Friday : recipe day

I am trying something new.  Friday's are recipe day, where I try to take a classic  recipe and make it better, cheaper, and faster.

We are doing pancakes from scratch.   It was my mission to adapt the recipes to have less fat, sugar, or salt and be relatively quick.  Pancake mixes have anti clumping agents  and preservatives in them,

Scratch pancakes

Sift together
1-1/2 cups flour
3.5 tsp baking powder
T tsp salt
1 T sugar

Mix together wet ingredients
1-1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3T melted butter.

Whip egg into milk with a fork, breaking yolk . Temper the butter with some of the  milk .

Add the floor mixture to the wet mixture.  

Cook pancakes on pan griddle.   Turn when bubbles form and the edges of the pancake are  dry.

Keep in a warm 200 degree oven until all pancakes are made.

Sercemwith bitter, syrup, or jelly.

Thursday bullet day : 5 things where making is better than buying,

Never say Never, but.......

5 things it's a waste to buy -

1. Bread crumbs and shake n bake .     It doesn't make sense to throw away your bread heels and then go buy someone elses dry bread.   Dry the bread on the oven and out it through he food processer. Or, before o had a food processer  I used a box grater on a sheet pan.   Shake n bake is no more than dry bread crumbs with some spices  and herbs.    I add some grated Parmesan cheese.  Ditto croutons .    
2. Chicken stock.   Paying a dollar for two cups  of chicken stock that you can get for free is not practical.    Besides the fact that the canned stock has more sodium in it.   It's not a lot of effort to throw bones on a slow cooker and add the scrapings or ends from your veggies and some herbs and let or do it's thing.    
3. Vegetable stock .   
4. Muffins,   Store bought muffins can cost fifty cents a piece and are full of carbs.    Homemade are still carbs, but you can portion control and they take minutes to make.   Use your own muffin mix and add whatever bits of fruit you may have hanging around.   Grease your muffin tins  or buy silicone so you only buy them once as apposed to paper ones.    I still have some paper ones for times I have to take them someplace.    
5. Rice crispy treats,   Buying individual treats are expensive,   I can always find marshmallows for a dollar or less.  Chocolate crispy cereal on a bag is inexpensive and my RBP for butter is  two dollars a pound,   They take minutes to cook and make a special treat every now and then,   

Safeways and QFC haul.

Safeways was first.   I had a twenty dolkarmbisgetmbecause that was the amount of the basket coupon.  The closer you come to the dollar amount, the more percentage you save.  I spent 20.61 less the two dollar basket coupon made it 18.61net

I got

Pickles 2.52
2 Top ramen noodles .36
Salsa  1.30  with coupon additional
3 pillsbury rolls 4.50 with coupon additional
2 - 2 lb cheeses 3.60 each
Strawberries 3.69

Total 18.61

QFC
Spent 12.94
4 pkgs tortillas 1.00 each
2 eggs .99 each
2 jars pasta sauce 149 each
2 sausage ropes at 1.99 each


Total 31.55 spent

Wednesday ads - 4/26

The ads for QFC and Alberways
NOTE: QFC is a two week ad


Alberways - my rendition of Safeways and Albertsons - same ad, different locations

Chicken thighs, drums, or leg quarters, .67 ( we have no idea where they come from )

Cantaloupe .99. EACH

 Cheese Lucerne : 3.99 for TWO pounds @@  
Note too that my just for you has a 2 dollar off twenty dollar basket coupon .  
Ten percent makes it 180 a pound.  

Friday only old El Paso taco shells. 1.00  nite coupon out there for 1.00 off of two dated 5/1
Makes taco shells .50.    Or .45 with basket coupon,  

This could be a great gricerynhaul of played right.   It always hekosmofmyoumcan double dip the coupons,  


QFC TWO week ad

Strawberries 1.88
Avocados 1.00
Eggs .99
Barilla 1.00. - cheaper at FM this week


Boneless  1/2 Pork loin 1.99.  Top of my target price , but within reason especially considering
Center cut Pork loin chops 3.99.   That's a heap of difference if you care to spend five minutes cutting off Pork chops.

Mission tortillas 1.00 hard or soft
Refried beans 100

BUY 4, SAVE 4

Craft ranch - 1.49 - look for coupons
Hillshire farm sausage  1.99
Classico pasta sauce 1.49 - look for coupons

Tuesday thoughts

Back to basics :  solid principles to drastically lower your food expenses in easy steps.  

• Rotation protein.   The object is to get the best price ( RBP or buy price, or target price ) on your protein. Protein is the most expensive  food group you buy so starting with it makes most sense.   Make a limited list of protein you will need to make your meals.   Limit the cuts of meat for simplicity.    In our house, for example, that would be pork loin, split chicken breast, 7 percent fat hamburger, sausage, grated cheese, dry beans, tuna or salmon canned. 
• Using your ads for a guide. Pick the meat for rotation based on a RBP.   Buy enough to make as many meals as you need  of that protein for a month.  If you eat beef once a week, you need enough for four meals.  I buy here pounds at a time for three of us.    Rotate your meats in a four to six week cycle,   If there is a quiet week, choose cheese or beans that are pretty stable in price.   Pintos here are 1.5 pounds for a  dollar at the DT.    I look for under a dollar a pound, pinto beans work  well for re-fried beans or chili . 
• Plan your meals for variety,   
• To stay within a five dollar dinner budget  the proverbial 4 person family, you need to try for two dollar a pound or less protein.  That's my target price - average.  Making some meals from really inexpensive   protein means you can have some more expensive  protein some times.   M
• Prices differ a lot with location, but we have some of the most expensive prices  in the continental US.  Ground beef (7 percent ) is 328 at Winco.  Split Chicken  breast is anywhere from 1.28- 1.50 a pound as apposed to boneless, skinless at 8.00 at QFC (Kroger) .  Pork loin is anywhere from 1.50 for a whole one at Business Costco to 1.69 at almost everywhere. 
• Chicken breast that is split breast has the ribs attached.   It's a simple task to run your knife blade along the bone and separate the ribs from the breast.   A lot better than separating you from your money,   Cook the bones and meat attached to them in a big pot of water.   Throw in the bits of veggies you have from trimming the vegetables or add some herbs and let it simmer or put the water, bones and herbs in the slow cooker and let it go all day or all night.   There is usually enough meat on the bones to make another meal ( pizza, casserole, tacos...) and you have virtually free chicken stick that can be as much as two dollars a quart.   
• Pork  loin.   Looking at a whole loin can be daunting the first time.   I wrap it in the clean sink so it drains without a mess.   Place on your cutting board and slice a couple of inches off the ends where  they taper down.   Dice this for stew meat or a pot pie etc.   now cut two roasts off each end about five or six inches each.  Slice the middle section in 3/4 to an inch slices for chops.   Bag or wrap for the freezer.  Label and date.   Depending on the size, you should get six or seven meals.   Portion control the chops and cubes, and plan on two meals a roast for 3-4 people.    We have actual roast i time and slice thin for BBQ sandwiches another.   Or, mince the meat really fine and use it for taco meat.   Fifteen dollars (10 pounds ) should make six meals for a cost of 2.50 a meal.    Portion control is key,   Some families of you out a two pound roast in front of them, they are going to eat a two pound roast, especially if they are not found of vegetables or potatoes.    That's. It good for them or your budget. Unless  they are body builders, six ounces of protein including eggs is the RDA for protein according to my source.   

• Ground beef (or turkey) . Fry ground beef and de-fat it.  Portion control.  1/2 a pound with another protein is plenty for four  people.   You will use more of you make meatballs or a meat loaf.    I occasionally do , but it ups our cost so we have to average.   Everyone has a multitude of recipes for ground meat.   Armor makes meatballs ready made for about two dollars a almost pound in the freezer case at Winco.   They aren't what scratch are, but granddaughter loves them and she is picky.   My RBP for good hamburger is 3.28 a pound.   Ground turkey is more.  
• Sausage is cooked and de-fatted and bagged.   We use it in quiche, on pizza, or as a substitute for ground meat in pasta sauce .   
• It's an alternative fact that block cheese is cheaper than grated cheese.  A pound of,cheese is a pound of cheese, no matter what shape it is in.   Look at the price per pound.  Small packages can be deceiving.   We toured a cheese factory.   They mold the cheese on huge bricks.  The. It goes to a station where they cut it with a machine into two pound bricks.   The left over edges go onto a tray much like a bus boy tray and it goes to the shredder.    My RBP for cheese is close to two dollars a pound.   

Kitchen management

Yesterday , I bought seven  pounds of split chicken  breast and de-boned them while my granddaughter made ninja turtle cookies.   I was done about the same time her mix was made and she had rolled her dough into balls.   Then, I cooked the bones with the meat in them,

For Monday. I need to

1. Clean the fridge 
2. Make bread 
3. Make apple cake 
4. Chop the peppers I bought and dehydrate  them 
5. Cook chicken 
6. Cook stew beef 
7. Disinfect counter tops
8. Wash floor 

1. 
   

Tuesday notes

I made five meals from 6.75 worth or sirloin;  this was beef, but you could do the same with pork.

I thought I could take you along,

Meat pack   6.75 

Stir fry strips 

Stew meat 

Ground beef in food processor for chilli to be chilli one day and baked potato bar another,     

Strips for beef stroganoff 

Five meals for 6.75 for meat a meal.   This is for three of us.   135 per meal.   

Breaking down whole pieces of meat cuts costs dramatically.   

Meal plans for week of may 1st

meals for may 1st

Focus is on the sirloin ingot last week and some of the chicken.   Note the s t r e t c h I n g   Of the sirloin.   That makes eating beef more than once this week, but it is one of the leanest cuts of  beef.

• Pizza 🍕- a staple in this family 
• Breakfast 4 dinner - a time and money saver - everybody cooks something 
• Chicken pot pies 
• Braised beef on noodles , green beans 
• Chilli, nacho chips with cheese ( from sirloin meat ) 
• Loaded baked potatoes with leftover chilli 
• Beef stir fry 

Notes :   This is a lot of beef,  six dollars and 75 cents worth of beef,   I see some substitution strategy in our future.   I just wanted to show how far you could  make a bulk meat purchase stretch. That will leave me enough for another stir fry.   That would be five meals for 6.75.   Little more than 1.25 a piece.    The RDA for protein is 6 ounces a day and some of that should be eggs.    

I always keep a back up plan for what I call );)() storms.  We all have them and it beats  the take out pizza fairy,    A twenty dollar pizza  can bust a budget fast,    Consider that all the meals last week cost less than twenty dollars.    

Last week I hurt my hip cleaning the storage room.    Because I had prepped on Monday, dinner was almost made and the finish work could be done by culinary challenged family member.   LOL.  

Sunday : meal plans for week of 4/24

Meal plans,  

Rotation proteins to work from:

Eggs
Cheese
Beans
Chicken breast
Sausage
Pork loin chops, roast
Hamburger
Ham chunks
Turkey sliced

1. Pizza - ham and pineapple 
2. Breakfast 4 dinner (ham ) 
3. Toasted turkey and cheese sandwiches, tomato and roasted red pepper soup.    
4. Tuna cakes, oven roasted veggies . 
5. Speghetti with meatballs , salad . French bread 
6. Mac n cheese, broccoli 
7. Vegetable soup , rolls or bread sticks 

Notes : working on the 3 pork or chicken, 2 vegetarian, 1 beef and 1 fish or shellfish matrix.   

Eggs are reaching their pull date.    I got tomatoes this week for .38 a can and we have turkey with a may pull date.    We have already had five meals off a eight dollar ham  and I have at least five meals more : we will freeze some.   

1) pizza crust costs less than .20.   Add pineapple, cheese, ham ,and part of a dollar pizza sauce.   Total 1.90

2)  eggs .39, ham .80, hash browns .78 and strawberries 100.    3 .00

3) soup 1. 00, sandwich 2.67 total of 3.67 

4) tuna 2.00, egg .06, bread crumbs free, veggies .60 total 2.66

5) speghetti, .75, meatballs  1.00. Sauce, .68. Salad 100.    3.41 

6) Mac n cheese 2.35 

7) soup 1.72, bread sticks .20.    1.92 

Total 18.91.  

Snarky editorial.

I got a post from an unknown person.   Because I don't have a clue who this person  is, but I suspect some people are thinking the same things, I thought I would answer it,  

The gist of the letter, not directed at me. Was stop shaming  poor  people for not eating well.   First of all I don't shame people.   I tell people ways to  stretch their dollar so that you can eat well on a limited budget.    I can suggest and tell people what I do , it's up to them to take the information or leave it,    It's their life.

Grocery haul : 32.00

6 ounce box of raspberries,
2 bags of green grapes
1 pineapple
2 snack  peanut packages
1 soda

This person didn't say where they were from.    But, we live on one of the highest COL states in the continental US.    Shopping wisely, you can eat well on a limited budget.

For 13.93 - less than half of her basket , I got

2 poumds of French fries
1 pound of green beans

1 pound of strawberries
1bag  of baby tomatoes
18 eggs
1 can of green chilies
And 6.75 worth of petite sirloin at 2.69 a pound

All good food.   None of it out of season or expensive this time of year.  

Considering I had 18 dollars left of her budget , I could have easily purchased
Romaine
stir fry veggies
Rice
Potatoes
Oatmeal
2 poumds apples
2 pounds carrots
1 bag noodles
1 package celery
1/2 gallon milk
5 pounds chicken breast


You can be poor and Eat well. .  

 

Winco haul with prices - meat alert

quick small Winco haul 

Good prices 

2 pounds frozen fries.98

Frozen green beans .97

Strawberries 1.98

Mini tomatoes .98

18 count eggs 159

Green chillis can .58

Petite sirloin 2.69 a pound 6.75 

I couldn't pass up good beef that had little fat for 2.69 a pound,   We can have a stir fry and I can cut it up for stew.   Time to adjust the meal plans.    Groceries on the cheap works best of you are flexible and tak advantage of a good buy when you see it.   

You can always change aplan, but you need a plan to begin with.   

FRED MEYERS AD FOR SUNDAY

Rotation alert : Foster Farms split chicken breast .87 

Peppers, avocados .77 

Milk .99

Cantaloupe 2/3 

Barilla pasta .88

Kroger frozen potatoes 179

Strawberries 2/5

 Boneless Pork Loin Chop 399 - note this is why it's such a good buy to purchase  a whole loin and take ten minutes to cut your own. Usually you can get pork loin for less than half that price.    

Friday recipe : fast taco soup

There is something about a steaming hot bowl of soup that seems so inviting and comforting,    The best part is when you can out it in a slow cooker and have the wonderful smell occupy the house all day,   Dinner is done the mess is cleaned up and dinner is a snap.  

Taco Soup - revisited - less cans 

2/3 cup pinto beans , dry

2/3 cup kidney beans, dry

1-1/2 cup frozen corn 

1 can diced tomatoes with jalapeños (or not) 

1-small can of enchalada sauce 

1 quart chicken stock - homemade or from low sodium granules 

1/2 lb cooked hamburger 

1 T scratch taco seasoning,    

Directions. 

1. Cook the beans in a pressure cooker according to directions.   Drain.  
2. Add all ingredientd  to slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours,or on  low for 8-10 hours.   
4. Garnish with any of the following : tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, avacado.  

My cost 3.08 without garnish 

Thursday : take it up a notch : Bullet day

Last year our average weekly food bill was 72.00 a week.    That's less than 25.00 each,   This year I set out to lower the bills.  Because we haven't had a raise in several years, and  another raise doesn't seem like it's gonna happen any time soon.   And, because it's a challenge!     I still read and try to learn new things.

This year, so far we are sitting at 55.00 a week.   17.00 or not quite 25 percent less.   I'm still working on it but so far I have made changes ;

• We learned how  to make easy breads.   I started with peasants  bread,  then went to refrigerator bread and sweet rolls.   The cost of a good bread 🍞 in the bakery department is  upwards of three dollars.     It cost less than thirty cents .    That's a big difference and some recipes are really easy and not time  consuming.    
• I've made it a point to use up small amounts of leftovers or dehydrate them and put in jars.   
• Finding recipes that turn leftovers into another different dish has been a help.   Hubby does not like to eat warmed overs.    But if I can make a new meal it works.   
• After cooking for a large family, it's hard to downsize.   I started making 1/2 batches of things,   Using a 8X 8  pan instead of a 9 X 13.   Less waste.  You don't have to cook a whole box of pasta,  measure it and cook 1/2 a box,   
• Cooking more from scratch means that I can cook little bits  instead of opening a can of something and not using it all.   
• Freezing bits of anything that can go on a pizza and keeping them in the freezer door so that  they don't get buried in the back of the freezer helps too. 
• I went from buying all cans of beans to having some cans for emergencies and making my own re-fried beans and cooking dry beans.  The deal breaker here was getting a insta pot.   
• Adding a vegetarian meal to the meal plan sometimes isn't even noticeable,   Eggs and cheese are relatively cheap and can make a good  meal.   Or add a little meat to eggs and cheese.   

Costco haul

so far : Fred Meyers 9.45

Costco

Pizza cheese  5 lbs 10.99
Tortilla chips 3.59
Tuna 12.79
Bananas 1.39

Total 28.76
Week total 38.21


The ads
Alberways.

Milk 1.79@@
Diced tomatoes .38@@limit 4
Apples 1.00 (same as Winco )
Salad 1.00
Corn 4/1 fresh


QFC
Tomatoes , fresh .88
Peppers .88

Slow week.   Diced tomatoes is a good target price for stock pantry,  

Cost of staples

hey, I did the math so you don't have to.    LOL.

BEANS

Dry beans at 1.00 per pound
White, kidney and pinto beans are 2 cups per pound
1 cup dry beans are .50
1 cup dry beans yields 3 cups cooked beans or 6 servings
Or .08 serving

Dry pintos at .67 a pound at DT
Dry beans are 2 cups per pound
1 cup costs .34
1 cup  yields 3 cups or 6 servings
Or .06 serving


RICE

Rice is 25 pounds for 8.49 at Costco
Or .0339 a pound,   Round to .04
1 pound is 2 dry cups
1 cup  is .02
1 cup dry equals 3 cooked cups.
Cost os less than a penny a 1/2 cup serving,  

ALL  PURPOSE FLOUR

6.39 for 25 pounds at Costco
81.5 cups in a bag
Or a rounded .08 a cup

Tuesdays thoughts

A random act of kindness is always a good thing : but it is especially nice in a negative environment that we have had since November.  

There are ways to brighten ones day without spending any money.  It's nice to pay forward in the coffee line, but not everybody has that kind of money. 

One day I was on Winco.   I saw a middle aged guy buying his groceries .  It was clear to me that he was counting his purchases to be sure he had enough money.    Been there, dome that.    I saw that he had two cans of progresso soup right off the top.   I asked him how many cans he had.   He said two.   I had a coupon that made it so that for the same amount of money, he could have three.   I gave it to hm.  No big deal.  He said thank you, I said you're welcome and went on,   He ran onto me in the other part of the store and thanked me again,  I made his day,    It made me feel good and I'm sure that an extra meal for him didn't hurt.   

I do that often, sometimes someone will look at me like I have rocks in my head, but the majority of the time  they thank me.  Why wouldn't anyone appreciate getting a buck off something they were going to buy anyway,   

One time years ago, I had all three kids at home,  I was buying groceries at Albertsons,   A lady stopped me and handed me a coupon for a free milk if you spent fifty dollars.  She said she wasn't going to spend that much, but it looked like I was based on the size of my Cart!    That was over two bucks!   Made my Day! 

You can offer to return a cart when someone was through with it and you were going towards the store.  

Or tell someone if they had a flat tire  or left their lights on.   

We take our good clean brown paper bags to the food bank.   

We take our ragged towels to the animal rescue. 

It's just a state of mind.  Random acts of kindness help both parties studies show.    

Monday : motivational kitchen mgmt,

First: Fred Meyer small haul :

Milk
Cucumbers
Radishes
Blue cheese ( Easter dinner )
Yogurt. ( 5 with coupon )

Total  9.45 and used 1.30 coupons -10 percent


Rewritten meal plan to compensate for food that needs to be used up and our schedules .

• Taco soup ( from the sloppy joes Friday night)  bread 
• Pizza : ham and pineapple 
• Potato soup with ham 
• Fish packets 
• Roast chicken breast, oven roasted veggies ( potato, carrot, radishes ) 
• Homemade chicken nuggets , oven fries, and veggie plate 
• Breakfast 4 dinner (ham ) 

Kitchen management list 

• Clean veggies with vinegar,   potatoes for soup and oven roasted X2 , radishes. Carrots , veggie plate.   
• Chop ham, freeze what isn't going to be used.   
• Make note on calendar to  thaw chicken for two meals , and fish for packets ,   
• Wash and wax kitchen floor 
• Clean fridge. 
• Straighten pantry, 
• Make bread dough 
• Make bread 
• Wash fruit for deserts and breakfasts. 
• Start taco soup  in the slow cooker
•   Make beans 

First, put list in  order to maximize time,   Things that take longest first.   What can be doing itself while you are doing the next  thing on the list.    I will make bread dough so it can be rising and cook the beans in the pressure cooker.   Clean the veggies  and chop the ham  while the beans are cooking and finish the soup when the beans are done.   

Clean up last.    

Having a list helps especially of you have a tendency to get off track or spend too much time on one chore. If you keep moving, you'll be some on no time and dinners at dinner time will be a snap.    

I listed my hip too far this week, so some of my work will be done sitting on a bar stool.   Whatever works.    

I

Sunday's meal plans 4/16

meal plans for week of 4/17 /17

My protein rotation would be the hamburger that Winco has for 3.28.    I already bought a ham last week,  

1. Potato soup with ham , bread 
2. Pizza: ham and pineapple 
3. Chilli , nacho chips 
4. Fish packets 
5. Roast chicken breast, oven roasted vegetables : potatoes, carrots, radish, broccoli 
6. homemade chicken nuggets, oven fries , veggie platter 
7. breakfast 4   dinner . : ham quiche , salad 

Tomorrow's Fred Meyer ad

 As usual, there are no coupons in the paper because it's a holiday weekend. There are a few buys  well it's not a great week. 

• Foster Farms chicken breast, boneless 1.77'
• Mandarines 3 pounds 2.99
• Milk .99
• Cheerios 3/5 
• Yoplait 10/5. $$ 
• Blackberries 2/4 
• Cucumbers , radishes, green onions 2/99
• Pears .99

Themchicken is not a bad buy.  It's cheaper to de bone split breasts and I prefer to have the opportunity of making broth without buying the whole chicken.  Most of our family doesn't like the dark meat,   

Milk is good and yoplait can be .40 each with a coupon and multiples.   

Radishes and cucumbers are a great price

.    

Winco haul.

Last Winco haul for the week.   Lots of this haul was for stock items.  So far this year, our total food at home including stocking is sitting at 43 percent of the amount that would be out SNAP allotment if we had one.   I think the point I am making is that you can eat and not run out of budget before  you run out of month and still  eat well.    It's easy to spend more, so if you can make a small budget work, you have the skills to deal with less if you have to.

Winco haul :  does not include entertainment budget.

Ground beef 7 percent - 9.87
Salami 2.28
Diced potatoes .58
Granny Smith apples .98
Chicken granules 1.31
Hash browns, frozen .78
Pink lady 🍎  .98

Total 25.25
 Week total 75.34

Friday recipe : cheeseburger macaroni

Better, cheaper. Faster.    Than in a box.    You still have to add the good stuff when you buy the box. Honestly, the box probably cost more than the ingredients.   My daughter and I dissected a box once.   It had 4.1 ounces of macaroni ( .25 at top dollar prices ) and 1.57 ounces including tare weight of a cheese sauce mix without any cheese.    You are better off making it yourself.

Homemade Cheeseburger  Macaroni

• 1/2 pound cooked ground meat 
• 1/2 lb of pasta of choice
• Vegetables of choice cut small : carrot, celery, onion ( food processor or manual  chopper works well ) .  
• 2  T olive oil ( or less of you have a non stick pan )
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz) 
• 1 can diced tomatoes ( 15.5 oz) 
• Add 1/2 tsp garlic powder. 1 tsp dried parsley
• 4 ounces of grated cheese : we use Mexican blend, (1cup) 

Directions:

• Put macaroni to cook following the directions on the package,   When cooked, drain.   
• Sauté the chopped vegetables in a little olive oil.   
• Add cooked hamburger.   
• Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce.  
• Add spices and simmer while pasta is cooking.  If the sauce s too thick, add water or pasta water to desired consistency,   It should have some liquid, but,NOT resemble soup.     
• Add the pasta let simmer five minutes. 
• Top with cheese  and cover with lid and remove from heat. 
• When cheese has melted, stir and  serve.   

Cost 3.29.   Makes a meal for four people.   

You can use tomatoes with spices and omit the spices.   

Or add black olives sliced for Italian 

Or green chilies and sauté onions instead of the  veggies. 

Better : because it has no preservatives and adds veggies and has more macaroni.

Cheaper because at 3.29 for 4 servings, it cost little more  than the cost of one box and with the box you still have to add meat and other ingredients: scratch you have more real food .

Faster because you cook the pasta while the  other is simmering.  It can simmer on a very low heat and doesn't have to be babysat or you can make the sauce part in an insta pot or slow cooker and  add the pasta and cheese . 

In the insta pot : 

Sauté the veggies on the sauté setting,   When the veggies were soft, switch to the slow cooker setting and add the cooked hamburger, and sauce ingredients,   At dinner time I would cook the pasta the microwave so it didn't  have to be babysat , drain it when it was done and add the cheese and unplug the machine and add the cheese.  Stir.

Bullet Day : Thursday

Bukketnday : ten things to do with  ham

1. Ham and scalloped potatoes 
2. Ham amd cheese quiche 
3. Marco cristo sandwiches, 
4. Cobb salad 
5. White bean soup. 
6. Ham and eggs
7. Ham and pineapple pizza
8. Ham balls and noodles 
9.  Ham and noodles - fettuccini 
10. Toasted ham and cheese sandwiches
11. loaded baked potatoes 🥔  
12. 
    

Safeways haul

Note for those not in the PNW.   We had a big shake up in the grocery chains a year or so ago.  Albertsons and Safeway merged, were sold and sold again.  Albertsons kept both stores and each kept its own brand, but the prices and ads  are identical. Not to be redundant, I personally merged  the name to be Alberways and only post the ad once.

Safeways is the store closest to us and there is a dollar tree 

Sauerkraut .79

kens salad  dressing  BOGO 1.99

Butter  1.49

2 Jimmy Dean sausage regular price 5.79 at QFC.   Used coupons net 2.24 

1 lbs strawberries 2.88 

Total 15.12 

Savings 57 percent 

The ads

We got no ads yesterday.    These are from the internet.  

Alberways
April 12-18

Ham shank 98
Sporalmcut ham 137
Strawberries 2.88 for 2 pounds
Bitter 149@@
Cantaloupe 2/5




QFC
Strawberries 🍓 299-2 pound
Tillamook cheese 499 block
Sweet potatoes .99 pound

Buy six save three

Note : there are coupons for some of this on coupons,com

Ritz crackers 199. Coupon is for .75 on two
crescent rolls 1.69 - coupon for multiples
Milk .99

Colgate toothpaste 100 - look formcoupons theynare almost always in the p and G

SOUR  PATCH  CANDY 7.2 ounces Friday FREE
Note: if you don't eat candy or have children around consider giving it to the food  bank.  Some stores have barrels to go to the food bank.    Our food bank is at the Methodist church.  




.  

Couponing - not extreme

Couponing notes 

Why

Why Coupon.   The answer is a matter of saving money,   My dad always said that the price of the coupon was factored into the purchase price, so you were loosing money if you didn't  use the coupon.    

The consensus of opinion is that it takes lots of time and most of the coupons are for a quarter and for things that you don't buy anyway.   Not true now.   I spend about a hour a month on couponing and I save as much as fifty dollars a month.   I get coupons for laundry soap, and staples like yogurt, butter, cheese, pork tenderloin.    

The extreme coupon show has given the concept of couponing a bad wrap.   It wasn't real.   Real people don't coupon like that.   No one needs 90 bottles of red pepper sauce.    No one gets paid to buy things. - except at the drug stores with reward points or when you get a reward for changing prescription to a new pharmacy .   And no one on there right mind would neglect housework and  family time to spend forty hours a week clipping numerous coupons for ninty bottles of red pepper sauce.    

There was a nice lady on the today show that was talking about couponing,   Mat lauer asked her what she would say to naysayers.    She said.     I don't think I'll ever forget it.    If you don't understand , you ain't ever been broke enough.   

Where.   

Coupon inserts are booklets about the size of a half sheet of paper.   There are two companies that print them.   Smart source and red plum.   One of them comes in the Sunday paper  , except for on holiday weekends.   The paper is a dollar at the dollar tree starting the Saturday before .   The other insert comes in the mail.    P and g comes on the first Sunday of the month.   

Coupons can also be found in store ads. On merchandise, ( don't take the coupon  off before you get to the checkouts  and  remind the checker  ) , and on line.   

If you particularly like a product.  E mail the manufacturer and tell them.   They will often send you coupons.   

Coupons.com 

Download coupon drivers once 

You can print two coupons per month of any particular product.   

They come out 1st of the month.   Big dollar coupons go fast.  You snooze , you loose.   

Make sure you don't have your printer on double sided.   You can print on a used one every of paper. And you can print in black and white.    

While we are on electronics.   

Favado 

Ibotta 

What to do with them 

I glance at inserts and pull anything that gets up and grabs me.....a dollar off blue bunny...oh, yah, I'm all over that one.   

Then , i file the inserts in a file folder by month,   I keep three months back and rotate the last month for the first.    It helps if you,can remember to put the date of the insert in the front of it.    

The printed coupons. I have in a  binder that has photo inserts  and baseball card holders in it.   If you have few, there is a coupon wallet with dividers at the dollar store.  

Once  a month , I clean out the outdated coupons while watching tv.   

Coupon rules.   

Verbage has to be exact.  The picture doesn't , but the words do.   

Dollar tree takes coupons, buy only 4 per day per household and only  two of them can be printed coupons.   

Big lots and grocery outlet don't take coupons.   

Winco will not stack coupons.   

About anywhere else will take coupons and stack them.   

QFC has the most lienient coupon policy.   They will use a basket coupon before you use other coupons.  Pick your checker.    Old men aren't the best for couponing,   

The most bang for your buck.  Is where you can match, a sale, a manufacturers coupon, and a basket coupon.   A basket coupon is where a store will print a coupon for five dollars off of 25.00.  For example.   You get the most bang for your buck if you stick to only spending the 25.00.   Stacking coupons with a sale can save as much as 78 percent.    It's worth a little planning.   

Sign up for the rewards cards for the grocery stores.   QFC gives  you free stuff and coupons to load electronically.   Just download or make a note of what they

Tuesday bites

Tuesday is the day that I leave free for chats.   It's our  errand day. Today I thought we would go back to basics.    Groceries on the cheap as it is now has been evolving for fifty years.   Even the last five years that I have been writing this blog everyday, prices have risen  and I have been on a mission to get to easy and the least amount we can eat on and still have good, nutritious balanced meals.   It's a game, it's because social security hasn't gone up in three years as we can tell.  They gave us a dinky raise and took it back in medical.  They aren't planning on giving us any raises forever and still insurances and taxes are still rising.    We can't be the only ones that are dealing with this, so I am still growing and learning.  I hear it's the best thing to do on your old age, or keeps your brain functioning,

I've had the lowest price on food part of the matrix nailed for some years.   I have always cooked some scratch, but I started branching out to things that I haven't tackled before.    Bread?   Bread is one thing that you can make better than the store with almost no effort and up to ninety percent  less than store bought,   Soups are another thing that you can cut the cost of by ninety percent  and not slave in the kitchen.  LOL.

There is something about a bowl of steaming homemade soup and hot crusty  bread out of the oven that is satisfying,

Basics.   Groceries on the cheap takes a different abroad to buying your food.   It's nothing new, our great grandmothers put food up for the winter on the farm.   They didn't have the freezers that we have today, so thy canned and I suspect dried food.  

The concept is the same.    Instead of buying what you need for a week, trying to remember



everything you need to cook the meals on your plan, you buy a core group of foods at the lowest price you can find and buy enough to last you until the food goes on sale again.    This takes knowing the BEST prices on the core foods you use,   Everyone has a set group of foods that they cook dinners with.    The average house rotates the same 7-10 entrees .    Identify the ingredients you use to make your meals and find the best place to buy those foods.   Make a list.    Years ago they called that a price list.   It tracked the cost of a certain group of foods and soon you found a pattern of when  it was the cheapest.    That's when you stock,    This isn't hoarding,  you set a specific amount you are going timhike and when your stock is depleatimg , you start looking for a good sale.    In our house that would be :

• Diced tomatoes,   - I can still find them for.50 
• Canned beans .50
• Pasta sauce : .88 .for canned and   1.00 in jars. 
• Dry beans - 1.5 pounds of pinto beans are a dollar at dollar tree.   I want less than a dollar a pound,    You can get them cheaper in bulk, but beans do get old and we don't use enough.
• Flour - it varies between six and seven dollars at Costco for 25 pounds,   
• Sugar - two dollars for four pounds,   
• Canned green beans and corn .50 
•  Frozen veggies are 100 a pound - cheapest in five pound bags at Costco or sometimes better at Winco,
• Frozen potatoes are cheapest at Winco.   I get two pounds for a bit more than a dollar.   They are not always perfectly shaped or like tater tots equivalent are round, but not as high.   
• Cheese target price is two to two fifty a pound
• A few cake mixes, I want less than a dollar,   Usually at Winco.   
• Green diced mild chilies are .58 Winco.   Saves up to a dollar a can,   
• 
  

Don't get discouraged.  My mother had them in her head.  I used to call her and ask what the lowest price was.   Now they are in my head and I get calls from people all the time! LOL.   

Meat is bought bulk on a rotation basis.   Every week, someone has a meat on a good price. Decide meats that fall into a average of two dollars a pound and buy on a rotation basis enough for the amount of meals you will eat in a month,   When you get home from the store, cook the meats that are appropriate  to cook ( ground meats and de-fat) and portion control the rest .   And freeze.   We buy :

Pork loin : roast, chops, stew (150 at Costco wholesale was the last I got ) 

Split chicken breast: chicken breast can be 8.00 a pound.   Split chicken breast is between 100 and 1.50 a pound.  It only takes a few minutes to cut off the ribs and cook them with water and veggies for stock and the added bonus is the meat from the bones can make another meal,   

Hamburger -7 percent fat,    Cook, de-fat and portion control for dinners,   A pound serves four to five.  You can bake off meatballs or make meat loaf and taco meat if your family is large enough to buy ten pound quantities.    I make meatballs, use a portion scoop and bake them the size of ping pong balls on a rack with a sheet pan underneath,   The meatballs don't sit on their fat and it's more healthy and easier to cook in bulk,    

Sausage is usually cheaper at Costco on a three pound chub. (800) sometimes I can get it cheaper  with coupons,    Cook de-fat and freeze.    

Finding the RBP or target price ( nothing to do with the store with the red balls ) is the biggest part of cutting your food bill.    You want to get to the point where you can pay 1/2 price. Protein is a big part of your grocery bill.   Start there.   

Portion control. Portion control,   Portion control. 

Have set prices for things,  if they are too much, don't buy them unless it's something you just have to have.   You don't HAVE TO HAVE steak or ice cream!  LOL.  

You want GOOD food cheap : not CHEAP food.   

Winco haul. For this week

Winco haul

Apples .98 pound
Bananas .48 pound
Soft taco shells - low carb 4.38
White beans - 2 pound- 1.75
Green chillis .58
Hamburger buns .88
 Total 34.97

Kitchen management

Monday is kitchen management day.   Winco has a special with coupon at the store or buy a 1/2 of a ham and get a package of bacon for free.    That makes a three pound ham seven dollars or so.   A three pound ham goes a long ways.

It's not something we eat every day, so once or twice a year won't kill us.   LOL

The first step is to look at your meal plans and see what you can do ahead to make life easier.   This weeks plans.  This week, there is not much that can hold a few days: most of the cooking can be done in the morning each day.

• Clean the fridge and organize it.   Sweet on one refrigerator door shelf,the rest on the other.   Milk gets a shelf and salad dressing gets another.  Top taller shelf gets the oversized things, next floor tortillas, eggs, ; dairy ( yogurt is in a bin ) and the bottom shelf is for the bread bucket and the celery crisper.    
• We have cheese drawer, vegetable drawer, and meat drawer.   
• Clean out the drawers and wash them.  I line the drawers with paper towel.    
• Wash the stove top and filter.   
• Wash the floor 
• Organize the pantry : take inventory 

Starting the week clean and organized goes a long ways in taking the stress out of meals.    

Better, cheaper, faster for five dollar or less dinners.    Our average weekly food budget was about 55 a week including stocking.   Without stock, it was 40.00 a week.   The USDA stars for the three of us for the lowest category is about 110.00 .   Note : my daughter reimburses me for daughters part.   

This is done by paying  1/2 price for our food and buying best quality more economical cuts of meat,  

All the while, we are watching our fat, sugar, and salt consumption by cooking scratch instead of packaged products and finding scratch recipes that take minimal time to make dinners more efficient.  

Yes, you can have it all!    

Grocery hauls : last week Safeways and QFC

Weekly totals from 2-8 of April.

Fred Meyers  34.86 

Safeways 14.42 

QFC 12.15 

Total 61.43 minis stocking leaves 39.93
Obviously we ate some stock products. Still, averagemos less than 1/2'tue usda stats for our family for thrifty food eaten at home.   

QFC buy six, save three and used coupons total 12.15 and 9.74 was stocking 

Milk .99

Kens dressing 199 

Ritz crackers  188 less .75!

Mustard .50 on clearance 

Sugar was 2.00 for four pounds. 

Safeways

Cheese,/2 lbs. 4.99

Eggs 2 dozen 156

Salmon burgers 4.99

Strawberries 188 

Total 14.42 and 6.55 was stock 

Meal plans for week of April 10.

Meal plans: we work on a protein based matrix.   It consists of 1 beef, 1 fish or shellfish, 2 vegetarian , and three pork or chicken meals.  

• Breakfast 4 dinner 
• Pizza 
• Buttermilk biscuits with chicken pot pie 
• Pork chops. Scalloped potatoes. Broccoli 
• Brats with red potatoes, corn on the cob, and onion.    
• Sloppy joes. French fries (oven roasted ) salad 
• FIsh packets with green beans and rice 

Yesterday, I made rice mix, and dried apples and made Chilli.  The chili was quick because I just dumped two packets of already cooked , de-farted frozen ground beef on the insta pit and added tomatoes, chillis, and homemade  taco seasoning to it,    

 So far, we dried  eggs, apples. Bananas, carrots and celery.  

Tomorrow's Fred Meyers ad

The ad for tomorrow.   Easter savings

Spiral ham  1.47
Hamburger , 10 percent  fat  3.77
Strawberries 2/3
Butter 2.50
Sweet potatoes .99
Green beans 1.29
Oranges .99
Cantaloupe 2/5 - the last time I saw them at FM at that price they were picked before they were ripe.  
Kroger vegetables, tomatoes 🍅 and beans 2/1 - this is a stock up price.  





Note :

I can usually get ground beef with 7 percent fat at Winco 3.28
Heritage Farms chicken breast are 199.  Last week I got Foster Farms for less and de-boned it.   Foster far,s is Washington grown and processed and heritage  farms are southern grown  and can be processed in China .


The trick of Groceries on the Cheap is to buy good food cheap ; not buy cheap food.    You base your meals in ingredients that are on the keastmexoemsove side , but buy the best quality you can find,   You don't eat a lot of fresh pineapple or asparagus, but maybe apples and green beans instead.    We always have fresh fruit and berries of some kind and basic fresh veggies.    By sticking to a specific group of different cuts of meat you have the option of buying in bulk even if you have a small family and rotating your stock.  Buying a bulk rotation of meat when it's on a good sale is the key to eating well while saving money.  

My stock items this week would ve the diced tomatoes. Simplifying the amount of things you stock is key in being able to remember your RBP on the foods you buy on a regular basis.  

Stocking the basics at their RBP is the key to  eating at 1/2 price and a,ways having somethings no in the house to make a meal out of.  

Friday recipe : made more healthy,

Bacon cheeseburger potato pie - yum!  Recipe is adjusted to be a bit more healthy.  

1 pound 7 percent fat hamburger ( or mixture of low fat ground  meats)
1/2 cup homemade breadcrumbs
1 tsp  onion powder
2 tsp mustard
1/4 cup Tomato sauce
Make meatloaf mixture, spread in bottom and up sides of a pie plate.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes.   Drain any grease from pan.  

Make a packet of mashed potatoes.   ( or equivalent of homemade mashed potatoes )
Fill pie plate that has been drained with the mashed potatoes. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until the meat tests done (160 degrees and no longer pink )

Add 1/2 cup of grated cheese to the top of the mashed potatoes and return to the oven for five minutes or until the cheese is melted.  

Take out of the oven and top with  2 slices of cooked crumbled bacon of your choice and sliced tomatoes.  

Let stand five minutes before serving.  

I cut from the original recipe

• The fat in the burger 
• The ketchup  in the meatloaf ( HFCS) 
• 1/2 of the cheese 🧀 
• 1/2 of the bacon and you can use turkey bacon 🥓 

Bullet day : ten ways to cut sugar and carbs

It is bullet day - keeping with the theme of yesterday,we will tackle sugar.  Reducing our sugar consumption will help is loose weight and save money too.    So, here are ways to reduce our sugar intake.

• Stop adding sugar to coffee and tea.   
• Avoid soda pop and substitute a sparkling water with no sodium and sugar or just plain water,   
• Stop buying sugar laden cold cereal.   Try oatmeal with some fruit and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.   I keep equal parts in a shaker.   The cinnamon is supposed to be good for diabetes ??? And it cuts the sugar. 
• When baking, you can frequently use less sugar in a recipe. Using recipes from the depression  era or the WWII era is a great resource,   
• A lot of sauces and dressings call for sugar and can be avoided or you can use less product or make them with less sugar.   
• Make that candy bar a seldom treat instead of a daily occurrence.   
• Count your carbs.   It's the easiest way to reduce your sugar in your diet and reduce calories all  the while.    If it's a desert or snack it needs to be less than 20.   
• Read labels ,   Things you would never dream that there was sugar in, have sugar.   
• Catsup has sugar, sometimes HFCS thatnis exceptionally bad.  Now they are calling it natural sugar in some cases.   
•  Peanut butter has sugar and so does Nutella.   Read labels, so,e have less hydrogenated oil and sugar than others,   The ingredients are listed in order of volume.    

Wednesday : the ads 4/5

Alberways
Shank ham .98
Spiral ham 1.37


Fruit sale .88
Avacadoe
Bell peppers, red and orange
Tomatoes on the vine

Black or blue berries 3.99
Strawberries 2.88
Cheese 4.99-2 lbs
Eggs .78@@

QFC
Boneless skinless chicken breast 8.00 BOGO - not a bargain

18 Ct eggs 2/3 - cheaper at Alberways


Buy six, save three - net prices
Milk .99
Ritz 1.88.
Ragu pasta 199$$?
Kens dressing 1.99$$?

Blackberries 2/4
Green beans 1.79


GO
Red Barron pizza 3/7.99
Campbells cream soups buy 2 get one limit 2 free net .66 a can

Tuesday Talk

 This weekend I purchased a book from the dollar store  titled "salt sugar fat". It was written by Michael Moss.  It is about a secret Meeting between the major food producers about lowering the salt, sugar, fat in processed foods.    It was hosted by Pillsbury,    It is interesting to note that General Mills has since bought out Pillsbury.  

It has been estimated that during a year the average American eats seventy pounds of sugar , that equates to 22 teaspoons a day and twice the RDA of salt a day,   Most of the salt is not consumed by using a salt shaker.   Basically, it is hidden on processed foods.    The more things you can cook from scratch, the more control you have of the salt, , sugar and fat on your diet.  

Salt sugar and fat contribute to heart disease and obesity.   Before we go on diets to eliminate whole food groups, we can take baby steps on eliminating a lot of salt, sugar and fat on our diets.   It's an easy way to eat more healthy and spend spend less on our foods.   Rarely does a ready made food cost less than scratch,   Pasta sauce is about the only thing that is truly cheaper and you can watch the ingredients and use coupons,   Tortillas have fat whether  you make them or buy them.  

This is an interesting book that goes into the natural tendencies to crave salt, sugar and fat and howmdood manufactirers relate to that concept.    It's a good read.  

Bottom line : encouraging children to make healthy choices and limiting sweets or making them yourself with less sugar is a good thing,   This blog has been developing easy, quick, scratch recipes to make scratch food as easy as using a box.    Controlled far,mskgar, and salt and less money is a winning combination.  

Kitchen management

Time to take a different look at kitchen management.   I'm on a mission to find ways to cut the budget.   It's a challenge and I'm always up for a new challenge. Keeping your creative spirit and learning new things is what keeps us young. Being in a mission to try a new dinner a week to shake things up and keep meals from becoming boring .  

We have had a food saver for years.    We have had a dehydrated for years.   This weekend we got some quart canning jars. Lately, we have only used the dehydrater for making beef jerkey,    I have been dehydrating eggs while they are a dollar.    Some time during the year they have been known to be upwards of two dollars.    Still a good protein bargain, but keeping a stable dollar a dozen is better.  
I also dehydrated carrots 🥕 and celery because it was still good , but approaching  past  prime time!  

I got four split chicken breasts for 1.29 a pound and de- boned them, cooking the bones for stock and meat and freezing the breasts.  I used some dehydrated carrots and celery to make the stock,   The carrot coins re- hydrated  and you would never know they had been dehydrated.  

Prep work for this weeks kitchen management - motivational Monday

• Make bread from dough in fridge: make new dough 
• Clean vegetable and meat compartment 
• De hydrate anything in abundance.  
• Make rice the day of the enchaladas and plan the cream of chicken for the next day,   
• Plan to use the leftover taco meat tonight firneither baked ziti or impossible pie 
• Wash the kitchen floor 
• Suck the jars of dehydrated vegetables and eggs.   
• Post the Fred Meyer slip in the food spread sheet,   
• Mark the meal plan and things to use up list in the white board.   

Prepping , stair stepping, and starting the week organized goes a long ways to make meals quick and easy and still keep a small budget together.   

FM Haul

We went FM .  Total spent 37.06 minis tissue is (2.20) equals 34.86.  
We are under budget  and have a months worth of some dairy . And stock chicken breasts .  

Yoplait, including chocolate .23 using coupons
Eggs .99
Blue bunny 2.75 inckuding coupons
Lunch meat 2.50
Cheese 2.50 lb
2 lbs strawberries 2.99
4. chicken  breasts, 1.29 lb was 5.93
Large cottage cheese and sour cream 1.88
Cream cheese .99
Large English muffins 1.67

Meal plans

This  week I tried to add different meals so we are not on a complete rut.   I have an abundance of pasta sauce and enchalada sauce purchased  for a dime .    I looked to pinterest for inspiration and the first recipe was found on Pinterest.  

• No roll Mexican rice enchaladas - lettuce and tomato 🍅 
• Pizza 
• Baked ziti, salad 
• Impossible vegetable pie 
• Creamed chicken on rice 
• Fish packets : fish, rice, broccoli 
• Breakfast 4 dinner : French toast , fruit, bacon 

Notes : We bought jasmine rice to try .  It's about ten cents a serving vs three cents a serving,    This is a good week for comparison.   Yesterday I made blueberry white chocolate chip  muffins.  I made muffin mix from scratch from Taste of Home.   The list a lot of variations.  I have written for Taste of Home in the past and their recipes are usually very good and down to earth,    I use Betty crickermfir another source.   Last week we got breadmfor 2/1; this is the reason we are having French toast for our breakfast for dinner.   Eggs are a dollar at Fred Meyer this week.    

I got wide mouth canning cars yesterday.   Target was the cheapest I could find.  I have a wide mouth vacuume sealer.  I have been dehydrating foods as I see that they may be in need of preserving.   Today , we are dehydrating eggs.    

Fred Meyers ad for tomorrow

note  : tomorrow's ad

Four day sale SMTW

Kroger cheese -8 ounces - 2/5 -
Yoplait 3/1 -limit 6 - coupons for .50 off five  on the internet net .23 ea when you buy 5 .
Cream cheese .99
Sour cream or cottage cheese 1.88


Regular sale

Eggs .99
Strawberries 2.99
Radishes/green onions 2/.99

FF split chicken breast 1.29

My pick for rotation would be the chicken breast.   It's real easy to cut the rib portion off and you have the benefit of chicken stock and chicken bits for another recipe.

Quarterly recap and Winco haul

Our quarterly spreadsheet is done for the first quarter of 2017.  We spent a total of 55.24 a week on food for three of us -- total including stock.  Total spent minus stock was 40.16.  The USDA total for us is 113.19.   We are sitting at a lot less than fifty percent.    Even stocking, we are less than fifty percent.

Winco haul formday was a quick fill in,

•  Green chillis - .58 farmcheaoer than the name brands 
• Eggs (1.18 ez) 
• Celery .98
• 2 Chinese entrees 4.56 minis 100 coupon (lunch out ) 
• 2 lbs carrots .98
• Bricolli , fresh 3.98
• 5 yogurt at .58 less .50 coupon 
• Total 14.12.  

• 
  

Friday recipe day

Today is Friday recipe day.    This week we had Buffalo Chicken Pizza.  It's a blue cheese lovers delight, but if you don't like blue cheese, it can be left out and substituted.    I think everyone knows how to build a pizza.so I will just list the ingredients,

1. Homemade pizza crust: ours is 2 cups flour, 1-1/2 tsp yeast, 3/4 tsp salt, and 3/4 cup of WARM water with 2 teaspoons of olive oil.   Process flour to mix, add water and oil through the tube until dough forms a ball.   Take out of processed and flatten on a floured surface.   You can use a rolling pin, or just your hands,   We make a rectangle because   it's easier.  Bake at 450 for about 8 minutes,   You are looking for a somewhat cooked bottom crust.    
2. Take out of oven and fill the crust.    
3. Spread with blue cheese dressing 
4. Place cooked , small diced chicken on a bowl and toss it with hot sauce to your "hit" liking 
5. Place chicken on crust
6. Next, sweet red pepper chunks 
7. Blue cheese.  We add some motts and parm to neutralize the pungent taste of the blue cheese.   
8. Finish baking off the pizza an additional five or so minutes until thecheese is melted and the bottom is browned and crusty.   

Enjoy. 

Alternative would use mild red pepper sauce, skip the blue cheese and use ranch dressing,  

Bullet day : five easy foil pack dinners

Foil Paxk  dinners aren't new.   They are sooo old that I have a readers digest cookbook on them from the 70s.    They are a hit because there is almost no cleanup, the kids think ot hobo food, and you can adjust search persons packet for their taste.  If hubby doesn't like mushrooms, you can leave them off his- all the more for you, right! Lol.

The basics are for all recipes.    Use a square of foil large enough to wear the portion and seal well.
Spray or grease the foil. If cooking in foil bothers you, you can line the foil with parchment ,   Most of the time , you place the meat or protein down first and add a starch and veggie on top.   Seal the foil and place on cookie sheet to bake in oven, or you can cook it  on the grill.  

1. Layer 1/2 cup of COOKED rice 🍚, a serving of white fish , salt and pepper, and fresh green beans,   Bake at 400 for 30 minutes .  Test fish for doneness .
2. Bread stuffing leftover or prepared mix with  drained can of diced tomatoes added.   boneless  chicken breast or part of one, basil and some grated cheese.   Bake at 400 for 30 minutes test chicken for doneness.   ( temp and no longer pink. ) 
3. Bread stuffing leftover or prepared , boneless chicken breast , brocolli, cheese, bacon,  ranch dressing,   400 degrees -30 minutes 
4.  Cube raw chicken breast, cubes of red and green peppers, pineapple chunks,  toss with  a teriyaki sauce.  Place cooked rice on bottom, add portion of meat mixture, and seal.    400 degrees for 30-35 minites, test for doneness,   
5. Prepare ground meat patties with  the lowest fat ground beef, Half a can of green chillis, grated cheese,   and taco seasoning to taste.  Place on bottom of foil.   Mix can or frozen corn 🌽 with the rest of the can   if chillis.    Bake at 450 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until meat is done.   It will depend on the thickness of the patty. 

The ads - Alberways?

QFC s ad last week was a two week ad.  

Alberways ( a combination of Safeways and Albertsons: their ads are identical.   )

Halos 299$$
7 percent ground beef
Milk - regular or chocolate 1.79@@


Not much there .  My rotation protein would be the 7 percent hamburger.  

Other notes :
I had a bunch of carrots,   I dried three pounds of carrots and now have a quart deli container of carrots.  Drying veggies can preserve food before it goes bad and frees up freezer space,    We have been working on depleating the freezer.  

Idea day:'doctor 's orders diets and budget constraints.

Often these days, doctors are finding things we are essentially allergic to -- foods or food groups that our bodies don't take kindly to.  

Some doctors think  it is because foods weren't introduced to children early enough and their bodies didn't get acclimated to them.   Some things are easy to change a diet to accommodate.    Like eliminating entire food groups, not so much. And, doing it on a strict midget may,not be quite so was either.

In general, special equates to dollar signs.   I'm not a nutritionist, these are my observations.  Before you start any diet, consult your nutrition expert   ,  these are just thoughts on finding low cost specialty foods.  .

All of us should avoid too much sugar, salt, saturated fats, HFCS, and trans fats: hydrogenated oils.
I work hard to buy good oils to cook with  and lean cuts of meat.   Avoid salt and too much sugar.

But, what about lactose intolerant, gluten free, diabetic diets.

Diabetic is the one of those that I can identify with.  It's pretty easy  and really you only have to eliminate a lot of sugar and starch,   You can't give it up altogether, but you can count your carbs and measure your portions. mostly I drink black coffee, black tea, or water.   As with any diet, generally,  fiber is good.

Lactose intolerant or non dairy is harder.   Some use sky  milk or almond milk.   Grocery outlet carries that at a lower price.    As with  any food, knowing it  takes a little shopping, but once you discover the store that has typically the lowest price, you have it made.  You still have to have a heads up because things change.  It used to be coffee was cheapest at grocery outlet. It's not anymore.   I just check every time I shop.   It's a quick glance.   Cheese can be made from chickpeas,, I'm told.   I did read in passing that there was an additive that compensated for the lactose,   I would check with your nutrition expert.   .

Gluten free is another diet that can be pricey.   There are other grains that can be made into flour,   It might lay to grind your own.   Rode is a good alternative.   Some specialty foods are actually cheaper at PCC and central market because they sell more of them.  Some "special" stores have a 42 percent mark up.  That's huge,

Living on a dime is a web site that addresses the gluten free does because she is on one for CFS. April  Holly Smith has a u tube channel and she is dairy free.

I have found that food prices vary dramatically in different parts of the country,   Some of it, like fresh produce  I get, some things are generic and, frankly, I think it's a matter of what the traffic will bear.   I see no reason why ground turkey should be a dollar some places and almost five others for the same brand.  When turkey is more expensive than ground beef for the same fat content, it doesn't make sense.  Beef has more iron.  

You can cut costs on a specialty diet by shopping for the best prices and eliminating the food altogether. When  eliminating a food group, you need to consult a nutritionalist  to find the foods you need to add to your diet to compensate.

Kitchen management day,

Other vlogs are talking about spring cleaning .    Do people really still sprimg clean ?  I remember my mother using the utility cart to gather her supplies and a big bucket  of spic  n span to spring clean.   These days, a lot of people work outside the home and time is in short supply.  I think that's a good argument for zone cleaning,  

Kitchen management takes a different approach and cleans a little at a time. Cleaning one drawer or cabinet at a time gets  the job done in pieces.  

For anyone that doesn't know what kitchen management is , or os prepping and cleaning for the week ahead.   It saves a lot of time and you are doing the clean  up once.   Meal time can be hectic and having a head start in dinner is a great advantage,  

1. Go over the plans for the week.   Schedule an easy dinner for those days you know are going to be especially busy.    
2. Chop anything that can be chopped ahead of time,    A green salad can be made and out on a bowl with a oaoer towel in the bottom and you can eat on it all week,    This won't necessarily work if  you aremisong organic veggies.   
3. Clean the fridge and organize .   Putting the same kinds of things in a shelf saves how noting time: dairy, leftovers, condiments amd bottles that are too tall. 
4. Clean the meat drawer and nitemwhat needs to be eaten,    
5. We have amcheese drawer. Do the cheese bins need to be filled.   Grate cheese? 
6. Bread dough in the bread bucket? 
7. Make bread? 
8. Precook any meat that is going to be used  in the next two days.   
9. Make cookies or any granola bars etc that you will need.    I have been saving any bits from the bottom of cereal. Pretzels etc for adds into rice crispy treats.   Anything that sounds good.   
10. Pick one extra thing,    The oven? The top of the Fridge! , the microwave?   For a deep clean - organize the pantry.?    
11. Wash the counters and the outside of any appliances.    
12. Premake or load a school lunch basket for the week.    When granddaughter had to bring lunch, we fixed a basket in a lower cabinet  with fruit cups, cereal bars, yogurt, spoons, napkins etc so she could load her lunch box.   
13. Wash the floor .

Starting the week organized saves a lot of hassle and time. 

Fred Meyer and Winco

Today, we went to FM and Winco to fill in with specials and coupons,    Total 14.56. Total for the month is close to fifty dollars  a week and that includes stocking .  

Winco
Taco shells
Blue bunny ice cream cones with coupon
Jasmine rice -5 lbs ( to try )


Fred Meyers

Strawberries
Green beans
Radishes
Cottage cheese
Lettuce
Cucumbers

That's it.   We did som shopping alreadymthis week, a just filled in a few holes.  

 

Meal plans -march 27

Make a plan, or plan to fail.   Meal plans are a way to keep on track and make your life easier.   Our meal plans don't necessarily happen on a specific day, bit most of the time they  happen,  plans change and we still need to punt every now and then.

• Spicy peanut chicken (BC) , rice , mandarin oranges
• Pack food - cheese and crackers to potluck.   
• Spaghetti and red sauce, parm, green beans 
• Baked cod , rice mix rice, honey-ginger carrots 🥕 
• Buffalo chicken pizza 🍕 
• Tacos  , refried beans, rice 🌮 
• Breakfast for dinner.: blueberry waffles, sausage, fruit 🍉 

Notes : 

1. Spicy peanut chicken is in the in line Betty Crocker cookbook.   Rice 🍚 from bulk (.03 serving) mandarin oranges 🍊Are on sale and there are coupons out there. 
2. Cheese and crackers ( pot luck) 
3. Spaghetti and red sauce : red sauce was .84 at Safeways with the basket coupon. Speghetti is .69 at FM. Fresh parm was on sale at FM a few weeks ago.  My terminology for parm is any hard cheese that is the cheapest when I need to replenish stock.  Parm, Romano, Asiago......green beans I'm still working in .33 from Winco.    
4. Baked cod , (Safeways ) seasoned rice mix homemade, carrots 🥕 cooked with honey and ginger - gotta have some color on an otherwise white plate!   
5.  Buffalo chicken pizza 🍕: blue cheese dressing (or ranch) chicken shreds that are marinated in a hot sauce, motts, diced red peppers, blue cheese. 
6. Tacos , homemade refried beans (pressure cooker, rice 🍚 with salsa.   
7. Breakfast 4 dinner : blueberry waffles scratch, sausage from  last weeks FM, berries.   

Numbers 4 and 6 are the priciest, but the rest are well within the low side of a five dollar budget.   

They average. By averaging, you can afford more variety. Trying something new ( spicy peanut chicken ) is another way to avoid boredom.    

Fred Meyers - tomorrow - comparing ground meats

Not much there.   Good time to stock dairy

Boneless chuck roast 2.97

FF Ground turkey 2/5
Strawberries 2/4
Milk .99 including chocolate -limit 10
Sour cream , small 1.00

Sea PAC seafood BOGO $$

Bumble bee tuna or Kroger pasta .69

Cantaloupe 2.50
Cucumbers 2/.99


3.99 for 20 percent hamburger --NOTE : its 199 at Safeways , not in a chub and with the basket coupon, it makes it 1.69.  Just de-fat it.    De-fating  can take as much as 17 percent of the fat away.

To test prices on the various amounts of fat on hamburger. Take each price and times it by 1.xx , the XX is the amount of fat  listed.  This finds the net price.

20 percent hamburger at 1.99 is basically 2.40
7 percent turkey at 2.50 is 2.68
7 percent hamburger at 3.28 is 3.51

After de-fating  the 20 percent hamburger, I am showing no  visible that.  There was at least an 1/2 inch of fat in the bottom of a four quart pan that I drained the fat into.

Groceries in the cheap: a different way of buying your groceries.

Groceries on the cheap takes a different approach to shopping for groceries.  The end result is that you always have food on the house and you have paid about 1/2 price for your food.

Instead of meal planning and buying what you will need to prepare your meals and perhaps missing something, you buy basics and meal plan from your basics.  

Everyone has a set number of recipes that they make for dinner,    Most families I know eat Italian and a form of Mexican -- kid friendly dishes.  

First : write a list of kthe items that you purchase  on a regular basis to make dinners.  Everyone has a group of 12-15 items that are shelf ready or frozen that they use in a regular basis to make meals.
For instance : ours are :

• Hamburger - preferably 7 percent fat
• Pork loin to be cut up at home, 
• Chicken breasts with ribs. 
• Cheese , can be frozen in grated form. 
• Sausage , cooked and frozen 
• Diced tomatoes 
• Mild green chillis 
• Dry beans
• Flour 
• Sugar 
• Rice 
• Corn
• Green beans 
• Oatmeal
• Pasta
• Pasta.sauce 

Having a master list with the RBP ( rock bottom prices  for those items makes it easy to rotate your purchases and only buy what's truly on sale.  Rotate your proteins on a monthly to six week basis.  When something is on a really good sale oroce, buy enough to last you for the number of times you will eat that protein source.  I.e.: if you cook chicken twice a week, you will need enough for 8 meals for the month.  Buy that protein in bulk - like a whole pork loin or a mega pack of chicken, and portion control it for the freezer.   This saves time and money.   

Know your prices and stock a determined amount when that particular oriduct goes on a good sale,   I I want to pay .50 for canned tomatoes, beans, and vegetables.   I mostly,buy fresh or frozen veggies and dry beans, but keep some for emergencies.    We use a lot ofmdoced tomatoes because I don't buy much tomato sauce or paste.    It keeps things simple.    When tomatoes go on sale form.50, I buy as much as they will let you buy or as much as I need to fill our shelf out to my limit.    

It's a way to always avoid that nasty F word ..... FULL PRICE.  Avoid it like the plague.    If you lay 1/2 price, you can maintain a stick and never get stuck without food on the house.   Having some basics means even if it snows or you are sick or any other disaster happens, you can still pull together a meal or more.    

Learning how to scratch cook efficientky is another key.  Unless it's efficient , many people with grow tired of scratch cooking,   It needs to be fast and easy.  This comes with time. 

Dissecting  the ads and going to the two best stores is your best bet for getting the Best possible  prices in your cart.   Also, you get the best produce of two stores .  Certain stores have things that they are notorious  for having the lowest prices on.  .   

The average cart is 50 percent drinks and junk.   Avoid drinks and junk.   Stick to milk and coffee/tea and no junk food.   

Friday Recipe day

Friday is recipe share day.

Last night we had sour cream chicken enchaladas.  

1. Use a cup of shredded or diced  up cooked chicken breast .   
2. Mix cooked chicken with grated cheese.  I usually keep Mexican blend on hand, 
3. Place chicken mixture on a flour tortilla in a line close  to one side.   Roll the tortilla up and place in a greased baking pan, side by side.(9X13) 
4. In a saucepan on the stovetop, melt 3 T butter and add 3T flour.   Cook roux slightly to take away the flour taste.  Add two cups chicken or vegetable stock and whisk  until thickened.   
5. Take pan off the heat and add 1/2 cup sour cream.   Stir until blended 
6. Add a can of diced mild green chilies, drained.   
7. Pour sauce over enchiladas, sprinkle with  more,cheese  and bake at 375 for 20 minutes . 

Dairy free?   

Use a little sauce and some chopped cooked broccoli, well drained to the chicken.   Omit the sour cream in the sauce.   

Winco haul with prices

Wimco short haul

Yoplait yogurt 8pack 3.68-100 coupon is 2.68
Tortilla chips 2.38 - extra large bag
Grape tomatoes .99
Betty Crocker apple cider cupcake mix - .98
Green grapes 198 lb
Mission corn tortillas 1.28
Bag of chocolate "rice crispier" 6.37


Total 24.45

Most of our grocery  hauls are between 25-30  a trip.   I average two stores a week.
This trip was to fill in the blanks,    We bought the cup cake mix last week.  It's .98 and has the mix for cupcakes and a frosting  packet.   Add oil, water and egg.    The rice crispies are for treats and are long term storage.   I try to keep one snack in the house, baked.   We always have fresh fruit.  

This week we dehydrated  eggs.  I haven't tried using them yet, I will before I do any more.    It pays to have  a back up plan.   Sunday, before we went to Freddies., granddaughter wanted pancakes.   I had nonfresh milk left.   Instead of running to the local store and laying full price or bothering the neighbors to bum a cup of milk, we made mom fat dry milk up and it worked.   I just measured the dry milk with the dry ingredients and added the liquid to the liquid ingredients,   Easy fix.