May 1st , Day 1.

Yesterday was the first day of our use up the accumulated stock month. We had tuna noodle casserole and mixed veggies. It will be interesting to see what we have after a month.

It is supposed to be really nice weather in the Pacific Northwest, time to break out the deck furniture and enjoy the sunshine. After all, it might be the last we see....LOL.

Dill Pickle Potato Salad

8 medium sized Potatoes, cooked and chopped. Cool slightly.
6 hard cooked eggs, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
6 green onions, chopped
2 medium dill pickles
1-1/2. Cups mayo
1/4 cup dill pickle juice
4 teaspoons mustard
Salt, pepper

Mix together. Chill.

Grilled Shrimp

1-1/2 pounds shrimp, cleaned
1/2 bunch green onion, diced
1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
2 T lemon juice
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic

Place shrimp in a greased grill basket.
grill shrimp over indirect heat for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp turns pink.
Refrigerate until chilled.
add dressing ingredients in a large plastic bag. Add shrimp. Chill at least 2 hours.

serves 4

Berry Torte
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar.Add egg. Fold in dry ingredients. Spread in a 9 -10 inch circle on parchment lined
cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool.

Filling
Combine
1/4 cup sugar
2tsp confectioners sugar
2tsp cornstarch

Beat 1-1/2 cups whipping cream until soft peak stage.

Assembly

Place cookie crust on a serving plate. Top with 1/2 of the whipped cream and a cup of mixed berries.
Repeat layers twice, ending in berries. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

I have not tested this recipe. You could probably put the filling in a graham cracker crust also, or line a 9x13 pan with a graham cracker crust and fill it. Neater way to take to a picnic!


Next chocolate cream puffs.....

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Jane

Notes

A couple of days ago I took a little trip to the next town ...doing a little snooping to find a perp. No luck.
She is the last one I haven't identified. I really want to get her before she hurts more people.

Anyway, I found a new Grocery store. Walmart Neighborhood Grocery. We went in to chck it out. As a disclaimer I am not particulary fond of Wall mart. I don't like their ways and they cheated me. I really don't appreciate paying for other people's mistakes! LOl

With a open mind, however, we went in to check out the prices. I saw tomatoes for ?78 cents and two hunts pasta sauces for 1.76. Other than that, everything was more expensive than elsewhere.
I did appreciate the fact that the housewares and toys were in the back of the store. Separate from the food.

I did manage to get a romper for my granddaughter and a book for one year olds from the goodwill and a haircut, so all wasn't lost.


Thanks for stopping by


Jane

The ads

The ads....on time for a change

TOP

Roma's .77
Sour cream 1.50
Milk 1.99
Coleslaw .77@@@
Blues B1G1
Apples1.00

QFC

Chicken .89
Yoplait .50
Pasta 1.00
Eggs 1.00
Berries 2.99
Corn 2/1.00

SAFEWAYS
Pork shoulder roast 1.29
Oranges 1.00
London broil 2.99
Sausage B1G1

Five dollar Friday

Salsa
Radishes 2/1.00


ALBERTSONS

Chuck roast 2.75
Corn 6/2.00
Hunts pasta sauce . 88
Ketchup .88
Apples .99
Oranges .99
Strawberries 2/5


Guess that's it. I am only buying perishables this week.
So, ALBERTSONS looks good and the salsa at SAFEWAYS.


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Jane

4+1=5
Better, cheaper, faster.
you get paid for shopping, not for cooking.

one ingredient visited : Ground meat

I am trying to address one food item per week. This week I picked ground meat. it is one of the most versatile sources of protein around-- ground beef, turkey, chicken, and pork. Mix several together for a tasty meatloaf.

I have a hard time with ground poultry. The consistency isn't right for me....when I tried to sneak ground turkey into the taco meat...my husband squawked before it ever touched his lips. LOL

Hamburgers can take on any number of flavors . Teriyaki, Mexican, chili burgers, sloppy joes,beef and bacon,blue cheese. Italian cheese burgers to name a few.

how about Spanish rice? Meatballs, meatloaf, pasta sauce.

Meatballs go in pasta sauce, in sub sandwiches, in brown gravy over noodles. In cream gravy over rice.

the Internet is full of casserole recipes.


I batch cook and defat hamburger. Meat balls can cook in the oven over a cooling rack on a sheet pan.

Taco meat is easy...taco seasoning is on a previous blog.

Defatted crumbles are a no brainier. Use on pizza. In pasta sauce, as a base for sloppy joes or sheaperds pir or impossible cheeseburger pie.

Meatloaf is a Favorite here.

Four plus one is five.
Better, cheaper, faster
remember, you get paid for shopping, not for cooking.



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Jane

Desert ....Yum

if I make desert it is a rare occasion. I usually try to make something nutritious. usually we have ice cream one fruit.

Pudding, creme brûlée and some other deserts are good if your main entre. Doesn't have a lot of protein.

Vanilla Pudding

4T sugar
2 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 egg yolk, beaten
2tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat until thick. Cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Temper the egg yolks into the pudding. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute longer. Stir in butter and vanilla. Cool.

Blueberry Peach Muffins

1/4 cup softened butter
1/3 cup sugar
1egg

1-1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp soda
1/2 cup peach yogurt
2/3 cup blueberries
1 tsp grated orange peel

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Combine dry ingredients. Beat dry ingredients into wet batter alternating with the yogurt. Fold in the orange peel and blueberries. Place in muffin tins 3/4 full.
Bake at 375 20-25 minutes or until they test done.
MAKES 8.

Note if you take a little of the flour and dust the blueberries they will more likely to disputes throughout the batter.


Thanks for stopping by

4+1 =5
Better, cheaper, faster
Remember you get paid for shopping, not for cooking.

Jane

Salads.....

We have had a few nice days, I am looking forward to salad time. ....the yard work, not so much. LOL


Salad Dressing

I'm not so are that this is cheaper than the bottle, but probably healthier and you could use vegetable oil.

1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup olive oil
1-1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
1/ tsp dry mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
1 T parsley

Mix together in a bottle with a tight fitting lid and shake.


Veggies

Carrot
Celery
Cucumber
Cauliflower
Onion
Tomato


Yesterday we had linguine with scallops in a cream sauce with the last of the asparagus.

Today I am cooking a pork roast. I might try the vegetable salad with broccoli instead of cauliflower.


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4+1 =5
better, Cheaper, Faster
you get paid for shopping, not for cooking.

Jane

Suddenly Saturday

Spring has sprung and summer is not far behind....well, maybe in the Pacific Northwest.


One of my time saving and beat the heat tricks for summer is to make salads on Sunday and add a entre each day during the week. It doesn't cover the entire work week, but it gets us through to mid week anyway. That way I don't have to cook in the hot kitchen. The entre can be BBQ d outside.

Potato Salad

2.5 pounds red potatoes
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup red peppers, chopped
2 hard cooked eggs, chopped
1 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
Salt and pepper.

cook and cool potatoes, cut into quarters
Add chopped veggies

Mix dressing ingredients .

Dress the salad.

Serves 8


Shrimp pasta salad

4cups cooked pasta shells, chilled

1 pound shrimp, cleaned and cut into thirds

1 cup frozen peas
1 bunch green onions, cleaned and sliced
1T dried parsley
1 small carton lemon yogurt
1 cup mayo
Salt and pepper

Mix ingredients together.


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Four plus one is five
Better, cheaper, faster
You get paid for shopping , not for cooking.

Jane

Wolves in sheep's clothing

Something I saw on another blog reminded me of when My daughter and I dissected a hamburger meal box. I don't quite understand why if the government made Nabisco change the name of their vanilla wafers because they had no vanilla in them, why there can be products with the name "cheese " in them when they have no cheese.

I have become a label reader. I buy few convenience foods because they jack up the price of food. I read labels because I am diabetic and I am really careful about how many carbs I ingest. There are hidden carbs in just about everything. I am leery of anything that has ingredients that sound like they should belong in a science lab.

Cheese whey is the byproduct of making cheese. After they take the solids and fat out of milk, it is what is left. It is good food, and has protein in it, but it is NOT CHEESE.

I never met a cheese I didn't like, and I never met a cheese than had no cholesterol.

I do keep a couple of mixes on the boat for emergency rations. I did get a hamburger meal box with real processed cheese. It is not something we generally use, but I got them for a buck and on the boat, you have to have emergency rations in case you get stuck with no food access. I have been known to add kidney beans to cheeseburger macaroni.
Not great, but better than nothing?!LOL

I am not doing any serious grocery shopping. I do have a WinCo coupon, so I am very tempted. I usually get about 6o percent savings. The first of May we are going to try an experiment and live from the stock on hand only adding perishables and a minimal amount of anything else. I want to see how far I can go. I am leery of paring down too far, the prices on some things are rising. I have averaged spending 70.00 a week and our stock is growing. It is time.

I made a formula for meal plans for our family. Your plan may be different.I am working with a daughter that is vegetarian , a grandaughter that only eats chicken, and a husband that doesn't like pork or chicken. I have resorted to cooking a variety of meals so that we are balanced.




2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish or shellfish

1) Nachos
2) pasta with meatballs
3) pork roast
4) sausage , potatoes and peppers
5) loaded tomato soup, quesadas
6) vegetable bean soup
7) scallops

Scallops were on five dollar Friday.
Vegetable bean soup is on another blog --easy and cheap to balance the scallops.
Roasted red pepper and tomato soup loaded with tomatoes, blue cheese and basil. ( basic soup about 2 dollars at Costco.
Sausage was 2.28, peppers .50 at grocery outlet
Burger batch cooked, 2.75 a pound that was on B1G1 at Safeway.
pork Roast 1.79 a pound at QFC last week.

All of these meals average less than five dollars a meal.

Four plus one is five.
better, cheaper, faster
You get paid for shopping, not cooking!


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Please share

Jane

The gist of it

Every month I write about the basics of groceries on the cheap for anyone that wants a refresher or for new people.

I feed our family on 1/2 of the USDA stats for thrifty food. I have done it for years and was in the Woman's Day years ago when my children were teens.

1/2 price cooking takes a three-pronged approach.

1) plan and organize
2) shopping
3) scratch cooking


PLAN AND ORGANIZE

1) develop your own recipe book of main dishes that use an inexpensive form of protein. Start with seven, and increase it to fourteen so you have some variety. For us that protein would be cheese, pork. Chicken, some cuts of beef, beans.

2) make a list of staples that you use often. For us that would be beans, some green beans and corn, pasta, pasta sauce, diced tomatoes. Some tuna, instant mashed potatoes, refried beans.

3) create a price book or a spread sheet on these products. You should have ten or fifteen items max.

Note the item and the size of the package, the place you bought it,the price and the date. Pretty soon you will have a good idea of the lowest rock bottom price of that item. When you find that price buy
A) as many as you can afford to buy
B) as many as the store will let you buy. Or
C) as many as you need to replenish your stock, whichever comes first.



SHOPPING

This is not about hoarding. If I use something Once a week, I keep 24. once a month , I keep 6. I keep one ahead of things like mustard, catsup, mayo etc. I don't want to run to the store when I run out.

When the grocery ads for the chain stores come out. I sit down with a piece of computer paper, divide it in fourths and head each fourth with the name of a chain store nearby. I go through the ads and write down everything that is on sale that is on my target list, and any fruit, veggie, or perishable we eat and any meat that is a good price. Then I cross off anything that is more expensive than elsewhere and anything I don't need. Now pick The two stores that have the best buys on what you need. Plan your trip so you use the least gas. Take your list, get in , and get out. The longer you spend in a store, the more you will spend. Avoid impulse buys. be sure and take the ads with you. .

We have several stores clustered together. I can incorporate the dollar store,the pharmacy, and maybe big lots or
Grocery outlet in the same trip. I almost always hit the two chain stores. If it is convenient, I hit others,
there are certain things that we buy at the alternative stores, and we can get in and out quickly. If we are short on time, we divide and conquer. We hit Costco, the bakery outlet and WinCo once every four to six weeks.

Costco is close by so we can hit it when we are running out of things. The others are several towns away, so they are on a longer cycle.

We seldom spend more than an hour or so shopping a week.
1/2 price foods leaves no room for a lot of snack foods, pop, chips, etc.

After your shopping trip, jot down seven meals. Just the main dish, nothing time consuming or fancy, I do this after because sometimes while shopping you find something real l y cheap or what you planned to buy is not good.

SCRATCH COOKING
Ready made foods are a sure way to bust your budget! It doesn't take a lot of time to cook from scratch. There are all kinds of tricks to make your time in the kitchen short.

1) batch cook
2) marathon cook
3) stair step cooking
4) slow cooker or pressure cooking
5) cooking fast foods

Marathon cooking is cooking a months worth of foods in a weekend. Shop one day and cook the next. I went to a class on it years ago. I don't have the stamina for it, and we enjoy fresh fruits and veggies. There are books on it.

Batch cooking works for me. I buy meat when it is the lowest price. It is hard to judge the ever skyrocketing costs of beef, but chicken and pork aren't bad. Usually, I find one meat a week. I cook it that day, or the next day.
Portion it into meal sized packages and freeze. I get good hamburger when it is B1G1 and do the whole thing. It creates less waste and less clean up. I can spend the time to defat it. Defatting hamburger can make it have less fat than boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Directions are on an earlier blog. I make hamburger crumbles, taco meat, meatballs, meatloaf. Sausage is cheapest at Costco , I fry it and defat it as soon as I get it home.

I also make my own taco seasoning, and other mixes. Another way to jack up food prices.

Stair step cooking is cooking a double batch of something and saving some for later in the week. A double batch of rice can be for Mexican rice one day and the base for sweet and sour pork or chicken or beef tips another.

Slow cookers are your best friend in the kitchen. I loved coming home to the smell of dinner when I walked in the door after a long day! I still love the concept, I just don't have a sense of smell! LOL

I have a recipe on the blog for almost FREE pizza!

I want to be in and out of the kitchen in about twenty minutes not including passive cooking. Love it when I can shove something in an oven or slow cooker and walk away to do mail management or wash a load of clothes etc.

In the summer when our east facing kitchen gets hot, ( did I say that in the Pacific NW)I like to make a bunch of salads on Sunday and then cook hot dogs, hamburgers, or chicken on the grill. salads last well into the week.
EASY and my husband does the grilling!!!

The main thing is to not buy anything ready made. A few things are as cheap or cheaper to buy ready made.
I buy tortillas on sale. Ditto refried beans, instant mashed potatoes, pasta sauce (Hunts ) or another can that I found at WinCo. I buy bread and sandwich rolls at the bakery outlet unless I find them cheaper somewhere else.

DELI chicken and Hamburger Meal boxes are about the most expensive items in the store. ...well maybe not if you shop at whole paycheck type stores. LOL My daughter and I thorally investigated hamburger meal box. it's on a blog last summer-- it's a real eye opener. Deli chicken is another topic.

My manta. Better, cheaper, faster!

If you spend more time on the front end of the GET A MEAL ON THE TABLE TRAIN, and less on the back end, you will be better off. You get PAID for shopping, you don't get paid for cooking.

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Jane

The ads

Here are the ads. I actually got them on time!?!!!

QFC

Breyers 1/2 off
Strawberries 2/4
Franz bread 1/2 off
Hebrew national 2/7
Fuji apples 1.00
Pears 1.00

ALBERTSOMS

beef top roumd 1.99
27 percent ground beef 1.99
Lettuce 1.00

Cheese 4.99@@@
Fryers .79. Limit 2 @@@
5# potatoes .79@@@

Veggie sale 1.00
Oranges
Peppers ea
Tomato
Zucchini
Avocados. Ea
Apples
Romaine ea
Cucumbers 1.00 ea
Slaw. Ea


TOP

20 percent beef 1.99
10 percent 4.00
7 percent 4.00

Beans 15/10
Cucumbers .79
Broccoli 1.00

SAFEWAYS

Potroast 2.99
Strawberries 1.99
Apples .99

5 dollar Friday
Brats


That's about all.

Notes. Remember to cross off anything you don't want or use. Or anything that is more expensive, remember, to compare ground beef prices, multiply the price by 1.XX. XX is the percentage of fat. Make it a double digit. 7 percent is .07. Then compare the prices.

@@@ denotes bring store coupon. This product may be rationed.



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Please share, I'm close to a milestone!!!

Jane

Apples.....and plums!

Apples are one of the foods that don't seem to be effected by the rising food prices.

German Apple Cake

3 eggs
2 Cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

4 cups peeled chopped tart apples

Beat eggs, sugar, oil and. Vanilla
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones.
Fold on apples.
Pour into greased 9X13 pan.
Bake at 350 -55-60 minutes or until
It tests done.


Notes. I would use fake sugar to reduce the calories and make it more diabetic friendly.

German Plum Tart

1/2 cup butter
4T sugar, divided
1egg yolk
1cup flour
2 pounds plums

Ceeam butter and 3 T sugar. Beat in egg yolk. Add flour until mixture forms a soft dough.
Press in bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate,
Arrange plum 1/2s cut side down in plate on top of crust. Sprinkle with remaining sugar
Bake at 350 25-45 minutes until crust is golden brown and fruit is tender.


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Jane

Monday Madness

Yesterday I went to the goodwill. Not much there. My husband got a call from family that needed his truck to move a spring and mattress. As luck would have it, I foumd an estate sale down the street from family. I got books,a plate and a swing for my grandaughter and a dozen Taste of Homes for 7 bucks.

We, then went to the rest of our planned trip. I got the supply I needed and we checked out big lots,..zero and went on to grocery outlet. I have to applaud grocery outlet for designating a parking spot for veterans. We got a few things. I got peppers for .50 and parm cheese and seasoned grated cheese. It really perks up Mac and cheese.
Peppers on a large can were 1.29.

I usually do a blog on the ads, and meals from the ads. Once a month I do the basics. I thought I would start and take a food item and explore ideas of what you can do with it.


Ham cubes are inexpensive. A bag will last three meals.
Sometimes I can find them at grocery outlet, but I found them at WinCo last week.

You can...use them in...

omlettes
Quiche with cheese
Split pea soup with carrot
Potato soup with ham
Pizza with pineapple and spinach
In Cobb or club salad

I found a recipe for pasta .

1 pound linguini, or spaghetti.
Ham cubes
1 T butter
2 cups frozen peas
1-1/2 cups parm or Romano
1/3 cup milk or cream


Cook the pasta and drain.

On a skillet, sauté ham in butter. Add peas and heat through. Toss with drained pasta. Add parm and cream.
Serve immediately.

Notes.
This would be good with artichokes too. Blanched celery would stretch it. The microwave pasta cooker would make it really fast. Passive cooking time means you can get a salad made and the table ser and still have time for another chore before you put things together.

I made rice pudding yesterday from a recipe I saw on Facebook. It was really food. I think it is better warm than cool. Really easy and mostly passive cooking.



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Jane

Sunday Dinner

since the pork I bought has a May 10th pull date, we are going to have the chicken first. I plan to roast it off in my " new" kitchen....well I now have ceiling lights and lights in the oven. My kitchen aid lights are not available off the shelf. . They have to be ordered and take a full 10 days to get here. heads upnfor anyone with a fairly new kitchenaid wall oven. They are also 8 dollars EACH. it wouldn't be a bad idea to order them ahead so you have a spare and didn't have to go without like I did. Of course not having ceiling lights didn't help! LOL


Tuna Sub sandwiches

Sub sandwich bums

Garlic oil
2 cans albacore tuna, drained.
Sliced red onion rings
Sliced hot pepper rings
Chopped artichoke hearts
Capers, rinsed
Black olives
White cheese

Slice Buns lengthwise
Pull some bread out of the center of the bun. Reserve for breadcrumbs.
Brush both sides of buns with oil.
Stuff the bread with the remaining ingredients
put top on bread loaf.

Note: tuna is on sale at Bartells for 1.19. if onions are too sharp in taste, soak them in ice water.
Roasted red peppers could be substituted for the hot peppers

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Jane

Best Laid plans number one!!!!

I had no intention on going shopping today. my sister sent me her coupon for WinCo. Ten dollars off of fifty dollars worth of food. We started to go and the car wouldn't run. My husband took it to our local repairman and he had it running in five minutes, so off we went again. We drove to Everett, shopped and got back and put things away in plenty of time for my doc appointment-like in an hour and ten minutes. I spent a net of 36.00. I didn't count my husbands beef jerkey meat he shares with friends. After the doctors, I went to QFC ans got a pork loin for 1.69 a pound and a chicken for .89 a pound. They wanted more for leg quarters at WinCo than the .88 for a whole chicken at QFC.

I will give my daughter the other WinCo coupon to use. Ill try to start using pantry and freezer down next week.


Meals from the shopping trip and the pantry.

Formuls

2 beef
2 pork. Chicken
2 vegetarian
1 fish


1) Ham quiche , mixed berry compote.
2) roast chicken
3) salmon,
4) tacos
5) sliders
6) split pea soup
7) Mac and cheese

I have apples, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, grapes
Radishes, broccoli, lettuce, romaine, red potatoes, reg potatoes
Carrots, celery, cucumbers, asparagus, lemons tomatoes

Regular canned foods and frozen foods.

I have green veggie boxes. They keep veggies fresher longer so everything gets used up and you reuse the plastics over and over.

Friday

It's finally Friday.

I purchased a bisquick cookbook at work for a buck and a Rachel Ray one for .75. They are like new. I have a lot of cookbooks. This particular one tells of the history behind bisquick. My mother didn't use bisquick until we were grown and I taught her what chicken pot pie was. LOL. Bisquickmcame to be in 1931 when a salesman for General Mills discovered that a cook on a train had put some ingredients together so that he could make biscuits faster.m He brought the concept back to the Chemists at General Mills. Over the years they have perfected it to be more healthy.
I have a recipe for home made , but it calls for shortening.m I don't know if they have a healthy alternative for that yet or not. I haven't used shortening in years.
Bisquick is pretty cheap at Costco. My family loves impossible pie and it is easy and quick and uses bits of veggies and meat.

This particular cookbook was published in 2008. It has the basics of waffles, pancakes, biscuits etc, but it also has some innovative things like breakfast pinwheels, cobblers, banana blueberry bread (another one of our favorites and healthy too.) Main dish chicken dishes and lots more.m You can also find recipes on Betty Crocker web site.

30 minute weeknight dinners is a chapter I am going to explore. I would bet that I can get them down to 20 minutes with already preped meat.

There is a section for the fat police! LOL
Turkey cheeseburger melts, vegetable stew etc.



my mantra: If you spend more time on the front end of the "get a meal on the table train" and less time on the back end you will be better off. Essentially, you are being paid for shopping, not for cooking.

This week, I don't have to shop at all. I will take inventory of the perishables and maybe hit the fresh veggie market after I make meal plans up from the meat in the freezer. it's about time we pared it down to defrost it.
I think I'll make a game to seemhowmfarmwemcan go with what's in the freezer. It should show a truer picture of how much the food we eat costs. I know that I have a large stock at the moment spending about 70.00 a week average.

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Jane

Feed your family better, cheaper, faster.

Thursday Thursday

This should be fun. I just found the dictation button on my reader that I got for free because my other one quit.

Breakfast Casserole

1 pound cooked and defatted sausage , set out to room temperature.
2tsp onion powder.

10 large eggs
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
half a teaspoon of pepper
One teaspoon minced garlic

one loaf day old country white bread ,cut into 1.5 inch cubes (about 12 cups )
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Add onion powder to cooked sausage that has been crumbled.
Whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper and garlic powder in large bowl.
Add sausage mixture and remaining ingredients. stir.

Butter a 9X13 pan. Empty bowl into prepared pan. refrigerate one hour or overnight covered with foil.
Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes still covered.
Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes until done and browned.

A quick pre made breakfast. Actual prep time is a minimum. The rest is passive cooking. I would serve it with a fruit compote and a muffin.

If you don't eat pork, or are on a restricted diet, you could substitute egg beaters and turkey sausage. it would be interesting to know the difference between the fat content between defatted pork sausage and turkey sausage.


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Jane


Ps. 1/2 cup of turkey sausage has 4 grams of fat.
1/2 cup of pork sausage defatted has less than 10 grams of fat to the best of my calculations.
I serving of the casserole has 2 ounces of meat, or about 5 grams of fat. 1gram more than if you had a turkey sausage patty . 1pound of sausage is quite generous. You could cut it o 3/4 of a pound .

Wednesday

I have the late shift today. Found this recipe for minestrone.

2T olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
Salt, pepper
2tsp chopped garlic

2 T tomato paste
4 carrots, sliced
2stalks celery,sliced
1 potato, peeled and cubed
Thyme
1 can white beans, ringed and drained
2 quarts water
1cup pasta
2cups spinach


Sauté onion in oil with salt and pepper and garlic. Add tomato paste. Cook for two minutes. Add some water and remaining veggies. Cook until veggies are crisp tender. Pour into slow cooker and add the remaining water and the beans.

Cook on low 8-10 hours. Add spinach and cooked pasta. Cook on high 15-20 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

Serve with Pam and a hard crusty bread or breadsticks.


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Jane

The ads

i got the ads in today's mail!,

SAFEWAYS

B1G1

Top sirloin steak
Sirloin tip
whole chickens

No prices posted, mix and match

FIVE DOLLAR FRIDAY

deli ham and cheese
Sub
Boston cream cake
3 lbs strawberries


ALBERTSONS

Chicken leg portions. .88
Apples .99
Blackberries 2:5
Strawberries z 2/5

QFC

Strawberries 2/4
Milk 2/5
Regs 2/3
Chicken .88 lb. not in ad.

Dreyers2.49. Buy 5 mix annd match
Morning star. 2.99
Dover sole 6.
Cucumbers 1.

Pork loin 1.69

Apples 1
Oranges 1.


TOP

London broil B1G1. Nets 2.75
Pork loin roast nets 2.75

Chili. 1.00
Milk 2.49
Strawberries 2/5
Romaine 2.


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Jane

Tuesday and Terrific

I have written the same paragraph twice I'm response to the naysayers . They can't understand the concept of saving. if you spend 25.00, you spend 25.00. If you loose 10 pounds, You LOOSE ten pounds. If you waste 25.00, you waste 25.00. What a concept! Waste it, save it? The jar is either half empty or half full! LOL

basically, I started writing this blog so people on SNAP that were running out of money before they ran out of month got some help in making informed decisions at the grocery store. Some people that are not on SNAP have incorporated the savings into their budget, enjoyed a new time saving recipe, or a technique to get out of the kitchen faster. Whatever you take from it, I hope I am helping people.

I don't advertise on my blog, I am doing this to try to help .


One of the ways to save on ground beef is to be mindful of the prices and the fat content of the beef. The TRUE price is the amount of the meat per pound TIMES 1.XX. The XX is the amount of fat content it has. Remember if you defat hamburger, you are pouring it down the drain. better in the house pipes than yours!!

If another cut of beef is cheaper than good hamburger, grind your own. If you don't have a kitchen aid grinder attachment, you can get the grinders that our great grandmothers had pretty cheap at an antique store or flea market or in our grannies attic!

Another option.
Freeze chuck roast for about 15 minutes. Cut in in large chunks and pulse chop on the food processor 20 - 22 times until roughly chopped. Rough chop is more tender and juicy. You can add seasoning if you like. Shape into patties or batch cook.


Roasted onion topping for hamburgers.

Chop 1 small onion
Drizzle with olive oil
Sprinkle with salt
Toss

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes until tender.

You can put in the beef mixture before grilling, or add to mayo for on top of the cooked burger.

Other ideas

Teriyaki burgers with pineapple.
Jalapeño burgers
Blue cheese burgers
Any idea?

I'm trying to low carb and lower my blood sugars lately.
Yesterday I had a lettuce wrap with cheese, bacon and tomato . And some fruit for lunch.


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Jane

Zero waste?

The non consumer is talking about zero waste. I think it will be a while before we get to zero waste. Like maybe even never. It would be hard to incorporate no packaging into shopping on the cheap. Many packages can be recycled. I don't buy much that is individually packaged. We bought most of our veggies at the fresh food market and our town is already plastic bag free. bags that you bring to the store have to be washed frequently to keep from contanimating your food. I am sure that my daughter is zero waste, because she comes over and uses my kitchen so she doesn't have to wash dishes by hand! no room for a dishwasher in her unit!

Now, of people would discourage shoplifting, we could do away with the bubble packages that are a bear to open and fill the landfill. LOL. Costco is not very earth friendly. They do recycle boxes and I recycle them again at the store. it is hard to put a set of dishes in a brown paper bag.


Almost all of our garbage can be recycled. I think this movement is talking avout not using any packaging at all.
I am not sure in this day and age that that idea is sustainable in the burbs. It is a noble idea, I just don't know how practical it is for the average home. We will start by getting everything that can br recycled in the recycle bin and taking our packaging to the store to be used again.

On to other topics. I'm not sure what people want to see on this blog there's a comment section on the bottom. You can comment anonymously. please let me know what you want to read about. Recipes? Techniques to get out of the kitchen faster? Where to find the best prices? The basic plan? meal plans? I can't tell by the amount of hits . Sometimes I am inundated with spam.

Meal plans and the recipes that correlate with them can be found At www.womansday.com/meals. Some of them wouldn't fly with my family. A lot of them wouldn't have flown with my parents. Some of them would be interesting to try.
My husband has been really good about critiquing my experiments! LOL

Stair-stepping meals are a good way to not have waste and be more efficient in the kitchen.
Roasted salmon can become a salmon cassarole or be in a salad.

Rice can be Spanish rice with Mexican or Sweet and sour chicken or pork or braised beef on rice.
rice has a short fridge life, use it within 2 days . Dirto beans. Rice pudding???

We all know about Roasted chicken, chicken pot pie, chicken burritos, chicken noodle soup, terriaki chicken, chicken salad, white pizza.....

Batch cooking meat especially is a good time saver. If you batch cook groumd meat at your leisure, you will be more likely to spend the time to de fat it. defatted ground beef has LESS fat than boneless, skinless chicken breast.

Having a few very quick meals at your disposal is a good way to beat the I have no time and have had a hard day blues! For us that is tacos or a hot sandwich. It used to be roast beef a jus. it is getting harder to find a sirloin roast on sale these days. pulled pork or BBQ pork is a option.

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Jane

Dinner

I made enchalada sauce from scratch tonight for dinner for our enchiladas. I made a recipe from the food channel. It called for chicken stock, but I used water so that I could make the vegetarians happy. it was spicy. We like spicy and the baby are her noodles instead. Imfilled whole wheat tortillas with beans, rice, green chilis and jalapeño jack cheese. We topped them with lettuce,tomato, black olives and sour cream. Very filling.

I have been experimenting with new recipes a lot lately.

When we went to happy hour last week, I had stuffed chicken with asparagus and a cesear salad. They just took a couple of whole leaves of romaine with shaved parm, they added a couple of anchovies( I gave them to my husband. )
And a lemon wedge. The chicken was poumded thin. A bread stuffing with dried cranberries was spread on it and it was rolled up and cooked. They served it with asparagus cooked al dente.

They also cook salmon with a shrimp stuffing and drizzle balsamic vinegar over top. I saw a reduced balsamic vinegar on a cooking show last week. I think it was The Chew. They grilled romaine and drizzled it with reduced balsamic vinegar.

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Jane

Sunday Salads

its Sunday and again, I don't have a clue what to write about. I have enjoyed 50 to 80 hit days for a while now. yesterday was a bummer and the Russian porn queens were back in a vengeance. It was an angry birds kind of day.LOL

Went to Costco yesterday to get the things that I forgot. Thats what I get for not writing a list.
we had chicken sausage with Gouda and apple, peppers, and red potatoes for dinner --one pot meal. We had mixed berries for desert.

We eat a lot of one pot meals because they are quick and easy and the clean up is easy too. Precooking meat is another way to make clean up after meal time easier. I am old and I run out of gas by the time dinnertime rolls around especially if I have worked that day. When the children were little, it was always a hectic time of day.

One of the other advantages of shopping two stores is that if the produce looks bad at one store, you have another alternative.

remember, you get paid for shopping, not for cooking. I still want tasty, good nutrition, I just don't want the time consuming work. If you are a person that loves to cook and has the time, I think that it is great! I just don't have the energy and time these days and suspect other people are in the same boat.

Enough rambling...

I am going to make yesterday's French toast recipe (the ome nobody looked at) for breakfast this morning. I got blueberries at costco yesterday.

summer is coming-- well maybe in the Pacific NW!?!LOL.

Salad for dinner on the deck is a pleasant relaxing experience.


Chicken chopped salad

4 - 4ounces boneless skinless chicken breast pieces
1T cumin
1t paprika
1/8 teaspoon of red pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
6 cups gourmet salad greens
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tsp olive oil

Lemon wedges optional
Place chicken breast half between two sheets of waxed paper. Flatten with meat mallet. Place spices and dash of salt and pepper in a large Ziploc bag add chicken and shake to coat.

grill chicken 3 minutes a side or until done.

Place greens on a large bowl.

Combined vinegar, marmalade ,soy sauce and olive oil and stir with a whisk .

Pour salad dressing over greens and toss.
Place chicken on top of each individual plate.

I might add some parm cheese, nuts ? water chestnuts?
Anything with an Asian flair that would taste good and serve with a roll.

Taco Salad

Mix a heaping cup of cooked taco meat with 3/4 cup salsa heat through on low heat on the stove or in the microwave, covered.

Place lettuce on each plate. Place some meat mixture on each plate. Add chopped tomato, grated cheese, tortilla Chips, chopped green onion.
Black olives would be good too. I would serve with salsa and sour cream.

Shrimp and orzo salad

1cup uncooked orzo

1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon olive oil
half a teaspoon dried oregano

2 cups diced seeded tomatoes
1cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1pound medium shrimp cooked and peeled.

Cook and drain orzo.
Mix together salad dressing ingredients
Toss orzo, remaining ingredients together.
Toss with dressing.
Chill about 4 hours.


That's all for today.

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Jane

Suddenly Saturday

Yesterday was grocery shopping day. In an hour and forty-five minutes.

Went to the fresh food market.
Went to Safeways
Went to the discount store for business supplies
And went to another store for supplies
And on to Costco for meds and some cheese.


I got asparagus for a dollar a pound. purchased jicama so that my grandaughter could taste it for the first time.
Some squash and salad greens.
On to Safeways for the rest of the veggies I needed and scallops on sale for five bucks among other buys.
the discount store still has no runners, but I was fruitful at the second store.

I'm still well under budget.


Breakfast for dinner is a way to cut costs...the kids think it is a special treat!

Baked French Toast

1/4 cup melted butter

4 eggs
1cup milk
1tsp vanilla
Nutmeg
8 slices Texas toast.

Pour butter in baking pan, coat bottom of pan.

Mix remaining ingredients EXCEPT bread in a bowl.

Dip bread in bowl coating both sides

Place on buttered pan.bake at 375 for 20 minutes.


Serve with syrup or blueberries or another fruit in season.



That's all for today

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Jane

Friday

Again, I have writers block. The fresh food stand is open for the spring and summer. Usually this time of year it is usually a lot of shrubs and some food. But, I think we will go since it can be on the way to Safeways. Top has herbs for a herb garden for 4/5.00. I might have to plant my porch tub.

Meals from the ads

Our basis is
2 beef
2 Chicken or Pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish


1) salmon , mashed potatoes, salad.
2) Mac and cheese, broccoli
3) eggs, hash browns, berry cup with yogurt. Toast
4) Pork chops, stuffing, salad, green beans
5) chicken sausage, peppers, red potatoes, hard crusty bread
6) enchiladas , chopped salad.
7) London broil, baked potatoes, green salad

Notes I found enchilada sauce by google ing the food network. Emeril has one.
I got salmon for a dollar a portion last week.
Mac and cheese is a good way to clean out the cheese bin.
Stuffing uses up all those bread ends.
Chicken sausage is the lowest price at grocery outlet.
London broil is 2.99 at Safeways. Thinly slice for stroganoff ( raw)the unused portion, or a cooked for a jus sandwiches , or grind for ground beef. It only comes in the giant economy size. Or, share the cost with another family member or close neighbor.

1-1/4 cups enchilada sauce
3/4 pound ( 12 ounces cooked taco meat )
1-1/2 cups grated cheese ( Mexican blend? Or cheddar)
1/2 can chopped green chilies
Chopped onion
8 corn tortillas

Pour 1/2 the sauce in a baking dish
Combine in a bowl the meat, chilies, onion and 1/2 of the cheese.
Fill each tortilla with 1/2 cup of mixture. Roll up and place
seam side down in baking dish.
Pour remaining sauce over tortillas, sprinkle with remaining cheese and a few peppers.
Cover with foil and bake at 3:5o for 26 minutes or until cheese is melted and enchiladas are hot.
Serve with chopped lettuce and tomato and sour cream.


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Jane

Thursday... The weekend looms

I read an old cookbook on my break yesterday.It was the history of Campbell's soups. Very fun to read. brings back old memories.I can remember chicken noodle soup. We lived four blocks from the school, so I came home for lunch.
Sometimes Mom would buy bean and bacon soup.

There were many good recipes that could be adapted to be scratch recipes and the basic green bean cassarole and tuna noodle.Some nostalgia still reigns.

There is a recipe for chicken enchiladas. It calls for enchilada sauce. Modes anyone know a recipe for easy enchilada sauce? Buying sauce jacks up the price too much.

They make my sausage and bean soup by substituting the beans for pasta and flip flopping the balance of tomato and broth. Add sausage and chicken cubes .

Tomato soup spice cake. Never had it, I can't picture what it would taste like and what to substitute for the shortening. has anybody tasted it before?


Combine red potato, broccoli, red pepper, green onion and lemon juice .

I read last night that red potatoes have 34 carbs for a three inch one ! Guess it is 1/2 a potato for me....bummer!
Regular russets are much more carb friendly!

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Jane

The Ads

The ads for this week.

TOP

Hagan veggies, beans, and diced tomatoes 15/10.00....67 ea
7 percent hamburger 3.99***
Pan bread 1.79@YO@@@
5# potatoes 1.00@@
Hormel chicken sausage 3.99
Asparagus 1.29




QFC

BUY 5
Dryers 2.49
Cheerios 1.99
Best foods 2.79


Strawberries 2/4
Hills hire farm smoked sausage 2/5
Country ribs 1.99
Raspberries 2.99


ALBERTSONS

Strawberries 3/3.99
Milk 2.49

Thurs-Sunday
Manwich, tomatoes, pasta sauce .68 limit six
Tillamock ice cream 2/5

Cucumbers .69
Carrots .79

SAFEWAYS

London broil 2.99
Bottom round roast 2.99
7 percent hamburger 2.99
Apples .99
Strawberries 2.00

5 dollar Fridays
8 lbs naval oranges
Jiff 40 ounces. Limit 2
Hunts pasta sauce 1.00****
Grapes 2.99
Mushrooms 1.79


That's about it. ***note the variations in prices
@@@@denotes a coupon in the store flyer.

Be sure to cross off everything that is higher priced elsewhere andmanythingnyou don't want or need.
Now pick the best two. Sometimes like last week, there were only ome for us. We shopped the alternative stores to fill in.

2.99 isn't bad for 7 percent hamburger, but last weeks 2.75 is better.

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Jane

Misc notes

Check out Myfridgfood.com. Today is a recipe for garlic chicken. It would be a good sauce for wings, sweet and sour with green pepper and pineapple...over rice with pork cubes? Using fake brown sugar would bring done the carbs, but they are pretty low already!

USDA stats for Feb are out.

3 Adults on the thrifty plan are 127.00 a week-- actual food eaten

( my daughter buys the some of the baby's food and some of the fake meat.so I'm not counting the baby)

We spend an. Average of 70.00 less 7.00 excess stock equals 63.00

1/2 of 127.00 is 63.35.


I only use store coupons, the other ones are too time consuming and are usually for ready made or things I never buy anyway. I keep our. Meals pretty simple. I don't buy organic, salt free, or fat free unless there is no price difference and they taste good.

Terrific Tuesday

Last night we had beef tips on rice, and a salad. I have enough left to put the tips and gravy together with the roasted root vegetables left from the other night and have stew with some crusty bread Tommorrow night. I have to work Wednesday. planned leftovers are like a free meal! LOL. Freshen it up with some herbs.

Always make a plan, but be flexible.

Salad

Romaine is a better bet for greens. The darker the leaf, the more nutrition. They also last longer.


Croutons

2 cups cubed French bread. toss with 2 T garlic olive oil. Toss the cubes and place them on sheet pan. Bake at 400 for 6-7 minutes, stirring a couple of times.

Dressing
4 t lemon juice
1-1/2 t Dijon mustard
1/2t w sauce
Dash of pepper
2T oil
Mix together

Salad
4 cups romain washed and torn
2T parm cheese
1 medium apple. Diced (soak in vinegar or lemon juice to keep from discolouring. )

Toss together croutons, dressing and greens.

6 servings

I am going to add some parts of some recipes to my personal cookbook. I want the croutons, dressing and the teriyaki
sauce from a couple of weeks ago.

I found good mustard at Big Lots. Wait until they have a 20 percent sale. I see that they have raised the price on tomatoes, but there is still some older stock. You don't always see the same things every time and they don't take SNAP. The savings are remarkable .48 vs 1.69 is a lot per can. 1.21X 2 for a pot of soup is 2.42. Add 1.80 savings for beans and you have 4.22 savings . that's more than 1/2 price. A pot of soup enough for a meal and lunch the next day is 3.11. Almost less than two cans of ready made soup.
And it takes about 10 minutes of your time.

Six cans at 1.50 is 9.00. Scratch is 3.11. Rounding that's 6.00 savings. 10 is 1/6 of an hour. That's 36.00 an hour. Add taxes you aren't paying to earn that 36.00 and you have to make 43.20 an hour to spend that 36.00.
Food for thought.


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Jane

Monday Madness

it's catch up day here, I have been sick all week. I'll be glad when the doc talk to each other and decide what is wrong with me.

Veggie Chicken Packet.
uses bone in chicken breast. Sometimes I have purchased them for 1.25 a pound.

For EACH packet

2 T instant rice
1chicken breast 1/4, or about 4 punches. ( the size of the palm of your hand.
1/ cup sliced carrot
2onion slices, separate into rings
1/4 cup peppers, sliced thin.
1 T water
1 T w sauce
2tsp sou sauce
1 T butter

Place rice in the center of a 14 inch square piece of foil
Top with chicken and veggies
Mix liquids together
Pour over chicken.
I would cup the edges of the foil first.
Dot with butter.
Fold foil around chicken and seal.
Place n baking pan and bake at 350 for 65-75 minutes or until chicken is done.
Open foil carefully, there will be steam!!!


I know the purists would say that I am filling the landfill, you can use used foil.

It would be a good recipe for a busy day. Even a older child or a culinary challenged spouse could put the packets on pan and get them started in the oven. LOL

You could also use already cooked chicken and shorten the time. Yhen you would just worry about how long the rice and veggies would take to cook. It would really be fast if you used leftover rice, maybe even finely chop the pepper in with it. I have a thing about white food. It needs colour. LOL

There is an earlier post on foil packets. It's a good thing to do when you are working late and you can fix them ahead for someone else to shove in the oven. Kids like the packets...it's like camping.




Vegetarian Noodle dish

1 can diced tomatoes, drained ( save juice for veggie stock! Or freeze in ice cube trays.
1can of tomato purée (tomato paste )
1/3 cup chopped onion
1tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Salt, pepper


2-1/2 cup UMCOOKED noodles
1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese
Spinach, cooked and squeezed dry.
1-3 cup grated cheese.


Combine first group of ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes.
Cook noodles

Layer in baking dish ( like lasagna)

Sauce
Noodles
Cottage cheese
Spinach
Tomato mixture

Repeat ending with grated cheese

bake at 350 20-25 minutes.


A good way to use up the last bits of cottage cheese. Very inexpensive. You could mix the spinach with the cottage cheese and save a step.


I started this blog to help people cook good nutritious meals on a tight budget. it came to my attention that some people on SNAP were running out of money before they ran out of month. we eat on about 1/2 of the USDA statistics for a thrifty plan. It is doable. no, we are not on SNAP. In the process, I have learned that other people that want to get out of the kitchen faster because they have busy lives and people that like trying a new recipe like it as well. It can't help anyone if they are not motivated to try. Not having food in the house at the end of the month should be motivation enough. It doesn't make your child or children feel secure when they know the cupboards are empty.

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Jane

Sunday

we finished our grocery shopping yesterday. I started out just wanting to go to the goodwill. I didn't find anything at the goodwill but two magazines. I like .50 instead of upwards of three dollars. my husband wanted the smoked Gouda that I used up making cheese Strada this week, so we went to grocery outlet and big lots.

Big lots had ice cream comes...just the cone part for 1.30. It was my mothers treat for the grandchildren. I really wanted to share the experience with my grandaughter. What a mess, but she thoroally enjoyed it, and she did eat all of her dinner.

Grocery outlet yielded tomatoes, tortilla chips, grated cheese, seasoned Mexican flavors and radishes.
We had pot roast and roasted root veggies for dinner, carrots, red potatoes and radishes. Radishes are really yummy, they loose their spicy taste!


Pudding is a good desert to add calcium into the diet. boxed puddings are expensive and I am guessing have preservatives and anti caking agents in them.


BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3T cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2T butter
2tsp vanilla

whip cream garnish optional...or a few chopped peanuts....or some cocoanut?

In a saucepan, combine the dry ingredients. Mix.
pour in the milk and stir over medium high heat until thickened and bubbly.
Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes longer.
Remove from heat . Temper the egg yolks into the pudding.
Add the butter and vanilla to the pudding at the end. cool for 15 minutes.

Spoon onto desert dishes and cover and chill.

This could be almost no carbs of you used fake sugar. Or 1/2 and 1-2 if you aren't diabetic.


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Jane

Suddenly Saturday

We went on a shortened shopping trip since the ads weren't that great and I had a doc appointment in the morning.

Albertsons usually are the most expensive store of my four chains. This week they had enough sales to make it worth my while.

They had a choice of three different apples for .88 and you get an additional 1.00 off if you buy a bag. We like apples, it's not hard to use up a bag.

Pot roast was buy one, get one. I bought two. Well have pot roast one night and probably pulled beef sandwiches another unless we have company.

The other one I will cut up for stew.

Pasta sauce was .88, Manwich was .68. Tomatoes were .68. Cheese was 4.99-limit two , several varieties.


I for a BARTELLS flyer on the mail. They have Libby veggies .59 . And the Blue box pasta for a buck. It was 2.19 at Another store. 1.19 savings is HUGE!

having a vegetarian in the house , we use a lot of pasta and sauce. Some nights there is two meals happening and if the second one is not baby friendly, there are three.

I don't usually buy Manwich, but .68 is cheaper than making it from scratch!

you can oven roast potato wedges and have homemade fries. Take a sheet pan with sides. MI use a 1/4 sheet pan I got years ago ar Costco. Spread some olive oil on the pan. Wash the potatoes and cut them into wedges. 1/8ths of they are large. Dry them with a towel. And putnthem on your pan and drizzle olive oil on them. Toss. I usually add some parm and herbs on top. Maybe thyme, rosemary, or parsley in a pinch. one time I found rosemary parm for. .50 at the grocery outlet. it made two batches.

you can do the same thing with any root vegetable you have. Mix your veggies. Carrots, potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips, sweet potatoes, radishes. Any combo that suits your family and your main dish. Radishes take on a whole new flavor!

My easy take on pot roast is to dump it dry into a slow cooker. Cut an onion up on top (rough cut) pour a beer on top. Add broth f needed to come 3/4 of the way up the roast. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. I base the hours on when we want to eat and how early I get my act together. LOL

Serving a salad and a veggie , a starch and a meat means you will eat less meat and also fulfill the 5 -8 servings of fruits and veggies for the day. Sometimes, especially when strawberries are in season, we have strawberries for desert with a little chocolate and whip cream! The strawberries are still a little if fy yet.


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Jane

Friday

I can't believe I have written over 300 posts about food! The chew made a comment on Facebook that the average family pays nine thousand dollars a year on food. That is about a hundred dollars more a week than we spend.
A lot of people commented that they spend less and some spend more. I know that there are some cities in the US that are a lot more expensive to live than others. I certainly found out this weekend that my shopping plan would take some adjusting for the average family that lives n that town. It was a tourist town and I am expecting many people can find a way to go to the next town for provisions one or two times a month. stocking up would take on a whole new urgency. Regardless of your situation, there is something you can take away from this. The amount you use from this blog is up to you.

Veggie Primaverra

Olive oil
1/2 cup each sliced carrots, chopped celery, broccoli, bell peppers
Tomato juice, peas

1 tsp minced garlic
Basil
Salt, pepper
1.5 cups dry bow tie pasta, cooked

In oil in skillet fry carrot, celery, broccoli and peers and garlic
Add tomato juice and peas,small pepper and basil.
Cook until veggies are tender.

Toss sauce into drained bow ties. garnish with parm or Romano.

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Jane

The ads, finally

I finally got the ads, there was no holiday, so I don't know the delay.

TOP

Sirloin steak 2.99

@@denotes coupons on ads

Cheese 4.99@@
Milk 1.99@@

Shredded cheese?.watch the weight.  U want 8 ounces
Dried beans 1.25
Rice  2 lbs 1.99

Strawberries 2 lbs 5
Cucumber .79
2lbs carrots 1.00

Rotisserie chicken 6.00**
QFC

milk 2.50***

Tomatoes.99
Mango .99
Soup 1.00***
Cottage cheese 1.00


Top round roast b1G1. Nets 3.25
Pork shoulder 1.79
80 percent ground beef 2.66***

ALBERTSONS

b1G1 meat sale
Chuck roast or steak 2.75 net
Sirloin steak  3.00 net
Pork loin chops 1.50 net

15 percent beef 2.99
Thurs-Sunday. Cheese 4.99. Limit 2

Canned diced tomatoes .68 limit 6
Pasta sauce .88

SAFEWAYS

Chuck roast 2.99
Country ribs 1.99

5 dollar Fridays
50 cookies 5.00
Sub kit  5.00

Milk 2.59
20 ground beef 3. 49 lb
Sirloin tip 3.99

That's about it for ads.

Now, With calculator on hand I am going to try to break down the ground beef prices.
The calculations depict the amount you are paying for meat.  Remember  you are pouring the fat down the drain.  Better in the house pipes than yours!!!

15 percent fat, Safeways 3.49. Equals 4.02 a pound
Beef chuck roast, ALBERTSONS 2.75
20 percent fat QFC, 3.19
15 percent, TOP 3.45
15 percent ALBERTSONS  3.44

QFC  is cheapest, but ALBERTSONS is a better buy at 2.75 if you grind your own.

Notes. You need to cross off anything that is cheaper elsewhere.  note the discrepancies in prices between stores.  Soup should be .75.  Deli chicken isn't a bargain at any price.

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Jane

Wicked Wednesday

I still have an ear infection and have to open the store this morning, so this will be short.

This is inventory the fridge day. We didn't get the ads yet, so they will come out Tommorrow. Maybe,

Cheese Sandwich Cassarole.  From retro Betty Crocker
grease a bakimg dish and arrange 6 slices of bread
Cover with six slices of sharp cheese
Top with 6 more slices of bread

make a mixture of
2 eggs
2-1/2 cups milk
Salt, pepper, dry mustard

Pour over the "sandwiches", chill in fridge until bread is softened from the egg mixture.

Bake at  350 for an hour.

Serve with a creamed vegetable.

Serves six.

A good way to use up the free bread from the bakery outlet and add another vegetarian meal to your list.  ,  I would temper it with a low fat dinner the next day.  It's all about variety and balanced
moderation.

We tried this tonight.  I put it in the refer for 3 house.  It would have been better if I had covered it with plastic wrap and put it in longer.  I would have turned them over the last ten minutes of cooking and sprinkled them with a little grated cheese.

Not terrible we ate most of a 9X13 pan..three adults.  The baby wasn't impressed! LOL

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Jane

Terrific Tuesday

We have spent the last two days at the beach.  It is spring break, but still off season.  That's  probably why we got such cheap coupons for lodging. LOL.  We have a very nice room with a view, wifi, and a short walk to the beach complete with a little kitchen bar.  I always throw some things in a insulated bag before we go on long trip.  things like cheese, crackers, fruit, some chocolate!  A couple of drinks.  it is really a good thing I did that this time.

.There is one  independent chain grocery store in the town.  They have nothing.  I thought I could at least get a family circle or something to read.  hey had one bottle of non sugar flavored water.  The vegetables looked ready for the dumpster.  I can see where 1/2 price shopping trips would have to be altered to going maybe twice a month to the next town twenty miles away.  Or you would have to carpool with a neighbor and take turns.

There was one reasonable??? Priced place to eat after six o'clock.  It was a fish and chips place.  It cost 40.oo for fish and and chips and I had ice tea and my husband had 1 beer,  it was our anniversary, so we splurged.  I had brought 1/2 a bagel from the free breakfast the night before and we had fruit, ( I can't have a whole bagel on a diabetic diet). breakfast.  we found Subway a few miles into the next small town and got subway for dinner.  Altogether, we spent 68.00 for three days plus some of the food we brought along.

We did stop I'm the next town.  they had the biggest dollar store I have ever seen.  I found a cd crate that I have been using to store CD cases for the business I needed a different colour.  We found cookies and paper towels.  My husband got salami and pepperoni.

That's about all from the road.

Please share and comment.

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Warning. Warning warning

I just tried to log on to the non consumer advocate.  It  redirects you to a ugly website that is in Chinese.  It may harm your computer.

Four plus one is five

Four people, one meal, five bucks.

I base my 1/2 price meals on an a typical family of two parents and two school aged kids. I had a budget of fifty dollars a week in the mid nineties when our children were teenagers.  I still maintained a stock.

From what I can gather the typical SNAP allowanceis three hundred a month. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you spend ten dollars a day on dinner, there either is no money left over for breakfast and lunch or you are going to run out of money before you run out of month.  LOL

My goal for this post is to list  20 - 5 dollar dinners.   Assume that if there is  only an entrée listed, you are going to add an appropriate  veggie or a salad and  a starch if needed.  I usually serve a salad and a veggie and a starch with a meat based dinner.

1) tacos with taco meat, lettuce, tomato and cheese. Refried beans salsa and sour cream
2) Spaghetti with meatballs, green salad, hard crusty bread
3) no brainer pasta , French bread, salad
4) Beef, bean and rice burritos
5) sloppy joes, salad or veggie sticks and French fries
6) roast chicken, oven roasted root veggies, salad
7) BBQ chicken legs and thighs, mashed potatoes, green beans
8) chicken pot pie
9) chicken club sandwiches
10) chicken soup
11) pulled pork sandwiches
12) sausage bean soup
13) sausage, eggs, hash browns ,fruit
14) sausage, peppers, red potatoes
15) Pork Loin Roast
16) tomato  basil soup, cheese quesadas.
17) pizza
18) Mac and cheese
19) split pea soup
20) spaghetti with mushrooms, spinach and parm

21) BBq pork sandwiches
22) pork stew

I was reading the family circle magazine.
If you go to  Facebook.com/familycirclemag and push like,there is a free download for twenty minute meal ideas.  remember, if there is an ingredient that makes the recipe too expensive, try to substitute it for something of like flavor and texture.



This is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure you can think of more.


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Please share,

Jane

Happy Easter, technical difficulties no end

 Happy Easter!!  It is a beautiful day and for once in a long time, the kids can hunt eggs without getting wet!  It's a good time to set the table with Granny's china and crystal and a whole set of implements.  When I was wandering through the goodwill (waiting for my husband to get a haircut next door). I happened on to a display of an Easter table setting.  I couldn't help myself, I had to fix it. Whoever set it up didn't know how to set a table.  I hope those formalities of life don't get lost in our hectic fast paced casual world.

Setting the table special sometimes and adding a splurge ingredient makes groceries on the cheap more doable.  My mother economized a lot, but we never knew it,  We always ate good for the times.
The culture of food has become more global and a lot more healthy since the 50 s in some ways.  We didn't  have the junk food that kids are being bombarded with, but we also didn't have the access to all the fresh food and vegetables that we get today.  All I remember is bananas and green peppers.  When my aunt lived with us we got grapefruit  and oranges.  I still have the scar to prove it....at 9 I wasn't to good with the knife...the grapefruit won! LOL. We had Melmack , pink and turquoise, and aluminum glasses.  my kids informed me that Alf came from Melmack.  LOL

One of our favorites is blue cheese.  I take a box of roasted red pepper and tomato soup and add basil, milk or cream and blue cheese.  I only get the soup when Costco has it.  At Costco it is about two dollars a box.  At the grocery store it is upwards of four dollars.  I make Mac and cheese using whatever is in small supply in the cheese drawer.  I grate all the bits and pieces and mix them together and add some blue cheese.  I make a topping of breadcrumbs, parm, and parsley.  I use the word parm loosely, it's usually parm, Romano, or whatever the hard cheese I get at Costco for 12.00 a wedge.  The wedge lasts a long time.  I use a microplane to grate it.  A little goes a  long way.  Never buy parm in a box!

You don't need every gadget they make in your kitchen.  but there are a few that really make life easier and are budget friendly...that is, they pay for themselves in a short period of time.

The microwave pasta cooker passive cooks pasta , no watched or stired pot, and drains it in the same pot.

A microplane stretches cheese a long way and hides onions from an non onion eater! LOL

A food processor. Grates cheese, makes pizza dough, makes breadcrumbs...hacento you priced the bread crumbs in a box?  Not to mention they are free if you use the bread that would otherwise go to waste.  Makes short work of chopping veggies or making olive spread.  All,cheaper than buying it already prepped.

Remember, if you spend more time on the front end of the get the  meals on the table train and less
time on the back end, you will be better off.  You get paid for shopping, not for cooking.

 If you are on snap, Save up, look at garage and estate sales and the goodwill, let it be known to family and friends that you want a particular item.  You never know.  I have found blenders, and mixer parts free before.  I found a free food processor too, but it didn't have any safety features on it.  that could be penny wise and pound foolish.  Buying used or free has to be tempered with  a large dose of common sense.  I wouldn't buy a mattress used or get one from someone that wasn't a family member.  YUK.  it, most of our wood furniture is second hand either from antique stores or hand me downs.  My grandaughter has a table and chair set from old kindergarten chairs and a table I got at the goodwill for five bucks.
I digress.  This is about food ! LOL

I can't say enough about the virtues of a slow cooker.  there is something remarkable about a appliance that costs 25 bucks and with a couple minutes of work in the morning, you can have the
smell of a home cooked meal waiting for you when you walk in the door.

Next time my other catch phrase. 4+1=5 !

Thanks for stopping by

Please share. It really makes my day to get comments

Jane



Thanks formsto


,

Leftovers and Garbage

I thought that I would talk about leftovers and garbage.  I try really hard not to throw a lot away.  Some garbage is inevitable.  Leftovers can be kept to a minimum by batch cooking meat and portion controlling.  Leftover  dinner usually becomes lunch the next day if there is any.  There are insulated lunch boxes and bowls that are thermal so they keep food hot a long time.At the cost of lunch out,the  cost is more than justified.

Keeping ahead of stock and rotating cans is a little harder.  Most cans have a three to four year shelf life.  Some dry goods are less.  I have a beer box that has been fortified with duct tape for instant mashed potatoes.  I try to put new stock in the back of the box.  Some can goods are not clearly labeled. My mother used to use a grease pencil to label the date she purchased them on top of the can.

There are bags and boxes that are green and keep vegetables fresh longer.  They too are worth the investment.

Chopping more of what you are chopping for a recipe and freezing the rest in a zip lock in the door of the freezer...is a good way to get a head start on soups and pizza.  ...if your freezer is like mine putting it on a shelf would make it lost forever.  He he .

Vegetable scraps can become vegetable broth.  Chicken bones, chicken soup.  Bananas -- banana bread.  Fruit on the edge can become a smoothie.  It take too much fruit to have smoothies very often on a more  than frugal budget.  Cottage cheese can be in lasagna or stuffed shells.  Milk can be pudding or potato soup.  Baked potato soup is really yummy.  Spinach makes pesto. Top a chicken pizza, fill a flank steak with spinach, cheese and roasted red peppers.  ( thanks. Jan) That's about it.

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Please share.  Comments just make my day.

Jane

Friday Frenzie No. 2

As promised I went to Thriftway at Ballinger.  They advertised eggs for .69 if you  purchased 20 worth of food.  It was very hard to buy twenty dollars worth of food and stay with my target prices.  I found coleslaw for a buck and green beans for 1.69.  They were picking the produce when I was there, something I don't see often at some stores.  I wound up splurging on really good cheese for my husband and some jalapeño bread for myself.  The bread wasn't as good as the bread I get at
TOP's , but TOP doesn't always have it.  And, they didn't give me my eggs for .69.  I had to go back.

The eighty eight cent TV dinners  were 1.19.  Butter was 3.39.  the .78 pasta sauce is 1.49.  The tomatoes I have been finding for .48 were 1.69.  Pasta instead of a 1.00 is 2.19 ( I think that's the change I wrote..over two dollars.  
Needless to day, I don't think I'll be making that trip again.

I did go to the dollar store after that for superglue to fix my shoes.  They didn't have superglue, go figure, but I picked up more French fries.  The quality is fine and a lot less than the sale price of French fries and less than scratch.  They have Ore Ida too.

That's about it.

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Jane

Friday frenzie

I happened on to a new blog.    The "nonconsumeradvocate.com. .  She was talking about living for a specific period of time on what food stamps would be and and donating the savings to the food bank.  

And she goes on about her adventures at the goodwill.  She really has a  sense of humor!  I am not totally of her belief system, but I can  relate to a  lot of it.

  I really don't  want to pay a lot for consumables.  I would rather spend money on something with lasting value.  Especially if it will save me more money.  buying a good set of pans means you never have to buy those again.  Buying some labor and time saving appliances means your quality of life is enhanced.  A good slow cooker will outlast several cheap ones.  money and the environment saved.  we do more than our fair share of goodwill, consignment store and antique store shopping.  lots of times, buying old is the same  price or less and a whole lot better quality.   Real china  far less likely to chip than ironstone or  earthenware.  Now, if you flat  out drop  any dish, even plastic and Corelli, it will break. LOL

And Corelle  will shatter in a zillion pieces...ask me how I know LOL.   I am not, however, willing to use broken pans, or unplug my watch every night to save my dollar store watch battery.  LOL.    most of us could do with a lot less than  we have.  I have been slowly decluttering our house and buying a whole lot less non consumables.  I'm trying to buy only what we really need.  

I purchased a new pair of bedroom curtains at the goodwill.  They we're still in the original box.  they go well with my decor and they were five bucks.  I just had to shop at the goodwill because my husband was getting a haircut next door!  

Now that I have completely gotten off the food subject, I digress.  

I found a "new" store , or rather it found me,  They have. Started putting ads in the small local paper.  

last week, they had no real bargains.  This week they have eggs for 69 if you buy twenty dollars worth of food.  their produce seems cheaper than a lot of other stores and their ice cream  is cheaper I think.    Also, there is a rumor that IGA is going in where Petosas used to be.  I sure hope  so, there are a lot of old folks downtown that relied on Petosas for their food.  

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Jane

I will post Tommorrow  if we shop.  

The meals from the ads

For  anyone new, I usually do meals from the ads. I make my own meal plans after I shop.  Usually I have enough to make a few dinners before I shop.  heck, at this point in time, we could go for several weeks without shopping....no real milk and fresh veggies, but we could survive.  I plan it that way.  I still spend less than the amount we would get for food stamps...like about half.  I make meal palms after shopping, because I have been shopping too many times when either the specials weren't there, they weren't fit to eat, or something was on sale cheaper or better.

Our  formula for variety is
2 beef
2 pork or chicken
2 vegetarian
1 shellfish or fish

Your formula may be different.

I 'll try to go through my thought process.  First, I'm looking at the fridge and dumping anything that might have gotten away from me and making a mental note of what needs to be eaten soon.

I have cottage cheese, some fresh berries, some hard rolls, grapes, carrots and celery and assorted peppers.

Ham is a buck a pound all over.  Pork loin is 1.99.  I'll go with ham.
I have pork loin in the freezer.
Ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans ,salad
Ham quiche , mixed berries


Spaghetti and meatballs **meat from last week , salad, hard rolls (garlic bread)
Meat pizza...ham, hamburger crumbles. Peppers etc, salad

vegetable bean soup
Mac and cheese, glazed carrots

Alaska cod baked with herbs, baked potatoes, green salad --Safeways 5 buck Friday.
notes, by buying in bulk last week when 7 percent ground beef was 2.75 a pound, you saved 1-25 q pound.  By making meatballs last week, you save a good twenty minutes off your dinner time cooking.  The meatballs can be heating in a can of sauce while you make a salad and bread and cook the noodles.  I use a pasta cooker in the microwave, it's soo easy.
Vegetable bean soup is just sausage and bean soup without the sausage done in the crockpot.
That's about it.  None of it is too time consuming.


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Jane

The ads

here are the ads ..mostly Easter entertaining.  

Note pork loin and cheese prices.  

QFC

Ham .99
Strawberries 2/4
Tillamock cheese 5.00***
Radishes .69
Pineapple 2.50

buy 5 save 5

Bread,     ice cream,     nabisco crackers,     morning star "meat"
  1.99.       2.69.              1.79.                            2.99

TOP

ham .97
Eggs 2/3 @@@
Butter 1.77@@@
Strawberries 2 lbs 2.99@@@
Crackers 1.88 ***@@@

Ice cream 2.50@@@@

Pineapple 2.49, blackberries 1.99, blues 2.99. Raspberries 3.99
7 percent ground beef 3.99

Notes.  @@@@ means coupon
**** means watch the prices. Information only!







SAFEWAYS

Ham .99
Pork loin 1.99
Apples .99
Strawberries B1G1

Five dollar Fridays

Shredded cheese 2/5. Watch the weight you want 8 ounce bags
Bumble bee tuna 5/5
Alaskan cod
8 pounds oranges




ALBERTSOMS

Butter 1.88
Pie 2.99
Ham .99
Potatoes 8 lbs 1.28
Strawberries 4 lbs 7,96

Crackers 1.99
Ice cream 3.00
Black berries

Terrific Tuesday

Ok, I have a mental block. baby Dear is helping me while her mom is doing her lesson plans,,,not like we wait till the last minute!! on her defense the last kids mom came at 7 o'clock last night. It made for a long day.

Feeding your family on a 1/2 price budget can be a challenge. the rewards are many.

1) there is a smug satisfaction that you have beat the stats.
2) there is a sense of security that you always have food in the house.
3) no child should live with the insecurity of not having food in the house to eat.
4) teaching a child that one doesn't have to eat pudding cups, chips and junk food is a good thing.
You are also teaching your children how to shop wisely and not waste money.

5) If you are lucky enough to have the money you save, you can put that money into something else ..pay down the mortgage, the kids education fund, a much needed vacation. The first time I went to Disneyland was when I was 21 years old. LOL. I survived childhood without it, but it would have been a fun memory. We learned to work. It was a good lesson that has carried me through a lot of hard times.

I am always watching for easy crockpot recipes. I found a new book at the TJ Maxx. A good basic slow cooker cookbook is a good friend in the kitchen. I get some business supplies there because they are fractions of the cost of buying them elsewhere.

My mantra of "spend more time on the front of the Get the meals on the table train and less time on the back" holds true here. A few well spent minutes in the morning saves a lot of headache at night if you have hungry kids when you get home or have to help kids with homework after school.
Remember, you get "paid" for shopping, not for cooking.

My other catch phrase is 4+1=5. Four people, one meal, five bucks. To maintain a 1/2 price budget, you need to average 5.00 a dinner. Some meals can be cheaper, to afford some that are more expensive. We want variety and somewhat healthy--avoiding a lot of salt and fat and incorporating whole grains and fruits and vegetables.



Hearty soups and stews are a great mainstay for the economy budget.Kids need to learn that food doesn't come out of a can or box. My daughter used to teach at a school that was mainly low income students, She sat done to eat her lunch of leftover Mac and cheese. the kids wanted to know if that was ( the name of a box mix) When she said it was scratch, her mom made it they couldn't believe it. It takes no more time to make Mac and cheese from scratch than it does from a box. I love recipes that you can put together and shove in the oven and go on to multitask. the chew calls it passive cooking. Whatever you call it, it's efficient.

If I am going to spend time in the kitchen, I want to be saving money by making my own taco seasoning, breadcrumbs or grinding my own hamburger. When good hamburger is upwards of four dollars a pound, I buy a cheaper cut of roast or steak and grind my own. I can control the fat. Batch or marathon cooking saves a lot of time and puts the cooking chore at a more peaceful time than the hectic " I just got home the mail is waiting to be sorted, the kids are cranky and hungry and you want what? Time.

Precooking means-- I can have

roast beef a jus sandwiches and a salad in 15 minutes flat
BBQ pork sandwiches and coleslaw in 15 minutes or less
tacos and refried beans in 10 minutes

Crockpot meals are less than 15 minutes, I usually cook a brown and serve baguette
Or bread stick. I brush the bread sticks with a little butter and sprinkle them with a little Romano or other finely grated cheese. just a pinch.

Pizza is another when I get crusts for a buck at grocery outlet for two.
I keep toppings chopped and ready to go as I chop something for another dish. We have pepperoni from the dollar store, red and yellow peppers, chicken pieces, black olives, onion, ham cubes, hamburger and sausage crumbles in the freezer. Any number of combinations.

Thanks for stopping by.
please share and comment..what do you put on your pizzas?

Jane

Post note

I always hit the alternative stores when I have to go by them to get to somewhere else. My cutting machine quit cutting some things, After ten years, it just won't cut the edges. I went for a new one, since rollers are not fixable.

Big lots had cooking sauces for fifty cents. The four cheese caught my eye. Thinking that when the baby can't eat what we are eating, she can have a quick Mac and cheese.

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please share and comment

Jane

The rest of the story

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2013/CostofFoodFeb2013.pdf


The above web address is for the USDA stats on food plans: Cost of food at home. It is the latest I can find. Note the bottom notes for the bottom line on your size of family. This is what they base food stamps on.

I have been averaging 56 percent of the thrifty plan and that is building a stock. The actual food eaten would be less. I would have an educated guess of 50 percent.

Some other notes. One of the tricks that was brought to my attention, was that when you buy produce in bags. Weigh a few bags. It is hard for them to get exactly measurement of a produce item in a bag. Often times, there are as much as 25 percent more in a bag.

My benchmark for diner is five bucks. 4+1+5. Four people, 1 meal, 5 bucks. This is an average. Some meals cost more, some cost less. By averaging, you can have some more fancy meals and not feel deprived. To do this, you need to try for as close to 2.00 a meal for meat. That pays for a pound of pork loin, almost a pound of hamburger, Sausage, chicken roasted at home. quiche with cheese, pizza with cheese and pepperoni from the dollar store. tuna cassarole, many soups.
I am sure there are more.

If a meal is low on protein, make a pudding or creme brulee for desert to boost the protein intake.

Planning your grocery trips to coinside with other errands keeps the gas bill down. We try to group stores in a tight circle to minimize gas , even though we get 50 miles per gallon on the highway in our car.

Retailers have tricks to entice you to buy more stuff. Read a previous post for more info.

Rock Bottoms:
This is for the Seattle area, and for the things that my family eats a lot of; your family dynamics may be different.

Diced tomatoes .48 is the lowest, Usually .67 cents is more realistic. I usually can get them for .67 when TOP has a sale. Sometimes, when Big Lots is having their 20 percent sale, I can get .48. Many times the .48 is with seasoning...an added bonus, just be sure the seasoning is what your family will eat. We like spicy; not everytone does. They also have mexican spices and italian.

Beans are also .67 when they are on a good sale at TOP.

Pasta sauce is .79 or so at Winco. I got it for .80 at Albertsons. I use Hunts in a can. They peel their tomatoes with steam, not chemicals. I have got it as low as .50.

Pasta is always .88 to a buck somewhere. I try to buy the good name brands, but sometimes get the store brand if it is cheap enough. Safeways had .75 a few weeks ago. Watch you package sizes, some are 12 ounces.

Refried beans ate anywhere from .50 to .78 on sale.

I want taco shells for under a buck. Ditto green chilies.

Sausage is running 7 bucks for three pounds at costco.

I want to pay 2.50 a pound for cheese or less. Grated cheese is less at business costco. Some at regular costco. Brick is harder to find. If you make sandwiches that are heated, you can use the grated kind and skip the bricks.

I want to pay a buck or under for black olives I got them for .88 at Winco.

Green beans are .33 at Winco. They are a smaller cut than some of the others. I buy fresh when they are in season and are less costly.

I want to pay a buck a pound for frozen mixed veggies.

I get high fiber bread for two bucks a loaf. The brown and serve bagettes are less than a buck at costco. Sometimes I find them at the bakery outlet.

I want to pay .75 or less for soups. I get tomato, cream of mushroom, and chicken noodle.

I want to pay 2.00 or so for the tomato, roasted red pepper soup in a box. It sometimes is about that price at costco when they have it.

Coffee is less than 7 bucks at Grocery Outlet. IT is NOT designer coffee. My husband doesn't like designer coffee.

Grocery Outlet has a wide variety of cheese , some at cheaper prices.

Multi coloured peppers are four bucks almost always at Grocery Outlet.

Catsup is always a buck at the dollar store, ditto mustard.

Salami and pepperoni are a buck at the dollar store. The same package is 3.50 at the regular stores.

Big lots has veggie chips for two dollars....less when they run their twenty per cent sales.

I get chicken for .88 sometimes at QFC. I want to pay a buck a pound or less.

I buy packets of instant mashed potatoes. They come in a variety of flavours. I get them for .80 on sale often. Winco is a good bet some of the time.

Hamburger buns are usually cheaper at winco than even the bakery outlet.

I buy some Nallys chili. I want less than a buck a can. Sometimes I get it for .50.

Tea is usually cheapest at Big Lots.

Green chilies are cheapest at Winco. .69

There is probably more, but its three in the morning and I can't remember any more.

I buy any non perishables when they are cheap. I don't buy them again until I find them cheap. If I underetimate the amounts, we use something else until I fnd a sale. Usually, I dont run out. I start looking when the shelf starts to look depleated.

I can average half price or less on most items. Tomates are 1.59 at the regular store. If I pay .48 I have saved over a buck a can. I use two cans in a soup.
I also use two cans of beans in a soup. Sausage bean soup is on an earlier post.

Please feel free to comment in the comment section as to what is on your target list. IF I can tell you where it is cheaper, I will.

Every store has loss leaders to bring you in the store. The trick is to buy the specials and whatever you have to have that never goes on sale, and get out.

Shopping wisely and keeping adhead of the fridge so things dont go bad are the keys to eating on the cheap.

If you save 75 dollars a week, thats about four THOUSAND dollars a year. What can You do with four thousand dollars. Now, I can remember when saving to buy something else was not an option. Saving meant the difference of whether I made it through the month and paid all the bills or not.


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Jane