Terrific Thursday- what to do with what you got

It's probably no secret that one of the stores of choice this week is ALBERTSONS.   I did go to QFC last night because I had to pick up meds for my husband.   

I bought a blueberry pie , cheaper than buying the blueberries  and two BBQ beef tubs because I had coupons and they were 2.99 a pound.   Beef is so expensive that 2.99 a pound is more than realistic price.   Normally, scratch cooking is cheaper and better for you.   Strawberries were good, and salad was on sale. 

Frozen Mac and cheese is .50 at ALBERTSONS. There  are coupons that net it .30.   That's about ot for ready mades.  We buy a few when they are cheaper than scratch. 

Now would be the time to stock tomato paste, frozen juice (1.00'and 100 percent juice ) tomato sauce. Taco seasoning is never a bargain at a dollar! There are lots of fruits and veggies for a buck at ALBERTSONS.  Skip the organic carrots at a buck a piece!    Wash and peel your carrots instead.   

Hamburger is 3.99 with a coupon,   CHEAPER at SAFEWAYS.  

We did chicken for a rotation meat  last week. I also picked up sausage cheap.  This week it should be hamburger.   I make meatballs, crumbles, meatloaf and taco meat.   Ot os the hardest of the a meat rotation, but of you are averaging the time, it's still really manageable.   

Beans and tomatoes are .80 at TOP.  That's higher than my target price.  I, however,haven't found them cheaper lately,except at Fred Meyers a couple of weeks ago and they were on a coupon with a limit. I did see them before and suspect that they will show up on a rotation like the milk does.  

My meat (protein) matrix is 

2 beef

2 pork or chicken 

2 vegetarian 

1 fish or shellfish 

I have BBQ beef and hamburger this week for the rotation ( 3.00 lb) 

Last week was chicken at .80 a pound.  

Pork loin was 1.79 a few weeks ago, and sausage was 3.33.  

Eggs were  1.67 last week, and cheese was 2.50 a pound last week at FM.   

Average less than 2.00 per meal for protein.   That makes for a very believable five dollar dinner.   ( that's five dollars for a proverbial family of two adults and 2 school aged children total, not PER plate.  

Now that vegetable are coming down on price at least for now, it is still very believable to put healthy dishes on the table.  The term healthy is realitive.  We are not eating ding dongs and .28 cent a pound mystery chicken; we are also not eating strawberries that were grown in water from Mars or five dollar a gallon milk.   We are eating low fat, sugar, and salt.   I defat anything I can defat and buy lean cuts of meat ( 9 percent hamburger) . 

 It's a realistic healthy on a low income budget.   I'm not convinced that all the hype about our food supply is worth the expense if I did have the money.  What was healthy eating back in the day, is considered terrible eating now.  I am convinced that eating a low fat, salt and sugar diet and eating a variety of foods in moderation is a good plan  on a limited budget.   Moderation  is the key.   

Thanks for stopping by

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Jane