Terrific Tuesday

Another beautiful day in the Pacific  NW.  Last night , and today, we were having Internet issues.  I fixed pigs in blankets, potato salad, and fruit salad.  The pic I was trying to cut and paste just magically appeared and disappeared.  I swear our computers are possessed this week.  Tonight I am bringing a salad to a potluck.  I am going to carry out meal plans well into the next week.  Because of the extreme circumstances this past week, we have an abundance of food.  Flexibility is key when you are trying for meals on the cheap.  Taking advantage of any deals you can find, and recognizing when a deal comes along stretches your bucks a lot.

I found skillet dinners with the ALBERTSONS double coupons for .49.  The difference between these and the other box dinner is the second ingredient in this box dinner is CHEESE.  the second ingredient in the other box is cornstarch!  Somehow, I would rather eat cheese than cornstarch.  !

A good thing to learn when trying to shop on the cheap is how to read the ingredient chart and nutrition chart on the back/side of packages.  I do realize that a processed cheese is what a lot of people, including me generally won't touch with a ten foot pole.  But, I also realize that sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.  the kids love it, and it is better nutrition than the alternative box.  The price and convenience for the price makes it a good emergency ration.  that makes dinner less than a buck even when you add a veggie plus some lrft over meat.

The ingredients in a package are usually on the side of the package.  They are listed by volume.  the more of something that is in the package, the higher it is on the list of ingredients.  Sometimes, I break down what is in the package to either figure out how to make it myself, or price it so I know how close to scratch it comes cost and nutrition-wise.  Some  things  are just a joke!  

Nutrition charts can be a real eye opener.  If you are counting carbs , deduct the fiber from the carbs.  If you are counting sugar, deduct alcohol sugars.
if something is labeled cheese , and it has no cholesterol, it's a problem.  LOL. Check the fat, salt and sugar.

For the most part, making something from scratch is better, cheaper, and faster. There are a few things lately, that because of the drought on prices, ready made is cheaper.  Anything on moderation.

Your main object is to get to the end of the month with food in the pantry after serving your family good, nutritious food all month.  It is doable and can be fun if you make a game out of it.  let the kids if they are old enough hunt for coupons and sales to find their healthy snacks for almost free.  An older child can analyze the grocery ads and help with dinner.  Setting and attaining goals is a good life lesson.  It builds self esteem.  Having food in the pantry at the end of the month gives a child and yourself a sense of security.

Ah, back to trying to fix the computer!


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Jane








 

Monday Madness

Today, my daughter and I went to the dollar store and I got the Sunday paper.  ALBERTSONS has coupons for double coupons.  Three per residence and one per transaction.  Coupon connections has some coupon scenarios , but most of them don't appeal to me.   I don't know if I am going to try today that game tomorrow or not.  it would be fun to pull off an extreme couponing, but with real food.

Dinner was sweet and sour pork, the picture is on my Facebook group.  I have yet to figure out how to add a picture to the blog.  I did it, but it erased itself.  LOL.   Can you tell that's am tech challenged.

There is a extrememcouponers couponing class at the church of the open bible in Edmonds on the morning of the 27th.  My daughter and I are planning on going.  I am always trying to learn something new.

OK, extreme couponing.  The gal tendered all transactions in the same order.  I got ice cream topping, mixed berries Ill save for the dead of winter for .39.  I got two cheesy skillet meals for .49 each.  they have real cheese in them and probably .50 worth of pasta.  Coupons 6.55.  My husband bought beef jerked meat BOGO and I just about covered  the cost with coupons.  !

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Jane

Sunday Notes

Since  we went to the alternative stores and really stocked because I only go about every month to six weeks.  I am still only over budget 30 dollars for the month which is a really attainable save.  It all averages out.  The object of groceries on the cheap is to pay rock bottom prices for your food.  Never pay full price.

 When we were at grocery outlet I found applesauce for 4/1.00.  my husband, the doubting Thomas, thankfully, remembered to check the pull date.  They had expired months ago.  Always remember to check the pull date.  They had some really good chicken sausage too, but that pull date I checked.  They needed to be eaten that day.  I didn't feel like eating chicken sausage that close to the pull date.  They would probably been ok, but I was chicken!!!! Pardon the pun!!!!  Pull  dates are important no matter what store you go to.  We have found expired dates at many stores.  One time, I bought a pork tenderloin at QFC.  The date on the outside of the package was current, the date on the inside of the package was six months or so old.  Needless to say, I took it back.

A project I want to do is to figure out how to track a small list of staple items to see if I can reveal the sale cycles for our part of the country.  I have heard some people say 6-8 weeks and some 8-12.  It is important because you want to stock as many as you need to last you until they go on sale again.  I would want to add a few more for a cushion.  As it is now, I am keeping six months supply.  Should be keeping a book again.  I  stopped when I committed the rock bottom prices to memory.

Chicken
Diced tomatoes
Canned beans
Pasta
Pasta sauce

Most of these items have a huge spread between the shelf price and the rock bottom price.  The difference between buying on the cheap and buying off the shelf is about two weeks worth of food for....wait for it.....FREE.  I really like that word FREE.  It is a especially nice word if you are on a tight budget.  To me, if I can buy our food, the same food I would buy any other time, for 1/2 price, it affords us a better quality of life.  We can afford to do things that we couldn't ordinarily do.
we are retired.  To others, it is a matter of survival.  Been  there, done that too.  !!!  A lot of people have, how many college stories have you heard!!!!

Meals for the week

1. Sausage and shrimp packets
2. Buffalo chicken pizza, salad , strawberry shortcake 
3. Mac and cheese and crab
4. Sweet and sour pork with rice 
5. Clam chowder, homemade bread sticks 
6. Roast chicken, zucchini with tomatoes, mashed potatoes, salad
7. Salad, ( potluck with friends) 

Chicken was a buck a pound, natural, no antibiotics, nw grown

Sausage was BOGO, and I had a dollar coupon.  

Cheese was 2.19 at Costco wholesale.  

Pork was on sale as steaks at SAFEWAYS.  

Clams were in the pantry and need to be used up.  

By buying a bulk amount of meat  on sale each week and 

Batch cooking it, you can rotate the meat out so you have variety 

And still pay a rock bottom price.  It saves time and money.  

Even of you are not into cooking on the cheap, there are ideas that can make your life easier.  Many of us have a hectic time at the dinner hour.  

or, if you are like me, I'm tired by then.  Our schedule puts dinner at past 7 o'clock.  Batch cooking means I can make dinner in 15 or 20 minutes and have time to give the baby a bath!  Such fun times, she loves the water!   

I digress

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Jane

Big lots alert

Big lots I'm shoreline is twenty per cent off. Store closing.  The stock is dwindling fast.  Tomorrow all stores are twenty percent off, and the shoreline store will be 36 percent off.    I usually get tomatoes when they are twenty percent off.  I got the baby her fruit cups for her lunches.  A buck is a Buck.  I found two pizza crusts for 2.40 complete with the sauce, extra large chicken noodle soup for .75 and corn for .27.    

New ways with chicken

Chicken with orzo and beans

1cup uncooked orzo
1pound chicken cubes
Olive oil
Garlic
2 - 14 oz  cans  diced tomatoes
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
1.5 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt
1 package frozen broccoli chopped, or 1 broccoli bunch, cut up.

Cook orzo according to package directions.
Sauté garlic in olive oil. Add tomatoes, beans, seasonings and broccoli.
Simmer slightly.  Add cooked chicken and drained orzo.  Heat through.  Stir gently.
Note.  If orzo is not available you could use broken spaghetti.  Orzo is cooked easily on a pasta cooker.  My daughter got  one from Big Lots for 5 bucks.

Buffalo  chicken pizza

Make  pizza dough , flatten in pan and pre cook crust or use pre made crusts.
Place 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken in bowl.  Add 2T melted butter and Tabasco sauce to taste.
Toss.
Spread blue cheese or ranch dressing over crust.  Top with chicken mixture.  Sprinkle with cheddar and/ or mozzarella cheeses.  Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes.  Let rest to cool the cheese about 5 minutes.  

Cost:
Crust 1.20----or .30 if you make it yourself.
Chicken .50.  -1/2 lb at 1.00 a pound
Blue cheese dressing  1/4 of a bottle .25
Cheese 1 cup equals 4 ounces at 2.18 is .55

Total 2.40.
Add a salad and you are still well under a five buck meal.
Note when I cost out a recipe, anything that is under a couple of tablespoons is not counted.  I'm talking figuring our how much a teaspoon of butter costs.  I do count the staples in my total food bills.


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Jane

And your food has what in it?

I'm confused, I'm irritated, I'm full up to my eyeballs of people telling us that this, that and the other thing is bad for us.  If we believed  every unscientific study and persons opinion on food, we wouldn't eat anything and the things that we ate would be on such short supply, most of us could not afford  them.

• Don't drink diet cola
• Don't eat fish
• Don't eat chicken
• Don't eat pork
• Don't eat beef
• Don't  eat soy beans, they are chemically engineered
• Don't drink coffee, drink coffee
• Don't eat vegetables unless their organic
• Wait, bananas are a waste to buy organic
• Don't eat apple sauce, it has arsenic in it
• Don't eat tuna, it has lead in it
• Don't eat preserved meats.  
• Don't drink milk. , wait, drink milk, but it doesn't build bones like we always thought 
• Don't eat eggs
• Don't use aluminum foil
• There is plastic in McDonald's food.  
• Don't drink water out of a plastic bottle, don't drink tap water, 
• Don't eat food packed in plastic , cooked in plastic, or packed on a tin can. 

For every opinion, someone has a different one.  I, for  one, am discusted, confused, and sick and tired of people telling me every two minutes that something more is bad for us.  Most of the time, there is no scientific research to back them up and they change their mind weekly.  

The USDA has  a lot of intelligent people working to see that we have safe food.  It probably is true that too much of any one thing can hurt you, we all need balance in our lives.  I can totally understand the concern that we are feeding our children too much refined sugar and salt.  It is hidden on all kinds of things.   Sugar and carbs and salt are a necessary nutrient in our diets--in moderation.  A thrifty diet can still  manage salt and sugar intake.  A thrifty meal plan can also afford a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Wash your fruits and vegetables, peel them if it makes sense.  Eat a wide variety of them.  Defat  your meat and use the leanest meat you can afford.  A three to four ounce portion is enough.

I think what I am saying is that I am going to do what makes sense to me to provide a balanced diet for our family.  If  I can reduce our sugar, salt, and fat content, I will.  But I am not going to react to every sensationalist put there that believes every study, scientific or not about our food supply.

I remember years ago when the city wanted to put a high priced day care in a building and eliminate the no frills affordable one.  The children were getting the same education.  They colored on the back side of used computer paper.  They still colored.  I remembered telling the city council that we would all like to drive sports cars and live on mansions with servants, but the reality is that  most of cant afford them.  A fancy day care is nice, but it will do people no good if it costs more than they earn.
Ahh...reality strikes again.


Enough of a soapbox.

I am trying to teach people how to stretch a buck, because I know how.  Because some people either want or need to.  The interest rates are going up and we are getting a little more interest on our money, but getting your food for 1/2 price is like getting 50 percent interest.  I think I can safely predict that the bank is not going to give us 50 percent on our money in my lifetime.  ! LOL

I am also trying to make it believable in this day and age of soccer practice, dance lessons, work and managing a home .  We all have busy schedules.  It breaks my heart when I hear of children eating corn and watermelon for dinner...can we see pure sugar!   Or top ramen and potato chips.  It is totally doable on food stamps to eat a well balanced diet of good, regular food.  it just takes some food management skills and some effort.

Whether you read my blog to hear me rant and rave....LOL or to get a more efficient way to cook meals, or a new recipe, or you just want to save money, I hope you are getting something  out of this and that you will share so I have a better chance of reaching people that want or need to save money on food.


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Jane

Friday meal plans and coupon matchups.,

Dinner.  My daughter made dinner in a flash.  She had macaroni already cooked.  Added a recipe starter, some milk and sour cream  and topped it with cheese and parsley.  Total about a buck OOP.
Several,dinners/lunches on that buck!  

Recipe starter is 2.59 cents at SAFEWAYS.  It is 2/1.00 at Dollar Tree.  I would not pay 2.59 because I could  make it from scratch cheaper.  At .50, it's hardly worth the time, a good in dinner in a pinch, and all on the cheap!

SAFEWAYS had a lot of meat on sale .  A lot of ready- made, not usually the kind of thing  I buy. But as predicted, ready made beef is cheaper than scratch-- at least with a coupon.  I got sloppy joe filling for .67 with a coupon.  That's two sandwiches  for .67 .  French fries are cheaper at the dollar store than they were at QFC on sale-- a little bit, not much. Buns  were 8/1.00.  That makes dinner
2.98 plus some vegetable sticks or fruit-- and almost no effort.

Lloyd's BBQ Beef was on coupon for 3.99 from 4.99.  Add another manufacturers coupon for a buck and it was 2.99.  Probably enough to fill 8 buns.  2.99 plus 1.00 for buns makes 3.99 for 8 servings or .50 a serving.  Add a starch and a vegetable.  Cucumbers were .69 at QFC.  Add a mixed vegetable salad.  About a buck a plate.

I bought a chicken at QFC for a buck a pound and a tray of pork steaks at SAFEWAYS.  Sometimes it helps to look at the meat and break it down as to how many meals you can get out of the package.
Think out of the box.  Just because the meat is in steak form, doesn't mean you can't make BBQ skewers out of it, or pork cubes to use in foil packages.   Or braised over rice for sweet and sour pork.
Almost any recipe you have for chicken can be used for pork.  How about cubed small to add to a bean and rice burrito?

My granddaughter has found she really likes chicken quesida .  Does anyone know how to make a good chicken quesida?

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Jane

Friday shopping.

Part of my friday shopping happened yesterday. We have crazy schedules this week.  Thursday is not a good day to grocery shop.  The ads start on Wednesday,mand the items on sale are picked down and not restocked.  QFC was out of sour cream and butter.mmthey found me butter and gave me Darigold instead of Kroger sour cream.  I had to ask.  I was buying daring old in bulk from Costco. It  has a long fridge life, but we weren't using it all up.m I need to make an attempt to incorporate it into some other recipes.  Sometimes I make a list of things we can make to use up the last of a product.  You can always google it  on Betty Crocker and  see what pops up.  For now, I have been getting it really cheap in smaller quantities.

I got some fruits and veggies on sale.  Cucumbers were .69 and they were large.  Peaches were reasonable as was a raw, whole chicken.  Meat is a better  buy at SAFEWAYS and I have coupons to match up.  Tuna is .69 and we are running low.  I don't stock a lot of canned meat and fish because it has a shorter shelf  life than canned veggies.

Guess that is all.  I'll repost if  I see any great unadvertised specials at safeways.

Big Lots at Shoreline  is closing.mjust a FYI.

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Jane

Thursday and the ads

Last night we had foil pouches for dinner. I sprayed the foil with cooking spray, sliced a couple small red potatoes, some sausage, shrimp, red and yellow peppers and topped it with some fresh spinach. I gave the potatoes a once over with olive oil. My husband put them on the grill. While he was cooking dinner, I finished a loaf of refrigerator bread. It didn't rise as well as I would have expected. Not having a lot of experience with bread, I'm not sure about what could have gone wrong. Or if it is just the nature of artisan bread. I suspect that a no knead bread doesn't rise the same. It tasted good anyway. We had a strawberry rhubarb dump cake for desert. The baby opted for "wow, wow, wow, Mac and cheese". Her words!!LOL

On to the ads...

I checked out coupon connections. There are a few good match ups.

ALBERTSONS
Top Round 2.19**
Blues 4.99
Strawberries 2/5
Buy 10 mega
Pasta .70**
Kellogg's cereal 2.49**
Sara Lee pan bread 1.79

** the meat can be ground for low fat ground beef, there are coupons out there for the starred items, check coupon connections.
3 days only. FSS
7 percent hamburger 2.99@@
Salad .78 @@
Butter 1.79@@

SAFEWAYS
London broil 2.69
Grapes 3/5.00
Strawberries 2/5
Hillshire farms meats BOGO **
Breakfast breads 2/4
Tea 2.99@@
Tuns 1.29 @@
Coupon deals
Lloyd's shredded meat 3.99**
Brownies .99
Fridays only. 5 dollars
Shrimp, USA, lb
Eggs 4/5
Kellogg's cereal 3/5**
mega deals
Save 3, buy 6 items mix and match
Tuna .79
Brownies .99
Tortillas .99
Muli grain cheerios**

TOP FOODS
Apricots 1.98
Cherries 3.49
Stag chili .88@@
Pan bread 1.69@@
Chuck roast 2.99
5 pounds cheese 9.99 @@@@. Buy this it's 2 bucks a pound!!!!
Raspberries 1/3 flat 9.98
Cukecumbers .69
Squash 1.00
Spinach 1.00
Blues 18 oz 4.99

QFC
Cherries 3.49
Peaches 1.98
Chicken .99
Eggs1.00
Milk 2.59
Kellogg's cereal 1.99**
Butter 2.00
Cottage cheese, or sour cream 3/5
Drinks buy 6 or more and get 3 free. See coupon connections as low as .17
Pan bread 1.79
Nalley chili 10/10
Ritz 2/4
Kroger frozen potatoes 1.99
Grapes 1.48
Cucumbers .69

IGA
Friday and Saturday only
Butter 1.99, Eggs, 1.00, cheese 3.99
Kellogs cereal 1.99, limit 2@@
Salad dressing.99@

That's about all. Be sure to cross off anything you don't need to stock and anything that is a lower price elsewhere. The best bet for ground meat this week is grinding your own from ALBERTSONS. (Top round is 2.19)
There is not a lot to stock. I would take advantage of tops cheese. he price of cheese is skyrocketing and I fear the end is not in sight. USDA projects that the drought prices will extend well into this year. dairy and beef will continue to rise. grate the cheese, toss it with a little cornstarch and freeze.

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Jane

Bread dough in the refridgerator.,,

http://marymurtz.com/2011/12/16/frugal-friday-refrigerator-bread-dough/

This is a web address of a refrigerator bread dough recipe. There are more out there, but this is the one that is more concisely written.

This also makes pizza dough. I have another recipe for pizza dough on an earlier blog. I think that this is more like artisan bread or sourdough.

Pizza is a cheap kid friendly meal. I got pepperoni for 2/1.00 with a coupon last month. Cheese is rising in cost, but I watch sales and have a lot stocked in the freezer. Stocking grated cheese would be a good thing to do.
tomato paste is .40 at big lots and also cheap by the case at Costco. Big lots does not take food stamps. You can also hold out a 1/4 cup of pasta sauce and freeze it when you are making no Brainer pasta. You can make a cheese pizza for really cheap. my best guesstimate is a little over a buck. if you add my .50 pepperoni, it's 1.55.


Flour costs .075 a cup if purchased at Costco in bulk. Be sure to store it in an airtight container. Salt is 4.00 for 25 pounds. I use it to clean, my daughter uses it to make paint for the preschoolers, you can use it with vinegar to kill weeds.

I don't count anything in costing a recipe that is under 2 T or too hard to break down, water and salt is too hard to cost. The flour is about .45. The recipe makes several loaves. I don't remember what I bought my yeast for, I got it bulk at Costco. I suspect, it will cost out far less than the 3 and 4 dollars a loaf that it costs to buy it.


I think what I am saying is that trying to feed your family on the cheap is doable. It may take some work, and it's a learning experience, but it is totally doable. If your situation calls for it, or just if you want to save money, you can do it. I am constantly looking for new ideas. It gives us variety in our meals. I want to learn something new everyday. learning to cook from scratch affords your family better meals for less money. The less processed your food is, the more food value it has. all those expensive FREE foods, aren't FREE. And, think about it, if it's free, they have taken something out of it, and raised the price. How much sense does that make?

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Jane

Terrific Tuesday

After I did the piece n trying to help the lady with a 500 dollar budget, I found an old magazine with recipes that could be made o be on the cheap without sacrificing flavor. But, knowing she had a lot of kids, I attempted to find kid friendly meals.


This magazine has a lot of recipes for sides.

Oven baked fries with paprika and parm cheese. When I find a recipe for parm cheese, I use any hard cheese that I fond on sale. If you can grate it on the micro plane, a little goes a long way. My best betoften is the grocery outlet.

My pseudo grandmother introduced us to tomatoes and zucchini. Add onion, peppers and parm.

Summer squash with corn and Mexican seasonings.

Summer salad with mixed field greens, strawberries, nuts and a vinaigrette.

Bacon and clam pizza with Alfredo sauce and parm.

Pizza with fresh tomato, olives and feta. Flavored feta is often at grocery outlet too.

Panini with chic peas and spinach. Add capers, olive oil and garlic.

Remember tuna melts?

Ideas to pick me up a dinner plan on a rut?!?!


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Jane

Monday Madness

Another weekend gone. It's back to work for most of us, our work week hasn't started yet.
Through the years I have collected recipes for ready made mixes. There is also a book that was put out by HB books. I don't know if it is still in print or if you can get it at a used book store or garage sale.

Some things like BBQ sauce might be cheaper to buy if you find it on a good sale. I got BBQ sauce for 50 cents a couple of weeks ago at QFC.

Rice Seasoning Mix
6 T onion flakes
6 T parsley flakes
4.5 tsp garlic powder
.75 tsp EACH of cumin and pepper

For each cup of long grain rice, add 1/3 cup seasoning mix and cook according to directions on rice.

Basic BBQ Sauce

8 ounces of tomato sauce
1/4 cup EACH of ketchup, vinegar, water
2 T brown sugar
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T w sauce
Salt, pepper

Combine ingredients. Bring to boil, simmer for 15 minutes. Store in sterilized jar for up to 2 weeks.

Personally, it is more cost effective to get it on sale. Any price that is less than a buck is probably cheaper.

White Sauce Mix

1 1/3 cups dry milk
1cup flour
2tsp salt
1tsp pepper

Place 1.5 T and 1/2 cup of mix in saucepan.
Blend in 2cups water, or chicken broth.
Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring constantly. Turn down heat and simmer
until thickened about 3-5 minutes. Makes 2 cups.


I have not tried this, but it is a low fat way to make a white sauce.

For cheese sauce: prepare white sauce and add 2tsp Dijon mustard, red pepper flakes, 1
Cup shredded cheese. Whisk until cheese melts.

Salsa

1clove garlic
1pound plum tomatoes, diced, but not peeled
1/2small onion
1/4 cup cilantro or parsley, minced
1T lime juice
Salt

For HOT version: add 1 clove garlic, 1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce, and 1T chopped jalapeño peppers.

NOTE: The cost effectivness of this would depend on if you can get plum tomatoes cheap enough. They are often in bags at Grocery Outlet. Lime and lemon juice is cheaper if you buy it in the bottle.

Meat Sauce

2T olive oil
1large onion, chopped
2large cloves garlic
1poumd ground beef
2 - 28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
2 T Italian seasoning
Pepper

in a Dutch oven, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil. Add meat and cook until no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for an hour.

let cool. Makes 2quarts, refrigerate three days, or freeze up to 3 months.
NOTE: I would precook my ground beef and defat it. Then, as soon as your onions and garlic were soft, you could dump everything else in and let it go. This also sounds like a good recipe that you could dump in a crock pot as soon as the vegetables were cooked.

This is about the same cost as Hunts Pasta Sauce if you get it for .78 a can.

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Jane

Sunday and another scorcher.

It's warm here today, and no end on sight.  We broke put the baby swimming pool for granddaughter.

It seems like a day when I should make some salads and grill some kind of meat--or we have hot dogs still because they were BOGO.  Thats when altering your meal plans works.

When we got back from vacation, I shopped at IGA because they had some good buys. Mi went to buy ice cream because the price was the same as SAFEWAYS, buy the box was squishy.  The guy told me that their freezers defrost every night at that time.  I don't want ice cream that has been frozen and thawed, and frozen again.  .  I guess the lesson there is to buy ice cream where there isnanbig turn around so you don't get refrozen ice cream!    Anyway, they had good produce .  At safewaysm I got good deals and used coupons on pineapple, on sale with an additional coupon.  Then, I got a coupon for more off pineapple at checkout.  I also used my last pudding coupon, it was still a buck, less the 80 cent coupon.  I had a coupon for ribs, but they were still to expensive at BOGO to make it fit the budget.

In order to make a 300 dollar a month budget work for a family of four, you need meat to cost 2-3 dollars or less average.  That means if you have breakfast for dinner, you can have some 5 dollar meat meals.  The trick is to average some vegetarian or other cheap meals to compensate.  if you are Staetimg to stockpile and bulk cook meat, maybe several of your meals at the beginning will have to be cheap meals.  in a few weeks, you will be on tune.  If you get your money all at once for the month, you may still have to ease into the rotation of you can't find cheap meats.

The thing that makes a rotation wok is that
A) the price of your meat can be more than 30 percent cheaper in bulk.
B) it is easier to portion control so you have no waste.
C) it is faster and easier to cook a large quantity once a week, than to cook meat every night.It takes no longer to cook 4 chickens than it does to cook one.  Same oven, less power bill, once kitchen clean up!

Normally,  I would rotate  chickens, pork loin, sirloin roast, and hamburger.  I can still do most of them, but sirloin beef roast is hard to find on target price.  this gives you variety with low cost.
looking at my meal plans from the 1990 era, it reminded me that I used to buy ham cubes( about 1/4 inch cubes) cheap at grocery outlet and make quiche, split pea soup, and ham, pineapple and peppers pizza.  It works, and you get three meals from a 3.00 plus package of ham.  You are augmenting the ham with the peas and eggs, the ham makes for great flavor.

I purchased a bag of split peas from Costco and my husbands siblings and us shared the cost.  It made the split peas about 1/2 price.  We are still eating them!


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Jane

Meals from the 90s

I spent the night in the ER last night, so this will be brief.

I cost the 1990's meals at today's prices. 1990 total was 240.00, or 60.00 a week.  -- 4 people.

The same food, as close as I can come, was almost double.  453.00

I have been doing it for about the same actual, but the "meat" has been greatly altered.

4 pizza
Meatballs
2 quiche
Meat loaf
2 Hamburgers
2 Tuna casserole
Dagwood,Sandwiches
Pork stew
Chicken enchiladas
2 Roast chicken
Tacos
Chicken pot pie
Shrimp fettuccini
Pasta bake
Roast beef
Steak
Roast beef a jus sandwiches
Breakfast
Sloppy joes
Pork stroganoff
Chicken casserole
Mac and cheese
Steak
BBQ beef sandwiches


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Jane

Finally Friday.

Somehow, my mind thought  it was Monday.  I was giving the mother with the family of eight's,
problem so deep thought last night.  Not knowing her particulars, I can only guess that she has a half a dozen  boys that have hollow  legs.  I had a couple of boys like that !   I solved my problem by buying things that they liked that were inexpensive snacks.  My daughter  liked top ramen and my son liked bean and beef burritos.  They were a quarter at the time.

Now, there are a whole lot of coupons for snack foods that would make them  almost free .  There are websites that match specials with coupons.  If your stores double, all the better.  ,  I got pudding for near free, and if I had found the coupons that were  out there for a dollar, they would have been free.

Another  problem,  I suspect, is that it's hot there and they are drinking  lot of soda pop.  Soda pop is not on the USDA food list.  Food stamps don't  come with instructions.  Try making ice tea or water.  That's what we got as kids.  We survived and our teeth were better off.   I can also see a bunch of kids devour several boxes of sugar coated cereal in a day if they were allowed.

It is important to remember that the food stamps are based on the food pyramid,  snacks and soft drinks are not on the food pyramid.  Think breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or consider a hearty breakfast and dinner.  breakfast is the cheapest  meal to prepare.

The USDA has a food list on their website.

Plan your meals., buy in bulk, stock when you find the lowest price.  Portion control.
There is a recipe for  refrigerator bread dough in  The Tightwad Gazette.  It is also in the older Betty Crocker Cookbooks.    It would  make cheap cinnamon rolls. Buy cinnamon at the dollar store.
buy eggs when they are cheap.  I have got eggs for a dollar a dozen recently. muffins are easy to make and you can make them healthy and out of almost anything from zucchini, to oranges or
lemons.  Banana with blueberries and oatmeal is our favorite.  It's  from the Betty Crocker Bisquick  cookbook.

Go to the grocer and find out when they mark down milk that is near it's pull date.  Go when it is being marked down and buy as much as you will use in that period of time.  If you aren't using it fast enough, make pudding and or potato soup.

Buy meat in bulk when it is at it is a it's cheapest  price.  cook it and portion control it and make meals from it all month.  Start with seven meals.  Rotate them.

When my children were teens, I posted the meals on the fridge.  They knew the foods that I called free foods.  they could have as much of them as they wanted.  The rest of the food was off limits.  it was  for meals.  by the time kids are preteens they can understand that the food has to last all month.  I am not saying that kids have to go hungry. I am saying that they can't gorge themselves with what they like at the beginning of the month and leave the family with nothing at the end of the month.  We all have to learn some restraint in our lives.

Having a plan helps in budgeting.
My meal matrix is :
2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish or seafood

Yours may be different.  one idea  would be

1. Roast chicken at a dollar a pound or less.  (I would cook 4 at a time. ) with potatoes and a vegetable. Portion control the rest of the chicken and freeze, reserving the bones for soup.   Bag the thighs,wings, and legs and the breasts for future meals the rest of the month.  
2. Chicken soup with noodles using one of the set of bones.  bread sticks from refer bread dough. 
3. Spaghetti or another pasta with red sauce.  I get pasta almost free..sometimes as low as .38 and sauce as low as .77.  (Hunts)  use some hard cheese for top and a lettuce salad.  
4. Bean and beef burritos, rice with home made salsa.  I get tortillas at an surplus store or the dollar store,  they are also cheap at the warehouse club.  
5. pigs in blankets (bread dough) French fries, coleslaw,  
6. Ham quiche , fruit
7. Split pea soup

Bulk buy rice, flour, and a large package of tortillas  and twenty pounds of potatoes and ten pounds of beans and 4 boxes of oatmeal at the first of the month. (45.00)

Buy a meat that is really cheap each week.  Enough for a months worth of one meal a week.  

figure a chicken can make a meal and a soup meal, so I would buy four if they were a buck or less a pound.  Figure  two pounds a meal for hamburger.  So I would buy eight pounds at the cheapest price.  Like under three bucks.  you can get hot dogs for as low as as a buck  this time of year.  

A hypothetical list would be

4 chickens, 5 lbs each 20 pounds times 1. Is 20.00 

 ( 4 breast meals, 4 soups, 4 dark meats or 12 meals.  )

8 packages of hot dogs at 1.00 is 16.00.     (4 meals) 

8 dozen  eggs  at 1.50 is 12.00 ( one egg meal a week and one Impossible pie) 8 meals

8 pounds of ground beef at 3.00 (4 meals) 24.00

2 packages of ham cubes ( 1/4 inch) at 3.00 is 6.00 two meals 

Total 78.00

This will probably take several stores to accomplish at low prices.  

Freeze the meats and make sure hour eggs have a far out pull date.  

Divide what is left by 4.2 and fill in with fruits and vegetables and any dairy you need weekly. Along with the bread you don't bake and a stock item.   Make a blank calendar, and fill in the blanks.  

You should have 350 dollars or 85.00 a week for fruit, veggies and dairy and some stock item.    Scour or have your older children scour the net for coupons for free or almost free snacks and pasta.    Find the coupon match up for your area of the country.  When winter comes, adapt to fit the season.  Turkey goes a long way and is cheap in the winter.  

That should be believable.  

Hope this helps.  If you are not the person with a family of eight on 500. I hope you can gleem some ideas from this on a smaller scale.  I usually just try for the least expensive, but if you have kids with hallow legs it takes a little more planning.

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Jane

The ads 7/4/13

Here are the ads as soon as I got them

IGA

15 percent hamburger. 2.99
Leg quarters .99
Dreyers ice cream 2.99
Strawberries, raspberries 2/5
Tomatoes on vine 1.49
Can't elope 2/3
Blues 3.99
Corn 6/2

Salads 3.49

TOP
CORN 6/2
Dreyers 2.49
Hebrew national 2.99
Cheese 4.99
Land o frost sausage 3.99
Grapes 2.00
Lettuce 1.00

SAFEWAYS
Cherries 2.49
Corn 5/1
Toni Roma's, plum rose or loyds ribs BOGO
Chicken .99
Dreyers 2.99
Milk 2.59
Eggs 1.49

QFC
CORN 4/1
Butter 3/5
Hebrew national 2/6

ALBERTSONS
Country ribs 1.29
Corn 8/2
Milk 2.59
Strawberries 2/5
Grapes 1.99

QFC
1/3 flat raspberries 7.99
Cherries 2.99
Peaches 1.48

That's about all
Don't forget to delete anything you don't need to stock and anything that is higher priced elsewhere.

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Jane

Answer to Suddenly Saturday.

I heard from a woman in the mid west that had 500 dollars to feed her family of eight.  She stated that a good dinner was corn she could get for .12 and watermelon .  While that tastes really good especially on a hot day, she needs more protein to grow good muscles and dairy for good bones.

I would say that if you don't have a large chain store in your town, network with other mothers to get a car pool going to at least go once a month for supplies.  I am assuming if you can comment on my blog, you can look up your chain stores ads to find out who has the lowest prices.  

If you have eight people in your family, dinner has to cost less than ten dollars a meal.  That leaves you 100 dollars for breakfast and 100 dollars for lunch.  if vegetables are cheap in your area, take advantage of that and buy in o bulk.  Buy oatmeal in bulk or at the lowest price.....it's as low as 2.64 here.  Sometimes we have fruit and toast or muffins.  you can make muffins out of just about anything.  Carrots, fruit, zucchini.  Almost everything.  

There  are coupons for lunch meat all the time,me specially helpful if your state doubles coupons.  Also egg salad and tuna and peanut butter and cheap alternatives.  If there is a bread bakery outlet buy the bread in bulk, freeze it if you can.  If fruit and veggies are plentiful, take advantage of them to add to the meal.  

popcorn  makes a good snack.  

OK, that's my ideas.  If anyone has more ideas, especially if they live on the mid west and have large families, please leave comments.  

Basicly, I am saying, 

•  break your budget down to a dollar figure for each meal.  
• If you don't have resources to large grocery chains, and warehouse stores, try to get help or arrange with another family to facilitate it.  Take 125.00 a week , and try to stick to it.
•   Buy in bulk and portion control your protein.  Take advantage of cheap veggies.  Be careful to portion control. .  
• Find something the kids like that is cheap and specify what they are allowed for snacks.  Look for coupons that are for snack foods that are free.  Last week, I got pudding snacks for free with coupons.  They Re out there, especially if your state has double coupons.  
• Analyze your spending habits.  It might be a cultural shock, but high priced snack foods would have to be curbed unless there is a good sale price matching a good coupon.  trust me, if your children are old enough to scrounge a Sunday paper, or surf the net, they will find coupons.  

Soups, stews, burritos with rice, beans, and a little meat , and pasta stretches far.  

There are componers that swear you never have to pay for pasta.  I have been getting it here for .38 combining sales with coupons.  

Look at obstacles as challenges and find a way to go through, under or over the brick wall. 

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Jane

it's Fireworks Day

We are having fireworks today.  I know ,it's the third of July.  We will go those to see them again at home.  But my daughter has to go back to work.

I was reading The Tightwad Gazette again.  it was originally published in 1996..almost twenty years ago.  I can remember getting tomato soup for a dime, and frozen lemonade for 3/1.00 and liver for .35 a pound in the 70's.  But, the difference in prices between the early to mid nineties and now is remarkable.   Was feeding a family of two adults and two teenagers for 50.00 then.  I was on the Woman's Day magazine.  They thought that that was remarkable.  the prices that are in the Tightwad gazette were cheaper than I was paying.  I can remember getting chicken  legs and thighs for .50.  She is quoting 5 pounds for 1.50.  ground beef for .99.  I remember ground chuck in the 70's for .69.
Some of the produce prices are not much more than they are now,  pasta is greatly inflated.  The cost of food is rising 3-5 percent a year.  It is higher this year because of the drought.  I haven't cost out our food plan from then, but I think it would be very interesting.  I am spending fifty percent more.  Three percent times twenty years would be 60 percent, but that's not quite the math,  it compounds.
The difference between 1996 and now is that we are eating more chicken and pork, and a lot less beef. Seldom do I find room in the budget for flank steak or stew meat. I could still buy sirloin roast up until about three months ago.  I will price out my typical meal list when I get home and can cost to with today's prices.

The trick to maintaining a budget is to adapt to the fluctuations in prices. If beef is skyrocketing in cost, switch to more vegetarian and Chicken.  There are literally zillions of chicken recipes out there.    The problem I have with that now, is that vegetarian tous means more cheese and cheese is doubling as well as beef.  I have a stockpile so I can peobavly ride the storm.

Chicken Tacos

1 envelope taco seasoning or two tablespoons heaping of home made taco seasoning.  (Earlier post)
1 pound raw chicken , cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

Toss chicken in taco seasoning.
Cook chicken on olive oil until chicken is done, about 5 minutes.  Juices should run clear.  Remove from pan.
Add
1/4 cup chopped onion and 1/4 cup chopped sweet peppers ( orange, red or yellow)and 2 T chopped cilantro or parsley.
Sauté until the veggies are crisp tender.  Add the chicken back to the skillet.

Fill Taco shells or gorditoes.
Serve with lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream, and cheese.


Notes.  You can get small mixed peppers cheap usually at the grocery outlet.  ( about four dollars a bag.  I get peppers cheaper at the fresh food market sold by the pound.  I got sour cream for a buck last week.  I have cilantro in my garden and parsley.  Serve with a Mexican rice dish.

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Jane

4+1=5. Four people, one meal, Five bucks
Feed your family, Better, Cheaper, Faster.

Terrific Tuesday

Tuesday is usually the day that we get the ads.  No ads or coupons yet.

I haven't talked about the staples of catsup, mustard, pickles etc. You can get mustard, catsup, and
Pickles  at the dollar store.  I buy the Dijon mustard at Costco.  I buy black olives anywhere I can find them.  The best price I have found was at Winco.   Used to pickle watermelon rind.  it's really good, but watermelon has gone up in price so much and it is the worst fruit I could possibly eat as a diabetic. It is extremely high on the glycemic index.  one the less, pickled watermelon rind is almost found food!   LOL

 I found sugar free  butterscotch syrup ....a real great!  A great on bananas, apples, and blue bunny ice cream. it is the best for low fat and sugar!  I wrote the company and am getting coupons.  I brought banana split ice cream to a BBQ and it was a hit!  Chocolate over strawberries is a real treat too.

I got cocoa in bulk at Winco.  I am still looking for cheap dry milk.  So far, I found a box at Costco for 40.00!  It is more expensive than whole milk.  I did find a recipe for cream soup starter and it is a lot less than buying cream soup.  I can't say that it is less sodium, but it is convenient and less expensive, takes less room in the pantry.

I don't usually buy pudding cups.  They are too expensive, and are to processed.  But, I got them for such a low price at the same time that we were going on our trip.  They were a dollar a four pack at SAFEWAYS and there were dollar coupons.  I couldn't find the dollar coupons, but I did find .80 ones.
This  week it is ALBERTSONS for us, because it is the only store that is a believable walking distance. They also have a dollar store and rite aid.  Pretty much everything you could need between the three stores. There  is a hardware store in the same strip mall.  I am having too much fun at the children's consignment store and the thrift store who's proceeds go to the food bank.  the women's consignment store wanted 10.50 for a regular pair of  kacki shorts.  I got an expensive pair of designer shorts and a t shirt to match for 12.00.  it makes me feel good that the proceeds go to feed
People.

Guess that's all for now.

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jane

4+ one= 5.  4 people , one meal , five bucks .

Feed  your family : better -cheaper -faster.

Monday madness

Another week, another month gone.  I usually talk about the basics at the first of the month, but did it early.  Check previous post for the basics. Its   beautiful in the pacific NW.  We had 88 degrees yesterday and they are predicting  90 today.  I have had to rethink my menus, last year it rained all the time.  Instead of tomato soup and toasted cheese, my husband toasted cheese sandwiches on the deck and I fixed an array of fruits and veggies.  A case of adapting to circumstances.  make a plan--even of you alter it, have a plan.

If starting this concept is overwhelming and you see obstacles, break it down in small steps.  A motivational speaker once called it the Swiss cheese treatment.  Punching holes in a project until it is done.

• Write down your typical meal plan  for a week.  
• Break it down as to ingredients you would buy to make it
• Now cross off anything that is a perishable and leave the non- perishables
• If there are mixes or ready mades on your list, break down  the ingredients.  
• Now you should start to get a picture of your staple items.
• Think of other things you family likes to eat for dinner and add them to the list.  

If you like spaghetti and meatballs, you need spaghetti, meatballs, and sauce.  Put on your list spaghetti and pasta sauce.  It is cheaper to buy hunts sauce than it is to make it from scratch.  it comes in a lot of varieties even with chunky vegetables.  I would add a hard cheese to the mix.  Parmesan, or Romano or......

I think you get the gist.

Now,  start pricing your staple items.  You are going to look for your target price or the rock bottom price.  Track your prices of your staple list.  A staple is a product that you use weekly or at least bi weekly that is a non perishable.  You are going to stock a 3-6 month supply.  That is because grocery stores work on a 8-12 week sale cycle.  You never want to pay full price for a staple item.  You want the lowest possible price on the non staples too, but perishables are harder to control.  The best you can do is buy the lowest price on season.  

Rotate  your stock and replenish your stock when the target price comes up again.  

Like the stock market , you want to buy low, and sell (eat) high.  that doubles the impact of your food dollar.  If you can pair a sale price with a coupon, even better.   there aren't many coupons for real food.  

Some target prices for the Seattle metropolitan area 

Pasta sauce .78

Pasta. .38-.49. Less than .88

Refried beans .80

Canned corn .33-.50-.67

Canned beans .67

Instant mashed potatoes .80 or less

Diced tomatoes .48-.67

Tomato paste. .40

Note.   Pasta is the one thing that you can find coupons for .  Check coupons.com. For printable ones.  You can have two per computer.  Our state does not double coupons, but you can get good buys if you watch.  My best bet for tomatoes is big lots when they are having a 20 percent sale.  .  Refried beans were cheaper at grocery outlet last time I bought any.  Pasta sauce is cheapest at ALBERTSONS on sale or at Winco.  The cheapest corn I found was green giant at big lots.  No, you are not going to five stores a week.  That is the object of stockpiling.  You buy it low a thing or a couple of things a week until you are at the point of only buying a bulk purchase of rock bottom priced meat and anything rock bottom priced on your staple list that you need to replenish, and your perishable fruits and veggies in season.  

Pick the two chain stores that have the lowest prices.  Hit the warehouse stores when you can --we hit them about every four to six weeks.  And the alternative stores we hit whenever we are in the area on other errands.  after visiting the warehouse and alternative stores, you get a really good feel for their specialties   and what they have that you buy.on a regular basis.  

Once you get set up, you will find you spend no more time shopping than you do now and the savings are remarkable-- well worth the effort.  if you are retired or not working full time, you are making a profitable use of your time.  

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Jane