Soup no 3 Cheezy potato

Cheesy potato soup from thembetty Crocker on line cook book.  
Picks without bacon and parsley garnish.  
Easiest soup I think I ever made.

Soup , no. 2

Tomato basil, Gorgonzola soup and crab cakes.

@

Soup series - No 1

Yi

Soup series no. I

Crockpot soups are a good way to have a hearty, hot dinner on cold, blustery, days.   Especiall when it's the  busy Holiday season.



You,can sign up for e mail at Betty Crocker , or they have an online cookbook.   It is well worth the
effort to download.    You can plug in something that you need to use up and they will give  you a recipe.  

Happy  Holidays.

Jane

Fred Meyers and notes

Fed Meyers ad

Milk .99@@
Ribeye 5.97
Turkey breast 149
Shrimp 6.99
Cool whip .79@@
Hills hire sausage 2/5@@


Umpqua  ice cream 2.99
Kraft dressing 1.99
Gold medal flour 1.49
Cheesecake 12.99
Pumpkin pie 3.99
Apples 1.29

Spiral ham coupon 10.00 for flame crafted bone in

That's about it.

Winco has they will meet the lowest price of the chain stores on a select list of holiday fixings.  


I have started a series of soup recipes.   It's that time of year and I downloaded a bunch of recipes from Betty Crocker.  

Last night we had a sausage, bean and potato soup and cheesy biscuits.  
Tonight we are having crab cakes. But I'll start the rest ifmthemstory Sunday.  


Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

The ads

QFC

Simple truth chickens are .99 a pound,  I can't find anywhere the answer to the question, where are they from?    I did find that they are a brand of Kroger and that they are being sued for mislabeling?  Or something of the nature.  

Grapes 1.68
Milk .99


Buy 4, save 4
Kroger ice cream net 1.8
Sugar .99
Freshetta 4.99
Nathan's 2.99


Safeways
Sirloin tip roast 3.99

five dollar Friday
Naval oranges
Oatmeal, peanut butter, bars 3/5



Brown or powdered sugar .99@@
Butter 2/5@@
Flour 1.89@@


Buy 5 save 5
Cereal 2.99$$

Buy 4. Save 4

Albertsons
15percent hamburger, bottom round, cross rib 3.99

Coupons the same as Safeways.

That's about it.


Thanks
Jane

Winco haul

Winco haul 36.13 less .25 Ibotta .  

Chicken thighs .68 a pound, grown in the Pacific Northwest.    

stretching your protein dollar.

By far, food is the most expensive discretionary so ending category on a budget.....at least of the necessities and protein is usually the most expensive category of food.  

Meat prices have risen remarkably in the last year or so.    It is not unusual to pay five dollars a pound or more for what we used to pay two dollars for.    Chicken is still a bargain for a buck a pound for whole chickens.    It takes about ten. Invites to put a whole chicken on the oven to roast and another ten to disinfect the kitchen. Counters and utensils.  Rotisery chicken is at least 1.67 a pound at Costco.   The chicken comes from draper valley.  Chicken breast is the most expensive way to buy chicken..sometimes as costly as beef.   If I want a boneless , skinless chicken breast, I buy a picnic pack when it is 1.25 a pound and break it down into meal portions and debone the breast.   It takes a few tries, but it's not hard to debone a chicken breast.  

I bought a pack of small eye of round steaks from Winco last week,   They were 9.09.   We had 2 of them that I cooked in the grill pan.   Last night I cut them across the grains very thin and stir fried them with stir fry veggies from Costco in the freezer section.    Add brown roce and dinner was done.   I still have enough for another meal or two.   Four meals for 9.00 is 2.25 a meal.  That is close to my target cost and I can average it with Mac and cheese or breakfast for dinner.  

I have been getting hamburger for about three dollars a pound for the good low fat kind lately.   When I do I make meatballs, meatloaf, taco meat and/or crumbles.   Portion control goes a long ways to stretch your dollar.   There are a lot of recipes for ground beef out there.  The recent information I have read lately says that we need six  ounces of protein a day and some of that should come  from eggs.  Yes, eggs.   I would refer you to an earlier post.   Moderation, in my opinion, is the key on food.  Remember when eggs were bad for you!   Times change and I for one am not going to buy into  all the hoopla.  Of you take a food group out of your diet , you need to replace the nutrients that you would get from that food group with something else.   Unless my doctor tells me something is not good for me to eat and I consult with a nutrition expert( not my cousin or the lady next door) I'm going to eat a variety of things in moderation from the basic food groups.   Just my opinion. I do believe all of us. Should watch our fat, sugar, and salt consumption.  

You can still get pork at a reasonable price.  Sausage is cheapest at Costco.   There are a lot of coupons for sausage and port tenderloins.   I try to limit our processed meat consumption to once a week.   Pepperoni is fifty cents a package for Hormel with coupons at the dollar tree.   A few sliced added to vegetables and olives on a pizza goes a long ways.  Buffalo,chicken pizza so another pizza alternative that stretches a piece of leftover cooked chicken.  

From a whole,chicken I get, 2 chicken breast halves. BBQ chicken from the dark meat, and soup from the bones.  Usually for meals from a five pound, four to five dollar chicken.   The break even ratio for a chicken is three pounds -everything after that is gravy.    In other words, if you buy nature pound chicken  you are paying for half bones, and half meat.  

Using eggs, cheese, and beans and rice for a few meals a week, stretches the protein budget.

If you have a soup or something that is lower on protein tan you want, consider adding a yogurt parfait, ice cream, pudding, custard  or other desert or side dish that boosts the protein.  

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Notes on drugs.....

I discovered a few things lately that might help people that have to take drugs.    Unless you have fantastic insurance, allergy meds and diabetic test strips can be cheaper over the counter than buying them with copays at the pharmacy.    

The generic Zyrtec was two dollars more than the copay for a month to buy a years supply at Costco.  

Nose sprays are a lot cheaper too. 

Test strips can run a dollar each.   I got 100 test strips for less than 25.00.    Before you fill a prescription, you may want to check Walmart, SAMs club, Costco or Amazon.    

Just a thought.    I'm all about loving well on a small budget.    

Fred Meyers

tomorrow's Fred Meyers ad

Pineapple fresh .99
Apples .99
Ex peel shrimp 5.99

Canned fruit 100
Kroger ice cream, 1.99@@
Sour cream/ cottage cheese .99@@
Fred Meyer coffee 4.99

Mandarins 3.99
Pears .99
Whole fryer .99


About all.   My guess is that  I would lick chicken for our stock meat this week.  

Thanks formatoppingmby

Please share

Jane

Reprint...and your food has what in it?

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.


Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

The ads

Ads are here.  

Albertsons

Seasoned chicken breast b1 G3 free.   No origin on meat @@
Round roast 3.88
Apples .99


Five dollar Friday
Pacific cod
Berries 2/5
Pomegranates 3/5
Donuts - a dozen
English muffins 3/5
DiGiorno

Milk 2/5@@
Vegetables/tomato sauce 2/1@@
Oranges .79
Limes 4/1

Coupons
Chili .99

Safeways
Seasoned chicken breast B1, get 3 @@.   No origin in meant
Apples .99
Limes 4/1


5 dollar Friday
Pomegranates 3/5
Berries 2/5
Dijorno pizza
English muffins 3/5

Milk 2/5@@
Veggies, tom sauce 2/1@@


Coupons
Chili .99

QFC
Oranges .69
Milk .99

Buy 4, save 4
Sugar .99
Cheerios 1.69
Kens dressing 1.99
Salad oil 1.99
Kroger ice cream 1.88
Dryers 2.99



Berries 2/5
Apples .99

Thanks for stopping by

Please share

Jane

Haul

I did not go to Freddie's.    Ad to follow.   I went to dollar tree...looking for something I can't find! Lol. And Winco.   Our grocery total for November was 68.00 a week.   I'm sure it was because of Winco.   I was hitting closer to eighty.    We do have a considerable stock. It is that time of year when we have the donut hole and stock items are on sale.  

Grocery outlet had hash browns for 2.50.  --enough for about four meals.   dijourno  pizza was 1.99.  
Sliced cheese was the usual 2.39.    Blue cheese was 1.99.

Winco had several beef roasts well under three dollars a pound.    16 ounces of marshmallows were. Dollar.   Brownie mix .98, cake .88.  I noted good prices, but can't remember all of them.   Refried beans .88, taco shells a dollar, pasta .88 , but Barilla was too high.    No sugar added Klondike bars were just under three.  

Fred Meyers. Milk .99@@
Raspberries 4/5
Cheese 5.48@@$$ ( 1.00 coupon out there)
Naval oranges .99
Cucumbers 2/.99
Shrimp 6.99 lb


That's  about it.  

Jane

We survived. ,

Black Friday and I didn't go near a mall.   My daughter and I left baby with grandpa  and we went to the dollar store, Safeways, and Walgreens.    I left Safeways with nothing,   All the prices had been raised for the last minute shoppers.    Dollar tree had Christmas sox for granddaughter, some foil paper, and Betty Crocker sweet potatoes , and a soy candle.    I did get my diabetic chocolate and some 1/2 price fingernail polish.   At sixty dollars a pop for nails, I do my own.  lol.

Thanksgiving week in general is not  a good week to shop.   Winco kept up the special pricing. Other stores did not.   Stove top stuffing was 250 at Walgreens.    One of mine was a buck, the other one was free.   Knowing where and when to buy something is key.   As well as knowing what not to buy.   I usually buy very few stove top stiffing packages, also on on no buy list of breadcrumbs. ( why throw away your bread heels and buy someone else's dry  bread.) , chips other than plain taco chips for nachos, bottled pop and juices, kool aid, except for clay for the children) , hamburger helper, or rotisserie chicken unless I'm in a real pinch.

Anything that is easier to make by hand or has no food value in it is not on my list.   Bagged lettuce is healthier than when you cut it yourself.  Studies have shown there is more germs on a head of lettuce that you wash yourself at home than there is a bag of lettuce.

I am going to post meal plans next.   I try for five dollar dinners - a dinner for the typical family of four,: two adukats and two school aged children.    That is the magic. I bet that will leave enough for lunch and dinner on a for dollar a day budget ( the professed snap amount) and leave something for stock.

1. Vegetable bean soup, sour dough baguette.   
2. Pork tenderloin, mashed sweet potatoes, Cesar salad,
3. Mac and cheese, peas and carrots.   
4. BBQ chicken , seasoned potato wedges, mixed vegetables. 
5. Tacos , refried beans, rice,
6. Fish packets 
7. Spaghetti, red sauce, green salad, sour dough baguette.   

Notes 

1) vegetable bean soup. : combine in crockpot

     2 - 15 ounce cans of diced tomatoes , 2 cans of beans, drained and rinsed. ( I I've two different beans) , a quart of chicken or vegetable stock ( from better than bullion) , 2 carrots , two celery ribs, chopped or sliced and sautéed  until limp.   Cover and cook on low for 8 -10 hours.   Serve with arm cheese.   

2) pork tenderloins I got on sale on five dollar Friday at Safeways with a two dollar coupon found at coupons.com.  Betty Crocker makes sweet potatoes in a packet available at the dollar tree.   Ceased salad was left over from thanksgiving,    If it wasn't thanksgiving. I might make a green salad.   

3) Mac and cheese.   I use any shaped pasta I can find cheap that is a good brand. Economy isn't about buying the cheapest thing you can find.    The last batch I got was rotini brand for .49 at QFC.   When I can, I get double fiber.   Cream soup base recipe is on line.  It comes from  Taste of Home.    

I use a variety of cheeses, clean out our cheese drawer.  Grocery outlet is a good source for cheese.   

My target price is two dollars, I have been finding it for 2-2.50.  Mixed vegetables were cheapest at Costco for a five pound bag.   

4) BBQ chicken is from chicken parts set aside from roasting a chicken. Hear them on the oven and brush with BBQ sauce.   Seasoned potato wedges are made in America at the Dollar Tree and 1.5 pounds are 1.00. 

5) taco shells are cheapest at Winco as are refried beans (.88) rice makes a complete protein for the vegetarian.   Hamburger was purchased ( 7 percent) for 2.99 at Fred Meyers.   I made meat balls, a meat loaf, and fried the rest as crumbles and froze it.   

6) fish packets .  Fish was at Winco.  Layer on parchment on individual packets : spinach, cooked rice, white beans, fish, a green vegetable.   Seal parchment to make a package, and bake on sided cookie sheet or pan for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until fish is done and flakes. 

7)  add meat to hunts pasta sauce ( I paid .75 at the dollar store with coupon, but it's always a dollar or less someplace. ) pasta was .49 for veggie pasta at QFC.   Baguttes are at Costco wholesale or the bakery outlet for about a dollar a piece.  There is also some at the dollar store.  

One last note.  The only way you can keep the prices of meat down and maintain quality and variety, is to watch for the loss leader in any given week.   Shop  two stores, ( sometimes meat and oroduct doesn't look so good when you get to the store. Give yourself options. ) buy one meat a week in bulk - as much as you will need for that kind of dinner for the month.   Batch cook it if that is appropriate, and portion control it on freezer bags and freeze.  It makes dinner time a lot more efficient, and cooking and cleanup a cinch!   If  there are no good buys on protein, skip one and buy two another week.  

That's about all.    

Thanks 

Jane 

Grocery hauls

I have been stuck in bed for some time this week.....so I made use of my time watching grocery hauls on U TUBE.   I have come to the conclusion I am  in the middle of the road between... Let's buy a whole lot of junk food and processed stuff and let's buy the most expensive food in the store and ... I'll leave that to your own ideas.    lol.

Middle of the road and moderation have been my mantra for a long time now. So many people say they are lactose intolerant, that never were before.  I'm wondering if it is because they choose or their doctors choose for them to be gluten free or vegetarian.   I'm wondering if cutting a food group out of your diet changes the PH or whatever balance in ones gut.   Not a nutritionist, just a guess.  

I saw a lot of four hundred dollar hauls that could be reduced to well under a hundred.    Knowing your prices and shopping multiple stores is the key.    No one store has the best prices on everything.    Some stores are notorious for being the best price on a particular thing or type of thing,    It doesn't mean that you need to go to five different stores in one week to buy your food.   You go to two stores, plan your trip for economical gas and time, and buy a supply.  

For those on the Seattle area....

Dairy is cheapest at Costco, except milk that is a dollar with on ad coupon about every three weeks or so at Fred Meyers.    Sour cream and cottage cheese is a dollar sometimes at Fred Meyers,    Grated cheese is cheapest at Costco wholesale, and sometimes at grocery outlet (bogo).   Sliced cheese so hands down the cheapest at grocery outlet.    I grated my own cheese from blocks a few weeks go. I found that we went through two big plastic containers instead of about 3/4 of one in a week.    I think the finer grate goes further.   My RBP on cheese is two dollars a pound.  I, coming close with coupons and watching where I buy it.    You are almost always going to spend more buying 8 ounce containers.   Grated cheese freezes well.  You can cook it frozen.  It thaws quickly.   When cheese is on sale in small packages, do the math.   It's a retailers trick to out small packages on sale, expecting people will either not know their measurements or won't bother to do the math.

I watch buy xx save xx deals.   It's a retailers trick to get you to buy a lot of stuff you don't need on the first place.   I bite on them if I can match a manufacturers coupon with the sale and l can identify enough things at a good price that we will actually use.    Usually they have a few things for a buck that you can fill in with that sometimes are a buck all the time at certain stores.

Thinking that it all averages out if you buy from one store is a mistake.   Some prices are good, others at not so good.   You are better off buying what is a good price at two stores.   You have a choice of what produce looks the best, and you are getting the best of both stores.    Lately I have been hitting Kroger and Winco.  I have found that the prices are not as good at Safeways as they used to be before Haggens bought them out.

Don't box yourself in, think out of the box.    There are a lot of stores that carry a limited amount of food.   I'm not talking the quick marts.   But if you go to a store like big lots or a drug store  for something else, keep your eyes open, know your prices, and always check pull dates.  

About all for now.


Thanks

Jane

Fred Meyers

the paper today had small inserts if ads for the other grocery stores.    Winco and grocery outlet do not have ads.   Winco you can see at favado, but they aren't always accurate.    If you have waited until the last minute to buy turkey dinner, you are usually paying full price.    Winco has lowest prices guaranteed from the get go.  

Fred Meyers.

Turkey .69 with a extra purchase of fifty dollars.
Asparagus 1.99
Satsumas 3.88
Dryers ice cream 2/5@@
Butter 3/5@@
Ritz 3/5@@
Sour cream .99@@
Cake mix 1.00
Pumpkin pie 3.99
Cranberry sauce 2/3
Cream of mushroom soup 1.00
Stove top 4/5
Olives 3/5
Crescent rolls 3/5
Green beans 1.79


Notes :
If you bought cream of mushroom soup a few weeks past with a coupon it would be .49
Cranberry sauce is bogo at grocery outlet for .40.
Stove top was free at Winco.   It has been a dollar  all over.
Pumpkin pie is a bit cheaper at Winco.   Probably cheaper at Costco if u can use their size.
Crescent rolls were cheapest at QFC with coupon and buy ten promotion.   You can still get them cheaper with a coupon at Winco.   I think 147 and there is a coupon for 1.00 off three on today's paper.
Olives ate cheaper at Winco for Lindsay and there are coupons out there.
Cake mix was .88 late October at Winco.

It pays you to buy non perishables before the holiday.  It was the time to stock up.


Thanks for stopping by
Please share
Jane
,

Winco and.......

Winco is the cheapest on thanksgiving ingredients.   There is a coupon for crescent rolls and black olives out there.  

Albertsons
Turkey.  Free with 150 more in purchases ( EX150)
.68 with ex 50. Limit one
Safeways
Ditto

QFC
.69 with ex 30

Winco
.63 with no limit and no ex.

QFC
Clementines 388
Broccoli or cauli.  .99
Tillamook cheese 5.99
Dryers 2.99
Berries 2/5
Green beans 1.79
Sweet potatoes .99
Cool whip 1.50
Pie 3.99
Stove top 150 ( I got it for free last week at Winco.

Safeways
Yams .99
Potatoes .99
Green beans 1.99
Fold gets 6.99@@
Olives .99@@$$. Cheapest at Winco
9 inch pumpkin pie 9.99.   ( not a bargain. )

Albertsons
Pie 10 inch 6.99
Green beans 1.99
Potatoes .99
Yams .99
Coffee 6.99@@
Cream cheese 149@@$$

Thanks for stopping by
Place share

Jane

Winco and thanksgiving prices

We just went to the dollar tree and Winco.   I got fruit snacks and men's sox for the homeless bags at dollar tree.  And sparkely  sox for myself...can you spell glitter!  

Winco has a gallon of milk for free and cookies.   I got the gallon of milk for us and the cookies for the daycare.   I thought granddaughter would enjoy sharing with friends at snack time.   

Crescent rolls were 1.48 and I had a dollar coupon.   

Cucumbers were .48

Pumpkin pie 3.48.  I can't make it for that.   

White bread .88

Acorn squash .68

Lindsay olives .87- $$

Small tomato sauce .29

Best ground beef 3.18

Extra large hummus. 278

Turkey is .63 a pound ... No spending restrictions.

I got .75 Ibotta.    

Thanks for stopping by

Please share 

Jane 

Four dollars a day books.

There are a lot of books out there that tote that they can teach you how to feed your family on four dollars a day.  They are assuming you are paying that nasty f ford ( full price) for your food.    Some of them go on the premise of not eating meat and eating rocks for dinner.   Some are more adventurous and assume you can get your family to eat food from Mars , find food most of us can't pronounce, let alone find at a low cost.    Earth to people: you can't buy two dollar a serving oatmeal and still eat three meals a day on four dollars.    Maybe that's new math!  Ha ha .   I did find a good book on Amazon kindle for a dollar.  I'll try to link or at least identify it below.  

I'm not going to write a book.    Grocery outlet has a free one that does the job quite well.     I write this blog free of advertisements.   I'm not in this for the money,    I just want to help real people get reasonable nutrition on a small budget.  My premise is that if you spend more time on the FRONT end of the dinner on the table train, and less on the BACK  end you will be better off.   Getting your real food half off or more means you can have enough food and a variety of food and still maintain an emergency stock.  

It's just a different frame of mind,    Why pay 1.59 for a can of green beans, when you can pay .33 or .50 and get three times as much!   Then, you eat three times, not once.    You can rinse the food and reduce salt.   Don't put  salt on your food.   Don't salt food while cooking it.    There are ways to reduce salt , sugar and fat without paying someone not to put it on your food in the first place. .   It like going to the gas station and paying someone not to put gas in your car.   Doesn't make sense to me.   They leave  out an ingredient in your food and then charge you more because they saved money not putting the ingredient in  there.    Really?  

I digress.  

It's a different way of grocery shopping.   The net results is you pay 1/2 price for your food, you have a stock in case of an emergency, and you always have food on the house.    There is a certain sense of security in that idea.    And it has saved my behind more than once.

This takes time.   It doesn't happen overnight.    Even of you had a great influx of money, low prices don't happen on everything everyday.  I make up the time I spend on management by spending less time in the kitchen.  We are not foodies.  No one in this family would appreciate the fact that I spent all day in  the kitchen.    I have done the food management thing for years, even when I had three children at home and held down two jobs and maintained the housework.

Key points

1. Never pay full price  know the RBP on the things you use on a weekly basis.   We are talking shelf ready staples.   For us that would be diced tomatoes, canned beans, green beans, frozen veggies, refried beans, black olives, instant mashed potatoes , rice, pasta, pasta sauce.    Pretty soon you will instinctively know who has the best prices on those products and can watch the ads for the RBP.    Favado isn't always accurate, but a good benchmark.   Ads come in the mail and Fred Meyers is in the Sunday paper.   You can buy the Sunday  paper on Saturday before at the dollar tree.    
2. When something is at a rock bottom price buy whichever comes first of a) the amount the store will allow ( limits) b) as many as you can afford, or c) as many as you need to fill in your self imposed limit.   ( I keep a three- six month supply of anything that isn't perishable and on my stock list or as many as I think we will use until the next sale .   This is especially true of typical holiday sales.  Like catsup in  the summer.  
3. Use coupons wisely.    I wouldn't spend more than ten to twenty minutes a week on coupons    I date inserts, look quickly through them for things we eat on a regular basis, and file the inserts. in a monthly file folder.   I keep back three months.   Favado will match coupons for you and tell you where to find the coupons .  I don't buy anything with a coupon that I wouldn't buy anyway, unless it's free and I can use it or know someone that can     I have been finding four dollar off dog food.    We don't have a dog, but my SIL has three.    I love that word free.    It goes a long way to enhance your quality of life of you don't have to pay for something you  need.   
4. Ibotta is a rebate ap.  when I get home from the store, I match up anything that I have purchased with their list for that store   I watch a quick video while putting the food away and snapshot the bar code and sales slip and they put money in my account,  get to ten to twenty five dollars and they will give you a gift card that you want,   Anything from Starbucks to wall mart or Amazon  it's a way to get fresh food discounted.  
5. Sign up for store cards.    They give you better prices    QFC also gives you free things and coupons based on your purchases    
6. Dairy perishables   I buy yogurt wherever it is less than fifty cents  there are always coupons to go with it too.    Milk is cheapest at Fred Meyers about once every three weeks or so.   It's a buck a 1/2 gallon.    Other dairy is cheapest at Costco.   The large cartons have about a month pull date   Eggs are cheapest at Fred Meyers or Costco.   Five dozen lots are the cheapest, but you may have to split one with another family, we found we don't use that many eggs . 
7. The only way I have found to save on fresh produce is to watch for a 5 dollars off of 15 type coupon at some stores. Or using  Ibotta    Not all stores are the same on produce   I'm really picky at grocery outlet and Winco   That being said, I got oranges at QFC that were moldy in two days   We did bring them back for a refund. That didn't happen at grocery outlet.  I was told I had to talk to the guy that was running from the building!   lol.    Produce at a low cost is only good of it is edible .  You can pretty much have quality control with buying the same name brands of canned or boxed goods. That doesn't happen with produce.
8. Know your prices, when buying protein, pick one loss leader of the foods on your meal plans, and buy enough to feed your family for the month of that particular meat or.....   In other words, if we eat beef twice a week, I will buy enough for 8 meals of ground beef when it is really cheap.    I got four percent hamburger for 2.99 a pound last week.  I also get whole wa grown chickens for a buck a pound    I've got them for as cheap as .50.   Grated cheese is cheapest at grocery outlet or Costco wholesale  buy one thing a week, buy enough for the month, cook it in bulk  and portion control it onto bags in the freezer.   This saves time and money.    Rarely have to spend more than a half hour or less cooking  dinner  ( non passive time) .   
9. I use forms to manage it all.  Simple concise  fast forms!    

That's it on a nutshell.  I go into retailers dirty little secrets and other things in detail on past posts.  

That book: feed a family of four or more on 200 dollars a month.   

Thanks for stopping by 

Jane 

Costco

we found ourselves in need of a to run and I had errands to run on the east side.   I never go to Costco without watching , but keeping in mind what we actually need and rbp's.

Kirkland T.P is 15.99
5 baguettes are 4.79
5 lbs of frozen mixed veggies were 3.49 (.70 a lb; .79 for 10 ounces at fm)
Bananas 1.39
Vegetable base is 10.99.  
Eggs 4.29 for 2 dozen - pull date Christmas!  


Thanks

Jane

Meal plans

Meal plans help to assure that food is not wasted.  i developed a meal plan template to make meal planning quick and easy.  These days, the less time spent on meal prep the better.  I spend more time planning my shopping and less time cooking,   It makes things more cost and time efficient,   I get paid to shop in savings,

Step by step process.   

The form  has a column of food on hand.   Clean and arrange the fridge to reflect the things that need to be eaten shortly.  Write  down the perishables and meat that you have in stock.   Highlite or mark with a star the things that need to be eaten soon.

I have.

1. Cottage cheese
2. Carrots 
3. Acorn squash
4. Sour cream
5. Fresh green beans 
6. Eggs 
7. Spinach, fresh
8. Blackberries
9. Apples 

Develop a matrix .   It makes planning easy and quick if you have an outline.   Ours is 2 beef, 2 chicken or pork, 2 vegetarian and a fish or shellfish.    Yours very well may be different,    Some people go with types of meals-- like soup, breakfast, etc.   or have fourteen meals and rotate the same meals.   

A second column is for food  to be purchased.    Hold off on this one until you finish planning.

Now fill in the seven blocks .

1. Breakfast for dinner : yogurt parfaits, eggs, toasted English muffins   Yogurt parfaits are yogurt, blackberries (or blueberries when I get them cheap) and topped with some granola.  Granola is at the dollar store (Chex) English muffins are usually cheapest at Fred Meyers .  
2. Vegetable bean soup.   Cheese biscuits 
3. Pork tenderloin. Baked acorn squash( with butter and brown sugar, cinnamon dash , spinach salad . I got pork tenderloin for 2.50 at Safeways a few weeks ago.  Froze it.   Squash was .68 at Winco.    
4. Chicken nachos.    Costco is the cheapest usually on nacho chips.   Diced  tomatoes make salsa in a pinch , use up sour cream 
5. spaghetti  and meat sauce, spinach salad. ( brown and serve baguettes are cheapest at wholesale Costco.  I keep them in the fridge and they take less than 15 minutes in the oven.   They are usually about a dollar a piece.    Pasta is on sale now for fifty cents when you buy 10 of a list of things at QFC.   Hunts   pasta sauce is cheaper most all the time than scratch.   I never pay more than a buck, the last batch I got was .75.   
6. Sloppy joes. French fries, vegetable sticks.   ( I got carrots at QFC with a five dollars off fifteen coupon.   24 ounces ( 1.5 pounds) of seasoned potatoes made in America are at the Dollar Tree, bins Re cheapest at Winco, and I use a recipe I found in a family circle years ago. Manwich has been on sale for eighty cents lately.   
7. Fish packets .   Tilapia is at Winco.   Layer on parchment paper individual portions ( dollar tree) spinach, cooked rice, or instant soaked in water, a few white beans, the fish, and a green vegetable.    I bought just what we needed at qfc.    Seal up the packets, and place on cookie sheet with sides.    Bake at 400 for half an hour or until fish is flakey.  

Note: it might sound like I run all over town to shop.   Not so.    I shop in bulk and freeze or refrigerate.    I usually shop two stores.   Get in and get out.   Put on blinders to anything that isn't on sale or the RBP.   Avoid snack tyoe items.amd sodas.     Use coupons when I can.  These meals average less than five dollar a meal for a family of four.  ( assuming two adults and two school aged children) .  

Hope this helps.   It's easy I be overwhelmed, but planning uses up what you need to use up and makes the what's for dinner question more manageable.   

Thanks for stopping by

Please share 

Jane