Another episode of This NOT That
Butter instead of Fake Butter.
The real thing is just better. My nutritionalist said a skim of butter is better than the fake stuff. Fake butter often is laced with hydroginated oil. Almost all oils with the exception of canola (GMO) and olive oil are bad for you. Hydroginated oil, so they say, thickens your blood. You are better off, in my opinion with the real thing in moderation. Moderation is key.
Roma tomatoes are better than regular tomatoes.
This is just because they have more “meat” and less seeds. Again, no food can do your family any good if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal.
Real maple syrup, parmesean cheese, vanilla...is better than fake.
It just tastes better. Moderation on the syrup is key. Parmesean cheese in the green can is laced with wood pulp and it is old. If parmesean is more expensive than Romano or other hard cheeses, use he other cheeses. It works the same .
Nut pieces , not whole pieces.
Winco (or Bulk Food isles ) has broken pieces in the bulk section. If you are using it for breading or in a recipe, why pay for whole nuts when you are going to cut them up anyway. Thisnisoe time wen something already done is cheaper.
Insta pot chicken or slow cooker chicken , not rotisserie chicken .
Rotisserie chicken is really , really expensive. Cooking a whole chicken (.88 a lb ) is twice as expensive as one made in the slow cooker. That crispy skin is not good for you anyway. Why ay for it to be pulled off. Both slow cooker and insta pot chicken take no longer than making the special trip to the store. Ten minutes tops and you are saving 1/2 or more if you buy a 5 pound chicken. Three pound chickens are the most expensive chicken . Hands down. And the chicken that is 2 lbs is just a joke.
Homemade coating mix and bread crumbs , not boxed.
Why pay 2.40 a pound for someone elses dry bread. If our 6yo can make breadcrumbs in a snap, you can too. Another , it takes minutes and saves a bundle idea. If I pay 2.44 a pound for hamburger, why would I pay 2.40 for someone elses garbage. There is more food value in the hamburger.
Coupons are a waste of time vs use coupons when they make sense. Don’t take hours clipping every coupon in ten newspapers. Do print coupons once a month and only print the ones for wha you are likely to use. Save a batch of inserts from 1 newspaper you buy for a dollar at the DT and match it up with a sale. Less than a half hour can save you up to 50.00 a month. That’s 100.00 an hour virtual pay check.
Homemade quick breads , not bakery breads.
The operative word here is quick. It takes a matter of minutes to throw a quick bread into the oven. The savings are remarkable and you control the sugar.
Frozen vs fresh blueberries.
There are times in the year when frozen blueberries are a lot cheaper than fresh. If you are makin blueberry bread or muffins or smoothies, frozen is better most of the time. Winco has 2 lb bags for less than 2.00 a pound. That’s almost the equivalent of three 6 ounce boxes.
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Fred Meyer Haul
Because we were just about out of fruit and Ihad money left in the budget, hubby went to Fred Meyers for fruit and veggies. This should keep us Ok for a while .
Gala apples .99
Strawberries
Cantaloupe
Zucchini
Total 10.38
That still leaves us 10.00 under and in very good shape for next week.
Gala apples .99
Strawberries
Cantaloupe
Zucchini
Total 10.38
That still leaves us 10.00 under and in very good shape for next week.
New Chain store ads.
Alberways
2 lbs strawberries 2.99
Extra Lean Ground Beef 3.77
FSSun. Only
Turkey breast .99
Lucerne yogurt 4/1
Chicken of sea tuna .59@@
Eggs 1.49 dozen @@????
QFC
Draper Valley BSCB : BOGO.....no prices here....
BUY 5, save 5
Goldfish .99
Cheese 4.99 - top of buy price
Dreyers 2.99
Note: orowheat bread and Thomas English Muffins are at the DT. So, 2.49 is not a bargain. Cheese is barely over 2.00 at costco business. I paid 1.98 last week at QFC
Oranges .67
Tomatoes .88
Apples, pears .99
Not a lot there ....
FRED MEYER
5 bs mandarins 3.99
Cantaloupe .99
FM cheese2 lbs 4.99 **
JD Sausage 2/7**
Berries ( strawberry, blackberries ) 2/5
Foster Farms
Drums, thighs, whole, and split breast..99
Zucchini.99
**. Cheese is at the top of the buy price.
** jimmy dean sausage is 2.48 at winco.
Split breast is breast with the ribs attached. Cut off the ribs, save for stock, and free in portion controlled bags. I use dollar store quarts and put the quarts in a zip lock with dat and item on it. Put your ribs in the slow cooker before you go to bed with water up to an inch from the top and add eggie scraps. You have stock in the morning to put through a colander and you can pick he ones for another days meat.
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Tuesday Notes
Groceries on the Cheap is not about cheap, inferior food. Its more like buying your food wholesale. I discovered that food from a wholesale supplier is sometimes more expensive than getting your food from a big box store. (Costco) .
It is not what you buy as much as when and where you buy it.
A cake mix can be 2.38 , or it can be .88. Same box, same brand, different store.
A almost pound bag of meatballs can be 2.00 or 3.50. Same brand, different store
A pound of Jimmy Dean sausage can be 6.50 or it can be 2.47. Same package, different store.
You get the picture. Knowing where to buy certain things , makes a big step in lowering your food bill. You dont hae to go to ten stores every week. Just know when you need a certain thing and go there and buy enough for four to six weeks. Freeze what you can.
I know that I am going to buy pizza sauce, taco shells, pinto beans parchment paper , and Orowheat bread products at the Dollar Tree. I check stock before I go. Our Dollar tree is either next to Safeways , or next to Grocery Outlet , depending on where we go. I can make 1 trip do double duty. So, I will tend To base my trip on what else is on sale or things I need that are low prices at other stores. Knowing your prices helps with this. I can go through GO in a few minutes and find the bargains that we can use to make meals in a few minutes. GO is a treasure hunt. You know that there are some tried and true things. I can almost always find sliced cheese, hard taco shells or a taco kit for a dollar. After that, its a surprise. I do know that I can always get pizza sauce, flour taco shells, and a selection of bread at the DT.
Dollar Trees are rated by the franchise. The better rating gets you a better selection of things. I found that out by listening to a u tuber that worked for Dollar 💵 Stores. I suspect it to be true, our towns DT is not as good as the one east of here.
The trick is to buyin bulk and knowing how much your family will eat in a given month, provided that the item is non perishable. Overbuying can be a problem. In any case, finding your food at discount prices goes a long ways to eating well for little money.
Our grocery expense for the last 15 months has been around 55.05 a week. That is or two of us and supplementing our granddaughter. ( Her mother is on a restricted diet and we eat a complete diet.)
This also keeps an pantry so we always have food.
Simplify, lower your food costs, always have food.
Everyone has basic dinners their family likes. I suspect most families with children eat Mexican and Italian a lot. I try to avoid processed foods on a regular basis. We sill eat them, we like them, but moderation. Is the name of the game. We eat beef. Again, I think we need a certain amount for good nutrition. We dont need it 7 days a week. That’s why we meal plan with a protein based matrix. It gives sun variety. We just buy versatile cuts of meat that can be found in bulk for a reasonable price.
Shelf stable and freezer products are a regular part of cooking balanced meals. We all have a list of 10-15 items we buy on a regular basis. Finding the rock bottom price of these things is key to garoceries of the cheap. IF you fin the price and buy enough to cover your family for 4-6 weeks, you usually can find a sale again sometime during that period of time. Organize your pantry or cupboard so that you can see a a glance how much you have of your specified amount. This isn’t about hoarding. Its about buying your food basically wholesale.
Not all things at any one store are ever at a RBP. I is really necessary to know then prices of your key foods. I have a target price of those food in my mind. If they aren't my price, I don’t buy
them. Conversely, if they are below it, I am all over it , being mindful of how many we eat in a particular time period.
I keep 2 boxes of ‘stove top stuffing “ in case I dont have enough dry bread for scratch. When I found some at Winco for .75, I bought one because I knew I had one in the pantry. I didnt buy six.
Now, I did pass o the .99 prego this weekend, because I have enough. Its controlled bulk buying.
I don't want too be caught having to pay full price for anything if I can help it. If I can substitute something else , I will.
I bought bulk ground ref from the farmer. I wont do it agai. 80/20 hamburger was 2.44 a pound. I frie 5 pounds and got 3.5 pounds of meat and 1 cup of fat. I measured it and no doubt, missed some clinging to the drain dish. I defatted it. I am better off finding a 93/7 sale or grinding my own when I find three dollar roasts with low fat. I may change my mind if the next batch I cook is better. Basically, we paid as much meat for meat as if I bought the good stuff. I might try the better quality next year if the price is right.
I haven’t cooked the chicken yet. I’m still using my upstairs stash.
Dairy usually goes on sale once a month at Fred Meyers. Fred Meyers is joining the Wednesday to Tuesday’s ad stores. I am wondering if taheir food is going to match QFC is soon. Time will tell.
It is not what you buy as much as when and where you buy it.
A cake mix can be 2.38 , or it can be .88. Same box, same brand, different store.
A almost pound bag of meatballs can be 2.00 or 3.50. Same brand, different store
A pound of Jimmy Dean sausage can be 6.50 or it can be 2.47. Same package, different store.
You get the picture. Knowing where to buy certain things , makes a big step in lowering your food bill. You dont hae to go to ten stores every week. Just know when you need a certain thing and go there and buy enough for four to six weeks. Freeze what you can.
I know that I am going to buy pizza sauce, taco shells, pinto beans parchment paper , and Orowheat bread products at the Dollar Tree. I check stock before I go. Our Dollar tree is either next to Safeways , or next to Grocery Outlet , depending on where we go. I can make 1 trip do double duty. So, I will tend To base my trip on what else is on sale or things I need that are low prices at other stores. Knowing your prices helps with this. I can go through GO in a few minutes and find the bargains that we can use to make meals in a few minutes. GO is a treasure hunt. You know that there are some tried and true things. I can almost always find sliced cheese, hard taco shells or a taco kit for a dollar. After that, its a surprise. I do know that I can always get pizza sauce, flour taco shells, and a selection of bread at the DT.
Dollar Trees are rated by the franchise. The better rating gets you a better selection of things. I found that out by listening to a u tuber that worked for Dollar 💵 Stores. I suspect it to be true, our towns DT is not as good as the one east of here.
The trick is to buyin bulk and knowing how much your family will eat in a given month, provided that the item is non perishable. Overbuying can be a problem. In any case, finding your food at discount prices goes a long ways to eating well for little money.
Our grocery expense for the last 15 months has been around 55.05 a week. That is or two of us and supplementing our granddaughter. ( Her mother is on a restricted diet and we eat a complete diet.)
This also keeps an pantry so we always have food.
Simplify, lower your food costs, always have food.
Everyone has basic dinners their family likes. I suspect most families with children eat Mexican and Italian a lot. I try to avoid processed foods on a regular basis. We sill eat them, we like them, but moderation. Is the name of the game. We eat beef. Again, I think we need a certain amount for good nutrition. We dont need it 7 days a week. That’s why we meal plan with a protein based matrix. It gives sun variety. We just buy versatile cuts of meat that can be found in bulk for a reasonable price.
Shelf stable and freezer products are a regular part of cooking balanced meals. We all have a list of 10-15 items we buy on a regular basis. Finding the rock bottom price of these things is key to garoceries of the cheap. IF you fin the price and buy enough to cover your family for 4-6 weeks, you usually can find a sale again sometime during that period of time. Organize your pantry or cupboard so that you can see a a glance how much you have of your specified amount. This isn’t about hoarding. Its about buying your food basically wholesale.
Not all things at any one store are ever at a RBP. I is really necessary to know then prices of your key foods. I have a target price of those food in my mind. If they aren't my price, I don’t buy
them. Conversely, if they are below it, I am all over it , being mindful of how many we eat in a particular time period.
I keep 2 boxes of ‘stove top stuffing “ in case I dont have enough dry bread for scratch. When I found some at Winco for .75, I bought one because I knew I had one in the pantry. I didnt buy six.
Now, I did pass o the .99 prego this weekend, because I have enough. Its controlled bulk buying.
I don't want too be caught having to pay full price for anything if I can help it. If I can substitute something else , I will.
I bought bulk ground ref from the farmer. I wont do it agai. 80/20 hamburger was 2.44 a pound. I frie 5 pounds and got 3.5 pounds of meat and 1 cup of fat. I measured it and no doubt, missed some clinging to the drain dish. I defatted it. I am better off finding a 93/7 sale or grinding my own when I find three dollar roasts with low fat. I may change my mind if the next batch I cook is better. Basically, we paid as much meat for meat as if I bought the good stuff. I might try the better quality next year if the price is right.
I haven’t cooked the chicken yet. I’m still using my upstairs stash.
Dairy usually goes on sale once a month at Fred Meyers. Fred Meyers is joining the Wednesday to Tuesday’s ad stores. I am wondering if taheir food is going to match QFC is soon. Time will tell.
Monday, April 9, 2018
Kitchen Management take along
An 18 ounce package of sausage was 1.99 at qfc. We ate three of them
For dinner with oven roasted potatoes and peppers. Peppers were .77. And I saved the
Tops and cut them small for Tuesdays pizza. The sausage was poked and pre boiled to reduce fat.
The rest of it is in a pan and is being cooked.
Fill the olive oil range bottle.
Cutting up the leftover sausage for Tuesday’s Pizza.
Now we have leftover red pepper from the sausage and peppers meal and
Leftover sausage.
Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe.
Chicken cooked in the
insta pot from frozen for 15 minutes. Put in
. Deli containers bought from amazon for 50 cents each.
Cooking rice for 2 nights in the insta pot. Equal parts rice and broth made from veggie stock. Load the instapot and press the rice button.
.
The food is cooked for the next three nights dinners. Prepping saves time. Sweet and sour chicken is almost done. Pizza toppings are prepped . We will add black olives from a can already sliced. We are ahead for the chicken chimichangas.
A little prep work is a great help in cooking from scratch. Cooking from scratch save a ton of money.
Monday Kitchen Management
Kitchen Management is a tool that frees up some time during that hectic dinner hour. It not only preps some food for the week, but it also keeps the kitchen clean as you along.
Recap of meals :
Recap of meals :
- Sweet and sour chicken
- Pizza
- Lemon pepper chicken pasta
- Chicken chimichangas , salad (lettuce and tomato )
- Meatball subs , oven fries, peppers
- Salmon,seasoned rice, broccolli
- Breakfast for dinner.
Kitchen tasks
- Saturday I already cooked and de-fatted hamburger. Five pounds of 80/20 hamburger game us 3.6 pounds of meat and a full cup of fat rendered that I put in a used bag for the garbage.
- I also cleaned and cut red and yellow pepper strips and chopped the tops and bottoms of th peppers for the pizza.
- Make a batch of rice for the salmon and sweet and sour chicken dinners.
- Cook chicken cubes for the three chicken recipes.
- Pull the lemon pepper chicken recipe off the printer.
- Wash lettuce, potatoes, broccolli, and tomatoes.
- Wash kitchen floor
- Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead 💀. (The iPad has this sentence memorized. LOL)
- Wash refrigerator and line drawers.
- Clean and disinfect the counters, sinks, and drains.
- Organize pantry.
Notes:
Precooking meat saves a lot of time. When meal planning, if you have a standard list of menues or a template ( protein based) it only takes a few minutes. Add a few more minutes to prewash veggies and cook rice 🍚 and you save a lot of time. Cook once, eat twice or more. With the salmon menu, all I have to do is put the salmon in the oven to cook, reheat the rice in the microwave, and toss the broccolli with olive oil and salt and pepper and put in the oven with the salmon. Very little hands on time.
Washing all the veggies takes a lot less time than doing it piece meal.
Start cooking the thing that takes the most time, so that you can work while it’s is cooking. The object is to get in and out of the kitchen fast.
Its a nice day here, I want to go walk the beach.
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Winco Haul
Spent 14.39
Large eggs .88
2 cream cheese 2.38
Mandarin oranges .58
10 lbs potatoes 1.98
Lettuce .98
Jimmy Dean sausage 2.48. Elsewhere 6.50
Spinach 1.78
Meal Plans for week of April 9th
Meal Plans are a way to keep organized and make best use of your time. Add a quick hour of kitchen management and your kitchen is clean and you cut your time in the kitchen during the busy dinner hour.
- Sweet and Sour chicken , rice.
- Pizza
- Lemon pepper chicken pasta
- Chicken chimichangas , lettuce and tomato
- Meatballs subs
- Salmon, seasoned rice, broccolli
- Breakfast for Dinner
Notes:
- Sweet and sour chicken is from chicken tenders I cut from the breasts I bought in bulk.
- Pizza is a good go to and everyone likes it. Homemade Pizza cost about a dollar for cheese.
- Lemon pepper chicken pasta is a Betty Crocker recipe.
- Chicken chimichangas are easy and use bits of planned over chicken. (Chicken from sweet and sour chicken )
- Meatball subs are meatballs purchased at Winco and rolls purchased at the DT.
- Salmon is frozen, seasoned rice is a mix that I made, Broccolli is fresh.
- Breakfast for Dinner is a family affair....everyone cooks.
- Our average weekly grocery expense was 55.05 a week last year. So far, we are at or below that including a bulk chicken purchase. We are hoping the bulk hamburger purchase will be absorbed into april and may budgets. That puts us on a less than 4 dollars a person budget and we supplement a granddaughter and build a small stock. It is a good idea to work on a 4-6. week rotation so there is always food in the house.
- We eat a balanced diet of good food. We eat real food. We try to avoid a lot of salt,sugar, saturated fat, hydroginated oils, and HFCS. (Sugar).
- The trick is to avoid the impulse buys that the retailers bombard you with every time you walk into the stores, and buy good food cheap, not cheap food.
- I set out to do that many years ago. It took time to develop a plan that doesn’t take a lot of time, yet maximizes savings. I’m sharing this because there are people that need to feed their families well and dont have a lot of money. We haven’t seen a real raise in Social Security in years. They give it to you and take it back. Many are living in poverty because mnimum wage has not kept up with rising housing costs . For whatever reason, I am hoping that my information can help. I don’t advertise on this blog, my blog is solely to help people.
- Thank you for reading.
Saturday, April 7, 2018
No ad today.......
Fred Meyers is going to a weekly ad that starts on Wednesdays and goes to the following Tuesday.
We picked up our hamburger order today. It came in one pound frozen packages. At least I dont have to package it. I do have to thaw it before I cook some for the freezer. I like to keep a certain amount cooked so that it is simple to make dinner in a hurry. I can have tacos or enchaladas made in a hurry. Tacos from cooked hamburger is a good way to stave off the take out demons.
Chicken can be cooked from frozen in the insta pot.
There is still time for the digital coupons at qfc. It goes through sunday. Cheese .99; ground turkey 1.99., brats 1/99 and prego .99. I have not found a coupon for prego.
Buying things when you dont need them immediately goes along ways to cut your grocery budget. Cheese and brats can be frozen. Prego is the start of a cheap dinner. Add 50 cent spaghetti and some parm that is .99 a 8 ounce container and you have a good start on dinner. Meatballs are 2.00 for almost a pound at Winco. The same ones are 3.50 a almost pound at Safeways.
Its not what you buy as much as it is when and where you buy it.
Frozen blueberries are 3.99 for a pound bag. They are 2.00 a pound at Costco Business. They may be that same price at regular costco, I haven’t checked. That’s half price. Knowing the best price and buying at the best price is way to cut your food bill.
We picked up our hamburger order today. It came in one pound frozen packages. At least I dont have to package it. I do have to thaw it before I cook some for the freezer. I like to keep a certain amount cooked so that it is simple to make dinner in a hurry. I can have tacos or enchaladas made in a hurry. Tacos from cooked hamburger is a good way to stave off the take out demons.
Chicken can be cooked from frozen in the insta pot.
There is still time for the digital coupons at qfc. It goes through sunday. Cheese .99; ground turkey 1.99., brats 1/99 and prego .99. I have not found a coupon for prego.
Buying things when you dont need them immediately goes along ways to cut your grocery budget. Cheese and brats can be frozen. Prego is the start of a cheap dinner. Add 50 cent spaghetti and some parm that is .99 a 8 ounce container and you have a good start on dinner. Meatballs are 2.00 for almost a pound at Winco. The same ones are 3.50 a almost pound at Safeways.
Its not what you buy as much as it is when and where you buy it.
Frozen blueberries are 3.99 for a pound bag. They are 2.00 a pound at Costco Business. They may be that same price at regular costco, I haven’t checked. That’s half price. Knowing the best price and buying at the best price is way to cut your food bill.
Friday, April 6, 2018
DT and GO Hauls
Dollar Tree and Grocery Outlet -
Dollar Tree
Bagels
French Buns
Hamburger Buns
Pizza sauce
Pineapple, Libby’s
Total 5.00
Grocery Outlet
Ancient Grains Taco shells .99
Pancake mix .50
Wings sauce 1.99
Sliced ripe olives .69
Lasagna 1.99
Bacon 2.99
Sliced cheese 2.29
Total 19.51
Dollar Tree
Bagels
French Buns
Hamburger Buns
Pizza sauce
Pineapple, Libby’s
Total 5.00
Grocery Outlet
Ancient Grains Taco shells .99
Pancake mix .50
Wings sauce 1.99
Sliced ripe olives .69
Lasagna 1.99
Bacon 2.99
Sliced cheese 2.29
Total 19.51
Friday - notes
Friday notes : Chicken wings in the Insta Pot is on Dinners: Better, Cheaper, Faster.
Yesterday’s Haul made me go over budget by 5.49. And, I am picking up a case of hamburger tomorrow. I suspect I will not have to buy a lot of anything but perishables the rest of the month. Buying groceries when they are at the optimum price makes you sometimes have to invest and go over budget for. A week. Fortunately, the food is an investment and it will allow us to eat better for less the rest of the coming months. Its all about averaging.
Last night I made chicken wings. We hadn’t had chicken wings for ever because they used to be ten a pound. Then they became popular for ball game fare and the price went up substantially.
That’s ridiculous, they are all bone. I paid the same amount for boneless, skinless chicken breast and I got the chicken for a dollar a pound. It is all local chicken .
Groceries on the Cheap is not about depriving yourself of good food. We have good quality food and we have real, not fake food. We just pay 💰 the smallest amount we can for the food. Buy buying food at its optimum price and adapting to a simpler grid, we eat better for less.
Simplify, pay less, and always have food in the house. Its a winning concept.
By picking cuts of meat that are versatile, you don’t get bored and you still have a limited number of bins in the freezer. Organizing an upright freezer by using baskets from the DT is a good thing to do. You know where everything is and you can tell at a glance what things you need to put on a watch for a sale list.
Its always a good thing when you are not forced to go to the store. Going at your leisure means you can go with a clear mind and the fortitude to avoid the impulse buy traps. LOL.
Please share. I am still trying to grow the channel.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
QFC Haul
Spent 60.00
5 Bratwerst 1.99
5 cheese .99
Chicken wings .99
2 bell peppers .77
Grapes 1.99 lb
Total 24.39
Savings 54 percent.
5 Bratwerst 1.99
5 cheese .99
Chicken wings .99
2 bell peppers .77
Grapes 1.99 lb
Total 24.39
Savings 54 percent.
Thursday Notes
Alberways has cheese for 2 lb for 4.99 or 2.50 a lb. It is two dollars a pound at QFC if you use a digital coupon and you buy it on a specific day. Limit 5, or 2.5 pounds. Costco Business has it for just over 2.00 a pound in five pound bags. Grated cheese freezes well.
Its not what you buy, its when and where you buy it.
Let’s talk leftovers. I cant tell you how many people have told me that their husbands don't want to eat leftovers. By planning your meals and making what our home ec teachers called planned overs , you can cook once and eat twice without dealing with “leftovers”.
Rice and beans have a very short refrigerator life. They go bad fast. They, however, should be good for three to four days, stored in small batches. You have to use your own judgment. That’s the scoop I got off the Internet.
Making one batch of rice for two meals in the insta pot saves time and energy—yours and the grids. You can make Spain’s rice out of 1/2 of it and use the other half for a stir fry.
A batch of beans can be chili and it also can be re fried beans or black bean burgers.
Cook a couple of chicken breasts , and you can make chicken pot pie and stir fry or warm shredded chicken in a mixture of water and taco seasoning for tacos or a burrito bowl.
I always cook bulk hamburger when I get it home. Use the largest frying pan you have and fry t until it is no longer pink. A potato masher or a tool made especially for frying hamburger helps. I found one for six dollars.....twenty six was a bit much for me. LOL. Drain the fat into a pot to discard later and pour boiling water over the meat in a colander over the sink. This de fats the hamburger and looses up to 17 percent of the fat. Put it in portion controlled bags and freeze it. We use quart bags from the dollar store and put the quart bags into a zip lock bag and mark the bag once, not every bag. I bag the amount we need for tacos. Its easy to grab multiples for other dishes.
This saves a lot of time at the rushed dinner hour and you are more likely to go to the bother of de fating if you are doing it once, rather than every time you cook ground meat. It takes minutes to thaw. How many of us have fussed with tryng to cook a block of frozen hamburger?
Bummer.
Tacos can happen in 15 minutes or less. Spanish rice takes hands on time of about 3 minutes.
I am a firm believer in tomato, chicken, vegetable , and beef bouillon . You can get low sodium and it is much cheaper than buying stock in a box or an can. It takes less room in the pantry and is always at the ready. It adds depth of flavor to soups and stews.
Using pieces of meat instead of a slab of meat cuts your meat consumption. Too much meat causes cancer and kidney disease according to some doctors. The portion of meat that is recommended is a four ounce portion. That is about the size of an average palm of your hand. Unless you are feeding a linebacker or body builder, you don't need to serve those portions. You can use less meat in a dish if you are also using cheese in the dish, like tacos, or lasagna.
I have found that the instapot has cut my time in the kitchen tremendously. Rice and beans from scratch are so easy, that I never buy them instant or ready made. That has saved a lot of money.
It costs .0125 a serving for and and .02 a serving for rice. Ready rice is over .50 a serving. A can o
f beans is upwards of a dollar. It has 4 servings .
Pasta cooks in two minutes plus time to pressurize and depressurize. That time is not hands of time.
You can leave it alone and cook your sauce teach when it is cooking. No watching the pot. You do have to catch the pasta close to its depressurize time, it over cooks if left in the hot water. I set the timer.so I can leave the room and come back when I need to manual release.
The insta pot and our food processor are workhorses in the kitchen. They hae more than paid for themselves.
Its not what you buy, its when and where you buy it.
Let’s talk leftovers. I cant tell you how many people have told me that their husbands don't want to eat leftovers. By planning your meals and making what our home ec teachers called planned overs , you can cook once and eat twice without dealing with “leftovers”.
Rice and beans have a very short refrigerator life. They go bad fast. They, however, should be good for three to four days, stored in small batches. You have to use your own judgment. That’s the scoop I got off the Internet.
Making one batch of rice for two meals in the insta pot saves time and energy—yours and the grids. You can make Spain’s rice out of 1/2 of it and use the other half for a stir fry.
A batch of beans can be chili and it also can be re fried beans or black bean burgers.
Cook a couple of chicken breasts , and you can make chicken pot pie and stir fry or warm shredded chicken in a mixture of water and taco seasoning for tacos or a burrito bowl.
I always cook bulk hamburger when I get it home. Use the largest frying pan you have and fry t until it is no longer pink. A potato masher or a tool made especially for frying hamburger helps. I found one for six dollars.....twenty six was a bit much for me. LOL. Drain the fat into a pot to discard later and pour boiling water over the meat in a colander over the sink. This de fats the hamburger and looses up to 17 percent of the fat. Put it in portion controlled bags and freeze it. We use quart bags from the dollar store and put the quart bags into a zip lock bag and mark the bag once, not every bag. I bag the amount we need for tacos. Its easy to grab multiples for other dishes.
This saves a lot of time at the rushed dinner hour and you are more likely to go to the bother of de fating if you are doing it once, rather than every time you cook ground meat. It takes minutes to thaw. How many of us have fussed with tryng to cook a block of frozen hamburger?
Bummer.
Tacos can happen in 15 minutes or less. Spanish rice takes hands on time of about 3 minutes.
I am a firm believer in tomato, chicken, vegetable , and beef bouillon . You can get low sodium and it is much cheaper than buying stock in a box or an can. It takes less room in the pantry and is always at the ready. It adds depth of flavor to soups and stews.
Using pieces of meat instead of a slab of meat cuts your meat consumption. Too much meat causes cancer and kidney disease according to some doctors. The portion of meat that is recommended is a four ounce portion. That is about the size of an average palm of your hand. Unless you are feeding a linebacker or body builder, you don't need to serve those portions. You can use less meat in a dish if you are also using cheese in the dish, like tacos, or lasagna.
I have found that the instapot has cut my time in the kitchen tremendously. Rice and beans from scratch are so easy, that I never buy them instant or ready made. That has saved a lot of money.
It costs .0125 a serving for and and .02 a serving for rice. Ready rice is over .50 a serving. A can o
f beans is upwards of a dollar. It has 4 servings .
Pasta cooks in two minutes plus time to pressurize and depressurize. That time is not hands of time.
You can leave it alone and cook your sauce teach when it is cooking. No watching the pot. You do have to catch the pasta close to its depressurize time, it over cooks if left in the hot water. I set the timer.so I can leave the room and come back when I need to manual release.
The insta pot and our food processor are workhorses in the kitchen. They hae more than paid for themselves.
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Chain Store Ads
Alberways
Cantaloupe 2/3
Cheese 2lbs 4.99 **cheaper at costco business
Bread .89@@
Milk 1.79@@
QFC
Tide buy 2 @ 2/10. Coupons are in the P and G .c 3.00 off tide pods,not simply pods. 1.00 off of tide.
Peppers .77
Grapes 1.99
Milk .99 **cheaper at Alberways
Breyers 2/5
Draper valley wings or drums .99
4 days only TH, F,S, SUN
Digital coupon -5 times
Cheese .99
Ground Turkey 1.99
Italian sausage 1.99
Prego .99
These are store coupons.
Cantaloupe 2/3
Cheese 2lbs 4.99 **cheaper at costco business
Bread .89@@
Milk 1.79@@
QFC
Tide buy 2 @ 2/10. Coupons are in the P and G .c 3.00 off tide pods,not simply pods. 1.00 off of tide.
Peppers .77
Grapes 1.99
Milk .99 **cheaper at Alberways
Breyers 2/5
Draper valley wings or drums .99
4 days only TH, F,S, SUN
Digital coupon -5 times
Cheese .99
Ground Turkey 1.99
Italian sausage 1.99
Prego .99
These are store coupons.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Buy this, not that .......
Sometimes, a simple substitution or a few minutes of doing something yourself can save a lot of money.
A do this, not that......you need to fuel your body during the day. Its not good to eat a small breakfast, and then nothing until dinner and gorge yourself at dinner. You are carb loading and don't have time to wear off the carbs before you go to bed. I lost a ton of weight when I was in the rehab recovering from a broken hip. We are a hearty, protein filled breakfast at 8 am. A ‘dinneer’ that was skimpy by all accounts at 12:00 and a snack sized dinner at 5 o’clock. Nothing until 8 the next morning. I survived. But I lost 10 pounds that month and I exercised twice a day. It was controlled. I didn’t exercise for hours, but I also didn’t carb load to compensate for the added exercise.
Buy bread, not bread crumbs. Bread crumbs are the easiest thing to make. My 6yo granddaughter can make them—- all but setting up the food processor. It can be make with the plastic blade. Breadcrumbs cost 2.40 a lb. I got hamburger for 2.44 a pound. Personally, I’d rather eat the hamburger,it has more nutrition.
Buy real Parmesean cheese, not the take stuff in the green can. It is full of wood pulp to keep it from caking. If Parmesean is too expensive, buy any hard cheese. Sometimes we grate our own with a micro plane, sometimes, I buy it shredded . It’s a little luxury that makes a big difference.
Because of the way it is made, it has no lactose, so I read.
Buy butter, not fake butter. The nutritionist told me that using a skim of butter was better than using fake butter. Many fake butters have hydrogenated oil in them. The scientist say that hydrogenated oil thickens the blood. Read labels. If palm oil is supposedly going to kill your children in Nutella, it can kill you in fake butter. Just logic. Ingredients have to be listed in order of volume. There is more of the ingredient first listed, than there is of the things you cant pronounce at the end of the list.
Making your own pizza saves a ton of money . You can make a pizza for less than a dollar using ingredients that are purchased at RBP’s. Its not hard and a 1.50-2.00 pizza dough costs .19. Save up bits of veggies and meat from meals made during the week and keep them in the freezer door. I call it almost free pizza. Its labor free because the veggies and meat are already processed and it takes less time than ordering a pizza and waiting for delivery or standing in line for take n bake. Pizza sauce is a dollar for a name brand at the DT and you can freeze it in an ice cube tray (also at the DT) and pop it out into a quart bag. We use 2 cubes for a pizza. This doesn’t waste sauce. You get 5 pizzas out of a jar of sauce. We started our granddaughter a couple of years ago. She is to the P.O. t where she can take a pizza from the dough ball to the ready for the oven herself if the ingredients are
set out for her. You may get a smiley face with the pepperoni , but what the heck. Too many college graduates are unable to boil and egg. They don't teach life skills in school anymore, I am told. Children can learn little things from the time they are small. We don't let her deal with raw meat, anything sharp, or hot. But, there is a lot of things they can learn and you know what they are doing while you are making a meal.
Not boxed mac and cheese, but scratch Mack and cheese. Boxed mac and cheese is full of preservatives and tsp. Tsp is the detergent that we sold at the paint store so that painters could clean the grease etc off walls before they painted them. You need to wear rubber gloves so that it doesn’t eat your hands. Annies is the same as Kraft except Annie’s has more fat.
Basically, real is always better than fake. If you are worried about fat, or salt, use less of it. We
have processed meats, we just cut back to using them sparingly. A piece of bacon on top of a casserole that feed 4-6 people, is not as bad as a pound of bacon. 1/ 2 of a five ounce package of pepperoni on a pizza give you the flavor, but you can supplement it with chopped peppers, mushrooms, and olives.
A do this, not that......you need to fuel your body during the day. Its not good to eat a small breakfast, and then nothing until dinner and gorge yourself at dinner. You are carb loading and don't have time to wear off the carbs before you go to bed. I lost a ton of weight when I was in the rehab recovering from a broken hip. We are a hearty, protein filled breakfast at 8 am. A ‘dinneer’ that was skimpy by all accounts at 12:00 and a snack sized dinner at 5 o’clock. Nothing until 8 the next morning. I survived. But I lost 10 pounds that month and I exercised twice a day. It was controlled. I didn’t exercise for hours, but I also didn’t carb load to compensate for the added exercise.
Buy bread, not bread crumbs. Bread crumbs are the easiest thing to make. My 6yo granddaughter can make them—- all but setting up the food processor. It can be make with the plastic blade. Breadcrumbs cost 2.40 a lb. I got hamburger for 2.44 a pound. Personally, I’d rather eat the hamburger,it has more nutrition.
Buy real Parmesean cheese, not the take stuff in the green can. It is full of wood pulp to keep it from caking. If Parmesean is too expensive, buy any hard cheese. Sometimes we grate our own with a micro plane, sometimes, I buy it shredded . It’s a little luxury that makes a big difference.
Because of the way it is made, it has no lactose, so I read.
Buy butter, not fake butter. The nutritionist told me that using a skim of butter was better than using fake butter. Many fake butters have hydrogenated oil in them. The scientist say that hydrogenated oil thickens the blood. Read labels. If palm oil is supposedly going to kill your children in Nutella, it can kill you in fake butter. Just logic. Ingredients have to be listed in order of volume. There is more of the ingredient first listed, than there is of the things you cant pronounce at the end of the list.
Making your own pizza saves a ton of money . You can make a pizza for less than a dollar using ingredients that are purchased at RBP’s. Its not hard and a 1.50-2.00 pizza dough costs .19. Save up bits of veggies and meat from meals made during the week and keep them in the freezer door. I call it almost free pizza. Its labor free because the veggies and meat are already processed and it takes less time than ordering a pizza and waiting for delivery or standing in line for take n bake. Pizza sauce is a dollar for a name brand at the DT and you can freeze it in an ice cube tray (also at the DT) and pop it out into a quart bag. We use 2 cubes for a pizza. This doesn’t waste sauce. You get 5 pizzas out of a jar of sauce. We started our granddaughter a couple of years ago. She is to the P.O. t where she can take a pizza from the dough ball to the ready for the oven herself if the ingredients are
set out for her. You may get a smiley face with the pepperoni , but what the heck. Too many college graduates are unable to boil and egg. They don't teach life skills in school anymore, I am told. Children can learn little things from the time they are small. We don't let her deal with raw meat, anything sharp, or hot. But, there is a lot of things they can learn and you know what they are doing while you are making a meal.
Not boxed mac and cheese, but scratch Mack and cheese. Boxed mac and cheese is full of preservatives and tsp. Tsp is the detergent that we sold at the paint store so that painters could clean the grease etc off walls before they painted them. You need to wear rubber gloves so that it doesn’t eat your hands. Annies is the same as Kraft except Annie’s has more fat.
Basically, real is always better than fake. If you are worried about fat, or salt, use less of it. We
have processed meats, we just cut back to using them sparingly. A piece of bacon on top of a casserole that feed 4-6 people, is not as bad as a pound of bacon. 1/ 2 of a five ounce package of pepperoni on a pizza give you the flavor, but you can supplement it with chopped peppers, mushrooms, and olives.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Why?
The why of cutting your food bill in half is a no brainer. Groceries is often the most expensive discretionary item in your budget. The why buy in bulk at the lowest price is another story that may need a bit more explanation.
If you are going to the store many times a week, you are setting yourself up for being bombarded with a lot of retailers phycology to make you impulse buy. Retailers make 70 percent of their profit on impulse buys. Let someone else take the hit.
When you make a list, check it twice, meal plan, and try to remember everything you need for specific meals, you take a lot of time and open yourself up to making another trip to the store because you forgot something..
When you have a particular list that you know by heart because it is simplified and you know that all you are looking for is dairy , vegetables and fruit, and a bulk protein item, there’s no list, and you can get in and out of two stores in record time.
You are making meals from your pantry/freezer and replenishing stock when they are at their RBP. You buy more of one thing, and buy less variety of things. Its just simpler.
Simplify, spend less, always have food in the house.
I made homemade refried beans (aka bean dip) last week. I noticed that the canister ( reclaimed bulk popcorn packaging.) was low. Next time I went to the DT I bought three 1.5 lb bags. Done. Won’t have to do it again for at least three months. I had already noticed that the black bean canister was low and I dont use as much of them. I picked up some from the bulk isle at winco. Winco is a chain that is in the west and southwest. Basicly, I think they are wherever Aldi isn’t. We have Trader Joe’s, but they are more inclined to carry alternative food. I went for bargains, I found a basil plant and a package of gorgeous strawberries that were 1.5 times the price of the berries at the regular grocery stores.
I digress.
The point is, I am not buying beans every week, or even every month and at any point in time, if there was an emergency, great or small, I can make any meal I want from my pantry.
If I dont have russet potatoes, I have dehydrated mashed and sweet potatoes and probably a few scalloped potato mixes. I have eggs, and dehydrated eggs. Milk and dehydrated milk. It works.
There was a day when I had emergency surgery years ago, I sent my husband to the store for a weeks worth of food. He came back with a 12 pack and 2 pomegranates. I sent my college age daughter with a budget. She was more resourceful and came back with a weeks worth of dinners including meat and veggies.
My plan has developed over the years. The last part was cooking more detailed things like bread fro scratch and finding easy , efficient, scratch meals. Having the proper equipment helps a lot. The insta pot and food processer are my workhorses. I have saved more than their costs many times over. Bread crumbs are 2.40 cents a pound. They use basicly garbage. Scratch beans and rice are pennes of the cost of buying ready made in bags or cans. Sometimes a piece of steak or roast is cheaper than 95/5 hamburger and you can grind it in minutes with the food processer.
If you are going to the store many times a week, you are setting yourself up for being bombarded with a lot of retailers phycology to make you impulse buy. Retailers make 70 percent of their profit on impulse buys. Let someone else take the hit.
When you make a list, check it twice, meal plan, and try to remember everything you need for specific meals, you take a lot of time and open yourself up to making another trip to the store because you forgot something..
When you have a particular list that you know by heart because it is simplified and you know that all you are looking for is dairy , vegetables and fruit, and a bulk protein item, there’s no list, and you can get in and out of two stores in record time.
You are making meals from your pantry/freezer and replenishing stock when they are at their RBP. You buy more of one thing, and buy less variety of things. Its just simpler.
Simplify, spend less, always have food in the house.
I made homemade refried beans (aka bean dip) last week. I noticed that the canister ( reclaimed bulk popcorn packaging.) was low. Next time I went to the DT I bought three 1.5 lb bags. Done. Won’t have to do it again for at least three months. I had already noticed that the black bean canister was low and I dont use as much of them. I picked up some from the bulk isle at winco. Winco is a chain that is in the west and southwest. Basicly, I think they are wherever Aldi isn’t. We have Trader Joe’s, but they are more inclined to carry alternative food. I went for bargains, I found a basil plant and a package of gorgeous strawberries that were 1.5 times the price of the berries at the regular grocery stores.
I digress.
The point is, I am not buying beans every week, or even every month and at any point in time, if there was an emergency, great or small, I can make any meal I want from my pantry.
If I dont have russet potatoes, I have dehydrated mashed and sweet potatoes and probably a few scalloped potato mixes. I have eggs, and dehydrated eggs. Milk and dehydrated milk. It works.
There was a day when I had emergency surgery years ago, I sent my husband to the store for a weeks worth of food. He came back with a 12 pack and 2 pomegranates. I sent my college age daughter with a budget. She was more resourceful and came back with a weeks worth of dinners including meat and veggies.
My plan has developed over the years. The last part was cooking more detailed things like bread fro scratch and finding easy , efficient, scratch meals. Having the proper equipment helps a lot. The insta pot and food processer are my workhorses. I have saved more than their costs many times over. Bread crumbs are 2.40 cents a pound. They use basicly garbage. Scratch beans and rice are pennes of the cost of buying ready made in bags or cans. Sometimes a piece of steak or roast is cheaper than 95/5 hamburger and you can grind it in minutes with the food processer.
FM and Winco Food Hauls
Yesterday , we went to Fred Meyers and Winco. They are the two stores with the best prices. No one store has all good prices. That’s why taking a few extra minutes to shop two stores is fruitful.
Fred Meyers
Milk .99
Mustard 1.59
Avacado .88
Apples .99
Naval Oranges .99
Blackberries .99
Total 10.24
WINCO
Mustard .98
Coffee 5.48
Frozen french fries 🍟 1.37
Parm 2.68
Romas 1.39
Turkey lunch meat 2.78
Cucumbers .58
Bananas .56
Broccolli 3.96
Asparagus .98 lb
Blueberris 3.48 - 2 lbs frozen * they are 2.00 a lb at costco. Checking the quality
Total 25.86
We were out of mustard except for the kids kind. LOL
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Meal Plans for week of April 2
Meal Plans keep us on track and save time and money.
- Tortilla soup (chicken )
- Pizza
- Buffalo chicken pie, lettuce, tomato
- Mac and cheese, peas and carrots
- Pork chops , apples, and cranberry dressing. Green beans
- Salmon, seasoned rice, broccolli
- Breakfast for Dinner.
Notes
- Soup is a good go to meal if the house is busy, people can eat on demmand, uses diced tomatoes I need to use.
- Pizza is always a inexpensive , favorite
- Buffalo chicken pie is from the Betty Crocker cookbook
- Mac and cheese is another favorite.
- Pork chops are browned on both sides and placed on top of bread dressing with an addition of dried cranberries and chopped apple. Bake off until pork chops are done.
- Salmon baked, rice medley, and broccolli
- Breakfast for Dinner is another favorite and everyone participates.
Fred Meyer AD——changing
The Fred Meyer (FM) ad is changing to come out on Wednesday’s like Alberways and QFC.
Note 10 percent off senior discount on this Tuesday with coupon .
DIGITAL COUPONS FOR THURSDAY, 4/5 TO SUNDAY 4/8
CHEESE .99
PORK SPARERBS .99
KROGER BRATS 1.99
PREGO .99
YOU CAN USE 5 TIMES.
Blackberries , apples, oranges, pears .99
Pork Loin 1.69 ( i think it is sill 1.39 at Costco Business )
Milk .99
NOT A BARGAIN
Breaded chicken tenders 6.99
I paid .99 a lb for chicken breasts . They were 1.25 pounds for a 1/2 breast. Since there are 3 of us eating meat, I cut the tenders off . Breading is made from bread crumbs. Its our garbage heels add bread that I purchase for a dollar that is going stale. An egg costs . 08 or less. I have dehydrated eggs I got for .065. Basicly, you are saving almost 6.00 a pound.
We, however, like a breading of equal parts of dry bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and chopped nuts....walnuts or pecans.
This is a 10 day ad to accommodate the ad change. If the ad doesn’t come in the mail like the others, we will get it on line.
Friday, March 30, 2018
DT grocery haul
Quick grocery haul before we start no spend april. We have had about a thousand dollars worth of extra bills this month. So, in the interest of balancing the budget, we are going to go for a no spend month. That means that only perishables will be bought.
- 3 pkg pinto beans - grown in USA, non gmo
- 1n pkg bagels -Thomas
- 1 extra large can Campbells spaghetti o’s
- 1 pkg pepperoni, Olberto
Total 6.00
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