Saturday

We went shopping yesterday.  I spent 26.00 and another buck at the dollar store for Two  packages of pepperoni.

Yesterday we had spaghetti and garlic bread and salad in the vegetable Bin.

About mid week, it is time to clean the fridge and take note of what needs to be eaten soon.  Maybe it is time for a vegetable soup or stock, or banana bread.  Betty Crocker has a good recipe for banana blueberry bread.  It takes oatmeal and so really good and good for you.

There are a lot of good and good for you recipes out there.  Most take the simplest of ingredients.  The more processed the food, the more expensive it is and the more preservatives it may have in it.

Remember, the more someone does the cooking for you, the more it's going to cost.  They want to get paid like the rest of us.  LOL.  With few exceptions, ready made and boxed dinners are really expensive in terms of cost, and nutrition.  If you can cook as fast as making the trip to the store, or the mix takes just as long to cook scratch , the box mixes are pointless.

Cooking some meats ahead and using instant mashed potatoes makes sense to me.  Making mashed potatoes is time consuming both in making the dish and cleaning up afterwards.  For a weeknight dinner, instant mashed is good .   I find them for little money.  There is a coupon for Betty Crocker a gratin or scalloped potatoes on the net.  ( check coupon.com) .  They are a buck at the dollar store.  With the coupon they are BOGO.  You don't get many potatoes for fifty cents.  I also got pepperoni for fifty cents.  I haven't got toothpaste for free lately, but I'm still watching and building my stock for the women's shelter.  I did find gloves for granddaughter.  I don't want to spend more than a buck for the , kids loose their gloves and I don't know if she will even wear them.  It's certainly not worth my time to knit them at her age and the yarn would cost more than a buck!  

My average for meals has been going down, which is remarkable  since the drought is still rearing it's ugly head on food prices.  The USDA projects that they will be occurring well into 2014.  In addition, the SNAP program is taking a hit.  My sister says that it is going to be 35.00 a month average.  The combination is not a good one for people on a thrifty budget.  The people with six digit incomes won't notice as much, but higher prices and less money hits the poor hard.  Making scratch good food on the cheap is a way to get through without sacrificing nutrition or having no food in the pantry at the end of the month.

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Jane

The basics, part three, scratch cooking

Oh, that dreaded word, " scratch" cooking.  Really, scratch cooking can be quick and easy.  The thrifty budget doesn't have a lot of wiggle room for ready made foods.  Most pre- made , or semi pre-made foods are too expensive.  They also have ingredients that you can't pronounce.  LOL Learn to read sides of boxes.  It is really enlightening.

I did  a series of blogs  on a hamburger meal box. It is very revealing.  Most same people won't buy another one after reading the blog.  LOL.  That being  said, they have changed the box and added  some real food.

Buying a deli chicken is a real mistake.  I have seen deli  chickens for six dollars for two pounds!  That's three dollars a pound.  There are three good reasons why you don't want a deli chicken.

1) three pounds is the break even point on buying a chicken.  Less than three pounds you are paying for too much bone and not enough meat.  The more weight after three pounds the better.

2) I can still get chicken for a dollar a pound.  Northwest grown, no antibiotic, no hormone chicken.
    I can get a chicken ready to roast in about ten minutes.  The savings are remarkable.

3) you don't know where that chicken from the deli comes from!

There are styles of cooking that get  dinner on the table as fast and as easy as processed, ready made food.  They make scratch cooking doable for the busiest of cooks.

1) the slow cooker can be your best friend in the kitchen.  There so something very therapeutic about coming home to dinner cooked and waiting for you.  The Betty Crocker web site is full of ideas.  Some of them call for  ready made expensive ingredients.  Remember you can always make substitutions or adjustments to a recipe.  Remember, same bulk and same texture when substituting.  Celery makes a good substitute for onion, for example.

2) anything you can get together and shove on the oven to cook is a good thing.  Oven time so non-passive cooking. You can go about your business and get something else done.  Foil packet dinners are easy and provide for no cleanup.  They also allow each person to build their own and make their own combinations .

3) skillet meals don't have to come out of a box.  Pasta is easily cooked on a microwave pan.  My daughter got hers from big lots for five bucks.  It is  well worth the money.  Pasta becomes a passive cooking venue.

4) making meats ahead and doing prep work ahead of time saves a lot of work at dinner time and makes the dinner  hour less hectic.  The grocery chains rotate their meat specials weekly.  Take advantage of it and buy the special in bulk.  Buy enough to have a meal or two a week for a month.  When you get home, cook the meat and divide it into meal portions and bag and freeze it.  I would leave pork chops off the pork loin raw.

This maximizes your savings, minimizes your work at dinner time, and affords you a variety of meals.

I can still get
Pork loin for 2.00 a pound
Good ground beef under 3.00 per pound
Pork sausage for 2.30 a pound (Costco)
Chicken whole or grill packs for a dollar a pound.
Beef roast for 3.00 per pound or less.

If beef roasts ( chuck) are under three dollars and cheaper than good burger, I grind my own, or ,, rather my husband grinds it  for us.

I have a matrix ( outline) for meal plans to afford us balance and variety. ours is based on my families wants.  Yours may be different.  A plan  makes meal planning easier.

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


I have written a lot of ideas in the past three days.  What you do with them and how much of them make sense to you is your call.  The more you do, the more you will save.  It's up to you.  I am not going to tell you that food will magically appear on your dining table. It takes work.  Spending a little time prepping for your shopping trip and shopping and less time in the kitchen can be very rewarding in your pocket book. If you have a lot of time to cook, go for it.  Everyone loves a gourmet meal !  It's just not always practical with our schedules!

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Jane

The basics , part,2, shopping

Part of shopping , the planning stage, was covered yesterday.  I do this blog every month for a refresher or for new readers.  I do it off the top of my head, please feel free to read older blogs.

To recap, I analyze the ads.  Pick the two best stores of the chain stores.  Go with my list, get in, and get out.  The more time in a store, the more money you will spend.  The more people you take with you,the more you will spend.  Try not to take small children with you.  They are a distraction and shopping is business when you are doing it on the cheap.  You have to have a clear head to stick to a small budget.  LOL

Retailers have spent considerable time and money studying the average shoppers shopping habits.  They take advantage of all of our instincts.  There is a whole  blog on that issue.  Beat them at their own game.  70 percent of all things purchased are impulse buys.  Don't fall into the trap!!!!
Don't pick up anything you don't intend on buying.

All chain stores have food, there are a lot of alternative stores that have food too.
Warehouse stores like Costco and SAMs club have stable prices, somewhat.  Some things are cheaper, some are not.  Overstock stores have limited merchandise, but some of what they have is lots cheaper.  We have  big lots and grocery outlet. Always check pull dates, and know your prices.
Grocery outlet has regular coffee often and a wide assortment of cheeses! some cheaper! some not.
Big lots has a variety of things.  Kinda like Costco, here today, gone Tomorrow.  

Again, know your prices.

The dollar store has some food.  Like any other store, some prices are better, some are not.  Lately I have been finding recipe starter  2/1.00.  With a dollar coupon, it was free. Without a coupon it was

2.09 cheaper than SAFEWAYS and cheaper than making sauce from scratch.

Soap, deodorant and toothpaste can be had with a coupon for free.  This is  huge for people on snap that don't have help buying personal necessities.  There are coupon people that get TP for free too.  I have yet to find the illusive toilet paper coupons!   The best I can do is Costco.  LOL. Frozen veggies and French fries are a bargain unless you get a good sale.  Pepperoni is a buck and sometimes there are coupons that make it .50.

The bakery outlet is cheaper on bread.  Sometimes you can get bread on sale at the chain stores as cheap.  Remember, the chain stores aren't in the business of running a bakery or cannery.  They buy their products from the name brands that put the stores label on them.  my sister worked for a distributed.  She used to be able to bring vegetables home that were double wrapped with two different brands wrapping.  ( they used to come in waxed boxes.  )

Remember, the more specialized the store, the fancier the store, the higher the prices.  If you are on a really tight budget, it is not realistic to expect to buy specialty foods.  That doesn't mean that you can't buy healthy foods, defat your ground meats, or grind them yourself, and watch your fat, salt, and sugar intake.  It is especially important for the children.  Too much of our food has salt and sugar hiding in it.

All this takes time.  Once you are set up. You will probably spend no longer than you do now. Especially of you hot the neighbourhood store several times a week because you forgot so,etching, or just want something different for dinner.    Spend more time on the front end of the meal on the table train, and less on the back and you will be better off.  There are ways to cut clean up time and non-passive cooking time to save time .

That's about all I can remember.

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Jane

Finally, the ads

The ads.

SAFEWAYS

Whole pork loin 1.99
Milk 1.89@
Tillamook cheese 3.99@@

Just for u
Sausage 2 lbs 2.99
Tuna 1.25

5 buck Friday
Grapes 3/5


ALBERTSONS

YOPLAIT .39$$
Dave's bread 3.99@@

QFC
Top round, London broil BOGO nets 3.25
Black and raspberries BOGO nets 2.00
18 count eggs 1.99
Dreyers ice cream 2.99
Nally chili 1.00

Top

15/10
Diced tomatoes
Soups
Veggies

10/10
Olives
Cranberry sauce

Tuna .88
Chili 1.00

That's about all. I am seeing a big jump in prices.  Just because they say something is featured, doesn't mean that it is really on sale.  you need to know your prices.  .67 for beans is good.  I do note that they are store brand now, they used to be a national brand for that price and there used to be beans included.  I did  get beans from FM for fifty cents this summer.  The pork loin is good.  That's a lot of pork loin, perhaps you can share it with a friend or family member unless you are having a crowd for dinner.  ...freeze it for thanksgiving!?    Freeze 1/2!of ot for thanksgiving!?

Be sure to check the coupon connections if you are in the Seattle area.  Many regions have match up sites.Google  for the one on your area.

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Jane ,

No ads , the basics, part one

Again, there were no ads yesterday.m there were no holidays, so I don't know what the problem was this time.

It's the first of the month again... Almost ... So I think well talk about the basics.

Groceries on the cheap was started because it came to my attention that people on snap weren't making it through the month on their allotments and needed help.  I knew how to make that happen.  I realize no everyone needs or wants to economize, but I also have found that people read the blog for new recipes or to find new ways to get out of the kitchen faster.  Hey, and everybody can use a little jingle  in their pocket ever now and then.  We just paid the property taxes.  My guess is that others have too.

Groceries on the cheap takes a three disciplined   approach to shopping and getting food on the table.
1) planning and organizing
2) smart shopping
3) cooking from scratch ( fast and efficient)

PLANNING AND ORGANIZING

1) the first exercise is probably one you have done already.  Identify the economical sources of protein that your family will eat.  Now, identify seven to fourteen dinners that call for these ingredients.
2) now identify the things that you need on a regular basis to make these dishes.  No boxes here.  Were talking scratch cooking.

In our house, that would be beans, refried beans, canned diced tomatoes, cheese, some canned veggies, instant mashed potatoes,tuna.

3) start a price book, or spread sheet that tracks the prices of the few items that you use on a regular basis.  In most homes, that is ten or so items.

Name the product and the size of the package.
Date, where bought, price. Coupon??   Net.

Ie
Pasta, 16 ounces
3/12./13.       SAFEWAYS.     .38. Coupon

4) when the item is the lowest price you have seen ( rock bottom price) RBP, buy
A) as many as you can afford
B) as many as the store will let you buy ( limit)
Or C) as many as you need to fill in your supply.
Whichever comes first

If I use something once a week, I keep 24.; if I use something once a month,mi keep 6.  Things like catsup and mayo, I keep one ahead.  When I open my backup, I start looking for a sale.

This is a six months supply.  I keep six instead of three months because we don't know how long we will be able to work, and need a cushion to keep us long enough to adjust to a 25 percent cut in income.  Stores operate on a 8-12 week cycle for sales.  3 months should be enough, but a little extra safety net would be nice.

You don't  want to be caught with that dreaded F word....Full price, or what my mother used to call top dollar.  I want to pay 1/2.  That is doable with some planning.  I only buy at RBP .  I stock.  I don't hoard, I stock.  I don't buy 93 bottles of hot sauce because they are on sale.  I buy what I know we will use and enough so we don't have to pay full price.  By doing so, we eat well on an average of 65.00 a week for three adults.  That is less half the USDA stats for the thrifty plan for our family.  Now, my daughter does buy her own lunches, and we do go out once a week.  But, still, we are well under the stats.

Keeping a stock means that you are prepared for an emergency, be it you are too sick to go to the store, that ugly S (now) word in this part of the country, or any other thing that may crop up.  There is a certain sense of security knowing you van feed your family,no matter what!  It kind of like when our great grandmothers put food up for the winter on the farm.  It's not much different concept than the people that play the stock market, you want to buy low and sell high.  You buy when food is at it's lowest, and eat when it is at it's highest.

When the sale ads come out, divide a piece of computer paper in sections.  ( ours is four ) put the name of a grocery store on the top of each section.  Now, write down the good buys for
A)  a protein that is RBP .  Usually the stores will rotate a meat on what they call a loss leader.  They want you to come into the store and buy all the rest of your groceries at high prices.  Beat them at their own game.  I only buy what is  on sale, and the few things that I have to have.
B) perishables, fruit, and veggies in season, dairy and bread.
C) what is on your stock list that is RBP.


If you buy a meat in bulk quantity , enough to cover yourself for four meals, and batch cook it, portion control for your meals, label and freeze it, you are getting RBP and saving money, no waste.
Rotate the four weeks of the month.  You have variety at the lowest price you can get.

Now cross off anything that is a higher price than elsewhere.  Pick the TWO BEST STORES.  Plan your trip to use the least gas.  If the stores aren't close together, plan the stops near some other errand.  The kids school, the gym, the doctors, grandmas house,whatever!

Now check the coupon matching web site on your area.  In Seattle it is couponconnections.  You can google coupon matchups and your town, and get the one on your area.  They match the sales with coupons and tell you where the coupons are.  Many are on the Internet to print.  A few are in the Sunday paper.  I get the Sunday  paper at the dollar store.  I have a friend that saves the inserts for me too.

When you go to the store, take, your ads, your list, your coupon book,

Make meal plans after you get home from the store.  You can pencil in your ideas for 7 main dishes, but nothing is etched on concrete until you get home.  Too many times have I gotten to the store to find the meat is gone, in too huge of a package to be doable, or just looks like something I don't want to bring home.  One time, the apples were soft.  one time the pork roast was like 15 pounds and had already been frozen.

That's about it.

Thanks for stopping by

Please share, I am not advertising on my blog, I'm doing this solely to help people stretch their food dollars because they need or want to.  No child should live on top ramen and potato chips, and no child should wake up to no food on the house.  That is a terrible insecurity no child should bear!

Jane

Terrific Tuesday, recipe edition

I have come to the realization that any recipe you want can be found on the Internet. I knew that there was a recipe for grandmas apple cake somewhere.  I found it on the Internet.

I like easy quick recipes.  I am usually trying to balance a full plate, and fast and easy helps.

I especially like slow cooker recipes.  There is just something about coming home from work and having dinner waiting for you.  I must not be the only one, because Betty Crocker is full of slow cooker recipes even in the summer.

Pork shoulder roast was on sale last week.

Pork and sauerkraut

pork shoulder roast 3-4 pounds
Salt, pepper
Onion
1 apple, chopped
1 bottle beer
1 Tbls brown sugar
1 Tbls   vinegar

1 jar sauerkraut

1) salt and pepper roast.  Brown on all sides in heavy pan with olive oil .
2) place roast on cooker with remaining ingredients.

Cook on low 9.5 hours.

Remove roast from cooker.  Divide into meal sized portions, leaving one meal portion in cooker.  Add sauerkraut, drained.  Rinse if you prefer a more mellow sauerkraut.

Continue cooking on high for 30 minutes.

Cool saved roast.  Bag in freezer bags and label for pulled pork sandwiches.

Note: you can substitute apple juice for the beer.

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Jane

Monday Madness

It's Monday again,    Still our weekend.  I love retirement.  I don't miss that rat race at all. The money, not so much!  The days seem to run together.  I schedule chores to keep track of what day it is!   LOL

I haven't gone to rite aid yet, and need to use my up rewards.  Couponconnections is a valuable resource.  I am not finding a lot of bargains thos week.  The special toothbrush is about it.



Betty Crocker this time has a lot of slow cooker recipes, just in time for fall and busy families.  I love to put something in the crockpot and go about my business and have dinner ready when we are.  I batch cooked three pounds of sausage from Costco yesterday.  Surprisingly, there was little fat.  We had sausage quiche last night.  I  dovoded it into six portions. ( only two of us are meat eaters unless our son comes to dinner.  I usually add another protein to anything I cook with sausage anyway, so a little goes a long way.  Costco was cheaper than SAFEWAYS on sale.  It still was more than two dollars a pound, up from last year.  I used to get it for a buck in the 70's.


Sausage and bean soup
Sausage and eggs
Sausage quiche
Pizza
Meat sauce might be the exception.

It might be important to note that you are not going to eat sausage five nights a week.  I batch cook.  Cook once, eat several times.  It is much easier.  You clean up once, and putting dinner together is a snap when your meat is already cooked.  .  It takes the longest time to cook.

Buying the most inexpensive meat for the week and rotating so you are covered for a month is the cheapest  and most efficient way  of providing your meat.

I usually can find chicken , pork loin or roast, hamburger, and and fill in with sausage or roast beef whichever I can find.  Roast beef is getting out of reach.  To make it on a tight budget, you need to keep the meat or protein at a two- 3 dollar average.  Four people, one meal, five bucks.  I am basing this on a three hundred dollar budget for the proverbial family of two adults and two school aged children.  If your family is a different matrix,you need to adjust accordingly.  

If  you get yourself down to rock bottom prices, then you can interject a treat when momey permits.  It is easier to add more than it is to reduce your spending. Buying anything you want is easy, sticking to a budget takes some discipline and effort.  The effort is worth it if it means you have a pantry at the end of the month and you are on snap or of you can afford a few luxuries if you aren't.  In our case, it means we can go out to happy hour dinner once a week with friends and I can buy a book or other fun thing for my grandbaby.  We still eat well and healthy, but we can afford more than just eating on a fixed  income .  

That's about it.

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Jane

The apple snack cake , not the right one!?!!!!!

Ok, the Internet did it again!   I found the snack cake
Not exactly the right one.  This turns out more like a bar that needs whip cream or ice cream on it.

In case anyone missed it, or so I can find it again.....LOL

3/4 cup oil
2 eggs
2 cups sugar

2-1\2 cups flour
1 tsp EACH OF
Baking soda
Baking powder
Salt
Cinnamon

3 cups chopped apples
Nuts of desired

1) grease 9X13 pan

Mix wet ingredients together.
mix dry ingredients together
Mix the wet with the dry
Fold in apples ( and nuts of desired)
Pour into prepared pan
Bake at 350 for 60 minutes or until cake tests done.  ( toothpick in center comes out clean.  , )

Suddenly Sunday

After buying a pen set that didn't work, it reminded me of a good tool.  Your voice!  If you get something that is really bad, don't hesitate to tell the manufacturer about it.  Conversely, if you get something  really good, the same holds true.  Many times you can at least get a replacement and many times they will send you coupons.

One time I bought a can of green beans that had three green beans and a hole lot of water.  I called del monte and they sent me coupons for half a case of green beans.  They just wanted the markings off the top of the can and where I bought it.

Too much of the time, people are quick to complain when they get something bad, but don't ever praise for something that is good.

Just a totally unrelated note, Christmas is coming.  Rite aid has 7.00 " electric" for lack of a better word, toothbrushes with a in ad coupon and a manufacturers coupon that is in the Sunday paper that nets them 2.00.  Might be a fun stocking stuffer!

On another note, now is the time to stock anything pumpkin if you eat it throughout the year., it is on sale only now in the next few weeks, and there is coupons out there for canned pumpkin.

Thanksgiving is coming.  I found a good leftover recipe that could be adapted to be on the cheap. You could also make to any time of the year and substitute chicken for the turkey.

Turkey Skillet

3/4'cup chopped celery
1/2 a green pepper, chopped
Olive oil

2 cups  cubed turkey, cooked.

2 T slivered almonds

1 Tbs , plus 1 tsp flour
1/2'tsp of paprika
1/2'tsp basil, dried
2 cup chicken broth

1 -'8 ounce can pineapple , drained.  (Cut into chunks if sliced pineapple)

Sauté vegetables on olive oil until crisp tender.  Add turkey and almonds.  And cook on low heat until turkey is heated through.

Mix together in a small bowl, the flour,spices and broth.  Stir into skillet .  Add pineapple and cook 3-5 minutes until sauce is bubbly.

Serve with rice.

notes: you can buy almonds at our dollar store.  I try to keep a couple cans  of pineapple on hand , purchased when I find them on sale.  It's not something we use a lot,so I don't stock a lot.  I would substitute  red peppers or mixed peppers if I had them. ( my husband is not fond  of green peppers.  )
This would still be a good recipe and the cost is down to a realistic amount. So,eti es a splurge of a few nuts or a can of fruit can make a recipe seem special !

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Jane

I am still looking for my MIL so apple cake recipe.  I know it was from the mid west and a lot of people have it.  Also, you can comment anonymously , I would be interested in knowing what kind of recipes you use for turkey leftovers???

Fred Meyer Ads and rite aid / TOMORROW

Here are Fred Meyer ads

5 lb box sat sumacs 3.99
Milk 4/5 makes 1.25 ea or 2.50
Pasta, pasta sauce .89@@
Eggs 2/3
Celery .49
Tillamook ice cream 2/6@@

Rite aid

Soft soap  2.99 w 2.00 up reward makes .99
Power toothbrush. 6.99 less in ad coupon, coupon in Sunday paper, nets 1.99

That's about it.

Not much out there.  I spent 13.00 at the grocery store this week.  Another free dollars for staple items at Costco.  Bisquick, pumpkin bread mix, I didn't buy tomato soup on a box, but I was there for two dollars a box again. It  is closer to four dollars a box in the regular stores.
I checked the price of refried beans at Costco, they were cheaper at grocery outlet .  I did buy a sausage roll .  It was cheaper than SAFEWAYS 2/5.00 price.  I will fry it and defat it.

I can put it in sausage, vegetable bean soup, a quiche, or on a pizza or on pasta sauce.

ALBERTSONS is offering ten percent off your groceries on a Seahawks game day of you wear the jersey to the store.  My granddaughter has one, I wonder of that counts!!! LOL

That's all for now.

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Jane

Freeky F riday

Like my granddaughter says....it's HALLo-ween!!!  In a week.  Trick or treat candy is on sale everywhere.  I tried one year to give out an alternative ( like more healthy) alternative and gave out Halloween pencils.   I found them broken on two down the walk.  So much for healthy.  LOL

I love recipes for sweets that call for things I always have in the pantry.

Chocolate pie

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa ( not drinking cocoa)
1/4 cup flour
Pinch salt

 2-1/4 cups water


1 T butter
1 tsp vanilla

Baked pastry shell.
Whip cream

in large saucepan, sugar, cocoa, flour and salt. Gradually add water.  Stirring with a wisk.  Bring to a boil and stir for 1 minute until thickened.  Remove from heavy.  Stir in butter and vanilla.  Pour into baked shell and refrigerate several hours .    Garnish with whip cream.

 Blueberry pound cake

1 cup butter, softened
3 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp soda
1 cup sour  cream
3 cups blueberries

Makes 2 loaves

In mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time.
Mix dry ingredients together.
Mix in  dry ingredients and sour cream , alternatively on thirds,

Place in greased loaf pans (2) and bake at 350 for a hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool ten minutes before removing from pans.

Note:  I have not been seeing blueberries fresh lately.  There are frozen at Costco.  Many tomes, they call for more than necessary to effect a good loaf.

Recipe can be cut in half for  a single loaf, or freeze for a emergency back up for company.
I would reduce real sugar and add some fake, or use all fake.  A good way to use up sour cream that needs to be used up,

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Jane

Terrific Thursday/ what to do with what you got edition

With our scheme of things, TOP seems to be the store of choice,followed by SAFEWAYS .  I do see that SAFEWAYS has increased the price of milk on J4U.

Top has save five dollars on produce when you buy 5 participating GM products.  Most of the items are ready made and high prices with the produce savings.  Cheerios can be found lots cheaper with coupons.  You can't take every "bargain at face value". .  

Freshetta pizza is 3.99 and there are coupons out there.  Beans are 15/10.00 or .67 each.  A food time to stock if you need to.  

I would prefer to use stock and batch cook a meat.  But, there are meals from the ads.  

Shrimp stir fry. ( SAFEWAYS 5 dollar Friday) 

Sausage quiche ( SAFEWAYS 5 dollar Friday)

Sausage bean soup ( the rest of the above and two cans of tops beans )

Loaded baked potatoes ( HORMEL chili is a buck on 5 dollar Fridays and there is a coupon out there) 

Sunday chicken ( SAFEWAYS 1.29) 

Chicken pot pies 

Tacos ( ground beef 1.99 or 2.99.  

That's picking from two grocery stores. It is is not as varied and healthy as it would have been if I had  planned meals from my stock and added one batch meat.  

My meat of choice would have been  the 2.99 ground beef at SAFEWAYS or the Pork shoulder roast.

I batch cooked ground beef two weeks ago when I got it for 2.00 a pound at SAFEWAYS.  

Alternative meals 

Shrimp stir fry

Pork roast, potatoes,carrots, salad and apple tart.  

Sausage quiche ( 12 ounces of sausage) 

Tacos, refried beans, rice 

Spaghetti and meatballs 

Mac and cheese, peas and carrots 

Vegetable bean soup

This is using stock and some things on sale this week.  It is using the Jane Matrix and limits the processed and fatty meats.  Remember to defat your sausage and ground beef.  Cook your meatballs in the oven over a rack lined  sheet pan.  Batch cook the pork roast and set aside pulled pork for another day.( sandwiches)

That's about all.

Thanks for stopping by

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Jane 

  

The ads

The ads for the week of Oct 23-29

SAFEWAYS

20 percent ground beef. 1.99
Apples .99
Pears .99

Kleenex .79@@

Eggs 1.49@@
FIVE  DOLLAR FRIDAY

Sausage 2 lbs
Halloween cake
Shrimp lb
Grapes 3/5
Chili 5/5 $$

ALBERTSONS

Apple juice .99@@
15 ground beef 2.99@@

QFC
Apples, pears 10/10
Nalleys chili 10/10
Dreyers 2.99
Green peppers .59
Cucumbers .59
Pork shoulder 1.79

Freshetta, new mans own pizza 2/10$$

TOP
French bread 2.00
London broil 2.99
Pork shoulder roast 1.69
Apples .87
Beans 15/10
Tillamook yogurt 10/5$$
Freshetta, dugout a pizza 3.90@@$$

That's about it.

@@'means with an in ad coupon
$$ means there is a coupon out there

Note there are several prices for the same thing.  Be sure to cross off the highest prices.
Check out couponnconnections on the Seattle area for coupon matchups.

Next time, meals from the ads.

Thanks for stopping by

Pleas share

Jane

Tuesday/ recipe edition

I thought that I would start writing this blog with some structure.  The first of the month will still be a rehash of the basics for anyone new. Tuesday, a recipe.   Wednesday ( or so) will be the ads.  Thursday, ideas for using the food in the ads and in season produce.  Sunday the ads for rte aid and Fred Meyer.


Tex Mex Salad.
Fresh or frozen corn
Black beans, drained and rinsed
Red, yellow or orange peppers , chopped
Tomato, seeded and chopped.
Vinaigrette

Fusilli with creamy sauce

Cook and drain 4 servings of fusilli, or corkscrew pasta.  Keep warm.

In a skillet, , cook 2 slices bacon , remove from pan and chop, place in bowl.
In skillet sauté 1 tsp minced garlic and  1/2 cup chopped onion in olive oil and add to the bacon.

Add 2 t flour to the skillet and gradually add on 2 cups of milk.  Add 1/4 cup sour cream, reducing heat.
Add 2 cups frozen peas, thawed and 3/4. Cup parm or other hard cheese.
Salt and pepper.
 Add bacon and vegetables back to the sauce.

Toss sauce with the pasta.  Garnish with basil/ and or parm.

Serves 4

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Jane

Monday

it's Momday again, funny how that works.  I broke down and went shopping Sunday, but only less than 30 dollars.  We needed bread and I have too much work to do to make bread that DH wouldn't eat anyway.  I did take advantage of good buys.  I got two pizzas for  3.00.  Ok I'm a pinch and cheap lunch.  Also I got reduced sodium chicken noodle soup for .52 a can with a coupon and up rewards.
That is more than RBP.   The rest of the cart was ice cream , fruits and veggies.

The grocers are due to go on strike tonight at 7 o'clock.  We are stocked for some time.
My grandbaby is really excited about Halloween.  I need to clean and decorate today.

The cold weather brings out the memories of hot soups, pumpkin everything and apple recipes.  I had the recipe for my MIL's apple cake, don't know where I put it.  We just loved it.  It called for salad oil, sugar and apples and them you mixed the dry ingredients and folded the two together.

Betty Crocker has e mailed me another batch. One osman impossible pumpkin pie that you do on muffin tins.  Sounds like it would be  a good one for individual dishes and simplifying a buffet table,
There are coupons this month for canned pumpkin.  Now is mangold time to stock baking supplies.  They all go on sale this time of the year, and almost never other times of the year.  For many people this is the only time of the year that they bake.

The Internet/ Facebook is full of recipes.  Most of them take expensive ready made items.  Most of the time you can scale them down or substitute ingredients and get the same results.  Case in point : a pizzeria Cassarole.  Ot took, sausage, pepperoni, cheese, and cottage cheese.  Que on pasta and pasta sauce.  That's one protein loaded dish!  You could choose between the sausage and the pepperoni.  Sausage can be defatted.  Pepperoni is cheapest at the dollar store--name brand.  Cottage cheese can be low fat.  And you can reduce the amount of the cheese.  Moderation is the key.  The simpler the dishes, the least expensive they will be.

Substitutions are on the Internet.  Usually I can find any information I need.  My sister gave me a substitution book for Christmas one year.  The Internet is a great tool that our mothers and grandmothers never had.  Also, there are great cookbooks out there that came out of the ww2 era that simplified recipes to compensate for war rationing.  Red velvet cake came put of WW2'because an ingenious woman tried to make a cake that looked like chocolate . Chocolate was in short supply.

I haven't found cheap apples yet.  I am still seeing two dollars a pound.  I haven't checked the fruit stand.

We like tex Mex food.  I especially like it because I can make one meal and satisfy everyone. Semi- vegetarians included.

Cheese Enchilada Casserole

1 cup (1/4 lb) grated cheddar cheese
1cup chopped tomato ( fresh or well drained diced tomato canned
1 cup cottage cheese
Sliced  green onion
2 tsp taco seasoning

9 six inch corn tortillas

Taco sauce
White cheese

1) combine  first 5 ingredients in a bowl.
2)  line a greased oblong  baking dish with three tortillas.
3) spread 1/2 the cheese mixture over the tortillas.
4) repeat layers ending with tortillas.
5) top with taco sauce and white cheese.
6) bake at 375 for 20 minutes.  Until dish is heated through and cheese is melted.

Notes.  At two dollars a pound for cheese,  1/4 pound is .50.  Cottage cheese was 1.67 last week.  Substituting  canned diced tomatoes saves more money.  If you have more tomatoes left over, make salsa.  Tortillas are cheap at grocery outlet and big lots.  This is easier than making enchiladas because the tortillas don't have to be softened and rolled.  A lot faster dish.


If you spend more time shopping, and less time cooking, you will be money ahead.   Think about it this way.  If you normally spend 150.00 for a weeks food and you cut the cost to 75.00.  The difference is 75.00.  Say you are just learning to shop differently and take an extra hour prepping your trip and shopping.  You will be making 75.00 an hour.  If you are in the workforce, you will have to make 90.00 to spend that 75.00. The savings are remarkable.

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Sunday savings

This blog is about buying your groceries as cheap as possible and buying as healthy as possible.  It is not about hoarding,

It is not about minimalists either.  

There are three types of shopping habits.  

1) go to the neighbourhood store, the most expensive store in town, and buy just what you need to last you one or two days....about 3-4 trips a week.  Your food is really fresh, or not, and you spend 110 to 120 percent of retail.  

2 go to the big box warehouse club once a week and fill your cart with ready made and anything that floats your boat that day.  Less trips, some of the items are cheaper, some not and you are bombarded with zillions of impulse buys.  You average retail, maybe a little less.  

3) plan your trips.  Go to several stores and buy the sales.  Buy as many as fits your plan.  You don't have a weeks groceries, because last weeks plan fills in this weeks plan.  You average 50 percent of retail.  It takes some prep time.  You are going to an average of two stores and you are planning your trip to maximize your gas.  You are also saving about FOUR  THOUSAND dollars a year if you are the average family. It uses less gas than the person that runs every day to the grocery store, it saves a lot more money than either of the alternatives, and it builds a stock.  

Let's talk about stock.  

A) you are never out of food, no running to the store because you are on the middle of cooking and don't have an ingredient.  

B) you are prepared if any disaster strikes.  Something  as simple as not feeling like taking  yourself to the store, that dreaded S word making it dangerous to go to the store, or the grocers going on strike and you not wanting to cross a picket line. 

C) there is some sense of security knowing that you have food in the house.  I would never want to turn a family member away because I didn't have enough food to feed them dinner.  

D) there is a smug satisfaction knowing that you paid half price for your food, and don't have to waste your resources on paying top dollar for your food.  

I thank God that I grew up with a belief system that paying top dollar for anything is stupid.  Buying the best quality of things that will last you a long time is smart, spending more than you have to on the rest of your necessities is not.  It has got me threw some really tuff times.  I was left with a child to take care of and 5.12 cents in the bank.  I couldn't have survived without some grocery smarts,  we can go without a lot of things, food is not one of them.

Enough on the naysayers.  To each his own.  I really shouldn't have to justify my belief system.

I'll get back to groceries on the cheap . I know that there are people that want and need to stretch their grocery dollars.

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Tomorrow"s ads for Fred Meyer and rite aid update

Since my husband brought me the Sunday paper, this is  so early.

Rite Aid

Allergy tablets and nasal spray are BOGO.
Candy for Halloween is a buck for9 ounces and two bucks for sixteen ounces, reg 3.00.

Most of the food is not a bargain.
Campbell's chicken noodle soup is 5/5 and there so a up reward.  Nets .60.  I also remember a coupon.  Will get back later with the particulars, my coupon book is on the car so I can't forget it! LOL. It was .40 cents off multiples.  I got five low sodium chicken noodle soup for 2.60.  Half retail.
Also our Benadryl 1/2 and some candy for entertaining.


Fred Meyers

Nabisco  crackers 3/5@@
Fm yogurt 3/1@@
Frank bread 2/4
Grapes 1.48
Fm frozen veggies .79. 12 ounces@@
Red Baron pizza 2/4@@$$
Ice cream 2/6 @@
Squash .88. Organic

That's about it.
 I was t going to shop......I stayed away on Friday.  LOL.   I got pizza for 1.50 net..  A really cheap lunch.  .375 cents.  So,e grapes and veggies.  And I was out of ice cream.  I aren't more than rock bottom because I need low carb.  I walked out of there spending less than 29.00.

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Dollar store

The following is a repost of my piece on  the dollar store.  I really did it as a lark.  I don't buy all our food from  the dollar store, nor would I have.  Although, a dollar store would have been a welcome site when we were at the beach with no food!    LOL

I buy a select few things from the dollar store,  most of the things are cheaper at the regular store.   I have been getting things for free lately, and free is a good price LOL.  The frozen veggies are cheaper when they are not on sale at the chain stores.  Recipe starter is .50 and cheaper than making it from scratch.  Enter a fifty cent coupon and it is FREE.  I got Betty Crocker potatoes for fifty cents.  Everybody needs some things you can use on a pinch.  

I GET THE NEWSPAPER EVERY SUNDAY FOR THE COUPONS.  They carry it all week so I don't have to rush down Sunday morning.  I check to be sure that there is a coupon insert.  There are usually two in the first Sunday.  A lot of coupons are for things I don't buy on the first place.  Sometimes, I luck out.  I save the inserts on a binder clip per month.  I just threw June away, most of the coupons had expired.  

I use couponconnections in the Seattle area to check for matchups.  Many times I can get really good buys at rite aid.  Like free or pay me to take something home. It is still not worth it if I can't use it or I don't know a place that would gladly take it.  I brought about two dozen toothpastes to the women's shelter.  It is my understanding that there is a domestic violence shelter opening up in our area soon as well.  They can always use individual packages of personal   products.

The dollar store ( Dollar  Tree) does have normal food as well as junk food.  They have rice, beans, and frozen veggies ...things normal scratch cooking mamas would buy.  I also find some cleaners and tissue there.

We have .99 stores on the area that sell drug paraphernalia.  Not all dollar  stores are  created equal.

The repost !


Now, after I got a tube of toothpaste from the dollar store for free, I have purchased nine toothpastes for a total of two dollars.  All of them are either Colgate or Crest.

I went virtual shopping via my notepad.  I forgot to bring my electronics, so I did it the old fashioned way.  It was my challenge to make a good meal from the dollar store for my five dollar criteria.
I have not tasted the food here.  It was a lark to see of it could be done.  I wouldn't recommend it because the grocery store is cheaper on some things.  


I found

1. Meatballs, ziti, pasta sauce, and mixed California vegetables.  --5 bucks. (Two pkgs meatballs)
2. Chicken strips, French fries, regular mixed vegetables,  - 4 bucks ( using a pound of strips
3. Tilapia,  sweet potatoes, corn, and red peppers.  5 bucks (a pound of fish)(rice*) 
4. Bean and rice burritos with cheese.  ( beans and rice scratch 1 lb for a buck each) tortillas 1.00. Cheese 1.00, salsa .  5.00.  * enough rice for the fish dinner. 

 Four dinners for 19.00 with beans and salsa left over.

I found (some items are cheaper on sale elsewhere) but, my criteria was a meal from the dollar store.  I did not include normal staples like butter, catsup, etc.

Chicken breast strips 8 ounces

7 ounces of meatballs

4 ounces of tilapia

16 ounces Calif  blend veggies

Brocolli

Peas

Mixed veggies

French fries

Onion rings

Sweet potatoes, corn and red pepper medley

Sargento cheese

Mashed potatoes

Uncle Ben's  rice blends

Noodles

Ziti

Elbow Mac

Raw rice
Raw beans

Zatarans

Tortillas 

Pasta sauce

And some other  mixes I wouldn't buy, personal preference

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Finally friday

For the first time in at least 50 years, I am not going to grocery shop this week.  We have errands to run and other than a a few things to entertain  this week, I don't need anything.

My twelve year old car didn't pass the emission control test.  Ot cost a minimum of 150.00 to bail it out.

I'll do meal plans from my freezer and pantry.  It's a luxury to not have to shop if the grocers are on strike, or an family emergency happens. I have been out of work with kids mouths to feed.  It's nice to know that we can eat and I paid  1/2 price or less for most of it.

I have a Jane outline for meals.

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

It makes it easy to provide a variety of meals for the family, with less time.

My mother tried several ways to do that.  One time we had hamburger every day, a zillion different ways.  There was a period of time when you knew what day of the week it was by what was cooking on the stove when you got home from school.  Thursday was bread and pizza day.  Fridays was clam chowder or a yummy egg dish that puffed up on the oven.  It was fun to watch it fall when she took it out!

I digress.
Meal plans

1) tacos , rice and beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese, taco sauce
2) beef tips , mashed potatoes, green beans, salad
3) chicken pot pie, apple pie
4) pork spareribs , French bread, corn salad
5) 4 cheese Mac and cheese, mixed veggies
6) eggs, hash browns, fruit and yogurt cups
7) shrimp stir fry.  Rice

There are a lot of things going on here.  tacos mean I can thaw some chicken shreds and not cook two meals to satisfy the semi vegetarians.  Rice is a stair step.  I'll cook a double batch for shrimp stirfry a second day.  Beef tips are ready made because I got the, cheaper than scratch.  Good for a work day.
The chicken pot pie uses the rest of the chicken from the tacos.  I got a lot of shredded cheeses from grocery outlet, we like a combination of cheeses for Mac and cheese.  It kicks it up a notch .  Eggs are a cheap source of protein, and again, I don't have to cook a double meal.

The cost of the taco meat was 2 dollars a pound.
The cost of the tips was 3.20 a pound
The chicken 1.00
Pork spareribs 3.00
Shrimp was 5.00 a pound
Eggs were 1.25 a dozen.  1/2 dozen .62.

Total protein 15.82.
Divided by 7 equals 2.21 cents a meal.  Average

Mixing your meats, balancing an inexpensive protein with an expensive one makes you have a variety of meals, and makes you feel like you are not deprived because you are cooking on the cheap.
Moderation is the key.  No one needs to eat a whole  pound a shrimp in a sitting. Eating vegetables and rice to makes for a balanced meal.  Your dinners  should average five bucks a meal when your SNAP is 300.00.  That is the average I have heard from people.  Five  dollars allows you five for breakfast and lunch.  Some children get free lunches at school. I average five dollars for three adults and the baby just because I can.  I want to be sure what I am writing is true.  In the Pacific Northwest anyway. Obviously, you are not going to buy two dollar and fifty cent asparagus and five dollar a gallon milk on this plan.  LOL but I usually have the biggest drawer of the fridge full of fresh fruits and vegetables along with the counter.  Right now, we have apples, tomatoes, bananas and a couple of oranges.  Grapes, lettuce, carrots, celery and salad greens and cucumbers.

I am basing these meals on our family,  our family has stats of 141.00 a week.  A family of two middle aged adults and two teenage boys, for instance, has a stat of 168.00.  I actually spend average of 72.00 a week.  These figures are for actual food eaten.  My 72.00 includes building a stock.  It will be interesting to see what I average when we start eating down the pantry.

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

The ads, finally

Here are the ads.  Apparently, the grocery workers go on strike on Saturday.

TOP

Red Baron pizza 2.99$$
Orzo wheat bread 1.99
Pork sirloin 1.99

Beef tenderloin 11.99.   Wow!  

Radishes .59
Apples 5 lbs 5 bucks
Oatmeal .99. @@

Shredded cheese 6.00 a pound ( we paid 2.50 a pound for sharp last week, and 2.00 per pound for regular.  This is why you don't wait until you really need cheese to buy it!  That is a FOUR dollar a pound savings.

SAFEWAYS

Pork sirloin chops 1.49
Chicken drums, thighs, legs .99
Grapes 1.99
Dave's killer bread 3.99
Crackers 1.99@@

ALBERTSONS

Pork sirloin roast  10/10. ( that's a lot of roast). But a buck a pound.
Salad 1.00
Avocados 1.00
Clams, albacore tuna, chicken.  1.00
Milk 1.99@@
English muffins 2/1@@
Hillshire lunch,eat 2.49@@. Check cc

10 for 10. No restrictions
Olives
Tortillas
Pineapple
Fresh veggie packs
Cream cheese
Apples
Cauliflower
Pears
Peppers
Carrots , 2 lbs

QFC
Broccoli, cauliflower .99
Pears .99
Bread 2/5

That's about it.

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

@@ means with an in ad coupon
$$ cc means there is a coupon out there, or check coupon connections in Seattle area
Wow.   Check out the price of beef!   Another case of striking while the iron is hot.  We paid two bucks a pound last week!  
Pork sirloin is a bargain, but seems like a lot of meat even for batch cooking.  Maybe split one with a friend or relative.  ????