Cheeseburger macaroni..then and now

I dig out the recipe for cheeseburger macaroni that I priced for channel 5 news , probavly at least six  years ago.  Costs have risen 45 percent. If you add organic upcharges you are adding some 80 percent.  

Prices  are then/ now

1 lb hamburger. 1.66/ 2.44
3 ounces celery .06/.10
1 slice red pepper .10/.08
Garlic, onion
1can diced tomatoes .59/.39
1 8 Oz tomato sauce .33/.33
1 cup grated cheese .38/.50
1/2 lb macaroni .35/.50
Total  3.47/4.34

Serves 6. prorate  4

2.31/2.89

Still a 5.00 dinner

Add homemade bread and a salad or vegetable

Directions
Sauté veggies on a small amount of olive oil.  Add gRkic powder and onion powder to taste. Add cooked hamburger or cook hamburger until no longer pink.  
Add 🍅  products.
Simmer  15 minutes for flavors to blend.
Top with cheese and put a lid on it.  Turn off heat.

Pantry /freezer dinners

we have all had those days.    Those beautiful days when the meal plan has gone out the window.   Thief days when no sick in the bin will satisfy the child, it’s gym day and those aren’t gym socks. Those are valentine socks, see... the have hearts! Those days when a project takes longer than expected, or the meat didn’t thaw.....those days....

Having pantry or freezer meals are a rescue,

• The obvious one is frozen pizza.   It can be cheap and it is a no brainier,   
• Frozen salmon comes in shrink wrap individual packages and is also a pull and cook.   Add rice, instant mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes and a frozen veggie or sliced  cucumbers and tomatoes and you have a dinner, 
• Chicken parm can be made from chicken patties from Foster Farms, tomato sauce and a half package of spaghetti.  Spaghetti can be cooked in TWO minutes in the insta pot...no watching the pot.   
• Tuna cassarole is a pantry item that is a good mainstay if you can’t get out if the house for some reason,   We add frozen peas, 
• Mac and cheese is a favorite,   White sauce, cheese , and again, elbows in the insta pot.   Don’t buy that Mac and cheese in a box,  most of it has SOAP in it,   TSP or its derivative is the soap or detergent that we sold at the paint store to clean the grease etc off the walls to ready it for paint,  you need to use rubber gloves with it because it eats your hands,   And,,,,you are feeding it to ....
•  Breakfast for dinner is a good alternative,  pancakes or waffles are made from shelf staples, eggs are a basic , and cheese adds protein.    
• Tacos are a go to here.   I always keep taco shells when o get them for anywhere between .50 and a dollar.    Taco meat is always in the freezer because we cook hamburger, de fat it, and freeze it in meal sized portions,   You don’t need a lot of hamburger for tacos, because you are adding cheese too to supplement,   You can also add beans to the meat to s t r e t c h it if you need to,   
• Cheeseburger macaroni is a long favorite,   NOT out of a box,   It’s actualky cheaper than the box and the ingredients are REAL.   When my daughter and I dissected a big mix to prove a point,   It had 1,57 ounces of a cheese sauce mix that had no cheese 🧀 in it..no cholesterol is a clue here, and 4.2 ounces of elbows,   And, ingredients you can’t pronounce. ( the recipe is on the blog, use he search key) if you are interested.   

We are waiting fir the tech guy to install the printer,   I finally got the computer up and running,and data changed over ....three days..long story...our error,   But the WiFi keyboard, mouse and printer are another story,   LOL.  

I am sure there are more pantry ideas, but this is a good start.    

.....tomato soup and toasted cheese or quesadillas.   We also always have tortillas in the fridge,    

Having basics in the house makes it so that you always have food,   And, she; purchased right, you can do it on four dollars a day ,

Thursday Notes

 Disclaimer: my keyboard has lost its fuzzy logic.   I am  back to using the keyboard with two fingers, 

My recommendation is to never buy a keyboard from amazon.   This is the second one, they replaced it once before,   Ugh.   

Last night the chicken I had planned to cook hadn’t thawed,   So, I improvised,   It’s always good to have a few easy entrees in your back up plan, 

We had salmon cakes, a few french fries to use bits up, green beans with red peppers, tomato and cucumber salad, and some strawberries.   

Previously, we were dealing with a freezer meltdown, so I cooked several pounds of hamburger,   The menu plan went out the window,    

We had: 

Taco salad

Shrimp and salad, 

Tacos

I think tonight we can go back to normal.   Just an example of sometimes you have to punt, and having food in the house makes it easy,  

We went to grocery outlet this week because we needed coffee and we were already almost there so we could make best use of our trip.    We get e mails telling us what is on sale.   This time they had chocolate yoplait yum....a good way to have a little desert, including protein and low carbs.   

QFC has a special where if you sign up for their e mail, they will give you a basket coupon for five dollars off of twenty five,   I’ll use it next week, they have a two week ad this week,    Barilla pasta is a dollar,  it is also right now at dollar tree,  including spaghetti and elbows,   

Basket coupons work well if you stick to the amount on the coupon ( in this case 25 dollars) and only buy things that are at RBP.   It’s getting the most bang for your buck,    Twenty percent off your food bill is a good thing, but every item you purchase over the dollar amount of the coupon is a loss in percentage.  If I were to buy a box of pasta for a dollar and stay at 25.00 worth of food, I am actually paying .80 for the pasta.   At the prices here, that’s a good deal,  Barilla is up to 2.00 some places. 

It isn’t one thing that makes you be able to eat on four dollars a day, it’s a lot of little things that all add up.  

• Make good use of any coupons that come your way. 
• Efficiently scratch  cook whenever possible .  Convenience foods start with $$$
• Buy in bulk when the price is lowest for any foods that you will use a lot of.   Its a lesson in evaluating how much of a particular product you will use before it can go bad, 
• Buy basic sources of protein in bulk at the RBP and buy enough to carry you with that meal for four to six weeks,   In other words,  if you eat pork once a week, you will need enough for 4-6 meals. Buy things hat average two dollars a pound,   Here that would be hamburger, pork loin, chicken breast, eggs, cheese, and beans.   These are all versatile enough that you will not get bored with meals.  Buying the meat when it’s on sale and buying one thing a week and portion controlling enough for a meal avoids waste. 
• Planning meals saves time and money.   It doesn’t have to be fancy or time consuming,   
• Basically, you are going to the store to replentish your stock and buying a rotation meat and your perishables. By keeping a 4 to 6 week stock of the things you use on  a regular basis that are shelf stable or freezer ready means you never have to pay that nasty f word...full price . You actually spend less and always have food in the house,   
• We spend less than 4.00per person a day considering that we supplement our granddaughter and add to a stock.   We eat well balanced and don’t eat rice and beans as a steady diet,  we have pork roast, pork chops, pork stew, hamburger meals, boneless , skinless chicken breast locally grown, salmon and supplement cheese, eggs, and beans,   
• Portion control is good for your budget and your health . Your doctor will tell you that three squares of portion controlled balanced food is better for you than binge eating. 

Fred Meyer and DT haul

It’s not what you buy as much as when and where you buy it 

Bread, orowheat, 

BC suddenly salad, ancient grains 

Spaghetti, Bareila x2 

Egg noodles 

5.00

Lean cuisine meals 2.00

Baguette 1.00

Foster Farms chicken breast, frozen 4.99

FF Chicken wings 4.99

Strawberries 2.77

23.75

Pork loin was .99 a lb. it did not look good.   Full of fat.   

In addition , there was chicken parts for .99 a pound,  

I am 28.75 over so far, but that includes a bulk hamburger buy,   This only means I have to shirt each week for the next three weeks 10.00.   

Chain Store ads

ALBERWAYS

DIGITAL COUPON LIMIT ONE - ICE CREAM .99

Cheese 2 # 4.99
Tilamook ice cream 2/6
Artichokes .99
Butter 1.99 limit 2
Safeways brand pasta .79
Nathan’s 3.99


QFC - THIS IS A TWO WEEK AD -sign up for e mails and get 5.00 off of 25.00

DIGITAL, SATURDAY 5/12
HUMMUS 1.49
RIBS 1.77

——-
Milk .99
Barilla pasta 1.00


BUY 4, save 4
BREYERS 1.99
DAVES KILLER 2.99
JIMMY DEAN SAUSAGE 2.49
ALMONDS 7.99

FRED MEYERS
STRAWBERRIES 2# 2.77
Pie 4.00
Baguette 1.
Barilla pasta 1.
Chicken thighs . And legs.  99
80/20 beef 2.99

Grocery Outlet Haul

Grocery Outlet Haul
Note:  they have a cereal sale on.  We dont buy cold cereal, so I didnt pay much attention.



Hills Bros Coffee 6.99
Holiday Nuts. 2.99
Pumpkin Bread .50

Chili’s- Old Ole Paso .50 ( 1.28 at winco and winco brand is .66.

Bacon 198 lb
Cheese, Holland.  2.00

Sliced cheeses 1.99

Chocolate whips - yoplait.  .33


Total for food 24.43 including. Coffee.  

Cost of Meals

It is not what you buy perhaps, but when and where you buy it.   Finding a RBP and buying at that RBP is necessary to keep your costs at a minimum.   If you face the challenge of feeding your family on four dollars a day and you want to feed them good, nutritious food, it is a necessary thing.

Last night we had taco salad.  It was a nice spring day and I had cooked and de fatted four pounds of hamburger.  It was just a natural choice since we bought a bunch of Mexican food on sale for Cinco de Mayo.  

1/2 Pound of hamburger , cooked with taco seasoning,
1/2 bag lettuce
1Tomato
1cup shredded cheese
Sour cream, salsa, chips
Cost two dollars and fifty cents for 2.  

Hamburger at two forty four a pound
Lettuce was a dollar a bag
Cheese at two dollars a pound
Tomato at a dollar a pound
Sour cream was seventy nine cents
Chips were a dollar a bag
Salsa was a dollar a twenty four ounce jar.

Costco Haul

Costco Haul—just then food stuff 

3 REAL whip cream 8.69

Romas   3.49

Kirkland Nut Bars 16.99 minus 3.50....good and only 7 net carbs.   

Chocolate and nuts and only 7 carbs......yeah!

Bananas 1.39

Thats it....

The Plan .....

Groceries on the Cheap is a different way to buy groceries and meal plan.   We all know that someone gets to buy food and get meals on the table.  Fact of life.  How you go about it can save a ton of money and a lot of time.

Normally, we learned in Home Ec to make a meal plan, make a grocery list, check the ads and buy groceries.   All this takes a fair amount of time.    I am not going to pretend that the new way is not going to take any time.   I am going to say that it is more simplified in that you are taking less steps and dealing with less food choices.

• This is done once.....Identify the sources of protein your family eats. 
• Identify the entrees that your family likes and you make on a regular basis. 
• List the shelf stable and freezer foods that you use to make those meals. 
• Now, find the lowest prices on those foods.  Simplify:   We buy diced tomatoes because they can be used for many things and adapted using a blender or food processor.   
• Some people have used a price book to facilitate finding lowest prices.   
• Buy low, eat high.   Just like a stockbroker, you want to buy in bulk when these items are low prices and eat when they are high prices.   Finding the lowest price and buying in bulk saves a ton of money.
• Rotate your meat.  Buy one meat in bulk at its lowest price a week.   Buy four to six weeks of that ‘protein” .   It is the best way to get your protein at the lowest possible price.   Simplify.  Buy cuts that are versatile and easy to prepare.   Examples would be boneless, skinless, chicken breast, pork loin, and low fat hamburger.  Add eggs, cheese, and beans. 
• We eat on four dollars a day per person and supplement granddaughter and grow a stock.   
• It is possible, it just takes some time to get up and running, meanwhile , you are saving money bit by bit. 
• Efficient scratch cooking is part of the package. 
• This means you always have food in the house.   Statistics show that when people have to wonder where the next meal is coming from, they reduce their life expectancy.   

Meal plans

ok, this is going to be short and sweet.  My keyboard isn’t working and I have to type with two fingers,    Just another agrevation in a long l o n g. Day.   Mother told me there would be days like this,,,,  

Menus save time and money.

• Chicken breast, rice, veggies 
• Pizza
• Chicken enchaladas 
• Salmon cakes, veggies, corn 
• Tacos, refried beans 
• Pork stew
• Breakfast for dinner 

We are cooking a load of chicken and hamburger because the freezer decided to hiccup last night and thaw the ice cream.   It magically  decided to run again,   I thawed as much as I could on the refrigerator to cook and save some.   Now I guess I’m going to cook a lot.    Its still a mystery how the freezer just decided to thaw and the fan didn’t work.    

Chicken and rice is easy and will use up some of the chicken I cook,   

Pizza is a good basic.  Everyone likes it and it’s cheap.   A cheese pizza is about a buck when you buy your ingredients on the cheap.   

Chicken enchiladas take a sauce that is homemade.   Enchiladas sauce can be pricey , 

Salmon cakes are good and stretch salmon,    

Tacos are good and the meat is being cooked in batches.   We have plenty of taco shells because if the sales  this week, 

Pork stew is from the pork loin we got last week.  

Breakfast 4 dinner,   Another meal winner. The whole family cooks.   

This example is to show the mindset of how we go about meal planning.   

Next, why.  .....

CHICKEN ENCHILADAS FOR CINCO DE MAYO

1 large or two small chicken breasts.  , cooked

1 cup ( 4 ounces ) grated cheese

1 can green diced mild chili's, drained.

3 cups white sauce made with chicken stock instead of milk.

1/2 cup sour cream

 6  inch flour tortillas

• In small bowl, combine shredded chicken, 1/2 the cheese, and just enough sauce to combine.  
• Spread 2-3 Tbls chicken mixture onto lower third of the tortilla.  Roll up.   
• Spread a thin layer of sauce in bottom of baking dish 
• Place rolled , filled, tortillas into baking dish until filled.   
• To with rest of sauce and the diced green chillis and remaining cheese 
• 
  

Bake at 350 degrees. Until the sauce is bubbly around the edges and cheese is melted, about. 30 minutes.   

Dinner Diary

This week.....

We had chili on Monday.   A new recipe that has corn in it as well as tomatoes and beans.

Tuesday we ate out with friends.  I had a chicken cordon blue with asparagus.

Wednesday we had stew,  a meal that wasn’t planned.  I happened on to a discounted package of stew meat at Safeways for 4.00 a pound.   I cooked it in the insta pot with veggies (potatoes ad carrots ) and it took 45 minutes.   I had leftovers on Thursday.

Thursday we had rice and planned  over chili.   I garnished it with sharp cheddar cheese.  

Tonight we are having roasted red pepper, tomato, and carrot soup and tuna melts.   We have extra English muffins that we paid 1.67 a dozen for.   I got both the tomatoes and the peppers for under my 1.00 target price.

Saturday we will have pizza.   I have some ham cubes we got for 2.00 a package.  We can also get a quiche and some flavor in a potato soup with the rest of the two dollars.    We will add the tops of the peppers that were cut from the peppers we got for .88.
We can add pineapple and plan for sweet and sour pork or chicken on Monday.

Sunday , we have sausage in the freezer.   A quiche of sausage and cheese sounds good.  We will still have English muffins left, and we have a cantaloupe.

Stretching a piece or package of meat and using all of a vegetable stretches your food dollar.   Every little thing you can do to stretch, and find food for a RBP helps.   Its the little things that add up to make your food bill 4.00 a day.  I have adapted my regular shopping/cooking habits to finally come down to four dollars a day per person.  The theory is that if you can do it for 4.00 a day, spending more isn’t hard.  We have salmon, pork loin, good hamburger, boneless, skinless chicken breast, and fresh fruit always.   I buy what vegetables I can that are 1.00 or nearly a dollar a pound or each, and supplement with frozen or canned.   We eat balanced, we eat well.   Four dollars a day also supplements granddaughter and grows a stock.


Simplify, buy at RBP, and always have food in the house.

4 plus 1 is FIVE.   Four people, 1 meal, 5 bucks.
Keeping guidelines in mind helps to keep you on track.

No food is going to do your family well if you are feeding it to the garage disposal.

Some people wouldn’t see a bargain if it got up and bit them in the butt, Don’t be that person.

Friday Recipe

Roasted red pepper, tomato and carrot soup

Line sheet pan with parchment paper

1/2 red pepper , sliced and cored.
2 pounds Roma romatoes, quartered and seeded
1 Lb  carrots, scrubbed and cut into uniform pieces, small coins would work best.
Garlic
Olive oil

Roast at 400 degrees for  55 minutes or until carrots are tender. You should have some carmelizing.

Cool slightly,

Place 1/2 of the veggies in a food processer and add 1 cup water to process.
Transfer to a bowl and process the remaining veggies with another cup of water or just enough to process.

At this point, you can put the purée in a covered container and place in fridge.

When ready to eat. Place purée in sauce pan and add enough milk to soup to make it the desired consistency.  Garnish with parsley and salt and pepper.  


In cooked the carrots for 75 minters.   I would either cut the carrots smaller, or zap them a few ministers in the microwave first.

Carrots, peppers, tomatoes ready for roasting.   

Thursday Notes

Yesterday, we had stew for dinner.   It wasn’t planned.   I shopped three stores yesterday.   I am over budget for the week, but became of the quantities I purchased, we won’t have to have much next week.  I got stew meat for 4.00 a pound because it had today as a pull date.   I just cooked it yesterday.  Tomato paste, broth, meat, carrots and potatoes in the insta pot for 45 minutes.   I actually threw  it together, started the pot and went and watched the news.  

Because of cinco de Mayo, there was a lot of Mexican inspired foods on sale.  Really really really cheap.   A lot of 4 day sales that end Saturday.   We got 24 ounce salsa for a dollar, as well as flour tortillas for .49.  It is easy to make a ‘toasted cheese’ sandwich with tortillas instead of bread.  Using smaller ones for enchiladas keeps the carbs down.  

In addition, dairy was on sale, so I got enough to last the rest of the month.   Most of it was 1/2 price Or at least discounted drastically.  I am not finding coupons for much of anything, and the yogurt was no exception.    Sour cream and cottage cheese was greatly reduced, as well as 1/2 price milk.  

Buying things when they are a good price saves a lot of money.   It is what affords you good meals for a small budget.  

We still have chili leftover from Monday.  Tuesday we went out with friends, and yesterday we had stew.   I think we will have chili over rice tonight.   Its not what is planned, but it works and we wot waste.  

Sausage was 1.99 .   That’s  enough for the month’s worth of breakfast for dinners.  

Because we have a new pork loin, and hamburger and chicken, we wont have to buy meat the rest of the month.   That cuts a lot off of the food bill.   The dairy is bought also, so that leaves fresh fruits and veggies.   When you are in that position, it is a good time to take stock in the stales and see if you have enough .   Certain things have a very very long shelf life, like some never spoil.   Buying in bulk just means that you don't have that thing on your list for a long time.   It simplifies things.  

•  Salt 
• Honey
• Rice 
• Sugar 
• Beans 
• Pasta - 8 years 
• Pure maple syrup
• Dry milk 
• Soy sauce 

Some of those things can be really really inexpensive.   I bought a bag of salt for 5.00.  Swear we have enough salt for my lifetime, my daughters lifetime, and probably into my granddaughters. LOL 

I also buy soda in bulk.   Ditto vinegar.   Soda and vinegar make for good cleaning agents.   They are not caustic and cheap when bought in bulk. 

Buying quantities, just means you don't have to put them on your shopping list, and the simpler  the list, the easier and faster you can get in and out of the store.   We went to 3 stores yesterday, we were gone 1.5 hours and I didn't hurry.  I was also checking prices so I know where to find the cheapest .  I actually get inquiries from people asking that question. Safeways overcharged for the milk and we had to go back.  That took an additional ten minutes from the 1.5 hours.   

The more you can stock at RBP , especially things that don't go bad or will last the month at least, the more you can get to the point where some weeks you can just shop the perimeter of the store.   That is the fastest trip you can make.   

Spending more time planning a trip and shopping will save a lot of money.   Making cooking scratch efficient will balance the amount of time spent.   Most meals take me less than 20 minutes.   Stew last night took 15 minutes.  That was mostly browning the meat and making gravy. 

Having the right tools, as with any job, makes a big difference.   My insta pot and food processor are my workhorses in the kitchen.   I rarely use the mixer.   It does knead bread well and is good for Christmas cookies.   I hear you can shred meat, but I dont know anyone that has done it.     Before I discovered that you can grind meat in the food processor, I used the kitchen aid to do that.  I think it does a better job, but the food processor is a lot more  efficient.   

.

Yesterday, because I knew we were going to three stores and it was going to be a big haul because of the prices, I made a list and used a piece of copy paper out of the recycle.   I marked off columns and identified them by store.   We always have a cooler bag in the car for cold things so we ca go t multiple stores or errands.   Monday’s winco run was in conjunction with my doctors appointment.   The three stores we went to were located in a circle of about 3 miles from the house.   Before we got a winco, we made a once a month  trip to winco in a town three towns away - about 20 miles round trip.   

By next week, I should be on target for the 4.00 a day challenge.   

Pasta sauce and pasta are .88 each at winco this week.   It is a good time to buy for the needy.   It is quite remarkable that you can spend 1.76 for a package of spaghetti and a can of pasta sauce and feed a family dinner.  That is probably less than a cup of coffee .   Random acts of kindness can be as simple as taking your clean paper bags to the food bank, giving someone a coupon for something they have in their carts, or stopping on you walk to help  someone with their weed eater.   It doesn’t have to cost you money, but you can still make a difference in someone’s life.   

Thanks for visiting.   

Multi grocery haul

Part of the Haul. ...

QFC 

Salsa 24 ounces .  2.49 paid .99

Lettuce .99

Cole slaw .99

Sour cream .79

Yoplait .50

Peppers .88

La Victoria salsa bogo 3.29/2

Cream cheese 1.50

Tortillas .49

Turkey breast, beef sliced 2.50

Hard taco shells 1.00

Taco seasoning FREE

Sausage links 1.99

30.19

WINCO 

Tortilla chips .98

Spaghetti .88

Beans, canned .48

Roma tomatoes 1.51

Taco shells .98

Total 7.09

SAFEWAYS 

Milk .88

Muffins .99  (4)

Beef stew -markdown 1.5 bs 6.54

Shrimp 7.96 2 lbs 

Total 16.37 

Total 53.69

Chain store ads

I have to get FM electronically.   QFC and Alberways are not much there.   It may be a good time to alternative shop.

QFC

Peppers, cucumbers, .88

ELECTRONIC COUPONS
There is some discussion on whether you can use a paper coupon with a digital coupon.   My source says you can use both a Kroger stores, coming from corporate Kroger.   I’m not sure that you can.  It wouldnt hurt to try.

BUY 4, SAVE 4
You must buy 4, but not necessarily the same thing.   Use your store card

Ritz 1.79 -$$
Land of Lakes Butter 2.49



FOUR DAYS ONLY W TH F SAT ONLY - DIGITAL COUPONS -YOU CAN USE 5 TIMES
AVACADO  .77
TORILLA CHIPS .99
TORTILLAS  ,49

DIGITAL AY DAY YOU CAN USE 5 TIMES

KROGER CHEESE 2.49 (TOP OF THE TARGET PRICE)
MARIE CALLENDERS DINNERS 4/8
YOPLALIT 10/5
SOUR CREAM/ COTTAGE CHEESE .79
BREAKFAST SAUSAGE 1.99
———————————————-

ALBERWAYS

Breyers ice cream 2/5
Bread .78@@
Milk .88 @@
Raw shrimp 2.98@@

4 DAY SALE, W TH F S
Pork shoulder blade 1.59
Taco shells, 1.00
Sour cream 1.00
Tortillas 1.00
Note sour cream and tortillas are cheaper at qfc

About it.

Fred Meyers

Milk .99
18 ounces blues 2.99
Lettuce .99
Taco shells 1.00

Digital coupons
Cheerios, 1.49
Cr cheese 1.49
Pastas .49
Marie. C dinners 4/7

Chilli

Yesterday I made chili .  We had stopped by winco for a few things.   I got tortilla chips and beans were on sale for .50.   That was my target price.  I usually make scratch beans because they are so much cheaper.  But, I also want to keep a few on hand because if we have an emergency, dry beans won’t work.  

1/2 pound cooked hamburger
2 cans or 4 cups cooked beans , kidney
2 cans diced tomatoes with chillies
1 quart vegetable broth
1 cup corn ( I used frozen)
1 T TACO seasoning

I used the insta pot.   The hamburger was frozen, so I put the pot on sauté until the soup came to a boil and switched the pot off and then to slow cook.  

We served it with grated cheese, and chips.

Cost:
1/2 lb hamburger 1.22
2 cans beans 1.00 ( or .10 for 4 cups scratch)
Diced tomatoes .78
Corn .25
Taco seasoning and vegetable broth (bouillon ) are too small to cost.
Total:
3.29 or 2.39 for scratch

The chips were .98.  We used maybe .25 worth .
This chili  would have served 4.  We had a lot left.  It made the six quart almost full.

It isn’t necessarily what you buy, its more when and where you buy it.

Beans in the insta pot.   Wash beans and pick for any rocks etc.   place in insta pot.   Cover with water    Up to 2 inches above the beans.  Always be sure to not fill the pot more than 1/2 full when you are cooking something that expands—like beans or pasta.  
Close lid and turn the lever to seal.   Push the “bean” button.
Walk away.  Open the pot when it is finished depressurizing by itself.

Drain beans in a colander over the sink.

Winco Haul - May

Winco

Tortilla chips .98

Cookie mixe .49

Apple rain .88

Winco beans .50

Chicken dinner 1.98

Strawberries 1.98

Total 13.50

Kitchen Management

Monday Kitchen Management is a tool that keeps dinner time in control and saves time and money .

Menu :

• Chili, tortilla strips 
• Pizza 
• Pork stew, rolls 
• Tuna melts, roasted carrot, tomato soup 
• Chicken enchiladas , salad 
• Chix nuggets , oven fries, veggie platter 
• Breakfast 4 dinner. 

1. IMake chili , bake chips 
2. Make pizza dough, refrigerate. 
3. Wash veggies and cut up fruit
4. Cook chicken 
5. Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead.
6. Wash kitchen floor 
7. Wash the counters, sinks, and drains ,disinfect 
8. Straighten the freezer drawers. 

Meal Plans

Meal plans are a good way to get organized and save time and money.   Have a plan , or plan to fail.

First, the pork loin from Fred Meyer was nasty.   My granddaughter got it out to help me , so I proceeded to cut it.   It was fine for the first 12 Pork chops.   The rest presented fat all the way through the middle.   I was intending to make it a roast.   I wound up making stew meat.

I am sitting at 56.63 a week for the year.  (4 months) thats .63 a week more than the proverbial 4.00 a day.   Considering that we bought a bulk lot of both boneless, skinless chicken breast and 80/20 hamburger, that isn’t a bad average.

Meals.....we use a protein based matrix to expedite the processs.   Being as efficient as you can in both plannng and scratch cooking, makes groceries on the cheap possible while maintaining a quality balanced diet.

• Chllli, tortilla chips 
• Pizza, salads 
• Pork stew, rolls 
• Tuna melts., roasted carrot and tomato soup 
• Chicken enchaladas, salad 
• Chicken nuggets, oven baked fries, vegetable platter. 
• Breakfast for dinner. 

Notes:   We hae an abundance of English muffins,  egg muffins and tuna melts are a good way to use them up. 

Chilli is easy one pot meal in the insta pot.  Make beans, drain, put pot on sauté and cook meat if not already cooked, and add tomatoes, seasonings.   

Pizza is a dollar a pizza, so its an inexpensive meal that is a hit with everyone.  A homemade pizza crust takes minutes and cost .19.   

Pork stew is from the pork loin I purchased and is also a insta pot meal.   

Somewhere, I have a recipe for roasted carrot and tomato soup.   

Chicken nuggets are from the tenderloin and are homemade with a breading of bread crumbs (homemade) chopped nuts, and parm cheese.   (Real cheese) .  Chopped nuts are cheaper in the bulk isle at winco.   

Breakfast for Dinner is a family affair, everyone cooks.   

Thanks for stopping by.....