) Saturday - Soup/Salad/Sandwich (depends on leftovers, what's growing in the garden, and the time of the year) When the kids were home it was called "Every Man for Themselves" and was a good way to clean out the refrigerator or use small amounts of things in the freezer. Sunday - Homemade Pizza and a tossed salad, or a Dinner Salad (including meat, beans or cheese), grilled something-er-other -Grainlady

Hmm - if it does not include meals out on the road, our monthly for 4 adults is about $300. We could do much better. We grocery shop once per month or less since we found a discount supermarket and a discount butcher. A small freezer holds enough for more than a month. Shopping once per month cuts down ENORMOUSLY on impulse buys, saving us hundreds per month. Also save us about 8 hours of time simply driving and shopping. The selection is not as broad as our SuperHumongousMarket, but we don't get all that other stuff, and those places are simply getting too big to navigate. One store takes up as much space as an entire strip-mall of 20 years ago. Stop-and-Shop and BigY have done such a good job of putting their high priced premium items in front and scattering the necessities, that we simply can't be bothered with the new huge stores. The discount butcher has commercial bags of prepared frozen veggies at about 1.05 $/lb, so meals are easier for our adult kids to prepare. Shake out veggies into a Corning dish and microwave for 6 minutes. Ginger drink - 1+ tsp ground ginger 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup white vinegar water to 1/2 gallon Our kids like this. The vinegar somehow makes it taste carbonated. Vary the ginger a bit according to how strong it is. A quart (?) cannister of powdered ginger is about $4 US

Sandibluffs. I don't ever use syrup so I can't help you on that one. Butter only, on my pancakes and French toast. Are you looking for a REAL ceasar dressing? Or a ceasar style dressing like they sell in bottles at the store? I wait tables in restaurants and we do a ceasar dressing made tableside. This has raw egg in it so it CANNOT be stored. It's a PITA to make at home unless you are having a dinner party, or have a lot of time and like to pamper yourself. 3 Egg Yolks, beaten 3 tablespoons Prepared Mustard 10 tablespoons Garlic 2 Anchovy Filets 6 Capers 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt 1/2 teaspoon White Pepper 1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano Leaves 15 drops Tabasco Sauce 15 drops Worcestershire Sauce Olive Oil 5 tablespoons White Vinegar That's what we use at the restaurant and it is a pretty basic ceasar. When I make it myself at home I leave out the capers as I do not care for them. Make sure you use FRESH garlic and not garlic salt or garlic powder. Just like soups, dressing have a typical base. For instance, virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (or you can use red wine vinegar) for Itallian, rice vinegar and peanut oil for Asian, olive oil and white wine and lemon for Greek, sour cream with buttermilk or goat milk for creamy dressing. Once you get familiar with the bases you add what you need - sundried tomatoes, garlic, dry mustard, sugar, dried onion, oregano, pepper flakes, ginger, fruit and what not. Make them up the way you want. I do not use "a recipe" for dressings I make at home. I just create knowing what end result I am looking for. I don't want to give you a list of recipes that you may not like. Do you like garlic dressing? A creamy gorganzola? Do you avoid sugar? Watch you fat intake? Do you like pineapples? What I like may not be what you like. Tip: Use granulated sugar for O/V dresssing and powdered sugar for creamy dressings. Granulated sugar in a creamy will make it thinner. Powdered sugar has a bit of corn starch in it when you buy it to keep it from forming a lump and it works better as a binder. Powered sugar in O/V dressing will make it cloudy and change the texture a bit. If you put soft cheeses in dressing make sure you puree them. If you just drop in the chunks they make the dressing watery. I think it is best to add crumbled or grated cheese on top of the salad just before serving rather than puree them into the dressing, but that is just my personal preference. If you use parmesean cheese make sure you buy the REAL stuff not the stuff out of the green can. Yes I know it is expesnsive, about $14/lb, but you are only using a little bit grated. It's not like you are sitting down to eat a whole pound of it. Use DRIED spices and not fresh in your dressings. You can dehydrate your own spices and have fresh dried spices that are packed with concentrated flavor. Avoid buying those dried spices in the jars at the chain stores if you can, or shop at a specialty spice shop where they prepare and dry them on a regular basis. Let your O/V dressing sit at room temp for a while before you use them so that the flavors meld and the spices are not "crunchy". Creamy dressings should sit in the fridge for a bit before using. Do not use low fat sour cream for dressings, use yogurt instead. And remember, these homemade dressing do not have preservatives in them and unless it is a dressing with a lot of vinegar, it will spoil or grow fuzzy mold in no time. Don't made up more than you can use in a few days. If it has raw egg in it DO NOT store any of it. Cooked egg dressings are a bit more stable but still do not let these sit atound for more than a day or day and a half. I've seen people keep those bottled dressings from the store around for MONTHS in their fridge. I do not think bottled dressing are even real food. They're scary. I saw one brand that said ZERO calories - then what is it? It can't be food. Is it plastic? Using squeaky clean sterilized bowls and utinsils will help avoid contamination and delay degadation of the dressings. And here is a recipe that I got when working at an upscale restaurant at one of the huge hotel chains. I am not going to say which one because I know it is a signature recipe of a certain certified chef. A waiter stole it and passed it around to the staff. House Dressing 333 15 yolks @ room temp 32oz oil mix (7:1 corn to hazelnut) 1C granulated sugar 2T horseradish 2T marjoram 2/4T thyme 1/2T dry mustard 1/2T white pepper 8oz lemon juice (use fresh sqeeze not bottled!) 6oz champagne vinegar Here is a tip. Gourmet recipes are more about technique than just mixing a bunch of stuff together. In this recipe it is very important to sloooooowly drizzle the oil in or you will have a clumpy oily mess. Transfer the oil egg mix to a bain-marie and add the remaining ingredients one at a time. This dressing tastes best when it is well chilled. You can divide the recipe for a smaller amount although since the eggs are cooked it has a longer life. I guarantee your guests will RAVE about this dressing. Use crumbled feta cheese on this salad and of course use a good spring mix lettuce with a high ratio of 'crunchy' to 'soft' lettuce in it. I never buy those bags of mixed lettuce at the stores. I buy the greens I want and wash and spin them, and mix them to get the ratio I want. Cooking is a hobby and an art. Have fun.

When we bought this house we had a 12x20 deck off the kitchen. It was useless due to all the mosquito's in our wooded area. We had a 3 season room built and at the time we were still on septic. By code the room had to allow access to the septic tank so had to conform to the 12x20 size. Then after the room was built we were allowed to connect to sewer and our room could have been any size! Ugh, it would have been very different, but we are happy with it. Like Annie said, it was scope creep. We started with porch plans, the decided to add windows, full insulation and heat. We did not want another "room" so tried to keep the porch feel as much as possible. We use the room all the time and think it is one of the best improvements we made to this house. Re: Sliders. That is often a code issue and can't be used if your are a few feet off the ground due to safety concerns (at least that is code in our town.) Ded, I think you will be happy with your beautiful new blue cushions and your repaired porch. You can live with it and decide if that is sufficient for your needs.