Why it makes sense to do rotation protein .

We all know by now that buying a meat (protein) on sale is a good thing to do.  Buying a bulk quantity of that meat is a better thing.   Buying enough for the family to eat that particular meat for a predisposed amount of meals saves a lot of money when you purchase enough to cover you for four to six weeks.  

Case in point:   Pork loin was .99 a lb this week at our Kroger.   (QFC and Fred Meyers) .  Normally, you could easily spend 2.00 a pound.   I bought two 1/2 loins for a total of 8.5 pounds.   I cut pork chops from most of it. (20) or enough for 10 of our dinners.   I also ground the scraps to provide 1.1/4 pounds of ground pork that was a bit more fatty.  The upshot of that was enough for a stirfry.   Bottom line, I got 11 dinners and enough ground pork to add fat back into two meals of meatballs or meatloaf from 5 percent fat hamburger.   11 meals divided by 8.50 is .77 a meal or 1.54 for 4 people.  Buying pork chops at 3.50 a lb would cost 29.75– twenty dollars more.   They are both from the same cut of meat.  

Boneless skinless chicken breast is as much as 8.00 a lb at the deli and you dont know where it came from.    Breasts can be as low as 1.77 a lb and you can buy local chickens.   The last split chicken breast I purchased was about 1.50 a lb.  It takes a little work, but you get chicken broth and some more small pieces of chicken for soup, or enchaladas , tacos, or casseroles.   Debone the rib portion and cook it in the slow cooker overnight.  Add scraps of veggies—celery, carrot, onion.....pull the meat off the bones and freeze .  Freeze the chicken stock unless you ar going to eat it soon.
The difference between buying a couple of breasts at a everyday low price of 3.49 and paying 1.77 is 1.72 a lb. times 10 pounds is 17.20.   For a family of four, that is ten dinners for 17.70 or 1.77 a meal.  


Hamburger:   The lowest fat is the best quality.   Our price for 10 percent fat hamburger is about four dollars a pound.   I just bought sirloin roasts for 2.40 a pound at safeways with a basket coupon .   By grinding it myself in the food processer, I spent about 1 minute per batch using the pulse button and saved 1.60 a pound.   Ten pounds makes at least ten meals, sometimes more for soup or tacos, or less for meatloaf or hamburgers.   That is 2.40 cents a meal instead of 4.00. Or 16.00 savings.  

Consider 2 meals a week for 5 weeks, your total protein would be 50.40 or 1.68 a meal.   That leaves you 5 meals to fill in with perhaps a vegetarian meal of breakfast for dinner or pizza or mac and cheese.  

Snap guidelines, I just read, are 1.40 per meal, or 5.60 a meal for 4 people.   My meals are based on:  four people, one meal, five bucks.   1.68 leaves you 3.32 for a starch and a vegetable.   Bulk rice is .03 a serving, and vegetable should be less than a dollar a pound.  

Chain store ads

Alberways :

Beef ribeye in a bag.   Use coupon....3.98 lb
Shank ham .99
Spiral ham 1.29
Asparagus 1.88

Butter 1.88@@@
Bacon 12 ounces 2/5@@@]

Turkey .79

Dejiorno pizza 4.99$$

Pillsbury pie crusts and cookie dough 2/5 $$

Cresents and cinnamon rolls 3/6 $$

Note : @@ means that you need to have an in ad coupon
$$ means that there is a coupon out there.  The pillsbury things are both in the coupon inserts and o coupons.com

QFC this ad is between Dec 13 and Dec 24.

Butter 2/5 :Note coupons.com has a dollar off coupo and you can print 2 per computer.  

Tillamook cheese 4.99 limit 2

Blueberries 2/5

Cooked to perfection meatballs 18-26 ounces 4.99- look for coupons

Green beans -fresh. 1.29
turkey breast -frozen ready to cook 7.99
Ritz crackers $$ 2/4
Cream cheese 2/4

Note: it is always a good thing to avoid shopping for holiday food at the last minute.   The pries almost always go up.   The weeks leading up to the holiday have better prices and you can avoid that holiday budget crunch.  

Tuesday Bullets

I just read an article in our local newspaper that said buying organic adds a third more to your grocery  bill.  My experience has been that the food spoils faster than regular food.  No food is going to do your family well if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal.   

Ways to save money 💰 on your food. 

• Buy in bulk when it makes sense.   Buying cranberry sauce in bulk when you only eat it at holiday time, would not be a good idea.   Buying a 25 lb bag of rice or flour might be a better Alternative.  Rice is on the does not spoil list and if you make your own mixes and bake your own bread, bulk flour is a good way to go.   We eat oatmeal every day.  Buying it in ten pound boxes makes sense.  Anything you will use up in a three mont period is a good benchmark for the common sense flag. 
• Lower your consumption of protein.   We eat too muck protein in this country.   It has been linked to health issues .  Check the RDA on protein for your family.   No one needs to eat the better part of a two pound roast in one sitting.   I had a lady inform me her husband did because he was a bodybuilder.   Most of us don’t have bodybuilders for roommates.  LOL 
• Avoiding junk food is not a bad idea.  One half of the average shopping cart is drinks and snack foods.   Not letting that happen will greatly reduce your food bill and probably a few waistlines too. 
• Planning a non meat dinner or two a week is a great money saver too.   Pizza when made from scratch and ingredients purchased at RBP make for a buck each meal.   Cheese can be purchased at low costs and frozen ( grated ) .  Mozzarella is made from low fat.  Eggs are still low in cost here at times, and you can dehydrate them with succsss.
• Buying your meat at RBP and buying in bulk on a rotation basis is a cheaper and more efficient way to stock your freezer, one month at a time.   Buy as much of a particular protein item as you will use for a months worth of that meal.   Pick a basic cut of meat that your family likes and that is versatile.  We use hamburger, cheese, pork loin  and chicken breast.   Add beans and eggs to the mix.   Adding beans to dishes boosts protein at a very low cost. 
• Don’t be brand an store loyal.   Shopping several stores gives you more choices and lower prices.   Non traditional stores also sometimes have lower prices on some things.   Because they only carry the things they find at a low price, they are a good resource to check occasionally.   Stores like Big Lots, and the Dollar Tree aka DT. Grocery Outlet 
• No one store has the best prices on everything.   Know your prices.   My mother used to say that some people could have a bargain get up and bite them in the butt and not see it. Don’t be that person.   Buy responsibily.   Set yourself limits as to how much of something you will keep on hand.   That greatly depends on how much of that item you consume on a regular basis.   Reducing the variety of ingredients you use on a regular basis helps keep things in order and efficient.   For example, we only buy diced tomatoes and a few tomato pastes if I find them on sale.   You can manipulate diced tomatoes to do anything you need a tomato for. 
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Monday Kitchen Management

Kitchen management is a tool that allows you to spend an hour of leisure time to save hours time during the hectic dinner hour.  Spending a few minutes on a small deep cleaning task. Saves a lot of time when it comes time to deep clean the kitchen.


Recap meal plan :

1. Oven roasted chicken with root veggies:  potato, carrot, radish 
2. Pizza:  Buffalo chicken 
3. Pork Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans with vinegrete seasoning. 
4. Pork slider, oven fries, vegetable platter 
5. Salmon cakes, rice medley , Peas, rolls 
6. Tacos, refried beans or nachos. 
7. Christmas Eve. Potluck    

Kitchen management 

• Wash kitchen floor
• Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead.
• Wash refrigerator shelves
• Wash kitchen counters and disinfect counters, sinks, and drains. 
• Clean stove drip pans. 
• Wax island cupboards 
• Wash potatoes with vinegar water for oven fries and roasted potatoes. 
• Ditto carrots and radishes
• Pull the roast out to thaw.
• Make some Christmas cookies.   

Note:  because it is christmas week and things are hectic with extra chores and holiday cheer, the meals are purposely stair step meals.   That is, one meal reinvents itself for a different meal another day—meals aren’t necessarily in chronological order.  Slider rolls take on double duty as dinner rolls with the salmon dinner.   

All of these meals are Four plus one is five meals.   Four people, one meal, five bucks.  Provided you are buying your groceries at RBP.   They are also quick to make with hands on time .

Meal Plans

Meal plans are an organizational tool to save time and money.

• Roast chicken breast with oven roasted root veggies:  potato, carrot, radishes. 
• Buffalo chicken pizza
• Pork roast, mashed red potatoes, peas and carrots 
• Pork sliders, Oven roasted french fries, veggie platter 
• Salmon cakes, rice medley, peas 
• Tacos, refried beans or nachos 
• Christmas Eve potluck 

Notes:  a lot of piggy back here.   One meat makes two dinners.   It saves time and energy when its a busy time of the year.   Salmon cakes are either scratch or they are inexpensive at Winco.   

An interesting note, my observation was that Fred Meyer and Wino were the cheapest prices for food in our area.  My friend sent me an article from the local paper.   Their basket research study validated my observations.   

All of these meals would be a four plus one is five meal.  Four people, one meal, five bucks.   

Some would be cheaper.   Salmon is right there with store bought salmon, less with scratch.  

All are easy and quickly put together.   

Did someone say Pork Loin ?

QFC and Fred Meyers (Kroger ) have pork loin today only for .99 a lb.  QFC when they at 11 am had 7 cases.   I bought 2 1/2 loins.   You can buy up to five.   You do need to download a coupon and spend an additional ten dollars.

Pork Loin :  8.5 lbs of pork loin
Blueberries 2/5
Turkey breast 7.99
Bread 1.25

22.82


Cutting the pork Loin is on

Www.janefrugalfood.blogspot.com

Fred Meyer Sunday ad

NOTE:  the .99 pork loin at qfc and Fred Meyers needs you to download a digital coupon.  







Merry Christmas ad


New York Holiday roast 3.77

Kroger turkey .69

Clementines 5 lbs 4.77

Kroger sliced ham 1.27

Kroger bacon 2.99 lb -3 lb package

Ritz , nabisco crackers 3/5

Canned vegetables bogo

Green beans 1.49

Yams .99

Broccoli, cauliflower .99

Bullets: Things that never spoil

This is from research on the internet, there are a few that I am questionable on (????)

1. Honey
2. Salt
3. Water 
4. Clarified butter ????
5. Cornstarch ????
6. Pasta 
7. Rice 
8. Vinegar 
9. Maple syrup
10. Sugar 
11. Alcohol 

Things that are easy in the insta pot.

Things that are easy in the insta pot.   Since I started working harder at getting the lowest possible price for our meals, I started cooking more scratch food.   Basicly, scratch food is cheaper and more healthy because you can control the salt, sugar, trans fats, hydroginated oils and HFCS.   There are no preservatives or anti caking agents.  

I set out to find efficient scratch cooking.  I spend a little more time shopping and planning trips, so I spend less time cooking.    This methodology has to work for working parents too.   The insta pot is a great tool to cook efficiently .   Its efficient in itself :  a slow cooker, rice cooker, and a pressure cooker.   It also sautés and some make yogurt.  

Things to cook in the insta pot.

• Hard cooked eggs:  I also cook them in the oven.   
• Chilli:  you can cook the beans, sauté the meat, and cook the chili all in the same pot. 
• Vegetable bean soup.
• Chicken breast from frozen for casseroles, nachos, chicken pot pie, enchiladas.  
• Beef stew 
• Cumin spiced pork sirloin with avocado salsa.
• Pork shoulder
• No stir risotto
• Bacon, corn and potato chowder 
• Winter squash soup
• Stock
• Roasted rosemary red potatoes 
• Pot roast 
• Shredded chicken tacos 
• Ziti
• Creamy chipotle tomato soup 
• Chicken soup
• Tomato and white bean soup
• Barley mushroom stew 
• White rice
• Tuna casserole 
• An many more.....

Grocery Outlet Haul -

Grocery outlet and DT.

DT has chocolate covered. Graham crackers.

Grocery Outlet:

Colored peppers .50
Old El Paso enchaladas kit.   Seasonings, enchaladas sauce, and tortillas .99
La Victoria salsa. .99
2 very large sugar cookie dough=pillsbury  rolls at bogo 1.99
Sliced cheese 1@ 2.00 and 1 @ 2.39

ROCHER diamond candy box.  7.99

Total 18.33 less candy is 10.34

Weekly chain store ads

Holiday ads are not usually the ones that tout great bargains.   The ads leading up to a holiday usually have better prices on the typical incidental items.  The price of the protein is usually the star. In this state, because liquor is purchased at grocery stores and drug stores, there is usually space taken up with liquor.

Alberways

Spiral ham 1.39
Shank ham .99

Buy 4, save 4
BBQ sauce .99
Marshmallows .99
Puddings, .99

Stove top stuffing 1.25
Coffee 5.99

Bacon 3.99
Cranberries 2/5



QFC
Chuck roast  BOGO
Spiral Ham 1.49
Bone in ham 1.29
Apples 1.49
Butter 2/5
3 lb clementines 2.88
Cheese 2 bs 4.99

Spices BOGO
Duncan Hines cake mix BOGO
Pillsbury rolls 2/4$$

SATURDAY ONLY
WITH ADDITIOAL 10.00 food purchase
Boneless pork 1/2 loin .99 a lb
You can buy up to 5.  

This sale is also at Fred Meyer

Let’s talk freezers.

Freezers can be a messy catchall if you aren’t careful.   Most of the new refrigerators have a large drawer or door above or below the refrigerator section .   I’m afraid that it would become a dark hole things get lost in.   Looking at the new refrigerators, i am not seeing a lot that isn’t stainless steel and the same style.  Surely, there are other styles.   I did see a couple of side by side refrigerators.   I guess its a trade off—the black hole or a refrigerator that you cant get a large tray into.  

My downstairs upright freezer has crates from the dollar store that organizes foods by category.   Its easy to find what you are looking for if people put things away properly.   LOL.  The side by side upstairs has four drawers.   I labeled the drawers :   Chicken, beef, pork , fish.   The fish drawer gets to share with vegetables.   The door has vegetables and pizza 🍕 toppings and sauce.  

Separating meats into drawers makes it easy to check at a glance if I need to replenish our stock.  
Last month I have :

• End of November with the last Safeways twenty percent off basket coupon, I purchased 2.99 sirloin roasts.   That made them 2.40.   I cut some for stew meat and ground the rest for hamburger in my food processer.  It took about 20 seconds a batch.   I put stew meat into 1/2 pound bags (2 lb total) and ground 10 bags of 1 cup each of  hamburger that I cooked.   
• This week, I purchased boneless , skinless chicken breast (foster farms) for 1.77 a lb.  I spent 6.07.   I put the breasts (about 1/2 lb a piece ) in individual bags and put the bags in a gallon bag that I labeled with a date.   I had some split chicken breast from before, or I would have bought a second mega pack.   If split chicken breasts are cheaper, I cut the ribs off, cook the ribs with water in the slow cooker overnight (add a few pieces of onion and carrot, celery) and bag the boneless, skinless chicken breast in quart bags, then a gallon bag.    In the morning , you have chicken stock, and you can pick the bones for more meat—just right for chicken salad, a casserole, or Soup.  
• Next week, (Saturday) pork loins are .99 at Fred Meyers.  I will probably make stew, roasts, and pork chops out of one.   About 7 lbs or so.   
• Sausage , cheese, beans, and fish are other rotation proteins.   Pinto beans are cheapest at the DT- 1.5 lbs or a dollar.  They are non gmo and grown in USA.   
• Sausage has gotten pricey, I have made my own, but you can still get it on sale and there are coupons. 
• Cheese has also been pricey lately—as much as six dollars a lb.   I want to pay closer to two dollars a pound.   I have been able to do that so far.   
• There are always coupons for pepperoni.   

Rotating protein allows you the luxury of purchasing your protein at a RBP and always having food in the house.  Buying bulk and sometimes butchering and/or cooking it in mass saves time and money.   With already cooked hamburger, you can make tacos, or taco salad , or spaghetti w meat sauce in minutes.   The insta pot makes cooking meat from frozen in minutes. 

 

Monday Kitchen Managment and notes

Notes:   I know that often times scratch is better.  Especially when you are a good , experienced scratch cook.   I have been learning how to cook about everything we eat scratch.   The more scratch cooking I do, the more money we save.   Food prices have gone up 45 percent over the past few years, but scratch cooking has reduced our grocery bill by 24 percent.   That being said, if something is cheaper to buy ready made than scratch, I’m going to take advantage of it as long as it is good quality.   Case in point, kroger (Fred Meyer) has buy a Marie Callender Pie and get the ice cream for FREE.  That made out pie 1.00.   I cant make a large pie for a dollar.   Pasta sauce is another thing that is cheaper to buy than make, especially with sales and coupons.    I got sweet potatoes for .33 a package.   Sweet potatoes here are a dollar a pound.   It doesn’t pay .   It is also convenient and we have sweet potatoes with pork or chicken often.  

On to regular stuff.....

Kitchen Management is a tool that takes a hour or so, and saves a lot of time and energy during the hectic dinner hour.    Basically, you prep and rotate deep cleaning chores so that you are more efficient in the kitchen.  

1. Wash kitchen floor. 
2. Wash and disinfect countertops, sinks and drains.   
3. Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead.   
4. Wax south end cupboards. 
5. Wash potatoes in vinegar water for baked potatoes, and oven fries, oven roasted veggies.  
6. Mark meal plan to thaw chicken breast.
7. Wash carrots for oven roasted veggies.   Buy radishes.  
8. Straighten the pantry.   

25.00 Fred Meyer haul

Planning a 25.00 Fred Meyers haul.
The grinch aka Car repair man. Stole christmas......LOL. (We still have a decent food stock)

Chicken Breast (rotation meat) 1.77. Lb - approx 6 lbs.

Milk .99

Blueberries 2/5

Pie and ice cream 4.99

Cranberries or grapes.to fill out

ACTUAL:   21.52

Marie Callender’s Pie.  4.99
Ice cream FREE. Retail 3.99

Cranberries 2/5

Blue berries, l lb 3.99 frozen vs 12 ounces for 5.00

FF chicken breast 6.07

Milk .99

Hamburger buns , dayold dated 12/15  .69

Meal Plans - week of 12/11

Meal plans are a good tool to save time and money .

• Baked Potato Bar 
• Pizza 
• Chicken nuggets, oven fries, veggie sticks 
• Baked chicken , mashed potatoes, salad 
• Tuna cassarole , peas and carrots 
• Sausage with oven roasted veggies 
• Breakfast for dinner 

Notes:   We still have ten pounds of potatoes we got for a dollar.   Baked potato bar, oven fries, and oven roasted veggies should be a good thing.   Pizza is a staple around here....making scratch pizza is a really cheap dinner.   Breakfast for dinner is another staple that is more fun than it is inexpensive.   

A finger food dinner is a good thing around Christmas time with Christmas movies.   

Fred Myers Sunday ad

A lot of space is being taken up with ready made trays and booze.

Boneless pork loin .99 -a lot of hoops to go through:   Spend an additional 10.00, SATURDAY, 16TH ONLY, DOWNLOAD DIGITAL COUPON.

Blueberries 2/5

Celery .99

Kroger turkey .69

Del monte veggies BOGO. This is a bargain if they are a dollar or under.

Marie Callender Pie at 4.99 - get a carton of ice cream free.  The ice cream is 3.99 elsewhere in the ad.   I purchased that ice cream for 2.50 last week.   This is how they manipulate the prices.   That’s why knowing the RBP on things is a good idea.  Still, this is a good buy.  

Pillsbury rolls 2/4 $$

Milk .99

Oranges .67
Butter 2/5
FF boneless, skinless chicken breast 1.77

Sirloin. Steaks 2.77 - cheaper than good ground meat

Friday Recipes

Note:  this week I am not going to shop.   We don’t necessarily need to and I didn’t find anything that reached out to me shouting “buy me” !    I did purchase a box of bisquick at costco.

Today I am making an apple pie  and spareribs along with a pasta salad.   We are using up what we have in stock.  

I will take you along on Dinner: better, cheaper, faster.  
That fits with my mantra:   Spend less time cooking, and more time planning a shopping trip and your pocketbook will love you for it.

Spareribs.  Brown spareribs in a little olive oil in a skillet.  Place in (slow cooker/insta pot) and pour a beer over top.   Set insta pot on slow cook and let cook for 6-8 hours.  

Pasta salad starts with suddenly salad I purchased for .75 last summer.    Add tomatoes, black olives, and any vegetable you have hanging around.  

Apple pie is one my husband’s mother used to make.  Its part custard and part apple pie with a crumb topping.   ( bisquick cookbook).

Sometimes, it is just a good thing to balance dinner with a desert.   Add fruit to the vegetables in the salad and you have well balanced—protein, starch, and fruit and veggies.  

Staples that don't break the bank .

Buying staples that don’t break the bank on bulk sales is a good way to always have food in the house without a lot of capital outlay.   A good sale, properly planned can save a lot of money.   Its a matter of taking advantage of a good sale.

• Canned veggies are at best regularly .68 .  They can be more.  They have a good shelf life an are a good go to in the winter when the quality of fresh is not as good and the cost is expensive.                              Safeways had case lot (12) for .49 each.  Cue in a basket coupon for 20 percent and the cost is .39.   A case was less than five dollars, you have a case of green beans.  I only buy canned green beans and corn.  
• You can almost always find pasta sauce with coupons.   Canned pasta sauce is almost always less than a dollar at Winco.   The sauce in a jar can be close to a dollar with coupons and sales. Don’t use a coupon without matching it with a sale if you can help it.   Pasta sauce is one thing that is cheaper than making it yourself.   You can always add spices and meat if you want.   
• Pasta has a eight YEAR shelf life.  Buy it when you can get it with coupons and sales.   I usually buy Barilla at less than a dollar.   Never pay more than a dollar.   Its sometimes at the dollar tree.   
• Dried beans are a lot cheaper than canned.   With the insta pot, they are about as fast to make as opening the can.   (Hands on time) .   I keep a few for emergencies in case out power goes out, but it’s pretty easy to store dried.   The dollar tree is the cheapest for pinto beans I have found.  They are non GMO, and grown in USA.   
• Flour and rice are cheapest in 20-25 lb bags at costco.  I am assuming that they are comparably priced at Sam's club.   A food safe bucket works best for us and you can sometimes get them at a bakery inexpensive.   
• Diced tomatoes are a good shelf stable staple.   Instead of buying numerous forms of tomatoes, if you stick to diced tomatoes, you can pretty much make them work for any recipe.   You an always drain them reserving the juice for soup, and processes them in a food processor or food mill to make tomato sauce.  You can also use drained tomatoes for a salad, salsa, or to top nachos when tomatoes are expensive in the winter.   Lately, I have been getting organic diced tomatoes for .50 at Dollar Tree and Grocery Outlet .   I also got them for .39 at safeways on their stock up sale with a basket coupon .   

With those few stock up items, you can do a lot to make a meal in a pinch.  You can also get tortillas at the dollar tree and costco inexpensive.   

Chain store ads - Alberways

QFC last week was a two week ad

Alberways

Grapes 1.47
Ice cream 2/5

Cheese 4.99@@
Bread .88 @
Extra lean ground beef 2.99@@.

Oranges /or apples 1.49
Red delicious apples .99

Pillsbury Bisquits 1.00 $$
di Giorgio pizza 5.99 $$

Cookie mix 2/5 $$ still cheaper at DT, but DT only. Has chocolate chip the last time I looked.  

Tuesday Notes

If you haven’t guessed, I have a “thing” about saving money on food.   I started this blog because my daughter has been teaching children from low income homes for years.  She was hearing from mothers that they were having a hard time making their snap money last the month.   My daughter piped up and said, my mother knows how to do that.   I racked my brain to think of how I could help and my children encouraged me to write a blog.   Not being tech savvy , it was a learning experience.   That was over 5 years ago.

There is nothing more stressful for a mother than to not have food for your children to eat.  Fortunately, I learned a lot from my mother, and when I found myself a single mother with double digit inflation, rarely child support, and a stagnate paycheck , I set out to learn everything I could to stretch a buck.   Those days were before computer 💻 and there wasn’t much on the television when we had one.   Nevertheless, I prevailed.   I had a lot of misses.....soybeans that cooked for hours an were rocks....but there were hits too.

Fast forward 50 years, and I think I got it down.  Now its just a habit.   Even with a limited budget, you can still help those that don't have food.   I’m not sure that I am reaching the audience I set out to reach, but I hope I am helping.   Something as small as a can of pasta sauce ( less than a dollar at winco ) and a package of pasta ( often on sale with coupons) can cost less than that cup of coffe at a coffee shop or drive through.   It can make a meal for a family.

I am always learning.....yesterday I learned that the way to get good ground chicken is to partially freeze chicken thighs (boneless and skinless) and chop them in the food processor.   I have never liked ground chicken because of the fine mushy texture.   I did find that a few pulses in the food processor chopped beef  to make ground beef from a sirloin roast cheaper than buying the ground beef.   I only want extra lean ground beef.

You can have it all.....good quality, low prices, and scratch cooking without a extraordinary amount of time and energy.   It just takes a little learning curve.

We eat a variety of good food and keep a small stock for emergencies by:

• Listing the foods that we need to cook healthy meals.  Avoid excess salt, sugar, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, HFCS , and limit processed meats. 
• Finding the lowest prices and buying quantity of anything that is shelf or freezer stable.  
• Buying a limited variety of meats and buying them in bulk when they are at a RBP. 
• Finding scratch recipes that are 5 ingredients or less and making time to make your own mixes.  
• Using every available means to cut your costs:  ibotta, coupons, digital signups for coupons.  Freebies.   We pass up unhealthy freebies, but if there is one that we don't eat and is shelf stable, its a good thing to put it in the food bank barrel.   
• Portion control.   Its good for your waistline and good for your budget.   If you have children with hollow legs, buy certain foods that they know they are allowed to eat as much as they want for snacks.   Providing they don't have a weight issue.   When our children were teens, that was peanut butter sandwiches, beef an bean burritos, top ramen (no one knew it was bad then.) veggie sticks, and popcorn (air popped) 

Hope I helped somebody somewhere.