This evening was Guy Food Supper night. We had Baked Beans II and Festus’s Spoon Bread. I made the baked beans this afternoon and we just popped them back into the hot oven as the spoon bread was finishing.

The baked beans recipe called for a pound of ground beef so naturally we substituted a pound of Mr. Big Food’s homemade sausage— was it charizo? It also called for 6 tablespoons of sugar. Mr. Big Food suggested that I might want to cut that back a bit. Two Tbsps were a gracious plenty.

‘Festus’ is the name of Ken Curry’s character on Gunsmoke. It was his spoon bread recipe and it was delicious.

Supper was preceded by an after-work snack– courtesy of Daughter C, Jordan, and Miss M– of homemade hummus and pita chips (made by cutting up and toasting pita bread) and fresh pineapple.

For lunch we had left overs from Fancy Night’s Coc au Vin. With leftover spinach salad and bread. And of course, when I say “we” I mean we non-vegans. The vegan among us is about to come into a bounty of possibilities. Nothing like a veggie garden! (Those kale chips she made the other day were grrr….eat!)

Anyway– after beans and spoon bread the kids and I played a raucous  game of botchy ball (sp?) in the front yard, ending just as it was getting dark. I retired to the Den with Missy, Rocky and Mr. Big Food, connected my old iComputer to the world wide web and learned (via Instapundit.com) that the average amount of money that a family of four spends on groceries per month is $944— that’s danged close to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Country Mouse dollars. (If you are into food and being frugal, you’ll enjoy that second link.)

A family of four. One thousand dollars per month. That’s… um… let me see… 1000 x 12 / 52 = like almost $220 per week on food. I did not get the impression that included stables like kitchen trash bags and dish detergent and sandwich baggies and other non-edible but essential kitchen things. And it most certainly did not include expenditures for SureGel (dewberries are coming in, I’ve almost enough for a batch– 12 jars– of jam) or mason jars and fresh rings and lids (I’m hoping for a good cucumber/pickle year).

$220 per week. Can you imagine?