Friday

Again, I have writers block. The fresh food stand is open for the spring and summer. Usually this time of year it is usually a lot of shrubs and some food. But, I think we will go since it can be on the way to Safeways. Top has herbs for a herb garden for 4/5.00. I might have to plant my porch tub.

Meals from the ads

Our basis is
2 beef
2 Chicken or Pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish


1) salmon , mashed potatoes, salad.
2) Mac and cheese, broccoli
3) eggs, hash browns, berry cup with yogurt. Toast
4) Pork chops, stuffing, salad, green beans
5) chicken sausage, peppers, red potatoes, hard crusty bread
6) enchiladas , chopped salad.
7) London broil, baked potatoes, green salad

Notes I found enchilada sauce by google ing the food network. Emeril has one.
I got salmon for a dollar a portion last week.
Mac and cheese is a good way to clean out the cheese bin.
Stuffing uses up all those bread ends.
Chicken sausage is the lowest price at grocery outlet.
London broil is 2.99 at Safeways. Thinly slice for stroganoff ( raw)the unused portion, or a cooked for a jus sandwiches , or grind for ground beef. It only comes in the giant economy size. Or, share the cost with another family member or close neighbor.

1-1/4 cups enchilada sauce
3/4 pound ( 12 ounces cooked taco meat )
1-1/2 cups grated cheese ( Mexican blend? Or cheddar)
1/2 can chopped green chilies
Chopped onion
8 corn tortillas

Pour 1/2 the sauce in a baking dish
Combine in a bowl the meat, chilies, onion and 1/2 of the cheese.
Fill each tortilla with 1/2 cup of mixture. Roll up and place
seam side down in baking dish.
Pour remaining sauce over tortillas, sprinkle with remaining cheese and a few peppers.
Cover with foil and bake at 3:5o for 26 minutes or until cheese is melted and enchiladas are hot.
Serve with chopped lettuce and tomato and sour cream.


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Jane

Thursday... The weekend looms

I read an old cookbook on my break yesterday.It was the history of Campbell's soups. Very fun to read. brings back old memories.I can remember chicken noodle soup. We lived four blocks from the school, so I came home for lunch.
Sometimes Mom would buy bean and bacon soup.

There were many good recipes that could be adapted to be scratch recipes and the basic green bean cassarole and tuna noodle.Some nostalgia still reigns.

There is a recipe for chicken enchiladas. It calls for enchilada sauce. Modes anyone know a recipe for easy enchilada sauce? Buying sauce jacks up the price too much.

They make my sausage and bean soup by substituting the beans for pasta and flip flopping the balance of tomato and broth. Add sausage and chicken cubes .

Tomato soup spice cake. Never had it, I can't picture what it would taste like and what to substitute for the shortening. has anybody tasted it before?


Combine red potato, broccoli, red pepper, green onion and lemon juice .

I read last night that red potatoes have 34 carbs for a three inch one ! Guess it is 1/2 a potato for me....bummer!
Regular russets are much more carb friendly!

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Jane

The Ads

The ads for this week.

TOP

Hagan veggies, beans, and diced tomatoes 15/10.00....67 ea
7 percent hamburger 3.99***
Pan bread 1.79@YO@@@
5# potatoes 1.00@@
Hormel chicken sausage 3.99
Asparagus 1.29




QFC

BUY 5
Dryers 2.49
Cheerios 1.99
Best foods 2.79


Strawberries 2/4
Hills hire farm smoked sausage 2/5
Country ribs 1.99
Raspberries 2.99


ALBERTSONS

Strawberries 3/3.99
Milk 2.49

Thurs-Sunday
Manwich, tomatoes, pasta sauce .68 limit six
Tillamock ice cream 2/5

Cucumbers .69
Carrots .79

SAFEWAYS

London broil 2.99
Bottom round roast 2.99
7 percent hamburger 2.99
Apples .99
Strawberries 2.00

5 dollar Fridays
8 lbs naval oranges
Jiff 40 ounces. Limit 2
Hunts pasta sauce 1.00****
Grapes 2.99
Mushrooms 1.79


That's about it. ***note the variations in prices
@@@@denotes a coupon in the store flyer.

Be sure to cross off everything that is higher priced elsewhere andmanythingnyou don't want or need.
Now pick the best two. Sometimes like last week, there were only ome for us. We shopped the alternative stores to fill in.

2.99 isn't bad for 7 percent hamburger, but last weeks 2.75 is better.

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Jane

Misc notes

Check out Myfridgfood.com. Today is a recipe for garlic chicken. It would be a good sauce for wings, sweet and sour with green pepper and pineapple...over rice with pork cubes? Using fake brown sugar would bring done the carbs, but they are pretty low already!

USDA stats for Feb are out.

3 Adults on the thrifty plan are 127.00 a week-- actual food eaten

( my daughter buys the some of the baby's food and some of the fake meat.so I'm not counting the baby)

We spend an. Average of 70.00 less 7.00 excess stock equals 63.00

1/2 of 127.00 is 63.35.


I only use store coupons, the other ones are too time consuming and are usually for ready made or things I never buy anyway. I keep our. Meals pretty simple. I don't buy organic, salt free, or fat free unless there is no price difference and they taste good.

Terrific Tuesday

Last night we had beef tips on rice, and a salad. I have enough left to put the tips and gravy together with the roasted root vegetables left from the other night and have stew with some crusty bread Tommorrow night. I have to work Wednesday. planned leftovers are like a free meal! LOL. Freshen it up with some herbs.

Always make a plan, but be flexible.

Salad

Romaine is a better bet for greens. The darker the leaf, the more nutrition. They also last longer.


Croutons

2 cups cubed French bread. toss with 2 T garlic olive oil. Toss the cubes and place them on sheet pan. Bake at 400 for 6-7 minutes, stirring a couple of times.

Dressing
4 t lemon juice
1-1/2 t Dijon mustard
1/2t w sauce
Dash of pepper
2T oil
Mix together

Salad
4 cups romain washed and torn
2T parm cheese
1 medium apple. Diced (soak in vinegar or lemon juice to keep from discolouring. )

Toss together croutons, dressing and greens.

6 servings

I am going to add some parts of some recipes to my personal cookbook. I want the croutons, dressing and the teriyaki
sauce from a couple of weeks ago.

I found good mustard at Big Lots. Wait until they have a 20 percent sale. I see that they have raised the price on tomatoes, but there is still some older stock. You don't always see the same things every time and they don't take SNAP. The savings are remarkable .48 vs 1.69 is a lot per can. 1.21X 2 for a pot of soup is 2.42. Add 1.80 savings for beans and you have 4.22 savings . that's more than 1/2 price. A pot of soup enough for a meal and lunch the next day is 3.11. Almost less than two cans of ready made soup.
And it takes about 10 minutes of your time.

Six cans at 1.50 is 9.00. Scratch is 3.11. Rounding that's 6.00 savings. 10 is 1/6 of an hour. That's 36.00 an hour. Add taxes you aren't paying to earn that 36.00 and you have to make 43.20 an hour to spend that 36.00.
Food for thought.


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Jane

Monday Madness

it's catch up day here, I have been sick all week. I'll be glad when the doc talk to each other and decide what is wrong with me.

Veggie Chicken Packet.
uses bone in chicken breast. Sometimes I have purchased them for 1.25 a pound.

For EACH packet

2 T instant rice
1chicken breast 1/4, or about 4 punches. ( the size of the palm of your hand.
1/ cup sliced carrot
2onion slices, separate into rings
1/4 cup peppers, sliced thin.
1 T water
1 T w sauce
2tsp sou sauce
1 T butter

Place rice in the center of a 14 inch square piece of foil
Top with chicken and veggies
Mix liquids together
Pour over chicken.
I would cup the edges of the foil first.
Dot with butter.
Fold foil around chicken and seal.
Place n baking pan and bake at 350 for 65-75 minutes or until chicken is done.
Open foil carefully, there will be steam!!!


I know the purists would say that I am filling the landfill, you can use used foil.

It would be a good recipe for a busy day. Even a older child or a culinary challenged spouse could put the packets on pan and get them started in the oven. LOL

You could also use already cooked chicken and shorten the time. Yhen you would just worry about how long the rice and veggies would take to cook. It would really be fast if you used leftover rice, maybe even finely chop the pepper in with it. I have a thing about white food. It needs colour. LOL

There is an earlier post on foil packets. It's a good thing to do when you are working late and you can fix them ahead for someone else to shove in the oven. Kids like the packets...it's like camping.




Vegetarian Noodle dish

1 can diced tomatoes, drained ( save juice for veggie stock! Or freeze in ice cube trays.
1can of tomato purée (tomato paste )
1/3 cup chopped onion
1tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Salt, pepper


2-1/2 cup UMCOOKED noodles
1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese
Spinach, cooked and squeezed dry.
1-3 cup grated cheese.


Combine first group of ingredients in a saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes.
Cook noodles

Layer in baking dish ( like lasagna)

Sauce
Noodles
Cottage cheese
Spinach
Tomato mixture

Repeat ending with grated cheese

bake at 350 20-25 minutes.


A good way to use up the last bits of cottage cheese. Very inexpensive. You could mix the spinach with the cottage cheese and save a step.


I started this blog to help people cook good nutritious meals on a tight budget. it came to my attention that some people on SNAP were running out of money before they ran out of month. we eat on about 1/2 of the USDA statistics for a thrifty plan. It is doable. no, we are not on SNAP. In the process, I have learned that other people that want to get out of the kitchen faster because they have busy lives and people that like trying a new recipe like it as well. It can't help anyone if they are not motivated to try. Not having food in the house at the end of the month should be motivation enough. It doesn't make your child or children feel secure when they know the cupboards are empty.

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Jane

Sunday

we finished our grocery shopping yesterday. I started out just wanting to go to the goodwill. I didn't find anything at the goodwill but two magazines. I like .50 instead of upwards of three dollars. my husband wanted the smoked Gouda that I used up making cheese Strada this week, so we went to grocery outlet and big lots.

Big lots had ice cream comes...just the cone part for 1.30. It was my mothers treat for the grandchildren. I really wanted to share the experience with my grandaughter. What a mess, but she thoroally enjoyed it, and she did eat all of her dinner.

Grocery outlet yielded tomatoes, tortilla chips, grated cheese, seasoned Mexican flavors and radishes.
We had pot roast and roasted root veggies for dinner, carrots, red potatoes and radishes. Radishes are really yummy, they loose their spicy taste!


Pudding is a good desert to add calcium into the diet. boxed puddings are expensive and I am guessing have preservatives and anti caking agents in them.


BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3T cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2T butter
2tsp vanilla

whip cream garnish optional...or a few chopped peanuts....or some cocoanut?

In a saucepan, combine the dry ingredients. Mix.
pour in the milk and stir over medium high heat until thickened and bubbly.
Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes longer.
Remove from heat . Temper the egg yolks into the pudding.
Add the butter and vanilla to the pudding at the end. cool for 15 minutes.

Spoon onto desert dishes and cover and chill.

This could be almost no carbs of you used fake sugar. Or 1/2 and 1-2 if you aren't diabetic.


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Jane

Suddenly Saturday

We went on a shortened shopping trip since the ads weren't that great and I had a doc appointment in the morning.

Albertsons usually are the most expensive store of my four chains. This week they had enough sales to make it worth my while.

They had a choice of three different apples for .88 and you get an additional 1.00 off if you buy a bag. We like apples, it's not hard to use up a bag.

Pot roast was buy one, get one. I bought two. Well have pot roast one night and probably pulled beef sandwiches another unless we have company.

The other one I will cut up for stew.

Pasta sauce was .88, Manwich was .68. Tomatoes were .68. Cheese was 4.99-limit two , several varieties.


I for a BARTELLS flyer on the mail. They have Libby veggies .59 . And the Blue box pasta for a buck. It was 2.19 at Another store. 1.19 savings is HUGE!

having a vegetarian in the house , we use a lot of pasta and sauce. Some nights there is two meals happening and if the second one is not baby friendly, there are three.

I don't usually buy Manwich, but .68 is cheaper than making it from scratch!

you can oven roast potato wedges and have homemade fries. Take a sheet pan with sides. MI use a 1/4 sheet pan I got years ago ar Costco. Spread some olive oil on the pan. Wash the potatoes and cut them into wedges. 1/8ths of they are large. Dry them with a towel. And putnthem on your pan and drizzle olive oil on them. Toss. I usually add some parm and herbs on top. Maybe thyme, rosemary, or parsley in a pinch. one time I found rosemary parm for. .50 at the grocery outlet. it made two batches.

you can do the same thing with any root vegetable you have. Mix your veggies. Carrots, potatoes, rutabagas, parsnips, sweet potatoes, radishes. Any combo that suits your family and your main dish. Radishes take on a whole new flavor!

My easy take on pot roast is to dump it dry into a slow cooker. Cut an onion up on top (rough cut) pour a beer on top. Add broth f needed to come 3/4 of the way up the roast. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. I base the hours on when we want to eat and how early I get my act together. LOL

Serving a salad and a veggie , a starch and a meat means you will eat less meat and also fulfill the 5 -8 servings of fruits and veggies for the day. Sometimes, especially when strawberries are in season, we have strawberries for desert with a little chocolate and whip cream! The strawberries are still a little if fy yet.


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Jane

Friday

I can't believe I have written over 300 posts about food! The chew made a comment on Facebook that the average family pays nine thousand dollars a year on food. That is about a hundred dollars more a week than we spend.
A lot of people commented that they spend less and some spend more. I know that there are some cities in the US that are a lot more expensive to live than others. I certainly found out this weekend that my shopping plan would take some adjusting for the average family that lives n that town. It was a tourist town and I am expecting many people can find a way to go to the next town for provisions one or two times a month. stocking up would take on a whole new urgency. Regardless of your situation, there is something you can take away from this. The amount you use from this blog is up to you.

Veggie Primaverra

Olive oil
1/2 cup each sliced carrots, chopped celery, broccoli, bell peppers
Tomato juice, peas

1 tsp minced garlic
Basil
Salt, pepper
1.5 cups dry bow tie pasta, cooked

In oil in skillet fry carrot, celery, broccoli and peers and garlic
Add tomato juice and peas,small pepper and basil.
Cook until veggies are tender.

Toss sauce into drained bow ties. garnish with parm or Romano.

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Jane

The ads, finally

I finally got the ads, there was no holiday, so I don't know the delay.

TOP

Sirloin steak 2.99

@@denotes coupons on ads

Cheese 4.99@@
Milk 1.99@@

Shredded cheese?.watch the weight.  U want 8 ounces
Dried beans 1.25
Rice  2 lbs 1.99

Strawberries 2 lbs 5
Cucumber .79
2lbs carrots 1.00

Rotisserie chicken 6.00**
QFC

milk 2.50***

Tomatoes.99
Mango .99
Soup 1.00***
Cottage cheese 1.00


Top round roast b1G1. Nets 3.25
Pork shoulder 1.79
80 percent ground beef 2.66***

ALBERTSONS

b1G1 meat sale
Chuck roast or steak 2.75 net
Sirloin steak  3.00 net
Pork loin chops 1.50 net

15 percent beef 2.99
Thurs-Sunday. Cheese 4.99. Limit 2

Canned diced tomatoes .68 limit 6
Pasta sauce .88

SAFEWAYS

Chuck roast 2.99
Country ribs 1.99

5 dollar Fridays
50 cookies 5.00
Sub kit  5.00

Milk 2.59
20 ground beef 3. 49 lb
Sirloin tip 3.99

That's about it for ads.

Now, With calculator on hand I am going to try to break down the ground beef prices.
The calculations depict the amount you are paying for meat.  Remember  you are pouring the fat down the drain.  Better in the house pipes than yours!!!

15 percent fat, Safeways 3.49. Equals 4.02 a pound
Beef chuck roast, ALBERTSONS 2.75
20 percent fat QFC, 3.19
15 percent, TOP 3.45
15 percent ALBERTSONS  3.44

QFC  is cheapest, but ALBERTSONS is a better buy at 2.75 if you grind your own.

Notes. You need to cross off anything that is cheaper elsewhere.  note the discrepancies in prices between stores.  Soup should be .75.  Deli chicken isn't a bargain at any price.

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Jane

Wicked Wednesday

I still have an ear infection and have to open the store this morning, so this will be short.

This is inventory the fridge day. We didn't get the ads yet, so they will come out Tommorrow. Maybe,

Cheese Sandwich Cassarole.  From retro Betty Crocker
grease a bakimg dish and arrange 6 slices of bread
Cover with six slices of sharp cheese
Top with 6 more slices of bread

make a mixture of
2 eggs
2-1/2 cups milk
Salt, pepper, dry mustard

Pour over the "sandwiches", chill in fridge until bread is softened from the egg mixture.

Bake at  350 for an hour.

Serve with a creamed vegetable.

Serves six.

A good way to use up the free bread from the bakery outlet and add another vegetarian meal to your list.  ,  I would temper it with a low fat dinner the next day.  It's all about variety and balanced
moderation.

We tried this tonight.  I put it in the refer for 3 house.  It would have been better if I had covered it with plastic wrap and put it in longer.  I would have turned them over the last ten minutes of cooking and sprinkled them with a little grated cheese.

Not terrible we ate most of a 9X13 pan..three adults.  The baby wasn't impressed! LOL

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Jane

Terrific Tuesday

We have spent the last two days at the beach.  It is spring break, but still off season.  That's  probably why we got such cheap coupons for lodging. LOL.  We have a very nice room with a view, wifi, and a short walk to the beach complete with a little kitchen bar.  I always throw some things in a insulated bag before we go on long trip.  things like cheese, crackers, fruit, some chocolate!  A couple of drinks.  it is really a good thing I did that this time.

.There is one  independent chain grocery store in the town.  They have nothing.  I thought I could at least get a family circle or something to read.  hey had one bottle of non sugar flavored water.  The vegetables looked ready for the dumpster.  I can see where 1/2 price shopping trips would have to be altered to going maybe twice a month to the next town twenty miles away.  Or you would have to carpool with a neighbor and take turns.

There was one reasonable??? Priced place to eat after six o'clock.  It was a fish and chips place.  It cost 40.oo for fish and and chips and I had ice tea and my husband had 1 beer,  it was our anniversary, so we splurged.  I had brought 1/2 a bagel from the free breakfast the night before and we had fruit, ( I can't have a whole bagel on a diabetic diet). breakfast.  we found Subway a few miles into the next small town and got subway for dinner.  Altogether, we spent 68.00 for three days plus some of the food we brought along.

We did stop I'm the next town.  they had the biggest dollar store I have ever seen.  I found a cd crate that I have been using to store CD cases for the business I needed a different colour.  We found cookies and paper towels.  My husband got salami and pepperoni.

That's about all from the road.

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Jane

Warning. Warning warning

I just tried to log on to the non consumer advocate.  It  redirects you to a ugly website that is in Chinese.  It may harm your computer.

Four plus one is five

Four people, one meal, five bucks.

I base my 1/2 price meals on an a typical family of two parents and two school aged kids. I had a budget of fifty dollars a week in the mid nineties when our children were teenagers.  I still maintained a stock.

From what I can gather the typical SNAP allowanceis three hundred a month. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you spend ten dollars a day on dinner, there either is no money left over for breakfast and lunch or you are going to run out of money before you run out of month.  LOL

My goal for this post is to list  20 - 5 dollar dinners.   Assume that if there is  only an entrée listed, you are going to add an appropriate  veggie or a salad and  a starch if needed.  I usually serve a salad and a veggie and a starch with a meat based dinner.

1) tacos with taco meat, lettuce, tomato and cheese. Refried beans salsa and sour cream
2) Spaghetti with meatballs, green salad, hard crusty bread
3) no brainer pasta , French bread, salad
4) Beef, bean and rice burritos
5) sloppy joes, salad or veggie sticks and French fries
6) roast chicken, oven roasted root veggies, salad
7) BBQ chicken legs and thighs, mashed potatoes, green beans
8) chicken pot pie
9) chicken club sandwiches
10) chicken soup
11) pulled pork sandwiches
12) sausage bean soup
13) sausage, eggs, hash browns ,fruit
14) sausage, peppers, red potatoes
15) Pork Loin Roast
16) tomato  basil soup, cheese quesadas.
17) pizza
18) Mac and cheese
19) split pea soup
20) spaghetti with mushrooms, spinach and parm

21) BBq pork sandwiches
22) pork stew

I was reading the family circle magazine.
If you go to  Facebook.com/familycirclemag and push like,there is a free download for twenty minute meal ideas.  remember, if there is an ingredient that makes the recipe too expensive, try to substitute it for something of like flavor and texture.



This is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure you can think of more.


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Jane

Happy Easter, technical difficulties no end

 Happy Easter!!  It is a beautiful day and for once in a long time, the kids can hunt eggs without getting wet!  It's a good time to set the table with Granny's china and crystal and a whole set of implements.  When I was wandering through the goodwill (waiting for my husband to get a haircut next door). I happened on to a display of an Easter table setting.  I couldn't help myself, I had to fix it. Whoever set it up didn't know how to set a table.  I hope those formalities of life don't get lost in our hectic fast paced casual world.

Setting the table special sometimes and adding a splurge ingredient makes groceries on the cheap more doable.  My mother economized a lot, but we never knew it,  We always ate good for the times.
The culture of food has become more global and a lot more healthy since the 50 s in some ways.  We didn't  have the junk food that kids are being bombarded with, but we also didn't have the access to all the fresh food and vegetables that we get today.  All I remember is bananas and green peppers.  When my aunt lived with us we got grapefruit  and oranges.  I still have the scar to prove it....at 9 I wasn't to good with the knife...the grapefruit won! LOL. We had Melmack , pink and turquoise, and aluminum glasses.  my kids informed me that Alf came from Melmack.  LOL

One of our favorites is blue cheese.  I take a box of roasted red pepper and tomato soup and add basil, milk or cream and blue cheese.  I only get the soup when Costco has it.  At Costco it is about two dollars a box.  At the grocery store it is upwards of four dollars.  I make Mac and cheese using whatever is in small supply in the cheese drawer.  I grate all the bits and pieces and mix them together and add some blue cheese.  I make a topping of breadcrumbs, parm, and parsley.  I use the word parm loosely, it's usually parm, Romano, or whatever the hard cheese I get at Costco for 12.00 a wedge.  The wedge lasts a long time.  I use a microplane to grate it.  A little goes a  long way.  Never buy parm in a box!

You don't need every gadget they make in your kitchen.  but there are a few that really make life easier and are budget friendly...that is, they pay for themselves in a short period of time.

The microwave pasta cooker passive cooks pasta , no watched or stired pot, and drains it in the same pot.

A microplane stretches cheese a long way and hides onions from an non onion eater! LOL

A food processor. Grates cheese, makes pizza dough, makes breadcrumbs...hacento you priced the bread crumbs in a box?  Not to mention they are free if you use the bread that would otherwise go to waste.  Makes short work of chopping veggies or making olive spread.  All,cheaper than buying it already prepped.

Remember, if you spend more time on the front end of the get the  meals on the table train and less
time on the back end, you will be better off.  You get paid for shopping, not for cooking.

 If you are on snap, Save up, look at garage and estate sales and the goodwill, let it be known to family and friends that you want a particular item.  You never know.  I have found blenders, and mixer parts free before.  I found a free food processor too, but it didn't have any safety features on it.  that could be penny wise and pound foolish.  Buying used or free has to be tempered with  a large dose of common sense.  I wouldn't buy a mattress used or get one from someone that wasn't a family member.  YUK.  it, most of our wood furniture is second hand either from antique stores or hand me downs.  My grandaughter has a table and chair set from old kindergarten chairs and a table I got at the goodwill for five bucks.
I digress.  This is about food ! LOL

I can't say enough about the virtues of a slow cooker.  there is something remarkable about a appliance that costs 25 bucks and with a couple minutes of work in the morning, you can have the
smell of a home cooked meal waiting for you when you walk in the door.

Next time my other catch phrase. 4+1=5 !

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Jane



Thanks formsto


,

Leftovers and Garbage

I thought that I would talk about leftovers and garbage.  I try really hard not to throw a lot away.  Some garbage is inevitable.  Leftovers can be kept to a minimum by batch cooking meat and portion controlling.  Leftover  dinner usually becomes lunch the next day if there is any.  There are insulated lunch boxes and bowls that are thermal so they keep food hot a long time.At the cost of lunch out,the  cost is more than justified.

Keeping ahead of stock and rotating cans is a little harder.  Most cans have a three to four year shelf life.  Some dry goods are less.  I have a beer box that has been fortified with duct tape for instant mashed potatoes.  I try to put new stock in the back of the box.  Some can goods are not clearly labeled. My mother used to use a grease pencil to label the date she purchased them on top of the can.

There are bags and boxes that are green and keep vegetables fresh longer.  They too are worth the investment.

Chopping more of what you are chopping for a recipe and freezing the rest in a zip lock in the door of the freezer...is a good way to get a head start on soups and pizza.  ...if your freezer is like mine putting it on a shelf would make it lost forever.  He he .

Vegetable scraps can become vegetable broth.  Chicken bones, chicken soup.  Bananas -- banana bread.  Fruit on the edge can become a smoothie.  It take too much fruit to have smoothies very often on a more  than frugal budget.  Cottage cheese can be in lasagna or stuffed shells.  Milk can be pudding or potato soup.  Baked potato soup is really yummy.  Spinach makes pesto. Top a chicken pizza, fill a flank steak with spinach, cheese and roasted red peppers.  ( thanks. Jan) That's about it.

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Jane

Friday Frenzie No. 2

As promised I went to Thriftway at Ballinger.  They advertised eggs for .69 if you  purchased 20 worth of food.  It was very hard to buy twenty dollars worth of food and stay with my target prices.  I found coleslaw for a buck and green beans for 1.69.  They were picking the produce when I was there, something I don't see often at some stores.  I wound up splurging on really good cheese for my husband and some jalapeño bread for myself.  The bread wasn't as good as the bread I get at
TOP's , but TOP doesn't always have it.  And, they didn't give me my eggs for .69.  I had to go back.

The eighty eight cent TV dinners  were 1.19.  Butter was 3.39.  the .78 pasta sauce is 1.49.  The tomatoes I have been finding for .48 were 1.69.  Pasta instead of a 1.00 is 2.19 ( I think that's the change I wrote..over two dollars.  
Needless to day, I don't think I'll be making that trip again.

I did go to the dollar store after that for superglue to fix my shoes.  They didn't have superglue, go figure, but I picked up more French fries.  The quality is fine and a lot less than the sale price of French fries and less than scratch.  They have Ore Ida too.

That's about it.

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Jane

Friday frenzie

I happened on to a new blog.    The "nonconsumeradvocate.com. .  She was talking about living for a specific period of time on what food stamps would be and and donating the savings to the food bank.  

And she goes on about her adventures at the goodwill.  She really has a  sense of humor!  I am not totally of her belief system, but I can  relate to a  lot of it.

  I really don't  want to pay a lot for consumables.  I would rather spend money on something with lasting value.  Especially if it will save me more money.  buying a good set of pans means you never have to buy those again.  Buying some labor and time saving appliances means your quality of life is enhanced.  A good slow cooker will outlast several cheap ones.  money and the environment saved.  we do more than our fair share of goodwill, consignment store and antique store shopping.  lots of times, buying old is the same  price or less and a whole lot better quality.   Real china  far less likely to chip than ironstone or  earthenware.  Now, if you flat  out drop  any dish, even plastic and Corelli, it will break. LOL

And Corelle  will shatter in a zillion pieces...ask me how I know LOL.   I am not, however, willing to use broken pans, or unplug my watch every night to save my dollar store watch battery.  LOL.    most of us could do with a lot less than  we have.  I have been slowly decluttering our house and buying a whole lot less non consumables.  I'm trying to buy only what we really need.  

I purchased a new pair of bedroom curtains at the goodwill.  They we're still in the original box.  they go well with my decor and they were five bucks.  I just had to shop at the goodwill because my husband was getting a haircut next door!  

Now that I have completely gotten off the food subject, I digress.  

I found a "new" store , or rather it found me,  They have. Started putting ads in the small local paper.  

last week, they had no real bargains.  This week they have eggs for 69 if you buy twenty dollars worth of food.  their produce seems cheaper than a lot of other stores and their ice cream  is cheaper I think.    Also, there is a rumor that IGA is going in where Petosas used to be.  I sure hope  so, there are a lot of old folks downtown that relied on Petosas for their food.  

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Jane

I will post Tommorrow  if we shop.  

The meals from the ads

For  anyone new, I usually do meals from the ads. I make my own meal plans after I shop.  Usually I have enough to make a few dinners before I shop.  heck, at this point in time, we could go for several weeks without shopping....no real milk and fresh veggies, but we could survive.  I plan it that way.  I still spend less than the amount we would get for food stamps...like about half.  I make meal palms after shopping, because I have been shopping too many times when either the specials weren't there, they weren't fit to eat, or something was on sale cheaper or better.

Our  formula for variety is
2 beef
2 pork or chicken
2 vegetarian
1 shellfish or fish

Your formula may be different.

I 'll try to go through my thought process.  First, I'm looking at the fridge and dumping anything that might have gotten away from me and making a mental note of what needs to be eaten soon.

I have cottage cheese, some fresh berries, some hard rolls, grapes, carrots and celery and assorted peppers.

Ham is a buck a pound all over.  Pork loin is 1.99.  I'll go with ham.
I have pork loin in the freezer.
Ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans ,salad
Ham quiche , mixed berries


Spaghetti and meatballs **meat from last week , salad, hard rolls (garlic bread)
Meat pizza...ham, hamburger crumbles. Peppers etc, salad

vegetable bean soup
Mac and cheese, glazed carrots

Alaska cod baked with herbs, baked potatoes, green salad --Safeways 5 buck Friday.
notes, by buying in bulk last week when 7 percent ground beef was 2.75 a pound, you saved 1-25 q pound.  By making meatballs last week, you save a good twenty minutes off your dinner time cooking.  The meatballs can be heating in a can of sauce while you make a salad and bread and cook the noodles.  I use a pasta cooker in the microwave, it's soo easy.
Vegetable bean soup is just sausage and bean soup without the sausage done in the crockpot.
That's about it.  None of it is too time consuming.


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Jane

The ads

here are the ads ..mostly Easter entertaining.  

Note pork loin and cheese prices.  

QFC

Ham .99
Strawberries 2/4
Tillamock cheese 5.00***
Radishes .69
Pineapple 2.50

buy 5 save 5

Bread,     ice cream,     nabisco crackers,     morning star "meat"
  1.99.       2.69.              1.79.                            2.99

TOP

ham .97
Eggs 2/3 @@@
Butter 1.77@@@
Strawberries 2 lbs 2.99@@@
Crackers 1.88 ***@@@

Ice cream 2.50@@@@

Pineapple 2.49, blackberries 1.99, blues 2.99. Raspberries 3.99
7 percent ground beef 3.99

Notes.  @@@@ means coupon
**** means watch the prices. Information only!







SAFEWAYS

Ham .99
Pork loin 1.99
Apples .99
Strawberries B1G1

Five dollar Fridays

Shredded cheese 2/5. Watch the weight you want 8 ounce bags
Bumble bee tuna 5/5
Alaskan cod
8 pounds oranges




ALBERTSOMS

Butter 1.88
Pie 2.99
Ham .99
Potatoes 8 lbs 1.28
Strawberries 4 lbs 7,96

Crackers 1.99
Ice cream 3.00
Black berries