Friday recipe : hummus

One of the ways to save a lot of money is to make your own things that are more expensive in the store ready made. One of hose things is hummus,  it’s jea,thy and most of the time here is around three dollars

1 can -15.5 Oz garbanzo Beans
2 tsp garlic, chopped
Dash salt and pepper
1 slice cooked red pepper , chopped
Red pepper flakes to taste.
2 T lemon juice
1 T olive oil.


 Mix all ingredients in food processer or blender.
Store in air tight container in refrigerator.

Notes : garbanzo beans can be inexoemsove when  you find a bean sale. Lemon juice is cheapest on bottles.   The rest of the ingredients are pretty much staples.  


On another note, I have been watching a lot of dollar store dinners on the Internet.   While I realize there are towns where the dollR store amd maybe one other store is all the stores that are available and it might be a necessity for some people until they can get to a bigger town, dollar store dinners are best for emergency meals.   You can do better by stocking a little at a time.  When something is super cheap. Spend the same amount you would spend if you had to pay full price.   The next time, you won’t have to buy that item, so you work on so,etching else that is a stock item.   You will eT better and spend less.  

Tomorrow is concept day,    Just a teaser.....a weeks worth of chicken dinners for FREE!   Like any statement like that, there is a twist....stay tuned.

Hauls 8/31

Safeway Haul.

8/24

Grapes 4.14
Frozen veggies 3.00  for three

Total 7.14


Winco Haul

18 eggs 1.89
Chocolate chips minis , bulk 3.56
Romaine 1.48
Bananas .36
Nathan’s hot dogs 2.98
3 asstd peppers @.98
Strawberries 1.78
Farmland bacon 3.98

Total 18.97





Bread store
Flax and wheat bread
Hamburger buns
Hot dog buns
Sandwich buns
Hard rolls
Bagels
English muffins
Bread sticks ,bake

10.00
Average 1.25 each


Total 36.11

Sour cream 2.00

Total. 38.11notes: that is a months worth of bread.   And, the chocolate chips are pantry items as well.
The rest is perishables and a few meTs that I don’t stock.  

Chain store ads

QFC

Pie 3.99
BBQ sauce 1.00
Sour cream/cottage cheese 1.00
Pork back ribs 2.99 lb prev frozen
Buy 5, save 5sale

Kind Bars 2.49
Dreyers 2.49
Dave’s killer 3.49
Outshine BAR-S 2.49
Nature valley or  fiber one bars 1.99
Tillamook ice cream 3.49
Goldfish .99
Ritz 1.79
Farmland bacon 3.99


Alberways
Berries BOGO
Ritz crackers 1.69@@
Corn 4/1@@

Hillshire farm sausage 2/6
Bbq sauce .99@@


A asstd condiments and snack foods BOGO
Note : best foods squeeze bottle is BOGO.   There is a Ibotta on as many as two.  Makes the, net .99 for two.

Note @@ means you need an in ad coupon.

Fred Meyers

B5s5
Coffee 5.99
Outshine BARS 2.49
Dreyers 2.49
Crunch BARS 2.49
Nature valley  Bars. 1.99
Goldfish .99
Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs .99
Farmland bacon 3.99

———-
Sour cream 1.00
Bbq sauce 1.00
Pie 4.00

What we ate on no spend

What we ate in no spend month.  The first week was not part of no spend.  All of it was 4.00 a day.

1. French Toast from bread store Texas toast, bacon, cantaloupe 
2. Hamburgers , pasta salad , fruit 
3. Oven roasted sausage, potatoes and carrots 
4. Bbq beef sandwiches, corn on the cob 
5. Insta pot spaghetti, salad 
6. Salmon, twice baked Potatoes, salad 
7. Out potluck, pasta salad , fruit 
8. BBQ beef sandwiches, oven french fries, salad 
9. Out potluck- veggie platter 
10. Nachos, fruit 
11. Chicken patties, corn in the cob, salad 
12. Egg Mc muffins, bacon, fruit tray 
13. Sloppy joes, corn on the cob, fruit 
14. Fish and chips salad, soup
15. Clam chowder, leftovers 
16. Pork fried rice, chicken dumplings, 
17. Taco soup, tortilla chips, cheese 
18. Antipasto platter 
19. French Toast , ( frozen leftover) bacon cantaloupe 
20. Taco salad 
21. Pizza, salad 
22. Leftover pizza, salad 
23. Vegetable bean soup, bacon cheese bread 
24. Sausage with sauerkraut and peppers , bread 
25. Meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies 
26. Meatball subs, oven baked fries, strawberries, 
27. Chicken enchaladas, salad 
28. Pizza 
29.  
30. 
    
31. 
    

Scratch cooking.......how did she do that...

One of the concepts that saves a lot of money is scratch cooking,   Scratch— the mere sound of the word insights dread in many a person.   In some cases, this was my last hold out.  Especially when it came to bread.   There are a lot of set it and forget it or easy scratch cooking recipes.   Keeping life simple helps.

Combining prep work and quick and easy recipes makes for good meals——cheap.   Many mean that you need to be home, but you don’t have to watch pots.   You can be watching tv instead, or doing  other things.   Multi tasking is the key to keeping it up.

Let’s start with one basic thing a week,   Learn that and piggy back it with the next thing and before you know it, it will take you less time than making things from a box or bag and it will be better without all the preservatives.   Did you know that there is detergent and wood pulp on some of our food.   Yes, it is in safe doses, but, I for one, don’t want to feed my family soap or wood pulp.    YUK.


White sauce.  Plain and simple.  The french have a fancy word for it, but it’s basic white sauce.  The basis for Mac and cheese , or many a casserole.

Scratch sauce :

1 Tbls fat (vegetable oil, melted  butter
1  Tbls flour
1) melt butter or place oil in saucepan.
2) pour in flour
On medium heat, whisk flour into fat and cook just slightly to cook away the raw flour taste.
3) begin whisking in onc cup of milk, a little at a time until sauce has thickened.

Makes one cup.


White Sauce Mix
2 cups dry milk
1 cup flour
2 tsp salt
1 cup butter

Mix dry ingredients.
Add butter and cut in (using a fork and a knife or. Pastry blender, or the food processer, mix until butter is incorporated into mix.

Store 2-3 months n airtight container in refrigerator.

To make:

Use 1/2 cup mix with 1 cup water.
Add to saucepan and whisk over medium heat until a medium thick sauce.

Alternate without fat
Sauce mix

2 cups dry milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup low sodium chicken granules

Mix together .  Store on cool, dry place

Use 1/3 cup mix to 1-1/4 cup water.
Place ingredients in saucepan and cook over medium heat, storing with whisk until sauce has thickened .


White sauce is also the basis for enchalada sauce.  Enchalada sauce is really expensive considering  the few  ingredients it takes,

Enchalada sauce,

Over low heat on a 1 quart saucepan,
Make a roux with 1/4 cup canola oil and 2T flour
Cook slighky to take the flour taste away,

Add slowly , 1 cup chicken broth and 1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce,
Add in 2 T taco seasoning
Cook, stirring  constantly until sauce thickens slightly.

Homemade taco seasoning saves a lot of money.

Kitchen Management aka meal prep

Kitchen  management is a tool that saves time and stress at meal time,   Basics you spend a little to,e prepping the meals based on a meal plan.   Having food prepped somthat it takes ten to twenty minutes to cook dinner makes life a whole lot easier and tends to keep you from being tempted to order in or go out.  

Reminder  of meals

• Chicken enchiladas, lettuce and tomatoes 
• Pizza
• Chili,  tortilla chips,sour cream, cheese 
•  Spaghetti , salad, bread sticks 
• Chicken pot pie , fruit 
• Chili dogs , vegetable plate 
• Breakfast for dinner 

1. Wash kitchen floor.
2. Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead. 
3. Make note of things that need  to be used up , incorporate them into meal plan 
4. Clean and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains. 
5. Cook chicken for the enchiladas in the insta pot. 
6. Make enchilada sauce. 
7. Was salad greens, carrots. 
8. Make a batch of muffins - new bread book. 
9. Inventory if not already taken. My inventory is on my meal plan form.   

 I will share my meal plan form with anyone that wants it.  If it has to be sent as a file. It will have to wait until my IT person can help me.  Hey, I’m old.   Lol 😂 

Book Review

Betty Crocker big book of bread .. all kinds of bread from scones to french bread and everything on between.   Some quick, so,e not so quick.   All look delicious,  

Artisan semolina and rosemary bread

Mini cheese and chive popovers
Mini sweet potato cinnamon rolls
Maple glazed bacon drop doughnuts
Sour cream coffee cake
Zesty cheddar bread
Ginger carrot nut bread

Gluten free cheese garlic biscuits

Pear nut scones

Chocolate scones
Beer and Chile cornbread muffins

Raspberry white chocolate muffins

Cinnamon bubble loaf

Double quick dinner rolls

Haul 8/24

Fred Meyers

Grapes 1.94
Goldfish .99
Goldfish .99
Goldfish .99
Nectarines 2.69
Ice cream 3.49
Ice cream 3.49
Sour cream 1.25
Milk .99

Total 16.82

Pretty much produce and dairy. The goldfish were basically free except for one at .99. B5; S5



Note : the process inquited last week for safeways were from the Internet.  I don’t know what happened.  But the ad in the store does not reflect those prices .  No cantaloupe or soup, green peppers are a dollar.

Meal plans

Meal plans are a tool to make life easier and save time and money,

1. Chicken enchaladas , lettuce, tomatoes 
2. Pizza
3. Chilli , topped with choice of cheese, sour cream and/or tortilla chips. 
4. Spaghetti, salad , bread sticks 
5. Chicken pot pie, fruit 
6. Chilli dogs, veggie platter 
7. Quiche, fruit 

Notes 

1. Chicken enchaladas are from frozen .99 a lb chicken , to,atoes from the plant on the deck 
2. Pizza is a cheap dinner at a dollar a pizza.  Obviously, scratch 
3. Chilli does double duty with chilli dogs another day,   
4. Spaghetti I’m the insta pot.  Eight minutes  bread sticks are from a batch a month ago at the surplus bread store,  I froze them.  
5. Chicken pot pie from frozen chicken . 
6. Quiche is easy and quick as well as inexpensive. 

Concept Saturday / Dollar Tree food,

Yes, you can get good food at the DT.   You can also get nasty food at the DT....just saying...

There are a few things, mostly name brand things .

Some of the things, namely garlic and some frozen foods come from China.   Buy at your own comfort level.

The best things are taco shells, tortillas. Pizza sauce, suddenly salad, Betty Crocker products, ;we have got hunts tomatoes, organic, named brand enchilada sauce for a dime.  Hunts pasta sauce, Barilla pasta.  Named brand frozen potatoes.

Sometimes they get overstocks or things that were in a test market and didn’t fly,

Buyer beware, but anything that is not going to be a long term item in your house, is probably a good buy.  Napkins, kids work books, balloons, party decorations and present bags.

A great tip, if you are a Costco toilet paper  shopper, buy one pack of dollar store toilet paper.  Put it in the very back of the closet.   You will never be stuck if someone  forgets to tell that you are running low. Don’t  need to say more.

You still have to know your prices . Some things are cheaper at other stores.   Sometimes the  quality isn't up to high standards.

Pounder glasses are good as well as some glass wine glasses.

They do take coupons,  no more than four in a day per household and some managers don’t have a sense of humor,   Like Edmonds for instance.  Kenmore, on the other hand.....

Please feel free to comment on what you do like to buy at the DT.

Friday recipe

Years ago, my youngest son’s kindergarten teacher lived across the street.   She was a kind soul.  She always had took in children that needed a home even long past the time when her birth children were adults.   Her son had a job that managed sports  stars.  A very large African-American man was visiting for a few days,   He was a basket ball star named Kenny.   Kenny was shooting hoops using the community street basket ball hoop.  My son was two and a half, Now,  he was the direct opposite of Kenny in stature and colour.   He was as white as he could be with stark blond hair.   He came out with a basketball that was bigger than him yelling “ baketball, baketball”.  Kenny picked him up and let him slam dunk the ball.   The grin on both their faces was priceless.   I wish I would have had a cell phone with a camera.   Lol 😂

I digress. This same neighbor had an expression. She made Guesseroles.   That was when she cooked pasta and added anything she had in the fridge or cupboard to make a meal.  

So, Mrs Boot, this one is for you,  

Mexican Casserole

4 ounces macaroni
1/2 pound of cooked ground meat
1 -15.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes, not drained
1 tsp of tomato boullion, or 2 ounces of tomato paste.  
2 cups cooked  kidney beans -or  1 can , rinsed and drained.
1/2 can diced green chillies , drained
2 tsp  taco seasoning
4 ounces (1cup) Mexican blend cheese

• Cook macaroni and drain. 
• Combine all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the cheese in a saucepan.  Cook for about ten minutes on low while the pasta cooks. 
• Combine  the drained pasta and the “sauce”.
• Place in a baking dish , top with cheese 
• Bake at 375 for 30 minutes 

Total cost when buying your ingredients at  RBP is 3.09.

These are all staple ingredients in a well stocked basic kitchen.  The prices are my rock bottom prices in Seattle.   Seattle is among  the top 7 cost of food cities in the USA. 

FM haul 8/17

Haul for week of 8/17

Raspberries 3.99
Strawberries 3.99
2 lbs bacon 5.29
Brats 2.50

Kroger yogurt, markdown .19

Peanut butter 1.39

English muffins 1.67

Total 19.21

Safeways

Cantaloupe 2.00
2 doz eggs .99 ea

3.99 total

23.20 total


Bonus Grocery Outlet

Ripe olives .69
Tomatoes .99
Bacon 1.99
Biscuits .50
Salame 2.79
Total 12.13
Total 35.33

How did she do that? Really fast taco soup

It is always a good thing to have a recipe or two that you can make in minutes and tastes good.   We have all had days when time gets away from you.

It starts with the prep idea of frying bulk ground meat when you bring it home from the store or shortly after.   Fry the meat, de fat it of you need to and place it on quart bags portion controlled for you family.  We bag the amount we need for tacos.  You can always pull multiple bags from the gallon bag you freeze them on . Label the gallon bag,  this double bags your meat and you only have to label one bag. 

Taco soup - it really takes five non passive minutes.   

• Take a half a pound of cooked ground beef out of the freezer and defrost it in the microwave about 1.5 minutes or just bat it on the counter until it’s broken up. Place it on the slow cooker.  I use the insta pot, 
• Add the following :
• 1 -  can of diced tomatoes , not drained 
• 1 can of beans of choice -black, P.I. to, or kidney , drained and rinsed, 
• 1 can or equivalent frozen of corn 
• 4 cups of beef or vegetable stock.  I just make the stock in the cans, it rinses the cans and makes less dishes, 
• 1T taco seasoning (homemade)

Turn the slow cooker or Insta pot on lsowmcooker mode and let it cook until you are ready to eat.   

Technically everything you put in the pot is abkento be eaten straight from the can.  You just want the flavors to combine and it to get hot.   

Chain store ads

note:  these were gleamed from the internet.  Despite there not being a holiday, the main man did not bring the ads.   The Safeway ad was also not  on the Internet.  Note:  today I have also posted some WNTB and why.   WNTB is what not to buy,   A description of what to watch for and buy instead to save lots on your bottom line,


Fred Meyers

WNTB —FF chicken breast 1.99.    Last week FF split chicken breast was .88.  A little time saves you more than 1/2amd you get the added bonus of chicken stock thatmcost upwards of two dollars a quart.  

The following are all .99
Grapes 
Peaches 
Milk
Pears

Sour cream  16 ounces 1.25

Kroger breakfast sausage 2/5
2 lbs strawberries 3.99
Ground Turkey 2.99

WNTB - Binkess Pork Loin chops 3.99–it wasn’t that long ago that we got pork loin for .99.  You can almost always get them for up to 1.69.  Again, buying them for even the 1.69 is half the price and it takes minutes to slice a pork chop off of a loin. 

QFC

Milk .99


Buy5: save 5

Goldfish .99
Tillamook ice cream2.99

WNTB - 4 blueberry muffins 3.49–it cost about a buck to make a dozen muffins,   Make a muffin mix up and it takes a matter of a few minutes to whip up a dozen muffins,   The savings are remarkable amdyou know what is in  them. 

Alberways 

Cantaloupe.99
Friday only -cream soups 1.00
Peppers 1.00
Corn 3/1
Hebrew national franks 2/7

WNTB-milk is 1.00 at both Kroger stores. 
Garlic bread is 3.49/ it cost .30. See the “big family homestead  “on u tube 

How did she do that?

Chocolate zucchini muffins.   Yum.   An easy way to get a green vegetable into husbands,. I’m not saying children, because granddaughter loves vegetables.   Lol

A friend gave me zucchini last night,   Our zucchini plant gave up one zucchini.  We probably,should have put some slug bait out.  I didn’t think that it would be a problem where we planted it.   I really appreciate her sharing.

Most “quick breads” are best made with the least amount of mixing .  Over  mixing  causes the bread to be tough.  Measure and stir the dry ingredients together in one bowl,  measure and stir the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.  Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients,  don't  over mix,—  just mix until all the dry ingredients are no longer visible.   Put your mixture into a prepared  pan and bake according to the recipe.

On another note.  Life is not perfect and you are always going to have some fails.   The buttermilk pancake mix I made the other day was one of those fails.  It turned out to be so thin, it just didn’t work.  Thankfully I had made french toast to use up the bread that was hanging around too long,  I froze it in four slice lots in quart bags.  A little time in the toaster and it saves the day.  It is a good way to use up Texas toast bread that is not being used up fast enough.  It makes for a quick easy breakfast that a older child could make themselves.

I did try another recipe for buttermilk pancake mix.   Thankfully I had only made a half batch. In retrospect, I probably could have used the mix for breading.   I try to limit carbs, however , so I use a combination of nuts, breadcrumbs, and parmesean cheese to bread things like chicken nuggets.  Its really good and it cuts carbs and adds protein.  

Looking for ways to keep costs down while providing good nutrition is a way to eat well on four dollars a day.  Keeping a stock of basic food that is efficiently versatile is a good way to cut food costs.  This is a good time when less is more.  If you have less variety you can buy more of it in bulk and save a lot of money,   Packaging is expensive.  I keep a small amount of dry buttermilk.  Real buttermilk is a good ingredient in baked items, but buying liquid buttermilk is just nit practical.  Amazon had dry buttermilk, local. In a plastic bag for far less than the box in the grocery store.  That’s when saving the wide mouth jars you have instead of putting them in the recycle.  We also got a big canister of chicken bouillon.  The cost was drastically lower than buying the little jars at Winco.  It is good anytime you need chicken stock.  That happens a lot when you are scratch cooking.  We try to make stock, but that doesn’t always happen.

If you buy something that doesn’t spoil in bulk once, you can mark that off your list.  It simplifies your grocery shopping,   Bit by bit you find yourself buying dairy, perishables, and a rotation meat.  You are scratch cooking efficiently and cutting your time and money a lot.  And you are not eating out of a box or bag and are controlling salt, sugar, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, HFCS, and gmo s .and the food dyes.

Monday Kitchen Management aka food prep

Kitchen   management is a tool that saves time and money in the long run.  It makes life less stressful during the hectic dinner hour.

Reminder if menu

• Tacos, refried beans 
• Pizza
• Meatballs, with mashed potatoes, veggie 
• Pork roast, baked potato. Salad, vegetable 
• Vegetable bean soup. Bread sticks 
• Beer cheese soup, brats 
• Breakfast for dinner / french toast, bacon, cantaloupe 

1. Wash kitchen floor 
2. Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead. 
3. Clean and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains. 
4. Wash and dry carrots and potatoes. 
5. If having refried beans today, make them. Insta pot is a good resource,  
6. Clean the drip pans on the stove, 

Meal plans

Meal plans are a tool that saves time and money.
The first week and a half was regular spending, the next three weeks will/ have been no spend,  no spend just means that we will only buy perishables and things that we are completely out of.

• Meatballs with mashed potatoes and a veggie 
• Tacos, re fried beans (scratch) 
• Pizza
• Breakfast for dinner 
• Pork Roast , baked potatoes, salad 
• Vegetable bean soup , biscuits 
• Beer cheese soup, brats 

Notes 

1. Meatballs are cheaper to buy than make at Winco. Make gravy with beef stock. 
2. Tacos are made from already cooked hamburger,   Re fried beans are in the insta pot, no fat 
3. Pizza is homemade. Pizza costs a dollar, the crust is .19 of it. 
4. Breakfast for dinner is a mainstay.  Everyone cooks.   We have fruit, french toast already made from the last of the Texas toast from the  Read store. 
5. Pork Roast is from a ,99 a pound pork loin, 
6. Vegetable bean soup is a personal recipe, made from scratch, beans and all. 
7. Beer cheese soup is a new recipe and we already have break sticks in the freezer.   

What we ate for dinner so far...

For August 1-17 , 2018.   Part of this was no soens. The first week was not.

1.  Texas French Toast, bacon, cantaloupe 
2. Hamburgers, pasta salad, fruit 
3. Sausage, potatoes, carrots , roasted 
4. Bbq beef sandwiches, corn on the cob 
5. Insta pot spaghetti, salad 
6. Salmon, twice baked potatoes. Green salad 
7. Potluck, veggie tray 
8. Bbq beef sandwiches, oven fries, salad 
9. Potluck dinner- pasta salad 
10. Nachos 
11. Chicken patties , oven fries. Fruit 
12. English muffins, scrambled eggs, fruit tray , bacon 
13. Sloppy joes. Corn on cob, fruit 
14. Fish n chips , coleslaw 
15. Clam chowder. Fruit 
16. Pork fried rice, chicken dumplings 
17. Taco soup , tortilla soup 
18. Antipasta plate 
19. 
    
20. 
    
21. 
    

Concept: how to shop at Grocery Outlet

Grocery Outlet is a discount overstock grocery store.  It is a chain and is franchised like the Dollar Tree.  There are other stores in other states that are similar.

Shopping at the Grocery Outlet is a treasure hunt,   Like any other store,  not all things are a bargain.   You still have to know your prices.

I, personally don’t buy the produce.  I’ve only done it a couple of times at two different stores, and both times had a bad experience.

We have two places on our area that the grocery outlet and dollar tree are side by side.   It makes things more efficient.

I can usually find good sliced cheese, and a variety of cheeses for a reasonable amount.  The exception being grated cheese,  you are better off buying grated cheese at Costco or on sale at Alberways or one of the Kroger  stores.

I can most of the time find a name brand taco kit for a buck.  That’s the price if he taco shells and you get the seasoning and sauce with it.  Otherwise, I get the shells for a buck, my buy price.

Nuts are another thing that we watch out for.   If I don’t find them there, we get bulk at the Winco or bags at Costco.

I was getting coffee, but now I find a lot of the expensive bagged kind, but not the normal Foldgers or   Maxwell House,

Some of the larger frozen food bags are a bargain.

You just never know what you are going to find.   Del Monte green green beans were .33 .  They were close to the pull date.  In those cases, I buy just what I might use before the pull date and put the front of the stack.   I have also got organic diced tomatoes for .50.   You never know what you are going to find.   We got bacon yesterday for 2.00 a pound.   And, tube biscuits , Pillsbury, for .50.  They have to be used  this month.   That’s not a problem for us.   I didn’t buy he stack.  LOL

The basics of this  is :

• Buyer beware: know your prices and check the pull dates .  
• Don’t buy anything in quantity if you can’t use it before the pull dates.  Often something like a cake type mix will be very cheap and you can expect some time after the pull date on those things.  Anything dry is probably better longer than the pull date.  
• I would , personally, avoid fresh foods. 
• They have a large inventory of organic foods
• They often have seasonal things that are perfectly good.  Who cares if you eat pumpkin in the summer? 
• If you find something with shelf life that you really like, don’t hesitate to buy as much as you are comfortable with. It is You snooze. You loose time. 

Miscellaneous carp

Short notes from my reader.....

Someone  said the best gift is a gift of your time.   Consider this blog  a gift.  I am sharing 50 years  of learning how to cut your grocery bill.  We all need to eat, but a lot of us need to have a well rounded life and be able to have a roof over our head, utility bills paid , health care paid for and a few cents  to rattle around  in their pockets.

Yesterday, we went to Fred Meyer,   My husband doesn’t think life is great without bacon? Lol.  I found pieces - 2 pounds for a little more than it would cost for 1 pound of bacon.   If you put them in a low heat while you are cooking other things, they will render down and you can use the bacon for flavoring in any number of dishes.

QFC sends us free food periodically.  Free is a good word.   This time we get free sausage and salsa.   Both are good additions to a food pantry/freezer.

Today I cleaned out the upstairs side by side freezer and cleaned out the bins so that they were better organized.   I found pork cubes I will use for the fried rice in the insta pot recipe iIam going to try.  The insta pot version was a bust; the rice comes out too watery.  It was tender, but I didn’t like the texture.  We had Chinese dumplings with it.  Total cost of the fried rice is about 1.00 including some pork.

My husband went and got 2dozen eggs for a buck a dozen and a two dollar cantaloupe.

No spend means you only buy perishables and fill ins,   It drastically reduces you cash expenditures ,
and pares down the pantry.  That’s a good thing.


There are a lot of good mix recipes on the internet or u tube.   Mixes give you the convenience of a ready made mix without the extra cost.   You can purchase a lot of raw ingredients at the bulk section of Winco or your basic grocery store that has a bulk section.  I’m making buttermilk pancakes and cream soup mix.  Cream of .....soup used to be like .35.  Now it’s well over 1.50 unless you find sakes and coupons.  That is best found around thanksgiving time.

Shopping to stock your freezer/pantry actually takes less time than regular shopping and the reward is that you always have food in the house.   Instead of a large basket of groceries piecemeal, you have less variety of items.  Once you are set up, you go to the store to buy a rotation protein, replenish dairy and produce, and replenish the basics that you have already found advertised that you need.
If you keep your food pantry/cupboard organized, you can tell at a glance what you might be approaching stock up time. Many times you can just shop the perimeter of the store and get on and get out of the store.   Its a good rule of thumb to shop two stores a week.

Spending an hour a week prepping for the upcoming week, saves a lot of time and money during meal time.  It just makes life easier and it enables you to cook scratch food in the same time you might have spent using mixes and ready maxes that might have things from the science department in them,   There are things at the grocery store that we feed our children that have detergent type additives and wood pulp in them.   All I’m an say is yuk!

Groceries on the cheap doesn’t mean you have to buy cheap food.   It means you buy good food cheap.

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

My mother used to say that some people could have a bargain get up and bite them in the butt, and they wouldn’t see it.  Don’t be that person,  know the rock bottom prices  RBP, of the things you use on a regular basis.  Most families have a list of 10-15 items,   Buy in quantity when the Leicester are low.  Its not a new concept.  Stockbrokers have been using it for years,  they buy a stock when it’s cheap and sell it when it goes up.   The difference is there is less speculation with food.

The other example would be on r great grandmothers on the farm.  They would “put up food for the winter”.  Back then they had to make best use of the growing season and they didn’t have the technology we have today,

I hope I gave you some ideas. Please let me know of this type of blog is helpful.

Thanks for stopping by

Jane