Hi.   Jeanne here.  From a Vegas hotel room overlooking the historic Strip …

I mentioned yesterday that we’re at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas this week.

We left home on Tuesday.  Got here on Wednesday afternoon.  And it’s been non-stop since we arrived.  Running from event to event.  Lots of walking.  Lots of site-seeing.  Lots of eating out.  Basically, we’re running on sensory overload these days.

And we’ve still got four days before we hit the road home.

You probably know that I stress out a little about food. And just thinking about all those restaurant meals … Not knowing where the food comes from.  Not having control over how its prepared.  Spending way too much money on food that we’re not sure the kids will eat.  Um … yeah … I can feel the cortisol coursing through my veins.

Think about it: breakfast out (for three plus a baby) costs on average about $30/meal … at a modestly priced diner.  Which, over the course of 8 days would run you at least $240.

Plus snacks (A soft pretzel at the rodeo is $3.  A bag of popcorn is also $3.  A muffin at Starbucks can run you $3.95) … So let’s assume that everyone gets one or two snacks a day … about $20/day in snacks, for 8 days … add $160.

That’s $400 … just for snacks and breakfast.

So we made a simple decision that has turned into about $300 worth of savings for this adventure … and gone a long way to ensuring that the we are all eating at least one good and good for you meal a day, plus snacks.

You see, we arrived on Wednesday afternoon.  And as the littles and I settled into the hotel, the Cowboy went on a trip to Whole Foods.  He bought $95 worth of groceries

• six 6 oz containers of brown cow cream on top yogurt (on sale for $.47/container)
• 2 nice loaves of sourdough bread from the bakery ($2.69/each)
• a 1 lb wedge of Uni Kaabo Robusto cheese ($16.99)
• a half gallon of organic milk ($3.99)
• a box of Arrowhead Mills organic whole grain cereal ($4.99)
• some roast beef and turkey from the deli (I forgot to look at label price before it got thrown away … must have been around $6 or $7, I think),
• six organic apples ($2.69/lb)
• a 1 lb container of pre-washed and cut carrots & broccoli ($4.99)
• a box of 18 assorted Larabars ($36.00) – NOTE: this same assorted box is available at Costco for about $14.99 …we don’t usually pay retail for Larabars, but sometimes … you gotta do, what you gotta do.
• a pint of fresh guacamole ($6.99)
• and a bag of fresh made tortilla chips from the deli ($4.27)

And that’s it.  About $95 worth of groceries.

Obviously, he wasn’t price-shopping.  And he wasn’t cutting corners.  These are full-priced (sometimes over-priced) items.  And every one is delicious … fairly nutritious … and every one is a treat we don’t often get at home (so we still feel like we’re on vacation).  But this is breakfast and snacks for four people (sandwiches, cereals, yogurts for breakfast … apples and larabars make great portable snacks and tortilla chips for munching while we’re in between events at the hotel room), for 8 days, without having to succumb to Denny’s or IHOP or some unnamed diner where the kids will eat four bites and be hungry half an hour later.

I know they’ll have at least something in their bellies that’s good and good for them.  And we’re saving more than $300  … $300 that could be spent on something a little more interesting than not-so-nourishing food …like maybe a downpayment on a greenhouse?

Hmmmm … I’m going to have ask the Cowboy about that!