Meal plans for week of 8/8 - 8/14

Taking you along for the ride...I have taken an informal inventory of the fridge and pantry.   We are well stocked of pepperoni ( .50 at the dollar tree with coupons,) amd eggs ( .79 at Safeways) .  That tells me we are having breakfast for dinner and pizza once a week for a few weeks.   I will switch to a theme based meal plan for a while .  

1. Breakfast 4 dinner 
2. Pizza
3. Tex-mex 
4. Soup and bread 
5. Casserole or meat and starch.  ( meat  balls over noodles etc) 
6. Sunday dinner 
7. Pasta 

Meal plans matrix can be protein based, theme based, rotation based, or freezer meals.   

The first step in meal plans is to shop the specials and take inventory of what is in your stash ( another word for pantry and fridge and freezer.  ) LOL Paying attention to what needs to be eaten soon.    

Last night we were going to have pasta primavera.    Our neighbour generously gave us a basket of veggies.    The squash needed to be eaten.     We had a stir fry instead because we also had leftover  rice and a lot of veggies.   I had shrimp in the freezer.    Plan. But be flexible.    

• Pepperoni pizza ( make dough early in the morning and refrigerate.   
• Scrambled eggs. Bacon, muffins ( made with Greek yogurt) or yogurt cups 
• Chicken bow tie pasta dish 
• Pork chops with Apple- craisens dressing. , salad 
• Tomato , basil, Gorgonzola soup, cheezy biscuits.   
• Chicken enchiladas. Rice and beans 
• Meatball subs, salad 

I have to say that this matrix is harder to follow than the protein based one.  I will share my meal plan work sheet as soon as I can figure out how.   I am still learning the tech thing.   

Work plan: 

1) make pizza crust early in the morning and out in fridge.   

2) make muffins 

3) cook chicken breast from frozen in the pressure cooker.   This will work for the vow toe pasta and the chicken enchiladas.   

4) thaw pork chops and make bread cubes .   

5) make cheezy biscuits 

6) make rice and cook beans in pressure cooker.    

7) make green salad, croutons, and buy rolls if I can't find baguettes.    

I still have to tackle making baguettes from scratch.   I make bread in the bread baker, or I make cold start , no knead bread.   Granddaughter and I made bag bread that was on the Internet. It didn't turn out so well.   How many ways can you say hockey puck!    

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by 
cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Fred Meyers - EARLY

tomorrow's ad

Milk 10/10

Cantaloupe 2/3

Country oven bread 3/4@@

Sour cream .88

Broccoli .99

Cucumbers 2/1

Radishes 2/.99

Green peppers .79

Grapes 1.69

Raspberries 2/5

Strawberries 2/4

Roma tomatoes .99

Romaine .99

Blackberries 2/5



Ground turkey 2.99.   Foster farms

Split chicken breasts 1.29


Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Now that you have it......

Now that you have it...what to do with it.    

One concept of groceries on the cheap is to do a rotation of protein.    Most of the time, you can find a so called loss leader meat in the grocery ads.   Buying in bulk and buying enough to feed your family a months worth those meals saves time and money.    In other words, if you eat ground beef once a week, you will buy enough for four meals.  

What to do with .....

Ground beef : meatballs cooked on the oven.    Pinterest has a good recipe, or use your own.  Make your mix up, I use a portion scoop to form the balls and place them on a rack that is placed on a sheet pan.   The broiler pan works too.   The object is to drain the fat.   Place portion controlled ,eat balls on individual bags , label and freeze.   A regular fridge freezer can hold a months worth of meals.  

Baby meat loafs.   I usually do is the day I bring the meat home.  Small meat loafs cook faster and can be cooked on the microwave if it's hot outside or you are in a hurry.  

Hamburger crumbles : fry the meat in a large pan, break it up ( a pasta to masher works) and drain and defat it.   To defat, drain the meat into a colander,   using a catch bowl of you don't want the grease to go down the drain.  Pour boiling water over the filled colander and let drain.    Place in meal sized cartons or bags for the freezer.   Flat bags store well and take kess room.   Use for sloppy joes , or on red sauce.  
Taco meat:   Same as hambirger crumbles except return to the pan after defat ting and add taco seasoning.  Taco seasoning recipe is in another blog.   Add some water.  


PORK LOIN
Pork loin can be as low as 1.69 a pound.    I try for a half loin.    Cut 1/2 inch pork  chops off one end after you square up the end.  Save the end pieces that aren't as thick for pork cubes.   Leave a two pound or so section for roast.   Portion control the pork chops and cubes and freeze,   Cook the roast and slice the leftovers thin for BBQ pork sandwiches.  
That makes :
1)   pork stew or pie from the cubes or meat over rice or mashed potatoes.  
2) pork roast and sliced thin pieces for BBQ pork Sandwiches.
3) pork chops

Whole chicken :
Roast the chicken in the oven or pit in the slow cooker.  

1) to roast a chicken fast: clean the cavity, stuff it with anything you have hanging around the kitchen  : an onion, a lemon, a apple, a orange.....place chicken on a rack on a roasting pan , and massage it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and rosemary if you have it.    Bake at 375 until it's temperature is 170-180.  

2) to cook in slow cooker: clean the cavity, place a roughly cut onion in the bottom of your slow cooker, put the chicken on top, give it a spice rub, amd cook it on high a hour a pound.   Check three quarters of the way through.  

This makes : two dinners of chicken breast , a dinner of dark meat, and soup stock.  

SPLIT CHICKEN BREAST : Fred Meyers has them often for under a buck a pound.
Debone the chicken, saving the bones and meat attached onto a stock pot.    Portion control the breasts.   I put  each breast into a quart bag and put the quart bags into a gallon bag.  This makes it easier to find in the freezer and keeps it from getting freezer burn.  

Every cookbook or Betty Crocker in line cookbook has a host of chicken breast recipes.    Essentially you are getting boneless, skinless chicken breast for a buck instead of six bucks and have the added bonus of chicken soup and chicken pieces for a casserole or tacos.  

Other weeks, when one of the above are on sale :

1. Pepperoni is at the dollar store and dollar coupons are almost always at coupons,com  makes the packages .50 if you buy two.   
2. Cheese is around two dollars a pound at Costco.   Sometimes cheap at grocery outlet.   I got it cheap at Safeways this week.   Watch your price per pound.  Small packages are deceiving.    
3. Beans are cheap at the dollar tree and at Winco in bulk.    
4. Fish in frozen individually wrapped portions is cheap at Winco.    

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Extremes shopping some treats

We went to Safeways and QFC for next weeks groceries.  Finally, there are some bargains at those stores.  

QFC - we spent 25.67 and saved 23.34. For a savings of 47 percent.   

1.  splurge of real maple syrup 
2. Splurge -a blueberry pie 
3. Free cookies 
4. Sausage , was supposed to be free, I have to investigate.   
5. Blue bunny bars , 100 off for five and 1.00 coupon,  
6. Sausage rolls 2.99 less coupons 

Safeways 

Week end only 

Spent 11.99 saved 12.44 or 51 percent 

6- pastas, blue box, veggie and bow ties.    

10 yoplait in sale for .40 less 2-1 dollar coupons.    .20 each and they had chocolare!   Does it get any better than that?    

Strawberries 2.99

Potato salad 2.00

Almost 50 percent over all and  I picked up expensive syrup, a pie , and potato,salad for lunch. 

I am still under budget and we are well stocked.   We will be having breakfast 4 dinner and pizza once a week for several weeks going Forward.   

Freaky Friday

We are down to pasta primavera , breakfast 4 dinner, and fish on our meal plans,  we ornery much followed  them exactly this week.   I do think we will adapt a little because our neighbour generously shared green beans with us.   So fish and chips might become fish packets.    Seems like a no dish Friday to me.  We got a notice of free food at QFC.    Cookies and sausage!  Yum!

Pinterest of full of new recipes and ideas.   Reader beware, there are some things that might look like scams, but plenty of inspiration there.   Sometimes that's all one need to combat their lazy butt even if we have good excuses-- the dog ate the vacuum.  LOL.

I have several u-tubers that I watch.   They give me motivation to try new things and organize the house better.   There are days when I just need a push to keep on Going.   You wonder if life is worth the fight!    Whatever works.

She's on her apron is a young mother of four that does grocery hauls ( not inexpensive  ones ) , organizational ones, and motivational ones.   She fights anxiety, and shows you can function well coping,    She u- tubes  and sells cleaning products as well as taking care if a household of six with children in school and church activities.  

The Kneady homesteader is a gal with I think 4 children  and  two of them live with she and her husband.  She is making the switch from boxed foods to scratch and does Kroger and SAMs club hauls.

I made the cream soup base yesterday and made mac and cheese from scratch.   I made it early and put it in the fridge. I put  it in the oven when the family came home.   Good job, because all heck broke loose yesterday afternoon, I would not have had the stamina to set out and cook from scratch.  
Some dinner times are more hectic than others.    It pays  to be prepared.    We would have resorted to pizza or take out.   I digress. The Mac and cheese was drier than I would have liked.    Next time I would add sour cream or milk if I was making it ahead.   When made it, there was cheese sauce on top after I mixed cheese sauce in.   Sitting in the fridge must have dried it out some,   I covered it with a silicone lid.  

I also took the bread they didn't eat all of the other night and I made croutons.    That saved a bundle. I didn't  t throw away .60 worth of bread and I didn't buy croutons for upwards of two dollars.  
I out the remaining slices from the potluck Tuesday on top of the Mac and cheese before I added the topping that I made from bread crusts that were drying in the food processor.     It's the little things that add up.  They make for better dinners for little money.  

Cheap dinners dint have to be hamburger meal boxes.   In fact, the cheese sauce mix in those boxes is about the most expensive cheese on the store.    I would rather savor a piece of extra sharp white cheese or some good parm than a reconstituted cheese sauce made from the stiff my grandmother used to sell to the farmers to slop the hogs!    -- and I would have money to spare.    I would have to go back to look, but if my memory serves, it was about 13 dollars a pound.    

There are a few things, in my opinion, that aren't a bargain at any price: hamburger meal boxes and a certain brand of chicken .   Think nutrition for your money, and cleanliness.  

With some effort, a change of attitude, and thinking your our chases, you can eat well on a limited budget.  



Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Cream sauce mix.

Cream of xxx soup is expensive and has ingredients you can't pronounce. An easy alternative can be found on the Internet.

Soup base for small family.   This has to be kept cold, like on a fridge or freezer.   Since, I have a very small family, freezer, and fridge I cut the recipe down to a manageable size.   It had flour, milk and butter, basicly  a white Sauce.   

I have made a white sauce mix from taste of home before. It uses milk, a dried stock, and cornstarch. Some people do not like the idea of cornstarch.   This version, however is low in fat because of the dry milk, and low in sodium because you use low sodium stock.   Just add water.   !

It would be interesting to calculate how much fat is in a recipe ( equate lent to 1 can) vs the actual can.  I did the math.  The can has considerably less fat, but more preservatives.   Taste of home is less fat, but corn starch.  The fat version isn't much cheaper than getting the canned soup on sale at thanksgiving time.  I paid .39.   

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Alberways .....

QFC has no ad this week, last week was a two week ad.  

Winco had some good buys yesterday, -- eggs and whole pork loin especially.  

Alberways

Buy  5 : save 5

Pills bury cake or brownie mix .89
Folders coffee 5.99
Frozen veggies .99


Milk 2.99@@
Hot dog, hamburger buns .88@@.   CK Winco first
Strawberries 2lbs 2.99 - today's looked really good
Yoplait 10/4
Mayonaise 2.88@@



Friday, Saturday Sunday specials

Tomatoes 1.00 lb
Rinaidi pasta sauce, Barilla pronto or reg pasta 5/5

I could not match coupons with any of Safeways  5/5 sale.  I did for QFC, that I believe is still running,    I did not save last weeks ad.  


Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Extreme couponing.....Alberways,

Armed with the just 4 U loaded on my card, we went to Safeways and dollar tree .
Safeways  spent 33.01

I used 5.00 off basket coupon , five dollars off of five savings. Their calculations were 44 percent savings.

I got
10 yoplait yogurt for 4.00. - reg price 6.00
Large salsa 4.79. Reg 4.99
Folders coffee - 5.99- reg 10.49
2 yellow cake mix 1.98 Reg 3.98
1 protein veggies 1.98. Reg 6.28
2 grated cheese -8 ounces 2.50 reg 5.58
1-2 percent milk 1.99 reg 2.99
Strawberries 2.99 retail 5.99
Total 46.30 retail
Total spent 26.22

Total 26.22 less 5.00 is 21.22 or 25.08 savings
Savings 54 percent.

Added treats

Donuts 5.00
Chicken nuggets 6.99 should have been 1.00 off on just 4 you




Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Kitchen management

When we were in school , home Ec was a required subject.   Now, I am hearing that it is not. There used to be an extension service where you could call and find out answers to food related questions.
Now, we have the Internet.  

There is a whole generation of people that have grown up in generational welfare homes, where if their mothers didn't know how to make end meet and still have nutritious food, and they don't know either.    It's not just a low income issue: many working mothers took to prepackaged food and fast food to bridge the gap and make their time count.    There are only so many hours on a day and this is especially true of single parents.  

Enter kitchen management and efficient cooking.    I did our kitchen management today and thought I would take you on for the ride with bullet  points.  

• First, I did the dishes and opened up a clean sink, counters and drainer.   
• I have already cooked the hamburger and sausage I got on sale after I came home from the store.  It can be cooking while you are putting away the food.   Start it on low on the biggest pan you have or put it on high in a slow cooker.   
• I took everything out of the fridge and washed the shelves, and arranged like things together on the condiment, shelf.  Mayo, pickles, whip cream cans and anything else that needs to be on a tall shelf.   The soy sauce gets its place.    
• We have an abundance of eggs since I got them for .79 at Alberways.    I placed  the oldest in a muffin tin and baked them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.   
• While they were baking, I started in the vegetable bin and the green boxes of fruit.   
• I fixed a bowl of vinegar water and dumped the radishes, carrots,potatoes , and cauliflower we are going to have oven roasted for dinner tonight.   
• I cut up the strawberries that were still good.   Seems strawberries are at the end of the season and have to be eaten the day you buy them.  I placed the strawberries in a saucepan and cooked them a little, extracting some  juice, drained them , catching the juice into a bowl.  Poured the juice back into the pan and thickened it with a cornstarch slurry.   
• While the strawberries were cooking, I washed the veggies with my specified ladybug brush  and trimmed and cut them for dinner and put them in quart deli cartons .   
• I took mental inventory of the bakery basket and decided we could have strawberries on the angel food cake that was left for dinner.    We still have cookies and odd and ends, so I will put off baking until tomorrow.    
• By this time, the eggs were done, and oiplaced them in an ice bath in the sink.    After they cooked, I ate one for breakfast and placed the others in a quart deli carton in the fridge.    
• I washed the plastics from cleaning out the fridge and I was done.    
• Total time, less than an hour.   When the children were babies, I used nap time to get these things done.   One summer, I hired a sixth grader to be a mothers helper and play with the children so I could do things like clean the oven and paint etc.    she got money, and her working mother didn't have to lay for daycare the child wouldn't have wanted to go to.    Win-win situation.     When my daughter was that age I paid for her to be an aid at a preschool.   She would up getting four years of college and two degrees to be a preschool teacher with special Ed training. 

Basically. We are prepped for dinner and beyond.   Dinners will be easy to cook and take little time when it's the hectic dinner time. 

I took a quick break and went through a dozen inserts my friend gave me and pulled two coupons worth their weight in gold......puffs tissue I can find at the dollar tree, and blue bunny ice cream.   

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Nutrition, healthy foods

Nutrition and healthy eating are frequent buzz words these days.   They mean different things to different people.    One lady I saw , said that nutrition wise, organic is not different than  regular.    No, in some cases, organic  is less nutritious than regular. Before people get all up in arms, organic probably has its virtues, but it's not beneficial to a bare bones, four dollar a day budget.   Putting things in perspective, we spend less for breakfast, lunch, and dinner a day than a lot of people spend on their morning coffee at the big bucks place.    A lot of organic is at least three times the price of regular.  

The three things that are the the enemies of healthy foods are

1) fat- trans fat and hydrogenated oils--margarine,fake  butter, fatty meats, hydrogenated oils that are on everything from refried beans to peanut butter and salad dressing.   Only safflower, canola, amd olive oil are not hydrogenated.    Olive oil boosts your good cholesterol.  

2) sugar.   Sugar is an enemy of your oral health, as well as the rest of your body.    Avoid excess sugar especially fruit juices and pop.   Refined sugar especially.  
It,motor is hiding in all kinds of prepared food.

3) salt.  Salt is another thing that creeps into our diets in pre made foods.   Some people salt their foods before they even taste them.   Many things can be cooked with herbs instead of salt.   It's not good for your heart health.

It is realitively easy to reduce the amount of salt, sugar, and  fat  in your menus.  Just sharing the mantra that you aren't going to buy anything that has little food value.    That leaves out pop and potato chips and other things too numerous to mention.    Making your own deserts and trying to eat more fruits instead of cakes etc helps too.  

• If it doesn't have food value ( good nutrients ) , don't buy it.   
• If it's full price, and you don't have to buy it, don't.    Chocolate and ice cream are not must haves.....darn it!    Use coupons and stack when possible.   
• If veggies aren't in season and less than a dollar, don't buy it.    We don't eat much asparagus, but do eat fresh green beans.    
• A ready made anything needs to be cheaper than scratch, good tasting,and the alternative scratch recipe needs to be easy and not take all day.   I found a recipe to make non-fried refried beans easy....low carb tortillas....not so much!   
• If it isn't a RBP, think twice before putting something  in your cart.    Studies show that of you pick something  up, you are more likely to put it in your cart.

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Where is this going?

My stats  are the lowest they have ever been.  I think this is,not going to google.    If you are seeing this on Google, please comment,    

Yesterday, I got up early and started getting things done.  Of you make a list of,things to do you are more likely to get s lot more done.    I also watch a couple of people videos every morning that they post.   I get new ideas and motivation to get up and going.   It's so easy to say your butt hurts and sit the morning,    Mind you, I am doing things sitting.....working in my studio, writing blogs, meal plans, grocery lists, learning how to cook more from scratch and lower our food bill more.    I do more than the average person on food tracking because of the blog.     But, that is not gardening or deep cleaning.    

 You can eat well on the amount of snap. It takes some effort and organization.   Once you are set up, it's really,easier than the old way and  you eat better for less.    

Think about this. If you have more to spend, and you work at using a coupon or two, or learning a new way to scratch cook something, saving three to six thousand dollars a year could mean a nice vacation, more in the retirement account, savings for a house or condo........the kids or grand kids college fund.....  

I digress ....

I find motivation seeing what others have accomplished.   

Today, I want to pull some weeds in the vegetable garden that hasn't been planted since the year I broke my hip.   I did the beds aroimd the perimeter of the house , but the middle garden has grass taller than my granddaughter was at two.    LOL.   

We are having speghetti and meatballs, the meatballs are already cooked ( love batch cooking ) amd all i have to do  is cook the pasta ( pronto ) and add sauce.   I'll make a green salad and get granddaughter with supervision, to do the French bread.    It's her favorite meal. Amd she loves to help in the kitchen.   I am doing double duty, she gets the bread fixed, amd I am watching her and teaching her how to make French bread.  Prepping anyway.   I butter it, sprinkle dried parsley and some parmesean cheese on it and bake it until the cheese and butter melts.   Yum!   

Total cost (more because the bread is purchased - somehow yesterday, scratch wasn't going to happen.) is 1.39 /2 bread , 1.00 for meatballs. .25 for pronto pasta with coupon, amd .75 for sauce.   1.00 for a small green salad.    3.70 for dinner.  

That's a decent dinner in my estimation.    It's all in the shopping,   Dinner will take about fifteen minutes non-passive time- maybe a little more since granddaughter is making the bread ( she's 4yo) 

The trick is to spend less time in the kitchen, assuming you have a limited time and a busy life) and more time planning your shopping trip and shopping,   I still can get in and out of a store in twenty minutes flat, and hit two stores , planning the trip as to not waste gas.    I sound loke a broken  record, but mastering the planning is ambit key on saving a lot of dollars.     Three thousand dollars times ten years is thirty thousand dollars.    In anyone's estimation, that's a lot of bucks.   And, we don't eat rice and beans every day.    

Our neighbour grows all their vegetables.   She shared green beans and a couple of yellow squash 

with us.   We can have fish packets instead of fish and chips and I will add squash to the oven roasted vegetables.     Being flexible helps too -- and having generous neighbors.    

Winco ,yesterday , had cantaloupe for .38 a pound.    Peaches were .98.   I didn't see any meat worthy of rotation status.    My best bet would be the sausage at QFC with coupons ( stacking ) .   

To those naysayers about them having more important things to do than clip coupons.  Here's something that might make a believer of you.       My sister has a HD washer.  It takes expensive soap.   Oxy clean HD detergent has three dollar coupons.  By planning her trip to cost forty dollars at QFC, and the five for five sale, and a three dollar coupon , the 6.00 detergent was 1.10 . 

 6.00 detergent. 

-1.00 five for five 

-3.00 for manufacturers coupon 

- 25% off blanket coupon ( use blanket coupon first amd stick to a forty dollar grocery cart. My hubby used a calculater while I shopped) 25 percent of six dollars is .90. 

Balance 1.10

That's extreme couponing.     

 The Ad...this is early.   

18 ounces of blueberries   2.49
Tomatoes .99
Butter 2/5@@
Krigermicemcream 1.99@@
Folders coffee 5.99@@@
DiGiorno pizza 4.99
Fahd Greek yogurt ,88
Pears .99


Heritage farm chicken is Tyson.    Just a FYI.

The paper has the p amd grams a smart source.

2.00 off of tide. Tide is a dollar off on the B5,S5 T QFC.   That makes three dollars off.
.25 coupon off puffs, it's at the dollar tree.

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Sunday , July 31, 2016

In all that we do, there is good and there is bad.    We are very well stocked and recovered from the freezer meltdown.  The good thing is that the pantry so full and I can meal plan from my stock.   The bad thing is that we are over budget.  No surprise, you can't restock a freezer in  one month without spending over budget.   It just means that I need to spend less for the next two months to maintain a quarterly figure.    No problem.    

Meal planning is a necessary part of groceries on the cheap.    It can be formal on  computer generated sheet, ormyoumcwn wrote it on the back of an envelope from the recycle bin.  Either way, it'll work.    

Some people make rotating meal plans so that things are canned and they don't have to reinvent the wheel every week.   Their meals and grocery list is "in the bag" .  The only problem I see with that is sales  and availability of inexpensive, in season fruit and veggies change.    

Using a matrix that is protein based or theme based works well and is flexible.  

Because a meal is scheduled for  a particular day, doesn't mean you have to eat it that day.   

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail!   

Ok, meal plans for next week.....

1 beef 

1 fish or seafood 

3 chicken or pork

2 vegetarian 

Equals 7 meals, with varied protein.   

1. I just bought 4 pounds of sausage and cooked and defatted it ( jimmy Dean bulk) .ot made sense because I had coupons and a blanket coupon that made it less than the RBP at Costco.    I had to buy four instead of the three pound chub at Costco  because of how the coupons worked.    

• I also bought three pounds of 7 percent hamburger.    I fried and defatted both at the same time,   I did use separate colandes and pans.   
• I have blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, bananas, apples. And a few strawberries.    
• I have lettuce, tomato. Cucumbers and frozen red peppers.    
• I always have  and celery and carrots.  

My rotation protein this week was sausage and hamburger.    I am not finding a big bargain in anything else.  Just because they advertise a meat, doesn't mean it's a bargain.  A few weeks ago they did have split chicken breast for around a dollar.    I stocked then.    I can cook chicken breast from frizen in the pressure cooker.   Betty Crocker on line has numerous cooked chicken recipes or recipes that can be adapted.    I have been getting alfredo sauce  in jars for less than a dollar.  

  My husband went to the tree while I shopped Safeways to save time.  He couponed big time.   Pepperoni was .50- the same pepperoni that is upwards of two dollars anywhere else.   Puffs tissue was .75.   

Deodorant was free and he added a sleeve of potato chips that are usually 1.24 at Winco.   

1) spaghetti and meatballs , lettuce salad 

2) fish n chips , cucumber and tomato salad 

3) Mac n cheese, peas and carrots 

4) breakfast 4 dinner : waffles. Bacon. Fruit compote.  

5) pasta Alfredo with peas 

6) pasta salad ( potluck) with chicken 

7) BBQ thighs , oven roasted veggies, fruit.   

That's about it.   Please share .  

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Fred Meyers ad. For tomorrow

The Ad...this is early.  

18 ounces of blueberries   2.49
Tomatoes .99
Butter 2/5@@
Krigermicemcream 1.99@@
Folders coffee 5.99@@@
DiGiorno pizza 4.99
Fahd Greek yogurt ,88
Pears .99


Heritage farm chicken is Tyson.    Just a FYI.

The paper has the p amd grams a smart source.

2.00 off of tide. Tide is a dollar off on the B5,S5 T QFC.   That makes three dollars off.
.25 coupon off puffs, it's at the dollar tree.

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspectives. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Freaky Friday

I don't know what is freaky about it, but I have to call  this something.  They make me give  this thing a title.

I am so wondering if anyone out there is reading this and if I am helping just one person, or am I just wasting time.  

Yesterday, I went to Safeways and QFC.   Finally, with a ten dollar off coupon, I was able to get some real discounts.  Safeway has a buy ten sale, but there wasn't anything we needed on it.  I did that a few months back.  The pantry is full.    We would be good for quite a few months.    They did have whipped yoplait...yum!  Anything chocolate can't be bad, right.    And I had a coupon.    And eggs are .79 plus there is a .25 Ibotta.    That makes a dozen eggs .54.    I would have to say that breakfast for dinner just got as cheap as it could be.   LOL.

I also got 7 percent hamburger for about 4.00 a pound,    I took it home and cooked and defatted it at the same time that I cooked and defatted the sausage I got for two dollars a pound.    I bagged the beef in portion controlled bags and then in a gallon bag.   I bagged the sausage in a gallon bag.  We usually use sausage as a flavor enhancer and I can just bang the bag in the counter and pour out what I need.   Sausage quiche is a good and cheap dinner with a mixed greens salad with fruit.

There are many good recipes for dinners that cost less than five dollars for the proverbial family of
four.    I saw a lady profess that a quesadilla was dinner for her family of seven and she could make them for five dollars.    My idea of dinner is a bit more balanced than a quesadilla.    Feeding a teen boy on four dollars a day becomes more challenging.  They would forge themselves of they were let to do that.    My answer would be to offer the RDA of the foods they need,  encourage them to eat vegetables and the things they need to be healthy.   And, buy inexpensive "fillers".  When my son was a teen with a hollow leg, he loved burritos.   I kept a handful of items that the children could eat as much as they wanted of in the pantry/ freezer.   They were "free foods". That is to say, they weren't part of a meal I had planned.   Beef and bean burritos, PBand and J, top ramen. Vegetable sticks. Popcorn- air popped.

I don't want any child to go hungry, but it is inappropriate for them to eat everyone's share of dinner.

I had heard and have heard since I started this blog of horror stories of children eating top ramen and potato chips for breakfast, lunch and dinner,  Of children eating  corn and watermelon for Sunday dinner.    Or how  about hamburger helper, 16 carb juice drink and 16 carb fruit cups and then have nothing in the house for dinner at the end of the month.  

I write this blog to teach people how to have food left at the end of the month and still eat well balanced meals .   A lot of people get something else out  of the blog-- where to find a good deal on their food, a recipe, how to cook more efficiently.  That's more important when the kitchen is hot on the summer.    We don't have air conditioning a lot in the PNW because the really hot daycare few and far between.


Food prices have gone up dramatically.   I suspect it just isn't because we have a monopoly of two major companies holding the strings.    We have Kroger and Albertsons owning fair if the grocery chains here.   We also have Winco, grocery outlet, and Costco and SAMs club.


The prices were really crazy before we got Winco to mix things up.   My grocery bill went down ten percent when we got Winco.   My guess is that part of it was Winco's  low prices on a lot of things and the fact that because of them, Fred Meyer has lowered some of their prices.

The only way  you can beat the grocery stores at their own game is to shop at more than one store.  This gives you the advantage of both stores sales, and the freedom of picking the best produce.

Yesterday, strawberries were 1.50 a box at QFC.   It's the end of the season, and they looked terrible.   Some of them had hair prettier than mine.   At best, you could have made jelly.   My idea was to dehydrate them, it wasn't going to work.   The raspberries were more expensive, but looked a lot
better.

By carefully planning and being able to punt when things don't go as planned, I could benefit by a actual 58 percent discount.  I say actual, because of a price is already inflated, a discount isn't really a discount.  That's where knowing the prices of the things you buy in a regular basis is soo important.

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.  Bit also, some people would buy 100 bottles of hot sauce because it was a bargain. Don't  be that person either.

No food will do your family any good if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal.

I ran on to something I wrote several years ago on this method of shopping.    --I, not going to say that there isn't any work involved here.   I'm  going to tell you that food will magically appear on your cupboard and some little fairy will have dinner in the table every night at six o'clock.   It takes some work, once you are set up and get the concept, it probably takes the same time as you spent before.   You are just redirecting your work load.   The payoff is better meals for less money.   The average family can save three to six thousand dollars a year.  That's a chunk of change.   


Shop wisely, shop in bulk when it makes sense.   Buy a controlled pantry.  Fifteen cans of hot sauce doesn't make sense, fifteen cans of diced tomatoes when you use at least two cans a week, mares more sense.    Buy enough to last you until it goes on sale again- or keep a stock that will last you a set number of months,   It's a good idea to have enough canned or dried foods to last you a couple of weeks in case of a disaster.     I keep a larger supply than a lot of people.   Ot is because I am getting at least fifty percent on my investment.  No bank is going to give me fifty percent interest.    No investment that isn't risked is going to give me fifty percent return on my money.   Seniors have a Medicare donut hole- a time when they have reached a dollar amount that is allowed for medication, then they have to pay for the medication themselves.   One of my meds cost upward of five hundred
dollars a month.   I need it to stay alive.  If I can stock enough when Medicare pays  the biggest share of the meds, we can eat off the pantry when we are paying  the lions share.

I am down to 20 cans of tomatoes.   I can tell because I lit all the same item in the same place in the pantry.   I'm not comfortable with that. We are eating down some of the beans.   I have discovered that I can cook beans on the pressure cooker and I can cook as few as a cup.  I will still keep a supply of canned beans,  it's not a,ways convenient to cook scratch, and in an emergency, the ability to cook may not be available.   -   It's cheaper and we don't throw a lot away.   Beans and rice have a very short fridge life.    No amount  of money is worth risking your family's health.  When in doubt, throw it out.   Food illness is no joke.   Cook your meat well, disinfect the counters and anything you touch with raw meat and flour.   Don't eat raw meat or batter made with flour - or any non cooked food.  

Stay safe.




Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Extreme couponing at QFC

the rest of the story 

QFC sent is a coupon for ten dollars off of forty.   

We went. Coupon on hand actually in grandpas pocket along with a calculator.    You get the most bang for your buck  if you spend as close to forty dollars as possible.   Use the dollars off basket coupon first.    

I was armed with a list and the ad.   As I found coupons to match, I gave them to grandpa to put on his short pocket.   

58 percent savings 

Blue bunny 1.00 off each with a dollar off manufacturers coupon plus the 25 percent off.   

Corn at 2/1.00

Raspberries 2/5, the strawberries that were 2/3 were rotten, like gray hair rotten!  

Jimmy Dean sausage was 2.99 used a .75 coupon on 2 and then got the 25 percent off. Made it less than Costco.   

Corn tortillas were 2.99 minus a .55 coupon. 

Angel food cake was 2.98 less the 25 percent 

The following were 1.49 less the 25 percent : 

Peanut butter, snack Oreos. Ice cream topping 

Extra sharp cheese 1.49 - 8 ounces.  

The water was only 8 cans  for three dollars.  Winco has 12 cans  for three dollars at times.  

Total spent 29.73

Savings 58 percent 

That was actual savings,   I didn't buy things that were over inflated to begin with.  Of something is more than my target price and is one of my staple items, I don't buy it.   

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Retailers dirty little tricks. Know your prices

Just a note .......

QFC has a buy five, save five sale on now.   There have been times when I have been able to match the sale with coupons and really make out with as much as a 78 percent discount,  

This time, I found something quite remarkable,   A good reason why knowing your prices gives you a heads up in their dirty little secrets.

LaCroix sparkling water has no added sugar or fake sugar, amd no sodium.   It has been everywhere from 3.00 to about 3.68 at Winco in the last few months.

Recently, ot was 3/10 at QFC.  That's 3.33 a can.   Now, they upped the price to four dollars to lower ot to three dollars.  That's no sale.  It is three dollars or there aboits  all the time at Winco.
That is a fair price, but to inflate the price to lower the price is deceiving.  I still want anrbp on the few treats I allow myself.   I ration ot out.   Bubbly drinks aren't necessarily good for you.  Some studies say that they contribute to osteoporosis.

It goes without saying-----always look at the bottom line.    You are looking for the RBP.   I a, also looking for the healthier a for my money.  

1. 21 ounces of whole grain cereal for 2.49 is good.  There is also dollar off two and sometimes three coupons out there.   Unfortunately, favado doesn't do QFC, so you are on your own to find them.   I have found them in the inserts that come in the mail.    
2. Sliced cheese at 2.49 comes out  to five dollars a pound    I buy cheese at two dollars a pound,  and I found extra shirt white cheese for 2.66 a pound at Costco.  This would not be a real sale.   
3. I don't buy Tide. Bit at 4.99 when there are big coupons out there, it could be a deal.   
4. 16 ounces of jiffy is good for 150.  Check the label for how much hydrogenated oil ot has.   Because of back to school, there may be a coupon for it.   
5. Jimmy Dean sausage at 299 is not a deal.  It's cheaper on the chub at Costco.   
6. Junk food isn't a bargain  at any price.   Rule of thumb: if it doesn't have food value, you don't buy it.  

I'm not going to partake of this one.   There is nothing I need.    If I did need things, I would buy cereal with a coupon, tide with a coupon, peanit butter. And maybe Dave's  killer bread, just because it's a treat!   

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Winco.......fill in stop

yesterday, we went to Winco.  I  had purchased 2 packages of tomatoes, they were all gone and we were having tacos, non fried- refried beans and rice for dinner.    The ice  was leftover from shrimp stir fry the night before  and I made beans yesterday.  

This is hat the trip looks like .....

1. I splurged and bought the turnovers that we used to have as a treat when we were kids, they were cheap....but not as cheap as the .10 they were then! 
2. Grape tomatoes were 1.58.   They were 3.00 last time at Fred Meyers.   
3. Green grapes were .99 and looked good. 
4. Alfredo sauce was 197 and I had a dollar coupon, making it .97 ,
5. cheese and jalapeño roll for our lunch for .50.   ( we added fruit and veggies )
6.  Two rolls for roast beef a jus were  .76.  - no waste 
7. 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce @ ..29 a down from .33 at Fred Meyers 

Total 11.40.   Less the turnovers would be 8.72.  

The splurge was ,,,well, a splurge.   Its necessary every now and then to indulge.    The operative words are every now and the .  The family will eat most of them because Tueynare not  on my diet.   

I'm not on a diet because I'm "soecial".  I have diabetes.    

Grape tomatoes was what I went for in the first place.    I almost never buy one thing at the grocery store unless it's in bulk and a great price.   I do try to save more than the gas it takes to go to the store if that's the only errand .   

Green grapes were a given.   They are a healthy snack ( wash  them) .   

Alfredo sauce with a coupon was as cheap as I can make it.   Having some things in the shelf that are really easy staves off the fast food demons,      

Rolls  from the bulk bin if you don't have a large family saves because a whole bag of specialty rolls can go to waste.    If I find something going to waste because we can't eat it all, I opt for a solution of buying just what we need of possible, freezing, or drying the product or doing my best to incorporate it into our meals.   It seems too much of a waste to make bread crumbs out of specialty rolls and they would take a lot of room on the freezer.    It made more sense to buy just what we needed.   It also made more sense to buy sliced roast beef from the deli because beef is sooo expensive and my husband and I are the only ones that eat sliced beef.   

Tomato sauce for .29 was the cheapest I have seen in a long time.  They used to be a quarter every now and then when we had Albertsons and Safeways.   I'm not seeing that price at Alberways,   You would think that merging would give them more buying lower and prices would go down,   

I digress, having a small can of tomato sauce   saves opening an full can  of a tomato product to make a small amount of pasta or top a pizza.   I have pizza sauce in the freezer that I froze in ice cube trays, but a small can works too.   The rest of it can be lit into meat balls, meat loaf or soup.   

It was a small haul, but thought out to maximize our money.   Again, knowing the RBP of things you 

Muse in a regular basis is the key to maintaining a pantry on a low budget.    

My money spent on food is less than the USDA stats for my husband and I.   I maintain a large stock, and supplement daughter and granddaughter.    

Actual money for food eaten at home is about three dollars a day.    

Thanks for stopping by 

 Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

The ads .....how times have changed too.

we got the ads today..not much there, and QFC is a two week ad

QFC

Strawberries 2/3
Raspberries,blackberries 2/5

Buy5 save 5
Most of it is overpriced or junk food - net prices

Daves  killer bread 3.49
Huge Cheerios 2.49$$
La croix water 2.99
Peanut butter 1.49
TIde  4.99$$

Alberways

Nalley chili .99@@
Salsa 1.79@@
Eggs .79@@


Buy 10 - .80 each net
Catsup
Refried beans
Maybe manwich


Catsup is really a bargain and almost the last time it will be cheap until summer next.
Refried beans are a little cheaper at Costco , but at Costco you don't have a choice of "flavors.
-- you can't get vegetarian .   I have been making it myself with no oil.  

That's about it.     I'm not seeing great buys.  

Winco has green grapes for .99. Basket tomatoes are close to the 1.50 range.   Inthknomsawmxhixken breast for 1.68.

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

How times have changed

I was researching my notes and recipes from long ago and found a meal plan from May 2002.   How times have changed.  We still eat on a strict budget, it's just that the meals have taken a drastic change.   Between the cost of food going up dramatically,  and  some people opting for "special" diets,  things aren't quite the same,  

• Pizza 
• Meatballs 
• Ham quiche 
• Hamburgers 
• Meatloaf 
• Dagwood sandwiches 
• Tuna casserole 
• Beef briskit 
• BBQ beef Sandwiches 
• Pizza, ham, pineapple, peppers 
• Hot dogs 
• Roast chicken 
• Sloppy joes 
• Chicken pot pie 
• Tacos, refried beans, rice 
• Shrimp muffins, potato soup
• Pizza: chicken, onion, black olives 
• BBQ spareribs, salads 
• Roast pork loin 
• Shrimp fettuccini 
• Pork stir fry 
• Quiche (bacon) 
• Tuna casserole 
• Pasta bake , spinach salad w bacon and egg 
• Steak, 
• Roast chicken 
• Hamburgers
• London broil
• Pizza 
• Chicken casserole 
• Spareribs

I am seeing a drastic cut on the amount of beef we are eating,   We aren't eating the portions of meat we did before, or the amount of processed meat.    Some things never change, tacos and pizza continue to be our favorites.   I still piggy back meat.   Pasta bake is what my nephew has named no Brainer pasta.   

Times change, we have to roll with the flow.   We still eat more than the RDA of protein. And we still eat Balanced.   We have adjusted our meals to reflect the changing marketplace.   When beef took a HUGE leap in prices, we started eating more chicken. I cooked a lot of scratch food then too.     I had a pizza recipe that is made on the food processor.    I have since then got a bread baker  and have found a cold rise recipes.    I was baking sour dough from scratch, but it had to be made frequently, and we weren't eating enough to keep it going.     I am going to try a pizza dough that is made in the kitchen aid.    

Fourteen years have seen a lot of changes.    Some food, some not so good.   The bottom line is life goes on-- .   

Many years ago , someone predicted we would t be eating, we would just take pills.   I said , never.

Niw, my daughter has decided she is going to be vegan.    She plugs in what she ears to a program on her phone, and supplements what nutrients she needs with pills ( vitamins ) .   Who would have dreamed.    I'm not sure  that  is the healthiest way to eat, but time will tell.  

 

Terrific Tuesday

I ran onto a U- tuber that calls herself the dollar tree gourmet.    She cooks amazing food from the dollar tree.   Now, she cooks 2 portions, and they are not cheap.   Sometimes as much as seven dollars. You do have to consider that some things are not used up and available for another dinner.    I would not condone buying all your food from the dollar tree unless you had no choice.   I have read where people have lost their independent grocery store and there were no other stores without traveling to another town.   In that case, I would get the flyers from those grocery stores amd plan a stocking trip once a month,   Carpooling with a friend or neighbour would help defer the cost.   You probably would be a lot of money ahead just getting RBP on staples.    My SIL and I used to kea e the children with husbands when they were little and go to the next town for groceries.   They had really good prices.  

I am dehydrating yellow squash today.  The neighbor gave me five small ones  that were very ripe.    I sliced them in the mandolin while my husband finished up dinner.    I didn't want to be up all night, so I'll put them in the dehydrator this morning,    I bought screens for the trays.  They came too big, so I am cutting them down.  

We are having shrimp salad for dinner.    Easy Peasy.  

No coupons worth having in the Sunday paper except blue bunny ice cream.   Yum!   They have small ice cream cones that are low in carbs but are not sugar free.   Just the right size.    Goldilocks size!  

I make bread with a bread baker, and I make pizza dough with the bread baker.   I did find another recipe that you do with the kitchen aid and sometimes I make cold rise bread that comes out more like sourdough.   You can buy bread as cheap as a dollar at the dollar store or at Winco, but it isn't the same,    Homemade bread has a few ingredients and none  of them are preservatives.    Basically flour, salt, sugar. Olive oil and yeast.  The recipe we like calls for Parmesean and pepper.    I like the bread machine because I don't have to stand and knead the dough and it's a low non passive cook.  

Cold rise is no knead, but it takes 24 hours.   It's not real time consuming, but it takes attention over a long period of time.  

Both have to be eaten soon or they go stale.  

Taking preservatives put of food as much as we all would like our food to be  preservative free, is,nit practical.   It would be expensive and you would have to go to the market daily. Organic food is the same way. The last I heard, only four percent of the farms in America are certified organic. Organic food spoils fast.  Four percent of the farms can't produce 100 percent of our country's needs, let alone export to other countries.  It's not practical yet.  

That being said, a lot of things can be made from scratch easily and you can avoid a lot of them.   Somewhere , there is a happy medium.  

It's not easy for busy families with working mothers.    I always worked part time when the children were in school until they were teenagers and worked themselves.    It meant that my social security is lower and I worked a lot for non profit and small business so I didn't have the benefit of a pension.   I'm paying for that now.    Money isn't everything, and we are comfortable.    We have a lot to be
thankful for and I get to see my granddaughter everyday-- complete with the ups  and downs.   She duded up with arm pads, knee pads. Helmet , and her roller skates and took off with her mom to the park, skirt flying.    Guess there was no rock climbing  that day!   LOL.

To wrap up, I guess the short term solution to organic --until someone figures out how to produce mass amounts and get them to keep at least a week and lower the price to realistic levels for the masses, is to wash your vegetables with vinegar water.   I have a designated brush.   Things with thick skin are better and I hear not necessary to buy organic to get the benefit.   I have heard that buying organic bananas is a waste.    Ditto watermelon.   I don't buy watermelon but once a year, it's about the highest in the glycemic index.    In other words, it's full of sugar.  

My part for a healthy diet on a minimal budget is to :

Wash vegetables and fruits where appropriate with vinegar, and peel if appropriate.  

Avoid excess salt.   We don't for the most part buy junk food snacks.   Nuts are good for you, but try to get less salty ones.   Don't salt everything you cook.

Avoid excess sugar.   Try for fruit instead of baked goods for desert.   We don't have desert every night.  

You can buy inexpensive protein without a lot of trans fats.   Ground meat can be purchased as low as 7 percent fat and then you can de-fat it  to reduce the fat more.   Olive oil boosts your good cholesterol, not all fats are created equal.  

Avoid hydrogenated oils.   Only safflower , canola and olive oils are not hydrogenated.   Most fake butter has hydrogenated oils.   Now they are saying that butter does not clog your veins.  My nutritionist  says a skim of butter is better than a pat of margarine,   The less dense a spread so, the better it is for  you.   It goes without saying, margarine, lard and shortening is not the best choice for fats.   We all need some fat on our diet.   The operative word is some.  

I'm not an expert on this, I only know what I read, and have tried to read a lot of different articles and look at how credible the author is.  

Fake anything is fake.    It's an alternative.    They have found that fat free products make you fat!   Obese I think is the preferred word.   Sugar free products with some artificial sweeteners make you obese too.    They fake sugar is not recognized  by the body and sticks to your fat cells making them "fatter" .  

Only time will tell if all the fad diets out there will prove to be healthy or not.   I'm too old.  I'll stick to the tried and true,   Eat a variety of foods. Eat balanced from the USDA pyramid. Eat in moderation and eat the best quality you can afford.   Cook clean, don't cross contaminate, and pay attention to things like rice and beans and meat that may be past it's safe zone.    Nothing is worth making your family sick.  


Thanks  for stopping by.   .  Please share.  

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

 

Long term storage.

BIgfamilyhomestead.com posted a list of foods that keep a long time, some almost indefinitely for the our lose of having emergency rations.  

Whether or not you are going to have an emergency ration storage big time, is up to you,  what I got from this is you don't have to believe every pull date on the store.   I do expressly adhere to the pull date on meat.    Fresh vegetables speak for themselves.    Ofmthemfreezerof slime, they are pretty much toast,    I have been drying anything that looks like it might go to slime.    My daughter bought cilantro.   In three days it was slime.   When I bought parsley, I dried it,   It is a lot greener and fresher looking than the stuff in a bottle.  

I know there are adult children that go into their parents food stash and throw anything near a pull date,   Pull dates are deceiving and not to be taken at first glance,    Canned meat and fish has a shorter shelf life as does anything with acid.   But, things don't go bad instantly the day after the pull date. i would use it within the next month unless there are tell tale signs that it is bad.  Ise your own good judgement,  

The list of on hand foods that are good almost forever.    

1. Ramen noodles.   Obviously, keep dry,   Not much food value, but will keep your tummy happy.   
2. Rice 
3. Beans 
4. Dry milk 
5. Salt 
6. Sugar 
7. Hot cocoa mix 
8. Honey 
9. Maple syrup ( real pure ) 
10. Instant coffee 

I Would add pasta . Pasta, according to a in line class from BYU, has an 8 year shelf life.    I don't keep ot 8 years, but I buy any pasta that is under a dollar.    Preferably, the ones with veggies on them or with added fiber.    I am surprised he didn't add flour.    Most of that stiff I have a small storage of already,    I buy a big bag of salt and soda .  Ot doesn't go bad and ot so soo much cheaper than buying a small box.   I cherish my big glass jars I have saved over the years.   We used to sell the, for five dollars all the time at the antique store.    The pickle jars now are plastic and they hold the smell And don't seal as well.   If you need to keep insects out of a jar, the USDA big guy told me to out plastic wrap over the jar opening and then screw the lid on tight,    

If you are having trouble with starch moths. Freeze your rice or pasta before you store it,   Like for three days when you bring it home from the store,  I got starch moths from one particular grocery store years ago, I took me a year to get rid of them.  I took everything out of the pantry, washed it all with bleach, scrubbed the shelves. And still they came back.   Finally I called the extension service ( no longer there ) and they referred me to the USDA big guy.    I finally got rid of the starch moths  and haven't had any since.    I also don't buy cheap pasta.  

Before someone ( foodies) say...OMG I would never eat that, you would be surprised what you will eat when there is nothing available to eat.     Better safe than sorry,     

I posted a blog on what you could do with dollar store food.   Some of dollar store food is. Ore expensive than the grocery store.   It is, however, on small quantities.  Assuming that you had to start from scratch, and had limited transportation and money was my focus.   Make your tummy happy until money was available for food.    The dollar store has .....

1. Pasta sauce ( more expensive than discount ) 
2. Pasta 
3. Pizza crust 
4. Cheese (watch some is cheese product ) 
5. Beans 
6. Rice 
7. Almond milk 
8. Eggs 
9. Peanut butter 
10. Oatmeal 
11. Coffee 
12. Nuts 
13. Ramen noodles 
14. Hot cocoa mix 
15. Green beans 
16. Fruit - pineapple or frozen 
17. Frozen potatoes 
18. Chicken , frozen 
19. Tuna 
20. Bread 
21. Pepperoni
22. Sausage 
23. Applesauce 
24. Baguettes 
25. Mashed potatoes 

Some of these things are not what I would buy on a regular basis. Some are more expensive than 

buying them from a grocery store.   But. With limited transportation and money, they would get you through.   There are not a lot of fruits and veggies at the dollar store.   Pretty much everything is either canned or frozen.   The frozen fruit comes from China mostly.   But, you could , with good decisions, get enough food to be somewhat balanced fir an emergency  situation.    

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck.