Sunday ads

It's a holiday weekend.   There are no cohpon inserts usually on a holiday weekend.   Thos time there is the p and G. Insert, but I'm not finding anything too useful.

Fred Meyers

Grapes 1.28
Milk 1.99@@
Bread 3/4@@
Peanut butter 2/5@@
Zucchini .88
Brats 4.99
Sour  cream 2/5., also cottage cheese
Red Barton pizza 3.99$$
Chili .89@@
Ice cream  2/6@@


Back lack alert for the peanut butter. I will post on Facebook also.

Coupon grocery cart has red Barron pizza coupon .

Last night we had ribs, corn in the cob and green salad.
I didn't buy a lot of meat  that wasn't picnic meat.  Chicken sausage was in sale at SAFEWAYS as well as ribs and hot dogs.  I stocked on chicken and good hamburger a few weeks ago so I didn't have to find a bargain this week.   That is where it pays to buy the bargains when you happen to find them and coast through the weeks  there isn't much.mm meat is getting harder and harder to find good meat deals.  Typically there are no really good buys on holiday weekend.  Picnic supplies are an exception, usually that happens on Memorial Day.

Buying what is in sale, provided it is in your usual buy list is a good way to cut your grocery costs.  We all have to eat, but we don't have to eat what is top dollar in the grocery store.   A little effort goes a long ways to stretch your grocery budget.  Remembering a few basic principles can save a bundle

• The basic food is around the perimeter of the store.   
• Don't buy ready made unless it is cheaper than scratch.  Do the math.  
• Before you buy a box of something, read the ingredients.  Again, do the math.  
• Spend more on meat , dairy and produce than anything else.  
• Steer clear of bottled drinks. And junk food.   Junk food is defined as anything that has no real food value.   It's stupid to pay big money for sugar and water.   Ditto a few ounces of potatoes.  
• The biggest weapon in your fight against the break the budget groceries is your calculator and a price book of the things you buy most. Know when a bargain is a bargain.  If you haven't spent your money on junk, you can afford to buy bulk of bargains and feed your family better, cheaper, faster.   .   

Thanks for stopping by. As soon as I get to the point I am back to normal, I'll start a better post routine again.

Please share

Jane

Saturday, suddenly

It's Saturday.  I have been loosing track of days all week.   Have to get back to our schedule.   Sitting with a mud bath on my feet my daughter put on.

We went to SAFEWAYS yesterday.   I just bought the specials and spent fifty dollars.  Lou's of fresh fruit and produce. Picnic supplies.   Also, green chilies were 1.00 and chicken noodle soup was .50 on  Friday, after that it is .69.   Still a good buy.    Remember that coupons will come out in the next couple of days.   Download soon to get the good ones.   Like bargains, the coupons are harder to find.  

I managed to get enough food and go withs for a week.  Other than chicken noodle soup. I didn't stock and because I stocked meat double last week, I didn't this  week.     It is typical of a holiday week to not have stocking specials .  It's all about back to school amd Labor Day.   It's a good time to stock picnic food.  

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Wicked Wednesday / the ads

QFC has a two week ad, they a,so have a four day sale.

Berries 2/5
Tillamook ice cream 2/6
Tillamook cheese  5.99
Pie 2.99

Sour cream 1.00
Kroger Ice  cream 2/5

Brats 4.99
Baked beans 3/5
Ready rice 3/5
Frozen veggies 10-12 oz 1.00

4 day sale  - Fri to Monday - ends sept 1.
Apples .99
Sun sandwich 5.99

SAFEWAYS
Ribs 1.79
Corn 6/2
Sausage 2.99
Salad 1.00
Buns 1.00
Tomago soup  69 also chicken noodle
Brats 5.00
Grapes 1.99
Nathan's 3.99
Berries 2.99
Chili .89@@

5'dollar Friday
Berries :2/5
Ice cream 2/5
Soup  10/5

ALBERTSONS

Sirloin steak b1 g 2 , buy one, get two, don't say the reg price so it s buyer beware.

Betty Crocker cake or brownie mix 1.00

Corn 3/1@@
Ice cream 2.49@@
Hillshire farm sausage 2.49
Coupons - all below have @@
Skippy peanut butter1.99
Salsa 3.99
Sour cream 1.69


Nathan's 3.99
Lemon merange  pie 5.99

That's about it .   Sounds like SAFEWAYS and QFC are my picks.   Soup is  a big alert for Fridays.
At SAFEWAYS,  picnic food is the most of the sales,but that is par for the course with the holiday weekend.  

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Monday madness: Fred Meyers ad

Fred Meyers ad for Sunday to Sunday..  

Sirloin steak
Gala apples .98
Blues 3.99
Johnsonville brats 4.99
Peaches 1.49
Kroger frozen potatoes 1.88
Tillamook ice cream 2/6@@
Hillshire smoke sausage 3/10@@
Mayo 2/5@@
Cucumbers , green peppers 2/1
Broccoli .99


That's about it.   SAFEWAYS has the best buys in protein and some fruit.  I like Fred Meyers ice cream and veggies.  

Thanks for stopping by

Please  share

Jane

Finally Friday , most common mistakes to eat up your food budget.

Most common mistakes

I have been watching grocery hauls on the Internet. Mostly young gals are doing them. I am beginning to see a picture that is all telling.

The most common mistakes grocery shopping to be on the cheap instead of spending the whole paycheck are

1. Buying  8  gallons of drinks.  Buy tea bags, herbal if you wish, and some crystal light type mix at the dollar store or big lots.  Water is a good hydrater.  .  Buy a lemon to add a slice to it and chill it.  
2. Buying ready made mixes and meats.  Take on one meat at a time, and learn to cook it.  The savings are remarkable.  If you don't have the pans to cook it, go to the goodwill and find one.  if you don't have a roasting rack, pile rough chopped carrots / and or potatoes or onions  on the bottom, and roast your chicken on top.  
3. Buying tons of junk foods.  Buy popcorn it's cheap and relatively healthy.  The savings more than make up for the price of an air popper on sale.  I got mine for 14.00.  
4. If your passion is sweet, find easy and inexpensive recipes for brownies or another cake or cookie.  There is a recipe on the Internet for a mixture of 2 cake mixes that cooks in a few in the microwave.  Or make muffins or quick breads.  They can be healthy and satisfy your sweet tooth.  
5. Not Sticking to your meal plans and not thinking things out. don't come home without the things you need to make them or you have wasted your time and need another costly trip to the store.  
6.  The worst mistake is to go to the store hungry, with screaming kids that need a nap, and buy 
7. anything in the store that looks good to you.  It's stressful and expensive.  you shouldn't come home broke and ready to drop from the grocery store! LOL  

Take a look at your grocery receipt and break it down as to how much is drinks, how much snack food and desert, and how much fruit and veggies.  The most percentages should be fruit and veggies and proteins.  Less than ten percent should be snacks and drinks.  

Thanks for stopping by

Please share 

Jane 

The ads ,

First, QFC went to a two week sale ad, so you,need to refer to last weeks post.  


ALBERTSONS

Quarter sale
Tomato sauce  .25
Zap ems .50
Muffin mix .25
Tuna .75 ( we don't like the quality)
Noodle bowls .75
Tissue 1.00

Note: some of these things I wouldn't buy.  Some are the things I bought when I was feeding children with hollow legs and they needed snacks that were filling.  None of my children had a weight problem.   They still don't.  

Berries 2/6
Roma's 1.49
Salads .88


SAFEWAYS
Grapes 199
Corn 6/2
Cantelope 2/3
Chicken .99
Cod 4.99
7 percent fat hamburger 2.99
Yoplait 10/5. $$

Pudding ring 3.49
Cottage cheese 3.49

5 dollar Friday
Tuna or salmon 5/5
Shrimp
Turkey sausage or burgers
Johnsonville dinner sausage
Berries

Check your just for you
Print coupons.

Note hamburger is a good stock item.   I did some from Costco last week, but will also do some this week because of the freezer going out.   We cooked three chickens last week or I would also buy chickens.  Mainly because there has been weeks lately when there were no protein buys.

Fresh fruit amd veggies are  at their peak here.   I don't tend to put veggies or fruit up, bit we just adapt to frozen or what is in season.    Next year, maybe, but this summer is a summer to forget!   LOL

Thanks for stopping by
please share
Jane

Monday madness

Good morning.   I have  can PT today and it's change the sheets and cook the ground meats I bout yesterday day.    I needed to replenish the freezer after it broke down and we got the new one,   My husband already bought two ice creams and actually arranged the freezer so that one type of thing was on one shelf.   I haven't been able to get down there to see it so. Have to depend on him .  

Yesterday we talked about protein.   It's really a given that veggies and fruit we buy when they are on season.  Each es are really cheap about now. Our nice neighbourhood gave us cukes out of her garden.  

Pasta I buy when it's on sale, preferably with a coupon.   I have got it as cheap as .38.  Pasta has a very long shelf life so ot pays to buy it only when its on sale with a coupon.   We don't load up on pasta, and none  of us  are overweight.  

Groceries in the cheap works on the premise that you never pay full price for anything,   Of you can get your core ingredients for 1/1/2 price  or less, you can eat better for less.   This takes a little organizational work in the beginning, but the work is well rewarded in savings.  

• First , identify the inexpensive sources of protein that your family will eat.   It's a given that of your family won't eat something, it's not a bargain at any price.  
• Now, list 7-14 dinners that use these sources of protein.   
• Identify the staples ( shelf ready or frozen ) you use to make your dinners,   For us, that is refried beans, pasta, pasta sauce. Beans. Green beans, diced tomatoes, some chili and chicken noodle soup, instant mashed potatoes, Tuna, clams, frozen veggies, cheese.   This  is usually a list of about 10-15. 
• Track these prices.   Some use a spread sheet, some a notebook they can carry with them.  The object is to buy low and eat high.  This is not an original concept. Stock traders use that principle .   You want to get a feel for when things go on sale and buy enough to last you until it goes on sale again.   Stores work on a 8-12 week cycle,   Fred Meyers works on a monthly cycle for dairy it's getting harder because prices are rising,  
• The biggest advantage you can have is to know your prices.   My mother used to say, some people could have a bargain get up and bite them in the butt and they wouldn't see it.  Don't be that person.  LOL

When the ads come out, analyze the ads and write  down the prices at each store.  I take a piece of scratch from the computer stand and divide the paper into four ( now three) stores.   Now, record the price of 

• The "loss leader" protein 
• Any perishable that is a good price ( produce and dairy 
• Any stock item on your list that is a good price.   

Now, pick the best two stores and get what you need.   Bring the ad, your list, and any coupons you have.   You can check a coupon matchup site and pull coupons .  -- that's another blog! LOL 

Get in the store , get your list and anything you really  need and get out the more time you spend in a store, the more you will spend.   There os another blog on the tricks retailers don't want you to know.  

Guess that's all for today.   

Please share 

Thanks for stopping by

Jane 

Sunday ads and......

I got the ads yesterday, but after I screwed up and thought it was Sunday Saturday, I thought I would wait until Sunday to post the,.

Fred Meyer continues to have a periodic dairy sale.  

Peaches 1.28
Eggs 4/5@@
20 percent hamburger 2.98
Milk 4/5@@
Ice cream 2/5@@
Ravioli 1.00....backpack aler
Strawberries 2/5


Note that @@ means there is an in ad coupon.   Back pack alert is for those contributing to a charity that feeds low income children breakfast and lunch on the weekends by sending them home bags of certain food items on Fridays.

Buying hamburger In bulk and precooking it saves time and money.   I was getting the low fT hamburger for that price. But meat on general has taken  a big hike.  It was predicted that the drought prices would prevail well into 2014.   I think we are beyond that.   I digress.

By picking an inexpensive protein a week and buying bulk enough to last you for a four week rotation, you can cook all of ot at one time and portion control dinners.  That saves time and clean up time in the kitchen and reduces waste.   You are going to buy enough to last you a month.   In other words, of you are using hamburger for your beef component and you are eating beef twice a week, you are going to buy enough to make 8 meals.  

When I buy hamburger, I make crumbles for pasta sauce or pizza, taco meat, meatballs for meat ball subs or to have with a sauce on rice or noodles, or meat loaf or Salisbury steaks.

I try for out meal plams to have

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

I try to average five  dollars a dinner.    That is getting harder with the price of meat these days.  I see my average per week is creeping up.   I lost track of July because I wasn't home and things are harder when I have to rely on my husband to shop.  

Because of the freezer malfunction, we have been eating a lot of chicken this week.   Last night we had oven roasted potatoes. Scrambled eggs, and a fruit cup of fresh berries.   We also like a meal of blueberry waffles or pancakes. Bacon, and fruit.   Chocolate waffles and a yoghurt parfait is a really good sometime alternative.  The kids love it, even though it doesn't happen often.   Mac and cheese is a mainstay.  I cook it with mixed veggies and three or four kimds of cheese.   It's a good way to clean out the cheese bin.   Grocery outlet has a really good selection of designer cheeses.  

I have a stash of salmon in the freezer, and tuna and clams are still a good price.  

The Internet is full of artful ways of cooking chicken.  We like chicken pot pie and chicken stirfry.  Chicken noodle soup and chicken tacos or enchiladas.   Make your own sauce. That is a case where the sauce can cost more than the meat!    I only buy something  like that of I can get it for less than scratch, or near scratch.   I try for less processed foods, but cave in if they are cheaper than scratch ( not often ).

Eggs are 1.25 a dozen again.   It is a good way to add protein into your dote for low cost.   Chef salad, puddings. Breakfast for dinner.   Eggs got a bad wrap, but the attitude has changed.   It's hard for some people to get past the bad stigma.   Ground beef can have less fat than boneless skinless chicken breasts.  It just needs to be defatted.   Ditto sausage.  
French fries can be more healthy than some other potatoes if they are cooked in a really hot fat, like commercially.  Studies have proved that the hot fat sears the outside and no fat gets on the potato.  A regular serving is supposed to have less than a teaspoon of fat.  

Thanks for stopping by

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Jane

What to do with what you got.

Savy shopping is only one component of the concept of making food get on the table with little money.  Somehow, the good food has to get from the pantry/fridge to the table.  Most of us lead busy lives, and  taking care of children is a job in its self.   I have relied on a crock pot and quick meals, and precooking when time is less hectic to solve the problem.

I recently discovered a chicken recipe for the crockpot.  I am squeamish at the thought of cooking our chicken when the recipe  starts on a low heat.    This recipe cooks on high right off the bat.   I resorted to it when the freezer quit and I had just come home from a month at a "nursing home" because I broke my hip and     wrist.  I had three chickens to cook.

Over the years, I have tried many comcepts and kept the ones  that worked for our family.    Different things in different ,  stages of our lives.   At this point, I can't bend at the waist and can't chop because one wrist is cracked.   My daughter has been picking up the slack.   I do what I can.   Making spice rubs etc.

Last week, eggs were 4/5 at Fred Meyers.   Breakfast for dinner is a good alternative once a week.   It certainly helps if husbands realize that there is a problem with finances and solving the problem takes cooperation on everybody's  part.  ( my answer to the comment of a reader that their husband won't eat breakfast for dinner ).  I was impressed at 13 when my dad was hurt in the job and we had no income for a few months,   He even ate liver!

Lately, meat prices have not been very cooperative.   Chicken continues to be on sale often.  I can find cheese at Costco wholesale.  ALBERTSONS has a bunch BOGO, but they aren't telling what the original price is so I can't tell if it's a bargain or not.  I used to try for two dollars a pound average.  That's not happening.  Country style ribs  are 3.49. I found hamburger reasonable.  When a roast is more reasonable, I grind my own( or rather, I usually cut it up and my husband runs the grinder.  )
Pork chops are 1.99 at SAFEWAYS.   I can still get canned clams and tuna cheap.   Probably because someone has decided it isn't good for us.   We have been eating it for years.   I wrote a blog on that.  Enough said.   SAFEWAYS has pizza dough balls for 1.50.  I didn't like the one I tried a year or so ago, but.maybe it just got a bad one.   There is a recipe  for a good cheap easy pizza crust.
Pizza is one thing everyone likes and a way to stretch a little amount of meat.  Costco still has sausage in a roll for less that some other stores.  It's not the six  bucks it was last year, last I looked it  was 8.49 .  There is a post on how to reduce the fat in ground meat on a earlier post.  You can make hamburger have less fat that a boneless, skinless chicken breast.

You can use less meat and augment the protein for the meal with cheese that you get in sale, or eggs and milk.   ( pudding for desert, hard cooked eggs on your chef salad.   )

I buy cheese when I get it close to five bucks for two pounds.   I buy it whether  we need it at the moment or not.  It lasts a long time when kept in its wrapper.  You can also grate it and add a tablespoon of corn starch to a couple of pounds of cheese and freeze it.  Or skip the cornstarch and use it when you will be melting it.

Steering clear of boxed dinners is another way to keep your costs down.   My daughter and I diasected a hamburger meal box.  The results were remarkable .     Since then, they have revamped their boxes, but scratch skillet dinners are all over the Internet and I have posted some I wrote myself that are easy and more nutritious .

That's about all. My husband brought me a basket of clothes and I have therapy today, so I'd better get cracking.

Thanks for stopping by

Please,share

Jane

The ads

ALBERTSONS

Berries. 3.99

Buy 4
Dryers 1.99
outside fruit bars 1.99
Drumsticks 3.99

Milk 2/5@@

10/10, you don't have to buy 10
Ravioli, chili, bumblebee tuna, pasta sauce , soy sauce ( pasta sauce ,not such a food buy

Bread, bagels 2/5
Grapes 2.49
Peaches, nectarines 1.99

Note, I am not fond of ALBERTSONS ad, it's too hard to read.

SAFEWAYS
Raspberries 2/3

Apples 1.49
Pork sirloin chops 1.99
Kens salad dressing BOGO $$
Corn 6/2
BREYERS 2.99
Grapes 2.99. All colours.  The darker coloured grapes have more food value
Cantelope 2/5
Ice cream 2/5

Cake mix .99

Five dollar Friday
Blues
Pizza
Cod per pound

QFC
Berries 2/5
Peaches 1.49
Bread 1.79
Grapes 1.99
Oranges, pears 1.49
Pumpkin pie 2.99

Pasta 1.00  look for coupons
Ice cream 2/5
Cottage cheese, sour cream 2/3
Broccoli, celery ,99


Again, I am not finding a real bargain in the protein department.   Last weeks chicken and eggs were about it.  Eggs have a month out pull date so at four for five it was a good buy amd  stored probably in your refrigerator should last as all momth.   Having breakfast for dinner is one of the ways you can stretch your dollars, especially at that price. Chefs salad is  good with hard cooked eggs for these warm nights.

Last week we cooked three chickens because I bought two for stocking and saved one with ice crystals still on it from the defunct freezer.  Two we cooked in the crock pot.   A really easy way to cook chicken in a pinch for time.   The large pieces stay pretty much in tact, the parts submerged under the natural broth are good for tacos and chicken soup or chicken and noodles.  

The third one my husband roasted in the oven.  

Last night we had chicken stir fry.  my daughter is becoming a good cook.   We do have to have something besides chicken soon.   LOL

That's about all.

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Thanks for stopping by


Jane

There is a first for everything,

I didn't think it would ever happen.....,my husband is going to the store and indiscriminately,buying a can of coffee.    Was out of commission ( in a rehab center for breaking my hip) and didn't shop for six weeks.   Of course he has had plenty of time driving around and on his walks to go to grocery outlet and buy coffee.   Now, I am stuck without transportation for a week again.   I have to borrow my daughters car to go anywhere and that entails taking her to work ( two trips) because I can't get into the car and the baby can't fit in the truck.  He can go with the baby by themselves.   What a concept.

I have spent about 80.00 so far on groceries.  Considering that I didn't shop for sox weeks and we had to throw away 160 pounds of food because the freezer quit, I don't think that's bad.   We have a decent amount of food in the freezer and fridge and the pantry is pretty much ok I will need to buy green beans soon.

I have to download coupons.   There haven't been a lot of food ones lately. But there have been Yoplait ones and peanut butter.   Chicken cc is a buck at QFC and I salvaged one from the freezer that was still frozen.   I have been cooking  the, on the crockpot with the help of my husband.   This time we watched it and turned it off as soon as it  was done,   We have more pieces.  You would be surprised how much liquid one onion and the chicken gives off.   My daughter made chicken noodle soup out of it.    My granddaughter loves soup.

Last night we had ribs, corn on the cob and fruit salad.   The night before we had roast chicken, mashed cheesy potatoes, and sliced tomato.   Sometimes  I drizzle tomato  slices with olive oil, sprinkle it with basil and add some grated white cheese.

My daughter made a casserole skillet dinner with rice, cheese, diced tomatoes and peppers.   It called for zucchini, but dear old dad didn't like it.   Seems lots of people don't like zucchini.   Que in chocolate zucchini bread or cake!

Tonight I think we will have chicken enchiladas.   Rice and beans.   I bought all for cartons of eggs at 1.25 each at Fred Meyer last week.   We need to have breakfast for dinner one day a week.   I am supposed to be eating hard cooked eggs to build my muscle after the surgery.   At 1.25 that makes dinner really cheap, so we can afford to have red meat more often.

That's all I have for now.  Hopefully we will get the ads tomorrow.

Please share

Jane

No ads

We didn't get any ads this  week.  That makes shopping difficult for me.   I like to plan my trip ahead of time and these days I have to borrow a car and I'm  resorting to a wheel chair.   My husbands back is out and the freezer quit, so we might be winging it for a while.   Not having the benefit of the freezer stock will make things challenging.  

Yesterday, I cooked a chicken on the crock pot.  I had never done that before because I didn't like the idea of chicken not being brought up to a temp quickly.   Thos recipe is really simple and is cooked on high.

Crockpot chicken
Place a cut up onion on the bottom of the crockpot .
Place washed and ladled dry woth a paper towel chicken in crockpot.
Rub with a slice rub.
Cover and cook on high about an hour per pound.
Check to make sure chicken is done,

2 tsp paprika
1 tsp each of
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt
Thyme
Dash pepper.

Thanks for stopping by

Pleas share

Jane

My shopping list / last weeks ads

We have it shopped for over a month now besides a few necessities to get by.  ( I have been in rehab for my hip replacement.

QFC
Peaches
Milk
Corn (3)
Yoplait 14 10/5 with two coupons.

ALBERTSONS

Buy 6

2 pkg English muffins
2 Popsicles with fruit in them
2 albacore tuna

12 instant potatoes


Fred Meyers
Eggs 4/5@@
Pizza (2)@@ 3.99
Hebrew national 2/7@@
Broccoli
Romaine

QFC
Chicken 4.50

Total  57.00
That still leaves me several dollars for so,es dairy and veggies to fill in.  

Last night we were dealing with the freezer intermittently thawing and freezing.   We had pork and beans and hot dogs and a fruit cup.  

I still have a few things to buy to reset the fridge to normal.   While I was on rehab, I ate for free and the rest of the family  bought just what they needed to fill in for meals out of my stock.   We still had several months of food.   In fact, I still have several months in the pantry.

Guess that's all

Please share and thanks for stopping by

Jane

Tomorrow's ads and notes

I got tomorrow's ads,..    I was noticing that there was no protein sale this week.   Que in Fred Meyers.

Drumsticks, thighs or grill packs .99
10 percent hamburger.    3.98
Corn 10/3
Eggs 4/5@@
Digiorno pizza. 3.99@@
Hebrew national 2/7@@
Yellow squash .99
Pasta .99
Lettuce .99
Broccoli .99


Romaine is the best buy on the lettuce department.  The greener the lettuce the more food value. And romaine lasts longer than other lettuces.  In these dog days of summer, a chicken or shrimp or salmon Cesar salad is a good dinner alternative   I get salmon cheaper at SAFEWAYS or Winco.   You can clean the greens in the cool of the morning and make salad dressing.   Maybe grill  the chicken or salmon.

Betty Crocker had a article about several ways to make a hamburger mix ( crumbles and spices) to get a head start in several make ahead dinners.   I like the idea if make ahead in these hot, busy days of summer.   Our kitchen is on the east side of the house so by dinner time it's hot  in there.  One of the other summer tricks I play os to make a bunch if salads on the weekend early on the morning when it is cooler on the kitchen.   Then at dinner time we can grill a protein  to go with them.  Or make something we can heat in the microwave or put on the oven and walk away until it's  done.

Hebrew national hot dogs ( the only ones I'll buy except Nathan's ) are on sale.   When buns are not on sale, I make pigs on blankets or add them to baked beans.

Tex Mexican food is a good money stretcher.   Beans and rice make a complete protein,  just remember that beans and rice have a shirt fridge life,  they are one of the foods that spoil the quickest.
I buy canned and rinse them well to reduce the salt.   Rice is so easy on the microwave that I make it so that we can eat it in two days.   I buy very few canned fruits.  You can rinse them to reduce the sugar too.   Enchalada sauce is really expensive. But easily and cheap to make.m get chili powder in the bulk department or at Costco .  Sometimes I have to go to the business Costco to get some things,
A jus mix is one if the things the regular Costco doesn't carry anymore, along with cornstarch.   Since roast os so pricy, we haven't made a jus sandwiches in a long while.

I haven't downloaded coupons in a month because I haven't been home.   It was getting harder to find coupons for real food.  The Sunday paper has coupons for Yoplait and it's .50 on sale this week.
I haven't checked the matchup sites either because I haven't been able to shop.   I suspect I won't be going shopping a lot for a while, maybe just making lists and organizing coupons.   Adding a two up and a broken hip to the mix of shopping sounds dangerous.  LOL.  Maybe on a Saturday morning early!

Well, that's about all.

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Thanks for stopping by

Jane

It's Friday, the ads finally

I finally got the ads.  Things aren't ad convenient as usual.  Next week things should be a little back to  normal.  

QFC
Peaches 1.49
Corn 3/1
Pork loin. 2.99
Dreyers 2/5
Eggs 2/3

Buy 5 , save 5
Digiorno 3.99
Eng muffins 1.99
Cheerios  2.49
Activis 4 ok 1.69



Cherries  2.99
Yogurt 10/5
Pasta 1.00



SAFEWAYS

Yoplait 10/5
Tillamook ice cream 3.99
Milk 2.89
Berries 2.99
Grapes 2.99

Five dollar Friday
Fruit bars 2/5
Lemon me range pie

ALBERTSONS
Buy 6

Ice cream, fruit bars 2.49
Tuna, relish .79
Bread, eng muffins 1.99
Cake mix .99
Albacore tuna .99
Instant potatoes .89
Jif 1.99
Oatmeal 1.49


Berries 3.99
Bread 1.49@@


That's about all

Guess I'll go back to bed

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Jane

Thursday the basics

I am still I'm this glorious rehab center and my husband has not bring me the ads.  He has,been such a trooper taking care if the two yo grandbaby and trying to keep a home running along with retro fitting it with rails etc so I can come home.  

My other passion is designing greeting cards.  Greeting  cards have a basic plan.  The plan can be found in cards dating back to the early 1900s .  I have seen post cards from the early 1900s and they all have the same plan.  1) a cover background 2) a stripe 3) a greeting and 4) a focal point or icon.  

A meal plan isn't much different.  You have a protein, a starch, and a vegetable or fruit.   I try to vary our protein sources so give us variety and balance,  
I developed a matrix to make life easier.  Your matrix may very well be different.   Every family has their preferences.  

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

I find that skillet dinners, or slow cooker dinners are a quick way to get do dinner on the table with little effort and time.  In these days if a hot kitchen, getting in and out if the kitchen in a flash is. Big plus.  

Betty Crocker has a newsletter that comes on your e mail of you sign up for it.  It is full of new and different ideas for meals.   I tend to stick to the old tried and true meals from the 50 and 60s, so ot of fun to shake things up every now and then with a new taste or two.

We have been eating things with a buffalo chicken taste lately.  Everyone in our family likes hot, including the little one, so it works.   My husbands main object to chicken is that it has a bland taste.
That kicks it up a notch.

The object of meal plans is not to get to dinner time and stare at the fridge when someone says what's for dinner?    It's too easy to be tempted ot get take out or order a pizza.   That's a good way to derail your budget.    My favorite answer to the proverbial what's for dinner sometimes is  Whatever you cook!   Takes them back every time.   LOL

You don't have to follow the plan to the letter,but have a plan.  

Don't be afraid to try new things.   We had fish tacos a couple of nights ago.  I have to admit I wouldn't  have eaten them if it wasn't that I am in here and it's eat or starve!   They weren't bad.   I a, sure that if they were cooked in a dofferent venue, they might be even better!  

I'm not feeling well, guess that's all

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Jane

Monday madness

Tonight I had a chef salad ( of sorts) and a roll for dinner.  they had a glorious raspberry sweet roll for desert, but I opted for blue binny sherbert.   Trying to keep my blood sugar in tact.  

It is entirely possible to keep a strict budget and still take care of therapeutic diets.   It takes a bit of planning and some education as to what is needed to stay within guidelines.  It isn't necessary in most cases to completely do without a particular food, just really important to modify quanitites and replace some foods with similar ones that are better for you.   Being diabetic doesn't mean I can't have desert, nor does it mean that I have to have dry cake .  Ot means that I either have to modify the quantity of the cake,mor substitute it for another desert that is more appropriately within the carb guidelines that I need to keep.  

Moderation is the key.

We have purchased almost no food this month.  A few specialty items that my daughter needed for a new recipe,mand milk,bread, and some fresh fruit,   I suspect we can go on for several more months with the status quo.  It couldn't have been done without me having stocked more than usual anticipating that someday the mall we worked at would be closing for a time.   I suspect that we will venerating different when I get back home so I can cook and my husband will have to help because I still can't bend at the waist and going downstairs to the freezer will be a chore.   I anticipate it bring a once a week occurrence.  

Buying in bulk when it is on sale is the only way I know to eat for 1/2 the price of food these days,  
Buying perishables in season.   Looking for specials on dairy ( skip far. , Fred Meyers is really good at putting them on sale on a regular basis.   Kept at proper temp,dairy has a long enough shelf life to get you through a couple of weeks.  I am it finding a lot of sale meats these days.  Looking forward to Winco coming soon.  It'll be a while until I can grocery shop, so I'll be making lists and taking advantage of instant  photo exchanges we can access with today's technology.  

Having a kitchen stool and island I am sure will be a good resource for me. As well as the crock pot.  

Keeping on a strict budget takes some ingenuity in adjusting recipes for less expensive ingredients that will still give you the taste and texture that the original recipe called for.  Finding recipes that are new to keep things fresh helps too.   Add finding and taking advantage of sales on produce.  

I have been writing waiting for my pain meds to take effect.  I think tat they might be close to doing that.  

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Jane

Sunday, the ads

Fred Meyers

Strawberries. 1.88
Triskit crackers 3/5@@
Milk 4/5@@
"Bread 3/4@@
Pasta sauce .79@@
Smoked sausage 2.99@@
Jif 2/4
Yoplait 10/5
Frozenotatoes 3/5
Cherries 2,99
Peaches 1.99
Cucumbers, radishes 2/1
Green beans 1.49


Walgreens

Paper folders .10
Clams .89@@
Olives .89@@
Milk 2.49
Optic white toothpaste, with register rewards and coupon on Sundays paper is .50.


That's about it.

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Jane

Suddenly Saturday-- getting dinner in the table.

There are many ways to save time and energy getting food din the table.   The one basic concept that works the best for me is to batch cook whatever protein that is the best special of the week.  The meats vary , but usually bought in bulk saves a lot of time and money.

You are buying the "meat " at rock bottom prices, cooking it once, amd portion controlling it onto batches just big enou for a nights meal.   There is no waste and you have saved labor and energy cooking it.

Stair stepping ingredients for meals helps a lot too.   Making a double batch if rice so that you split it and have Spanish rice with tacos, and rice under a stirfry the next day.   Roce and beans have a short fridge life, so don't hold them too long.

The crockpot is your best friend,   The is something  very therapeutic about coming home to dinner cooked.  I imagine the smell is glorious.   Simplest pot roast ever. Put  pot roast in the crockpot.   Slice a peeled onion and out on top. Salt and pepper.  Pour a beer over top.  Add enough beef stock or water to almost cover.   Set on low for 8-10 hours.,  I. Microwave potatoes and carrots until tender and put in the pot with the cooking liquid the last 1/2 hour.  

There is a method out there called freezer cooking,  we used to call ot marathon cooking.   Basically you shop once a month and cook a months worth of meals in a day.   It's hard work.   It works for some people.   I can see it working for a mom with a weird shift at work.  Meals would be  ready for  another family member to heat up when dinner time came,

Personally, I  don't have the stamina to cook for eight to ten hours straight. I would prefer batch cooking.   You have to pick what works for you on a long term basis.  

I just Re read a cookbook called, " don't panic,dinner  is in the freezer.   " I got it as a e book from amazon I think.   Even of you dint want to marathon cook, it has some really good scratch recipes.  It's also breaks down a recipe for number of batches you wish to cook.   A good go to if you need to cook for a crowd.,

Whatever works for you.  

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Jane

Suddenly Saturday.

Had a fruit plate last night, thought it would be better than pizza.       Top high sugar this am.  Guess the cottage cheese wasn't enough protein.     Trying to something's around a hextic therapy schedule.  

I was reminded today about stuffed potatoes.    It's a good way to ise bits of things for dinner. Bake potatoes amd gather bits of things that go on them.   Everyone makes their own.   Chili. Taco meat, broccoli, cheese, bacon, whatever.  

Sometimes, I okay clean out the veggie bin and either make soup, or stir fry with chicken or shrimp over rice or noodles.

The ads

A real quick take on the ads
ALBERTSONS
Chicken drums  .88 not they dine tell u where they are from

Corn 3/1
Yoplait .38@@

SAFEWAYS
Blues 5.99
Cantelope 1.00
Chicken .88


five dollar Friday
Cookies
Pizza
Berries
Cheese

QFC

Berries 4.99
Milk 4/5
Pasta 1.00
corn 3/1


That's about all

Thanks

Jane

Wicked Wednesday-no ads

It's Wednesday.  I'm still in rehab with some good days and some not so good days.  

What to do with what you got.

Beef with roasted veggies and mustard cream sauce,  


Mustard sauce

1/2 cup sour cream
2 T Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

Sour cream is on sale at Fred Meyers
Dijon mustard os cheapest at grocery outlet or Costco
Lemon juice out of a bottle is supposed to be cheaper.  

ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES

I use a combination if any root vegetables that are in my vegetable bin.  Often i do this in Wednesday to clean out the veggie bin,    Regular  or red potatoes, carrots, radishes, celery, turnips or rutabagas if I have them.   Cut them in pieces so that they will cook at the same time.   Toss them with olive oil.  Salt, pepper and sometimes a few red pepper flakes.  Roast at 375 to 400 until they are done.  Sometimes I add rosemary and skip the red pepper flakes.  The oven temp is flexible so they can be roasted with other foods.     Good with meatloaf, chicken, etc.  


White bean and pasta soup

Soup is not an exact science. If you don't have an ingredient , substitute or leave ot out.  The amount of veggies is up to you,   Play it be ear.   I always use less onions because my husband is. It particulary find if them.  He likes the taste, but doesn't like to bite into one. I either chop it fine, or use the micro plane to "grate" it.

Sauté vegetables in olive oil

Onion
Carrots.
Celery
Red peppers, chopped fine

Add 4 cups water and sautéed veggies to soup pot.  
Add 2 cups cooked white beans with 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid. ( or use a 15 ounce can of white beans , rinsed and 3/4 cup of chicken stock. Or water.  
Add a large tomato, chopped amd seeded.  
Cook until tomato is tender and soup is heated through.
Add 1 cup cooked small pasta.  ( maybe orzo or small shells.  )

Heat through.
Salt and pepper.  

I like to serve soup with grated hard cheese on top, maybe croutons made from stale bread.   Some sour cream and chives.   Anything that would taste good and make ot taste good.  A little extra touch sometimes makes things a little more gourmet instead of just a bowl of soup.  

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Jane

Sunday ads

Here are Sunday ads.  

Fred Meyers

Peaches or nectarines    1.28
Reg hamburger 2.48
Red cherries 1.99
Ice cream 2/4

French bread 1.00
Buns 1.00
Sour cream 1.00
Pumpkin pie 2.99
Hebrew national 3.49
Peanut butter 3/5
Blues 4.99
Zucchini .99

Walgreens
Milk 2.49
Coffee 6.99
Bumble bee Tina .99@@
dreyers 3.99***

Note the spread of prices on ice  cream.   Pumpkin pie is a bargain because pumpkin canned is not cheap.   Add evaporated milk and this os prolly cheaper.

Watch drug stores or other stores where food is not their main focus.   Sometimes they  are cheaper on what they do have.   Think outside the box.  

Hot dogs and buns are on sale at Fred Meyers.  Stir frying veggies with some olive oil and adding chicken or shrimp is good over rice or noodles.

Thanks

Jane

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The ads and what to do with them

My husband brought me the ad s.

ALBERTSONS
Cherries 1.99
7 percent hamburger 3.99@@
Tillamook cheese 6.99


Quarters
Muffin mix .25
Pineapple slices .75
Tomato paste .25
Barilla pasta 1.00$


SAFEWAYS
Cherries2.99
Blues 2.99
Peaches 1.49
BREYERS 2.99
Grapes 299
Barilla .99$

5  dollar Friday
Blues
Chicken?  Depend another weight


QFC

Blues 4.99
Grapes 1.99
Cherries 2.99
Gree beans,  squash .99
Nectarines 1.99

Sirloin tip roast BOGO nets 3.25

Rite aid
BREYERS. BOGO
Pyrex buy one, get two

That's about all.  
Please check the matchup sites, I don't have my coupon book at the rehab! LOL

I would say that it is cheaper to get two sirloin roasts and roat one off and make hamburger out of the other one ,   Slice the roast thin and freeze for a jus sandwiches.   Chicken is a food buy if it is five pounds or more.  There are many fruits and veggies.   Stir fry with some chicken in rice!    Blueberry pancakes or waffles .   Muffins are a quarter.  Prolly cheaper than scratch.   With a salad for dinner, add chicken ,nuts, grapes and some apple to greens,   Soak the apple woth some lime or other acidic  juice. I save the juice from pineapple.  

Thanks

Jane

Terrific thursday

It's in the middle of the night. I just had a real bout with muscle spasms and a ice pack that leaked and got my bed and my pjs wet.    Trying to not wake my roommate with the commotion of changing clothes and sheets.   LOL

My husband is going to bring me the ads, so they will be late.  

We have talked about batch cooking and buying in bulk and at rock bottom prices.   Making sure that you only,buy foods that you will use on a regular basis assures that you will use things up before there is a stale date.  

Tonight we had a tater tot casserole, pickled beets, and  a bread stick.  Fresh pineapple for desert.    I hadn't had beets  for years and the pineapple was refreshing on a hot day.    Fresh pineapple is one thing I find not hard to buy on a budget.   We manage to get berries, bananas, and apples, sometimes oranges.  

Using up the bits of fresh foods helps keep costs down.   I haven't shopped for several weeks now, I don't know how the fresh foods have favored.  

About all.  

Thanks
Jane

Terrific Tuesday

It's Tuesday, the 15th.    It is a milestone for a family member and we are all jumping up and down to say "Hip Hip Hooray! " it's been a long time coming and we are all thrilled!    Well, my brain is jumping. My body. Not so much!  

Last night we had a vegetable bean soup. Cornbread, a  tomato and cucumber salad,and chocolate pudding for dinner.   It would be a very inexpensive dinner to serve.  You could put the soup in the slow cooker in the morning,  the cornbread is a quick fix as well as the salad. When you are having a soup that has a limited amount of protein in it, you need to add a side or desert that has protein in it.  
Pudding is one of those things that is easy to make without the box.  You are getting very little effort in the box for a lot of money.  

Averaging your meat costs is one way to afford a more expensive cut if meat every new and then.   I use a matrix when planning meals.  It makes it easier and affords a degree of balance.   By rotating your meats( proteins ) using the bulk system, your meal plans fall into place.

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

SAFEWAYS  has pork tenderloin and shrimp on five dollar Friday often.
I am finding a buck a pound chicken often.  There is an expose on deli chicken on an older blog. It's very enlightening.   I make our own ( actually I cut the meat up and my husband puts it through the grinder ) hamburger when it is cost effective.   Batch cooking hamburger is the most labor intensive of the batch meats.  I buy grated cheese when it is reasonable, otherwise I grate our own and add a little cornstarch to keep it from clumping. It freezes well.  

I can always get pasta for a buck a pound.  Often,  I can also get coupons or  coupons matching with a sale.   Pasta has a v e r y long shelf life.   Stock when you can.   I developed a pasta dish that is my answer to a  hamburger meal box.  Better, cheaper, faster.   My children call it no Brainer pasta.   There is a blog on hamburger meal boxes as well.    It's a real eye opener!  

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Jane

Sunday ads

I got the paper today.   Smart source has a few cereal type coupons, but not many,  

Walgreens has pink salmon for 1.99@@

ALBERTSONS

Chicken , whole .99
Blues 4.99
Tillamook yogurt 10/4
Milk 2/5@@
Bread 1.49@@
Ground beef 15% 2.99@@

Buy 5 save 5
Freshetta 4.49
Sour cream 1.49
Salsa 3.79

Fred Meyers

Sirloin steak 3.99
Cherries 1.88
Milk 4/5@@
Bread  1.33@@t
Tomatoes or veggies. 2/1@@ limit
Smoked sausage 2/5
Corn 4/2
Parsley..67
Cukes. .67
Green beans 1.48
Berries 2/5
Broccoli .99
Pizza 3.99
Ice cream 2/4@@
Peanut butter 2/3@@
that's about all

Please share

Jane

Suddenly Sunday- the basics continued.

We have talked about looking for the best buys and taking advantage of sales.   The old adage of my mothers is still true---never pay top dollar for anything.   Today it's random bits of information.   If I was my normal logical self, this would be a bit more cohesive, but given my drugged body, all bets are off! LOL ( I'm in rehab for a hip replacement! )

First, the USDA publishes stats for different income levels and for different sized families.   An older couple , thrifty , is about 82.00 a  week.   Mind you,there are 4.2 weeknight in a month.   If you are getting less, they are  figuring that some of your other income  is going to supplement.

It helps to divide your grocery money into the food groups, in proportion to the food pyramid.   We work on 5 dollar dinners for a typical family of four, based on 300. A month.   That would be probably  closer to two bucks for a couple.

Don't forget coupons.  Many times they are for expensive things you don't need, but you can still get good food cheap.  I like free.   It happens sometimes.   Coupons come out in the Sunday paper in the form of inserts.  I have a friend  that brings me hers,   And I get one from the dollar store weekly.
Coupons come out once a month on the computer.  You snooze you loose for the expensive ones.   You can pick and choose the ones you will print.  You can print  two per item.   Coupons.com.   There are a lot of web sites, but most take you back to coupons,com and they don't ask you for your first born sons name? LOL.

Don't overlook other stores.   Buy the best of two chain stores and keep your eye open at the other stores.  I use Costco for a few things.   We have over stocked stores . Sometimes they have really good food that is a bit out of the ordinary and never took off in the regular market.  We have Big  Lots  and Grocery Outlet. .  We are getting a Winco near us soon I hear.   Bakery outlet stores are good for bread products.   If I was really short on budget,  I would make my own,  there are recipes
that make it easy.
The dollar store is cheaper on some things, but it really pays to know your prices.   I can't emphasize that enough.  If you can't remember, use a spread sheet or a notebook to keep track.

Last night, in the rehab, we had a baby pizza and spinach for dinner.   Pepperoni is .50 a package with a coupon at the dollar store.   The crust looked suspiciously like bisquick.  I could have done without the spinach and had a little green salad.  There was bits of bacon, pepperoni and sausage on the pizza.
I have been getting cheese for as little as two bucks a pound.   A little more for a Mexican blend at business Costco.

Portion control is  a real key player when you have a less than USDA stat budget.    Identifying protein cheap and finding the cheapest cost is paramount.  We eat far more protein than we need to.
You can stretch a lot using portion control.  It's real easy, especially after being used to cooking for a large family, to overlook.  Remember, you can split recipes and use them for more than one meal.  Use up bits and pieces for soup, pizza, enchiladas etc.

Popcorn is a good snack.   Air popped is real healthy.   Something as simple as an enchilada sauce can jack up up your total meal cost.  Make your own sauces.  The sauce can cost more than the meat.
I was surprised how easy it is to make.  If a recipe sounds too complicated, keep looking, the Internet is full of information.   I have been getting recipe starter for .50 and less.   Recipe starter was introduced a year or so ago.  It didn't fly.  It is a good product, made by a good company, but the cost was more than the meat  you put in it.   It hit the secondary market.   The dollar store had it for 2/1.  I had fifty cent coupons.   The dollar store is out now, And so are the coupons.  But, Big Lots  has them for .50 and they have cheese.  Add real cheese and frozen veggies ( often cheaper at the dollar store( watch weights) to coupon purchased pasta and  you have a dinner for often times a buck.   Or use garlic or basil with tuna.

Your meals can be filling, good, tasty and inexpensive.   They don't have to shout economy.

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Jane

Step 2, suddenly saturday

Normally I would have grocery shopped yesterday.  This summer is a lesson in coping and rolling with the punches.LOL

Yesterday we talked,about identifying Our needs and meal planning the basics.  

Each week, when I get the newspaper ads, I analyze them.   Take a piece of scrap computer paper, divide it into quarters and head each with a grocery store.   Now go through the ads and write down any perishable or dairy ad price that is the cheapest.   Ditto the stock items on your list.  Now pick the one " loss leader protein that is on your list". By buying one meat a week and rotating it, you can save time and money.   You portion control the meals for no waste, and dinner is half started.  
I rotate hamburger, chicken, pork roast or sausage, and cheese.  Sausage last I looked was 8.49 for three pounds at Costco.   I watch for cheap 9 percent hamburger.  Sometimes a chuck roast will be on sale and grinding my own  is a better option.  My husband does it with the kitchen aid and controls the fat.   You can also use the old fashioned meat grinder.

Chicken continues to be inexpensive.   I usually buy a whole chicken and roast it.  Use dark meat for BBQ , breast for a chicken dinner or casseroles or other chicken dish and the bones for soup.  If I get grill packs. I debone the chicken breast and either cook the quarters for BBQd chicken or shred    it for tacos etc.

Hamburger becomes crumbles for pasta sauce, pizza, or sloppy joes. Also, taco meat and meat balls.  We usually get a meat loaf from it.  Meat balls are a meat group in itself.,,,meatball subs, on rice, potatoes, noodles, the possibilities are endless.  

Thanks,

Jane

Freaky Friday- the basics edition.

 I'm not on a position at this time to shop and cook and clean out the fridge.  Long story, bit the short of it, I landed in a rehab center and are taking a mini vacation.    LOL

So, it's time to get back to basics.

The reason why I started groceries on the cheap is because I was getting requests for people to teach them how to make it  on food stamps.  They were running out of momey before they ran out of month.   With the rising costs of food and the shrinking snap dollar, ot os getting harder to make the meals hit the table.   The good news is the Internet if full of information everywhere you look and you get to filter out what is usable to you.

The main objective in groceries on the cheap is to NEVER  PAY FULL PRICE FOR ANYTHING.  BUY LOW AND EAT HIGH.

A few exercises will set you up do eat well on less the rest of your lives.

• Identify the inexpensive sources of protein that your family will eat.   In our home that would be chicken, eggs, cheese, pork, beans and rice,beef, 
• Write down meals that incorporate these sources .  Do at least 7' preferably 14 to assure variety. 
• Identify the shelf ready staple items that you'd will use to cook these meals.  Also freezer.Start a price book and identify the lowest prices for these foods. Use the weekly ads and your shopping trips to post prices.    Name of product, size, date, store, price?   with coupon? 
• When you find the right price, buy a) as many as you can, b) as many as the store will let you ( limits) or c) as many as you need to reach your goal.  I keep a six to 12 week supply.   
• If you can match a store sale with a manufacturers coupon you.  really hit pay dirt!   

That's all for today.  More tomorrow.   

Thanks 

Jane 

Please share 

• 
  

Wicked wednesday

Our whole life has blown apart the last month.    I have come to the realization with pain and ice, that we have to take stock I'm what we do have left and  trudge on.   This old  Doe-Blood has  blood is pooped.  I've lost my fight.  

That being said, our family unit is  intact.  
I have no place to sell cards, I have no place to teach cards.   I have put put feelers. All I can do is keep trying,  
My husband is applying for a couple of jobs that would suit him well and only time will tell.  
Baby granddaughter still needs help understanding rules.  We can concentrate on that.
If I can emphasize  my budgeting skills to my family, we should survive a while anyway.   I have a lot of stock in the pantry.    That's what it is for.  And, I didn't pay more than 1/2 price for any of it.

I digress.

I am not buying food now, stuck in a rehab torture chamber , LOL.  Thankfully, I don't have to.  Hopefully, my daughter and husband are making dinners work.   The lack of grocery shopping should
Do a reasonable help in replacing our income for a while.  

I,will go,back to analyzing the ads as soon as I can get the ads.   Stick in a hospital bed is not very conducent  of that.  

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Jane

Suddenly Sumday

It os sindY.  I've been fighting the what day is ot demons all week.   LOL

The ads
Fred Meyers

Cherries 1.99
Blues 4.98
Chicken .99
Eggs 4/5@@
Butter 2/4@@
Bagels 1.99
Canned veggies 2/1@@
Radishes 2/.88
Dreyers 2/6$$


Walgreens
Tom sauce 2/1@@
Nuts 1.99

That's about ot.

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Jane

What a revolting development! This turned out to be!

Ok, as if my blogs haven't been sporadic lately with the mall closing , Tuesday I fell and broke my hop and wrist!   I'll be I'm rehab for three weeks, will coots when I can.  

Suddenly Sunday

Since I thought yesterday was Sunday, I'm really off.   My daughter is putting turkey chili in the slow cooker.  We are going to try new recipes and use up the freezer.  It's getting full along with the pantry.  Since the antique mall is closing, and it will be some time before it opens again, this is the time I was stockpiling for.  Stay tuned it should get interesting what we can  come up with to eat.  LOL

We are both trying to get new employment,m we don't need to work a lot, just enough to pad the budget a little.   I am hoping to find students to teach.  I would like two classes a month.  

I digress .

Ideas

If you are making something that is vegetarian or something that doesn't have a lot of protein in it., supplement the dish with another protein.  Last night we had corn chowder with a garnish of bacon.  I made cheese biscuits to go with.  I could have also made a pudding.   Cheese biscuits are simply a baking powder biscuit that is rolled instead of cut.  Sprinkle the top of the flattened dough with cheese and rolls cut into slices .  My recipe called for 9 biscuits  so I cut the roll into none slices.  Bake according to directions. I used the convection oven so it didn't take the entire time.  

Minced clams are on sale often.  I can get the, as cheap as .89.   Ditto tuna lately.    Eggs are a cheap source of protein and got a bad wrap a few years ago.  Further studies decided they weren't so bad after all.  Using them as a source of protein without the other traditional lumbermans breakfast is still a good meal.    

Drastic times call for drastic measures.  Think out of the box.  There is nothing wrong with breakfast for dinner.   My mother missed to make an omlette that she started on the stove and finished in the oven where it puffed up.  Of course, ot fell flatter than a pancake when she brought it out of the oven.
LOL

Soups are a food way to stretch a buck.  A whole chicken at a buck a pound can go a long ways.    There are recipes everywhere.  

We like impossible pie.  

Cheerios now come on a protein rich version.  There are good coupons for it.  

I guess that's all

Please share

Jane

It is Saturday.

We went to the next town today and I got some recipe starter at big lots and cheeses at grocery outlet. We went on to Fred Meyers.m I got the things in ad, couldn't find the chicken and was confused about the corn.  I used my coupons.   It just dawned in me that today is Saturday,not Sunday. Guess having a back ache and working in the heat with no breaks got to me,

Corn is 6/2
Black olives are a buck w a coupon in the paper.   Grill packs are a buck. Tillamook is 2/6 with a coupon.

Today, I put a corn chowder in the crock pot and it cooked all day.  I added the cream and bacon at the last.   I made cheese biscuits to supplement the garnish of bacon on the soup.  

Tomorrow. My daughter is going to try a new chili recipe for the crock pot.  We got a little recipe book at the antique mall and we decided to try some of the recipes.   Most of them are low cost and sound really good.  

We are working on securing new employment. But in the mean time. We are going to conch on the budget and make do.   I am working on a new place to sell product and trying to get students to teach.
Look for more penny pinching recipes.


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Jane

Terrific Thursday, the ads

It's more than crazy at work.  Nine hour days where you are lucky to get a bite to eat and a sip of water.  We did nine  times the volume of salsa as normal yesterday.   Just crazy.   A lot of people are sad we are being forced out.   We will probably come back at some point on time.  

I digress.  The ads

SAFEWAYS

Apples 1.99
Bread 1.00
2 lbs shredded cheese 6.99
Ice cream 2.99 dreyers
Corn 6/2
Grapes 2.99
Bumble bee tuna 1.00


5 dollar Friday

Sandwich
Berries 2/5
Strawberry custard pie
Coffee
2 lbs Tillamook cheese
Ice cream 2/5

QFC

Chereies 3.98, 2.99
Chicken 1.00
Berries 3.98
Hebrew national 3.49
Buns 1.00
Ice cream 2/5

ALBERTSONS
Buy 4
Dreyers 1.99

General Mills cereal 1.88$$, when you buy 5
Nathan's BOGO
Radishes .50
Grapes 2.99
Blues. 4.99
Cherries 3.99


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Jane

Wicked Wednesday.

No ads, no time. No blog.  See you this evening!  

It pays to complain.

My experience today.....

I went to cook my pork tenderloin that I bought on Friday the 13th on a five dollar Friday deal.  It had a May 28th date on it.  We had beef tips and mashed potatoes instead last night.  Those were the beef tips that I got for two dollars with double coupons.  

Today I took the roast back, even though I had posted my receipt and lost it.  They told me I could replace ot.  The butcher gave me a regular pork tenderloin, 24 ounces instead of the seasoned one 18 ounces for even price.   The regular price now is      8.99.   SCORE,  

You can never guess what we had for dinner!  

Sunday supreme , the third time is a charm!

I've decided to take a day at a time.   I am working on a class on my studio and hope I get to teach it.   At least the subject is a challenge and probably the best thing that could happen; it makes my mind stop racing.

I did speak my mind.here are two papers in our small town, one os an on line paper,and  the other a regular newspaper.   The in line paper tried to make it sound like the antique mall we work (ed) at was closed two years ago.  She was clearly biased in her writing from the get go.m I called her on it and she retracted saying they wanted more upscale tenants in the building.  The building , after they remodel will have ten thousand square feet of beer establishments and a art museum.  They want to be a stopping off point for the commuters.  The bus, ferry, and train stations are near by.

My comment.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10203197575092714&id=1608277980


I did a while blog, it was erased.   So goes my day. I'll try to recap.

Trying new recipes is a good way to mix up dinner time and keep frugal eating fresh and interesting.
Recipes are found just about everywhere these days and can often be adapted to meet your needs.

Stuffed tomatoes
A good recipe when tomatoes are in avoidance and cheap.
6 medium tomatoes.  ( or three large ones cut in half.  )
1 cup orzo, cooked and drained
1/2 cup grated cheese
1T melted butter
Basil, parsley, salt and pepper
6 T reserve flesh, drained.

Cut small slice off the top of the tomatoes . Scoop out the fleet leaving some wall on the tomato.  Reserve the flesh.    Make stiffing, fill tomatoes . Place in a baking pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until soft and warm.

This recipe came from my sisters recipe box.   It was from a friend of my parents and came from WWII when some food items were rationed and some you couldn't get at all.   Red velvet,cake came about during the war because you couldn't get chocolate and someone wanted chocolate cake.

 Crazy Cake

 

1 1/2 cups cake flour (sifted)

1        cup granulated sugar

3  Tablespoons cocoa

1  teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Sift above ingredients together into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.  Make a well in center and add:

 

6  Tablespoons salad oil

1  Tablespoon  vinegar

1 cup cold water or cold coffee

1  teaspoon vanilla

 

Mix together with a fork.  Do not beat.   Bake @ 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until tests done.

 

 

Frosting:

 

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/3 cube of butter

dash of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg white OR 2 Tablespoons milk

 

Cream sugar and butter.  Add salt, vanilla and egg white OR milk and beat until smooth and creamy.  Fold in marshmallows and English walnuts.

 

 

____________________________________________________________
The #1 Worst Carb Ever?
Click to Learn #1 Carb that Kills Your Blood Sugar (Don't Eat This!)FixYourBloodSugar.com

Friday focus

In the last 15 days, our whole life has done a drastic change.  We are both going to be out of work, I have lost my space to sell antiques and product.   Our budget, accordingly is shot.  And now our granddaughter is going to spend the summer with us instead of going to preschool.   It seems they have decided she is special needs and they do t have the skills to deal with her.   She's a smart, energetic girl that doesn't want to slow down for anything.  She doesn't fit their mould.  

I digress.  

Last night I made pasta.  I was going for Mac and cheese, but opened the wrong can of recipe starter. I have tomato that I got of free at the dollar store.  

Betty Crocker sent another list of foil packet , grill dinners.   You can also cook them in the oven if you don't want to grill.   Kids think it is like camping out.  There are less dishes. And some of them are really good.  They had a pineapple and chicken one that sounds really good. Also potatoes, veggies, and another chicken dish with thighs.   Our kitchen is facing east, so it's really hot at night, but the deck is cool.

We have a lot of salads in the summer.  Or I find an easily made protein and I make salads on Sunday and we eat off of them all week.  Basically, a salad bar and an entre.  It makes for less work and less time in a hot kitchen.  

 Nancy, I loved your idea last Friday.  I haven't made those, but I remember my mom making them.   I saw a recipe a while back using canned clams.   We just usually have the Mac and cheese and a veggie.  We go to an upscale restaurant  for happy hour group sometimes.  They have ala carte for cheap.  My husband gets crab cakes.  They also have a stuffed chicken with asparagus.  I rarely fet asparagus because it's expensive and I am the only one that likes it.  Both items are around five bucks,   We go out with friends once a week for happy hourmbecausemots a cheap dinner.
I don't count going out in our food budget. Other  than happy hour, we don't go out often.  If we don't replace our income. It will be even less! LOL.  I do feed is on an average of 62.00 a week. And, that is 25 percent less than the USDA stats for thrifty for just my husband and I.  We also feed my daughter and granddaughter .   My daughter buys some specialty foods for them.  ( they are semi vegetarian) .  

I usually pick Wednesday and clean out the fridge and try to use up the weeks veggies that are looking peeked.  I like to make muffins or tea breads.  It's a good way to hide a veggie.  

I goes that all.  

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Jane

Terrific Thursday

One more day this week to work.  I hope I can hold up.  Yesterday about killed me.   My husband went without coffee or anything to drink until the end of shift.   We had double the staff, but five times the volume of sales .    With both of is loosing our jobs, I will be spending more time with coupons .   The sad thing is that because a developer has a pie on the sky idea, 200 people will loose their jobs.   Jobs for old people are hard to find.   The biggest joke is that they wanted more upscale renters  we sell crystal, china, diamonds and gold jewelry amd sterling.  They are replacing it with beer bottles.   LOL

Roast is BOGO at three dollars a pound.  It would be a good time to grind your own hamburger.   That's cheaper than ground beef at the lowest grade.    We have been eating a lot of pork and chicken since the price of beef went so high.  A little variety would be welcome.  

Fruits and vegetables are coming in season and the prices are good at some stores.   Last night we had two for one steaks at the Channel Marker.  It is cheaper than buying steak at home and I was totally beat.   Even a easy  meal would have been a challenge.  

I digress.

Ideas for dinner.  The concept of cheap dinners has changed dramatically with the high cost of beef.  Pork os following suit.  The six dollar a roll Jimmy Dean  sausage at Costco is now 8.49.  Using a small amount to add flavour to a soup is still within reach.   I can still get pork chops reasonable.   Cheese is on sale periodically.  My husband finally got the concept of buying it when it is on sale wether we are out of cheese or not when he saw it for eight dollars a brick.  An example of it pays to study the grocery ads was when the same brand and amount of cheese ranged on the ads between four dollars a brick and eight dollars a Brick.

Garden Fettuccine
Pizza
Breakfast for dinner
Veggie Mac and cheese is always a winner here.
We like an impossible pie with cheese and a little meat.   Served with a field green salad with a fruit and raspberry vinaigrette.
Pesto chicken panini is good .  Make pesto with parsley and walnuts.
Pesto with fresh stir fry veggies and shrimp is good.  SAFEWAYS still has shrimp reasonable sometimes.

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Jane

Wicked wednesday

The ads , we are down to three plus Fred Meyers that come out on Sunday.   I see a smaller version of SAFEWAYS and ALBERTSONS in the Sunday paper.    I did go  to Walgreens.  They paid me .25 to buy toothpaste and I got dish washing pods for free.


QFC

Berries 1.88
Cherries 3.88
Broccoli .99
Sirloin tip roast BOGO nets 3.00 a pound
Yogurt  10/5$$
Radishes 2/1
Pasta 1.00$$
Bread 1.00

ALBERTSONS

Strawberries 3.99
Milk 2/5@@
Bread .99@@
Hamburger 2.98@@-15 fat
Cantelope 3.49 ea

.80 sale
Refried and black beans
Tomatoes
Catsup
BBQ sauce
Manwich

Coupons
Ice cream 2.49
Crisco oil 2.99


SAFEWAYS

Corn 6/2
Ice cream 2.99
Milk 2.89
Berries 1.99
Chicken .99
Cherries 3.99
Peppers 1.00
Yoplait 10/5$$

5 dollar Friday
Berries  18 oz
Sirloin tips 5.00
Edamame


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Jane

Happy Father's Day note freebies at Walgreens

I have the ads for this week.

Walgreens

PUREX laundry detergent, buy 1 , get two free
Nuts 1.99
Eggs, turkey bacon 2/3

Finish dw detergent.  4.99, mail in rebate in paper 4.99.  Final cost FREE
Clams .89@@

Colgate toothpaste 3.00
Register reward 2.50
Coupon in paper .50
Nets FREE



Fred Meyers
Cherries 3.48

Eggs 4/5
Milk 4/5@@
Bread 3/4@@
Berries 2/4
Tomatoes .99
Sour cream .99@@
Beans or tomatoes .50 limit 6@@

Beans and tomatoes are a good stock items.  Think casseroles. Soups, tacos, salsa,

THATS ABOUT ALL.

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Jane

Freaky Friday

Things are getting crazy at work.   I'm thinking of changing our name to the city zoo soon.  We don't have time to even gulp a drink of water.   What a let down when we are closed .  Bummer.   We can only hope and pray the owners find a building soon.

What to do with what you have.  Last weeks protein of choice was chicken and pork tenderloins.  Finding any meat under five dollars a pound is iffy.   Meat has to be under five dollars a pound in order to make a five dollar dinner.  A lot of the people I have talked to get three hundred dollars a month in snap.  If one could really feed a family on a hundred dollars a month,that would be  a nice feat.   I haven't seen that lately and still have filling, nutritional , balanced meals.
At three hundred dollars.mdomner has to be five dollars to leave five dollars for breakfast and lunch.

There are a lot of new chicken dishes on the Betty Crocker e mail feed.  If you haven't signed up, ot os a good thing to do. It is  free and sometimes there are coupons and links to where ingredients are on sale.   Ots constantly changing and new recipes are happening every week.   This week there is a jerk chicken with black beans and sweet potatoes.   Something  I have never heard of before.   I'm not sure my family would eat it, but it is totally different.

Chicken os still a buck a pound for grill packs at Fred Meyers.
Pasta is a buck and there are coupons out there at qfc
Hebrew national hot dogs are three dollars at QFC.   You can cut your costs by making pigs in blankets with bisquick or  adding them to beans.   I try to limit our processed meat consumption to one time a week or less.

Pepperoni continues to be fifty cents with a coupon at the dollar store.   (Dollar tree)
There is a recipe for pizza crust on a previous blog.  Easy and made in the food processor.   Fun for children.

Tacos are fast and easy.  You can make your own taco seasoning,  I mix it with water and simmer shredded chicken just lomg enough to season and heat it through.   Soft shells are cheap at Costco and grocery outlet.

Cheese os on sale this  week.  Mac and cheese os a family favorite.   I can still get cheese recipe starter at Big  Lots  for fifty cents.  They don't take coupons and I, not finding any. Some of my recipe starter I got for free at the dollar store.   That's another reason why you should stock when you find things really cheap.   Adding some real cheese to the starter stretches cheese that sometimes os selling for eight dollars a brick.   I had jalapeño chicken Mac and cheese at happy hour a few weeks ago.  They added jalapeños to the Mac and cheese, and added shredded chicken in a pile on top of the bowl.   It was really good.   I NEVER pass up a cheese sale of less than three dollars a pound.   You can always freeze it, add a little (Tablespoon) if cornstarch to it to keep it from clumping.  It's fine of you melt it on pizza or on Mac and cheese.

SAFEWAYS has a family pizza for five dollars on Friday.   It is so big I can barely get it onto my big oven,  I cut it in half and make two meals.   Top ot with veggies or any leftover cooked meat you can find.

I wrote a blog on almost free pizza.   It's a concept, not the fact that someone os giving away free pizza.    If you chop a little extra of anything that you are chopping during the week to make dinner and out ot on a bag on the freezer door and do the same for any chopped or cooked meat that would go on a pizza. I keep the meats separate, but the veggies I stick together,   By the end of the week, you have a pizza almost made and gleamed from your leftovers.   Of you don't want to make a crust, there are crusts for a buck or two at big lots.   ( thin)

Grapes are 1.28'at QFC and Fred M eyes.   It's a good time to have breakfast for dinner.   Blueberry pancakes and turkey bacon!   Scrambled eggs , toast and grapes, or hash browns.   We like quiche.  I serve it with a salad with field greens and grapes or blueberries, or strawberries.   We also like a chop salad with field greens, chicken cubes, grapes and walnuts.   Or apple and toasted or sugared walnuts.
Serve with a roll or biscuit.

That's about all.

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Jane

Wicked Wednesday, the ads

It's going to be a long , hard couple of months ahead,  I am afraid.   I think the old adage, one day at a time os in order.  

QFC
Salsa 2/4
Roma's  .99
Cherries 3.88
Grapes 1.28
Barilla pasta 1.00$$
Strawberries 2/bins 1.00
Corn 2/1
Hebrew national 2/6

SAFEWAYS

Dreyers 2.99
Potato salad 4.99
HORMEL lunch meat or pepperoni $$ ( pepperoni is at the dollar store with a coupon it's .50.
Peaches 1.49
Corn 6/2
Berries 2/5
Tuna .99
Mayo 1.99@@
Salsa 1.79@@

Five dollar Friday
Pizza 5.00
Shrimp
Sub sandwich
Coffee


ALBERTSONS

Corn 4/1
Cereal 1.49. Look for coupons
2lbs cheese 4.99@@

Mega. Buy more, save more. Buy 10/ save 5.  On to 30/15
Prices are net, remember mix or match quantity prices

Sour cream, cottage cheese 1.49
Oatmeal 2.49
Peanut butter 1.99
Olive oil 4.99

Buy 4/ save 2
BREYERS 2.49
Mayo 2.99


Kraft salad dressing 1.99 ck for coupons
BBQ sauce .79
Kraft singles 2.79
Taco shells .99


Note there were only three ads thos week.  Top is closing.  Soon there will be only two ads when ALBERTSONS merges with SAFEWAYS.   SAFEWAYS is the better of the stores in my opinion , but ALBERTSONS is going to be the pick of the two stores.   That is sad, because we have half as many choices.,  more choices usually make for lower prices.  We are gaining a Winco in our area, and we also have Fred Meyers a few miles away along with grocery Outlet and Bog Lots.   For is, Fred Meyer, grocery outlet and bog lots are all on the same street in  the next town.  Winco was several towns away, so having it close to home will be an improvement,  they have a great bulk department and prices are fairly good.  You have to bag your own, so take a helper with you. We don't know how long the transitions will take.  

For a person that doesn't like upheaval and not knowing what is going to happen next, this is a very stressful time for me.  

Prayers and hugs,

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Jane

Monday madness.

I am sure glad I have a stock of food.  Because some developer has a pipe dream, we are out of a job, at least temporarily, maybe forever.   That crimps our budget a lot.   Our job was our padding.   Now we are back to bare bones.   Things will work out, I am sure,  but having a stockpile of food is surely going to help us ride  the wave.   Besides not having a job, I loose my availability to sell antiques and my product.   That's a double wammie.  .  The worst part of it is this developer has put 150 people put of work, and  I truly believe that his idea is a pie in the sky.   I have been doing accounting for all kinds of businesses for fifty years now.   Doing the math, I think he's setting himself up to fail.   Time will tell.  

I digress.

Chicken grill packs were a buck a pound at Fred Meyers.   There were several veggies and fruits that were quite reasonable also.  I stocked with pork tenderloins and grill packs.   I like to debone the chicken breasts and cook the rest for shredded chicken that can be used for BBQ sandwiches. Tacos, or I had jalapeño chicken Mac and cheese the other day at our happy hour.  It was really good.

It doesn't seem logical with meat prices rising, that the legislature would cut snap.  But, like Mr. Echelbarger, the legislature doesn't always think logical in my opinion.   I am not fond of the attitude that the rich can get richer and the poor can get poorer.

The whole idea of groceries on the cheap is to give people tools to feed their families well on a meager budget.   If you can do that, doing it on more is a piece of cake and you have learned to make educated decisions on your grocery purchases.

Protein is the biggest expense of the grocery budget.  Protein seems to be the one thing who's price is rising the most.   If we can average protein costs and watch the perishables and stock at the lowest prices the staple items, we can still keep to a rigid budget.

Of you are on snap or a fixed income, your budget is rigid.   The social security raise did not cover the amount our necessities ( insurances and food and utilities) have risen.

Averaging protein works with the addition of vegetarian meals a couple of,nights a week.  I am still able to get cheese for two to three dollars a pound.  Eggs are also a cheap protein,   With coupons, some ready made meats ( sirloin tips) continue to be a cost effective alternative.   Chicken is still a buck a pound on sale, which helps average the cost so we can afford a piece of red meat every now and then.  We still need red meat to keep our iron supply up.   So far, the only thing that we are deficient of is vitamin d.  That is because we are not real milk drinkers and sun is not a big commodity in the PNW! LOL.  We do eat sour cream and cottage cheese and regular cheeses.

To recap

• Average your protein costs
• Strive for five dollar dinners ( typical family of four) 
• Watch your fruit and vegetable costs and buy in season 
• Buy dairy when it is on sale, and buy what you will use before it goes bad.  
• Buy cheese on sale.  Grocery outlet os a good source of unusual and inexpensive cheeses.  

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Jane 

Sunday ads

The dollar store was very fruitful yesterday.   There is a lot of plastic garbage at the dollar store, but there is also a lot of necessity items that are far less expensive than anywhere else.   Facial tissue is one.   I got brand name catsup for a dollar for a large bottle.   They have sugar free candy, toothpaste and soap for free with coupons.   Sunday papers are a buck.  

Walgreens.  
A
Get five dollar rewards when you spend 25.00.  There are a bot of BOGO or BOG 1/2.  Mostly for non food items.  

Coffee 6.99
Milk 2.69
Mitchum deodorant w coupon .99
Tea bags 2.99

Fred Meyers

Butter 2/4@@
Grapes 1.28@@
Chicken grill pack .99@@
Blues 4.98
Zucchini or yellow  .99
Tomatoes  .99
Bins 4/5

Keeping a mindset of watching for true deals for the things that you actually need is a good way to live  better for less.  

I got an e mail that there was a concert at our local performance center .  Tickets for seniors with the ticket surcharge on line were twenty dollars.   If you bought ten senior tickets they were ten dollars with a max surcharge of 12.00.  I got eleven of our friends to go and we paid eleven dollars for our twenty dollar tickets.  

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Jane

Finally friday

It's getting crazy at work.  Dealers are putting sales on everything to clear out some merchandise so they don't have to move ot.  We are trying to ring double the sales and do extra work.   It days like yesterday that I am glad I only work two days a week.   LOL Meanwhile we are trying to find a building to move to.

We had chicken mashed potatoes and mixed berries for dinner last night.   My plan os to get pork tenderloins for our stock meat this week.   I try to keep a variety of meats in our pantry/ freezer so we eat well and eat a variety of foods.  No matter what you eat, someone will have a reason why it is unhealthy. My take is to eat a variety of foods and avoid processed meats on a regular basis.  I want us to eat them no more than once a week. I always keep fresh fruits and veggies in the house.

Not paying full price, or what my mother used to call top dollar, is the key.   No matter what the future holds with the shake up in the grocery industry, that is still your best plan.   Being flexible helps a lot.

Finding the best two stores the week you are buying the food helps too.  You get the best selection of produce and the advantage of the best buys.   A trick of retailers is to put something on a really good sale.  They assume you are only shopping one store and you will buy the things that go with that item for more than full price and they will be money ahead.  The object of this game is for YOU to be money ahead.  

Managing your leftovers and your perishables is another way to beat the high cost of food.   Look for ingenious ways to use up the vegetable bin.   I like to roast veggies.  I found radishes for fifty cents a Fred Meyers.   They are very good roasted.  Add any root veggies or peppers, or squash to them in a pan . Cut them on pieces so they are done at the same time and drizzle them with olive oil and salt and peppers . Sometimes  I add thyme or rosemary.   Roast in a 375 degree oven until done.  I start checking at twenty minutes.m if I am in a hurry I add a chicken sausage to the last ten minutes or so.
It's an easy dinner.   I really like easy.

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Jane

A few notes on terrific Thirsday

Our landlord at work, ( I'll save the expliratives for your imagination! lol) gave us forty days to evict 150 people.  That means if we don't find a new place really soon, we will loose dealers and probavly our jobs.  I am not impressed with the landlords lack of professionalism, but he hasn't had that trait since the get go.  

On a better note, TOP  foods os closing. Lately they have been leaning towards being a high priced store.  WINCo  is moving in.  I am excited because we will be able to go to Winco any time we want. Going miles away meant we could only go every eight weeks or so.   I am saddened , though that SAFEWAYS and ALBERTSONS are merging and they are closing stores.  SAFEWAYS is far better price woes and clean wise than ALBERTSONS.  I will reserve judgment until I see the end results.  

Our whole scheme of stores and prices are about to change.   Thos a time when flexibility is paramount.   It is also a good thing we have stocked and can ride the wave until things settle down from all the changes.  

Life happens, and the people that can adjust to the bes and flows will be better off than those who can't.  

That's about all

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Jane