Budget

Our average amount spent in the past three months is 63.00 a week including building the stock,   That's about three dollars a day per person,   Last night we had lemon glazed salmon, rice medley, and ginger carrots.


Fred Meyer ad   TOMORROW

Avacados or mangos .99
Oranges .69
Ground turkey -Foster farms

Kroger Cheese - variety of packages   4/5 a -- 2.50 a lb if you buy 8 ounce packages
Sour cream / cottage cheese 4/5@@
Barrilla pasta  1.00
Dijorno pizza 4.99 -$$ buy 2. Get one free coupon on coupons,com
Kroger sliced ham  1.49
Apples 1.49
Berries 2/4
Romas .99

Notes :
Please note : cooking on the cheap does not mean you have to eat unhealthy foods.
Heritage farm poultry products  are Tyson.  
There is tsp in some cold  cereals.  We used to sell tsp at the paint store to clean.   It's highly toxic when used as a cleaner.   The FDA says it s water solvable salt and Safe in small quantities.    You be the judge.
There is wood pulp on Parmesean cheese product.   Don't buy cheese in a can.

Quick!

It's that time of the year when your busy life just got busier.    Decorating, wracking presents, parties, kids Christmas programs.     If you have really easy and inexpensive dinners up your sleeve. Life just got a bit easier.

1. Quiche  aka impossible pie.   The bisquick or Betty Crocker on line has many recipes.   Last night I used akreadyncooked sausage, some cheddar cheese  and the egg mixture from the cookbook.  An 8 X 8 pan makes serving  easier.   Add some fruit as a side.    Time - 10 minutes non passive time. Cooking ground meat, bought in bulk and de- fattimg it saves time and is more healthy.   
2. Foster farms chicken nuggets can be cheap when you have coupons and sales.   Add French fries or tater tots and a salad.    
3. Tacos can be a fast meal when you already have the meat cooked on bulk.    That andnhest in microwave while you chop lettuce , and dish cheese and tomatoes.    
4. Bake hard rolls ( dollar store ) , better than bouillon with hot water in sauté pan.   When bit, add meat for a few seconds - more time can  be disastrous!  simple garden salad.   
5. Right now, digiorno pizza is five dollars at Freddies.    There is a coupon for buy two, get one free at coupons .com.      Makes the pizza $3.33 each. Shouts decorare the  tree party to Me!  Lol.  

Dump cake

Peach dump cake

1  large can peaches, drained, reserving liquid into glass  measuring cup.  
1 - six ounce package raspberries.
1 yellow cake mix, about 15 ounces
1stick butter.  

1. Place drained peaches and raspberries in greased 9 X 13 pan,   
2. Add 1/2 tsp of cornstarch per cup of peaches to reserved juice,   Stir to dissolve cornstarch,   
3. Pair into pan.  
4. Sprinkle cake  mix over filling
5. Melt butter in microwave, pour over cake mix.    
6. Bake at 350  for 40-45 minutes, or until cake is done,   

Serve with whip cream or ice cream,    

1. 
   

Sunday meal plans

Yesterday, imcleaned oit the freezer in the fridge and cleaned the food storage cupboard, shelf.   ( along with cutting off all the old lights off the Christmas tree because they wouldn't work anymore.    We need a new Christmas tree, but I'll wait until next year.    Maybe after Christmas sales.  

I digress

Meal plans

1. Tacos, refried beans, Spanish rice 
2. Pizza 
3. Garlic potato soup -- dump recioes 3 in 1'cookbook , bread sticks 
4. Tuna casserole. Peas and carrots . Rolls 
5. porcupine   meatballs, salad 
6. Mac n cheese, glazed carrots 
7. Breakfast 4 dinner 

1. Taco meat is already cooked on the freezer, refried beans from scratch to be made in slow cooker or pressure cooker, Spanish rice is rice with salsa.    Lettuce, cheese tomato.    
2. Homemade pizza crust - coupons,com has pepperoni coupon, pepperoni is sometimes at the dollar store.  I haven't matched that brand yet. Pizza sauce also at dollar store, put on ice cube tray and freeze and pull out what you need,   
3. Garlic potato soup.    Done on stove, total time - 40 minutes.    Bread sticks are From pizza dough 
4. Tuna cassarole, drained tuna, peas and carrots frozen, himemade white  sauce mix,   Noodles.   
5. porcupine  meatballs are meatballs with rice.    Tomato and cucumber salad on lettuce 
6. Mac and cheese made with white sauce mix , glazed carrots.   
7. Make muffins,    

Pork roast

Pork roast is one of the bulk meats that I have on my rotation list.   In order to maximize economy  and minimize work time, buy meat on bulk, enough for a months worth of themdays you will  eat that meal.   In other words, if you will eat pork once a week, you want to buy enough for four meals.  

A pork loin is one of the meat I buy in a rotation basis,   We have three meat eaters on thenfamiky, so I buyna half loin when it it less than two dollars a pound.  You can cut he ends that aren't perfectly flat and make stew meat for stew, meat pie, or tacos.   Then slice some pork chops, that leaves  a roast.   I use leftover roast for sandwiches.  


Slow cooker Roast Pork Loin

• 2 lb pork roast 
• 1 T dry onion 
• 1 small can of diced tomatoes 🍅 Undrained 
• 1 small can diced green chillis 
• 2 T brown sugar 
• 2 teaspoons taco seasoning, 
• 1/2 tsp better than boullion or beef granules 

Place roast on skow cooker 

Combine ingredients and pour over roast.  

Cook on lownfor 8-10 hours or until Pork is tender and tests done,   

Easy.    Add rice and a vegetable or salad 

Book reviews !

I bought two cookbooks this week.   Both are dump cookbooks.    Some of them  use a lot of premade  canned ingredients.  Don't let that turn you off, you can always substitute them for scratch,   Often with little to no effort.  

The basic idealology is that theyncook in one pot or slow,cooker,or...and save time.   These days, there are recipes for just about any mixes you might use in a regular basis on the Internet.  Making them can be a good REAL math teacher for children or grandchildren.   Knowing fractions and converting to cups etc is a good thing to know.    I read years and years ago that by,now, we would be taking vitamin pills instead of eating.   Didn't Happen!    Don't think it Ec DR will.   Eating is a social and primal instinct.

Dump Dinners by Cathy Mitchell - 250 recipes. Kohls with a 20 percent discount. 7.99.  Last I checked, it was double that on Amazon.  

Lots of quick tips to get you out of the kitchen faster.    Recipes I had forgotten .  It's always,nice to change things up and cook something different or forgotten.  

• Mushroom rice pilaf 
• Porcupine meatballs - my mom used to make them 
• Crunchy cracker stuffing ( crackers getting stale?) 
• Several quiches - good brunch dishes 
• Apple coffee cake - no cans here.   
• Chicken, bacon and ranch pizza 
• Chilli Mac 
• Chicken broccoli and rice 

The only thing I should tell you is that there isn't a picture for every recipe.   You'll have to use your imagination.    If something doesn't sound good to you, don't make it,   If it has a very expensive slice in it, try leaving it out or skip the recipe.

Favorite Brand Name Dump Recipies , 150 recipes - about twelve dollars at Amazon.    

Dump soup, cakes, and dinners.    

As the title implies, many are recipes with premade  things,    As before, you can sometimes easily adapt.    

 A lot of dump cakes. 

A lot of chicken recipes 

 Marvelous soups to satisfy the most picky gourmet.   

A lot of gourmet type  recipes. Not all of them take a box or can.    All are fast and easy. 

Note 

I take no money for this blog.   I am not sponsored by anyone.  The opinions are just that, my opinions.    I am here solely to help people eat well for less.   A lot of people , it was being reported to me, were finding it hard to eat on a meager budget.    I learned how and are passing on my knowledge.   On the process, I am  finding readers that read this because they like the hacks, or finding out who has the cheapest turkey, or or something different to cook for dinner.   

Thanks for stopping by 

 

  

Getting it all together.

getting groceries for 1/2 to 3/4 off takes a bit more time than running to a store and buying what looks good to you.  Mind you , there is, nothing wring  with that method is you can afford it,   But, if you are feeding your family as well as you can in three or four dollars  a day, it takes some planning and usually shopping more than one store.  Shopping two stores give you the luxury of two sets of produce to find the best prices and quality. And two sets of good prices on the stock items you use in a regular basis.  

Making a penciled in meal plan first and noting what you will need to complete your meals is a good first step along with a quick read to the sale ads.  I have a form that speeds up the process.  

Go shopping with a list of things  you need and the things that  you need to add to your stock.   Get on and get out. It helps  to go to the same stores so you have a good idea of where things are so that you aren't wasting time looking for things. If you don't have a dog, don't go down the dog food isle,   Skip to the next isle.    

My average cart load is about 25-45 dollars.    I buy for three of us,  

The only  time it is necessary to spend  any time planning your trip is when you are doing an extremes coupon thing with a   buy Four, save four  type of sale.  Then, sometimes you can get as much as seventy eight percent off.   That takes matching the things you need with coupons and or a basket coupon,   Basket coupons usually require a specific minimum purchase total.   Going over hat figure is not  to your advantage.

After spending a little more time planning and shopping, you can make up the time by cooking  more efficiently.

Planning a shopping trip saves money, efficient cooking saves time,   

• Go over your meal plan and jot down what prep you will need.   Note the things that you can do buy bulk prepping,   For example, we are going to have gingered carrots one night, and chicken pot pot one night,   Both require sliced carrots.   I can break out the veggie slicer and slice them all.   They are ready for me in a deli container when I need them.   
• You can Prep veggies and clean them with vinegar water all at the same time.   You set up once.   And clean up once.  
• Dinner can be a matter of putting dinner in the oven or slow cooker and walking away.    
• You can prep that,nights dinner while you are cutting veggies.   Then it's a matter of putting it in the oven or microwave and you're done,    

A hour or two of Oreo can save a lot of time during the hectic dinner hour,   Rarely do I need to spend more than fifteen or twenty minutes cooking dinner, sometimes it's closer to ten.    

When cooking dinner, look at your plan,   What takes the longest time to cook.   What can you "set it and forget it." .   Do the longest cook time first.   Plan meals so that the whole meal isn't labor intensive.    If the main dish is labor intensive, pick easy sides that can be prepped during kitchen management day or prepped while the main dish is cooking.   

Alberways ad and QFC

There is a digital download  to your card for

Buy 50-99.99. Get 10 percent
Buy 100.00- 149.99 get 15 percent
Buy 150.00 or more get 20 percent,


They, however do not have a lot of special buys,

Top round London broil 2.99. A pound,  

Mandarines 2.99

Milk1.99@@
flour 1.99@@

Coffee 5.99


That's about it.   If you aren't going to be able to use the digital coupons, it's not that good.
Milk and flour are the same price at Fred Meyer.   I got pork chops for 1.50 a pound,  they were more like pork steaks. The ones that are cut from pork loin are better.   Some people, however, like the bone on.

It still remains that Fred Meyers and Winco are better prices.    A lot is cheaper at Winco, but certain things are better traditionally at Fred Meyers.

• English muffins are always 1.67 for a very large bag.    
• Canned diced tomatoes are frequently .50 
•  Milk is a dollar on a rotation basis.   
•  Vegetables are cheap, but so are some of Winco s 
•  Pasta goes on sale frequently , more than Winco

•   Chicken 🍗 breast with ribs , Foster farms,  it was running around a dikkardollar,  the last time I got it , the price was 128.   Still cheaper than the six dollar a pound boneless , skinless chicken breast.   

Winco has cheaper

1.  Black olives. 
2. Green chilies
3. Pasta sauce 
4. Meat

1. Buns 
2. Instant potatoes 
3. Frozen potatoes 
4. frozen veggies 
5. Bread
6. Bakery specials 
7. Meatballs.   

QFC


Peppers  99
Ham, spiral cut 1.69
Oranges .77

Buy 4. Save 4
Orowhear bread 1.99
Butter 1.99
Kroger ice cream 1.98
Sausage 1.99
Sparkling cider 1.49
Berries 2/4 ----cheaper at fm
Pears .99

Costing meals

Costing out a batch of pizza dough.  Crust is flour .16, yeast .015 cents.   Water, salt, too small to cost, and 2 teaspoons  of olive oil I'm guessing to be .05.    Total cost.  .22.   Add 1/5 of a pizza sauce can at a dollar ( dollar store) .20, and a cup of cheese 🧀.50.   .92.  

When doing your kitchen management, set aside things in a freezer bag that go on your pizza.    Put veggies on one bag and cooked meat in another.    (Or separate bags.  ).  For very little money you can feed your family their most favorite meal for next to nothing

Pepperoni is a dollar at the dollar store for the same brand that is 1.69 at Winco,   Probably more at other stores.  You can a,si add veggies that you have or ham cubes, or canned, drained diced tomatoes, sausage, olives ( sliced olives are cheapest at winco .58.

You can use bits of things saved and cover a pizza for little money.  

Granddaughter loves to help, of course, the pepperoni just might be placed in the shape of a happy face?    LOL.

Actual time making bread dough is about ten minutes tops.   It takes a standing time in between the actual time of making dough and patting or rolling it into the pan or into a circle of you have a pizza stone.  

Kitchen hacks

It's  kitchen management day, so I thought I would share some kitchen hacks that make getting food on the table a little easier.   You are more inclined to cook scratch if it's efficient and easy.

1. Meal plan.    So much time is saved not worrying about whars for  dinner.  You can look at it first thing in the morning, or the night before and act accordingly.  Do you need to take anything or take something out of the freezer or prep anything ? 
2. Of you make something daily or almost daily, leave a measuring cup in the canister.   It takes a half a cup to make oatmeal in the microwave.  You just save a step.  
3. Having a container or crock on the counter with utensils saves looking for something in a drawer,   It's at your fingertips.   
4. A tray with  the things you use everyday is also  a help.  If you have a small kitchen, make it a  small tray.   Olive oil in a bottle with a bar stopper, or I've seen a condiment bottle , a small set of mesinplaus bowls, salt and pepper.   
5. When baking, gather all the ingredients and place them on a tray.  Take them off the tray when you use the item, and place it on the counter.   You never have to wonder did I use that already or not if you get interrupted.   Like that's ever going to happen ??   It also saves steps.   
6.  Putting all of one kind of thing in the fridge saves time looking for something.   An organized door shelf is a great help.   Dairy on one shelf.  
7. Develop a personal cook book of recipes your family likes and that are easy and quick.   You can use a binder, dividers, and plastic sheet protectors.    All easy to get at the dollar  store or goodwill.  
8. Recipes that you use real often can be placed with a clip ok the fridge.  If you don't like looking messy, out them in the side.   You can copy pages out of a book or the instruction manual for an appliance.   
9. Batch cook bulk meat when it's on sale at a RBP.   Ground meat makes, meatballs, taco meat, crumbles, Salisbury steak.   Portion control and freeze.   Make enough to serve that meat a certain amount of times for a month,    Already cooked meat saves a lot  of time at dinner time. You can. For instance, put speghetti sauce on to cook, add meatballs and let simmer after you pit the pasta on to cook.   I cook the pasta on the microwave, no stirring, or watched pot.   Salad ingredients can be cut and washed on prep day, and bread can go on the oven while everything else is cooking.   In our house, my granddaughter is responsible for the bread.  She's out of trouble while I cook the rest and dinner is parcially made and she's learned something.    
10. Using your meal plan affords you the luxury of prepping anything hat can be prepped during one session.   If you are going to have veggie sticks at a meal and want to put some in a child's lunch, Oreo all of them at the same time and place me in a container,  it's faster when you do. I'll cooking and prepping,  everything is out and you can do one cleanup.    When it's dinner time and hectic, dinner is made in a matter of mo items and you have time to relax or supervise home worl or just listen to how work or school went for your family members.    

 

Meal plan

meal plans for week of November 28

• Beef barley soup ,   Parmesan peppercorn French bread
•  Pizza , green salad 
• Mac and cheese , peas and carrots 
• Chicken pot pie 
• Steak . Oven roasted russet potatoes. Gingered carrots.  
• Baked salmon w lemon sauce. Rice medley, minted peas 
• Breakfast 4 dinner

Notes : 

1) beef cubes were on sale for 3.28 a pound at Winco.   Cutting them in smaller cubes and portion controlling the larger package saves money and waste.   Making smaller batches if you have a smaller family helps too.   Bread can be made in bread baker. Often you can get them cheap at thrift stores.   Or use a standard French bread recipe and add grated oarm and cracked oepper ( 3/4 teaspoon for a large loaf) . Beef barley soup has stock, carrots ,celery onion, chopped garlic and meat cubes.  Cook in pressure cooker or slow cooker.  An hour before serving, add the barley and a grated russet potato .  If using the pressure cooker , switch to skow cooker  mode.  

2) homemade pizza crust, pizza sauce can be made by using part of a small (8 ounce) can of tomato sauce and adding Italian veggies, using a couple of  spoons  or so of pasta sauce if you are having pasta soon.   Or, pizza sauce is a dollar at  the dollar  tree and you can freeze it on ice cube tray and dump the cubes in a freezer bag.   Take out what you are going to use.   To thaws quickly on the counter, or you can defrost it in the microwave a few seconds.  The brand at the dollar tree kids at many grocery stores for 30-150 percent more.    Add veggies or olives of choice.   Pepperoni is also at the dollar store, major brand.   Sometimes you can find coupons,   

3) peas and carrots frozen have been on sale lately and there are coupons for them.   So much for the argument that the only thing that has a coupon is junk food.    Lol.  Mac and cheese is scratch.   Macaroni in the blue box is at the dollar store. The most you should pay is a dollar.   Often with sales and coupons it can be as low as thirty eight cents.   

4) chicken pot pie.   Frozen chicken breast, cut in cubes, peas, carrots. Potato, cream sauce (scratch) -top with a pie crust or bisquits.   

5) grilled steak ( Winco had it for three dollars a pound ) , oven roast wedges of russets with olive oil , sea salt and pepper.    Sea salt is the pink stiff and is at the dollar tree for a fraction of Costco's offering,    Cook sliced carrots, add butter and a little ginger.   

6) bake salmon, season rice is a homemade mix of rice , chicken s tock, and herbs.   

7) breakfast 4 dinner,   Eggs continue to be cheap.   Some lady back east found them at Aldis for .28 a dozen,  a dollar for 18 os the best I've seen in the PNW.   Berries are really cheap at Fred Meyers his week.   Add pancakes, waffles, or English muffins (.cheapest  at Fred Meyers) and you have balance.  

When making meal plans, a guideline is a protein, a starch, and a vegetable.    Your plate should be 1/4 protein, 1/4 starch  and half vegetables.  Aim to maintain balance.   

Fred Meyer ad for tomorrow

Fred Meyers ad for tomorrow.    Just in case you are getting sick of Leftovers yet.....

Berries 4/5
Angie ground beef 10 percent 349

Peppers, eggplant ,99
Cucumbers 2/1


Milk ,99

Evaporated milk 1.00
Gold medal flour 2/4 ( 5 lbs)
Cream cheese 4/5
Brown , powdered sugar .99@@
Choc chips 2/4@@

Notes : now is the time to buy baking supplies for the year.    They are usually at their lowest price, and the closer to Christmas you are, the higher the price.   If you wait until you really need it, the price will be higher.   As long as what you are buying is not perishable, stocking is to your benefit.   You may see low prices around Easter again.  

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.   I pretty much stayed out of stores, went to the dollar store and the Winco.    The  grocery store was like a ghost town.   The only thing that I missed was that they had no sour cream.   Fortunately, my husband went next door tomsafeways while I got what I needed from the dollar store.    Granddaughter needed mittens,  hers were too small and she donated them to the women's shelter.   I never knot or buy expensive mittens for small children that go to school and daycare.   One teacher cannot keep track of ten little people's mittens,  they are easily lost. I cry less when I laid a dollar for them,  children need to take responsibility for their possessions, but I'm not going to spend big bucks while they learn.  Lol.

Please note, heritage farm chicken is Tyson and southern grown.  

Black Friday

Nothing black here. We are having a second thanksgiving.  Yesterday, we had a quick and easy one with our immediate family.  Granddaughter set the table.  I refuse to battle crowds to shop-- too much stress.   I made Christmas cards for people on nursing homes, and will address our Christmas cards.

Leftovers?   5 things to do with leftovers.  

1. Take a meal to a single person that can't cook a big meal or would just live a leftover meal and went out.   
2. Turkey soup
3. Turkey with cream sauce and spaghetti.  
4. Turkey sandwiches 
5. Turkey over dressing with gravey .  

Oops. Need a desert! Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving 

Pumpkin dump cake .......easy, Peasy, a child can do it!    Just remember child cooking rules : nomsharp, no hot.   LOL.  

Pumpkin dump cake 

1 angel food cake mix 

1 - 15 ounce can of pumpkin 

1 T pumpkin pie spice. 

Mix. 

Dump in a greased 9X13 pan 

Bake at 350 for 45-50 monutes or until dome when toothpick on center comes out clean.    

Easy Peasy . I would swevemwith whipping cream.   Maybe a touch of cinnamon?    

Wednesday - thanksgiving eve

Thanksgiving is the one time that we go all out and I just buy at the lowest cost all the things that mean thanksgiving.    I will make pie today or tomorrow,  we are having a small turkey roast because only four of us  eat turkey.  

This isn't  it prolly the most popular thing I've said on this blog, but, I tell it like it is.     One of the reasons some people have a huge food bill  is, frankly, they eat too much.  This just causes two problems-- their food bill is high and their weight  makes a health issue.  Now, I realize there are teen children that burn what they eat.


 But, if you are eating two loaded pizzas for three people, you are probably eating too much. Stick to the recommended daily allowances unless your doctor has told you different.   There are certain things, I just can't eat, according to my doctors.    I still keep to a therapeutic diet and keep on a small budget.    Serve a salad with your pizza.    You will fill us, and have less carbs.  

Of your recipe is for bigger portions than you can eat, or should  eat, make less.  
I recently started measuring out the pasta  and making a half batch of Mac and cheese, or casserole.  My daughter doesn't eat it, and that leaves granddaughter, my husband and I.    Waste not, want not,  

There are ways you can get more fiber in your diet,   I try to get pasta with vegetables in it or with double fiber.    Fruits and veggies have fiber  in them.   I buy good whole wheat bread.     If you serve a quarter of your plate protein, a quarter starch, and the rest salad and veggies. You will be better off.  

I lost sixty pounds, just watching my carbs.  I read labels,    Look for the serving size, the amount of carbs and subtract the dietary fiber.    I'm rarely hungry and maintain my weight.  

Terrific Tuesday

Yesterday, I made dinner with my camera along for the ride.   Not much response,   Please comment so I know of that is something you want to see.

Eating good, healthy meals on three dollars a day is doable,    It is not a piece of cake.   I spend more time on the front end, shopping and planning, and less time cooking,    Yesterday took two hours, but that was because I took pictures and had problems  with the reader.  Normally, that could have been done in less than a half hour.  Once you have a routine, it gets faster,   I started the dough first so that it could be doing its rise while I cooked the carrots and celery and put the ingredients in the slow cooker pot.      Multi tasking is a way to get out of the kitchen fast.   I found things to do while the bread was baking,     Like the dishes-- a novel idea.....you mean some little elf does the dishes while you text!    LOL.   Wishful thinking!

My husband and I decided we would like the breadsticks better if we made them a little smaller so that they would be thicker.  Either way, the cost,  not including spices, is about forty cents.  

The soup can have cooked sausage added.  It's cost is about 2.25.    This makes a full six quart  pot.  
So, for less than three dollars, you have dinner and enough for lunch the next day, provided you have the proverbial  family of four.  

Picking a balanced meal plan so that you can average costs makes it possible to stay on budget and have a more expensive meal at times.   We had steak the other night, this week, we will have wild caught salmon, we can still stay within budget.    Adding breakfast 4 dinner is another inexpensive meal to afford a more expensive one,

Quick basics.

1. Use up bits and pieces.   Find a way to use up those small leftovers.    Frozen veggies are sometimes fresher than fresh ones because they are packed soon after they are picked   You can take out as much as you need and return the rest to the freezer,  canned veggies are a bit harder to use up.   
2. Never pay full price.   The reason why the soup is as cheap as it is is because The RBP on them is fifty cents for tomatoes and beans.   The retail on them is more like 1.59.    It makes a big difference. This is a go to fast meal.    Otherwise, you could have cooked the beans first.    
3. Stock when things are at a RBP if they are something you use on a regular basis,   
4. Plan to have a few pick up the pieces meals up your sleeve for the days when everything falls apart and you need to pick up the pieces and move on,   It saves you from the take out, pizza man demons,   
5. Use everything available to you to cut your cost for food.   You can use coupons, rebate sites such as Ibotta, and take advantage of sale prices.   
6. Slow cookers, food processors, and pressure cookers are tools that make life in the kitchen easier.   Please read all the safety tips and remind yourself of them periodically with a pressure cooker.    Some people have been burned bad, I suspect because they didn't buy a good pressure cooker and didn't use it properly.  Make sure you allow it to depressurize fully before you try to open the lid,   It should be impossible to open the lid without it being ready,    Do NOT allow a child, even teenager, to use a pressure cooker.    If you manually depressurize the cooker, use a wooden spoon handle and put a dish towel over it.   It is HOT steam.   Open the lid away from you.   
7. Check pull dates before you leave the store and before you use anything,    Somethings  are ok after the pull date, some not.  Don't necessarily use the pull date as a benchmark to throw everything away.  Try to buy things that you are not going  to use immediately with a far out pull  date and control your stock to what you will use in less than a year.   Some things, like pasta. Has an eight year shelf life.    I wouldn't eat it eight years old, but I wouldn't throw it out if it looked ok and was a week or two past  it's date.   We throw away far too much food and sometimes it is just because our adult children think the pull dates are etched in gold.   I would be wary of anything acidic and meat or fish.   I would not be upset over cornmeal or a pasta salad kit.   Cake  mixes could have their leavening agents go bad -- but not on two days.   

Use your common sense.

DInner : step by step

Dinner : step by step

Bread sticks

1. Place 2 cups of flour in food processor bowl 
2. Add 1.5 tsp of dry quick acting yeast 
3. Add 3/4 tsp of table salt 
4. Process a minute or so to combine ingredients     
5. Measure 6 ounces of hot water ( 105-110 degrees f, ) 
6. Add 2 tsp olive oil. 
7. With processor running, add hot water mixture through the tube.   
8. Process until the dough forms a mass.   
9. Turn out onto a flour covered board or counter and knead just enough for the dough  not to be sticky and make a smooth ball.    This could take more flour if you are in a wet climate (Seattle? ) 
10. Pour  a little olive oil on a small bowl and cost up the sides.   
11. Place dough ball in bowl and turn to cost it with the oil.   
12. Cover and place bowl in a warm place for at least 10 minutes until the dough doubles in size.   
13. Turn onto the counter or board and press down and po or roll into a baking sheet with sides.   
14. Brush with olive oil or butter. And sprinkle with desired toppings, we use sea salt, parmesean cheese and herbs.   
15. Bake on 425 degree oven for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden and the bottom is cooked.   
16. Remove from oven, let cool five minutes and cut into fingers.   I cut about one and a 
17. quarterinch slices the short  ways and in half the longways.
18. 
    

Place flour in bowl 

Measure yeast 

6 ounces water with 2 tsp oil 

Pour oil through tube while machine is running until ball is formed

Place ball into oiled bowl and let rise.   

Ball in pizza pan.  And flatten , sprinkle with ingredients 

Baked bread sticks 

SOUP

Soup in slow cooker pot 

Ingredients plus stock. 

Soup 

1. Chop 2 small carrots and a celery rib
2. Cook in skillet with a little olive oil until soft.   
3. Meanwhile, in slow cooker insert, place: 2 cans of diced  tomatoes, 2 cans of beans, 4 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable) 1 T of Italian seasoning and the carrots and celery.    
4. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.    
5. Serve with croutons or parm cheese.    

Meal plans And more

meal plans for week of November 21

1. Vegetable soup. Breadsticks 
2. Salmon, rice medley, peas and carrots 
3. Chicken nuggets, French fries, vegetable sticks, 
4. Thanksgiving : turkey, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, dressing, cranberry sauce , pickles, olives, celery plate 
5. Leftover turkey
6. Speghetti and meatballs, salad, breadsticks, 
7. Breakfast 4 dinner 

1) vegetable soup is done in the crockpot or pressure cooker.    Breadsticks is pizza dough that is soread into a flat pan with sides.    Soread with melted butter or olive oil and sea salt and herbs.    

2) salmon ( frozen) rice medley ( homemade seasoned   rice mix , peas and carrots.   

3) chicken nuggets, fries, veggie sticks 

4) family thanksgiving : 

5) leftovers - 

6) speghetti was fifty cents, meatballs are foir pounds  for 7.50 at Winco, sauce is always .88 or use coupons to get it on a glass jar for close to a dollar.    Pasta sauce premade  is cheaper than scratch, as is the  Meatballs,   Bread sticks are scratch,   One batch does two mealsmfor us,    Easy, and quick, children can help.  our granddaughter (4yo)  owns it!    At this age, I let her do anything that isn't sharp or hot.    

7) breakfast 4 dinner,    We do this once a week,   Eggs at this point in time are cheap.    Enter toast, pancakes or waffles , and fruit and you are set.   Or a quiche and a fruit plate or mixed greens salad with fruit.    

Feeding a family for 4.00 a day requires meals that average five dollars for the probverbial family of two adults and two school aged children.    

Groceries on the cheap takes a different perspective on grocery shopping.   Instead of going to the grocery store and buying just what you need to get you through to the next "payday" leaving you on a lurch if payday is late or you're not abke  to the store. You buy to to replenish  your reserves.   You , after you get up and running, buy 1) a protein that is at a RBP, enough for you to have that protein ( meat) a specific number of times on a month ( portion controlled ) .2) produce you will need to fill our your  menu plan, 3) a months ( check pull dates ) worth of dairy, or the amount you can use before the lull date)!thst you may need to add. 4) a RBP stock item, enough to replentish  your set stock  amount.    

See how to begin posts.   You never pay full price, use coupons and rebate web sites to get the lowest possible price on almost everything you buy on a weekly basis.   You go to two stores.    This affords you about twice as much food as when you just shop.   It affords you the luxury of always having 

food in the pantry.    You are covered if an emergency happens, anything from being sick, having a sick child, or that ugly s work in the PNW.   Lol 😂

I am  not going to tell you that this is a walk in the park.  It takes some effort to get started.   Once you are up and running, it should not take you any more time.    You spend more time planning and shopping, and less time cooking by learning how to cook scratch efficiently.   Some people read this blog just for this.    I scour everywhere I can for the easiest scratch cooking recipes I can find,   The tricks that make you get out of the kitchen faster.    I'm retired, I do it because I have health issues and don't want to be on my feet all day.  When I was younger, it was because I was holding down two jobs and had a family and home to care for.    

My food expenses for the last 15 months averaged 70.06 a week.   The USDA stats for thrifty cooking for my husband and I is almost a hundred dollars.    And, I have amassed a stock with that budget.   That's about 3.00 a day.   The basis of snap is four dollars a day.   This affords you a back up plan for emergencies.   It's my opinion that no child should suffer the feeling of having nothing in the house to eat.  I hav no sympathy for teenagers that think there's nothing in the house to eat because they may have to cook something! 😂 

Teach your children to cook.   They don't have mandatory home Ec in schools anymore I hear.    It's a necessity if life,   Many young adults in college don't know how to boil an egg.     It's a life skill everyone needs,     Raided the fact that if you are otherwise tied up with something, a preteen should be able to fix a simple dinner.    We were baking by the time we were nine.   By the time a child is 13 they would be able to make a basic meal.    It's good for their self image.  And, when they are younger, it keeps the, busy to cook with you.   You can supervise their time and get dinner cooked too.    My granddaughter can butter French bread and sprinkle herbs and parm cheese on it.   She can roll pizza dough and with supervision, paint the pizza  sauce. And sprinkle cheese  and set pepperoni.  

She knows she needs to wash her hands.   She can stir and operate a closed food processor.   Anything that doesn't involve hot or sharp.   She can graduate to that when she has a bit more coordination and is taller.   It's the old Native American adage about fish.    Something like give a person a fish and they eat for a day,   Teach them to fish and they eat a lifetime.   

 

Fred Meyer ad

Kroger turkey .49 with 50.00 purchase
Foster farms turkey  1.49
Ham 1.69
Park loin roast 1.99





Butter 2.50
Crackers 3/5$$
Fryers 2/5@@


Cranberries 2/4
Yams .99
Celery .69
Berries 2/4

Cooking a chicken

I have recently read an article about cooking chicken, especially whole chicken.   The article said not to rinse the chicken.   The insides especially can have germs.  

My two ways to cook a whole chicken.  I usually , if possible tag team with my husband or daughter, I touch the chicken, and the other person touches everything else.  You need to disinfect everything that has come on contact with raw meat or your hands when you have just touched raw meat,  

This is another reason why batch cooking a months worth of chicken meals is more efficient.   A months worth of chicken  meals does not mean 30 meals.   It means ifmyoumestmchicken twice a week, you will be cooking enough chicken , portion controlled, for 8 meals.  

Slow cooker chicken
Open package of chicken .  I do this in the sink into a colander,   Imcut the end off the big and place it upside down into the colander and pull the bag off into the garbage.

Prep the slow cooker  insert by peeling a rough chopping an onion , or two if they are small and placing them in the bottom of the insert.  

Place chicken breast side down in the cooking insert,   Rub chicken with a dry rub.   You can find recipes for dry rubs  on the Internet.   Or, use seasoned salt.  

Place the insert into the slow cooker, cover and turn on high .  Cook the chicken on high for an  hour PER POUND.  You will be left with a cooked chicken and broth,   Chicken should read 180 degrees with a meat thermometer.  

Every precaution has been taken to assure the safety of cooking,   Use your own judgement,   Wash everything the raw meat and you touch after touching the raw meat  thoroughly with a disinfectant.    Wash your hands often.   Disinfect your sink.

Second way of cooking a whole chicken.  

Open package of chicken into a colander in the sink. Stuff whatever you have laying around in the cavity short of a kids dirty sock. A peeled onion, an orange, an apple, a lemon.  

Place chicken on roasting pan on a rack and oil it with  olive oil , then sprinkle it with salt and pepper.

Roast in a three hundred and fifty degree oven until the juices run clear and itmhas an internal temperature of one hundred eighty.    I use a thermometer with a probe.   You set it to well done chicken and it beeps at you when it's done.  

Be sure to remove your stuffing,  

Again, wash everything that has come in contact with the raw chicken except thembaking own that will be on the oven,    Wash your hands often,  

We tag team so one person touches the chicken and someone else touches the salt and pepper shakers and olive oil bottle.   Wash your hands before placing the pan in the oven.  

I use a glass cutting  board,  it tough on knives, but you can disinfect it and it's non porous.