List of meals

1. Tuna casserole
2. Chicken chimichangas
3. Leftover chicken chimichangas
4. Shrimp, brown rice, spinach and artichoke salad
5. Pork tenderloin, brown rice, cucumber salad,strawberries and cream
6. Picnic on the deck....strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, carrots, celery, radish, turkey, salami, cheese, crackers.
7. Cinco de mayo party at friends
8. Steak, baked potatoes,mixed veggies,green salad
9. Eggs, hash browns, fruit
10. Sloppy joes, corn on the cob, strawberries
11. Sausage quiche with peppers and cheese, fruit salad....added strawberries from last night.  
12. Hamburgers
13. Fish and chips
14. Hamburgers, potato salad,strawberries, 
15. Eggs with ham, cheese, strawberries, biscuits
16. Fish and chips
17. Went to party
18. Eggs , bacon, fruit, hash browns 
19. Pizza
20. Seafood Pasta
21. Nachos
22. Whole wheat burritos
23. Hot dogs, buns, salad, corn on cob. 
24. Grillers, corn on cob, fruit salad lettuce and tomato
25. Out to dinner
26. Brats and beans
27. Sloppy joes, French fries , salad, strawberry shortcake
28. Tacos
29. Chicken Alfredo, mixed veggies, French bread
30. , 

Day 4

Last night we had shrimp, spinach salad with artichoke hearts, and brown rice.  The shrimp was cooked using a recipe that was floating on  the Internet yesterday.  It's really simple.

My husband  layered in a baking pan.  Melted  butter, sliced lemons, shrimp and Italian seasoning.m bake at 350 for 15 minutes.   My daughter cooked brown rice and. Spinach salad.  

We went to the grocery store.I  got Free eggs and peas, fresh fruit and veggies and a box of tea.  The only non perishable I got was a pork tenderloin on sale.  I still spent 52.00 ! Between  QFC (Kroger ) and Costco.  

The family set up the deck yesterday.   We are supposed to get our summer this next two weeks, so it is the best place "in" the house to be in the evening besides  the basement.    I have been buying perennials instead of annuals a little at a time, so I am not buying flowers every year.  I did buy the herbs that didn't winter.  

We have potato salad, spinach salad, orzo salad , and fruit.  All I have to cook is the roast.  I will do it in the morning, while it is cool .   We will eat on the salads,, adding new ones as we go along and adding an burger etc through the week.  

Orzo stuffed Tomatoes

1/2 box orzo, cooked and well drained.
4  medium tomatoes, slice off tops and spoon out the seeds and pulp, leaving a shell, reserving pulp.
2 ounces cubed ham
1/2 cup shredded cheese
2 ribs celery.chopped
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2'tsp onion powder
Pepper.
Lettuce leaves

Mix cooked orzo , the pulp from the tomato, chopped and well drained.  And the rest of the ingredients except the tomato.  Place the tomatoes each on a lettuce cup.  Fill the tomatoes with orzo filling.

Notes :  you could microplane a little onion instead of using onion powder.  I would be tempted to add some dill, and or parsley.  maybe as an alternative, drop the cheese and use olive oil or Italian dressing instead of the mayo and sour cream and add some fresh herbs.

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4+ one is five
 better cheaper faster
when you're working the meal train spend more time on the front end the less  time of the back end.  You get paid for shopping, not for cooking.


Jane

Suddenly Saturday

it's going to be a great day in the pacific N.W.  I tried to get some of the deck spring cleaned and ready for summer.  Didn't succeed, but maybe my daughter will help me today.  it's going to be nive for the next two weeks, so I would like us to be able to live out there.  it's much cooler in the evenings.

We had leftover chicken chimichangas last night.  My daughter was really late because some mother was really late picking up her child that made my daughter get home at 7:45.   lucky she had packed enough lunch for her daughter to have a good snack.  Her intentions were to go to SAFEWAYS five dollar Fridays, but best laid plans.....

Tuna S.alad

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 T sour cream
4 tsp parsley
12 tsp dill
Pinch thyme
Salt, pepper

2 cans tuna, drained and flaked
4 T minced onion
4 cups baby spinach

Thinly sliced tomatoes for garnish

Mix dressing ingredients.  Mix tuna, and onion.  Serve over spinach with tomatoes as a garnish.
Notes: you could also add sliced celery .  spinach is cheapest at Costco.  Shredded carrots might taste good also.  Maybe some walnuts or cashews.  It needs something to bulk it up.




Broccoli Salad
2cups fresh broccoli florets
2 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1 green onion, sliced
3 tablespoons raisins
 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

 dressing
1/3 cup mayonnaise
4 teaspoons sugar
 2 teaspoons white vinegar
 combine salad ingredients
 combine dressing ingredients



Toss together.

Green Bean Salad

1cup Fresh green beans slightly blanched ,cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 a medium cucumber sliced
1 small red pepper julienned
1/4 cup sliced onion

Toss together.  Dress with ranch dressing.





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4+ one is five
 better cheaper faster

Jane




















In  a bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients
Stir in tuna and onion
Serve over spinach
Garnish with sliced tomatoes of the side.

Notes:  spinach is cheapest at Costco.  Roma tomatoes are cheapest and you get more flesh and less seeds...more bang for your buck.  I might drizzle them with a little olive oil infused with basil.  fresh basil in in the stores with roots.  You can plant it or keep it on fresh water and it will grow.
I might also add celery , chopped.  Or sliced radishes.

Fruit Salad

4 cups romaine
1 pear, diced
1 cup raspberries
Toasted nuts
Dried cranberries

Toss with raspberry vinaigrette


Broccoli Salad

2 cups broccoli florets
2 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1green onion chopped
3 T raisins
1 T sunflower seeds.

Dressing

1/3 cup mayo

Finally Friday

This is the first non shopping day. Suits me fine because I am sick. I should be getting some fruits and veggies, but will try tomorrow.

Yeaterday we had chicken chimichangas with lettuce, salsa, sour cream and jalapeño flavored cheese. ( real cheese)

My daughter got a Trader Joes flyer on the mail. Most of it was far too expensive. the Wisconsin blue cheese sounds interesting at 3.29. As well as the Irish cheese for 6.49 a pound. Irish Breakfast tea is 80 bags for 2.99....
Blackberries, 3.29....

As promised, Chocolate Cream Puffs.

1 cup water
6T butter
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs

FILLING
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 T cocoa

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour and salt all at once. Stir until a ball forms. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Add eggs in one at a time, beating well after each. Beat until smooth. Grease a sheet of foil on a cookie sheet. Drop batter in mounds on sheet. (6). Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. reduce heat to 350 for another. 30 minutes. remove puffs to a wire rack and I,,editable cut a slit in them for the steam to escape.

For filling. Beat cream. Fold in cocoa and sugar. Beat until soft peaks form. Fill cooled puffs.

Makes 6


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Jane

May 1st , Day 1.

Yesterday was the first day of our use up the accumulated stock month. We had tuna noodle casserole and mixed veggies. It will be interesting to see what we have after a month.

It is supposed to be really nice weather in the Pacific Northwest, time to break out the deck furniture and enjoy the sunshine. After all, it might be the last we see....LOL.

Dill Pickle Potato Salad

8 medium sized Potatoes, cooked and chopped. Cool slightly.
6 hard cooked eggs, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
6 green onions, chopped
2 medium dill pickles
1-1/2. Cups mayo
1/4 cup dill pickle juice
4 teaspoons mustard
Salt, pepper

Mix together. Chill.

Grilled Shrimp

1-1/2 pounds shrimp, cleaned
1/2 bunch green onion, diced
1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
2 T lemon juice
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic

Place shrimp in a greased grill basket.
grill shrimp over indirect heat for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp turns pink.
Refrigerate until chilled.
add dressing ingredients in a large plastic bag. Add shrimp. Chill at least 2 hours.

serves 4

Berry Torte
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar.Add egg. Fold in dry ingredients. Spread in a 9 -10 inch circle on parchment lined
cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool.

Filling
Combine
1/4 cup sugar
2tsp confectioners sugar
2tsp cornstarch

Beat 1-1/2 cups whipping cream until soft peak stage.

Assembly

Place cookie crust on a serving plate. Top with 1/2 of the whipped cream and a cup of mixed berries.
Repeat layers twice, ending in berries. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

I have not tested this recipe. You could probably put the filling in a graham cracker crust also, or line a 9x13 pan with a graham cracker crust and fill it. Neater way to take to a picnic!


Next chocolate cream puffs.....

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Jane

Notes

A couple of days ago I took a little trip to the next town ...doing a little snooping to find a perp. No luck.
She is the last one I haven't identified. I really want to get her before she hurts more people.

Anyway, I found a new Grocery store. Walmart Neighborhood Grocery. We went in to chck it out. As a disclaimer I am not particulary fond of Wall mart. I don't like their ways and they cheated me. I really don't appreciate paying for other people's mistakes! LOl

With a open mind, however, we went in to check out the prices. I saw tomatoes for ?78 cents and two hunts pasta sauces for 1.76. Other than that, everything was more expensive than elsewhere.
I did appreciate the fact that the housewares and toys were in the back of the store. Separate from the food.

I did manage to get a romper for my granddaughter and a book for one year olds from the goodwill and a haircut, so all wasn't lost.


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Jane

The ads

The ads....on time for a change

TOP

Roma's .77
Sour cream 1.50
Milk 1.99
Coleslaw .77@@@
Blues B1G1
Apples1.00

QFC

Chicken .89
Yoplait .50
Pasta 1.00
Eggs 1.00
Berries 2.99
Corn 2/1.00

SAFEWAYS
Pork shoulder roast 1.29
Oranges 1.00
London broil 2.99
Sausage B1G1

Five dollar Friday

Salsa
Radishes 2/1.00


ALBERTSONS

Chuck roast 2.75
Corn 6/2.00
Hunts pasta sauce . 88
Ketchup .88
Apples .99
Oranges .99
Strawberries 2/5


Guess that's it. I am only buying perishables this week.
So, ALBERTSONS looks good and the salsa at SAFEWAYS.


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Jane

4+1=5
Better, cheaper, faster.
you get paid for shopping, not for cooking.

one ingredient visited : Ground meat

I am trying to address one food item per week. This week I picked ground meat. it is one of the most versatile sources of protein around-- ground beef, turkey, chicken, and pork. Mix several together for a tasty meatloaf.

I have a hard time with ground poultry. The consistency isn't right for me....when I tried to sneak ground turkey into the taco meat...my husband squawked before it ever touched his lips. LOL

Hamburgers can take on any number of flavors . Teriyaki, Mexican, chili burgers, sloppy joes,beef and bacon,blue cheese. Italian cheese burgers to name a few.

how about Spanish rice? Meatballs, meatloaf, pasta sauce.

Meatballs go in pasta sauce, in sub sandwiches, in brown gravy over noodles. In cream gravy over rice.

the Internet is full of casserole recipes.


I batch cook and defat hamburger. Meat balls can cook in the oven over a cooling rack on a sheet pan.

Taco meat is easy...taco seasoning is on a previous blog.

Defatted crumbles are a no brainier. Use on pizza. In pasta sauce, as a base for sloppy joes or sheaperds pir or impossible cheeseburger pie.

Meatloaf is a Favorite here.

Four plus one is five.
Better, cheaper, faster
remember, you get paid for shopping, not for cooking.



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Jane

Desert ....Yum

if I make desert it is a rare occasion. I usually try to make something nutritious. usually we have ice cream one fruit.

Pudding, creme brûlée and some other deserts are good if your main entre. Doesn't have a lot of protein.

Vanilla Pudding

4T sugar
2 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 egg yolk, beaten
2tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook over medium heat until thick. Cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Temper the egg yolks into the pudding. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute longer. Stir in butter and vanilla. Cool.

Blueberry Peach Muffins

1/4 cup softened butter
1/3 cup sugar
1egg

1-1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp soda
1/2 cup peach yogurt
2/3 cup blueberries
1 tsp grated orange peel

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Combine dry ingredients. Beat dry ingredients into wet batter alternating with the yogurt. Fold in the orange peel and blueberries. Place in muffin tins 3/4 full.
Bake at 375 20-25 minutes or until they test done.
MAKES 8.

Note if you take a little of the flour and dust the blueberries they will more likely to disputes throughout the batter.


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4+1 =5
Better, cheaper, faster
Remember you get paid for shopping, not for cooking.

Jane

Salads.....

We have had a few nice days, I am looking forward to salad time. ....the yard work, not so much. LOL


Salad Dressing

I'm not so are that this is cheaper than the bottle, but probably healthier and you could use vegetable oil.

1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup olive oil
1-1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of pepper
1/ tsp dry mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
1 T parsley

Mix together in a bottle with a tight fitting lid and shake.


Veggies

Carrot
Celery
Cucumber
Cauliflower
Onion
Tomato


Yesterday we had linguine with scallops in a cream sauce with the last of the asparagus.

Today I am cooking a pork roast. I might try the vegetable salad with broccoli instead of cauliflower.


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4+1 =5
better, Cheaper, Faster
you get paid for shopping, not for cooking.

Jane

Suddenly Saturday

Spring has sprung and summer is not far behind....well, maybe in the Pacific Northwest.


One of my time saving and beat the heat tricks for summer is to make salads on Sunday and add a entre each day during the week. It doesn't cover the entire work week, but it gets us through to mid week anyway. That way I don't have to cook in the hot kitchen. The entre can be BBQ d outside.

Potato Salad

2.5 pounds red potatoes
1 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup red peppers, chopped
2 hard cooked eggs, chopped
1 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
Salt and pepper.

cook and cool potatoes, cut into quarters
Add chopped veggies

Mix dressing ingredients .

Dress the salad.

Serves 8


Shrimp pasta salad

4cups cooked pasta shells, chilled

1 pound shrimp, cleaned and cut into thirds

1 cup frozen peas
1 bunch green onions, cleaned and sliced
1T dried parsley
1 small carton lemon yogurt
1 cup mayo
Salt and pepper

Mix ingredients together.


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Four plus one is five
Better, cheaper, faster
You get paid for shopping , not for cooking.

Jane

Wolves in sheep's clothing

Something I saw on another blog reminded me of when My daughter and I dissected a hamburger meal box. I don't quite understand why if the government made Nabisco change the name of their vanilla wafers because they had no vanilla in them, why there can be products with the name "cheese " in them when they have no cheese.

I have become a label reader. I buy few convenience foods because they jack up the price of food. I read labels because I am diabetic and I am really careful about how many carbs I ingest. There are hidden carbs in just about everything. I am leery of anything that has ingredients that sound like they should belong in a science lab.

Cheese whey is the byproduct of making cheese. After they take the solids and fat out of milk, it is what is left. It is good food, and has protein in it, but it is NOT CHEESE.

I never met a cheese I didn't like, and I never met a cheese than had no cholesterol.

I do keep a couple of mixes on the boat for emergency rations. I did get a hamburger meal box with real processed cheese. It is not something we generally use, but I got them for a buck and on the boat, you have to have emergency rations in case you get stuck with no food access. I have been known to add kidney beans to cheeseburger macaroni.
Not great, but better than nothing?!LOL

I am not doing any serious grocery shopping. I do have a WinCo coupon, so I am very tempted. I usually get about 6o percent savings. The first of May we are going to try an experiment and live from the stock on hand only adding perishables and a minimal amount of anything else. I want to see how far I can go. I am leery of paring down too far, the prices on some things are rising. I have averaged spending 70.00 a week and our stock is growing. It is time.

I made a formula for meal plans for our family. Your plan may be different.I am working with a daughter that is vegetarian , a grandaughter that only eats chicken, and a husband that doesn't like pork or chicken. I have resorted to cooking a variety of meals so that we are balanced.




2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish or shellfish

1) Nachos
2) pasta with meatballs
3) pork roast
4) sausage , potatoes and peppers
5) loaded tomato soup, quesadas
6) vegetable bean soup
7) scallops

Scallops were on five dollar Friday.
Vegetable bean soup is on another blog --easy and cheap to balance the scallops.
Roasted red pepper and tomato soup loaded with tomatoes, blue cheese and basil. ( basic soup about 2 dollars at Costco.
Sausage was 2.28, peppers .50 at grocery outlet
Burger batch cooked, 2.75 a pound that was on B1G1 at Safeway.
pork Roast 1.79 a pound at QFC last week.

All of these meals average less than five dollars a meal.

Four plus one is five.
better, cheaper, faster
You get paid for shopping, not cooking!


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Jane

The gist of it

Every month I write about the basics of groceries on the cheap for anyone that wants a refresher or for new people.

I feed our family on 1/2 of the USDA stats for thrifty food. I have done it for years and was in the Woman's Day years ago when my children were teens.

1/2 price cooking takes a three-pronged approach.

1) plan and organize
2) shopping
3) scratch cooking


PLAN AND ORGANIZE

1) develop your own recipe book of main dishes that use an inexpensive form of protein. Start with seven, and increase it to fourteen so you have some variety. For us that protein would be cheese, pork. Chicken, some cuts of beef, beans.

2) make a list of staples that you use often. For us that would be beans, some green beans and corn, pasta, pasta sauce, diced tomatoes. Some tuna, instant mashed potatoes, refried beans.

3) create a price book or a spread sheet on these products. You should have ten or fifteen items max.

Note the item and the size of the package, the place you bought it,the price and the date. Pretty soon you will have a good idea of the lowest rock bottom price of that item. When you find that price buy
A) as many as you can afford to buy
B) as many as the store will let you buy. Or
C) as many as you need to replenish your stock, whichever comes first.



SHOPPING

This is not about hoarding. If I use something Once a week, I keep 24. once a month , I keep 6. I keep one ahead of things like mustard, catsup, mayo etc. I don't want to run to the store when I run out.

When the grocery ads for the chain stores come out. I sit down with a piece of computer paper, divide it in fourths and head each fourth with the name of a chain store nearby. I go through the ads and write down everything that is on sale that is on my target list, and any fruit, veggie, or perishable we eat and any meat that is a good price. Then I cross off anything that is more expensive than elsewhere and anything I don't need. Now pick The two stores that have the best buys on what you need. Plan your trip so you use the least gas. Take your list, get in , and get out. The longer you spend in a store, the more you will spend. Avoid impulse buys. be sure and take the ads with you. .

We have several stores clustered together. I can incorporate the dollar store,the pharmacy, and maybe big lots or
Grocery outlet in the same trip. I almost always hit the two chain stores. If it is convenient, I hit others,
there are certain things that we buy at the alternative stores, and we can get in and out quickly. If we are short on time, we divide and conquer. We hit Costco, the bakery outlet and WinCo once every four to six weeks.

Costco is close by so we can hit it when we are running out of things. The others are several towns away, so they are on a longer cycle.

We seldom spend more than an hour or so shopping a week.
1/2 price foods leaves no room for a lot of snack foods, pop, chips, etc.

After your shopping trip, jot down seven meals. Just the main dish, nothing time consuming or fancy, I do this after because sometimes while shopping you find something real l y cheap or what you planned to buy is not good.

SCRATCH COOKING
Ready made foods are a sure way to bust your budget! It doesn't take a lot of time to cook from scratch. There are all kinds of tricks to make your time in the kitchen short.

1) batch cook
2) marathon cook
3) stair step cooking
4) slow cooker or pressure cooking
5) cooking fast foods

Marathon cooking is cooking a months worth of foods in a weekend. Shop one day and cook the next. I went to a class on it years ago. I don't have the stamina for it, and we enjoy fresh fruits and veggies. There are books on it.

Batch cooking works for me. I buy meat when it is the lowest price. It is hard to judge the ever skyrocketing costs of beef, but chicken and pork aren't bad. Usually, I find one meat a week. I cook it that day, or the next day.
Portion it into meal sized packages and freeze. I get good hamburger when it is B1G1 and do the whole thing. It creates less waste and less clean up. I can spend the time to defat it. Defatting hamburger can make it have less fat than boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Directions are on an earlier blog. I make hamburger crumbles, taco meat, meatballs, meatloaf. Sausage is cheapest at Costco , I fry it and defat it as soon as I get it home.

I also make my own taco seasoning, and other mixes. Another way to jack up food prices.

Stair step cooking is cooking a double batch of something and saving some for later in the week. A double batch of rice can be for Mexican rice one day and the base for sweet and sour pork or chicken or beef tips another.

Slow cookers are your best friend in the kitchen. I loved coming home to the smell of dinner when I walked in the door after a long day! I still love the concept, I just don't have a sense of smell! LOL

I have a recipe on the blog for almost FREE pizza!

I want to be in and out of the kitchen in about twenty minutes not including passive cooking. Love it when I can shove something in an oven or slow cooker and walk away to do mail management or wash a load of clothes etc.

In the summer when our east facing kitchen gets hot, ( did I say that in the Pacific NW)I like to make a bunch of salads on Sunday and then cook hot dogs, hamburgers, or chicken on the grill. salads last well into the week.
EASY and my husband does the grilling!!!

The main thing is to not buy anything ready made. A few things are as cheap or cheaper to buy ready made.
I buy tortillas on sale. Ditto refried beans, instant mashed potatoes, pasta sauce (Hunts ) or another can that I found at WinCo. I buy bread and sandwich rolls at the bakery outlet unless I find them cheaper somewhere else.

DELI chicken and Hamburger Meal boxes are about the most expensive items in the store. ...well maybe not if you shop at whole paycheck type stores. LOL My daughter and I thorally investigated hamburger meal box. it's on a blog last summer-- it's a real eye opener. Deli chicken is another topic.

My manta. Better, cheaper, faster!

If you spend more time on the front end of the GET A MEAL ON THE TABLE TRAIN, and less on the back end, you will be better off. You get PAID for shopping, you don't get paid for cooking.

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Jane

The ads

Here are the ads. I actually got them on time!?!!!

QFC

Breyers 1/2 off
Strawberries 2/4
Franz bread 1/2 off
Hebrew national 2/7
Fuji apples 1.00
Pears 1.00

ALBERTSOMS

beef top roumd 1.99
27 percent ground beef 1.99
Lettuce 1.00

Cheese 4.99@@@
Fryers .79. Limit 2 @@@
5# potatoes .79@@@

Veggie sale 1.00
Oranges
Peppers ea
Tomato
Zucchini
Avocados. Ea
Apples
Romaine ea
Cucumbers 1.00 ea
Slaw. Ea


TOP

20 percent beef 1.99
10 percent 4.00
7 percent 4.00

Beans 15/10
Cucumbers .79
Broccoli 1.00

SAFEWAYS

Potroast 2.99
Strawberries 1.99
Apples .99

5 dollar Friday
Brats


That's about all.

Notes. Remember to cross off anything you don't want or use. Or anything that is more expensive, remember, to compare ground beef prices, multiply the price by 1.XX. XX is the percentage of fat. Make it a double digit. 7 percent is .07. Then compare the prices.

@@@ denotes bring store coupon. This product may be rationed.



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Jane

Apples.....and plums!

Apples are one of the foods that don't seem to be effected by the rising food prices.

German Apple Cake

3 eggs
2 Cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

4 cups peeled chopped tart apples

Beat eggs, sugar, oil and. Vanilla
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones.
Fold on apples.
Pour into greased 9X13 pan.
Bake at 350 -55-60 minutes or until
It tests done.


Notes. I would use fake sugar to reduce the calories and make it more diabetic friendly.

German Plum Tart

1/2 cup butter
4T sugar, divided
1egg yolk
1cup flour
2 pounds plums

Ceeam butter and 3 T sugar. Beat in egg yolk. Add flour until mixture forms a soft dough.
Press in bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate,
Arrange plum 1/2s cut side down in plate on top of crust. Sprinkle with remaining sugar
Bake at 350 25-45 minutes until crust is golden brown and fruit is tender.


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Jane

Monday Madness

Yesterday I went to the goodwill. Not much there. My husband got a call from family that needed his truck to move a spring and mattress. As luck would have it, I foumd an estate sale down the street from family. I got books,a plate and a swing for my grandaughter and a dozen Taste of Homes for 7 bucks.

We, then went to the rest of our planned trip. I got the supply I needed and we checked out big lots,..zero and went on to grocery outlet. I have to applaud grocery outlet for designating a parking spot for veterans. We got a few things. I got peppers for .50 and parm cheese and seasoned grated cheese. It really perks up Mac and cheese.
Peppers on a large can were 1.29.

I usually do a blog on the ads, and meals from the ads. Once a month I do the basics. I thought I would start and take a food item and explore ideas of what you can do with it.


Ham cubes are inexpensive. A bag will last three meals.
Sometimes I can find them at grocery outlet, but I found them at WinCo last week.

You can...use them in...

omlettes
Quiche with cheese
Split pea soup with carrot
Potato soup with ham
Pizza with pineapple and spinach
In Cobb or club salad

I found a recipe for pasta .

1 pound linguini, or spaghetti.
Ham cubes
1 T butter
2 cups frozen peas
1-1/2 cups parm or Romano
1/3 cup milk or cream


Cook the pasta and drain.

On a skillet, sauté ham in butter. Add peas and heat through. Toss with drained pasta. Add parm and cream.
Serve immediately.

Notes.
This would be good with artichokes too. Blanched celery would stretch it. The microwave pasta cooker would make it really fast. Passive cooking time means you can get a salad made and the table ser and still have time for another chore before you put things together.

I made rice pudding yesterday from a recipe I saw on Facebook. It was really food. I think it is better warm than cool. Really easy and mostly passive cooking.



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Jane

Sunday Dinner

since the pork I bought has a May 10th pull date, we are going to have the chicken first. I plan to roast it off in my " new" kitchen....well I now have ceiling lights and lights in the oven. My kitchen aid lights are not available off the shelf. . They have to be ordered and take a full 10 days to get here. heads upnfor anyone with a fairly new kitchenaid wall oven. They are also 8 dollars EACH. it wouldn't be a bad idea to order them ahead so you have a spare and didn't have to go without like I did. Of course not having ceiling lights didn't help! LOL


Tuna Sub sandwiches

Sub sandwich bums

Garlic oil
2 cans albacore tuna, drained.
Sliced red onion rings
Sliced hot pepper rings
Chopped artichoke hearts
Capers, rinsed
Black olives
White cheese

Slice Buns lengthwise
Pull some bread out of the center of the bun. Reserve for breadcrumbs.
Brush both sides of buns with oil.
Stuff the bread with the remaining ingredients
put top on bread loaf.

Note: tuna is on sale at Bartells for 1.19. if onions are too sharp in taste, soak them in ice water.
Roasted red peppers could be substituted for the hot peppers

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Jane

Best Laid plans number one!!!!

I had no intention on going shopping today. my sister sent me her coupon for WinCo. Ten dollars off of fifty dollars worth of food. We started to go and the car wouldn't run. My husband took it to our local repairman and he had it running in five minutes, so off we went again. We drove to Everett, shopped and got back and put things away in plenty of time for my doc appointment-like in an hour and ten minutes. I spent a net of 36.00. I didn't count my husbands beef jerkey meat he shares with friends. After the doctors, I went to QFC ans got a pork loin for 1.69 a pound and a chicken for .89 a pound. They wanted more for leg quarters at WinCo than the .88 for a whole chicken at QFC.

I will give my daughter the other WinCo coupon to use. Ill try to start using pantry and freezer down next week.


Meals from the shopping trip and the pantry.

Formuls

2 beef
2 pork. Chicken
2 vegetarian
1 fish


1) Ham quiche , mixed berry compote.
2) roast chicken
3) salmon,
4) tacos
5) sliders
6) split pea soup
7) Mac and cheese

I have apples, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, grapes
Radishes, broccoli, lettuce, romaine, red potatoes, reg potatoes
Carrots, celery, cucumbers, asparagus, lemons tomatoes

Regular canned foods and frozen foods.

I have green veggie boxes. They keep veggies fresher longer so everything gets used up and you reuse the plastics over and over.

Friday

It's finally Friday.

I purchased a bisquick cookbook at work for a buck and a Rachel Ray one for .75. They are like new. I have a lot of cookbooks. This particular one tells of the history behind bisquick. My mother didn't use bisquick until we were grown and I taught her what chicken pot pie was. LOL. Bisquickmcame to be in 1931 when a salesman for General Mills discovered that a cook on a train had put some ingredients together so that he could make biscuits faster.m He brought the concept back to the Chemists at General Mills. Over the years they have perfected it to be more healthy.
I have a recipe for home made , but it calls for shortening.m I don't know if they have a healthy alternative for that yet or not. I haven't used shortening in years.
Bisquick is pretty cheap at Costco. My family loves impossible pie and it is easy and quick and uses bits of veggies and meat.

This particular cookbook was published in 2008. It has the basics of waffles, pancakes, biscuits etc, but it also has some innovative things like breakfast pinwheels, cobblers, banana blueberry bread (another one of our favorites and healthy too.) Main dish chicken dishes and lots more.m You can also find recipes on Betty Crocker web site.

30 minute weeknight dinners is a chapter I am going to explore. I would bet that I can get them down to 20 minutes with already preped meat.

There is a section for the fat police! LOL
Turkey cheeseburger melts, vegetable stew etc.



my mantra: If you spend more time on the front end of the "get a meal on the table train" and less time on the back end you will be better off. Essentially, you are being paid for shopping, not for cooking.

This week, I don't have to shop at all. I will take inventory of the perishables and maybe hit the fresh veggie market after I make meal plans up from the meat in the freezer. it's about time we pared it down to defrost it.
I think I'll make a game to seemhowmfarmwemcan go with what's in the freezer. It should show a truer picture of how much the food we eat costs. I know that I have a large stock at the moment spending about 70.00 a week average.

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Jane

Feed your family better, cheaper, faster.

Thursday Thursday

This should be fun. I just found the dictation button on my reader that I got for free because my other one quit.

Breakfast Casserole

1 pound cooked and defatted sausage , set out to room temperature.
2tsp onion powder.

10 large eggs
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
half a teaspoon of pepper
One teaspoon minced garlic

one loaf day old country white bread ,cut into 1.5 inch cubes (about 12 cups )
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Add onion powder to cooked sausage that has been crumbled.
Whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper and garlic powder in large bowl.
Add sausage mixture and remaining ingredients. stir.

Butter a 9X13 pan. Empty bowl into prepared pan. refrigerate one hour or overnight covered with foil.
Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes still covered.
Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes until done and browned.

A quick pre made breakfast. Actual prep time is a minimum. The rest is passive cooking. I would serve it with a fruit compote and a muffin.

If you don't eat pork, or are on a restricted diet, you could substitute egg beaters and turkey sausage. it would be interesting to know the difference between the fat content between defatted pork sausage and turkey sausage.


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Jane


Ps. 1/2 cup of turkey sausage has 4 grams of fat.
1/2 cup of pork sausage defatted has less than 10 grams of fat to the best of my calculations.
I serving of the casserole has 2 ounces of meat, or about 5 grams of fat. 1gram more than if you had a turkey sausage patty . 1pound of sausage is quite generous. You could cut it o 3/4 of a pound .