Monday Kitchen Management

Part of the concept of 1/2 price groceries is efficiently cooking.   The idea of spending a bit more time organizing , planning and shopping, and less time cooking a meal is more efficient and cuts food costs.

Working from a meal plan, you can take advantage of anything you have an abundance of and precook or wash all your veggies etc at the same time.  This saves time and money.   You are more likely to scratch cook even when you are tired if your work is half done.

Reminder of meals:

Nacho Pot Pie
Pizza
Sweet Potatoes, shredded chicken
Tomato soup, ham and cheese toasted sandwiches
Slow cooked chicken enchaladas chilli
Salmon, baked potatoes ,

1. Wash kitchen floor 
2. Wash and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains.
3. Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead.
4. Print recipes from Betty Crocker for Nacho Pot Pie and Chicken enchalada chilli 
5. Cook a batch of chicken breasts 
6. Wash carrots, potatoes , and salad makings 
7. Cook black beans 
8. Straighten pantry. 

Things that helped keep costs down.   Eggs were .79 at Safeways, limit 2.  I purchased two even though we had 1.5 dozen in the house already.   Don’t hesitate if something is versatile enough to stretch your food dollar.   We like hard cooked eggs, even the child and cooking them in the oven makes the job easy.   We always have breakfast for dinner once a week.  Its a family affair. 

We got bread for free this weed—and healthy bread at that.   

Milk was a dollar a gallon.   Pudding is a good way to add protein and calcium to a dinner that might not have a lot of protein.  

Chicken breast was purchased in a case lot for a dollar a pound.  The chicken and pork that I purchased in bulk I incorporated into the regular budget at four dollars a day.   The hamburger was a bit more costly and I have been prorating it at 2 pounds a month.   We tend to eat hamburger once a week.  It was almost impossible to incorporate 100 dollars worth of meat into a months budget.   

Jan-March average weekly spent.   51.98

April -June so far average weekly spent. 48.96

4 dollars a day for 2 people is 56.00

Meal Plans 6/24/18

Meal Plans are a necessary component in a plan to reduce your food costs.

Our meal plans usually are predicated on a matrix that is based on protein sources.   It provides variety and balances cost factors.

•  Nacho Pot Pie (Betty Crocker) 
• Pizza (scratch ) 
• Sweet Potatoes and shredded chicken w wing sauce, salad 
• Tomato soup, ham and cheese toasted sandwiches
• Slow cooked chicken enchiladas soup (Betty Crocker) 
• Baked Salmon, Baked Potato,salad 
• Breakfast for Dinner 

Notes 

1. Use broth from bouillon or scratch broth, scratch taco seasoning, milk instead of cream , cooked and shredded chicken , not deli, and fresh cooked beans. 
2. Pizza is scratch and cost about a dollar for a cheese pizza.  
3. Sweet potatoes were cheapest at winco.-like 1/2 the price  of Alberways.  Shred chicken enough for Nacho Pie. The wing chicken , land the chicken enchilada soup. 
4. Tomato soup is from a 2.00 box bought at GO.  You could also make scratch. 
5. Baked salmon from winco.  
6. Breakfast for dinner is a mainstay for Sunday dinner.  We all cook for a family experience. 

Concept

Like almost everything, concept is key.  Once you get the concept of anything you are trying to do, its the jumping off point for success.

The basic concept of not paying full price for anything that you use on a regular basis is key to saving a lot of money.  People have seen as much as 1.50 price difference between the same item depending on where and when it was purchased.

It isn’t as much what you buy as when and where you buy it.

This necessitates going to two stores a week.   Buying food once a month, while efficient, is not the best for your budget.  Most of the time the word convenience means $$$$.

You can, when you shop with a plan, get in and out of a store in a half hour.   We don’t spend any more time in two stores plus than many people do going to one.   Know your store layout.   It saves going up and Dow every isle looking for something.   If you dont have a reason to go down an isle, don't go there.    Stay away from the paper goods, pet, household goods, and personal heigene isles.
Most of those things are overpriced compared to other stores.   Impulse buys count for 70 percent of a stores profits.   Their profit is your loss.

Go with a plan.   You don’t necessarily need to go to the point where you make a list.   Do your due dillaglence in making a meal plan, noting from the check off sheet what perishables you don’t have, and check the ads to see if there are any rock bottom prices (RBP) on what you use.   Check the ads for your rotation meat.

Rotation meat is a bulk meat you buy that is versatile and averages two dollars a pound.   We can still get FF boneless, skinless, chicken breast for 2.00 a pound.   Whole or half pork loins are between a dollar and 1.69 a pound.  And good hamburger can still be found for under three dollars a pound.
Add beans (Dollar Tree). Cheese (2.00-2.49 a lb ) and eggs.  Eggs need to be at a buy price of under 1.50—closed to a dollar is preferred.

Rotation meat is when you buy a four to six week supply of a bulk protein that is at a low price and rotate the protein you buy per week.  You are buying your protein at the lowest possible price and you are portion controlling the bulk package into meal sized portions.   It saves time and money.

Thats what this blog is about,   Saving time and money.   Our grocery budget is four dollars a day.   We also supplement our grandchild and grow a stock.   Its a good thing to be prepared for emergencies—big or small.   Life happens, and the least amount of stress you put on yourself the better off you are.

The thesis is that if you can do it on four dollars a day, spending more wouldn't be hard to do.

Friday Final

We hit the motherload with specials at safeways.   Taking advantage of specials and freebies:  bread and cranberry juice., is a good way to stretch your food dollar.   Use your imiganation to incorporate them into meals.   A lot of breakfast meals can cost as little as a quarter.

1. Oatmeal , banana, splash of milk 
2. Egg, toast .06
3. Pancakes , fruit 
4. Yogurt, granola

• Toasted cheese sandwich 
• Soup from scratch 
• P b and j 
• BLT’s 
• Bean and rice burritos 

Thursday Safeways Haul

total spent 15.23

Cranberry juice -0
2 kraft sharp cheese slices 3.98
2 dz eggs 1.58
Shredded cheese .99
Shredded cheese .99
2 percent milk .99 gal
2 lbs ground turkey 3,98

Cheries 2.72

Safeway’s haul and meals

Safeways has a number of really good prices on basic necessities using digital coupons.  I suspect that the future life of coupons will become less paper and more digital.  That , unfortunately, makes it harder to buy multiples of items and eliminates our ability to shop stores for the best prices to match with coupons.  There are still ways to make the best use of your money to feed your family the best meals possible.   Balanced meals have never gone out of style because it is the best nutrition.   

Signature Kitchens Cranberry Juice:  FREE

Sour cream, 24 ounces 1.49

Cream cheese 1.29

Kraft slices cheese 1.99

Shredded cheese .99 ( also on Saturday digital -kroger ) 

Milk -gallon .99

Eggs limit 2 .79

Ground turkey 1.99

Now what to do with what you got.   These are all really good RBP .   The trick now is to figure out how to incorporate them into your meals. 

• Cranberry juice can be drunk as is, or with ice. You can thicken it and use it for a syrup on ice cream, pancakes, or drizzled over peaches.  
• Sour cream is a  good base for chicken enchiladas. , an addition to baked potato bar, topping for chilli or other soups.  
• Cream cheese can fill celery sticks, did anyone say cheesecake?   There is a good recipe for cheesecake in the insta pot. Also, a lot of recipes on pinterest use cream cheese for sauce or filling for chicken breasts. 
• Sliced cheese is pretty self evident. 
• Shredded cheese is at the RBP.   And useful for quesadillas, mac and cheese, sandwiches, topping for cassaroles ...
• Milk:  besides drinking and on cereal, you can make bread pudding, or pudding.  Scratch pudding is not much more work than the box kind and a lot cheaper. 
• Eggs:  an inexpensive source of protein. 
• Ground turkey can be added to other ground meat for meatloaf or makes good taco filling. 

Thursday Safeways Haul

Safeways Haul for 6/15/18

Cheese .5.00
Tillamook ice cream 2.88
Milk 1.79
Salads .99:   Shreds, salad, spinach express salad
Strawberries 2.50

Total 19.01

Saturday ‘s Winco haul

Green grapes 1.98

Romas .98

Yams .98

Tater tots 2 lbs 1.68

Bread 2.78

Salmon 4.98

Shredded parm 1.98

Beans .48

Olives .78

Green chillies .66

Total 20.88

Chain store ads 6/21/18

Again, we didnt get any ads in the mail his week.   

Alberways 

Just fort You digital coupons 

Milk 99 gallon 

Eggs .79

Bread .49

Ground turkey 1.99

Bubbly water free 

Salsa 1.79

QFC 

Blueberries 18 oz 3.49

DiGiorno pizza 3.99

Shrimp 5.99

Buy 6, save 3

Sargento cheese 1.99-coupons?

Sour cream -large 1.99

Cottage cheese 1.99

Natural choice lunch mat 2.99

Fred Meyers 

DIGITAL-ALSO QFC 

SATURDAY 6/23 ONLY 

CHEESE .99

POST CEREAL .99

REG AD 

AVACADOS .99

FOSTER FARMS SPLIT CHICKEN BREAST .87

NOTE:  MY VOTE FOR THE ROTATION MEAT WOULD BE THE SPLIT CHICKEN BREAST AT FRED MEYERS.   AND THE CHEESE FOR A DOLLAR WITH DIGITAL COUPONS, SATURAY ONLY.   BOTH ARE GOOD SOURCES OF PROTEIN AND SAVE A LOT OF MONEY FOR VERSITILE PROTEIN.   

How did she do that? TUESDAY

Remember, Its not what you buy as much as when an where you buy it..   A little planning is key .
If you decide at ten o’clock at night that you want some chicken noodle soup and you hit the nearest store , you are probably going to pay three times the price as if you plan and buy that soup on sale.

Not everything on a sale ad is a sale.  On sale is just saying that you can buy it.   A real sale is a marked down price or a price that is less.   Knowing what price is the lowest price is key.   It doesn’t have to be on everything in the store.   Simplify, buy at low cost, and always have food in the house.

BBQ pork sliders.

Sometimes adjusting for what you have is a  good thing.   We have hamburger buns from the hamburgers we had earlier.   There is not much sense in making slider buns and then throwing away the hamburger buns.  The smaller buns that are store brand are a lot less expensive , especially at a holiday time.

Buns: .88 or .44 for a half package

Pork Roast is from a Pork Loin.  It was 1.29 a pound.   Slicing your own roast and chops takes a matter of minutes, almost no talent, and saves a lot of money.   Center cut porkchops can be 3.50 a pound.   The difference between the dollar or dollar twenty nine that I am paying, and 3.50 is two dollars a pound.   This is huge.   Pork Roast for a smaller family does two meals. Pork Roast “Sunday Dinner” and a bbq slider another day.   Slice roast thin, and heat in bbq sauce that has been watered down a little.   You can add cheese if you want.

1.5 pounds of thinly sliced pork roast 1.94

Salad :   1.00
We use head lettuce these days.  I would prefer to buy romaine.  The darker the leaf , the better food value and it lasts longer.  But, there have been too many times lately, that there have been ecoli outbreaks.   We will grow our own soon.   Meanwhile, we are using dollar a head iceberg lettuce.   Tomatoes have been .88 a pound.   Lettuce  and tomato salad is good.   I add cucumber when I find it.

There is also a cucumber and tomato salad that is really good.  Cost is probably close to the dollar or more like 1.50 if you don’t get cucumbers cheap.

1.94 .44, 1.25 for salad is 3.63  condiments are not added.   Still, way below the five dollar budget.

Monday Kitchen Managment.

Kitchen management is a tool that helps save time and money in the kitchen.   By rotating deep cleaning chores and doing some meal prep in one kitchen session, you can save the set up and clean up time and save the hectic dinner time.


Recap of Meals:
Tomato, roasted red pepper and carrot soup quesadillas
Pizza
Minestrone , bread
Stuffed chicken breast, baked potatoes, green beans
Salmon, rice pilaf, fruit
Enchiladas, lettuce, tomato
Breakfast for dinner

• Wash kitchen floor 
• Clean and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains.
• Clean refrigerator and dump anything dead 
• Wash veggies 
• Mark the meal plan with the time to take chicken out of freezer. 
• Make rice mix 
• Make bread 
• File recipes 

Meal Plans 6/17/18

Meal Plans are a tool that saves time and money.   Because GOC operates on the assumption that you have a stock of versatile basic food , you write meal plans after you grocery shop.   Having a stock of food on hand, you can always do a pick up meal.  

• Tomato, roasted red pepper and carrot soup, bean and bacon quesadillas  
•  Pizza      

•  Stuffed chicken breast, baked potato, green beans 

•  Salmon, rice pilaf , fruit cup

•  Enchiladas , lettuce, tomato 
•  Breakfast for Dinner 
•  Minestrone , bread 

Notes:

1. Tomato, roasted red pepper and carrrot soup uses red peppers purchased for .88 last week.  And part of the milk bought for 1.79.   Usually the regular price of milk here is 1.79 for a half gallon rather than a whole gallon.   Bean and bacon  quesadillas bump up the protein.  
2. Pizza is a mainstay:  everyone likes it and it can be made for 1.00 a pizza.  Save toppings from other meals .  
3. Stuffed chicken breast uses spinach purchased for a dollar at Alberways.  
4. Salmon is frozen. Pilaf uses peas purchased for a dollar frozen. 
5. Chicken or beef enchaladas.  Chicken enchaladas have a homemade sauce made with chi;clean stock, mild diced peppers and sour cream. 
6. Minestrone uses more spinach.   

Incorporating items found on sale helps to keep your food costs down.   Working with a stock of inexpensive , but versitle foods and scratch cooking .  Using every available way of saving money on food maximizes your savings.   

 

Saturday Concepts

What not to buy at Grocery Outlet ( Or any other discount overstock store)

1. Dented cans 
2. Items out of date :  except items that truly never go out of date.   Pasta has an eight year shelf life.  Honey never goes out of date.   Cereal a little out of date is a little stale, but won’t  hurt you.  Canned goods are good for a while out of date.  Check the internet for exact numbers.   I tend to be really careful of anything acidic.   
3. Anything that is more expensive than other stores.   Yes, everything at any store is not necesssarily a good buy.   It always goes back to knowing your prices.   
4. Stick to tried and true brands.   If you are adventurous, try an off brand by buying one.   
5. I steer clear of produce and meat.   The meat is prepackaged .   
6. Do buy deli that is name brand.   The sliced cheese, while more expensive than grated, is good. We have been getting it for two dollars a package.   The grated cheese is not a bargain . 
7. They carry Nathan's and Hebrew National hot dogs.  There are just some things that are best bought high quality.   Dont buy dollar hot dogs.   They are full of nasty things.   
8. Many things are on the edge.   IF you intend on eating them immediately, its OK.  W bought bacon for 1.50 a package yesterday.  It had a pull date of today.  It usually means its good for a while.   I cut it up and put it rendering in the pan while I put the groceries away and fixed our lunch.  When it was done, we removed it with a slotted spoon and drained it on paper towels. It hit a zip lock and the freezer.   I will use it to season greenbeans, or bean soup.   A little bit goes a long way to season a dish.   
9. I have been getting diced tomatoes or tomato sauce for really cheap:  like .33 and .50 cents.   It can be 1.58. Don’t buy quantities of things close to the pull date.   Only buy what you can safely use before the pull date.  This is where having meal plans and knowing how often you make certain dishes works.   You can incorporate those items in your weekly meal plans and us them before they expire.   A few days past doesn’t hurt.   Nothing is going to expire exactly on the date it is marked.   
10. Tilipa.   Just Tilipa......never anywhere!  Its garbage fish.   Its hard these days to get good fish.   Dont skimp.   There are places to economize and places not to economize.   

Recipe Friday- pasta with garlic sauce

Friday recipes will be an attempt to incorporate things on sale this week into a meal.    Even if you are not in the PNW, things on sale are typically things in season.  Bacon was on sale for 2.99 at Fred Meyers last Saturday and Spinach is on sale at Alberways this week.   Barilla Pasta is a dollar fat QFC.  It is on sale for 1.25 at Alberways today only.  That is 25 percent more.   It pays to know your prices and make your decisions accordingly.

Pasta with Garlic Sauce

1/2 package of spaghetti , cooked
8 ounces of bacon

Two handfuls of fresh spinach
1/2 small onion , chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup sour cream
2T butter.
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Salt, pepper to taste
Nutmeg

• Cook bacon in skillet. 
• Remove  bacon with a slotted spoon  and reserve some of the drippings. 
• Add chopped onion and garlic powder to the skillet and cook until the onion is softened.   
• Add the spinach and let it wilt.  
• Scoop vegetables to the side and add milk, sour cream and butter.   Stir sauce together.   Gradually add in the cooked vegetables and sprinkle with bacon.  
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped walnuts 

Winco Haul

Special Note:   We are on a limited spend month.   We have plenty of stock on hand and are over budget a little because of buying bulk meat.

Winco

2 dz eggs @ 1.14

5 lbs carrots 2.28

Celery .78

Frozen french fries 1.37

Total 8.08


QFC
Peppers .88
Cucumbers .88
Total 3.52


Total spent 11.60

Chain Store Ads

QFC

QFC went to a one four page spread ad.
Not much there.

Kroger cheese slices 3/5
Bread 3/5

Barilla pasta 1.00

Fruit pie 2.99

ALBERWAYS

SALADS INCLUDING SPINACH .99
LIMIT 4

Hot Dog or Hamburger buns .79@@
Milk 1.79 @@

Cottage cheese/ sour cream 2/5 - large
Strawberries 2/5


Fred Meyers

Cantaloupe 2/4


Buy 6, save. 3

Sargento cheese 1.99$$
Cream cheese 2 pack 3.49
Nathan’s 3.49



2 lbs strawberries 3.99
Grapes 1.99
Lettuce .99

Dinner: How did she do that?

Vegetable platter container we got from Winco after Christmas for a couple of dollars. 

Filling it on Kitchen Management Day is prepping for snacks and a quick veggie/fruit course anytime during the week.   Just add more as it is depleted.

Sausage, cheese, and diced mild peppers quiche.   

A quick and easy main dish that is low carb.   

How did she do that?   

Cost: 

2 eggs .20

Milk .13

Bisquick .15

Sausage :  2.00*

Chillis  .33*

Cheese .50

Total 3.31

Serves 4 

Notes:  

I held back a half cup of cooked sausage that had been de-fatted for a pizza on Tuesday.  

I also held back 1/2 the peppers for pizza or re-fried beans (scratch) -no fat.

Place cooked meat of choice in bottom of a baking dish.  Add cheese and peppers or diced green chillis.   Mix eggs, milk and bisquick in the blender (liquids first) and blend until homogeneous.  Pour over the proteins and bake at 400 for for 25 minutes or until tests done.   

Its easy, made in a few minutes.  And well within a five dollar dinner range even wih a veggie tray.   

Monday: Kitchen Management

Kitchen Management is a tool that saves time and stress during the hectic dinner hour.  

Our meal plan form has spaces for the weeks dinners and a grocery list of the perishable things that we use on a regular basis.   Taking a very quick invenemtory is a good tool to facilitate meal plans and kitchen management.  

Recap of meals :

1. Mac and cheese 
2. Pizza 
3. Chicken nuggets, oven fries, veggie platter 
4. Chicken rice casserole 
5. Salmon cakes, rice, green beans 
6. Tacos, refried beans in the insta pot.
7. Breakfast for dinner.  

• Wash carrots and potatoes with vinegar water.  Use a dedicated brush. 
• Mark the meal plan with a reminder to thaw chicken 
• Clean refrigerator and dump anything dead.
• Note things on the edge to incorporate into meals. 
• Clean and disinfect counters and clean sink drains. 
• Wash kitchen floor. 
• Put the stove vent screen through the dishwasher.   
• Wash kitchen window.   
• Fill veggie tray with washed veggies. 
• Run vinegar through the coffee pot. 

Stairsteppng meals saves time and money.    One batch of chicken cubes makes chicken nuggets and chicken and rice cassarole.   One batch of rice makes the carb for salmon dinner and the chicken and rice casserole.  The toppings for the pizza are set aside from the quiche last week. (Freeze) The taco kit purchased at the grocery outlet was the price of a package of taco shells and includes tacos sauce and seasoning.  You can add your already cooked and de- fatted hamburger to a small pan, with a little water and the taco seasoning and heat the meat.   It heats quickly from frozen.   Slicing lettuce and tomatoes and pulling the grated cheese from the refrigerator takes a matter of minutes while the meat heats up.   Insta Pot refried beans have NO fat and take a matter of minutes to gather ingredients and set the pot.   

Efficiently scratch cooking is a key in lowering your food bill without taking a disproportionate amount of time to accomplish the task.   

Buying in bulk simplifies the shopping experience.   By minimizing the amount of things you have to buy, the shopping trip takes less time and effort.   

Simplify, buy at a RBP in bulk if it makes sense, and always have food in the house.   

Meal Plans -week of June 11, 2018

Meal plans are a good tol to organize and keep  yourself on track .   They save time, money, and stress.

• Mac and Cheese , glazed carrots : comfort food
• Pizza 
• Chicken nuggets (homemade) oven fries, vegetable platter 
• Chicken rice cassarole 
• Salmon cakes, seasoned rice, green beans 
• Tacos, insta pot refried beans, 
• Breakfast for dinner.   

There is a faction out in U tube land that is low spend month.   Its when you declare that you have enough food to ‘eat down’ the pantry.   It is a winning thing. 

1. Mac and cheese, the great comfort food.    Easy and satisfying.   
2. Pizza is a staple.   Everyone likes it and a cheese pizza is less than a dollar. 
3. Chicken nuggets are handmade with a breading of homemade bread crumbs, nuts, and parmesean cheese.   Oven fries use almost no fat.  
4. Chicken and rice cassarole uses the rest of a package of chicken and is just good. 
5. Salmon cakes are from Costco salmon.   Seasoned rice is a homemade mix.   Using your own mixes gives you the flavor of favorite mixes without the things you can't pronounce.   
6. Tacos are from a kit bought at GO.  It saves money because the kit cost what taco shells cost, but has taco sauce and seasoning in it as well. 
7. Breakfast for dinner is a favorite and a family affair, we all cook.   I remember putting our ten 3 yo granddaughter at the buttering bread station.   She was about half way through when she announced “ I can’t  believe I get to do this!”

I just read that Seattle has some of the most expensive groceries in the nation.   I teach people how to feed their family on four dollars a day and keep a pantry.   Please consider sharing this blog. I would like to help more people.   

Pics in review -SATURDAY

Pasta salad 

Nachos

Steak, mixed veggies, mashed potatoes

Quiche, salad 

Edamame black bean salad :  Betty. Crocker 

Vegetable bean soup

Chicken Salad

• Summers coming....it is time to start thinking of dinners on the deck or patio with a nice glass of iced tea or lemonade.    

You can still enjoy a hearty salad and keep your costs down.

Recently, Barilla Pasta was on sale at Kroger (QFC) for a dollar.   Instead of using a deli chicken, you can save a lot of money by cooking a breast in the insta pot or poaching it in the microwave.   We have also just roasted a whole chicken or cooked it in the slow cooker.   The recipe for slow cooker chicken is on another blog and the hands down easiest way to cook a chicken if you are only interested in cooked chicken and not necessarily a crispy skin.

SaladL

• 1 cup orzo pasta (raw) cooked according to package directions 

•  1.5 cups shredded chicken 
•  6 cherry or grape tomatoes.   - half if using cherry 

•  1 can sliced black olives

•  1 stalk celery, cut 

•  3 T fresh parmesean cheese.   

Place ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss well with a vinaigrette.