Concept : cheap meals can afford you some more expensive ones

I started this blog to help people stretch their snap dollars so they could eat well on four dollars a day.   It has morphed into a bunch of frugal ideas for everyone , not just those in dire straights.   I’ve been working n dire straights, without a safety net of snap, but I also realize that a lot of people have been a lot worse off than I was.   Times have changed for us and I wouldn’t see us in any way dire straights.  It’s actually a little t more secure feeling knowing that our income isn’t going to change and we have the luxury of being able to do what we want , when we want to do it.  We still have volunteer positions, but it’s not the same.   I can still help people s t r e t c h their buck at the grocery store and have been for six years now,    I spend time searching for ideas that work and can be incorporated into a efficient way of buying food and cooking it.  The end result is home cooked, efficiently cooked meals that taste good.   I try for low saturated fat, hydrogenated oil,  salt, sugar, HFCS, and caustic soap free food.

This blog is going to be about low cost, good food.   If you can add some comfort foods that are low cost to your meal plans, it affords you a way to have a more expensive meal or two and still maintain a four dollar a day  budget. It’s all in the averaging.

Prices when I can quote them are based in buying your food at the RBP in the Seattle area.   Seattle is one of the highest COL states in the nation.  One might think that was because of the high cost of housing ,  but I research a lot of grocery shopping blogs across the country, and food is higher here. I think it is especially curious that even things grown on the west coast are cheaper in the mid west than they are here.

Four servings

• Chicken noodle soup , cheesy drop biscuits comes in at two dollars 
• Potato soup, artisan bread comes on at 1.50 
• Pizza for cheese, a dollar 
• Waffles or pancakes, fruit, eggs 2.50 
• Spaghetti with red sauce as low as 1.13 add a salad and some Parmesan cheese, or green beans (50) 
• Red beans and rice.  Beans come in at .0125 a half cup serving, Rice is .03 a serving. Cost is nickel a serving plus vegetables and spices. 
• Chicken enchiladas with green sauce 2.28 
• Taco soup 3.00

Notes: 

Chicken stock is virtually free and can be fat and salt free if you make it from chicken bones.   Dry little time involved.

Anything that takes meat pieces instead of a hunk of meat is going to be less expensive per serving,  add beans, rice, or cheese to “beef” up the protein.  If a meal doesn’t have enough protein, consider  adding a protein rich desert. 

Scratch pizza crust, and artisan bread costs about a tenth of what ready made does and it takes literally ten minutes or less.

Consider getting the tools to make cooking faster and easier.   You buy groceries over and over again,  tools you buy once.   They can save a bundle  of money.  The easier something is, the more likely you are to do it when you are tired or things are hectic. 

You’re at the beach......

a few years ago, we went to the beach for our anniversary.  We got cheap lodging with a groupon.   It was abundantly clear soon after we arrived why it was sooo cheap.    There was virtually no clean ( as  food and no kitchen facilities at our disposal.   Clean to us meant food that didn’t  look like it needed to be thrown out.   We had brought some food in a cooler like I always do.  That took care of a breakfast.   The first night we went to the only place that was open,,,a fish and chips that cost 40.00   For fish and chips one drink, , and mine  was ice tea.  

I wound up doing a search on my tablet and finding a subway at a gas station five miles away.  My husband went every night and bought us dinner.   Albeit better than nothing,  

That being said, I decided I would do a blog on what you can buy at the dollar tree that is not made in China and as healthy as it can be. This does mean that you have some basic cooking equipment .   I have for years carried a plastic container with plastic plates, bowls, cups and silverware, along with a cutting board and paring knife,   It has saved us numerous times.  

Dollar tree food you can eat, not necessarily the cheapest place to get it.

Canned chicken
Tuna
Salami
Crackers
Oatmeal
Almond milk
Spaghetti. And noodles
Pasta sauce. ( hunts)
“Parmesean cheese”
Pizza crust
Pizza sauce
Pepperoni
Fake cheese
Name brand Mac and cheese (frozen)
Name brand instant mashed potatoes
Chili
Canned vegetables
Rice
Beans
Tomatoes
Dried tomatoes
Dried fruit
Turkey bacon
Eggs
Tortillas
Chicken stock
Hormel chicken tamales
Peanut bitter
Bread
Bagels (sometimes)
Olive oil


Not that any of this is gourmet food, but in a pinch it would work. And some of it is regular food, but at a more expensive price than  other stores.  

The Hormel chicken tamales, and pizza sauce is actually cheaper .   And some of the tortillas are not so bad fat and cheaper.   Pepperoni is a name brand.  

Hauls to May 1

Sprouts

Strawberries .98

Celery 1.69

Cucumber  2/1

Pears .98

Italian squash .88

Red grapes. 1.98

Roma’s .99

Corn .20

Yellow squash .99

Total 13.01

Fred Meyers 

Milk 1.25

 Cottage cheese 1.49

Sausage 2.50

FF chicken breast (.88) 4.49

Diced ham 2.00

Total 11.73 

Grand total 24.74

Safeways
Potatoes 1.00
Real maple syrup 5.95
Coffee 5.99
Fruit syrup 2.99
Total 15.97

DT
Bread 3.00
Tortilla strips
Hormel chicken tamales 2
Salt
mustard

Totals 8.00

Winco
2 eggs 1.13

******
50.97

The best of the ads. 5/1

Alberways

Berries  BOGO. Bargain?...

THREE  DAYS ONLY. FSS

Pork blade roast 1.49
Roma’s, onions, avocados .99
Sour cream, tortillas .99


Barilla pasta @@.99
Salsa 1.99@@

Only at Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake terrace
Apples .99
Black olives .79


QFC
18 ounces blues 4.99
Milk 4/5

NBH (no bargain here )
2 lb deli chicken 7.99

Chicken breaks even with bone to meat ratio at 3 lbs,
At two pounds, you are laying 8.00 a pound for the chicken
Last week, split chicken breast was .88 a pound at Fred Meyers,
Almost 10 pounds for the cost  of one!

Sprouts

Corn 5/1
Tomatoes .88
Apples .88

Fred Meyers

Berries 2/5
Wishbone dressings 1.79

Digital FRI, SAT, SUN
Shrimp 4.99
Tortillas, chips .99
24 ounce sour cream , cottage cheese 1.29

What we ate April

Meal plans are a road map, sometimes we take side trips.

1. daughter cooks 
2. Clam strips, fries, coleslaw 
3. Hamburger  steak, fruit salad, vegetable salad 
4. Chicken soup 
5. Chicken stir fry 
6. French Toast, oranges, bacon 
7. Chicken soup 
8. Pizza
9. Shrimp salad 
10. Vegetable stir fry with chicken 
11. Waffles, strawberries, bacon 
12. Ham and cheese sliders, fruit salad ( homemade buns) 
13. Tacos, chicken tamales 
14. Pizza
15. Chili 
16. Ham quiche 
17. Chicken pot pie 
18. Spaghetti 
19. Tomato soup. Toasted cheese 
20. Sheet pan dinner, sausage and oven roasted vegetables 
21. Potluck, Broccolli roasted 
22. Potato soup, cheese drop biscuits 
23. Pizza
24. Herb crusted chicken breast, corn on the cob, salad 
25. Chicken enchiladas 
26. Hamburger steaks with blue cheese, vegetable sauté with summer squash, red peppers , tomato, celery, red pepper flakes  and parsley 
27. Baked potato bar 
28. Sausage, waffles, strawberries 
29. Chicken pot pie 
30. Potluck. Refried beans (scratch)

L

Monday Kitchen Management

The joy of Kitchen Management is that you are free to do as much or as little as you want.  Kitchen management or food prep is a tool for getting you out of the kitchen fast in week nights that are sometimes hectic and your plate is full.  

Reminder of meals
Chicken pot pie
Pizza
Breakfast for dinner
Taco soup
Chicken noodle soup
Pork stew

1. Wash kitchen floor 
2. Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead 💀.
3. Clean and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains. 
4. Wash vegetables : carrots and potatoes , dry
5. Chicken is already cooked as well as the hamburger for the taco soup. 
6. Check the homemade  mix levels.   Magic mix? Rice? Muffin? 
7. Clean the microwave .

I bought colored tortilla strips at the dollar tree.  I also bought hamburger buns and Texas toast that we need to freeze or use during the week.    

The Texas toast we use for French Toast for breakfast for dinner.  Last night I snuck whole wheat flour into the waffles.   Some people have used hamburger buns for poor mans French bread. Lol. O think I’ll freeze  them for sloppy joes.  Bagels are food for breakfast and we have cream cheese.   

Having muffin mix means you can have muffins made in about 15 minutes at a cost of about .32.   

Add the cost of any flavoring like a small apple or strudel topping 

It costs three cents  a serving for rice.   Adding some chicken stock and some herbs is pennies and far cheaper than a box mix.

Magic mix is basically a mix that makes white sauce with the addition of water.  Faster and easier than scratch.  Add chicken stock instead for green enchilada sauce and add mild green chilies.   These are cheapest at Winco for Winco brand.  Winco canned foods have no BPA in the cans along with being cheaper.   

Dollar tree had Hormel chicken tamales , tortilla strips , orowheat bread including bagels, Texas toast type bread, and hamburger buns,   They also have hints ketchup in a large bottle, a sea salt grinder, pizza sauce (name brand) Chex mix (name brand), sometimes Barilla pasta.   Watch the frozen foods, many are from China,   I have got Ore Ida there before.   I watch for American name brands.  Some things  like cereal, cake mix, pasta sauce, suddenly salad and canned veggies are cheaper elsewhere and  sometimes in a bigger package.  Pinto beans are .67 a pound.  The only place beside buying 25 pounds at Costco that I have found cheaper is in the bulk isle at Winco.    

Sunday, it must be meal plans

Meal plans save time and money and keep you organized along with a prep , kitchen management  day.  We use a protein driven meal plan.

• Chicken pot pie 
• Pizza
• Roast chicken, pear salad , mashed potatoes, green beans 
• Taco soup, chips, cheese, sour cream 
• Chicken noodle soup , cheese biscuits 
• Pork stew, bread 
• Breakfast for dinner. 

Notes 

1. Chicken pot pie is quick and easy and uses magic mix, frozen mixed veggies, and chicken pieces. 
2. Pizza is a mainstay.  A cheese pizza costs about a dollar, five or take a few cents .
3. Roast chicken is frozen, pear salad has blue cheese and walnuts.  Pears were cheap at sprouts. 
4. Taco soup is easy on the insta pot— or not.  Hamburger is already cooked and on the freezer.   
5. Chicken noodle soup uses frozen chicken pieces, cheese biscuits add to the origin and are quick and easy. (Betty Crocker) 
6. Pork stew is on the insta pot for 35 minutes . Stew meat comes from a pork loin end. Potatoes are a dollar at Alberways. 
7. Breakfast for dinner is another mainstay.  Sausage was on sale at Fred Meyers . Eggs were 1.13 a dozen . 

Balancing some cheap dinners with some more expensive ones makes for a better variety of meals. 

Principles of thrift

Basic necessities of food can be inexpensive and are the start of providing good meals for your family.  Trying to keep up with the Jones’ that earn three times your income doesn’t work.   The reality is, you have to make it on what you have. It’s the truth, but you can actually eat better, because you aren’t eating a bunch of preservatives and fat.

Buying your groceries 1 week or day at  a time means you are paying  top dollar for your food. Using a replentish based shopping strategy instead of a panic strategy is key.  Panic strategy is when you have nothing left in the refrigerator but a jar of pickles and you rush out to buy groceries at the nearest store.   Replentish based shopping, replentishes  what you used, yet  you still have food in the house,  It is a lot more relaxing,  you can go to the store at your leisure and take advantage of sale prices at two stores.  You are going to the store for a rotation protein, your dairy, and produce, and to replentish your stock of something  is at a good price.   The price of the same thing, in identical box and brand can have a spread in price of two dollars.   All those two dollars add up fast.  Something as simple as buying frozen instead of fresh can make a big difference.  In actuality, many times the meat you are buying has been previously frozen anyway and the frozen vegetable has been frozen at its peak of freshness.

Ten dollars during spring and summer months at a Sprouts or a farmers market can buy a basket of food.   Not buying organic saves a lot of money.  Pesticides are water soluble.  Wash your produce with vinegar water. Peel it if it makes sense.   There are a lot of storage containers  that keep  the gasses  out and keep vegetables longer.  Organic food doesn’t last as long as regular.   The upshot can be a sixty percent markup from regular food.  My take in that is that I have lived through almost three  quarters of a century with regular food and  they used to use a lot more caustic pestisedes than they do now. I am still alive and kicking!   LOL

Oxy moron. LOL
They say that not buying junk food and pop can save 50 percent of you food budget.  Buying things half price can save 50 percent.  But, somehow that doesn’t mean you are getting your food for free!

• Never pay full price.  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 . 
• Identify the foods you use in a regular basis.   If they are  on perishable, consider keeping a four to week supply of those foods.   That means that of you eat spaghetti and sauce once a week, you need  to keep four packages of pastah and four containers of sauce. 
• Buying your protein in bulk when it is a “loss leader” and purchasing enough for a four to six week supply, saves money and avoids waste.   Break  the bulk down on meal sized portions.  If you eat ground beef once a week, you will need four meal sized portions. For is, that would be two pounds.   
• Keep fresh fruit and vegetables in stock at home,   Buy produce when in season,   The basics of carrots , celery, and potatoes are year round.   When produce is in season, it tastes better and is cheaper.    
• Dairy usually goes on sale once a month,  most dairy with the exception of milk had a month pull date.  Buy the basics when it is on sale.   Milk can be had usually with coupons or with deals for free pairing cereal and milk,   Use coupons for the cereal.   
• Eggs are a good source of protein .   The prices vary,  again, you have a month pull date.  Buy them when they are cheap and keep a four week supply.   Replentish as you use them and when they are at their cheapest. 
• Know your prices.   If it is something that you can substitute something else for or go without, don’t buy anything unless it is at or below you target price.   
• Portion control is good for your waistline as well as your pocketbook.   Know what the RDA mis for protein and milk.   It just might surprise you. 
• Keeping a four to six week supply means you never have food anxiety,   Food anxiety can actually lower you life span.   This also good insurance against not having  food  in an emergency.   It’s not like you can live without it.  I’m recent years, we have had floods that meant the trucks couldn’t get to the grocery stores; snow, and a government shutdown  .   Grocery stores carry a three DAY supply of food.   In an emergency  situation, you can’t depend on the store to cover your butt.
• Learn to efficiently scratch cook.   If you are stretched for time, spend more time planning and organizing and less time cooking.  Planning an organizing, and shopping wisely saves money, efficient scratch cooking saves time and money. It costs .28 to make a loaf of artisan bread and takes ten minutes of your hands on time.  It costs up to 3.99 for a loaf of artisan bread.    ( Safeways) .   A full pot of potato soup and cheesy drop biscuits cost about 1.50. The same price of a can that serves 1

Finally Friday

Yesterday, we bought a bulk tray of split chicken  breast;  it is Foster Farms.   Last night I de boned 4 chicken breasts. The tray  totaled five pounds that cost about 4.50.

I did this quickly and didn’t try to get real close to the bone.  Each breast was over a pound.  I got four reasonable single serving breasts and   it left a lot of meat on the rib bones.  This morning I placed the bones in the insta pot on the slow cooker mode.  I will have chicken stock and a lot of chicken pieces to make numerous dinners.  This netted 2.75 quarts of stock, 4 chicken breasts, amd a full pound of chicken pieces.   

It doesn’t take a lot of hands in time to de bone chicken and saves a lot of money.  I put corn n the cob in the microwave, made a green salad, and cooked chicken breast in the insta pot.  The recipe I used called for an herb and olive oil paste on a boneless , skinless  chicken breast.  You browned it on the sauté mode , then  removed it, de glazed the pan adding a cup of chicken broth.  Replaced the breasts on the rack and processed it for  6 minutes. I felt the breasts were bigger than normal, so I added a minute to the time.  While the chicken was cooking, I disinfected the cutting board and made salad .   

Today, we are having chicken Enchiladas with some of the meat from the insta pot slow cooker

.   .   

Cooking meat ahead of dinner time goes a long ways to making dinner time efficient. 

1 cup of shredded , cooked, chicken 

2 cups green enchilada sauce 

1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese 

1 can - 4 ounces , diced green chilies (small can is .69 at winco ) 

6 small flour tortillas

• Mix together in a bowl, the chicken, half of the green chilies, 1/4 cup cheese, and enough sauce to bind together,   
• Place small amount of mixture in the lower third of a tortilla, roll and place seam side down in a baking pan that has a small amount of sauce in the bottom.   
• Pour  remaining sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese,
• Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling around the edge of pan,   
• 
  
• Serves 2 adults and two children. 
• 
  
• Enchalada sauce is magic mix made with chicken stock instead of water.   Add green chilies. 

•  
• 
  

Hauls to 4/24

Fred Meyers

7 chili .99
5 butter 2.49
Peppers .99
Blackberries .99
Sour cream .99
Total 25.33

The best of the ads 4/24

Sprouts
Strawberries .98
Tomatoes .88
Mango 2/1
Oranges .88
Pears .98
Squash .88
Blues, blackberries 2/5


Alberways

Chicken , whole or part .99
Ribs, pork 1.99

General Mills cereal. Buy 2, get three free.  -bargain?..

Milk 1.99@@
Bread .79

Dollar sale
Garden salad
Red delicious apples
Roma’s
Peppers
Naval oranges

Corn on cob 2/1
Potatoes 5# 1.00

QFC
.99
Tomatoes
broccoli

Digital coupons
Cheerios 1.79
Milk 4/5

Digital coupons 4 days only Thirsday  - Sunday
Sausage 1.99

Fred Meyers
Very hard to follow ad

Foster farms chicken .88 includes split breast 
Kroger bacon 2.99 # I’m 3 pounds package 
Milk 4/5 
Sausage   2/5 
Sausage 1.99


Digital coupons 
Marie c frozen dinners 1.88
Cheerios 1.79
Yoplait yogurt 10/5
Deli meat Oscar  Mayer 2.49 

Digital thurs -Sunday 
Cheese .99

Note : split chicken breast and cheese at Fred Meyers is a good stock price.   Note vlog on split chicken breast....make the chicken stock pay for the chicken.  

How many things can you make from flour

A 25 lb bag of flour at Costco is now 7.29. That is .29 lb or .087 cup.

Most bakery items and frozen bakery items are marked up by about 90 percent.  Understandably, when there  is someone else’s labor involved, we need to pay for it.  But, when you are economizing it usually means you have more time than money.  Besides the fact that homemade has no preservatives and you control the ingredients.

• Artisan bread 
• Pizza
• Muffins
• Pancakes 
• Tortillas 
• Noodles 
• Dumplings
• Biscuits 
• Cookies
• Pie crust
• Bread
• Doughnuts 
• Fruit crumbles 
• Waffles
• Buns for sliders
• Cake 
• Cupcakes 
• Hoagie rolls 

Monday * the price book

 Price books are a tool to keep track of the lowest prices on your master list.   I have a few things in my master list  and keep it in my head.  You can, however, keep a spiral book and keep t 8n your purse or coupon book.

Small spiral tablets  are about three for a Dollar at the DT.  List the item on top of the sheet, add the date, store and price .  After a few times posting to the sheet, youmwill have a sense ifmwhat the lowest price is.

Canned vegetables .50
Any fresh veggies 1.00 or less
Chicken less than 1.30
Hamburger 80-20 less than 3.00
Pasta sauce 1.00 for canned
Pasta sauce in jars 1.50
Tomato  sauce , 8 ounces 3/1
Ketchup, 1.00
Mayo 3.00
Diced tomatoes .58, , .50 is better
Cream soups .50 or less.
Sugar 4 lbs 1.00
Eggs 1.50 tops.
1/2 gallon milk 1.00
Sour cream 1.00
Pork loin 1.00- 2.00 #
Pizza sauce 1.00
Suddenly  salad  1.00 large box
Pinto beans .67 a #
Cheese 2.00-2.50 lb
Cheese slices 2.19 - real cheese

Meal plans

Meal  plans are a necessary part of an organized kitchen and help us  to stay in track and save money and time.

• Potato soup w ham , cheezy biscuits 
• Pizza
• Black bean enchiladas 
• Beef stew, with carrots, and potatoes 
• Sausage cream pasta ( Big Family Homestead u tube) 
• Salmon, glazed carrots with honey and ginger. Green beans 
• Breakfast for dinner : waffles, fruit, eggs 

Balancing cheap meals with some not so cheap helps to keep you in budget without feeling deprived. 

Notes 

1. Potato soup comes in at less than a dollar.  Ham cubes are left over from another meal.   
2. Pizza is a mainstay.  Cheese pizza comes on at a dollar a pizza.   
3. Black bean enchiladas are a Betty Crocker recipe,  ,ale your own enchiladas sauce. 
4. Beef stew is made a n the inst pot on 35 minutes. 
5. Sauce cream pasta is a skillet meal and quick.   
6. Salmon, glazed carrots and green beans used regular carrots coins and fresh green beans 
7. Breakfast for dinner is another mainstay.  It can be cheap or not so cheap.   Waffles can be healthy with grains and fruit and eggs finish the meal 

What 4.00 a day doesn’t mean

what four  dollars  a day doesn’t mean...

1. It doesn’t mean that your cupboard  is bare at the end of the month 
2. It doesn’t mean eating boxed meals full of preservatives or top ramen 
3. It doesn’t mean you need to work all day in the kitchen 
4. It doesn’t mean you shop at the corner store or the organic store 
5. It doesn’t mean that you have to give up the five food groups. 

1. It does mean you get organized and know the meals you cook on a regular  basis.
2. It does mean that you simplify your list of stock items that help you make a meal anytime you want.
3. It does mean you can have artisan bread 🥖 with ten minutes work anytime you want for a cost of a quarter— give or take a penny, instead of 3.99.
4. It does mean that eventually you will have a stock to carry you through a month if necessary.
5. It does mean that you shop to replenish, instead of shopping in a panic . 
6. It does mean you go to two stores—the best of two stores and cut your food budget in half or more,   
7. It does mean you save the planet by not wasting food and making best use of what you have.
8. It means you actually eat healthier because you aren’t  eating hydroginated oil, too much meat, gmo, HFCS, oreservatives, avoiding trans fats, amd a lot of sugar and salt. 

Introduction

Back in 2012, I started this blog at the encouragement of my children.  My daughter has taught children from low income households for years. Some were lamenting that their SNAP money ran out before the month ran out.  My daughter told one that her mom knew how to stretch a food dollar.

In the early 1970’s I found myself a single parent with more bills than money.  We went through double digit inflation with no raises in three years and my child support was spasmodic at best.  I had no choice but to economize the best I could.  We turned off heat on the bedrooms, I stopped the dishwasher to air dry and I read everything I could get from the library and watched everything I found on our 10 inch black and white tv with rabbit ears.   I already knew some principles from watching my mother.  I just added to it, some things I tried were hits, some things were misses.  It was a learning curve.

Times changed and things got a lot better, but we still economized.  It was a habit by then.  We continued to find new ways to save money on groceries.   I am still learning.  I don’t make money from this blog, my motivation is to help people.

Groceries on the cheap takes a different approach to buying your groceries.  Instead of buying just what you need a day or week at a time , you buy what you need to replenish your supply.  Instead of running out of things and stretching the last week of the month to get by and running to the store the minute pay day comes, you always have food in the house.   Studies have revealed that not  having food in the house lowers your life expectancy.

Having a four to six weeks supply of food is not hoarding and it is a good insurance policy in case of adversity.  We have had roads flood, snow storms, amd a government shutdown on recent years.  Having a four week supply of food takes care of at least one necessity.  It is not hoarding

The basic premice is to buy food when it is at its lowest price and eat it when it is at the highest price.
It is the same premise as stockbrokers use.  And not different than our great grandmothers on the farm, canning food when it was orevelamt in the summer to get through the winter,

This principle allows us to eat well on a four dollar a day budget.   The idea is that if you can do it for four dollars a day, it isn’t hard to spend more. Lol 😂

Unless you have a big influx  of money, this doesn’t happen overnight.  Bit by bit, it happens.   We have had a four dollar a day budget for over two years now.  We strive for low sugar, low salt, low trans fats, non gmo, HFCS, hydroginated oil, and junk food.
We do get REAL Parmesan cheese, real vanilla, real maple syrup, real butter.  We afford this because we don’t buy fake boxes of food.

We talk about the tricks retailers use to get you to buy more,  Pitfalls, efficient scratch cooking, meal plans, basic stock lists, new recipe ideas, old recipe ideas revisited to be healthier, and tools to make life  easier.

I blog everyday.

Hauls to 4/ 17

costco bulk run

Rice 9.79

Flour 7.29

Bomboli 8.99

Oatmeal 8.29

Cottage cheese 4.99

Total 39.35

Sprouts
Strawberries 2/3
Cantaloupe 2.50
Red peppers .98
Grapes .98
Roma’s .88
Yellow squash .88
Total 10.46

Winco
Milk 1.37
Lettuce 1.28
Grape tomatoes 1.38
Total 5.41

Grand total 55.22
Of which 25.37 is long term storage. 

The best of the ads 4/17

Alberways

Shank half ham .99
Spiral ham 1.29
Broccolli, cauliflower.99

Bread 1.49@@
Butter 1.99@@

Pillsbury rolls 4/8$$
Pantry essentials BOGO bargain?...

Foldgers 5.99@@
Cream cheese 1.69@@
Ketchup 2.99@@
Classico pasta sauce 1.49@@


QFC
Spiral ham 1.37
Tillamook ice cream 2/6

B6S3

Cream soup .49
Redi whip 1.99
Healthy choice 1.88
Cottage cheese 1.79
Best foods 2.99
Butter 2.49

Sprouts
Corn 5/1
Green beans .98
Berries 3/5
English cucumbers .98
Snacking tomatoes 2/5
Apples .99


Fred Meyers

B6S3


Butter 2.49
Ritz 1.79
Cream soup .49
Nalleys chili .99
Baby rays sauce .99
Pasta .49
Best foods 2.99
Sour cream .99

*****
Spiral ham 1.27
Blackberries .99
Peppers. Cucumbers .99
Tillamook ice cream 2/6

Military discount Thursday only with coupon

5 budget changing ideas

I was thinking last night...scary idea!  And came up with five change of habits than can save a lot of money and be healthier and safer too.

• Look over the ads and note the items that you need that are a good price. You are  looking for the best two stores.  Going to two stores gives you the best of two stores.  No one store has the lowest prices on everything and going to two stores gives you the luxury of picking the best produce from two stores.   
• Identify your sources of protein,  ours would be beans, rice, cheese, eggs, chicken breast, pork loins and good hamburger.  Buy your protein in bulk when it is a “loss leader “. And buy enough for four to six weeks. IE: if you eat hamburger once a week, you will buy four to six meal sized portions.  
• Identify meals you make on a regular basis and list the items you need to make them,   Sort between shelf stable and perishable.  You want to start trying to stock a four to six week supply of the shelf stable items when you find them at a RBP.  Again, if you use diced tomatoes twice a week, you need enough to make 8-10 meals.   This will take time, but finding the RBP will help.  If you can  buy 2 or 3 for the same price as one, it  doesn’t  take long. 
• Simplify the amount of items  you buy and buy in bulk whenever possible.  It’s cheaper and you have less items in your cart.  Soon, instead of buying just what you need for the week, you will be buying a rotation protein, perishable produce and dairy, and anything on a real sale that is on your stock list and you need. 
• Last one, collect efficient scratch recipes.  This is a way to save a lot of money,   A Costco bag of flour can  save hundreds of dollars.   Artisan bread a quarter, five or take instead of 3.99.  Muffins cost .30 plus a flavor instead of 5.00.  Pancakes fractions of what that bag in the freezer section costs.  Most things save 90 percent and many take ten hands on minutes.   My mother started us baking at 9 yo.  It was good for us, and saves her time.
• Stop buying junk food and pop from your grocery money.  The operative word on SNAP is nutrition .  There isn’t much nutrition in pop and chips.   If you really think you need junk food, take it out of a entertainment bidget.  It will make it abundantly clear how much that stir is costing you.   

7 meals for the A last week of the month,

7 dinners that are super cheap.

1. Chicken noodle soup, cheezy biscuits come on at 2.00 per 4 servings.   NOT 2.00 a serving, 
2. Potato soup, artisan bread comes in at 1.50 for four servings. 
3. Baked potato bar 
4. Spaghetti with parm cheese comes on at 2.00 for four .
5. Chicken enchiladas come in at 3.00
6. Pizza, cheese comes in at a dollar, add pepperoni for an additional .50
7. Scrambled eggs, oranges and strawberries, toast,   3.26

Total 15.00 -

Emergency stretching ideas. 

1. In Washington, chicken leg  quarters are 5.90 for TEN pounds. They are as low as .39 other places on the US. 
2. Potatoes are still cheap and have a lot of nutrients. 
3. A 7.29 bag of flour at  costco can save well over a hundred dollars. 
4. A ten Pound box of oatmeal at Costco makes a serving of oatmeal .085 .  No, here aren’t any decimal mistakes! Lol.  One serving of real oatmeal is the equivalent of 4 bags of that so called instant stuff and it takes a minute and a half to cook.
5. A big bag of rice at Costco will make a serving if rice .03. 
6. The total of the rice, flour and oatmeal is about 25.00 or the price of a good delivery pizza.   
7. Beans are cheaper at Costco, but come on a very BIG bag.  They are .67 a pound at the dollar tree and are grown in USA and non gmo. The last I looked.   They are cheaper at Winco in the bulk department. 
8. Pizza sauce, tortillas, Barilla pasta, and noodles are at the dollar store.  NOT all things at the dollar store are cheaper or as good a quality as one would like.  With coupons , on sale, cold cereal can be lots cheaper.  Many if the frozen  foods are from China.  Know your prices and look for name brands. The pasta sauce is cheaper  at Winco.  Name brand pepperoni is there. 
9. A ten pound bag of chicken legs and thighs can stretch into a lot of meals. 
10. About leg quarters, Place all the quarters on a sheet pan or other pan with sides.  Don’t over crowd the pan.   Make 2 batches of you need to.  Bake at 375 until they are cooked  through and test at 180 degrees. Check several times during the cooking, and remove some of the fat of it is collecting.  Not allowing the fat to re absorb into the chicken is a good thing,   Using a turkey baster can be helpful.  When done, remove from pan and let cool.  Drain it onto a colander that is placed on a pan to collect any fat.  When it is cooled, remove the meat from the bones and save the bones. Bones make good chicken stock.  This makes chicken stock free instead of paying upwards of two dollars a box.  The meat can be used for tons of recipes. 
11. Chicken pot pie, chicken enchiladas, pulled chicken sliders. Chicken noodle soup. Chicken pizza, chicken tacos, burrito bowls. And many more . 
12. Chicken stock can be the basis for chicken gravy, chicken noodle soup, and potato soup and is something that is called  for in many recipes.    It freezes. Pour  your broth in glass jars, refrigerate and when the fat has congealed, scoop it off.   Freeze in bags flat.