Scratch cooking

I am reminded that there are some people that have never cooked from scratch. It's not a hard thing to do. Learn a few basics and you have it made. If you watch the cooking shows on TV a little, you can gleam a lot of techniques. There are only a few things to remember.

1) when baking,don't over mix the ingredients. You want them to be homogenous, but you don't want to develop the gluten. This works for biscuits, quick breads, pancakes etc.

2) learn to make a roux. It is the base for a lot of things. Basically you start with a fat, add flour and make a paste, and then gradually add a liquid to make a thickened sauce. This is the basics for gravy, sauces, and Mac and cheese.

3) learn to tell when meat is done. Poultry will have juices that run clear. The leg will pull away from the breast easily. Check the temperature. Invest in a thermometer. They are really cheap at costco business. With beef, take it's temperature. Ground meet should no longer be pink.

4)When you dice or cut something, slice a little off so that you have a flat surface on the cutting board.

I am in no way a gourmet cook. I cook basic foods, usually fast. I just don't have the time. I cook things I can cook fast.

A quick way to cook a pot roast or country- style ribs is to put then in a crockpot, pour a bottle of beer over them, add enough water or broth to almost cover meat.Then add a onion that is peeled and cut in quarters. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. I take some juice from the pot after the meat is almost done and cook potatoes and carrots in the microwave with it. The meat is done when it falls apart and is tender.

A quick way to roast a chicken is to wash it with cold water. Clean out the insides, salt the inside cavity and stuff it with anything you have around-- a lemon, apple, onion, orange. Just cut it in half. pour some olive oil over the skin and massage it in- don't forget the back side. You can saltand pepper or use rosemary on the top. Put it on a roasting rack in a roaster . Bake at 375 until it is done, about 15-20 minutes a pound. Don't forget to wash everything thoroughly when you are cooking raw meat. Wash your hands frequently. Don't cross contaminate with raw vegetables. If you don't have a roasting rack, rough cut root vegetables and place chicken on top in a baking pan.



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The basic of 1/2 price shopping.

This blog is all about lowering your food bill to about 1/2 of the USDA stats for your grocery bill.


I promise no dumpster diving, no .28 chicken parts and no cheap hotdogs and four meal - three pound chickens. LOL

I take a sensible approach to the get a meal on the table cheap dilemma. If you spend more time on the front end of the meal train and less on the back end, you will be better off. You are basically getting "paid " for shopping wisely, but you don't get paid for cooking or doing dishes.LOL

Groceries on the cheap takes a three- pronged approach, planning and organizing, shopping wisely, and scratch cooking.

1) start making your own stack of main dish recipes that use low cost protein that your family will eat. Try to gather at least 7, but 14 is better off. If you have variety, your family won't get burned out of a particular dish.

2) After you get home from grocery shopping, jot down seven main dishes you plan on cooking in the week ahead. Use your purchases and your stock in the freezer or fridge to make your decisions. Before you shop, go through the fridge and bread bin and dump everything dead and make a note of what you need and what needs to be used soon.

3)The basic rule is never pay full price for anything. Make a list of all the staples that you use on a regular basis. At our house it would be canned diced tomatoes, beans, pasta sauce, pasta, cheese, some canned veggies, tuna and salmon.
List them in a small spiral notebook or on a computer spread sheet. List the item, the size of the package,where you got it and the date and price.
Pretty soon you will see a pattern of the lowest price in your area.
When one of your items goes on sale fir the lowest price, buy as many as you can , as many as the store will let you, or as many as you need to restock your supply-- which ever comes first. If I use something once a week, I want to stock 24. If I use it once a month I stock 6 or 7.
Pasta I keep a bin full. Pasta has a 8 year shelf life.

4) when the grocery ads come out, take a sheet of paper, divide it into quarters. Put the name of the store on the top of each quarter. Now write down everything that is on your stock list that's a low price, and the meat and fresh food that is cheaper. When you are done, cross off the items that are more expensive elsewhere, and the things that you don't need. Now pick the TWO stores that have the best buys. Go to the store with your list, get in and get out. The more time you spend in a store, the more you spend. Plan your trip to use the least amount of gas.

5) Cook from scratch. One of the easiest ways to derail your budget is to buy ready made and junk food. Think, good nutritious food. There are ways to cook from scratch and not live in the kitchen. Use the crockpot, use oven meals that you can throw in a pan and put in the oven and walk away to do other chores. Precook. By spending an hour or so cooking a batch of meat, you cut down on dishes and time, and spend far less time at mealtime. Roast off a chicken or pork or beef roast. Buy or make ground meat in bulk and portion it on meal-sized packages. Make meatballs, taco meat, meat loaf, meat crumbles -- whatever makes sense to your family. Defat the ground meat. Directions are on earlier blogs.

This actually sounds like a lot of work, but after you get the hang of it, it is less time consuming. Especially if you tend to run to the store to get what you are out of durimg dinner, or are accustomed to going to the store every two or three days.

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Jane

Jane

Meals from adds and extreme couponing

I was rocking the grand baby to sleep yesterday and happened on to extreme couponing.
I was trying to learn something. I think what I learned was that I don't need to spend a lot of time clipping coupons. Most of the things that I saw being purchased were not real food and many quantities were more than anyone needs in their pantry. Like, who besides many the family with eighteen kids needs almost 200 toothbrushes. One man bought enough deodorant to last an average family 150 years or so. This boarders on hoarding.

The way I look at it, I love a bargain, but I don't need to buy so many that I don't leave any stock for the next bargain hunter, I keep a realistic stock of some things that are food or other necessity items. It doesn't make much sense to take up valuable storage space for something you can't ever use before the expiration date.

I haven't seen stores that double coupons in Washington. most coupons I find are for pop, and other things that I don't consider a necessity or good nutrition.

I do applaud the COUPONERS that get actual food for almost free and take it to the food bank or a shelter. That is where extreme coupon ing makes sense to me.

On to the meal plans

This was not a week to stock up on staples. About the only thing on sale is the pasta.

Meals
1) roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad

2) roast beef a jus sandwiches, salad

3) Mac and cheese, broccoli

4) quiche, salad. Or pizza ( Safeways special Friday )

5) pork chops, applesauce, carrots, au gratin potatoes.

6) chicken pot pie, fruit cup

7) salmon on potatoes and tomatoes, salad*


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Jane

* slice potatoes thin and put in greased baking dish. Slice tomatoes and place on top.
Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees until potatoes are almost done. Put salmon on top and bake until fish is done.

This weeks grocery adds

This weeks grocery adds..or should I say booze adds ! LOL

SAFEWAYS

5 dollar Fridays
H
Pizza
Cookies
5pounds apples

7% ground beef 2.69
15% ground turkey 2.59
Sirloin steak 2.99

Grapes 1.28

10 lb potatoes 1.99
Milk 2.69

Triscuit 1.99@
Barilla pasta .88@
Eggs 1.49@

@ coupon

Raspberries, blackberries 2.99
Squash .99


QFC

Grapes 1.28
Apples .99
Pears .99
Sirloin tip roast b1g1. Nets 3.00 pound

Loin chops BIGI NETS 2.50 pound

Hillshire farms sausage 3/ 10.00


ALBERTSONS

Apples .88
Chicken . 99
Pork loin 1.99
Raspberries 2.99
Iceberg lettuce 1.29
Green peppers .79

TOP

potatoes 10 poumds 1.99
Blackberries, raspberries 2/5.00


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Jane

THE BAKERY OUTLET AND WALMART.

Yesterday, my husbands trusty thermos finally gave up . It skydivered itself to oblivion.
We went to WALMART to replace it. I don't usually shop at WALMART, but it is the only place we know that has a stainless steel thermos. I checked food prices while I was there. They were cheaper than the most expensive grocery store, but more expensive than my sale prices.
Z
Finding the lowest price is a matter of noticing that you buy a lot of something, and marking down what price it is whenever you see an add and note the place. Start with one item and go from there.

My target price for cheese is 2.00 a pound. It is just under two dollars a pound for a 2.5 pound brick at Costco.

Canned beans target price is .50. I have been getting them for 15/10.00 at TOP.
I have seen them for as much as 1.29.

I buy diced tomatoes for everything. My target price is .50. I got them for .48 last week at Big Lots. They, too, are running over a dollar.

Hunts Pasta sauce is my pasta sauce of choice. They have a great variety and they peel their tomato skins with steam instead of chemicals. The cheapest I have foumd it lately is .78. I paid .80 at Albertsons.

Pasta is .88 cents often, and most generally you can find it for a dollar for the good brands.

On to the bread store.

Large crusty sandwich rolls are 6 for 6.00.
Good high fiber bread is 3/5.89.
They have speciality breads cheap that you can't find everywhere. I got Texas toast, and pumpkin regular bread.
Animal cookies, need I say more. I'm guessing they will be a hit with the "kids" in our house.

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Jane

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

A few days ago, I wrote about the angelhair pasta dish on "The Chew". Their cost was
.97. I think that those were NYC prices. Let's do the math and see an alternative that would have some protein and fit the 4+1=5 model.

Angel hair pasta/ spaghetti. .88
Olive oil-*
Parma- ** .50
Garlic *
Parsley- use dry unless you have it in your garden. It grows quite prolific I'm the nw.

* I don't usually price oil and spices when I cost out a recipe. I count them when I post my food expenses, but they are too minimal of cost to figure.

** I buy a hard cheese as an alternative at Costco. It is twelve dollars for a large wedge. My best guess is that it cost about .50. That would mean that I got 24 servings from the wedge. I use a micro plane to grate it.

The total without spices is 1.38.

You could add Roma tomatoes that have been seeded, and cut into a small dice.

And then either chicken small chunks ( cooked) or halved shrimp.
If I was using the shrimp, I would cook it in the oil and garlic. Then add the tomatoes at the last so they don't overcook.

If you use chicken, put it in at the last minute for the pasta to warm it up. Take it out and let it get to room temp while you cook the pasta, or heat it a little in the microwave.

The chicken would cost about 1.67. ( a third of a 5 pound chicken ( breast meat)
The shrimp would cost 2.50 for 1/2 a pound.

Tomato costs .50 (1/2 lb )

Total cost for chicken 3.55
Total cost for shrimp 4.38

1/2 head lettuce .50, dressing .20 or
(Broccoli 1.00)
Bread .89

Total chicken dinner 5.14 or 5.44
Total Shrimp dinner 5.97 or 6.27

Both of these alternatives would come in close enough to average 5 buck meals.

Many recipes can be made inexpensive just by omitimg an expensive Ingredient and
Substituting an alternative and still not change the integrity of the dish.

Romano can be a substitute for parmesan.
Celery can be a substitute for leeks.
Dry herbs can substitute for fresh ones. You can grow some fresh herbs year round.

Think texture, taste, and food value when making a substitution.


Check out:
Smokey chicken and potatoes ( family circle sept 2012. ) probably on line
Also meat ball lasagna.

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Jane

Soup and ?

It's getting hard for me know what to write about. I would really like to know what people want to know about. Today, I am on the road, and so I don't have access to my recipes.

I thought I would write about what to do for go withs for soup. Often I grate parmesan or another hard cheese. I get something from Costco-- maybe Romano. I take the label off and store it in a plastic bag so I don't know for sure. Twelve dollars worth of cheese lasts us a long time. I use a microplame to "grate " it. I also make a hard crusty bread with butter, grated Hard cheese and parsley and grate it or wrap on fol and heat until the butter is melted.

Toasted cheese sandwiches are always a hit with split pea or tomato soup. You can adult them up with spinach and tomato slices. Just be sure to deseed the tomato and slice it thin.

There is always a cheese, cracker and fruit plate or a salad.

Beer bread, cornbread, or a cheese muffin works well too.

Soup can often times stay warm in the slow cooker while Yiu fix a bread or sandwich,or you can get it ready before you start the soup on the stove.


That's about all I can think of now,

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Jane

SUPER SOUPS

It's fall weather finally. It has to be the wind blew th umbrella out of the picnic table! The noise scare me to death! lol


I rarely buy soup from a can. I usually keep cream of mushroom for casserole base incase I am in a hurry, chicken noodle for medicinal purposes, and a few tomato. The cost of soup has risen and I want fifty cents a can. I see it at .79 this week at Safeways. Sometimes it is a little lower at WinCo. I do buy tomato roasted red pepper soup at Costco when they have it. It is like 4.00 or more at the regular stores. Costco has it for about two. It comes in a box. I find some box soups at grocery outlet, but never tomato.

I fix the box of soup with chopped tomatoes, basil, and blue cheese. Sometimes I add a little half and half depending on how many I am feeding.

Sausage bean soup is a really quick crock pot soup.

I have posted this before.

Sauté veggies. I use onion, celery and carrot and sometimes red pepper if I have it. I cut them in small pieces. Sauté until they are so what soft.

Add veggies to the crackpot with :

3 cans of assorted beans , RINSED.
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2cups broth ( chicken, beef, or veggie)

2 T Italian seasooning, 1tsp garlic powder

1/2 pound sausage crumbles, cooked and defatted.

Cook on low 8-10!hours or on high for 4-6.

Note. Rinsing the canned beans makes a great difference on the amount of sodium that you get from the can of beans.

If I have fresh garlic I tomit the garlic powder and add the garlic to the veggies last during the sauté.


You can vary the recipe to be vegetarian by omitting the sausage and using vegetable stock.
You can add hamburger instead of sausage. I haven't tried it with ground turkey since my husband doesn't like it.

Beans are something that I buy canned. Unless you have the time to cook beans and use them the same day, beans and rice have a really short fridge life. They are the two things that spoil rapidly. I rarely have the time.

If you get canned beans on sale, the cost is the same. I would prefer 50 cents a can, but the 15 for ten dollars is 67 cents. Pretty close.

Don't forget,
Split pea soup...a matter of minutes in the pressure cooker

cream based soups, broccolli, carrot,asparagus etc, a Good way to use the last of a vegetable or the stalks of the broccoli.Potato soup, corn chowder.


Clam or seafood chowder

Beer or cheese soups

Pick the canned soup that you like the best, dialect it and make it from scratch.

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Jane

Baking...it's fall , right?

All things come to baking when fall and the holidays come.

I have been getting cookies for 50/ 5.00 on 5 dollar Fridays. I only get oatmeal or peanut butter.

When I was a kid, my mother started us learning to bake at 9 years old. There were some recipes that called for Ingredients that we always had on hand. ome was snicker doodles, and one was walnut squares. walnut squares are in the 1950's Betty Crocker cookbook.. They are essentially a blond brownie.

We also made a pudding cake that we called cowboy cake. I found the recipe on the Internet under butterscotch pudding cake. Basically you mix a cake and put it in the bottom of a 8 inch square pan. Then you put some vutter and brown sugar on top and pour boiling water over all. It was really good.

A few days ago I put a recipe on my blog that was basically the insides of a pumpkin pie. A good recipe for when you have a hankering for pie, but not the time.

Apples are a good bet for baking this time of year.

Baking ingredients are on sale with a coupon at TOP this week. Halloween cookies are fun for the kids to make and decorate.

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Jane

Yesterday I watched "The Chew".

Yesterday I watched "The Chew". It was all about a dollar a plate. Actually, you can get some nice plates at the dollar store for a buck! LOL

One contribution was angel hair pasta with parsley, olive oil, garlic, and parm. It looked really good ,but most men I know would be looking around for the next course.

Yesterday we had a vegetarian version of sausage bean soup. It cost 3.25. I served it with cheese quesadas. For less than the cost of two cans of chunky soup, I got six quarts of soup-- a lot less than a buck a serving.

My catch phrase is 4 plus 1 equals 5. Four people, One meal, Five bucks.
I don't always cook five dollar meals, but I try to average 5 dollar meals.
Meat has taken about a twenty five cent a pound hike. I suspect,we have only just begun. My plan is to add another vegetarian meal to the mix and maintain the average when meat prices get too high.


This weeks plans

1) Pork Loin Roast , mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, salad
2) pork chops, dressing, broccolli
3) meat balls with cream gravy on noodles, green beams, salad
4) Mac and cheese, mixed vegetables
5) vegetable soup , cheese sandwiches
6) tuna melt, veggie sticks
7) London broil, baked potatoes, salad




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Jane

This weeks adds / October 10

This weeks adds. I usually tale a piece of paper out of the recycle bin and divide in quarters and start listing all the things that are veggies in season and stock items or meat. Then cross off anything that is cheaper elsewhere or I don't need more of or want.

5 dollar Friday
Shrimp 5 a pound
3 pound grapes


Rump roast 2.49
Apples .88
Tomatoes 1.28
Lunch meat 2.50

Jfu
Tortilla chips 1.99
Salad dressing .99


QFC

Cottage cheese, sour cream 3/5
Pineapple 1.00
Lettuce 1.00
Roma tomatoes 1.00
Grapes 1.49


TOP

pork loin and London broil are 2.49

Coupons =@
Eggs .99@
flour 1.49@
Chocolate chips 1.69@.
Butter 2.50@

Beans 15/10.00
16 ounces cottage cheese 2.00

Cucumbers .69

ALBERTSONS

grapes .99
Beans .88

NOTE
price comparisons..cottage cheese is 1.67 at QFC, it's 2.00 for less product at top.
Beans are .88 at Albertsons. .67 at TOP
Rump roast, pork loin and London broil are all 2.50 a pound.
grapes are 1.49 at QFC, 1.67 at Safeways. They are .88 at Albertsons, but inwouldnt go there just for the grapes. The savings other places are greater than the loss incurred on the grapes.

All in all, unless there are a whole lot of extra stuff on personal jfu, itnwill be TOP and QFC for us. I have my stock pretty full. If I didn't , then the pork loin and beans would be green flags for me. Winter is coming and sausage bean soup is a slow cooker magic trick of mine. It is better, cheaper, faster. A can of soupmthese days is two bucks-- more than a head start on a whole slow cooker of soup. One reason to buy tomatoes at .50 cents a can and beans at .67.

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Fruit cobbler

Slowcooker recipes are a way to entertain almost effortlessly .
The less you have to do at the last minute the less stressful it is .

Berry Cobbler

1cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1tspg baking powder
1/4 tsp EACH salt, cinnamon, nutmeg


2 eggs
2 T milk
2 T oil

4 cups berries(blackberries or blueberries or a combination of both. )
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar

Whip cream or ice-cream

Mix dry ingredients.

Mix wet ingredients.

Mix dry with the wet ingredients.

Pour cobbler batter in bottom of greased 5 quart slow cooker.

In saucepan, combine berries, water and sugar. Bring to boil. Pour over cobbler.
Cover and cook on high 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until toothpick in center comes out clean.
Uncover and let stand 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

1-15 ounce can solid pack pumpkin
1- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup baking mix
2eggs
2 T butter
1 T pumpkin pie spice
2tsp vanilla

Mix together all ingredients. Pour into greased slow cooker. Cover and cook for 6-7 hours or until thermometer reads 160 degrees. It helps if you put a towel between the slow cooker and the lid.

APPLE CRISP

4-5 cooking apples, peeled and sliced.
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
Cinnamon, nutmeg
1/3 cup butter
2T peanut butter

Place apples in slow cooker.
Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter and peanut butter. Pour over apples. Cook on low 5-6 hours.


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Jane

Our trip to Big Lots and Trader Joes

Yesterday my daughter and I stumbled upon the Big Lots 20 percent sale. One day only everything was twenty percent off.

Larry the cable guy garlic beer bread was .80.
Bumble Bee crab was 1.40
Sauerkraut was 1.60
White tea 1.60
Diced tomatoes .48 vs 1.29

You have to watch pull dates, but most of them were as far out as the other stores.

We then went to trader joes. I found good strawberries for 2.50 and a large basil plant for 5.00. There were a few prices that were as cheap as other stores. I saw a lot of organic and a lot of speciality vegetarian foods.


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Jane

Main dishes with ground meats

Ground meat used to be only beef. We had ground round, the best grade, and ground chuck. I can remember paying .88 a pound for ground chuck. Now they have ground chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, and bison. We have tried bison ( it's supposed to be less fat than beef) and liked it. I like ground lamb, but my husband doesn't. I , personally think that ground chicken is hard to cook. The texture is different than beef. I haven't tried ground turkey. I think that you could substitute other ground meats that simulate the texture of the ground beef.

SHEPHERD'S PIE

1.5 pounds potatoes , cut into chunks (or use instant mashed)

1 onion, chopped
2cloves garlic
1T oil

1 pound ground beef ( or use already cooked hamburger)
1 T flour
1/2cup beef stock
Salt and pepper
3 T vinegar
2tsp W sauce


2 T butter
1 T milk

1) boil potatoes until tender

2)fry onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and continue cooking 1 minute
more . Add the ground meat and cook until no longer pink. Drain off excess fat.
Stir flour into meat. Add beef stock slowly to thicken. Add salt, pepper, vinegar and w sauce.

Pour into 1.5 quart casserole.
Make mashed potatoes ( potatoes should be dense )
Spread over meat.
Brush with melted butter.
Bake at 400 degrees until top is golden.

Notes: I would use the hamburger crumbles I made last week and instant mashed potatoes to get out of the kitchen fast. I got instant mashed for .50 not long ago. That is more than the .21 that raw potatoes would cost but that's .29 cents for ten minutes work is 1.80 an hour. I can handle that. LOL.

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Jane

More oldies

LIMGUINE WITH ZUCCHINI CLAM SAUCE

12 ounces linguini

Olive oil
2 medium zucchini
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 cans minced clams
Salt, red pepper

1) cook pasta

2) sauté zucchini in some olive oil.


3) Stir in remaining ingredients including clams and juice.

4) turn heat down to a simmer and simmer 3 minutes.

Toss sauce with drained pasta and garnish with parsley.

I would serve this with garlic bread and a salad.

NOTE

Clams are on sale at BARTELLS sometimes. Pasta has remained a bargain at .88 to a dollar a pound.

Let's review the food pyramid. I haven't for a long time. It doesn't seem to be kind to dieters or diabetics however. It probably is what teens and active children need for fuel and growing bodies. Most of us on diets and those of us that are diabetic can't have 11 servimgs of bread or grain.

Bread and grains 6-11 servings
Veggies 3-5. Fruit 2-4
Dairy 2-3. Meat 2-3
Fats, sugar sparingly.

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Jane

More from 1970s personal cookbook

Sausage chili bake

3/4 pound smoked sausage cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 small onion, chopped
1tsp garlic salt
1-2 T chili powder
1can diced tomatoes, undrained
1can kidney beams, umdrained

2cups Bisquick
1/2cup cornmeal
1cup cornmeal
2eggs

1) cook sausage and onion in skillet for 4-5 minutes
Spoon into ungreased 9x3 pan . Stir in chili powder, garlic, tomatoes AMD beans.

2) in medium bowl, mix bisquit ingredients. Spread over meat mixture.

Bake at 350 35- 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.


Taco beef bake with cheddar biscuit topping

1poumd hamburger
Taco seasoning
1cup salsa
2 cups frozen corn

2cups Bisquick
1 cup shredded cheese
2/3 cup milk.

1) brown meat. (or use already defatted meat) add corn, salsa and taco seasoning.
Heat to boiling. Pour into 8x8 pan.

2) stir together in bowl, Bisquick, cheese, and milk. Drop by spoonfuls onto meat mixture. (12)

3) bake uncovered 20-25 minutes until topping is golden brown. 6 one cup servimgs.


NOTES. These are adapted from Bisquick recipes. Sausage was 3/10 at QFC last week. It is sometimes cheaper at the grocery outlet. You can make your own salsa or substitute diced tomatoes,onion and peppers. Taco seasoning recipe is on a previous post.

I'm thinking the cheddar Bisquick topping would be good on a lot of thimgs.

That's all for today.

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Jane

Better, cheaper and faster than hamburger box mix and meals from the adds

I talked about no brainer pasta a few days ago. Here it is. TADA!
It's not the most sophisticated dish In the world, but a teen can easily handle it. They may need some help with the oven.

1-27.5 ounce can of pasta sauce
Water
1 pound of DRY pasta.
8 ounces (two cups) Grated cheese
Leftover meat

1) put dry pasta in 9x13 pan
2) mix together 1 can of pasta sauce and 1 can of water. You should have 7 cups.
3) pour over pasta and stir.
4) cover with foil and bake at 425 for 45 minutes.


5) uncover, Put cheese and any leftover meat on top.cook an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

NOTE. The reason why this is faster, is that you can take the five minutes to get it in the oven and then walk away to get something else done. No watched pot here.
You have enough time to make a salad and set the table and still check the mail. LOL

You can pair the pasta with the cheese and the sauce variety. Wagon wheel pasta with cheddar and regular sauce and hamburger crumbles makes cheeseburger macaroni.
A Italian spiced sauce with a white cheese and pepperoni makes pizza pasta. Use your imagination.

Cost: pasta .88, sauce .80, cheese 1.00. 2.68
This makes a 9x13 pan. Serves 6 .45 a serving

Hamburger mix is 2.33 serves 5 or .47 a serving

Meal plans

1) no brainer pasta
2) chicken thighs ( see older post)
3) Roast chicken dinner
4) salmon
5) Mac and cheese
6) tortilla soup
7) meatballs with cream sauce and noodles

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Jane

Ps. The picture shows the dish with hamburger crumbles and a vegetarian alternative. It needs to be stirred to look more appetizing. You could put a little parm on top!

The scoop on cheap groceries.

I have been reading a lot of articles on the Internet lately. they talk about 10 or 15
Dollars per person per week. Most if them talk about foods most of us have never tasted. My stats are based on about half of the USDA stats for a family of four-- 2 adults and two school aged children. I try to take a middle of the road approach. What I would describe as normal food, with a realistic approach to fat and salt intake with a limited amount of ready made foods.

I hav heard everything from top ramen, boxed Mac and cheese, tofu, and eating five days a week for free at work.Also I heard .28 cent a pound chicken parts and cheap hot dogs.

65.00 a week is not much more than the 15 dollars a person, and I think that I am pretty realistic in my meal plans.

We are not having steak and lobster, but we are not having cheap hot dogs and mystery chicken parts.

Groceries on the cheap has to be sustainable. Your nutrition has to be there too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jane

This weeks adds

Before I go through the adds for the week,I thought I would talk about what to do with the hamburger I "put up " over the week end. I baked-off the meatloaf and we had it with baked acorn squash that I got last week and a salad. The rest we had n the next day. The meat balls were frozen in meal sized bags. They can become meat ball subs, spaghetti and meatballs, meatballs in cream gravy over noodles or in brown gravy over rice. Tacos are tacos. LOL. Crumbles can go in a casserole or spaghetti sauce or on a pizza.

Now, the adds:

QFC

20 Percent hamburger 2.66-- NOT. We paid 2.50 for 9 percent last week.

Chicken .88
English cukes 1.00
Pasta 1.00


TOP

Sirloin roast B1G1 nets 3.25. - used to be 2.25 cents this summer.
Coupons
2 off meat
2off produce
Butter 1.99
Cheese 3.99

Pasta 1.00 hagan brand
Potatoes 10 pounds for 2.00
Mayo 1.99
Gala apples 5 lbs 5.00

SAFEWAYS

Pork roast 1.49
Grapes 1.28
Milk 2.69


5 buck Friday

Brats , Safeways brand
Naval oranges 5/5. Lbs
Tuna 5/5
Boston cream cake

JFU
Potatoes 5 lbs .69

ALBERTSONS

Chicken thighs .99
Potatoes 5 lbs 1.49
Hunts pasta sauce .80
Strawberries 2.00
Squash .99
Chicken sausage 3.00
Fryers 1.39
Good hamburger 3.99

That's all. I have purposely added some comparison prices to this list. You need to cross off the items that are higher priced elsewhere. cross off anything that you don't need or want. Pasta sauce is about as cheap as you are going to get it. I have a recipe for what my nephew calls no brainer pasta.

I am not seeing salad fixings in the adds. The cheapest lettuces are usually iceberg and romaine. Probably at Costco. Sometimes the grocery outlet.
Cucumbers are a buck. My mother used to soak them in vinegar and salt and pepper. These are good with nasturtium vinegar.

Chicken thigh recipes are posted last month.

My mother used to fix carrot and raisin salad ( didn't go over to good with my nephews)
Apple and celery with walnuts , cottage cheese with pears, there is always sliced tomatoes with motts cheese and basil. I use dried basil if I don't have fresh. I planted some basil on the back porch. This is a good salad if you need to boost the protein level of a meal.

Thanks for stopping by
Please share with a friend on facebook. You can use the "more" tab om the top of the blog.

Jane

Let's talk pasta !

The chew is starting a new trend to call Monday meatless Monday.


Pasta is still a real bargain at .88 to a dollar a pound. It has an eight to ten year shelf life. I keep a bin( lock and lock) full of elbow macaroni and a box each of several other shapes. A lot of recipes can be adapted to another pasta shape.

Angel hair pasta with broccoli

3 large broccoli stalks.
3/4 of a pound of angel hair pasta.
6 T butter
1/3 cup water
2cups cream
Nutmeg


2cups parm

1) Trim rough parts of the stalks. Peel stalks. Reserve broccoli tops for garnish. Finely chop remaining broccoli. Set aside.

2) cook pasta.

3) cook broccoli in melted butter. Add water. Cover and cook until broccoli is cooked.
Remove the flowerettes and return pan to heat.

4) Add cream and nutmeg to broccoli in pan. Add pasta. Toss with some of the parm.
Top with more parm and reserved flowerettes.

NOTE: I use a hard cheese from Costco as a sub for parm. Sometimes I get parmesan from grocery outlet.

EARS ( pasta ) with cheddar sauce.

1 pound ears
1.5 cups milk
1.5 cups cream
8 ounces ( two cups )cheddar cheese, grated
4 ounces (one cup) jack cheese
4 ounces ham cubes
Salt, pepper, bread crumbs

1) cook pasta.
2) in pan, bring milk and cream to simmer. Add cheeses and ham. Stir until cheese is melted.
Salt and pepper.
3) drain pasta and put into 9x13 pan. Mix cheese sauce and pasta. Spread in pan. Top with breadcrumbs. ( mix breadcrumbs, parm and parsley. )

4) bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.


Notes:
Breadcrumbs can easily be made from scratch. Put your bread heels into the oven to dry. When you have enough, grate with a box grater, or whirl in the food processor.

Ham cubes are inexpensive at grocery outlet some times. I get several meals out of a package usually. You can put them in an omlette or on a pizza, or in a salad.

This can be made cheaper and with less fat, if you use milk only.

Thanks for stopping by
Please share with your friends and on Facebook. Youncan use the more button on top of the blog.

Jane