Tex Mex using the leftover mashed potatoes from stuffed potato akins

POTATO TOPPED CHIKI LOAF

1 egg
3Y milk
Chopped onion
1 can chopped chilie
10 saltiness crackers, crushed
4.5 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3cups hot mashed potatoes
1 can mexicorn, drained
Green onions
1/2to 1cup grated cheese

Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.Pat into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake at 375 for 30 min, or until meat is no longer pink or has internal temp of 160 degrees.
Combine potatoes,corn and onions. Spread over meat.
Sprinkle with cheese and broil 6 in from heat 3-5 min until lightly browned.

Notes:
I would use bread crumbs ( virtually free) instead of crackers.I would use less chilies.use leftover potatoes and add enough warm to make the three cups.
I would omit the onions and corn from the topping. Sprinkle regular corn and some chopped peppers to the top of the meat and then top with potatoes. Sprinkle green onions over the top of the finished product. Or use dried parsley instead.

Tex Mex recipes on the cheap.

Flour tortillias are cheapest at Costco. They are also cheap at grocery outlet and they carry smaller omes. WinCo had corn taco shells for a buck. Beans are .50 cents a can at TOP sometimes and often they are .67. Beans from scratch are about .50 to cook the same amou t. Cooked beans have a very small fridge life. If you have enough time to cook beans and use them in the same day, it works ; but using canned is more efficient. I got Tillimook cheese for 2.50 a pound at Albertsons. Safeways had their brand for 2.50 as well. Tex Mex can be healthy if you watch the cheese quanity and fry
Things with olive oil. Olive oil boosts your good cholesterol.

TACO SOUP

2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
2 cans tomato sauce
1can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1can diced tomatoes
1 can corn, undrained

Shredded cheese
Tortilla

Brown the meat and cook onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink.
Add the cans of food.
Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Garnish with cheese and tortilla chips.
Makes 2.5 quarts, 10 servings



I would use 1/2 the ground beef and add another can of beans. You van cut flour tortillas into wedges and fry them yourself. Tortilla chips are often on sale.


Taco potato shells
3 large potatoes
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 pound ground beef
1 can ( 14-1/2 oz) diced tomatoes undrained
1 envelope taco seasoning equals 7tsp homemade.
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
2 green onions sliced

Scrub and pierce three potatoes. Bake at 375 degrees for an hour or until tender.
When cool enough to handle,cut in half lengthwise. Carefully scoop out pulp,leaving a thin shell ( refrigerate pulp for another use).
Brush inside and out of potato with butter. Place cut side up on an un greased baking sheet. Bake un covered,at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Meanwhile,in a skillet cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink;drain. Add tomatoes and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat;simmer, uncovered,for 20 minutes. Spoon into potato shells; sprinkle with cheese. Bake,uncovered 5 to 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Top with sour cream and onions. Yield: 6 servings.

I would bake the potatoes the first time in the microwave. Use homemade taco seasoning
The recipe is in last months blogs. My ground beef is usually been cooked a d defatted already.


Meals from the grocery trip next time

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Things your grocer doesn't want you to know

I used to be the accountant for a wholesale grocer years ago. It probably will come to no surprise to you that the stores have spent great time, money and effort to ensure that you spend more money at their store.

They know that most people go right when they enter a store.
They know that the longer you spend in a store, the more money you will spend. That's why some stores are constantly changing their layout.

The more people you bring with you, the more you will spend.

People are lazy. They look in the middle of the shelf. Grocery stores get "rent" called slotting fees from manufacturers to show their product on the eye level shelves.
So look down and up on the shelves for the better buys.

It is no accident that the toys are next to the kids sugary cereal. Or that they have impulse buys by the checkout lines to tempt you while you are waiting.

There are stores that shall remain a secret that have a 42 percent markup. Probably because the more exoctic foods and the fancier the store, the more markup they have to have to make a profit.

Never go shopping when you are too hungry. You will be tempted by too many impulse buys.

That is one reason going to the store every two days to buy two days worth of dinners is a budget mistake. Another is it wastes time and gas. Going to a store only because they have the friendliest checkout personnel is another dumb thing. If going to the grocery store is your social time, you need to get a life! Lol

After you get yourself set up, you will find that you spend less time on the whole FOOD thing than you did before.

My whole life isn't getting food cheap. I run two businesses, write a blog, belong to a service organization for women, work, and run a house and Im a grandmother.
I just budget my time, like I budget my food budget.

I found a book on ground meat recipes for 3.00. It has a lot of good recipes. Anytime you can find an inexpensive bool from "Taste of Home" it is a good investment. I have written for them, and many other home cooks have as well. Their recipes for the most part are down to earth recipes that are very doable. If they call for a mix, adjust your recipe.

Green Chili Flautas
(Taste of Home)

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1cup grated cheese
1can chopped green chilies, drained
1/2 tsp ground cumin

10 7" flour tortillas
1/3 cup butter or margarine,melted.

Toppings: lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream

Cook meat in skillet until no longer pink. Add cheese and chilies, and cumin.
Set aside.
Warm tortillas. (30-60 seconds on a paper towel in the microwave.
Brush both sides with butter.
Spoon about 1/3 cup meat mixture down the center of the tortilla. Roll tightly.
Place seam side down in a 9x13 pan.
Bake uncovered at 500 degrees for 5-7 minutes until golden brushing once with butter.


Notes : I would use a little less hamburger and cheese. I would also use olive oil instead of butter or a combination of olive oil and butter. Maybe olive oil to soften the tortilla and butter to brown them. Tortillas are cheapest in that size at grocery outlet. Larger ones are cheaper at Costco. Green chilies are often on sale especially around the 5th of May. I want to pay .50. You could also use chopped or shredded chicken that you add some taco seasoning to. ( then I would omit the cumin.)

More Tex- Mex tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jane

How to adjust a recipe

Many recipes sound really good, but have real expensive ingredients or start with a mix. A lot of times a minor adjustment will make the same dish just as good, but cheaper.

Blueberry pie or cobbler first comes into mind. Blueberries have been inexpensive a lot lately. Blueberry pie filling is a little blueberries and a lot of " sauce".
all that "sauce" consists of is sugar and cornstarch. To make a blueberry cobbler, grease a 8x8 pan. Put washed and drained blueberries in it. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of sugar (less if using sugar substitute) and a tablespoon of cornstarch. Toss berries.
Make the cobbler part from the Bisquick box. Put the blueberry mixture in the oven for an extra 5 minutes, or until the berries are bubbly. Then add your cobbler mixture and finish baking off. My daughter and I tag team this and have a cobbler together in five minutes flat!

You can do the same thing with blackberries. They may need more sugar.


Any recipe can be made cheaper if you substitute for the ready made part. Cream of mushroom soup is often the base of some casseroles. Use a thin white sauce.
White sauce is 1T fat ( butter, olive oil,vegetable oil) in a saucepan. Barely heat and add 1T flour and make a paste. Whisk in quickly a cup of milk, cream or chicken stock and milk mixture and whisk until thick. This makes 1cup of sauce. Multiply the recipe for how many cups you need.

This is the base for Mac and cheese. Make two cups of white sauce , after it is thick, add grated cheese. I use whatever cheese is in the cheese drawer of the fridge. Bits and pieces of different cheeses make a good Mac and cheese. I top it with dry bread crumbs mixed with parsley and parm that I have run across the micro plane. It makes the cheese real fine grate. Bake at 350 until heated through. About a half hour.

Often times if I don't have a fresh herb in my garden, I use more dried herbs instead.


Bisquick biscuits are really fast and easy and a lot less expensive than the ones out of a tube.

Hamburger helper is noodles and sauce. It often costs more than the meat you put In It.


Toppings to cover chicken are just breadcrunbs mixed with herbs and cheese. A few minutes work, and the are 4.00 a pound where I looked.

Take a calculator and figure out how much some things in small packages cost per poumd. It will really surprise you.

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Oops, I forgot albertsons, the best buys this week.

ALBERTSONS

Usually I don't find any bargains a Albertsons. My daughter found this.

Peaches, nectarines, plums .88
Chicken of the sea tuna .59
Eggs .99 limit 2
Tillamook cheese 4.99
Fryers.99
Blue berries 2.99
Corn 2/1.00
Grapes 1.99
Strawberries 4/7.99

Thanks forcstopping by

Jane

This weeks grocery ads

TOP

Eggs .99 with ooupon, limit 1
Sirloin tip roast, buy 1, get 1. 2.50 lb
Pork chops 1.69
Coleslaw mix 1.00


QFC

80 percent beef 2.79

Butter 2.00
Chicken .99
Blueberries2/6


SAFEWAYS

Plums .99
Chicken .88
Beef chuck 2.49

FRIDAY ONLY
Cheese 5.00 2 lb. Limit 4. FRIDAY ONLY
Turkey burgers 3 ilbs 5--FRIDAY ONKY
Shrimp 5.00 lb
Cake 5.00

One for a price comparison. Roasted chicken is 5.00 at Safeways, 5.99 at TOP.

At Safeways raw chicken is .88 a pound. Roasted chickens are 3 pounds. That's a minimum of 1.67 a pound. Almost twice as expensive as the raw chicken.

It takes about ten minutes to put a chicken In the oven. That's 15.00 an hour you are making for your labor! Not to mention you can get a 5 pound chicken and get a better
meat to bone ratio.

80 percent hamburger is 2.69, sirloin tip roast is 2.49. You can grind your own and be .20 cents a lb cheaper and with a whole lot less fat.

2.69 lb equals 3.23 dollars for meat, 2.49 for your ground sirloin is 2.66. .57 a lb difference and a lot healthier.

9 percent hamburger is 4.11 at WinCo. The difference is 1.62 tines 10 pounds is about
32.00 an hour for your time.

The chicken can be cooking while you are grinding the meat!


That's all for now

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Grocery outlet /lynnwod buys

Reduced fat Hebrew national franks 2.49
Tomato paste 2/1.00
Hamburger buns 1.09
Texas toast .49. Can u spell French toast!!
Red pepper large . 79

I saved over half!!

If you have questions or comments please feel free to comment below

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Meals planned from the grocery ads

I plan my meals from the grocery ads after I finish shopping and putting away the groceries. Fruits and veggies in fresh proof containers, meat in the freezer, or set in the fridge for cooking later. Packaged goods, or canned goods in the pantry. Our pantry is over the top so its time to slow up the stock. That means that I am spending less than 75 a week for 4 people.

I plan after shopping in case I find a really good deal on something I need to use up quickly, or something that was on sale was either gone when I got to the store, or was not to my liking.

Not having a plan is the quickest way to fall off the budget wagon because it is hard to think of the answer to what's for dinner when you are tired.



Imaginary grocery ad

Chicken breasts .99
Tuna .88
Country spareribs 1.99
Eggs 1.29 a dozen
Cheese 4.95 2 pounds


Ok.

1) chicken parmigiana ,noodles, green salad, French bread (6.00)
2) chicken veggie foil wraps, French bread (3.75)
3) BBQ spareribs, coleslaw , rice. (6.00)
4) tuna casserole, mixed frozen vegetables, (3.20)
5) skillet cheeseburger Mac, salad, bread (4.08)
6) quiche, designer salad ( field greens, strawberries, strawberry vinaigrette 5.00
7) tacos, refried beans (5.00)

1) 4 boneless chicken breast halves in 8x8 greased pan. Combine 1 can tomato paste, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 T parsley flakes, 1/2 tsp EACH of Italian seasoning, oregano, pinch of red pepper flakes in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes at 400 degrees or until juices run clear and chicken is done. Sprinkle with 6 ounces of grated mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of parm. ( I think that you can use less cheese and use 1/2 cup of tomato sauce or reserved pasta sauce instead. Adjust for the seasonings that are already in the sauce). Bake for an additional 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.

2) chicken veggie foil wraps.: flatten 4pieces of chicken breast. (1#) 1/2pound mushrooms, baby carrots, red peppers, salt and pepper thyme. Place chicken on double thickness of greased foil. Add the veggies on top. Seal inside pouch. Bake on cookie sheet at 375 for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

3). Place spareribs in crockpot. Add a can of beer or chicken broth to cover. Cook on low 8 -10 hours. Take ribs out and carefully put on foil on broiler pan. Spread BBQ sauce on them and broil until sauce is bubbly.

4) tuna casserole , mixed veggies

5)cook 1/2 pound of macaroni . Sauté 1 stalk of celery , chopped;1/4 of red pepper, one carrot, chopped, garlic powder and onion powder in 2T olive oil until soft.
Add 1# hamburger and fry until no longer pink. Add 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 8 oz can tomato sauce. Simmer 10-15 minutes until flavors blend. Add 1 cup grated Mex cheese blend and cover and cook until cheese is melted.

6) ham quiche ( Bisquick box)
7) taco meat ready made by you. Fry hamburger.drain, pour boiling water over, drain. Return to pan. Add 2 rounded T taco seasoning. Use 3/4 pound. Add lettuce, tomato, cheese. Heat refried beans in microwave safe bowl in microwave until warm. Add skim of cheese and microwave until melted.

Total of seven meals is 33.03 or 4.72 a meal.

Thanks for stopping by
Jane





E

Cheap not inferior quality

My object is to find good food cheap ; not to find cheap food. There are some things that I will not compromise on. Hot dogs have a lot of "stuff" in them. I only buy nathans or Hebrew national. Hebrew national bothers me because they have less hot dogs in a package than hotdog buns do. Both are good quality. Not everyone carries nathans.

Chicken is the next thing. I only buy northwest chickens that are over 3 pounds -- usually five pounds. They last several meals and a lot can be done with chicken.

I usually stick to the bigger name brands of canned goods. Chicken of the sea tuna is good, but I found that hagan (TOP FOODS brand) is better than chicken of the sea. Bumble bee is good too

You don't have to eat cheap food to eat food cheap.

Eating on a budget can be more healthful than not eating on a budget. Snack and processed foods are usually not that good for you.

We live in a fast paced society. But there are ways to cook dinner fast without resorting to dinner in a box or fast food.

Thanks for stopping by
Jane

Notes on shopping and recap

I have been reading every article, book, and cookbook on economy food since the 70's.
Some of them are Just a rehash of what I already knew, and some were downright comical.
Like who gets chicken parts for .28 cents a pound and just what part of the chicken is it? Lol

Some are really cheap, but not what I would consider good nutrition. I have tried to compile notes and observations that were middle of the road; not over the top health conscious, but not cheap hotdogs, 28 cent a pound chicken and hamburger once in a while.

That being said, here is an overview of my philosophy and some notes.

My mantra is never pay full price. I try for half at the checkouts. Being retired, I have more time than money, but if you aren't retired, the children can do some of the prep work and learn something in the process. The old native American adage, give a man a fish and he eats for one day ; teach a man to fish and he eats forever ( paraphrased) makes a lot of sense.


Stock anything that you use a lot of when it is the cheapest price. Stock as much as you will use until it goes on sale again, or as much as you will use before the expiration date. If I use the item once a week and it is rarely on sale, I will buy 24 of them so I have enough for 6 months. If I only use the item once a month, I might buy 4 - 6 . Keep a small spiral notebook and log the items that you use a lot, the size of the item, and where you got it for what price. Sometimes you will begin to see
pattern.

Periodically during the week , take a quick overview of your perishables and use them or preserve them before they go bad. ( eat, freeze, dry ?)

Go to more than one store, research before you go, and plan your trips for gas conservation. Once a month to six weeks, go to the stores that are farther away from home and stock up . My list of stores would be WinCo, Costco, grocery outlet.
Certain things are consistently cheaper at these stores.

Plan meals and work in a few almost no effort meals for the days that you know are going to challenging.

Try to cook everything from scratch. Ready made food has preservatives and you usually pay dearly for someone else's labor. Some things aren't worth making from scratchmayonnaise and refried beans come to mind. Sometimes instant mashed potatoes are cheaper than homemade. Non fat dry milk is more expensive than low fat liquid milk.


Now to nitty gritty


Tomatoes are really seasonal. We get tomatoes year round,but the quality and price make them better in the spring and summer. Ck the price between cherry and larger tomatoes. Do the math, usually the larger ones are cheaper. Also, roma tomatoes are more flesh and less seeds.

Field greens ( designer lettuce) or whatever you call it, is cheaper usually at Costco.
If the lettuce is cheaper than 1.33 a head, it is cheaper than buying the 3.99 box at Costco. There are storage solutions on the market that keep veggies fresher longer, they are more than worth the investment.

When round or sirloin roasts are 2 for; consider making stew meat and grinding your own
Hamburger. The fat content is more controlled, and you know what is in it. If you don't have a grinding attachment on your mixer, you can get grinders that our grandmothers used at almost every antique store, or find them at garage sales. Ask, someone might have one they haven't put out for sale. Sterilize it and go for it. Make sure it has all it's parts. You should have several grinding disks. They are usually well under ten bucks and will pay for themselves in A short period of time.

Don't but snack foods out of your regular budget for food. If they are separate you can rapidly see just how much they cost and how healthy alternatives are better.

Coupons are sometimes a good thing, but if it is for something you wouldn't ordinarily buy anyway, they are not a bargain. Rarely do I see coupons for something that is what I consider real food. Ask yourself, is there a cheaper alternative. Store brands come from the same assembly line that the brand names do. They just cost more. All those ads on tv cost money and it gets added to the price of the product.



That's all I can squeeze into this time.
Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Foil bakes..it's summer time.

An easy fun dinner especially for kids is foil bakes. There are no dishes for mom, the kids get to open a surprise "package" and each person can customize it to their taste.

FOIL BAKES

Mix together veggie, and seasonings, and sauce
Place starch in GREASED 12x12 foil. If your foil is thin, double it

Top with vegetable mixture
Layer protein
Top with topping
You will end up with a pile of food.
Lift two sides of foil up and seal snugly. Then fold the ends over several times to seal..place on baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for allotted time

TEX MEX BURGERS

Veggie: 1 cup corn, drained, chopped onion and red pepper to taste
Seasonings:taco seasoning
Sauce: 3/4 cip beef broth with 1 tsp flour or cornstarch

Starch: 2cups frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

Protein:1# ground beef , salt and pepper and form 4 patties

Topping: black olives


Bake 20 minutes


CREAMED CHICKEN AND POTATOES

Veggie: 10 oz package of chopped broccolli, drained.
Seasonings 1/3 cup grated parm cheese, 1/4 tsp EA thyme, nutmeg and crushed red pepper
Sauce: 1cup white sauce
Starch cup new red potatoes thinly sliced
Protein: 4 chicken cutlets
Topping:parm cheese or sesame seeds

Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is done.

Next time notes on shopping

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Our trip to WinCo

We went to WinCo this week and TOP Foods. WinCo requires you to bag your own foods, so
Bring a buddy to help you. Like any grocery store ,some things are more expensive than elsewhere but the majority of things are cheaper. It is just too far away to go every week.

Prices


Hebrew National HOT DOGS 3.11
Diced Ham 3.58
2large Pork Sirloin 7.98
Tomato on the vine .98
red potatoes 5 # 1.98
refried beans .78
Taco shells .98
Granny smith apples 1.28
Cherries 1.48
Raspberries 1.98
Hunts pasta sauce .78


Total 65.08

Sometimes I get diced ham for cheaper at the grocery outlet. They have it intermittently. Diced ham can go in a chef salad, in an omelet, on pizza, in split pea soup, I can make the bag augment 3 meals.

Hunts pasta sauce can make a pasta dinner inexpensive and fast. Let's cost no brained pasta. Sauce .78, pasta .88, 2 oz cheese (1 cup grated).32, 1/2 # ground beef 1.12
Totals 3.10. Serves 6. .52 a serving.
Add a vegetable and you are still under 4+1 is 5.


I will roast the one of the pork sirloin off and slice for roast pork, or sandwiches. The other one I will cube and braise for stew or soup, or grind for meatloaf mix.

The red potatoes with the eggs that I got for free last week and some of the ham will make a frittatas for well under the 5 bucks. That's 1.30 add field greens and strawberries with a balsamic vinaigrette. 3.30 for the meal.

Seven dinners basically from the above shopping list plus veggies from previous trips that average 5 bucks or less each.


No brainer pasta, veggi
Frittatas, salad
Pizza, green salad ( ham, peppers, )
Roast pork, red potatoes, green beams , fruit salad,
hot dogs, potato salad, fruit salad, veggie salad
Tacos, refried beans
BBQ pork sandwiches, veggie sticks, French fries.

Next time foil wraps

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

The grocery adds this week

There is am popular show on television on at noon in our area. The chew it is called. They had a popular chef on that was trying to shoe how to feed a family on food stamps.
In other words on the cheap, but nutritious meals. He stressed the need to go to more than one store. He also priced a chicken for anywhere between 5 and 15 dollars. I really don't know where one would go for a 15 dollar chicken. Maybe NYC.

Back to reality

TOP FOODS

Country ribs 1.77
2 pounds tillimock cheese 4.99 w coupon
Milk 2.49
Morning star vegetarian meat 2.99
Potatoes, russet 10#. 2.00

ALBERTSONS

Bumble bee tuna .88
Pasta .88
Hunts pasta sauce .88

SAFEWAYS

Peaches .77
London broil 2.49
Yogurt 10/5.00

QFC

Ribs 2.00
Milk 2.49
QFC bread 3/5.00--1.67

This weeks adds leave me cold. Almost everything featured is a ready made item.
On weeks like this, I will pick the best store around and go to one of my alternative stores a little further away. Perhaps, Winco and the bread store or grocery outlet.


Several things caught my attention. Side dishes (ready made mashed potatoes) were 24 oz for 2.50. Potatoes were 10 pounds for 2.00.and you don't know what preservatives they have in the ready made potatoes.

Next time..it is a surprise...lol
Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Extreme couponing

This week is the first time I have been exposed to an extreme COUPONER. I was at Albertsons in poulsbo. The lady in front of me bought a case of keikomon sauce because she had coupons for free. The checker had to ring them up three at a time because the cash register will only take three coupons per transaction. Now, who needs a case of soy sauce?

My main objection to extreme couponing is that most of the items that have manufacture
Coupons are things that are over priced in the first place and things that you don't need for good nutrition. Why take up room in your pantry with a case of soy sauce or Tabasco sauce when you could be using the space for items that are real food. One woman on a show was real proud of her hall closet full of 2 liter bottles of soda pop.
Who Really needs a closet of soda pop.

I do applaud the people that use coupons for real food that they intend on giving to shelters to Feed the homeless.

I use the store coupons and the new e coupons from Safeways. Seldom do I use manufacture coupons.

I think it is a bit extreme to spend 40 hours a week and two thousand dollars on newspapers to buy food that you cant use before the expiration date. Two thousand dollars will go a long ways to buy real food at discount prices.

Off my soapbox.

Have a wonderful holiday and keep safe.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jane

2009 dinners on the cheap

I ran on to a woman's day from 2009 "Feed your family for 99. A week.
They use the same concepts that we talked about earlier.
Pork roast Sunday dinner becomes pork and beans for Tuesday --stair stepping
A tortilla with ham, potato and eggs
Chicken
Cube steaks w peppers
Pasta prima Vera --vegetarian fare
Chefs salad -- another stair step from the tortilla

Breakfasts are cereal and fruit and eggs a couple of times a week
Lunches are tuna sandwiches and salads again that are stair steps from dinners.

They have a list of foods, but not cost out. They do think that one pound of cube steaks feeds four people. In think that with proper shopping skills, you can still do it for 75 dollars a week. Not paying full price for food is the key. Many times it saves 70 percent.

Next, my take on extreme couponing.

Thanks for stopping by.

Jane

Summer in the great pacific nw.

Well it's supposed to be summer but it has rained and been cold everyday this week.
We are still having winter foods.

Let's talk about using up and managing the refrigerator. Every day or so survey the refer and incorporate anything that is approaching it's lifespan into your meal before it expires. Can it be frozen ? Can you make veggie stock? Do you need to make banana bread. Betty crocker has a good recipe for banana blueberry bread that has some oatmeal in it. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries.

Bread can be dried for breadcrumbs. Apples can be applesauce. Veggies can be stock.
Not letting your fresh foods get away from you is a good way to stretch your dollars, and as our grandmothers would say, not wasting food.

Children should know that soup doesn't come out of a can. Or that Mac and cheese doesn't come out of a box. I can remember when my husband and I were both out of work, we were economizing. I started soup bones early one Sunday morning. My young son took a look at the pot and asked what that was. Soup I informed him. Well, hebsaid it doesn't look like soup. I said " trust me it will by dinner time.". All day I stocked the pot and by the time dinner time was there, it was soup and a loaf of bread was on the table.

I guess he was amazed and astounded??? He went to school and told his teacher. His teacher (thank you teacher) said home made soup is so much better than canned soup.


A lot of this is either set it and forget it cooking, or something that an be done quickly in the microwave you do other chores in the kitchen.

It's all about shopping wisely and getting out of the kitchen quickly unless you have the time and want to cook all day.

Thanks for stopping by...

Please leave a comment and tell me what you want to hear about.

Jane

More on the water

Cooking on the boat is a challenge, one thing at a time and then keep itnall warm. Using the grill and making one dish meals with a salad works best. Like tonight we are going to have sausage, peppers, and new red potatoes.

You can cook the same as home, but restrict your dishes to the most simplified ones. The first night we had retried beans and tacos. We cooked the refried beans and two kinds of taco meat...reg and veggie in foil in the same pot.

Foil bakes work well on the grill. The recipes are at home, but basically you take a double layer of heavy foil and stack some sauce or liquid in the bottom, and add
Starch, protein , and veggie and seasonings.

Example. Water ( a couple of tablespoons
Thinly sliced potato
Hamburger pattie
Green beans
Salt and pepper

Wrap in double thickness of foil and grill or put on hot coils if you are camping
And cook until the meat is done. Time depends in the heat of your fire.
We do the same recipe at home in the oven.
More combos later.

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Notes on the water

Good afternoon. In scandia country. Cooking while camping can still be an economical feat. It takes a little bit more creative thinking.

RICE SALAD

2cups brown rice, cooked

In bowl, mix together
2T orange juice
1 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 cup crushed pineapple, canned


Chop 2ribs celery
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 each of red bell pepper, green pepper, yellow pepper
1 c roasted peanuts ( or other nuts) almonds sound good
1/3 cup raisins

When rice is cooked, dump dressing on it and chill, stir occasionally.
When rice is cooled, dump the veggies in it and stir.

Adapted from PCC flyer

We are having a pork tenderloin that I got on sale for 5., corn on the cob, salad and
Pudding for desert.

Camping fare!

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Oatmeal and other ideas

Good morning.

I thought I would talk about oatmeal. Like most everything else it is cheaper to buy oatmeal in the large packages than it is to buy the single serving microwave packets. It takes almost no more time to make it in the microwave than it does in the packets.

Put 1 cup water and 1/2 cup oatmeal with a dash of salt in a micro safe bowl. Cook
2 1/2 to 3 minutes on high. Add milk and sugar. Sometimes I add raisins or craisens or brown sugar. Other dried fruits may be good also. Blueberries?

Almost everything is cheaper and more healthy if made from scratch. Non fat dry milk is more expensive than regular 2%milk. Instant mashed potatoes are less expensive than scratch when potatoes are more expensive. When you can get pasta sauce for a dollar or less, it is cheaper than scratch. Tomato soup in a box is cheaper than making it from scratch unless you have a bumper crop of tomatoes in your garden.

I haven't priced flour lately, but I don't think that it would be cheaper to make a multiple grain bread from scratch than the 3/ 5.89 that it is a the franz outlet.

That's all for now.

Thanks for stopping by

Jane

Let's talk bread and butter.

When I was growing up, my Dad insisted that regular bread and butter be on the table every night. THere was a time when my folks were saving to pay off more of the house. Mom made bread every Thursday. That was the night that we knew we were going to have pizza. Mom went through a period when she decided that she would be really really efficient and we had the same meal the same day of the week every week. She also washed a certain load of clothes on monday , etc.

Bread. We go once every four to six weeks to the bakery outlet and freeze bread. The loaves of pan bread are 3/ 5.89. I buy the loaves of sandwich loaves and freeze them. They also have the same brown and serve baguettess that Costco has. The last time I checked, they were .69 cents a loaf. I like to serve the " French bread" with soup for a comforting meal. It's good on rainy days. Not that the Pacific Northwest has any rain lol.

There are a lot of bread baker recipes out there. Bread bakers were popular in the nineties . You could probably get them at the goodwill. I don't know if they still make them or not. Sour dough starter is a good inexpensive way to make bread .

Butter is 2.00 a pound this week. My nutritionist says that you are better off using a little butter than using a spread. The denser the spread, the more Fat it has.

I cut a loaf of Crusty bread in half lengthwise. Put a skim of butter on it and sprinkle with either steak seasoning (dollar store) or a hard cheese that I have used the micro plane on and broil the bread. The micro plane is a good way to stretch your cheese.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment telling me what city you are in.

Jane