This week is upside down,

My schedule this week is upside down.  Things happen.   Errand day was postponed to today because the tires we needed for the car weren't  in stock  yet.   Monday I had orijects that needed to be done, so a lot of kitchen management didn't happen.   I started a schedule for thenvkig,  it its messed up... best layed plans,,    Today is supposed to be an editorial. But we already talked about waste not, want not.

Monday I made hi I packets with hamburger patties, blanched veggies, steak fries .  It's an easyndinner and there is almost no clean up. Yesterday we went to a valentine party.    Today, I'll make the chicken enchaladas and rice,   I make a mix that has chicken stick and herbs in it.    I will use the chicken pieces  from the rib bones I cut from the chicken breast.   I made refrigerator bread dough yesterday.  It can wait to be cooked, it lasts up to two weeks, it just gets more like sourdough.  I also tried a new recipe for applesauce oatmeal muffins,   It was a little intricate, but manageable,  they have a crumb topping and a lot of ingredients-- all basic.    They would taste good with some craisens or raises  too.  You could cook an apple 🍎 and  smoosh it with the potato masher.   It would leave some texture,  

I'll pull pork chops to  defrost in the refrigerator.    The Pork chops are what I cut from a pork loin I got at Costco for 1.50 a pound.    I will make stove top stuffing and add cranberries and apples 🍎 and brown pork chops and finish them off in the oven.    A green veggie will finish the dinner.   Basically I try for a protein , a starch, and a vegetable-- balanced dinner.  

Trying new recipes keeps thing fresh, and eleviates boredom.   Cooking homemade food and shoooing wisely effectively makes it possible to eat healthy on a meager budget.    Looking at our meals, no one would suspect we are eating in three dollars a day.  The only thing that is remarkably different is that we don't usually eat big whole pieces of meat.   The RDA for protein is six ounces, part of which should be an egg.   We don't need to eat an eight ounce steak.   LOL.

The ads

QFC - two week ad

Avocados, peppers .99 each
Pie, ice cream 2.99 each
Eggs 18 count 2/3

Milk 4/5
Cottagemcheese 2/4



Buy 6.
Save 3
Net costs
Hillshire farms rope sausage 1.99
Hormel chilli .99

10/10 mix or match
Bread
Hot dog buns
Colgate toothpaste $$
2 dial soap


Alberways

Dollar days
Romas
Apples
Carrots
Cucumbers

Eggs .78@@

About it.  

Bread

Scratch bread is one way to cut costs and give your family better, cheaper bread.  I won't say faster, but I have found recipes that do make it efficient. Most of the time, it takes ten minutes actual hands on time and the cost is close to .25 a loaf of you buy bulk flour and yeast.

1. I found a thin crust pizza recipe that takes a matter of ten minutes or less.    Total cost if you buy yeast (3.44) at Winco in bulk, and flour ( 6.00 for 25 pounds ) at Costco is .17.   
2. Refrigerator dough takes a matter of ten minutes non passive time also.   It's a matter of mixing the ingredients and putting  them in a large receptacle with a loose fitting lid.   Walk away and come back two hours or so later.   Put in fridge.   It is good for two weeks,  the longer it sits in the fridge, the more sour dough tasting it is.    When you are ready to bake bread,  cut off a hunk, shape it and let rise for 30 minutes and bake.    Artisan bread 
3. No knead bread in a loaf pan is what I made yesterday for the first time.  It takes more passive time.   You mix the dough, let stand in your oven with the light on until doubled in size,   Place the dough , deflated in  a greased loaf pan and place back in the oven for 30 minutes until it rises to the top of the pan.   Bake. Again, about eight to ten minutes work g time. 
4. Rolls are done in the kitchen aid.   They take the longest time hands on , but it's a matter of loading the ingredients in the bowl and letting the mixer do the work.  It's best done when you are doing kitchen management because you need to not leave the mixer unattended.   Shape, rise , bake.   
5. Peasant bread,   Basic ingredients .  Make dough.  Set on the counter for 12-24 hours.   Shape. Bake in Dutch  oven .  Make sure your Dutch oven is oven safe on high heat,   Check the knob of the lid. 

With the exception of the rolls, all of these recipes take only flour, salt, water , yeast , and sometimes a small amount of oil.   I use olive oil.    

2 cups of flour costs .14.  That makes most bread about a quarter a loaf.   I am not costing salt and water.   A sour dough loaf of bread cost upwards of three dollars.    Even a loaf of cheap bread is a dollar or  more.. (1.39 at Kroger) 

It's taking economy  cooking to the next level.   My goal is to get us good, mostly healthy food for under three dollars a day per person.  Not that we necessarily need to now,  it with the climate in the other Washington and talk of cutting ssa and food stamps, some people might need to make do on that.   I want to just cook and eat. Better, cheaper, faster.    It's not all beans.  LOL


Costs.  Note I did not cost teaspoons of oil or salt.   I bought a bag of salt five years ago for five dollars.   We will have enough salt to last my lifetime and probably my granddaughters too.
Oil is variable depending on what kind you use, and 2 tsp are incidental.
Pizza crust.   .17
Loaf bread .28
refrigerater dough depending on size two or three loaves - total cost .59
Peasant bread. .22

I sometimes add parm, peppercorns, garlic pepper. Rosemary. Parsley, Italian seasoning in the artisan bread.  

Vegan pizza scratch

Garlic, onion, diced tomato, black olive .
Sent pic to g plus

Kitchen management day

It is supposed to be kitchen management day.which will happen, but I found a recipe tucked into a folder I had long forgotten,    It seems good enough to share,    One for times when time is short.  The best thing about foil packets is that there is no clean up, No pans,   And the kids think it's camping,  

1 lb extra lean ground beef.
1 T w sauce
Garlic pepper
Onion powder
Salt
Frozen veggies : peas, carrots, onions, mushrooms, or fresh mixture to your liking,
Frozen steak fries.


Note : if you don't want to cook in aluminum foil, you can wrap food in parchment first, and then in foil.  

1. Cut 4 pieces of foil about 18 inches by 12 inches 
2. Mix beef with w sauce, garlic pepper, salt, and onion powder to taste.   Form 4 patties, about 1/4 inch thick 
3. Place party on foil sheet. 
4. Top each with veggies and steak fries. 
5. Season veggies with garlic pepper
6. Seal packets. 
7. Bake at 450 degrees fir 35-40 minutes or until beef reads 160 degrees 

Cut x in the top of the lackey and peel back.   Be careful, it will be hot.   

Fred Meyers haul

Total 18.57

Diced tomatoes (8)
Tomato sauce (6)
3 lean cuisine lunches 3/5
Pepperoni (6 ounces)
Oranges
Sugar
Spaghetti -2 lbs
English cucumber

Waste not, want not.

Quote of the day :  NO food can do your family good if you feed it to the garbage disposal.    

Cutting waste is a good way to stretch your food dollar.    This blog will explore ways to cut waste on the kitchen,  

• Buy fresh foods in moderation.   We all need fresh veggies and fruit, but not over buying will mean you are going to eat all that you buy.
• If you have a lot of something left and it has been on the fridge too long, make an effort to use it up on a recipe,    Several cookbooks on line will let you plug in an ingredient and find recipes.    
• It used to be that our grannies saved the keels and made stick.   Now, we are hearing that the peels are where the pesticides  are. I do wash just about all the fresh I get with vinegar water.
• Leftover veggies can become soup ingredients.   
• Leftover rice can be rice pudding or filling for stuffed peppers.   
• Dry bread : bread crumbs or bread pudding,   Why pay someone two dollars a pound for their dry bread?
• Smoothies anyone ? 
• You can dehydrate apples and just about any other fruit. There is a way to do it in the oven on a low heat. 

• Leftovers make good lunches.   
• Portion controlling your meat when you get it home from the store helps.   Buy bulk, rotate your protein based on a good sale price and portion control it.   Cook it if it makes sense,   I cook ground meat, I don't cook chicken breast or pork loin.   Keeping to a select few cuts of meat can make things simpler.    I cook whole chickens  and separate it into half breasts, legs and thighs and wings, and soup bones.   Lately , I have been buying split chicken breast and de boning them and cooking the bones for loose meat and stock.    The loose meat can make a whole other meal.    You don't cook too much, but not enough for another meal .    
• Buy in bulk when the cost is really cheaper and the item won't spoil.   Salt and soda come to mind,.  Big bags can be found at the warehouse stores and one bag can last a long time,   Soda is a good cleaner.    Salt never goes bad.   
• You can hard boil eggs in the oven .  Good snacks and lunch ideas.   You can also dehydrate eggs or make custard.   Breakfast for dinner is a good cheap dinner to stretch a buck.   
• Freezing bananas or berries for smoothies is good.   Otherwise, just buying fruit for smoothies can get really expensive.   You are better off eating the fruit.   A nutritionist told me when the children were little that an apple was a lot better to give them than apple juice.   Apple juice has too much sugar and especially in tippy cups can ruin their teeth,   
• Broccoli stems can become cream of broccoli soup or can be choooed in little pieces in a cream based chicken casserole  or chicken noodles.    
• Grated cheese can be frozen.   You can grate block cheese and freeze with a little cornstarch .  Shake the bag.   
• Grapes can be frozen for a treat. 
• You can freeze milk 
• I use sour cream in place of yogurt in some recipes.    
• Spaghetti can be used in a stir fry,   Stir fry is a good way to use up bits of vegetables and meat.   
• Top ramen lasts forever and can be used in soups and Stir fry sand lasts forever.    Ditch the seasoning packet.   If you must use it, use one in a very large soup pot.   
• Chicken bones make stock.  Chicken stock can be as much as two dollars a box.   Why throw out your bones and skin and buy someone else's,   Throw the bones in a lot of water or a slow cooker and add some herbs.  Simmer until the meat can fall off the bone. Strain and hold in the fridge for a few hours,   The fat will come to the top and it will be easy to spoon off.   Freeze if you aren't going to use soon.   Pick the chicken off the bones.    
• Leftover  cooked chicken can be sandwich filling or you can stuff a tomato or pepper peels a  with it.   
• 
  

Meal plans for week of February 13

Note : we use a matrix for meal planning based on protein.  1 fish or seafood, 1 beef, 3 chicken  or Pork and 2 vegetarian .  

1. Chicken enchaladas , rice, broccoli 
2. Pizza 
3. Cottage pie, fruit cup 
4. Pork chops over dressing with apples and cranberries. 
5. Chicken noodle cassarole , mixed veggies 
6. Salmon patties , honey fingered carrots, salad 
7. Breakfast 4 Dinner.

Notes 

1. Chicken from the rib bones , tortillas 12/1 at DT. Sour cream white sauce. 
2. Pizza - homemade crust 
3. Cottage pie -pre cooked hamburger, 🥕 carrot, peas, gravy, mashed potatoes 
4. Fry pork chops( brown)  makemdressing, add chopped carrots and cranberries.
5. Chicken noodle cassarole, ( cooked chicken breast ) mixed veggies frozen, noodles, white sauce mix 
6. Salmon patties, carrot rounds with honey,butter, and  ginger.   Salad 
7. Eggs.   Waffles - eggs were .56 a dozen and waffle mix was a dollar at GO.   

Ground beef and salmon are more expensive; eggs and chicken, pork chops are all 1.50 a pound or less. Averaging keeps the total within budget.    Scratch cooking and finding the cheapest possible price (RBP) keeps the total spent down,   

Fred Meyers ad for tomorrow

Blueberries, raspberries 3.49
Heritage farm chicken breast are Tyson,   1.69 --draper valley is 1.49 at QFC . You do have to de-bone them.  Easy and not to time consuming,  

Kroger tomatoes and veggies 2/1 @@ limit 8 - good stock up price


Oranges .99
Cilantro, parsley 2/.99

About it.  

Ten things to do with potatoes.

Friday's can be bucket days,    I'm working in antheme based site.   Please feel free to comment on any ideas you would like to see.  

Yesterday. Was a roll with the lunches day,   I had my first computer generated crown set.   A lot of stiff in your mouth.   Fortunately, they do things in stages so you can rest your what technology jaw in between.   I had waited as long as I could , more of my tooth disintegrated while the dentist was working on it.    Very interesting where  technology is taking us.

I had made brats in the pressure cooker with  a tomato and peppers  base.  We didn't like the peppers that way. It made them pasty feeling.  To salvage five dollars worth of peppers. I put the sauce back in the pressure cooker   last night, added a jar of pasta sauce and a package of extra fiber soeghetti.   Cooked it for five minutes,   Meantime, I sliced the brats in coins and fried them.   It came out very good.   I was surprised and hoping the pasta wouldn't be over cooked. It was just right.  

I still have enough to make something else out of the meat.  
I got ten pounds of potatoes for two dollars at Fred Meyers last week.  I still had a few potatoes left.  
I digress. Ten things to do with potatoes.  

• Baked potato bar.    Bake potatoes. Serve with anything that you can stuff  a potato with-- sour cream, broccoli, chilli, cheese, bacon, diced cooked chicken. Anything you can think of.    
• Potato soup 
• Clam chowder 
• Scalloped potatoes with ham ( or sausage coins. ) 
• Mashed potatoes 
• Oven roasted root veggies : potatoes, carrots, radishes, turnips, rutabagas ... cut in sizes that will roast evenly, toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. . . And bake at 400 until done.  Or, you can bakelonger if you have something else in the oven like chicken at 375. 
• french fries 
• Chilli fries
• Lefsa 
• Potato dumplings 
• Boiled potatoes 
• Potato rolls 
• Potato pancakes 
• Lemon potatoes 

Please share .  Thanks for stopping by 

Special grocery haul

Yesterday, we mad a quick grocery haul.  

Split chicken.  breasts were 1.50 at QFC.  They were Washington grown, but Draper Valley.  I was not  impressed with the cleanliness or the way it was cut.   It was about .75 cheaper than Foster farms, but , in my opinion Foster Farms is a lot better quality.    I did manage tomde-bone them and cook the bones for stock and pieces.  

I also got berries for two dollars and butter for  2.50.  

After already shopping at Winco and Fred Meyers, I didn't need much, but didn't want to pass up the butter  and chicken,  

Yesterday, I made brats and peppers in the insta pot.  I wouldn't do it again.   It was fast as far as throwing ingredients in the pot.   I didn't like the texture of the brats.   I thought no I will chop them small and add them to pasta sauce.   Meat in the pressure cooker is  more boiled than fried.   There is a sauté function.   Frozen chicken to use in chicken recipes is wonderful.   You can fry hamburger and make chillI.  

We are stocked to the point where I will need fruit and veggies in a week or so, but probably,nit much more.    We are dwindling our diced tomatoes, but can wait for a good sale.   It's a good place to be, especially when it's snow season.   To the rest of the country, Seattle is built on hills.   We are six blocks from the ocean,    To go anywhere, you have to go up steep hills. Some years we have no snow at all, we are not as prepared as say, those in Minnesota.   LOL.  

Wednesday

rotation meat 🍖 deal of the week is the whole chickens  at QFC, or the split chicken breast priced  at

1.50 a pound, 

This week is,nitnthenwek for looking for great bargains,   Usually, they sockv it to you when it is a holiday week,   The exception was the dollar veggie sale at Fred Meyers,   One thing I have observed is that you can think you know where the best price on something is, but prices change with the times,   I have been getting 160 count tissue firma dikkarmat fred Meyers,  I am rarely finding the 200 count packages at the DT. 

Last week I had to buy roses for an event,   They were ten dollars a dozen,    QFC s special price on roses is twenty dollars.   

The kroger sausage is 2.99 at QFC, it's 2/5 at Fred Meyers with their in ad coupon,    

Safeways has basket coupons , but they aren't enough to make it worth your while considering the retail prices to begin with.  Since the whole merger, non - merger, sell off of Safeways and Albertsons, the prices have  taken a hike a lot of the time.   It was especially bad when we had Kroger or haggen as our alternatives besides specialty stores. It helped a lot when Winco finally got open on the old haggen building.    Competition helps.  Fred Meyer started having some deals. Freddies os cheaper on some classifications of food and  more on others.  It pays to know who has the best prices on any particular item and to stock  as much as is practical .  

My mother used to say that some people woukdnt know a bargain of it got up  and bit them in the butt.  Don't be that person. It pays to consciously buy as many items of a good sale as you can comfortably use before they "expire" .  Rotating what you buy as opposed to buying the same amount saves a lot of money,    The goal is to pay half price or less.   You can do that by: 

• Buying in bulk anything that is practical to buy in  bulk,   ( non perishables) 
• Looking for coupons on real food.
• Using a web site like ibotta.   
• Going to at least two stores .   That gives you the best of two stores.   Picking up certain things from the DT or a warehouse club   on a limited basis in bulk helps too. 
• And the biggest one.....never pay full price for anything.    Know prices of the things  you use on a regular basis and buy enough when they are at their lowest to last until they are low again.   

There are two kinds of people in the world.  The one that gets a can to tomatoes for 50  instead of 1.58 and buys three instead of one so they have enough for another meal. Then, there is the person that he saved  a buck so he can have pop and chips.  Having the pop andmchios gets you oknwith junk food and gives you oermission to do it again next week.   Buying the extra tomatoes means you basically eat for free two more times.     

 It's all in the attitude.    It's a mind set,    

Thanks for stopping by 

Please share 

The ads analysis

QFC

Whole chicken, draper valley .99.
Berries 2/4
Broccoli, cauli.  .99
Oranges .99
Draper valley split chicken breast 1.49


ALberways
Coffee 5.99
Tuna .49. @@ limit 2


About it.

By popular request

very quick slow cooker vegetable soup.


This is a dump soup ,

My regular soup first,   Last night I asjusted to a bit.

• 2 cans diced tomatoes 🍅, not drained. 
• 2 cans ( 4 cups ) beans - i usually use two different kinds, or you can use cooked  beans. 
• 4 cups vegetable broth 
• 1 cup sautéed  vegetables : celery and carrots, sliced 
• 1-1/2 tbls italian seasoning 
• 1 tsp chopped garlic 

Dump in slow cooker and  cook on low 6-8 hours.   

Yesterday. I needed to use up potatoes.   

• 2 cans diced tomatoes 
• 4-6 potatoes, peeled and diced 
• 1 can green beans 
• 1 can corn 
• 3 carrots, sliced 
• 4 cups vegetable broth 
• 1-1-2 T Italian seasoning 

Dump in slow cooker and cook on high for an hour and low for Six to seven.   

Bread 

2 T dry yeast
2 T salt
4 cups warm (105-110 degrees) water
8 cups flour

Place  water, yeast, flour and then salt in a large container or bowl with a lid and plenty of head room.  
Stir until combined .   Let sit on counter for at least two hours,   Dough will expand, do not cover tightly.

You can refrigerate up to two weeks. When ready to cook. Cut or pay much off a large hunk of dough
Dough will be sticky, use floured board and hands.   Shape into a loaf or round.    Set on on a piece of parchment paper or a board with some cornmeal under it .   Let rise  for about 40 minutes.  

Place loaf on a Dutch oven and bake, covered for 35 minutes at 450 degrees . Carefully take the lid off and Reece the heat to 35 for another 10 minutes or later nit, the bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped, top and bottom.

You can also put it on a pizza stone, or a upside down cookie sheet and bake it off at 450 degrees.

You can also make pizza dough from this I hear, I haven't done it.  


I have added herbs to the dough or chopped  parmesean cheese and parsley.   Rosemary would be good too.  I make a bread that has parmesean and cracked peppercorns,  

Fred Meyer haul

Yesterday , we went to Fred Meyers.

Box if tomato soup was 2.79 , the signage on the shelf said 2.25.   You have to watch Fred Meyer they are good at charging you twice for the same thing and not having what is advertised,   Not to mention that the sign didn't match the computer.

I bought -- all were .99

4 boxes blackberries
Head of lettuce
2 - 5 lb bags if potatoes
Milk


Yogurt at .40
Radishes .59
Cucumbers .69
Sour cream 1.88. Large tub
Brats 2/5
Cheese slices 2/5

Spent 31.65 10.00 of that was stock purchases.  
Sometimes otnoaysnto spend more one week and less another,   There are weeks where you don't need much and weeks where the prices are better.    It's to your advantage to go with the flow,  

Last night ( super bowl ) we had hot dogs, French fries and a vegetable platter.    The Nathan's hot dogs were 2.00 Friday only at QFC.   Winco buns are always about .88.   French fries were 2 pounds for a dollar for frozen.   I could  have made scratch cheaper.  

I washed and cut up the veggies and put them in deli cups.   You set up to do it once and you are good for the week,  .  My daughter ate the rest of last weeks with some hummus.

I have dinner meetings Monday and Tuesday, so I'll probably re address my meal plans.   It makes more sense to me to make a big pot of vegetable soup so the family can eat dinner without me and not have to cook.


Kitchen management day,  

I made chocolate rice crispy treats.  We had crumbs from the Carmel popcorn 🍿 so I added them to the mix.  
I made vegetable soup.   I used potatoes mateas to beans because I had some potatoes and I bought ten pounds on sale yesterday.  We have cheese, crackers, and vegetables to add to the meal.   A
So, herb bread  from yesterday,  

I had mixes I bought from the dollar store a while back.   They were priced compared at target for three dollars.    I substituted sour cream for the yogurt it called for and added blueberries we needed to use up.  

Using up bits of things and substituting when you so t have somwth My is a way to stretch your dollars and eat well. It also frees up space in the pantry.  

I might switch a meal this week for baked 🥔 potato  bar.   It's a fun and easy dinner.  

A little effort goes a long ways to make ways available to stretch your dollar.  Pinterest is full of ideas as well as u tube.  

Meal plans

Meal plan work sheet 

Since I took this picture, I added a master list of oerisha ones that I keep on a regular basis.  It's easy to check off what I have and what I need to buy based on what's on a good sale.   

Meal plans 

Speghetti and meatballs , salad 

Pizza

Chicken enchaladas 

Ham and scalloped potatoes

Pork chops 

Tuna cassarole, peas and carrots. 

Breakfast 4 dinner.   

Notes : entrees only listed 

1. Speghetti and sauce were both bought on super sales.   Meatballs are 1.99 for almost a pound at Winco.    Total cost 2.41 for three  of us, 
2. Pizza crust cost .17.   Cheese was purchased for two dollars a pound and a cup costs  50.  Pepperoni 🍕 1/2 package is .25.  Add the bottom of the sausage bag. And a slice of red pepper chopped.   .92 
3. Chicken enchaladas.   Floor tortillas are a dollar for 12 at GO.   .25, chicken 🍗 is 1.50. Add .10 enchalada sauce and cheese .50.   2.35   Rice costs .03 a serving 
4. Ham cubes , scalloped potatoes using potatoes at .20 a pound,   Homemade white sauce mix , parm.   2.00 
5. Pork chops were purchased for 1.50 a pound,   Stuffing 125.   2.88 plus veggies 
6. Tuna cassarole.    Tuna 1.00, white sauce mix, peas .33. Noodles .50 total 1.88
7. Breakfast for dinner - eggs .30, English muffins .42, blackberries 1.50, sausage 1.00 total 3.22 

Total under twenty dollars for three of us.   15.88 plus some veggies.    .95 a plate.     

Fred Meyers ad for tomorrow.

Grape tomatoes 1.99
Fm yogurt 10/4
Ice cream 2.99

Potatoes 5 lbs .99
Broccoli .99
Cauli .99
Pears .99

Blackberries .99
Grapes 148
Milk .99
Sour cream/ cottage cheese 1.88@@
Foster farmsmcooked frozen chicken 4.99



About it.    Good time to buy fruits and veggies.  

FUN Friday

Today I am making refried beans in the insta pot.   Yesterday, we had chicken stir fry so the rice is already cooked.    Taco s. Refried beans and rice.   I got a taco kit at grocery outlet for a dollar.  I usually just get taco shells and make my own seasoning , but for a dollar. This is a better buy.   It has hard shells, soft shells that I sometimes use for another purpose.and seasoning and taco sauce.   Because the insta pot does three functions, it's one of the Best Buy's in the appliance  department.  Usually if something does several things, it doesn't do anything well.   That is not the case here.   I'm finding it takes less space on the counter and I'm using it at least three times a week.   It pays for itself.  

For  those on  another part of the country, grocery outlet is a overstock store.   Somethings are staples that they almost always have, and some that things are occasional or one time only items.  It's a treasure hunt,   We go where there are grocery outlets and dollar stores next to each other to maximize our gas.   Sometimes I find almost nothing, sometimes I score. If you find 35.00 worth of things, and you are a veteran, there is a discount.   I have never found that much,   I don't buy fresh veggies because I got bad ones and they didn't make good, and I am not comfortable about meat.    Lots of organic and gluten free that we don't use.  

If you sound more time planning your meals and your shopping trip and less time cooking , you will save more money and have better meals.   You can look the night before or the morning of and prep anything you need to prep.   A kitchen management time is a great tool to make the hectic dinner hour easier.  Buying bulk meat on a rotation basis and prepping and portion controlling it saves time and money.    The protein is the part of the meal that takes the longest time.  Scratch cooking doesn't have to take all day.   If you are hesitant, try one thing at a time.    Almost anything you need to learn, you can find on the internet.   It saves a lot of money and is healthier too. After you have nailed shopping the specials and stocking a limited amount alike, it's second nature and takes less time than a trip to Costco.   I try to limit my trips  to Costco and go with a list.    It seems like the minimum order is usually a hundred dollars.   LOL.  Not usually for us unless I save up the med list.  

Rant alert:
Everyday I am seeing another blurb on the internet trashing a food and saying it's bad for you and causes cancer.    It's true, there are things that are bad and cause cancer.   If they all caused cancer, all of us would have cancer.    In my opinion, moderation is the key.   Balanced diets are good for us,

Case on point,    Now Nutella supposedly causes cancer.    It's the palm oil.   My question of the day is why does it cause cancer because it has palm oil, but fake butter has more palm oil and it's supposedly healthy?    People. Fat is fat.   Hydrogenated oils thicken your blood. Fake sugar makes you obese because your body doesn't know what to do with it and it attaches to your fat cells.   HFCS is also supposed to be bad for you.   Too much salt is bad for you.   Stock to the tried and true that your medical doctor will tell you.   Grains are good for you and the closer to natural the better.   Anything you can't pronounce is prolly not good for you. the more you can cook from scratch, the cheaper and better it will be for you.   Don't believe everything you hear, people have agendas.   If there is a study, who finder it is a good benchmark as to how reliable it is.    Remember when liver was good for you and eggs weren't.  Turns out eggs have cholesterol-- good cholesterol!   Fat isn't fat.   You want to boost your good cholesterol and lower your bad.  

Note : these are my own observations,  I am not a nutritionist or a doctor.   It's my opinion and you need to come to your own conclusions and consult a nutritionist or you medical professional if you need to.  

Thursday

Thursday at our house is zone  cleaning day.    I thought this month that we would start at the back of the house and move forward.    I ised to be able to clean the entire house in a day, but my butt won't let me,   LOL.   I do what I can do.    Nobody died from a little dust! Right?  

I went to Safeways yesterday and bought the two dollar cheese, some hamburger buns and some grapes.   I was down to apples and blueberries for fruits.    I have enough cheese to last us the month or more so we're in good shape  now.  I haven't been able to see a pattern of sales for cheese yet.   I suspected that we were gong to see a rise in price when the USDA bought so much cheese 🧀 last summer.    I'm seeing a lot of three dollar and more prices. But am still able to get two dollars a pound.   Having a stock softens the blow of high prices.    You have the luxury of waiting for a sale,  

Every family has a short list of the things that they buy on a regular basis.  Most families have seven to ten dinners they make on a regular basis.    Listing the ingredients of those dishes, and a master grocery list is helpful.   I did it on my meal plan form with a column for things I need to add to complete our meals.  

One time only, go through the list and wrote down a target price and where you usually find it .  
I can't help those on other parts of the country, but I can on the PNW.  Lately, Winco and Fred Meyers seem to have the best prices.   A few things are best at Costco. And from what I can gleam, sams club is comparable.  

1. English muffins : 1.67 a dozen at FM 
2. Hamburger or hot dog  buns .68-.88 at Winco (seasonal) 
3. Flour - 5.99 for 25 lbs at Costco 
4. Veggies and fruit - Winco and FM 
5. Cheese : Costco and Safeways,  rarely does Winco have cheese sales. 
6. Chicken : whole chickens are on sale for anywhere from .88 to .98 often at FM . They are always a dollar and change at Winco for Foster farms.   Know where your chickens are from.   
7. Chicken breast lately are cheapest at Winco.   Split breast  were 2.28 last time at winco at  Foster Farms.   Window other brand comes from Idaho and it was two dollars for bonkess and skinless.    I felt that Foster Far,s were better quality.  The other brand wasn't bad.  It was frozen,   I just portion controlled the mega pack before it thawed.   
8. Pork tenderloin is on sale at times almost everywhere.   It was cheapest  at Costco wholesale.   149-1.69
9. Ground beef is cheapest most of the time when you can catch a sale at Winco.   I always,buy 7 percent fat.   3.28 
10. Eggs are another thing that are found just about anywhere.   The last ones I got were close to fifty cents because Safeways had a sale and a basket coupon.   
11. Ground sausage is cheapest at Costco in a three pound chub (8.00) unless you can find it on sale with a coupon at Winco.   I have made out at QFC before with a mega sale.   
12. Pepperoni, Hormel, is by far  at the dollar tree (DT) with a coupon (.50) a little goes a long ways.   
13. Dairy is cheapest at FM .  Milk is a buck, along with chocolate milk.   Sour cream is amdollar as well as cottage cheese.   It goes on sale about once a month.    So,etomes you have to have a coupon that is on the paper.   Flyers are stacked inside the front door of the store.   I usually post FM ads on Saturday before Sunday.ad starts.   A dollar each. 
14. Yogurt almost always has coupons.    I have found it cheap almost everywhere.   I tend to buy yoplait because otmosmlowest on carbs and doesn't have fake sugar.   
15. Rice is close to 8.00 for 25 pounds at Costco.   
16. Beans (dried) I want to pay  near a dollar a pound,    Pinto beans are cheapest at the DT. (1.5 pounds for a dollar. .   Try grocery outlet or Winco  compare bulk isle with regular.  Bulk isn't always the cheapest.  
17. Nuts are cheapest in the bulk isle at Winco and you don't have to chop hem either!   
18. Pizza sauce is cheapest at DT. 
19. Canned beans and diced tomatoes 🍅 I used to find for fifty cents at FM.   I, not finding that lately.   He vest is mcoukd do was fifty eight cents at Winco. 
20. Butter is cheapest at Costco unless you  find a sale,   My target price is two dollars.   Fake butter often has hydrogenated oils on them.  You need to be careful and read labels.   Avoiding hydroginated oils is a good thing.   Coconut oil has as much saturated fat as a beef steak.   I try for olive oil for almost everything.   It boosts you good cholesterol.  If can't use olive oil , I use canola.   Canola oil has gmo, but is not hydrogenated.   If I have to pick, the jury is still out on gmo, we know that hydroginat d oil is bad for your blood.  

Coupon time.

It's that Time of the month, Coupon time.  The first of every month coupons. com loads new coupons.    The first time you load them, you need to download coupon drivers.   The savings overall can be quite remarkable.   Yes, there are many coupons for non-food items and stuff that you probably shouldn't buy.   But, there are also coupons for real food.   Anything from taco shells, yogurt. V8 juice, coffee, toothpaste and  laundry detergent.  

I have a coupon binder. It only takes me a few minutes while I watch netflix or the news to pull the old coupons I haven't used and file the new ones.   I'm set for the month.   Is can save me as much as six dollars a week.   On a small budget, that's a chunk of change.   That's about 312 dollars a year.   That's a whole months worth of food budget for us.  

You can print two coupons.  You can stack coupoms at  most stores that take coupons.   Grocery outlet does not take coupons.   Winco doesn't stack.   You can't stack electronic coupons.   Verbiage  on the coupons must be exact.  You can use four coupons a day per family at the dollar tree and only two of them can be printable.   Some dollar trees have more sense of humor than others.    Some checkers have more sense of humor than others too.   LOL.