Couponing , not what you think

Couponing  doesn't take a long time....unless your printer refuses to work!   LOL.   They can be for a lot of things that are not processed, junk food.   For the most part we don't buy a lot of junk food,  It's a sure way to jack up your food bill.  
On coupons. com today I found :

.55 of soft tortilla
.50 off butter
.50 off butter with canola oil
.55 off two pronto Barilla pasta (2) -
.50 off rove yoplait yogurt.
2.00 off of a pork tenderloin

On blue  bunny, I got 2 - .75 off coupons

None of  that I consider junk, highly processed food.

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro sypective.  The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will 

need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals 

on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.    

Staying on target

Staying on your target budget is not hard if you stick to the premise that you are not buying junk foods and have set target prices for items.    If an item is more than my target price and it's not absolutely imperative that I have it, I walk away.    Most things have an alternative.   That's where going to more than one store and buying the best of that store is key to feeding your family well on a small budget.

Even finding one or two things really cheap can snowball.   Barilla pasta is running 1.49.   Four boxes , then should be six  dollars, rounding.    I paid three and I got a coupon for 1.50 off three more.  I saved three dollars.   If I use  that three dollars to buy something  else that is an extreme bargain, it snowballs my savings.    That's how you pay for stocking without spending more than your normal budget on food.    Pretty soon you are spending less, because your stock is built and you are only buying the things at RBP.   

10 percent ground round was 2.77 instead of six dollars a pound,   I bought five pounds.    I saved rounding, 15.00 .   Today I will cook crumbles, and taco meat.    

Last night we had scrambled  eggs with cheese, a fruit compote with cantaloupe, grapes, and strawberries, and an apple, cinnamon  muffin.  ( I was making the basic muffin from Betty Crocker.   Granddaughter was helping.   She was mixing the dry ingredients while I was mixing the wet.  She decided that cinnamon would be a good addition to the dry ingredients, so I gave her some to add.   Then, I figured grating an apple onto the wet ingredients would be a good fit.  -and the rest , as they say, was history.    

Meal plans happen tomorrow.    We go for out last nit picking, and I'm working in my studio,  and batch cook five pounds of hamburger.   Hopefully all will work as planned.    

Back later.

I stopped at grocery outlet on the way home from what my DDG calls the hair Doctor.    I found 33 ounce tomato sauce in a bag for .50.    Romano cheese was 3.99 a wedge.    And onions were 1.50 a bag.  

On to meal plans

1. Hambirgers , French fries, salad 
2. Speghetti and meatballs , salad 
3. Baked potato bar 
4. Pizza 
5. Hot dogs. Suddenly salad 
6. Breakfast for dinner 
7. Perogie chicken casserole.    

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro sypective.  The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will 
need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals 
on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.    

Fred Meyers haul

Today, as predicted, we went to Fred Meyers.   I'm done for the week.   I also went to dollar tree and to TJ Maxx.    I found a darling designer  outfit for ban for six bucks.   Dollar store had six for 6/1 again.   I was out of Gallo bags, so I picked up 14 for a buck until we get to Costco.  

Fred Meyer.    

5 pounds of 10 percent lean hambirger at 2.77 price was six dollars.  
2 stoffers Mac and cheese cups 2.00 ( baby's lunch)
12 English muffins 1.67
two Barilla pasta ( veggie) for 1.00 ea
two pronto Barilla pasta for .50 each with a coupon.  
2 -10 packs mission tortillas 1.00 ea
3 -8 ounce cans tomato sauce 1.00



Red grapes 1.48 a pound
2 cantaloupe - 1.00 ea
Blackberries 299

Total 33.34,

Total week 64.35


Yesterdays s and w beans were .43 net.   Net after Ibotta is 64.10.  

Sunday notes

4, + 1= 5 -- four people, one meal, five bucks.    Better , cheaper, faster.

Last night we had what I call a pick  up meal. We had cleaned and organized the freezer. There were two part packages of ground beef, cooked.   I put them in a pan to thaw on warm  heat.   I also found three partial bags of French fries --some crinkle cut, some not .   My husband dumped them all together.  When we went to Winco I saw a display of sloppy joe mix for a buck a can.  A light bulb went off in my head.   We had sloppy joes, French fries , amd broccoli salad for dinner.    It worked, amd I didn't have to.    ( we had thoroughly scribed the stove and refer greater, drip pans, coils. Fan, and all, took inventory and organized the freezer.) along with regular Saturday work.   I can't say that I like the canned stuff better than my own sloppy joe recipe; it was just easier and cheaper than take out.  Tonight we will have breakfast for dinner.  The cost of eggs has gone down and we have two and a half dozen with various pull dates.

It's meal plan day tomorrow and I plan to go to Fred Meyers today.   It would have been cheaper to go to Safeways for  milk, but  goimg to a store for one thing wasn't very cost effective.   We wouldn't have had time when we went to the dollar store  for bleach and disinfectant wipes.   The car seats had to be disinfected before we went home from ' lice meeting you'.  

Four plus one is five.    Most of our dinners are five dollars or less.   The trick is to average two dollars for protein.   That has been my figure for about fifty years now.    Fofty ears ago, the quality of meat we were eating was a drastic difference from what we eat now.    The types of proteins haven't changed, except we eat vegetarian twice a week.   As food prices have gone up, we have adapted.   There , also. Is three adults and one child in the family; fifty years ago, there were two adults and one child.    At one point in time, there were two adults and two teenagers.   At that point in time, I was written up in the Women's Day for feeding is on fifty  dollars a week.    I have dime that with a stand up freezer, and without.   You can still buy rotation meat with a regular freezer in the fridge.  Store the packages as flat as you can and precook your meat if appropriate.

This month I have found

1. Whole  chicken amd chicken thighs for .87 
2. Pork loin for 1.69 
3. Hamburger for 2.77
4. Eggs for .88

That's an easy rotation for our matrix of 3 chicken or pork. 2 vegetarian, 1 fish, and 1 beef.   

The trick is portion control and a lot of the time, meat is served in pieces,rather than  a whole hunk.   We still have pork roast slices and whole chicken thighs.   Occasionally, we splurge and have a piece of steak.    We still bet more than the FDA of protein usually.    

Another trick is to almost never pay full price.   I have a good idea of what I am going to buy before I ever walk into the store.   If not actual things, groups of things.   I knew I wanted fruit and veggies at Winco.   I bought the ones that were a good price.  I know that grapes are cheap at Freddie's today, so I passed.   Bananas were two cents a pound more than Costco.   I bought a few.   Cucumbers were .58.  English ones were a Buck.   It all goes back to knowing your prices.    

Winco had pork sirloin for 1.38.   I passed because after cleaning out the freezer, I know that I have enough.   Pork carnitas are 1.99 as well.   

Knowing your prices and always buying at RBP is key to a low food bill.

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals 
on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.    

Winco run

Today, I deep cleaned the fridge and took inventory.   I used a sharpee to label the bins in the freezer.   We'll see how long they stay labeled.    
Then, I went and got the haircut I tried to get a week ago,   At least I could get it 1/2 price and then go to Winco.  

Winco has pork loin for 1.38.

I got bread
Bananas
Milk
2 Johnsonville sausage
Blue bunny ice cream
Nathan's Frank's
Hunts manwich
S and W black beans .69-Ibotta
Naval o ranges
Cucumbers
 California veggie fresh bag
Yoplait yogurt
 broccoli slaw

5.81 cents in coupons , an Ibotta on the beans, and total was 31.01.

The Fred Meyer ads - a good one

Fred Meyers has a really good ad for TOMMORROW,

Lean ground beef - 10 percent 2.97
Half loin. 1.77
Grapes 1.48
Barilla 1.00
Flour tortillas 1.99$$
Zucchini .99
Cantaloupe .99 each

That's about all.

The cheese is not a bargain.   Buy five pounds at Costco and freeze what you are not using.

 My pick  for rotation would be the beef hambirger - defat it.  and the pork loin of you didn't get it last time.  

Just when you think......

Yesterday's schedule just didn't happen.   I know, €><~. Happens as the saying goes.  The plan was to work on my studio and do kitchen management and shopping,   Best laid plans.......another good reason why having a stock and a plan gets you through the hard times.

Dear darling granddaughter brought home more than her wonderful purple construction paper "w" complete with craft eyes and other embellishments,   I wasn't impressed.    After two days of disinfecting everything and shampoo sing with this product that had the consistency of snot and having no good results. My daughter found " Lice meeting You ".

So, yesterday, we all went to a place in Seattle underground complete with primary colored walls and televisions streaming the latest Disney movies.   The line outside the door had to be at least four entire families waiting to get in.   Soon there were a dozen of us in shower caps with gunky  oil stuff sprayed on our heads.    There's something very disconcerting about the thought that there is creepy crawlers on your head.   Spiders on the wall creep me out.  LOL.

Hours and more money spent  than a months worth of groceries, we came out of there deloused, complete with an appointment for a follow up and instructions to disinfect yet again and quarantine for 24 hours.   My thoughts wained  to the "louse" that brought their child to daycare with head lice and the bigger "louse " that refused to believe that's where it came from.    The forensic person knew exactly where it came from.   Needless to say, we are homeschooling for the summer.   It was a day I won't forget soon.   None of us in our collective 184 years, have  ever had that experience.

On to tomorrow,   Another day.   I plan to do kitchen management,   We had hot  dogs and oven fries and fruit salad instead of the pasta salad I had planned.  We survived.    And I plan to get down the hall to my studio.

I digress , I have two more meals to pull from this weeks meal plans, amd will take inventory and do new meal plans.    Since I will have dear granddaughter, I can prep in the morning; she loves to help in the kitchen.

Involving children on the process of meals, and kitchen management teaches them valuable lessons.  Anything from fractions when measuring for a recipe, to grouping like things in the pantry or fridge/ freezer.   They also figure out that life isn't just playing and watching videos.   I also plan to find the beach this summer.

I did get to the dollar store for disinfectant wipes and bleach.   They have pronto speghetti as well as some boxes of Barilla.   They are also a dollar at QFC, but usually pronto and gluten free cost more.

5 ways to maximize your grocery dollar

To continue the 5 series....

Five ways to maximize your grocery dollar.

1. Make best use of coupons and rebate sites for the things that you buy regularly.  It is possible to use coupons without being extreme and still cut dollars off your grocery bill.   Ibotta gives you money on a gift card for buying things like veggies, milk. Etc.   
2. Just say no to the snack food isle and the bottled drink isle.  You will save a ton of money making  lemonade, herbal ice tea and water.    Potato chips are one of the most expensive items per pound in the grocery store,   Opt for pop corn.   - air popped.    
3. Portion control meat.    Serving a hunk of meat costs a lot more than putting pieces of meat on a dish,   It is cheaper to make sloppy joes than it is to make hamburgers.   Portion controlling meat assures proper protein without over-eating.   We only need six ounces of protein a day.   
4. Do a  kitchen management inventory check mid week and factor in perishables that need to be eaten soon. Waste not, want not. Soup, vegetable stock. Stir fry?    
5. Plan your meals.   Those that fail to plan, plan to fail.   Planning your meals allows you to feed your family a variety of foods and efficiently use what is in your pantry.    

See ongoing dinners updates.

This weeks ads

QFC is a one week ad.  

Broccoli is .99
Kroger cheese is not a bargain...that is for 8 ounces, that's 4.00 a pound.  
Barilla pasta 10/10....you don't have to buy 10
Annie's Mac and cheese has more fat than Kraft.  - I'm not found of the processed.  
Raspberries and blackberries 2/5

Alberways

Pork loin 1/2 1.79
Grapes 1.99
Milk 1.99@@
CANNED VEGGIES ..50



Five dollar Friday
Shrimp
Strawberries


Not much there.  

My pick for the rotation would be the 1/2 pork loin,   You can make chops from some of it  and use some for a roast.  Slice roast leftovers for BBQ pork sandwiches.

Barilla pasta is a good buy.  It's been running 150.   There are coupons for specialty varieties" but I don't know of that price covers

them.  

Reading Pinterest.

Everything in Pinterest is in  the eyes of the beholder.    Several old economy measures are no longer true.    It , sometomes, is a case of supply and demand.    There are a few convenience foods that are actually cheaper than homemade.    Of you like the taste, you are better off buying the ready made.   Idahoan mashed potatoes with sales and coupons are par with scratch, Hunts   speghetti sauce is cheaper to buy  than make.    As people get on the homemade, no processed food wagon, these prices will go down.   Now, beware, there are still a lot of processed foods that are full of preservatives and salt, fat, and sugar.   I wouldn't make a steady diet of them.  

Another misinformation is that  grated cheese is more expensive than blocks.   This is not so.   The cheapest block cheese I can find is 250 a pound,  I can get grated cheese for 200  a pound.    When we grated our own, we used twice as much.   Grating cheese at home is a courser grate and you use more.   The fine grate of ready made melts faster.  

The other idea is that Costco's deli chicken is a great buy,   Compared to other deli chickens, it is.   Costco's chickens in Seattle are draper valley.   I know because I asked, and asked, and asked, until I found someone  that would tell me.   They are three pounds.   Now, if you buy a three pound chicken, you are getting about 1.5 pounds of meat. You cost is about 3.34 a pound for meat.

Foster Farms chickens go on sale for .88 a pound often .  A 5.5 pound chicken is 4.84.   You will yield about 4 pounds of chicken from a 5.5 pound chicken or 1.21 a pound.    - a 64 percent savings.  

I can get a chicken on to cook in about 5-10 minutes depending on how I cook it and sometimes I get the added bonus of chicken stock included in my cooking,  

Of you are n a tight budget every savings is an important savings.  

Ongoing dinners through Thursday.

Tonight we are having a ham and pineapple pizza.    I am using the last of the ham from Sunday's ham and macaroni and cheese dish.   I added some pineapple from the dollar store ( name brand) and will add the rest of the can to a fruit salad with salmon patties.     I put a jar of pizza sauce into a ice cube tray and froze them.   I could pull two out and defrost them and still have a few more pizzas .  I used  a pizza crust I got from the dollar store.    Total cost 3.00.  add a salad  4.00.


Next up vegetable bean soup.   Some of us are planning to go to dinner, I will make a batch of vegetable bean  soup and we can have leftovers tomorrow.  

Vegetable bean soup

2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans  of beans ( I use two different kinds of  beans )
4 cups stock, vegetable or chicken
1-1/2 cups diced vegetables , sauté if appropriate.  
1 T Italian seasoning.  

Dump in the crock pot and cook on low 8-10 hours.

While I was dumping everything and sautéing the vegetables. I was cooking the chicken cubes for Thursday's dinner.   We are having baked chicken chimichangas.   Simple, baked dish.   Like a five imgredient dish.

Wednesday, we had chicken chimichanga and green salad.   The chimichangas were easy and I prepped  the salad earlier in the day,  

Thursday, we or emoted the mark plan becaus we had a lot of leftovers.    We had the bulk of the vegetable soup over rice.     An easy dinner .


.

Who, where!

Someone texted me.  It came across my screen, but I don't know where it came from.......

I make :

Ranch dressing mix
Chocolate pudding mix
Biscuit mix
Cream  soup mix,  
Taco seasoning mix
Dry rib mix.

It makes life easier, faster, amd I am not paying. If moneymaker stuff in an envelope to out on the trash.

Meal plans

after a disaster yesterday......I made mixes. But didn't discover that my cornstarch was stay date....a lot.   So, I traded cornstarch with my daughter who bought it to make deodorant-- she doesn't need her deodorant to thicken! LOL.  And, I started over.     New chocolate pudding mix and new cream soup base.    Fortunately, they both are fairly inexpensive.  

I needed dill weed for ranch dressing mix.  I bought it in bulk.  1 scoop was .02 pounds and it cost .22.   I don't have set it enough to warrant buying a big jar.  

Meals
My matrix is now 3 chicken or pork, 2 vegetarian, 1 beef, amd 1 fish.  

1. Salmon patties, oven roasted root veggies 
2. Speghetti and meatballs, green salad 
3. Baked chicken chimichangas , rice, beans 
4. Breakfast for dinner 
5. Vegetable bean soup ( use the half can or corn left over from taco meatloaf. ) 
6. Pizza ( buffalo chicken) 
7. Sausage and saurkraut with apples 

Salmon party recipe is on " Jenny can cook" u tube
Meatballs are already on the freezer, speghetti was .25 at the dollar tree.  
Chicken chimichangas are baked and I found the recipe on line.   I bought cream cheese for a dollar.  
Breakfast for dinner - strawberry waffles, eggs.
Vegetable bean soup is a mainstay here,,,easy and everybody eats it,   Add a cheezy bread or......
Buffalo chicken with scratch crust, ranch dressing for a base with hot sauce infused chicken, blue cheese, amd red peppers,  diced.   Top worth mottz cheese.  
Apples cut the tartness of the saurkraut.    Serve with a biscuit or sourdough bread

Sunday.

Tomorrow is meal plan day.    This week we were D along with a bunch of.   ..... Meals didn't go as planned.  We survived, but the meal plan didn't.    You always  need a plan, but it doesn't  always work out to follow it.   I found an interesting quote.  The author wasn't revealed.

Those to  fail to plan, plan to fail.

I'm am all about getting out of the kitchen fast at dinner time.    It's late, we have a four year old that's busy busy busy and everyone hits the door hungry. Hey, wheel of fortune is on!    LOL

Cooking ahead of time  works very well, as well as the crock pot.   Some working people cook dinner after dinner for the next day.    Of teen kids get home first, they can put it in the oven when it's the proper  time, amd dinner is done when you get home.   Whatever works.

I have a variety if mixes that I make ahead if time.  They are fractions of the cost of buying the mixes and it's just one less thing you have to plan for and buy at the store.   The least amount of specific things you need at the stores the easier it is not to forget something.

1. Chocolate pudding mix : better than ready made...yuk, and cheaper than the box of mix.   You are laying a lot for sugar, chocolate and thickening agent     
2. Ranch dressing mix - control the fat so you aren't getting hydrogenated oil and many recipes call for it.   
3. Taco seasoning - you control the heat!   
4. Salt and pepper mix - easy to grab 
5. White sauce mix ( instead of cream of XX soup) a lot healthier.   
6. Bisquit mix ( healthier) - no hydrogenated oil.    

I bought a bag of salt some years ago.   I will not have to buy salt the rest if my life.   It doesn't go bad.  It is on a cupboard we dont use a lot and I fill the  salt box when I need to.  Grocery outlet has large cartons of slices that are smaller than Costco, but bigger than the grocery store at a reasonable cost.    

It only takes a few minutes to make up a mix.   Try to do them a little at a time,   It's good for childre to help.   .   Use fractions and count.    I write  the directions on the top of the jar so I always have them at my ready,   

Granddaughter loves to "do a recipe".   It's good for her.  We have quality time, she's learning something, and I am getting my cooking done, not wondering if she is off trying to polish her nails or something worse!   LOL.   Isn't that the age where they decide their bangs are too long?      LOL.  My mother used to say that involving children  in what you are doing is easier than cleaning up the mess they make while you are working. 

I'm batch cooking the hamburger I bought yesterday.   Granddaughter has requested speghetti and meatballs for dinner.    

Tomorrows Fred Meyers ad - notes

Surprisingly  , there are not many items of food in this ad.   What's there are some really good prices

1. Strawberries , 2 lbs -299
2. Petite sirloin steaks 3.97
3. Milk , chocolate milk, OJ .99@@
4. Foster farms chicken, .87
5. Barilla pasta 1.00
6. Cross rib roast 3.99

That's about it for bargains,  my rotation protein his week would be the chicken and the twenty percent off hambirger I got yesterday.    That would make up for a week that I didn't get anything.   You can cook both at the same time , so your prep time would be less.    

As for the coupon book that comes with the paper, glade has a coupon for 100 off of any two products. There is some glade at the dollar store , but they may or  may not match,   .   .50 off any Colgate 3 ounces or larger.   That can be found at the dollar store sometimes,  just read the label carefully. Sometimes toothpaste at the dollar store was made for the Mexican market and they have a lot of fluoride in them.   I always read labels.   In any store you can find food that comes from China,  the FDA tells me that they monitor the factories in China and spot check the food  that  comes into the country for contaminates or quality.   

I only buy Foster Farms or Draper valley chicken.   I prefer Foster farms.    --all I am saying. 

I am careful what I buy.   We can only buy things that are at our target prices.   I want to average two dollars a pound for protein and a dollar  a pound for fruits and veggies.   Sometimes  that doesn't happen with fruits and veggies.    I always have a variety of fruit in the house.   It is a mainstay of a healthy diet.    What I do buy of inexpensive sources of protein is the best  quality I can find.    Finding the RBP on these items affords us good food on a tight budget. 

  Buying in season works too.  

Stocking on a product that typically goes on sale in conjunction with a holiday cuts your cost dramatically.  Check pull dates and buy what you will need for the year.   I'm talking things like pumpkin, catsup, turkeys.  Pizzas are cheapest super bowl weekend with coupons.   Unfortunately, you cant buy a years worth.  Pizza is cheaper of you can make it from scratch.  I don't always have the time or stamina, and it is our go to if no one wants to cook.    I am better off prepping early on the day so that dinner is a ten to twenty minute non- passive event.   

I , personally, am not convinced that organic food is better nutrition than regular food.   I peel and wash my veggies when it is appropriate.  My experience with organic produce is that it goes bad almost instantly.   

No food can do you any good if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal.   

That also is true of portion control and not overbuying perishables.   Kitchen management and freezing or incorporating food before it goes bad onto you meals is important too.    It's only a bargain if you use it. 

The Internet and Pinterest is full of ideas on how to use up bits and pieces; it's also full of examples of what not to buy if you are feeding your family on a tight budget and trying to be as health as possible on it.   

5 easy snack foods that go together in a snap.

its always nice to have a little something in the house to snack on.   My mother always had the idea that if we are our meals, we didn't need to snack, we needed to give our stomaches  a rest.   We did learn to make cookies and bars at an early age.   

I see a lot of grocery hauls with five and six bags of potato those chips etc.    ....it's a good way to derail the food train.   They are expensive and if you figure the cost over pound, you will be very surprised.   Certain,y, you can get a lot better nutrition for that amount of money per pound,   

Besides the usual carrot and celery sticks, peanut butter and apple slices , veggies and hummus , and air popped popcorn, there are a few things you can make on a hurry that are good snacks. 

1. Although, full of sugar, rice crispy treats are quick and easy.    
2. Granola bars - another sugar loaded, but peanut butter and oats are good.  
3. Oatmeal, blueberry banana bread is quick and full of good nutrition 
4. Berries with a little yogurt on top
5. I'm the summer, we make pop cycles from yogurt or a fruity herbal tea.   I bought forms on clearance at Fred Meyers, but we use dollar store ones too.   

What really happened. .....

I did go to Safeways today with the blanket coupon my daughters boss so generously gave me.   I didn't follow my examples because we already had a lot of what was on that list.  I started with the largest dollar items,   Adding in my head as I went along.   I pick three pounds of ground round, and a pork tenderloin.   Just short  of  17.00.   I went down the isles, comparing prices.   Just about everything else was higher than my target prices.   I never buy anything that is more than my target price unless we really really, need it.   I , realizing that everything was twenty percent off provided I stuck to a 25.99 limi, picked up no sugar added apple sauce for granddaughter, (2.00) .  I paid 1.69 for it at Fred Meyers .    The net price  of it will be 1.60.  

Up to 19.00.   Six to go.   My husband picked blue cheese.  That left a few cents short.   I added a package of ramen noodles that I use for stirfry without the flavor packet.  

25.18 less five dollar coupon made 20.18.  

I didn't use any manufacturers coupons.   I stuck  to protein because it is the most extensive of the food groups.    No sugar applesauce is hard to come by at a low price. There is fruit cups  and applesauce at the dollar store, but they are full of sugar, anywhere from 16-20 grams of carbs.    No child needs that many  carbs added to their diet.    

Why?....

Someone once asked my why I fed us for fifty dollars a week. ( this was some years ago) .   My husband and I had both been laid off of work and  while we were fortunate to get jobs, we took a cut in pay to get them.    My answer was , " because the mortgage company doesn't have a sense of humor.   ".   LOL.  They really don't care what your situation is, they just want you to live up to your promises.  

Honestly, no matter how much we have earned, I have always economize on food.   It was how I was raised.   We never wanted for food, we always had good quality food, but my mother never wasted food or allowed us to have junk in the house.  Cold cereal was only in the summer time, and not very much of that.  Drink mixes or fresh fruit, or pop just never happened.   We grew up in the fifties when fresh wasn't quite as easy to get as it is now.    

I have read economizing tricks and articles for years -- like over fifty years.   I've tried a lot of things: some worked, some didn't.   I never got soy beans or lentils to come out any better  than rocks.   LOL.   I am still reading a lot.  Only,now, we have the internet that makes things  easier.   

I have been watching  a lot of grocery hauls.   Some mothers that virtually make everything from scratch.   Some mothers that buy everything in a box or bag, and some that are in between.  Some mothers that buy everything organic and spend two hundred dollars a week.   Some that still spend two hundred dollars a week and buy organic milk, but boxed Mac and cheese.   Some that buy everything from the dollar store or .99 store regardless of how big the box or where it came from.

All of them buy their food one week or two weeks at a time.  

What I have developed is a different way of grocery shopping,  it is easier, and a lot more economical.   It's neither all organic, or all junk food.   It's some planned, controlled, scratch cooking And a little ready made when it makes sense.  It developed over a lot of years trying things, twekting things, and sticking to what worked to keep our budget in tact.   

It works.   It takes a few weeks to get up and running.  It takes some time  to get planning and organizing.  Once you get yourself set up, shopping is a piece of cake.  Some weeks I don't have to shop if I don't feel like it-- and it doesn't mean that we are eating out three days a week.  I can cook a variety of meals any day .    I have dinners on the shelf that can make dinner on a hurry.  Tonight we were going to have tacos.    By dinner time, my body wasn't cooperating.    My granddaughter and I made scratch cheese bread and we had chilli.    

No body died!   

Life goes on......

Terrific Thursday - 4-14-16

One of the ways to stretch your food dollar is to take advantage of extra promotional sales when offered.     Somewhere, ( I'm working on where) there is a specials coupon for five dollars off of twenty five dollars at Safeways.

The trick is  is to only spend the twenty five dollars and  only  on things that are already a good price, and use coupons.    It can be a really good saving opportunity.    Usually, most of the items in the store are full price.  

Safeway's- virtual shopping trip-- shop Friday.   

2 dozen eggs  ( 1.98) with coupon on ad
Strawberries ( 2/4)
Pork tenderloin -24 ounces (5.00)

Either :
I chub of ground sirloin ( 11.97)
              Or 
Buy 4, get free milk participating GM products ( up to 399 value)

1.  Cheerios , Cinnamon Toast Crunch ( 2 each- use dollar off coupons ) nets you 8 dollars for a 3.99 milk, and four cereals.    Depending how you look at it , if you attach a regular sale price of two dollars to the milk, you are paying  six dollars for four cereals, or 1.50 each.   ( that is still higher than my target price.   

Now you are up to either 22.95 - buying beef or 18.98 buying cereal.    

Fill in 2.05 in the case of beef, or 6.02 if you bought cereal.   

This is the key point: if you overpay for  your fill in, you loose.   

Ideas -1) ramen 5/1 , sour cream 1.50 (250)

Or.      2) 10 ramen -2.00, tortillas, signature kitchens 167, salsa, 1.67 , romaine 1.49, (6.83) 

That's as close as I can come and not buy somethings that are not over priced.    

For 20.45 ( beef option) you get ( protein option ) 

1. 2 dozen eggs
2. Two pounds strawberries 
3. 1 pork tenderloin 
4. 3 pounds lean ground sirloin 
5. 5 top ramen 
6. 1 sour cream 

Or 

For  20.81 - cereal option you get ( breakfast option) 

1.  2 dz eggs 
2. 2 pounds strawberries 
3. Pork tenderloin 
4. Gallon milk 
5. 4 boxes cereal 
6. 10 top ramen 
7. Signature kitchens tortillas 
8. Salsa (1.67) 
9. Head of romaine 

In my opinion, I would go for the beef option-- it gives you more bang for your buck.    I can get more meals out of it.   We don't eat a lot of cold cereal.   It can get costly if you have a child that would abuse it amd not eat their meals.   

1. 
   

  

        

 

Alberways ad

since Albertsons and Safeways have identical ads, I'm just posting one set of prices.  
Albertsons bought all of the Albertsons and Safeway stores.   The prices are the same, but the stores still have two names.    The Safeway store in shoreline that became a Haggens, is,now back to being  a Safeways.

Strawberries 2/4
7 percent ground beef 3.99
Eggs .99@@


5 dollar Friday
Shrimp
Pork tenderloin


Buy  4 General Mills indicated cereals, get milk free. Assuming milk costs two dollars, that makes the cereal two dollars each.   There are coupons out there for cereal to make them cheaper.   Also includes,uses nature valley granola bars.

Wicked Wednesday.

So, I don't know what is wicked about it, but it is Wednesday.   There are no ads for QFC this week, it is a two week ad last week.  That means that the buy 10, save five salemsmsill on.  A lot of the items are for processed foods.    I am trying to steer clear of too much salt, sugar, and fat,    A little at a time.    I'm using what we have stock  on and starting with the things that we eat the most of and replacing things with healthier versions as long as the budget will hold out,  I am still on budget.   I went to Winco and Fred Meyers this week along with doing an extreme couponing for the B10;save 5  haul.  

At Fred Meyers I picked up a few non food items.    They had 160 count tissue for a buck and the shampoo was cheaper than the dollar store.   I just bought fruits and veggies and a couple of cream cheese packets for a buck.   I also bought six white beans and garbanzo beans so we can make hummus and chicken Chimichangas.     I got one more Barilla pronto with a .75 off coupon,  

Strategy for buy XX, save XX sales.    First, make sure that there are enough things in the list that are not too processed and that you will actually use.  

Nothing is a bargain if you feed it to the garbage disposal.   That bears repeating.   Nothing is a bargain if you feed it to the garbage disposal.    

Usually, there are a few things that are in the dollar range.    I never do a haul if I can't match coupons with it,    That's a deal breaker.   You can't save enough money.    This time I was close to sixty percent,  last time i was  at 78 percent.    I do keep frozen pizzas on the freezer.   While I can make pizza from scratch, pizza is our go to meal when my husband and I are gong out , or when someone is sick and we don't feel like cooking,    Cheaper and not any worse than take out.    Tombstone was on sale, imhadmcoupoms, and there was an Ibotta on it too.   They are 3/10 at Fred Meyers and there is still the coupons and Ibotta.  

I had coupons for ritz crackers and I found lowered fat and whole wheat.  We eat crackers,my it not a ton of them.  Dtto salad dressing and BBQ sauce.    We eat a few more hot dogs on the summer time,
Nathan's is my hit dog of choice,  it's the best ingredient wise and it has as many hot dogs as there is buns in a package.   Of course, in a pinch, you can make pigs in blankets.  

When to meal plan

Meal plans help you stay on track and not cave into the take out or pizza delivery demons.   We stopped the pizza delivery when a driver told my daughter that twenty percent wasn't enough tip.   It's expensive and in the to,e it takes to wait for the delivery, you can Doctor up a frozen pizza and have it 1/2 cooked.   I'm still trying to perfect a thin crust home made.  

The magic question is whether to plan before shopping or after.   Since I already have most of the basics before I go shopping, I plan on a specific day.  Before Alberways happened, I used to shop on Fridays.   Because there is no consistency in the times the ads come out, amd some places don't have ads, that doesn't quite work.   We go to Fred Meyers usually on Sunday or Monday because the ads come out Sunday.  I can check the ads for QFC and Alberways and see if there is anything worth a trip.    Otherwise it's usually Friday for Winco.   I do meal plans on Monday.  Whatever day you choose, make it the same day.

Doing certain things and having a plan is a lot more efficient.   If I don have. Plan, I might do a few things, but I get a lot more done with a list.  

Making a matrix saves a lot of time when planning,   I use a protein based matrix to give us a variety of foods and keep everyone happy.   Some people use a theme based matrix : i.e.  Soup, breakfast for dinner, Mexican, Italian, casseroles, pizza.   Etc.  

Most people have a list of meals they make often.   Of not written down, on their head.   Wrote them down under the type  of protein.   It makes meal planning a cinch.  

1. Make a list of things in your fridge that need  to be used up soon.   
2. Check your schedule for nights out, or appointments that will make your day hectic.   Plan on a crockpot meal or a meal you can make the morning of or the night before to accommodate.    
3. Check your matrix and fill in the blanks using the things that need to be used up and adding any things you need to fill in the meal.   

Product review.....one cheap dinner.

I purchased pronto spaghetti ( Barilla) at  the dollar store  with a .75 coupon.   I was a little Leary, expecting it to be starchy like a hambirger helper, but it wasn't.    It took ten minutes and was just the consistency of boiled pasta.   I googled a recipe and adapted it to use up ingredients I had in the fridge.   I added 8 ounces of pasta sauce. A can of white beans and 1/2 of a package of beer brats we had left over.    Total cost 1.90 for six servings.   I added a salad.   ( I pulled two servings out before I added the beer brats for daughter and granddaughter. ) and added a sprinkle of parm and parsley.

5 Bargain dinners.

Continuing the five theme....Less than five dollar dinners from the specials this week.  

1. Tombstone pizza   2.00  salad 1.00   Total 3.00
2. Speghetti, meatballs. Sauce.    Sauce w coupon .79, Speghetti with coupe , .25. Meatballs 2.00 total 3.05.   Green beans .58.   3.63 
3. Pulled pork sandwiches 2.50, buns .98. French fries. .75 Carrot sticks..50.     4.73 
4. Pigs in blankets. 1/2 - 1.75,  pasta salad   .75 
5. Scrambled eggs 1/2 dozen .84, oranges .84, fried potatoes .20, Bisquits    1.88

Now, I would not eat all of these meals on the same week.   Far too much processed foods.

But, incorporating them into your meal plans can severely reduce your food budget.    

Extreme couponing, QFC buy 10, save five.

Total spent 19.93.   At least two of the items were already marked down from regular retail.    The slip says a 57 percent savings.  I also picked up a 1/2 gallon of milk for .99.

Nathan's hot dogs
Tombstone pizzas w coupon
Lloyds BBQ meat w coupon 2.49. Retails 6.00
BBQ sauce .99
Kent dressing on sale with coupon
Ritz crackers, whole wheat with coupons


Plus a Catalina for 1.25 off tombstone pizzas and a dollar Ibotta on the pizza.  

Meal plans

Meal Plans for week of April 11

These plans are on no particular order.  I have a weeks worth of plans, but no rigid schedule.   I do have a matrix based on origin choice.

1. Chicken pot pie 
2. Ham and chicken quiche , salad 
3. Tomato,roasted red pepper soup with  basil.  . Cheesy Bisquits. 
4.  Meatballs  and speghetti pronto 
5. Pizza , salad 
6. Tacos,re-fried beans, rice 
7. Salmon patties , rice, broccoli 

Chicken is chicken breasts I de-boned - 1.00 a pound 

Ham is from cubes in a pouch from Winco - 1/2 pouch - 1.20

Tomato soup is from Costco -2.00- add basil, milk. 

Meatballs are already madman freezer

Taco,shells, seasoning and sauce is a dollar at grocery outlet , taco meat batch cooked.    

Salmon patties recipe is on "jenny can cook" .   

That's it for today..... 

Don't throw the baby out with the water.

Pinterest and u tube are really good sources for finding new recipes .   It's nice to shake things up and cook something  different .  It broadens our horizons and stretches our brain.   Often times, a recipe will sound good, but in examination, it either has expensive  ingredients or is very unhealthy.  

Now, if the main ingredient is lobster, you prolly should skip it.   But, often, you can adjust and substitute an ingredient to make a recipe more healthy or less expensive.  

Basically, if  you substitute an ingredient, you need to replace it with something that has the same bulk and flavor.   My husband does not like onions, green pepper, or mushrooms.   I often substitute celery or red and yellow peppers.  

I saw a recipe on u tube.   I was intrigued because it was an oven recipe that made chicken and rice in the oven.  The problem was that it called for onion soup mix ( onions and a lot of salt) , cream soup and two cans of water.    Basically you put rice in the bottom of a baking dish, add rice, boneless , skinless  chicken breast, and add a cup that has onion soup mix, cream of celery soup, two cans of water and bake for 2 hours  at 320 f.  

1. Grease the pan.   Add raw rice ok .
2. Debone 1/2 chicken breast .  Difference is 3.00 a pound savings.   
3. Instead of onion soup and cream of chicken soup ( too much salt and preservatives and cost. ) use a can of cream of mushroom soup, 2 cans  of chicken stock and some grated onion.   You can get cream of mushroom soup for as little as forty cents with coupons at thanksgiving time.  Stock up for the year providing the pull dates on the can are far enough out.   We don't  use a lot.  It was hard to tell how much liquid he was using because it was imperial measurements.   
4. I would also add parsley to the top for color and serve with broccoli.    I would still bake for 2 hours on a medium oven 350 degrees.  

That was a hard one because I was dealing with Celsius and method measurements,  their can if soup didn't look the same size either.   

Basically, I'm saying don't overlook a recipe that sound good just because an ingredient is too expensive or not healthy.  Look for an equivalent in taste and mass.  If it is a spice, don't use it, or replicate the flavor with something else.   No capers!   Add a little salt.     

Or goggle the dish and see what pops up.   

Happy cooking.    

Tomorrows Fred Meyers ad

Large  avocados .99
Berries, black or raspberries 1.88
Chuck roast 3.77
Kroger veggies or beans 2/1 @@ limit 6 stock up price
Hillshire sausage 2/5@@
Eggs 1.69
Sour cream/cottage cheese/ cream cheese .99
Cantaloupe 2/5 each

Dollar tree haul.  

Tomorrow's paper 1. Instead of 2.00

Speghetti, Barilla , .25 with coupon 

Speghetti o's , large per than large can 

Hangers, velvet type 2/1

Laundry basket for wet choices.   

Garbage can 

2 spray,cans of "Pam" one butter, one canola 

I don't have price comparisons on everything, but I'm sure that did well. 

5 ways to have Passive cooking

Passive  cooking is a word coined by the Chew.   It's the cooking time where you have assembled your ingredients, put them to cook, and can walk away to do other things.    To my favorite type of cooking.   Efficient cooking .

There are many recioes that use passive cooking.   When they don't, sometimes you can cook early on the day or on the weekend so that you aren't cooking if dinner time is hectic in your house.   It certainly is on our house.    

1. Make ahead. Some people make dinner the night or day of dinner.
2.  So,e people  make freezer meals.  Freezer meals can be made in multiples in a short amount of time,   The Pinterest is full of recipes.  Dinner is ready for the crockpot.  You pull the bag the night before, out it in the fridge to thaw and sumo it on the crockpot on the morning,   
3. Crock pot dinners.   We love soup.   
4. Oven dinners.    Meatloaf, baked potatoes and acorn squash was my mothers favorite go to.  The whole meal cooked on one oven.    Pork chops with Apple cranberry, bread stuffing is one of ours too.   
5. Hobo or pocket dinners.    We have fish packets all the time.    I got the recipe from "do it on a dime,"  it cooks fish on parchment with spinach, rice, beans, fish and broccoli layered on parchment paper. Sealed. And common on the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.   There are a lot of other foil packet dinners that basically put your starch, meat, amd veggie on a piece of foil and seal and either out them on the oven or on a grill .    Mothers love them because they are easygoing and washing the dishes is a breeze.   No pans.  No dirty plates.    Kids like them because it's camping out!,   

About all.    If you want recipes, let me know on the comments.   

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals 
on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.    

5 mixes you can scratch cook.

Buying packets of seasoning can derail your meal train in a hurry.   If I'm going to spend another dollar on dinner, I would rather buy more meat or ice cream for desert.   Making your own mixes can save a lot of money and can avoid artificial ingredients.   ( preservatives etc)

1. Taco seasoning. 
2. Ranch dressing mx 
3. Baking mix 
4. BBQ rub
5. Cream soup mix 

Many of these are already on this blog or they are in the Internet.   

We have Tex-mex at last once a week.  It's an easy way for me to make everyone happy and I am not cooking two meals.   My taco seasoning is already made .  Sometimes I add it to the hamburger when I am batch cooking.   Last time I used ready made just because it was virtually free along with the sauce. 

There are a lot of recipes in cyberspace that call for just using the packet of seasoning.   Making your own salad dressing can avoid hydrogenated oil.   It has to be used faster, but has no preservatives.   

Baking mix is a mainstay at our house,   Besides the usual breakfast fare, I like to use it for chicken pot pie and banana, oatmeal, blueberry bread.   

BBQ rub makes the fastest chicken ( non-passive time) in the west.....or east.    

Cream soup mix is healthier than the alternative.   Less salt and good for Mac and cheese, casseroles.

5 meals from 1 chicken.

Now, I must preface this with the fact that a chicken doesn't mean a rotisserie chicken that weighs 3 pounds or less.    Other than, boneless, skinless breasts, it os about the most expensive chicken in the market.  Three pounds of chicken, even at five dollars, is 1.67 a pound.    Whole chickens are as low as .87 and often .99 a pound.   At .87 that's almost 1/2 price.    In addition, the break even point for a chicken is three pounds.  As my sister pointed out, that means if you buy a 3 pound chicken, you are going to get 1.5 pounds of meat.   Every increment beye drops 3 pounds  gives you more meat to bone ratio.    I usually opt for a 5.5 pound chicken.   I can either roast ot on the oven, or I can throw it in the crockpot.   The roasting tastes better, the crockpot is more efficient, gives you a good  stock, and has less cholesterol.  

Five dinners.      Pieces of chicken stretch further than slices of a meat.   You get further with sloppy joes , than you do with hambirgers.   It's the stretch phenomenon .  

1. Chicken noodle soup, cheesey bread.  
2. Chicken pot pie.  Fruit cup 
3. Shredded chicken ( dark meat) tacos.   , refried beans, rice.
4. Winner, chicken dinner.  Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, Cesear salad 
5. Buffalo chicken pizza.   Layer. Ranch or blue cheese salad dressing.. Chicken pieces ( soak in some Tabasco sauce I you like spicy) chopped red peppers, blue cheese / and or white cheese.    

Bones make chicken soup. 

1/2 of a breast  makes chicken pot pie, and pizza 

1/2 of a breast makes roast chicken dinner.   

Dark meat makes chicken shreads 

Winco deals.

These prices are per favado.  I went to Winco, prices are revised!  

Strawberries 198
Pronto pasta w coupon .33-  not available - it was at the dollar  tree Last tome I was there.  
Armor meatballs 1.98
Kens  dressing - there is a coupon out there
Frenchs  mustard - with coupon. 25- coupon want th name if your last born son!   Not going don that road!  
Betty Crocker brownie mix .98
Parsley .48
Chicken thighs 1.28
2 pack fryers .98
Starkist albacore 128
Pork sirloin chops 198
Corn chips 148
Hamburger or hot dog buns .98
Butter 282
London broil 298
Diced chillies - last time there was a in store coupon in the
Grapes 173

Eggs Are. 1.18 a dozen.   Some have a 4/18 pull date
The huge picante sauce is less than five dollars.  
Mjb coffee was a good price and I have a coupon.
Lindsay olives are a buck with a .25 Ibotta
Baby tomatoes were 2.00
Strawberries are two bucks a pound and looked good
Three different kinds of apples are a buck a pound
Peppers were too high, cucumbers were 1.00 for English and less  for regular.  

5 myths about couponing

i read an interesting? Article on Pinterest.   The lady said she didn't coupon any more because she could save more by not wasting.   Duh, why can't you coupon and not waste?  

5 myths about couponing ....

1.  Couponing takes a lot of time.   You can extreme coupon and take a lot of time, or you can spend very little and make a coupon book.  Download coupons once a month for a total of about 15 minutes and glance at the coupon inserts that are in the paper or come on the mail to see if something in there is what you buy. Favado tells you what's on sale, if there is a coupon, and where to find it.   Most of the work is done for you.   Some things are free.  Free goes a long ways to cut your expenses.   
2. Coupons are just for highly processed foods I wouldn't buy anyway.   True,  there are a lot of junk food coupons,   There are also coupons for yogurt, frozen  veggies, frozen potatoes, whole wheat bread and other things that are not  junk, processed food.   Ibotta has rebates in real fresh vegetables, milk, cheese and other real foods.  
3. Coupons are just one thing I would  forget to use or take to the store.  A little organization puts them in a categorized binder and leaves  them in the car next to your reuseable bags.   I also carry a cooler in the car for transporting the frozen and perishable foods.  
4. Coupons are a waste of time.  "I'm not going to spend my time to save a quarter".  If you save three dollars a week with coupons for something you are going to use, you save 156.00 a year.   
5. Stores hate coupons.    Stores do not hate coupons.  They sell new products that they might not sell otherwise.   They get paid a fee for collecting the coupons and get reimbursed for the amount of the coupon.   

Note : I have found Favado  to not always be accurate.   It may be because prices and merchandise is not always the same in other parts of the country.   This is especially true of the dollar tree.   Many dollar trees on the PNW do not have the name brands that they do in the east and south.   In addition, the dollar tree coupon policy says you cannot get something for free unless it is on a BOGO.   That being said, I have got things for free with coupons there.   You can, also only use four coupons on any given day per household.    

Hang onto your hats.........the ads

Of I was looking for good buys in the ads that we got in th Mail, I'd look elsewhere.   I went to the doctor today, but, I didn't go to the Winco.   Winco has no ads on favado.  

The Alberways ads are pretty much a bust.

QFC is a two week ad

Strawberries - 2/4
Chuck roast BOGO 3.50.
Milk .99
Cheese 2/6.  NOTE THAT IS 6.00 a pound for shredded cheese.   Costco is 2.08 a pound last I went.
Pork shoulder 1.59


Buy 10, save 5.   A lot of this so junk food.     I think it would depend how much your family eats
Nathan's 349
Frosted Flakes 188
Ritz crackers 1.88
Jiff 1.99

There may be a coupon for Frosted Flakes.

NOTE.   THERE Is A .75 coupon for pronto pasta ( Barilla) .  It is at the dollar store.   Nets .25.   You can only buy 4 things with a coupon at the dollar store.    And, from what I see supplies are limited.  

I am pretty well stocked.   If I had to go to a store, I'd try Winco .   The best meat buy would be the BOGO roast at QFC to grind  your own hamburger .   Milk is a buck at QFC also.

5 principals of groceries on the cheap

Ok, continuing with the five  series. .....five principles of groceries on the cheap.

In order to stay on a very frugal budget and not feel deprived or run out of food before the end of the month....

1. Never pay full price for anything.    Identify the things that you use on a regular basis for your main dishes.   Find the RBP for these "target" items and buy in quantity when they are on sale.....just enough to last you until you can find that price again.  Set a stock number.    I use three months on some things.  I keep one of other things.   Just enough to not have to run to the store in the middle of cooking.
2. Plan meals to avoid the " take out demons." .  Develop your matrix to make meal planning quick and easy.   
3. Buy one loss leader protein a week.  Buy enough to last you for that kind of meal for a month rotation in bulk.   Batch cook, or portion control soon after you get home from the store.  This gives you the best prices and saves a lot of time when things can get hectic around dinner time. When everyone hits the door after school, or daycare and work, things can just be crazy.   
4. Plan your grocery trips .  Being hungry without a plan and going to the grocery store is a recipe for disaster.    Because you already have the basics in stock at home, you are only looking to replace any short supply of your basic stock items that are a RBP, , a so called loss leader protein to rotate, and the produce in season and dairy you will need to finish your meals.    Make a list and stick to it.   Check the flyers of the stores that have them, check favado or the store web sites of the ones that don't. Make your list  and check to see if there are coupons to match up.   Pick your 2 best stores that will fulfill your needs.   
5. Plan to go to 2 stores.   This gives you the best prices of two stores and the best produce selections,   Last week, I checked Safeways and Winco and both of them had rotten grapes in their bags.    Usually, however, you can find good between two stores.    This gives you the availability of two stores sales.  

KNOW YOUR PRICES.   I have saved the most important for last.   You don't have to know every price of everything in the store-- just the things on your target list.    My mother used to say...." Some people wouldn't know a bargain if it came up and bit them in the butt."   Don't be that person,  

Dollar tree

We went to Bothell today.   I stopped at the dollar tree and the grocery outlet.    Grocery outlet always has good sliced cheese in a variety of flavors for 2.39.   I also found beer brats for 1.50.

Dollar store has a bunch of name brands.   I got Barilla pasta for a dollar and used a .55 off coupon,   I also got puff facial tissue for a dollar with a .25 coupon, and Hormel pepperoni for .50 with a coupon. You can use up to four coupons any given day per household.   Items can't be free unless you have a BOGO coupon.

You could , conceptually, find a dinner for five   bucks.   Barilla speghetti is .45 with a coupon for pronto, or 100 for regular.   Hunts pasta sauce is a dollar, as well as brown and serve hard rolls.  Parmesean  cheese product is a dollar as well as a can of green beans for .79.    Total 4.79.   Now, that being said. I personally would not buy parm cheese product.  I want the real thing.    The green beans are Libby's and I'm not sure about the bread.   In a pinch, you could do it.  

They have mayo, brand name tuna,pickles  and  bread.   They have oatmeal and fruit cups and peanut butter and jelly.  

Conceptually, you could feed a family for easily 14.00 dollars : breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a pinch.

1. Oatmeal, almond milk. Fruit cup.   
2. Tuna salad sandwich with pickles, potato chips ( or equivalent) 
3. Spaghett with red sauce. Green beans, sour dough hard rolls, parmesan
4. Peanut butter toast for a snack 

4 times 4 is 16.   

Some things are cheaper at the dollar store; some are not.   Some are good or better quality than a regular grocery store, some are not.   This is an answer to you are stuck and need to eat.   It has happened to is before.   If I had a dollar store and a elementary kitchen, we would have been in good shape.   

List : 

1. Oatmeal 
2. Almond or regular milk 
3. Box of fruit cups 
4. Tuna 
5. Pickles 
6. Mayo
7. Bread 
8. Potato chips 
9. Speghetti
10. Pasta Sauce 
11. Parmesean product 
12. Green beans (.79) 
13. Sour dough rolls or baguettes.  
14. Peanut butter 

5 things that make for a pick up meal.

We have all  had those days.   Things just don't go as planned.  If you have a stock, you can wing it for dinner and come up with better than cold cereal.   We eat very little cold cereal.   It's expensive by the time you add milk.    That's how some families  go through gallons and gallons of milk.    Not necessary.   Milk does not build bones like they use to think.  

I digress....five easy dinners

1. Tacos, refried beans, and rice.  : my taco meat is already made in the freezer from my batch cooking.  Best the bag on the counter a couple of times and place it on a glass bowl with a couple of tablespoons of water to thaw and reheat.   Meanwhile, open a can of refried beans, place it on a small casserole, and top with a layer of cheese.   Put a small batch of rice in the rice cooker and turn it on.  Get out three bowls and chop tomatoes, lettuce and add cheese to one.   Your cheese should be already grated in a lock and lock.   This takes avoit 15  minutes . 
2. Spaghetti with meatballs, salad .  Put spaghetti on to cook.   Heat pasta sauce and defrost the already cooked meatballs you got out of the freezer.   Add a bagged salad and the karma cheese you already grated in the fridge.      
3. Hot dogs, French fries and fruit salad .  All cooks in record time.  Put the French fries in the oven....minutes, hit dogs took almost no time after the potatoes are almost done.  Wash and put any fruit you have in a bowl.  We have been working in a bowl of salad all week.  I just keep adding to it. 
4. BBQ chicken thighs and drumsticks, oven roasted root veggies. Salad.   The chicken parts Re already cooked from your batch coming and on the freezer.   Place the sealed bag in the sink and run cold water over it while you are cutting up carrots, potatoes and any veggie you can add.  Place them on a baking sheet with sides and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper.   Sometimes I add Rosemary. Put the chicken pieces on another own and spread BBQ sauce with a pastry brush on top.   Bake until the vegetables are done at about 375-400 degrees.   Our oven has only a top element, so I out the chicken on the bottom rack and switch midstream.   About 20 minutes. 
5. Tomato soup with some milk or cream, basil, and blue cheese or Romano ( parm) . English muffins topped with grated cheese and put on the oven to melt. Or French bread with butter or olive oil and parm broiled until the bitter melts and the cheese is toasted lightly.    I get tomato soup on a box at Costco.   It is tomato and roasted red pepper.   Costco also has a sour dough baguette that is about a dollar for a half a loaf.   English muffins are always 1.67 a dozen at Fred Meyers.    Another option would be cheese quesedeas. 

All these things I have in my stock except maybe the hot dogs that I don't buy often.   Both Hebrew national and Nathan's were on sale this week.  I opted for Nathan's because 1) Hebrew national does not have the same amount of hotdogs as a standard package of buns. And, 2) Hebrew national has soy protein and Nathan's has corn protein.   Corn was the least ofmthemevils because my granddaughters Doctor does not want her to have soy.   

After trying every method of cooking rice that I could find-- the microwave, the pressure cooker,mthe large rice cooker, the stove and having no luck getting the textile I wanted. I bought a 16 dollar black and decker rice cooker.....success!   

Radishes are wonderful added to oven roasted root veggies.  

That's about all......anyone have an idea of what dive list they want to see next? 

5 things not to buy.

Trying to start a five things theme.  

Five things not to buy at the grocery store  to save money.

1. Potato chips and other bagged snacks.   High in salt and higher on prices.  Do the math.    A good rule of thumb is to only buy things with good food value in them.   Opt for air popped pop corn.  The difference in price well pays for an air popper.    
2. Individual wrapped snacks. You  are paying for a lot of packaging and then paying  again to put  them in the recycle.  
3. Sugar drink packets.     My dad wouldn't let us have them on the house,   Smart dad. He didn't allow pop either.    Neither are good for you and they see full or sugar or the alternative which is just as bad.   Opt for herbal teas iced or water. 
4. Fruit juices.   Too much sugar.   A nutritionist told me that feeding the child an apple was better than giving them the juice.   
5. Gum and candy bars.  That nasty s word --sugar again and they are bad for the budget too.  

The Food Pyramid....again

 The USDA  has made a food pyramid for as many years as I can remember.  My mother always made a protein, a starch, and a vegetable or fruit for dinner.    I can't see any real reason to deviate from the tried and true.   Some years ago , the USDA altered it to adjust for the fact that we are eating too much fat, sugar, and salt (sodium) in our diets.
Along came the alternative generation.    From the amount of advertising I am seeing and the amount of coupons that are appearing out there, I am sure it is a multi- million dollar business.   It is a trend that I'm not buying into.   Just my personal opinion.

Your body is a fine tuned entity.    It needs balance.   It needs a group of nutrients to feed your organs to run efficiently.   Kinda like a car.  A car needs gas, and oil, and transmission fluid, windshield wiper fluid.   Take some of that away and it doesn't run right.  I'm some cases, it doesn't run at all......

My take, eat a wide variety of foods. Eat in moderation.    Eat from the food pyramid.  Avoid too much salt, sugar, and fat.   If you feel the need to avoid a food group. Consult your MD doctor about it and get a nutritionist to help you put  your body back in balance,    You are playing with fire if you do it in your own.  You only have one body to last you the rest of your life.  You can replace your car, you can't replace your body.

The food pyramid.

The USDA  has made a food pyramid for as many years as I can remember.  My mother always made a protein, a starch, and a vegetable or fruit for dinner.    I can't see any real reason to deviate from the tried and true.   Some years ago , the USDA altered it to adjust for the fact that we are eating too much fat, sugar, and salt (sodium) in our diets.  

Along came the alternative generation.    From the amount of advertising I am seeing and the amount of coupons that are appearing out there, I am sure it is a multi- million dollar business.   It is a trend that I'm not buying into.   Just my personal opinion.

Your body is a fine tuned entity.    It needs balance.   It needs a group of nutrients to feed your organs to run efficiently.   Kinda like a car.  A car needs gas, and oil, and transmission fluid, windshield wiper fluid.   Take some of that away and it doesn't run right.  I'm some cases, it doesn't run at all......

My take, eat a wide variety of foods. Eat in moderation.    Eat from the food pyramid.  Avoid too much salt, sugar, and fat.   If you feel the need to avoid a food group. Consult your MD doctor about it and get a nutritionist to help you put  your body back in balance,    You are playing with fire if you do it in your own.  You only have one body to last you the rest of your life.  You can replace your car, you can't replace your body.  

Sunday notes

Yesterday, we went to the Bog Lots sale.   Ot only happens a few days a year and extends threw today.   Everything in the store is 20 percent off.   I was interested in buying feminine heigene products especially.   They are already the cheapest-- and twenty percent sweetens the deal.   I also bought two jars of Lindsay peppers , two packages of ice cream cookies, and a five pack of top ramen.   All were a buck, so they cost .80.    

We went to the dollar store because it is close by,   I got another stacking crate , some small bowls with lids ( 5/$1.) , 160 count tissue and a corn cookbook and an elf eye cream.   All would have been more money elsewhere.   I see a trend at the dollar tree to replace name brands with their brands.   Consequently, I am buying less and less food there.  I want to buy brands that I am familiar with .  

On another note, I was talking to a woman that told me she puts veggies in everything to get her children to eat veggies.    That brought up a lot ofmquetionin my mind,   What happens when they go to a friends hide and they don't have beets in their pancakes?   I think it is better to introduce  the one tiny bite program instead,  kids change their taste.   I never liked green peppers as a kid. I eat it now.   

We eat first with our eyes.   If something doesn't look appetizing, it's not likely you will want to try it.   

Some children don't like strong tastes,   I suspect that because our grandmothers cooked  veggies to death, some people don't like them and are too rigid to change their  minds.  Raw broccoli is a lot better tasting to some people than cooked does.     

I'm done shopping for the week.   We need coffee soon, because I didn't realize that we opened the back up.  It is  5. 99 for folders at Fred Meyers.    I didn't buy strawberries at Winco because they didn't look good , but we have other fruit so we are good and enough coffe for two weeks, so it'll wait until next week. 

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals 
on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.    

Meal plans

Monday's meal plans on Sunday,      

I plan meals based on a matrix . It makes meal planning a snap.   Lately I have been not only using my protein based matrix, but adding a couple of theme based  ones too.   Basically because I want to eat down the stock in a couple of areas.   Some people just use theme based meal plans.    Like.,..

1. Soup and sandwich 
2. Breakfast for dinner 
3. Tex-mex 
4. Crock pot 
5. Pasta 
6. Soup
7. Vegetarian 

Our meals are based on 

2 vegetarian 

1 beef

3 chicken or pork

1 fish 

Meals 

1. Breakfast for dinner ( use up eggs) 
2. Pizza ( pizzas bought for 2.44) 
3. Pork, rice, beans ( Mexican pork BC) 
4. Hot dogs, suddenly salad 
5. Chicken pot pie 
6. Shrimp stirfry w frozen stirfry and ramen noodles 
7. Chicken enchiladas (green) in slow cooker.   BC

BC means the recipe is in the Betty Crocker  on line cookbook.   I have been trying to introduce something new every week,   I am also trying to learn to cook scratch things that I previously bought ready made to save more, broaden my knowledge and keep growing, and lessen our intake of hydrogenated oils.   

I bought canola oil this week.    I have some vegetable oil to use up as well as some things like Bisquick .   Canola, safflower, amd olive oil are the oils that are not hydrogenated ( so omhavembeen reading ) I bought low hydrogenated oil peanut butter when I needed to replace it.    It's a slow process, but it will happen.   Patience is a virtue!    

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals 
on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.    

Tomorrows Fred Meyers ad

Strawberries 2/4
Pork 1/2 loin 1.79
Broccoli .99
Milk .99@@
Folders 5.99
Red Barton/ tombstone pizza 3/10@@$$
Bottom round roast 3.99


That's about it.

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the Put Dinner On The Table meal train from a different

 pro spective.  The emphasis is on purchasing good food( shelf- stable/ freezer staples )at the lowest possible cost and purchasing enough to last you until it goes on sale again -- Keeping a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you use on a regular basis. It means that when you shop, rather than purchasing just what you need for a day or a week, you  buy a loss leader protein, produce you will need on sale, a stock item if it's a RBP, and dairy instead.    This allows you to put well balanced meals on the table consistently  for a four dollar a day budget per person.   You spend more time on the planning and shopping end of the meal train and less on the cooking end by cooking efficiently.    

Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more isn't hard.   You still get more bang for your buck.    

Shopping trip

I went to Winco first.   Good plan because th things I was going to have to go to a third store for were cheaper at Winco.  

I got

1. High fiber bread 
2. Nathan's hot dogs 
3. Lean ground beef  3.18 a pound 
4. Hot dog buns ( .88) 
5. Taquitos (5.41) 
6. Apples (.98) 
7. Ham and chicken lunch meat ( 1.98) 

31.83

Safeways 

1. Milk 
2. Canola oil
3. Barilla pasta ( veggie) 
4. Lettuce.    

13.24?

Total food purchased 45.07 

Shopping without stocking.

This  is the day  new coupons come out on coupons .com.    It's you snooze, you loose.   Get while the getting is good.  There are pepperoni, yoplait , and General Mills cereal ones as usual.

I thought I would virtual shop like I didn't have a stock and see if I could make meals from what's on sale this week.  


Winco
Shredded cheese 1.38 - 8 ounces
Strawberries 1.98
Asparagus 1.48
Yoplait .50
Diced chillies .88
Cilantro .47
Roma's .98
Celery .98
Oranges .58
Apples .98
Eggs 1.98
Pork chops 1.78$
Butter 2 99
Grapes 1.98
Yeast .96-  3 pack
Pepperoni 3.5 ounces 1.69
Hot dog buns .98$
Canned tomatoes .58
Blues 4.98$
Armour meatballs  1.98
Chicken thighs 1.28
Dark chocolate brownie mix .98
London broil 2.98$
Canned veggies .58 $
Mashed potatoes .85$
These prices are from favado, they aren't always accurate.

Alberways
Friday only
COD filets - 1 lb $
Foster farms chicken, frozen 2 lbs
Barilla pasta 5/5
Nalleys chilli 5/5


Nathan's 4.99
Shrimp 3.99 frozen @@
Ground turkey 2.99
Potatoes 2/1$
Pizza 3/10@@$
QFC

Hebrew national 3.49$
Berries 2/4 @@$
chicken breast I BOGO nets 4.00 a pound.
Di Giorgio 4.99


Dollar store
Jenne-0 turkey bacon $
Pancake mix $


Dinners

1. Hot dogs, buns , suddenly salad     5.77
2. Turkey bacon, eggs, pancakes , oranges and blueberroes 4.25
3. Pork chops , baked potatoes , green beans  3.36 
4. Pizza 3.33 
5. Speghetti with meatballs , green beans   ( grind London broil, pasta of a buck at Safeways amd the dollar tree.    Speghetti Sauce is always 100 or mixer at Winco)    4.08 
6. COD. Scalloped potatoes. Fruit cup - 7.50
7. Chicken thighs w BBQ sauce. , mashed potatoes , Corn 3.71 

This assumes you have the basics of floor , oil,etc.   it has too many processed foods to my liking. And a lot of it would be cheaper if you bought it in bulk.  I marked the ingredients used with a $.  This would also take you to four stores and cost more in some instances than stocking. 

I paid .75 for suddenly salad . I make it with olive oil.    , chicken thighs are .68 at times at Winco.   Binkess chicken breasts are 4.00 a pound at QFC on sale BOGO for wa grown.   I paid a buck at Freddie's last week. ( sale still on til Saturday) .  Scalloped potatoes I got for .60 .   Sometimes if the
dollar store has Betty Crocker they are free with coupons.  Potatoes were 1.00 for ten pounds at Winco last week.   

Total dinners 32.00 divided by 7 equals  4.57 each.