Meal plans -- not,

Because my   fingers were too fat....I posted meal plans early.   So I thought I would go back to the beginning and talk about why this blog got started on the first place and why I am the person to write it.    Actually, it was a suggestion from my children.  

Growing up, my mother was always careful with money,   She survived the Great Depression and watched her mother make meals from barely anything with great grace.    I'm guessing that had a part in her manta to avoid the Nasty F word -----full price.  

I continued to be thrifty when I moved out on my own: mostly because I was living on minimum wage.   When I was first married, my husband would love to go to my mothers house for Sunday dinner because we always had roast beef and I was cooking a lot of tuna noodle casserole because we were saving for a down payment on a house.

Then the  big /$:): storm happened,   It was the early seventies.   Nixon was in office.   There was a gas shortage,  we had double digit inflation and I found myself suddenly a single mother.   I had 5.12 in the savings account and 2 months of daycare and rent, car repair payment, and utilities to pay for.
-- far more bills than I had money.   I called welfare and was told that it didn't matter how much daycare cost, I earned too much money.  That would be 200 dollars twice a month.   I cried.   Then I put my big girl pants on and got creative.   It was lucky for me that I had stocked some food.  I had remembered how much crap I had got for buying a case of tuna fish because Safeway had put it on sale for .28.   It and liver was our lifesaver: besides the fact that we were enjoying my mothers Sunday dinners.  

Thrifting  our groceries as well as my clothes became a way of life.    I set out to read ( no Internet    those days ) everything I could read.   I tried everything I could.  We made bean sprouts. I tried to cook soy beans. How many ways can me spell rocks.  Lol.  I used tvp.   And I read every book the library on economy cooking.  

Seven years after I became a single mother, I remarried.    By now, feeding us on a budget was a habit.  I continued to read and now I could go to cooking school.    I went to every one I could find that we could afford.

I was published in Taste of Home and Woman's Day for my efforts.   At the time, I was feeding four of us including two teenagers, for fifty dollars a  week.

To five years ago, my daughter has taught low income children for years.  Some parents were lamenting that they couldn't make their SNAP stretch for the whole month.   My daughter said, oh, my mom m knows how to stretch food dollars.    I began to try to think of how I could help and knew  other people that wanted to stretch their food budget too.   My children helped me set up a blog almost five years ago.

Since then I have found more ways to cut corners.   I have grown .   I'm a firm believer that you should never stop learning and growing.   I hope I  have helped others grow too.   I would love to find a way to reach more people.

We spend 40-55 dollars a week for three of us and maintain a small stock.   The USDA statices for my husband and I are about twice that.   We eat well.

We have had the best of times, and the worst of times, all anyone can do is put your big girl pants on and go forward.    One time I said " life's a bitch and then you die.  ". My young son  told me " no, mom it's life's a beach. "   I have a very smart son.

Winco grocery haul - Thursday

First, my daughter tells me that cheese is 3.88 a brick at Safeways.  Pork sirloin  was a really good price at Winco.   Our pork "drawer" is full so I didn't partake,    

I did get 

2 mild green chilies cans to replenish  what we ate last week.    .58 

A bag of California fresh veggies 1.98

A bag of stir fry veggies 1.54

A package of Nathan's hot dogs.   2.88 

Hot dog buns .88

A jar of salsa with a coupon 1.03 

Coffee 5.48 

Total 14.83 

Friday recipe : pronto Mac n cheese

Barilla pasta was on sale at QFC for a dollar.    It's somewhere for a dollar often.   I had a .75 coupon on two boxes that made the boxes (6 servings) .625 each.   Cheese was .88 for 1/2 a pound At Safeways on Friday only and peas were free at QFC.     We made Mac and cheese and peas for dinner.  

Total cost : 1.88

Pronto Mac n cheese from the internet . 

Pour pasta into a large skillet. Add 3 cups of water and turn on high.   Bring to a boil and turn down to simmer.  Set timer for 10 minutes.   Stir frequently.   

After 10 minutes , stir in 1 cup of cream and 1/2 tsp dry mustard .  Bring back to a simmer and stir.   

Remove from heat and add 3/4 cup parmesean cheese, 1-1/2 cups grated cheese, and 2T parsley . 

Stir until combined. Salt and pepper to taste.    

Thursday bullets : save money on meat

Saving money on meat bullets-- meat or protein is often  the most expensive component of a meal.  

• Always buy your meat at the RBP.   
•  Buy in bulk - at least enough for the days of the month that you will eat that meat

•  Cut up your own meat and portion control it in meal sized packages.   
•  Pork loin can be as low as 1.50 a pound,   (Costco wholesale) .  Cut up loin chops can be 3.99.  That's a remarkable savings.
•  Split chicken breast can be as low as .87 , or as high as 1.69.   Cutting the ribs off a breast is easy and you can cook the bones for broth and pick the meat.   Even if you aren't good at de-boning, you still save the chicken pieces for tacos, enchaladas, cassaroles.    Chicken breast that is skinless and boneless can be as much as 8.00 a pound,    Chicken stock is often two dollars a quart.   This way it is virtually free and takes, no time  in the slow cooker.    

•  Sausage is cheapest on a chub at Costco -Jimmy Dean.   In,was, you have a sale and a coupon.   Safeway had it for a net of 2.25'a pound with coupons.   
•  Good hamburger with low fat is the best for your health,    The best price I have found is 3.28 at Winco.   You can de-fat it and reduce the fat as much as 17 percent.  Portion control.   

Wednesday chain ads

ednesdays chain ads, Alberways and QFC.  

Alberways
Shrimp 4.77 a lb buy 2 lbs.
Lucerne cheese 3.88
Eggs .98@@
Salsa 2/4.   24 ounces



QFC

Milk 4/5
Tillamook ice cream 2/6
Berries 1.88 black, blue, rasp.    
Green beans .99
Tomatoes .99
Strawberries 2.99

About it.  

Eggs were 1.19 atmFM
Berries were 1.50 at GM, not black berries.  

Meal plans for week of May 15

meal plans for week of may 15 based on taste of home brunch cookbook and dining in a dime ideas :l
Dining on a dime  
https://yboutu.be/x3jZP6nnkJA
Quick notes :   Meal plans are basicly a protein, a starch, and a vegetable or two.   Corn, carrots, and squash are starches.  I learned that from the nutritionist when I went to diabetes school.  
Balance color and textures.  

1. vegetable  bean soup , artisan bread or biscuits. 
2. Pizza , green salad 
3. Marinated pork chops, peas, biscuits 
4. Bean and beef enchaladas, lettuce and tomato 
5. Homemade chicken nuggets, oven tries, fruit salad 
6. Shrimp stir fry , rice 
7. Breakfast 4 dinner : sausage quiche 

Tuesday - how to meal plan and why

Meal planning...why bother.?  

Not  planing your meals can make you plan for disaster.    Running to the store for that  one thing mid week that you forgot exposes you to all the stimulation they retailers want to get you to buy more.   It is also more gas, more time, and usually more money than if you got that thing on sale.  

It's my personal opinion that planning for a month is to extreme.   It might work for some people. But our  planning is constantly adapting for foods that need to be used up or something that I found that was a really really good sale. It's that adapting that saves money.   Weekly plans work better for is,  I got a dry erase magnetic board for the fridge.   It works.   I also have a form that I designed in excel.    It has the days of the week on blocks, my personal matrix in the "extra" block. And two columns: one for a lost of basics we always have on hand and one for things we need to purchase to fill in the meals.

We use a matrix based on proteins.  This gives us a variety of meals and assures everyone gets some of what they like to eat.  It took me a while to come to the conclusion that you can't please  everyone all of the time , but you can please everyone some of the time.   If the meal isn't their favorite, their favorite will come in rotation.   The basic protein, starch and fruit or veggie meal matrix keeps us balanced.

Our matrix is :

• 1 beef 
• 3 chicken or Pork
• 1 fish or shellfish 
• 2 vegetarian 

Others have a different matrix, say maybe one based on themes, or tuoes of food like Mexican, Chinese, etc.   

Having a outline helps make meal planning fast and easy.   Having a list of entrees that your family likes and that are easy to prepare clinches the deal.  We, like many families have a couple of basic "winners" that we eat every week.  They are open ended so it possibilities are endless.   Those are pizza and breakfast 4 dinner.   Both are very inexpensive meals.   Scratch pizza can be as low as 1.09 a pizza .   Eggs these days are a dollar a dozen.    Having a few really inexpensive meals affords you the luxury of a meal or two that is more of a splurge and still effectively averaging five dollars a meal for the proverbial family of four.  

Having a binder of recipes and forms organized is a great help too.   If you are drawing a blank, it's a good thing to have.   

A plan and recipes that are easy and inexpensive and clean up is minimal is key in keeping the pizza delivery gremilins away.   A delivered pizza can cost twenty dollars.   A handmade one can cost 1.09 .   Scratch lizzamcrust cossts .17 - .25 depending on your cost of flour.   I just purchased pepperoni for .50 a package.    With two dollar a pound cheese and a part of a pizza sauce jar from the DT, a pizza can be 1.12.

Note : groceries on the cheap is a different way to buy groceries.  The emphasis is on replenishing what you have used rather than buying just what you need for a particular week.   This allows you to only buy what's a RBP and means you pay 1/2 price for almost all your food.   

If you spend more time planning your shopping trips ( no impulse  buying ) and making meal plans, and less tome cooking, your budget will be better off.   We spend 1/2 of the amount the USDA estimates oirmfood should cost.  That figure osmcost of food at home: part of our weekly amount is stocking food for future meals.    That figure is 55.00 a week so far this year.   The average family of four can cost as much as 1213.00 a month,   At 75.00 00 a week, that is 315.00.   That's a difference of 898.00 a month or 10.776.00 a year.    

Monday , May 8th kitchen management.

Note: no one expects you to do my kitchen management, it's just an example of the thought process.  Doing some up front work for an hour or so makes mealtime a lot less stressful.

1. Wash the stove vent  filter ,   ( dishwasher ) indonthis thenfirst ofmthe month as recommended by the installer of the stove.   
2. Wash potatoes, carrots, celery and peppers in vinegar water and dry,   Put   potatoes in a colander.   
3. Cook bacon , drain and crumble 
4. Make pizza dough,   Place in fridge in a container with a lid . 
5. Make note on the day before having chicken nuggets to thaw the chicken breast.  
6. Shred parm cheese for the speghetti and meatballs and the chicken nuggets. 
7. Chop  vegetables for stir fry,   
8. Clean fridge and reorganize shelves.   
9. Straighten pantry,  
10. Wash kitchen floor and disinfect countertops and sinks including drains.   

1. 
   

Meal plans for week of may 15

meals for week of may 15 with notes

1. Vegetable soup : beans, diced tomatoes, celery, carrots, peppers, Italian seasoning. Onions if preferred.    Plain biscuit rolled with cheese like a cinnamon roll. Cut and baked.   
2. Pizza : most pizzas can be made for between a dollar and two dollars based on those of crust and toppings.   A far cry less than buying a pizza.   Even the crust at Safeways is two dollars.    
3. Chicken enchaladas with sour cream sauce : use pieces of chicken from de- boning the split chicken  breast.   
4. Sloppy joes (Mexican style.) our favorite sloppy joe scratch recipe called for catsup.   Catsup has HFCS.   I found a simple slow,cooker recipe that calls for enchalada sauce and o got enchalada sauce for ten cents a can.   
5. Pork chops (from pork loin ) rice medley , peas and carrots.    
6. Tuna cassarole.with  peas : use homemade cream soup mix.   Start with vegetable plate.   
7.  Breakfast 4 dinner,    Eggs continue to be cheap.  A sausage quiche is an easy dinner with field greens and /or fruit. 

It isn't always what you eat, but rather, how you buy what you eat.    Center cut loin pork chops can be 1.50 if you buy a loin in your rotation, or they can be 399 a pound.    That's a lot of difference for the same product that you have spent maybe ten minutes cutting yourself,    Develop safe knife skills.   Your hands should be as far away as possible from the knife,    If you can, crest a flat surface on the time to be cut to reduce the chance of it slipping,    Use a good chopping board that is dry. 

Fred Meyers ad

Sundays ad is here.     The ads are not much about food.   Most of it is Mother's Day .    There are, however, some good deals.

• Blueberries  and raspberries 2/3 
• Milk .99 including chocolate 
• La croix water  1.99
• Sour cream/cottage cheese 2/4 - larger
• Ragu 2/3$$
• FF split chicken breast 1.29
• Naval oranges .9

My target meat - rotation meat would be themso,otmchickem breast.  It's not as good as the .87 ones we gotma few weeks back, but if you didn't get them, this would be good.    It's still a WHOLE lot cheaper than 8.00 a pound.   

Friday recipe : vegetable chilli - slowcooker

This is a adaptation of my vegetable soup.   It came as a clean up, use  up refrigerator hack.  

Vegetable chilli.

2 cups dry pinto beans 

1/2 can diced green chilies 

1 cup COOKED hamburger, de-fatted and drained 

Enough water to cover beans to your second knuckle 

Process in insta pot or other cooker on bean cycle or cook until beans are tender 

Drain in colander.    

Switch imsta pot  to sauté mode (or sauté in pan with a little olive oil ) 

Olive oil 

2 carrots, sliced thin. 

2 stalks of celery chopped 

Switch to slow cooker mode and ADD 

Reserved bean mixture. 

2 cans diced tomatoes.  Do not drain 

1 quart stock of choice : vegetable, tomato or beef 

1 T taco seasoning 

Program for desired hours (6-10) 

QFC haul

QFC haul savings 61 percent

Hillshire Farms sausage   1.99
Kroger frozen peas FREE
Classico pasta sauce 1.49
Jimmy Dean sausage FREE
Milk 1/2 gal 1.49
Blue bunny ice cream 2.49
Barilla elbows 2/1.25 or .625 each serves 6

Total 8.71

Thursday bullets : principles

Ten easy ideas to cut your grocery bill in half

• Know the price of the things you buy in a regular basis : never pay full price.  Look for the RBP ( rock  bottom price ) and buy enough to last you until the next sale.  Keep a limited stick on hand . 
• Portion control.  Exocets say your dinner  plate should be an eight inch plate and 1/4 of it protein, 1/4 starch, and 1/2 vegetables or salad. 
• Find sources of protein your family will eat that cost less than two dollars a pound.   Your target price of a meal for 4 people should  be five dollars or less.  Average . ( 2 adults and 2 children ) 
• Develop a list of dinners that are within the price range that your family likes and can be made easy to cook and take little non- passive time. Make best use of pressure cookers , slow cookers, and your oven and microwave. 
• Scratch cook ,   Places like pinterest are full of easy recipes.   Adapt recipes that use boxes and cans of ...... 
• make your own bread.   It seems daunting, but there are recipes that take very little effort and taste divine.   The cost difference is about 90 percent when buying bulk flour.   A loaf of artisan bread takes 10 working minutes and cost about a quarter.   Most of them cost upwards of three dollars to purchase.   
• Avoid processed foods.   Basically, anytime someone has to handle your food, it's going to cost you more.    With few exceptions.  I can get pasta sauce on sale cheaper than I can make it.    And there are a few items that I either just don't buy or I buy on sale because scratch is too  labor intensive. 
• Spend more time planning and shopping, and less time  cooking ,   You virtually get paid to shop, you don't get paid to cook.   
• Plan meals and allow yourself at least two meals back up for those days when a ,?!; storm happens.  It happens to  even the most organized people I know.    Plan for it.   
• Make mealtime fun and engage the children sometimes.  It teaches them to cook.  Engages them so they aren't making a mess while you cook, and gives them confidence.  Wash their hands , and we avoid anything sharp, hot, or raw meat.    Of course , a teen can learn safe skillsx and a toddler can count, stir, pour some things.   At four my granddaughter could spread pizza sauce with a basting brush, fill a pizza. And roll pizza crust with supervision.   Of course, the pepperoni was on the shape of a happy face, but we lived to tell about it ! Lol.   When they are involved, they are more likely to eat it.  

Wednesday ads 5/3/17

Alberways ads     QFC was a two week ad


1 day sale 5/5

Ground beef -20 percent fat     1.98
Tomatoes, peppers, avocados, mangos .88
Mission soft flour tortillas. Or corn tortillas or 8 ounces of cheese. .88
Tortilla chips .88

Regular
Pork shoulder roast .99
Strawberries 2.77
Top round roast 2.77
Milk 2/3.- gallon carton




That's about it.  
Good price on milk and cheese.  

Alternative grocery haul. -2.00 over

I decided because we are well stocked for us, I would go on a no spend May.    That means my budget for fresh fruit and veggies etc is thirty dollars.    I spent  thirty two.

Groceey Outlet
Bag of Romas 2.49
Land of lakes butter 2/4
Deli sliced  cheese 2.39


Dollar Tree

4.5 pounds pinto beans 3.00
4 packages hormel pepperoni 2.00 regular wimco price 6.80.  Note: coupons,com coupons.
( Easter candy is 4/1)

Winco

Sour cream 1.18
Idahoan mashed potatoes .38 instead of .89 at FM
Bell peppers .78
Grape tomatoes / large container 5.98
Gala apples .98 a pound
English cucumber .78
Less .12 bag refund


Total 32.00.

Grocery outlet and DT are three towns over from us, but I needed to go there for an appointment so we stopped.  I can usually make up the cost of gas with savings.  

Phycology of shopping

There was a bleep on Facebook lately  about the phycology  of shopping, grocery shopping in particular.  It didn't  tell me anything I didn't already know, but it was a good reminder.    I worked for a food wholesaler non profit that helped small producers get their product into grocery stores,   Its not an easy task for the little guy.    Big corporations pay slotting fees.   Basically, they pay rent for the middle eye level shelves.   People naturally gravitate  for easy.  Looking up and down can save you money because those products are not paying slotting fees to pass on and they usually have a smaller profit margin.  

Retailers bombard you with visual and stimulate your senses.   They try to cloud your sense of need and want.  The trick is to have a good picture in your mind of what you are going to the  store to buy, and not to give on to the "want" .    It helps that you are buying to replentish  your stock rather than to put  together meals on the fly.   It keeps you more in focus,    It also helps to avoid taking children or husband's shopping with you.  

It's no accident that the junk foods are the first thing you see .   It's designed to get you to start putting things on your cart.   It's also no accident that there are huge carts these days.   I get the huge carts at Costco, otherwise when you buy toilet paper there would be no room for anything else.   LOL

Knowing their dirty little tricks to get you to buy more is your first defense in avoiding the pitfalls and staying on budget.    The more time you spend on a store, the more you are going to spend.  The more people you bring with you, the more you are going to spend.  It helps if you do have a family member with you to divide and conquer . divide and conquer-- giving part of the list or something you don't know where to find it to that person.  It saves time and creates focus rather than let that pickle, candy, beer.....fall into the cart!     Men are hunters, women are gatherers.

Because of the slotting fees, the item  you need may be in the front of the store or on the impulse isle, but it very well might be cheaper in the regular isles.     Case in point,   The more carb loaded hamburger bins were 2.40 in the impulse isle one day , the smaller more sensible ones were on a regular isle for .68.    A big difference when you are in a limited budget.    That 1.70 would pay for  the rest of the meal-- or at least the meat to fill the hamburger.  

The perimeter of the store has the basics.   This is virtually every store you go into.   It's because they are more perishable and need stocking more frequently.   Produce, dairy, meat, and bakery. All have more stocking or require handling that is done behind closed doors.    Don't go down isles unless you  need to.   The isles are marked almost everywhere but Costco.    You can save time and avoid impulses if you just avoid the isles.   That candy can't just jump onto your cart!    Studies show of you touch a product, you are more likely to buy that product.

The big one .....

Stores have big sales to get you in the store.   Their premise is to get you in the store and get you to buy all your groceries at that store.   Beat them at their own game.  Buy the things that are on sale and don't buy the things that are over priced.   Have you ever noticed that if hamburger buns are on sale, the hamburger to go with them is not ?     It's a trick.   You don't have to buy into it.   That's why spending the time to go to two stores is to your advantage.  Pick two stores that are close to each other.  Next best thing is to pick two stores that are close to other places you have to go on a regular basis -- the gym, the kids soccer practice, the doctor, work, grandmas house.......whatever works.  

Two stores give you the best sales of two stores and the best selection of produce.   Produce has the
biggest mark up of the necessity foods.    Pick it carefully and don't overbuy.   You can blanch and
freeze or dry some things that are not going to be used up fast enough.

Do some research.  In our area , Fred Meyers and Winco have the best prices normally.   But, it's not good to be complacent , sometimes other stores have good sales.    Find your two best stores based on price.   Don't base your grocery stores on the friendliest clerks, or the most fancy, or the variety of specialty foods.   You want your store to be clean and have the best prices.

Big packages aren't always the best thing.   The price is good sometimes, but sometimes it is not.   Bring a small calculator or see if you have one in your phone.   Many times they have a price per ounce and it's hard to compare bulk to a can or package.  The biggest difference you can make in budget savings is to know the  lowest price  for the things you buy on a regular basis.  Paying a premium price for that can of cranberry sauce you use once a year won't hurt too much; but, overpaying for that can of diced tomatoes you use every week, can really hurt.

Our average ticket is 30.00 or less.   I can get in and out of a store in 30 minutes or less.   I shop for three of us.    Naturally, of you are shopping for a big family, you will spend more time.    I watch a lot of grocery hauls.   The majority of the hauls that have h u g e tickets, have a lot of liquids and junk food and individual packages.  It's a good thing to avoid, it jacks up your bottom line a lot.   I can't wrap myself around a three hundred dollar grocery haul.   Everything you need will eventually be on sale sometime.   Rarely does a necessary item not ever go on sale.  Picking the right time to buy enough product to last until the next sale is paramount in keeping your food bill the lowest possible.
If chicken is .88 his week and it's a very low price, forgo something else and buy two.  Next week, buy more of the thing that you didn't buy.   You will be money ahead.    You spend less because you don't ever pay that dreaded F word...    full price.

Kitchen management

Week of may 8th

Looks like this week will be using up most of the remaining potatoes.   It's hard for us to use a whole bag of russets, it takes a concentrated effort to finish a bag before it goes bad.    Ten pounds of potatoes cost barely anything more than the five pound bag.

• Clean fridge, dump  anything dead and salvage anything that needs to be salvaged: cook it, freeze it, dry it, incorporate it onto a meal.   
• Wash and clean veggies for stir fry and peppers, chop and put on jars .  

• Wash potatoes with vinegar water.   Dry and place in a colander.  - potato soup,sausage and peppers. , fries 

•  Disinfect countertops and sink including drains.   

•  Wash refrigerator vent.   
• Wash kitchen floor
•  Make pizza dough
•  Make bread, and bread dough if necessary

Sunday, meal plans for week of 5/8/17

What's for dinner for week of 5/8

1. Pizza 
2. Breakfast 4 dinner - bacon and cheese scones included 
3. Potato soup 
4. Sausage, potatoes and peppers 
5. Speghetti and meatballs, salad , rolls 
6. Homemade chicken nuggets  and oven fries 
7. Shrimp stir fry, egg rolls 

Notes 

1. Pizza is a staple here.   Trying a new soft dough on the kitchen aid 
2. Breakfast 4 dinner is a good way to average costs.    Eggs continue to be cheap.   Doing a new recipe on the internet, from joy of baking. 
3. Potato soup is quick and can be made in the slow cooker.   
4. Sausage was pirchased  for two dollars at QFC.   Add potatoes and peppers either on the stove or in the oven.   
5. Speghetti and meatballs a child favorite.   Easy! Sauce was 1.50 at QFC, and pasta was .75 stocked earlier,   Meatballs are two dollars a  pound at Winco.    Leaves plenty for green beans with money to spare on  a five dollar budget woth leftovers for lunch. 
6. Homemade  chicken nuggets from  Eighty seven cent a pound chicken dipped on melted butter and dredged on bread crumbs and parm cheese,   Oven fries 🍟 tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with garlic pepper.    Add fruit or salad - maybe coleslaw?   
7. Shrimp stir fry over  rice or with ramen noodles.   Vegetable egg rolls.    Ramen noodles are my go to to round out a basket coupon,   I want as close to the dollar amount of the coupon base so I get the most percentage discount.    I round the .99 items to keep track, so I add one or two top ramen to make sure I go over the base.   We don't use the packets in the ramen (ugh!) but I add the noodles to stir fry sometimes.    This is always over the five dollars.   Bit.  other menus will bring the average down to well below five dollars a day.    Averaging means that you don't have to feel deprived while on a right budget.   

Thursday bullets. - Five things

Bullet day .....Five things that taste remarkable oven roasted.

1. Russet or red potatoes 🥔 
2. Radishes 
3. Green beans 
4. Carrots
5. Brussel  sprouts or broccoli 

Basically, drizzle with olive oil and toss with salt and pepper or garlic pepper.    

Bake on a cookie sheet or a roasting basket at the same temp as your other foods.   

Sunday FM ad

Fred Meyer ad for tomorrow

4 Day Sale / SMTW

Ice cream 2/5
Pork loin 1.77
Peppers .99
BBQ sauce .99


Regular weekly ad
Eggs .99
Strawberries 2.88
Tomatoes on the vine 🍅 .88
Cucumbers , radishes 2/1.00
Stock up : tomatoes, veggies, or beans .50

Spiral ham 1.29

Notes :

.50 is my target price for diced tomatoes.
Note that split chicken breast was .87 last week.   This week FF Boneless, skinless chicken breast is 3.99 a pound.  Boning your own saves over 75 percent,   Elsewhere, boneless, skinless  chicken breasts of mystery origin are 8.00 a pound.

Rotation meat this week would be the pork loin,   My lowest buy price is 1.69, so 177 isn't bad,    I did get it for 1.49 last time, but that doesn't  happen often.  

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.  




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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!