Cheese ......

There is a big miss conception out there. Know many times have you heard that buying a block of cheese and grating your own  is cheaper.   WRONG.   Cheese is cheese.   A pound of cheese is a pound of cheese, no matter what shape it is in.    Go by the weight per pound.   I have never seen a block of quality cheese for less per pound than grated. Why work when you don’t have to.  Spend your time doing something  that is going to save money.

Costco grated cheese has potato starch and an ingredient that is to avoid mould.  This is an ingredient that doctors prescribe  for eye infections, I’m sire in larger quantity.  

My problem with organic food is that it grows mould two seconds after it hits your door.

No food is going to do your family any good if you are feeding it to the garbage disposal . 

70 percent of the pesticides can be removed from fruits and vegetables by washing them with a mixture of 10 percent white vinegar and 90 percent water.

Lists : dump and go dinners

A quick dump and go dinner will be a good hedge against ordering dinner on because time has gotten away from you or someone is sick etc.   Or, the kitchen is just too darn hot.

• Any quiche.   Sorry own, dump your ingredients , make crust in the blender and pour over your filling and bake.  

•  Spaghetti in the insta pot.  This is especially fast of you precook your hamburger or ground turkey or have frozen meatballs.   

• Stir fry vegetables and pasta.

• Eggs, toast, fruit 

• Rice, fajitas 

•  

Life is just one big pasta salad

Repost: life is just one big pasta salad 

Yesterday, I made a big pasta salad to take to a happy hour picnic. Reflecting on my life, I think that life is like a big pasta salad. The pasta is the base. Our moral values, or its what we are made of. The veggies and stuff that we throw into it is the life experiences that get thrown at us. We can process them so that we wind up with a gourmet delight, or not. The dressing so how we pull it together. How we find a positive, out of a negative situation.

Back in the days when we went without a 10 inch black and white tv with rabbit ears, I would have never dreamed I would have a thirty something flat screen with hundreds of channels. We listened to old time radio. Now, I listen to old time radio because I want to and enjoy it. I can listen and still work in my studio or fold clothes .

When I studied everything I could get my hands on to learn to stretch a buck, I learned valuable life's lessons. Life's lessons I am trying to teach others. Making a positive out of what could have been a negative. My mother always said that no one ever gets through life without paying their dues. What you do with the experience is the key to a " flop or a gourmet salad."

So, I write this blog to help those people who, by their own volition wadnt to stretch a buck or because someone is in a position to Have to stretch their food dollar, can make informed decisions and eat better for less.
My way of turning a negative into a positive.

The little feedback I get is telling me that people take different things from this blog. Some like to try a new recipe, some like a way to get out of the kitchen faster, or streamline the hectic dinner hour. Some just like to laugh at my terrible keyboard skills on the I pad! LOL. Whatever the reason, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you are sharing so that I can reach more people. They can take what they want from it. I do not get paid for doing this, I am doing it to try to help people eat better for less. Better, cheaper, faster,


Again, thanks for stopping by


Jane

the ads the hard way .....no ads in mail

Fred Meyers 

Cantaloupe 2/3

Boneless Petite sirloin 2.99

Red Cherries 1.68

FF chicken breast, thighs, BOGO

ground turkey BOGO

FF whole fryer, thighs, drums BOGO

eggs .99

Friday, Saturday only, DIGI, up to 5

Kroger brats, Italian sausage, 1.99

raspberries / blackberries 2/5

QFC

BUY5, Save 5

Kroger cheese 4.99 - 2#.  Note: Costco cheese was cheaper in large bags 

cucumbers .79

DIGI ,. FRIDAY, SATURDAY ONLY 5 TIMES 

ANGEL FOOD CAKE 2.49

VITAMINS 3.99

SPROUTS 

STRAWBERRIES, , BLUES , 1.98

peaches .98

cantaloupe 2/3

cherries 1.48

ground beef 85/15 2.99

Alberways 

berries BOGO

milk 1.99@@

bread .99@@

grapes, plums 1.99

ground beef 93/7 3.99

Yoplait 10/5 $$$

note: @@ denotes must have in ad coupon. 

          $$ denotes that there are coupons out there 

Hauls to 7/10

Winco

Grapes .98
Roma’s .98
Strawberries 1.98
Pickles 1.98
Cottage cheese 1.98
Taco shells 1.38
Grape tomatoes 1.98
Yoplait 2.68
Corn .33
Sausage .98
Bread 1.98
Chicken thighs .98
Potatoes 2.28
Total 31.14

Costco flour 7.29

Total 38.43

QFC
Milk 1.99
Sweet baby rays (5) .99
Jello 1.29
Beef patties 5.99
Raspberries 1.50
Raspberries 2.00
Sour cream 1.10
Sargento cheese 1.00
Sargento cheese 1.00
Sargento cheese 2.50
Sargento cheese 2.50
Sargentomcheese 3.00
( ??? Nets 2.00 each)
Total 28.82

Total 67.25

Stock beef patties, sweet baby rays ( year) and sliced cheese for a total of 21.00

Monday Kitchen Management

Some of this blog is so repetitive that the blog spell check writes the sentences by itself! Lol

Last night we had a ham, cheese, peppers quiche.  It was breakfast for dinner night and I wasn’t feeling well.   I had the option to stay in the hospital, but at three thousand or so a  day, I opted out.
I came home with drugs and a prayer.

I digress :  Kitchen Management

1. Wash kitchen floor. 
2. Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead 💀. 
3. Clean and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains. 
4. Make magic mix 
5. Make pancake mix and make label for the canister with directions. 
6. Wash potatoes and carrots, fruit, 
7. Straighten the pantry

Pancake mix is a lot cheaper than buying it.  And, so is muffin mix and magic mix.  They take just a few minutes and save a ton of money.   I got another sack of 7.29 flour because I suspect flour will be taking a hike.  I am already seeing bread prices go up.  Another thing that will see an increase will be pasta.   Pasta has an EIGHT year shelf life.  You really can stock pasta and it makes a quick and easy meal. 

The hedge from ordering pizza because if time and energy constraints is to have your four to six weeks supply of food and a few no brainier meals that go together in a flash with almost no energy,   

Some people call them dump and go.   They don’t have to start with a box of something that costs  a bundle.  A few minutes when you have the time and energy, can save a lot of time and energy when you don’t. 

My daughter recently took on a five hour a day job with no benefits.   She is waiting for a better job that should open up and contemplating going back to college for a higher degree.  Four years of college for barely more than minimum wage is not working  to support a family.   She has been finding resources she didn’t know existed.   Networking is a good thing,   

Please share this blog.  I am trying to get my readership up so I can keep this up.

Sunday, it must be meal plans

Meal plans are a necessary part of groceries on the cheap....of you are organized, even a little bit, it makes life easier and less hectic. The time you are spending in the question, what’s for dinner can be used to out a chicken on a slow cooker  make a batch of magic mix. This makes dinners cheaper and more efficient.

• Chicken orzo soup (taste of home ) , rolls 
• Pizza
• Burrito pie , lettuce and tomato 
• Chicken pot pie 
• Potato and ham soup, cheesy biscuits
• Veggie bow ties , rolls 
• Breakfast for dinner

Notes 

• Chicken Orzo soup uses chicken from the chicken thighs we cooked last week, 
• Pizza is a mainstay, a cheese pizza scratch costs a few cents over a dollar. 
• Burrito pie is made with beef and cooked in the oven , 
• Chicken pot pie has one crust for a reduction in carbs and uses the chicken from thighs, 
• Potato and ham soup is made in the insta pot and cheesy biscuits take minutes to make. Granddaughter is getting really good at making them .
• Veggie bow ties is Friday’s recipe.  Add bread sticks 
• Breakfast for dinner,   A family meal where everyone cooks.

Concept : coupons and bargains.

Make no bones about it, paper coupons are going away,   It might be better for the planet, but it isn’t better for you.    I am not seeing coupons on the paper at the dollar store any more, I quit buying them.

On coupons.com the food coupons are few and far between. 

The good news is, I no longer need to pack around a coupon binder.  The bad news is that coupons are digital and they are attached to a particular store.  You could really clean up if you could find a good sale and match it with a coupon.   

As it is, it’s just a magic surprise.  Fred Meyers and QFC have digital coupons good for usually a 3 day period and they are usually a really good buy.  Sometimes they are lure junk food, but there are some things that are a good buy. 

I go into QFC and hit anything that I would normally buy.  Then when I buy something that is a good price and get a magic surprise in a bonus coupon,   It happened when I got really good hamburger patties for 6.99 for two pounds of patties.   That’s about what two pounds of good hamburger would cost, but these have bacon and cheese in them.  A really good treat.   I had added a two dollar coupon so we got hamburgers for 2.50 a pound.   

I am  not finding much at Safeways, the coupons are for more than we ever pay on the first place.   

Most of Alberways prices are twenty five percent higher than other stores.   Unless they have a really good sale, they are not a good place for bargains. I don’t see a lot of bargains at Walmart either. 

Every few years, our local newspaper makes up a grocery cart list and then goes out and compares prices.  The latest update was what I had observed on the first place,   Fred Meyers and  Winco are the cheapest. 

 Actually, they found grocery outlet the cheapest too, but they are nit a full grocery store.   For those not in this part of the country, grocery outlet is a grocery store that sells overstocks. Sometimes it can be something  that was manufactured for a test market or something that is out of season.  It isn’t out of date, bit out of season.  So, if you don’t mind eating pumpkin flavor in the summer, you can really clean up.   Some are  90 percent off.  

There are no coupons  at grocery outlet, but they have a good stock of organic as well as regular food.   Some things are regular stock that you can find every time you go, and sometimes there are magic surprises that you can take to the bank.   Like bread stuffing for a quarter.  It wasn’t thanksgiving lol .   

It was a name brand.  I also find taco kits for a dollar  at times, that’s the price ofmthemshells, amd you get taco sauce and  seasoning.  

It is like a treasure hunt and you never know what you are going to find.  Oreo candy bars were .25 for two bars. 

It might be something to be said that we have found the Seattle store with higher prices than the other stores and they didn’t stand behind their produce when I got a bag of apples that were all rotten. The Lynnwood and Kenmore stores are cleaner and better.   We like Kenmore,becaise otmjas a dollar tree next door so we can get a lot done with one stop.   We have a very economical car, but it is still better not to waste gas.   

Basically, if you go to grocery outlet with an open mind , you can really clean up on the bargain 

department without coupons.   I don’t buy the meat, amd I don’t buy the veggies.   I do buy the normal deli packages that are at any store like cheese and bacon. 

Using every trick you can legally use , you can eat well on four dollars a day.  Washington snap is at 4.25 a day.  

Friday recipe

Bow ties with grilled vegetables

1 package bow ties pasta

1 red bell pepper, too and bottom cut off, seeded and cut into strips.
2 medium zucchini, cut into slices.
1 onion, peeled and sliced.
Olive oil.
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped and seeded
1/2 cup hard cheese ( Romano or parmesan, )

1. Cook pasta, drain, keep warm in the pasta pan , reserving some pasta water 
2. Heat a grill pan. 
3. Toss peppers, onion, and zucchini in a little olive oil and salt and pepper. 
4. Cook on grill pan until vegetables are tender, 8-10  minutes 
5.  When vegetables are tender, remove from grill and rough chop 
6. Add the vegetables to the pasta pan along with some of the pasta water. 
7. Toss in the tomatoes and cheese.   

Note : you could also add cooked chicken pieces to this, or cooked sliced sausage. 

1. 
   

Truth, Justice, and the American way

It’s  the Fourth of July and the words of Superman.......

This is supposed to be a list day.    Scheduling makes things a bit less hectic,   Zoning your household chores keeps things in perspective  and helps you from becoming overwhelmed. Many people when overwhelmed tend to do nothing,  it’s the safe thing to do.

I remember a  gal in a Seattle morning show years ago talk about a tickler file.  It was a small 3x5 file card box with dividers for days if the week and months of the year; virtually every chore you could ever need to do was on a three by five index card and filed as to weekly chores or monthly ones. Everything from changing  the smoke detector batteries, to feeding the lawn.   If you are disciplined,  that works. It also works in remembering birthdays.

We have zone  cleaning.  Most of the time, that works, unless you get sick for three weeks, like I have been so far this summer.  LOL.   We get off some weeks, but normally, it works for everyday cleaning.

When I went to Management School, they taught us to tackle a large project  with the Swiss cheese treatment.  If you just start and poke jokes in it, eventually, it will get done.

Take cleaning up after a large dinner.  You have a messy table.  Set priorities.

• Get the uneaten food off the table and store on bags or refrigerator dishes and in the refrigerator before it spoils.
• Now, pick up the garbage.   Paper plates, napkins etc,   Tackling the biggest chore first gives you a sense of accomplishment and makes things look a lot more manageable. 
• Next, you would clear the table.  Glasses first, then silverware and plates.   
• By taking one step at a time, the job is less overwhelming. 

This is really simplified, but the concept works for about any job from cleaning out the car after a road trip, to putting away groceries after a shopping trip, or redecorating a room. 

Making a list, even in your head, organizes your thoughts and makes life simpler.   Some people come by this naturally, some have a harder time. This world would be a really dull one if all of us had the same personality.  And, some people have challenges.   

Whatever works for you.  

On another note, picnic time is the one time certain things go on sale.  It is a good idea to stock those things for the year.  On digital coupon, bbq sauce is a dollar.   You can by 5.  That’s less than a half bottle a month.   We are set for the year.   Cream soup if you use it, is best bought during thanksgiving time.  The difference can be more than a dollar a can.  Baking supplies are best bought during Christmas and Easter,   The sales  make things like sugar as little as a dollar  a bag.  We don’t use a lot of  sugar, so a bag or two lasts us a year.   

Taking advantage  of sakes when they happen saves a lot of money.  It can happen on a budget because you are buying tomstock, amd something else was purchased at a different time. 

When my granddaughter was growing fast, my daughter would wait until the end of the season and buy her next years clothes when they were 70 percent off.   A co-worker just didn’t get that concept, what are you going to save, she said, a McDonald’s hamburger!   Every little bit adds up.   Attitude can make a big difference.  It’s all about the mind set.   

I a, lucky enough to have a budget to stretch.   I am going to make the most of it.   

Wednesday, surprise! The ads

SPROUTS

Blueberries  .88
Red cherries 1.77
Cucumbers, green peppers 2/1
Cauliflowers, eggplant.98
Squash, zucchini.88


Eye of round roast 2.99

ALBERWAYS 

80/20;ground beef 2.99

Eggs .88@@
Buns .79@@
Sweet baby rays .99@@
Mayo 2.99@@


Wed, thurs only
Butter  1.99
Corn 4/1


QFC
Digital coupons 

Hamburgers 6.99
Cheese , slices 2/4 
Sweet baby rays .99

*****
Raspberries 2/4
Milk 1.99
Butter 2/5

Fred Meyers 

Chicken , heritage farm , note this is southern grown chicken , Tyson  parts, leg quarters, whole chicken .99

Pork sale BOGO. Buyer beware check prices. 

Ragu 1.29
Blueberries 2.49 - 18 ounces 
Butter 2/5


Wednesday- Saturday grapes .99


Digi 
Ore Ida 1.99
Cream cheese  1.49

Hauls to 7/3

Winco

Lettuce 1.48
Roma’s 1.63
Bread 1.38
Total 4.49

Sprouts
Strawberries .88
Cantaloupe.88
Fuji apples .98
Grapes .88
Red delicious apples  .99
Corn 2/1
Blue cheese 4.94
2 London broil steaks @ BOGO 10.00

Total 24.27

Winco

Ice cream 2.98
Rolls .76
Total 3.74

Grand total
32.50

Buns .79
Bread 1.00
Total 1.79

Total 34.29

Coffee 5.99

Total 40.28

4,00 a day equals 56.00

June meal wrap up

What we ate

1. Tacos 
2. Waffles, strawberries, bacon 
3. Chicken pot pie 
4. Pizza
5. Spaghetti, green salad 
6. Stew
7. Baked potato bar
8. Potluck  : rhubarb Dump cake 
9. Rice and beans 
10. Rice and chicken casserole 
11. Pizza
12. Sloppy joes, French fries, fruit salad 
13. Meatballs and gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, 
14. Eggs, fruit cup, cheesy biscuits 
15. Chili. ( Mom sick ) 
16. Tasted cheese Sandwiches, fruit cup ( mom sick) 
17. Hamburgers, corn on cob 
18. Sausage, sauerkraut, apples, bread sticks 
19. Sausage, potatoes, peppers , zucchini sheet pan
20. Cream sausage , red pepper, tomato pasta 
21. Chicken , potatoes, salad 
22. Mac and cheese, mixed veggies 
23. Seafood salad, rolls 
24. Meatball subs, oven fries, salad 
25. Eggs, fruit cup, salad 
26. BLTs , fruit cup 
27. Hamburger, oven fries, salad 
28. Fajitas 
29. Stew, bread sticks 
30. Waffles, strawberries, bacon 

Paper - Simon says stamp

The whole stack is like  that. 

happened before, but only the corner I could work around. 

Thank you, 

It’s Sunday, must be meal plans

Meal plans are a necessary part of groceries on the cheap.  They make life easier even if you deviate from them.  Meal prep aka kitchen management has a big part on making thendonner Hour Keys’s hectic.

Last night we had a medical emergency. But because everything was planned out, we still had beef stew and it was made in minutes.  

• Spaghetti, meatballs, salad 
• Pizza
• Chicken enchiladas, lettuce and tomato 
• Corn and bean chili , artisan bread 
• Sausage quiche 
• Chicken noodle soup 
• Breakfast for dinner 

Notes 

• Spaghetti is done on the insta pot on 8 minutes, about 5 minutes actual cook time, if you are slow.  Pre-made meatballs are 2.00 for the equivalent of a pounds worth of meat at Winco,   
• Pizza is a mainstay here, cost of a  cheese pizza is about a buck ,
• Chicken enchiladas are easy and a little more time consuming . Sauce is scratch with a magic mix base, 
• Corn chili is a recipe from dump meals . 
• Sausage quiche is another quick and easy using already cooked sausage. 
• Chicken noodle soup is a quick soup in the insta pot.   Can also be made on the stove,   

• 
  

Pizza in pictures

The cost of a homemade cheese pizza is about a dollar.   Adding ingredients that you save from other meals is free.  When you prep peppers for fajitas or other meals, cut the top and bottom off the peppers  and slice the middle section,  the top and bottom can be chopped for a pizza topping.   A bit of cooked sausage when you are making another dish works as well as chicken pieces for a buffalo chicken pizza.

Dough is easy and inexpensive.    Ugly mg pizza dough can be anywhere from 1.50 to 2.00 and costs less than .30.   

Sauce is a dollar at the dollar tree.  It is a name brand and you can freeze it in ice cube tray and pop the cubes into a zip lock.   Two cubes top a regular pizza.    

Costco is a source for mozzarella cheese for close to two dollars a pound, bit I have been getting two dollars a pound frequently at QFC and Fred Meyers on their digital coupon days,    

Keeping bits of anything you can use on a pizza and the sauce on a shelf on your freezer makes life easier when you want to make a pizza.   

You can also make a quadruple batch of a chewy crust in a food processor or kitchen aid.   Recipe at Noreens kitchen on U tube .  That, too can be frozen in individual bags.   Take it out the day before you need it and place it in  the refrigerator . 

Friday recipe

It is  summer and apples continue to be a dollar a pound.   Slow cooker apple crisp sounds like a good desert, and children can hone their measuring skills.

6 cups apples, peeled, and sliced.

1 cup bread crumbs

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 sick butter, melted

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Sprinkle of cinnamon



  Spray the inside of the cooking vessel with non stick spray, ( Pam)

• Add ingredients as listed. 
• Stir to coat apples 

Cook on low 3-4 hours or on HI for 2  hours.  

Serve with whip cream or ice cream or plain

Hauls to 6/26

Our average weekly haul over two and a half years is just under 52.00 a week.   4.00 a day is 56.00 a week for two of us. And, the average snap amount per person on Washington is 4.25 a day.


QFC

Milk .99
Cottage cheese 2.59
3 butter 8.31

Total 11.89

Bacon. 14.95

total 26.84

Best of the ads 6/26/19

first a little caveat......the farmers in the mid west haven’t started their wheat crops yet.   It has been too wet.   I don’t know about eastern Washington, but it makes me believe that the price of grain is going to be skyrocketing,  already, the bread  we used to get for 1.00 is 1.38.   It would not be a bad idea to buy a bag of flour ahead.

QFC

Shrimp 5.99
La croix 4/10
Tillamook ice cream 2/6

Digital coupons
Best foods 2.49
Sliced cheese, sargento  2/4
Beef patties 6.99

Alberways

Cherries 1.79
Blues. Large 2.99

Buns .79@@
Sweet baby rays .89@@
Johnsonville sausage, Hebrew national franks 2/5@@


Pantry essentials BOGO. Buyer beware check costs

Sprouts

FSS only
Watermelon 2/3
Corn 5/1
******

Cherries 1.48
Peaches .77
Pears .77
Grapes 1.98
Apples .98
Berries 2/5   Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries

All natural chicken sausage 2.99 lb

Fred Meyers

Grapes .99
Peaches 1.29
Hamburger 90% 3.99

Cottage cheese, sour cream 4/5
Strawberries 2# 2.99

Digital coupons
Cream cheese 1.49
Hamburgers 6.99
Ore Ida fries 1.99


 Digital, FSS,
Hebrew national or Nathan’s hot dogs 1.99

Cost of staples

Basic supplies to be stocked, good for an emergency.   With the uncertainties of the current affairs, it is a good thing to have a back up plan

Pinto beans are 1.00 at the DT.   Made in USA and non gmo last I looked.  
.67 a pound, or .0125 a serving.  A serving is a half cup
The price per pound is a little cheaper in bulk at Winco.


Flour at Costco is 7.29, or .087 a cup

Rice is 9.79 for 25 pounds at Costco.  Serving cost .03 a serving

Oatmeal is 8.39 for 10 pounds or .085 a serving,

Milk at 2,00 a gal is .125 a serving.

Eggs are .07 ea at .88 a dozen

Sugar at 4 # for a dollar is .11 a cup

Yeast is .02 a teaspoon.   Cheaper at business Costco than the .02.

Olive oil at Costco is .05 a tsp.