Meal Plans for week of April 2

Meal Plans keep us on track and save time and money. 

• Tortilla soup (chicken ) 
• Pizza 
• Buffalo chicken pie, lettuce, tomato 
• Mac and cheese, peas and carrots 
• Pork chops , apples, and cranberry dressing.  Green beans 
• Salmon, seasoned rice, broccolli 
• Breakfast for Dinner. 

Notes 

1. Soup is a good go to meal if the house is busy, people can eat on demmand, uses diced tomatoes I need to use. 
2. Pizza is always a inexpensive , favorite 
3. Buffalo chicken pie is from the Betty Crocker cookbook 
4. Mac and cheese is another favorite.  
5. Pork chops are browned on both sides and placed on top of bread dressing with an addition of dried cranberries and chopped apple.   Bake off until pork chops are done. 
6. Salmon baked, rice medley, and broccolli 
7. Breakfast for Dinner is another favorite and everyone participates. 

Fred Meyer AD——changing

The Fred Meyer (FM) ad is changing to come out on Wednesday’s like Alberways and QFC. 

Note 10 percent off senior discount on this Tuesday with coupon .

DIGITAL COUPONS FOR THURSDAY, 4/5 TO SUNDAY 4/8

CHEESE .99

PORK SPARERBS .99

KROGER BRATS 1.99

PREGO .99

YOU CAN USE 5 TIMES. 

Blackberries , apples, oranges, pears .99

Pork Loin 1.69 ( i think it is sill 1.39 at Costco Business ) 

Milk .99

NOT A BARGAIN 

Breaded chicken tenders 6.99

I paid .99 a lb for chicken breasts .   They were 1.25 pounds for a 1/2 breast.   Since there are 3 of us eating meat, I cut the tenders off .   Breading is made from bread crumbs.   Its our garbage heels add bread that I purchase for a dollar that is going stale.  An egg costs . 08 or less.   I have dehydrated eggs I got for .065.   Basicly, you are saving almost 6.00 a pound.   

We, however, like a breading of equal parts of dry bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and chopped nuts....walnuts or pecans.   

This is a 10 day ad to accommodate the ad change.    If the ad doesn’t come in the mail like the others, we will get it on line.   

DT grocery haul

Quick grocery haul  before we start no spend april.   We have had about a thousand dollars worth of extra bills this month.   So, in the interest of balancing the budget, we are going to go for a no spend month.   That means that only perishables will be bought.  

• 3 pkg pinto beans - grown in USA, non gmo 
• 1n pkg bagels -Thomas 
• 1 extra large can Campbells spaghetti o’s 
• 1 pkg pepperoni, Olberto 

Total 6.00

RBP and staple list

One of the ways GOC keeps the budget low is to only buy things you use on a regular basis at a RBP or a target price (nothing to do with the store with the red balls ) 

Green beans, canned .50 ( I recently paid .39)

Corn -canned, .50 ( this too was .39) 

Chili, Hormel .99

Tomato or cr/mushroom, chicken noodle  soup .50

Pasta sauce, canned .88

Pasta sauce , jar...1.25 (I have paid as low as .59) 

Canned sliced olives .72

Canned diced green chillies .66

Jar pizza sauce 1.00

Salad dressing .75 

Mayo 2.50

Diced Tomatoes .50 (Ive got as cheap as .39 with BPA free cans )- and .33 organic. )

Cold cereal 1.00 max -seldom 

Instant Potatoes .86 

Suddenly salad .75 - (I’ve got as cheap as .50) 

BC. Cake mix - 1.00 ( as cheap as .88) 

Boxed bread stuffing mix - 1.00 (as cheap as .75)

Pasta - .48-1.00 (free is good) 

Bread products are a dollar at the DT- Orowheat, Thomas, Sara Lee.....

Milk -1/2 gallon 1.00

Sour cream 1.00

Cottage cheese 1.00

Eggs 1.00 (1.50 is my max) 

Butter 2.50 - i want 2.00 and have got it at 1.50 before with coupon. 

Ice cream 2.99 (tillamook) 

Frozen vegges 1.00 a lb. 

Tomato bouillon. 

Chicken bouillon.  

Vegetable bouillon. 

Beef better than bouillon. 

Prices vary, Costco is cheapest . 

Lots cheaper than buying those cartons at 1.00-2.00 a box 

Vinegar for cleaning. 2/4.29

Hamburger 80/20 2.44 - ( as cheap as 2.00-limited quantities ) 

Chicken breast , Boneless, skinless - 1.77 ( as cheap as .99-Zaycon) 

Pork Loin 1.69 or less ( as cheap as .99) 

Sausage is up to 3.50 the last two I got were free.   Waiting for a good price.   Or we will make our own.   (Less sulphate ) 

Cheese :  2.50 a lb.   ( I have got it as low as 1.85) it is close. To 2.00 at Costco business in 5 lb bags. Both cheddar and mozzarella. 

Four Plus one is five.

Four people, 1 meal, 5 bucks .......based on two adults and 2 school aged children.  

• Spaghetti and meatballs, green beans. 
• Pasta sauce .88, pasta .48, meatballs 2.00. Peasant bread .25, green beans .39. Total 4.00
• Based on GOC prices.  It pays to rotate purchases. 

• Tacos , refried beans, Spanish rice.  
• Taco shells ..49 hamburger1/2 lb 1.22, cheese ,50, lettuce .25tomato .25 Refried beans 1.00, Spanish rice .08 total 4.51
• Based on GOC prices, it pays to rotate bulk purchases 

• Chicken breast stir fry, rice 
• Stir fry vegges 1.50, 1 lb chicken 1.00, top ramen noodles only, .25, rice .08 total 3.55
• Based on GOC prices .  It pays to rotate bulk purchases 

• Pizza , green salad 
• Pizza crust .19. 1/5 jar of pizza sauce .20., 1 cup cheese .50, total .89. Add 1/2 package pepperoni .50 totals 1.39.  Green salad :  lettuce 1.00, tomato .55, cucumber .33.   Total 3.27 
• Based on GOC prices, it pays to rotate bulk purchases.

• Vegetable bean soup.  
• Vegetable broth, 2 cans diced tomatoes .78, beans .30, carrots, celery .45, 1.53 toasted cheese sandwiches bread 1.00. Cheese 2.00.   4.53 

Totals 3.97 a meal.  

QFC GROCERY HAUL

THE WAY TO CUT YOUR GROCERY BILL IS TO PAY 1/2 PRICE FOR YOUR GROCERIES .   That means that sometimes you need to buy things that you do not immediately need.  

Grapes 1.48

Tillamook ice cream 2.99

Strawberries 2.99

Butter 1.99.

Cottage cheese .79

Sour cream .79

Total 16.95.

Chain store ads

Alberways

Spiral ham 1.37
Shank ham .97
Strawberries 2bs 3.77

Quaker cereals .99 includes bars @@
Best Foods Mayo 2.49@@

Note:  whole roasted chicken 6.49.  That’s less two pounds.  The break even point on chicken is THREE pounds.   You are paying more for bone than you are chicken .   Which means you are probably paying 6.49 for about a pound of chicken.   Chicken often is .88 a pound.   NEVER buy a chicken that is less than three pounds.  The optimine size to buy is 5 lbs or just under 5 lbs.

Libbys vegetables 2/1



QFC

Spiral Ham 1.27
Strawberries 2.99 lb
Grapes 1.48

Buy 6, save 3
Butter 1.99
Tillamook ice cream 2.99
Post cereal 1.99
Ritz crackers 1.79
Sour cream or cottage cheese .79
Canned biscuits 1.49 - coupons out there.  


April, this ones for you.
Ground turkey 3.99 lb.  
LOL

How to meal plan

There are different ways to meal plan.   Meal planning is a necessary part of a organized kitchen on the cheap.   Planning helps not waste food and keeps the take out gremlins away.  

A matrix helps too.   If you have some kind of an outline, it’s easier to plan efficiently.   We use a protein based matrix.   1 beef, 1 fish or shellfish, 2 vegetarian. , 3 chicken or pork.  Some people use a standard ten meals—one for spring and simmer, one for fall and winter and make ten meals that they make ver and over.   This makes a standard grocery list and makes it easier to bulk purchase food.  

Bulk purchasing sources of protein on a rotation basis saves a lot of time and money .  Simplify, save money, and always have food in the house.  

Having a couple of days that are stable go tos helps too,   We have pizza and breakfast for dinner.  Breakfast for dinner is a family affair and everyone cooks.   Pizza is easy and cheap and a family favorite.  Both are versatile .  

Pinterest and a good cookbook keeps your meals fresh.  

A quick inventory of your pantry and freezer gives you a sense of what needs to be used up soon.  

A meal plan can be varied dur8ng the week.  Plans can change, but having a plan is a good base.  

Monday Kitchen Management

We had a houseful of guests last night, so I made the vegetable bean soup and a loaf of bread.  A vegetarian soup is a good way to please everybody around here.

Refrigerator Bread is a recipe I found on the Internet . It is King Arthur Refrigerator bread.   It takes a matter of minutes and makes multiple loaves. Sixty four cents makes 2-3 loaves depending on the size of your loaf.   Or, about 21 cents a loaf.  A little more work than peasant bread, but about the same price.

Finding scratch recipes that are efficient and taste good is not hard.   It makes a difference in how things taste, and reduces your exposure to those ingredients you cant pronounce.
Your food shouldn’t be a science experiment and your food bill shouldn’t be an arm and a leg.

You can eat well on four dollars a day.   I’m not going to tell you that you can feed the 17 yo linebacker on that, but you can do it for a regular family.  

Eating and exercising some portion control is a good thing.  If you can't see any white of your plate you are probably eating too much.  We have a problem with obesity in this country.   A lot of it in my opinion is due to portion control.   4 ounces of meat is ample unless you are building muscle for some reason.   Que the 17 yo linebacker.   Check with your nutritionist.   We still eat more than the RDA of nutriments.

Buying your food at a rock bottom price and paying attention to labels and pull dates is a good thing. We got organic diced tomatoes this weekend for 3/1.   They have an April 2018 pull date.   We ate them last night.   I’m sure that food doesn’t go from ok to spoil on a designated date.   We should have some wiggle room. But I don't tend to be adventurous.  That’s why I suggest a 4-6 week supply of food.  That is enough to cover yourself if you have a family emergency, but not too much so that you are strapped for cupboard space and have trouble keeping up with it.    There is just some smug satisfaction of knowing you beat the system and have yourself covered when life throws you a little curve  ball.  Studies have shown that the stress of not having food in the house can reduce your life expectancy.   So can drinking sugar laden drinks.

Meal Plans

Meal plans keep you organized and on track.   They help in kitchen management and make life a lot less hectic come mealtime. 

•  Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad 
• Out , potluck, refried beans (scratch) 
• Pizza
• Roast Pork, mashed potatoes, honey ginger carrots , pickled beets 
• Vegetable bean soup, rolls 
• Pork sliders, oven fries, vegetable platter 
• Breakfast for dinner 

Notes 

1. Meatballs are at winco. 
2. Chicken pizza , -ranch dressing, chicken, blue and mozzarella cheese, red peppers Homemade pizza dough costs .19 and takes less than 5 minutes.   
3. Roast pork does double duty, 
4. Vegetable bean soup is made in the slow cooker part of the insta pot.  Make beans first.   
5. Pork sliders use dinner rolls.   
6. Refried beans are made in the insta pot.   Easy.   
7. Breakfast for dinner is a quiche.   

The buying of a core list of ingredients and buying them at low prices , you can always have some food in the house on a limited budget and eat well.   Buying versatile bulk meat in rotation based with sale prices affords you the luxury of. A varied diet and low-fat meats.   

Our 2017 food costs averaged 55.05 a week.  So far , our food costs are at 50.00 including a bulk chicken purchase.   

Costco and Grocery Outlet Haul

Costco

Bananas 1.39
Pickles 6.89

Total 8.28

Grocery Outlet

Beets , canned, sliced 3/1
Organic diced tomatoes 3/1
Gingerbread Nature Valley Bars 24 ea .99

Sliced cheese 2.00

Total 8.98

Month total including bulk chicken purchase is at 49.45 a week.

Don’t let a “special” that isn’t a special fool you.

Safeways/Albertsons has a coupon “special” in their sunday insert.   Think about this a minute.  

Get a “FREE” 18 count eggs if you buy 50.00 worth of. Participating food. 18 eggs last week at Winco were 1.44.  The percentage of discount is less than 3 percent.  

Asparagus is 1.27, its .99 at Fred Meyers.

Canned vegetables are .79....that’s the price at the DT every day.  And, they are .50 at winco.

If they are giving you less than 5 peracent and they are charging 30 percent more on their products, you aren’t better off.  

File this under when is a bargain, not a bargain .

Fred Meyers ad for Sunday

Spiral sliced ham 1.27
Oscar Mayer Bacon 3.99


Asparagus .99
5 lbs mandarins 3.99
Cantaloupe 2/4
10 lbs potatoes 1.99


Cream cheese 3/5
Marshmallows. 1.00

Buy 6, save 3.00

Cream soup. .49
Butter 1.99

FRIDAY: RECIPE

PORK LOIN IS 1.59 AT COSTCO BUSINESS.   THERE IS A 2.00 OFF STICKER ON IT TO BE USED AT THE REGISTER.  THAT MAKES A 10 LB LOIN 1.39.  

Butchering a pork loin is a matter of  slicing it.  Cut the ends off up about two inches to make the meat a even cylinder. Cut stew meat or slice for stir fry.   Now cut a 6 inch or so roast off one end.  
You should be getting to the center.   Cut center cut pork chops anywhere between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch thick until you have another roast left.   Bag and label with what it is and when you bagged it.   We put portions in a quarts bag and put the quart bags in a gallon bag. I cut the fat layer off of chops , but not roasts.  

Pork Roast.

Mix 2 parts olive oil to 1 part ranch dressing mix. ( make your own )
Add a squirt of Dijon mustard and minced garlic.  

Use a 1.5-3 pound roast

Spread on roast.  Place roast, fat side up in a roasting pan with a rack.  
Heat oven to 350 degrees for an hour or until the roast has an internal temperature of 145 degrees.
We use a thermometer with a probe and set it to pork, well done.   It just makes our life easier.

Having the right tools makes a big difference in your cooking skills and saves a lot of time.    Time is money when you send it plannng a shopping trip or making meal plans.   Proper planning can save you 1/2 on your food bill.   Keeping on top of what’s in the pantry , freezer, and refrigerator saves a lot of money.

 They say that we waste 50 percent of our food.   That’s hard for me to believe, but every amount you throw away is something that could have been eaten.   Portion. Control means a lot.   Give children a reasonable amount.  If they want more , give them more.   I’m not talking about sweets; but rather the dinner part of a meal.   We dont have desert every meal.   Its not good for you or necessary.   There are a lot of ideas out there on how to reinvent a leftover.   A sirloin. Roast can become a roast beef a jus sandwich ,   That pork roast can become sliders.  Cooked chicken can be any number of things.the possibilities are endless..  Pinterest is full of recipes.  

Keeping on top of the refrigerater contents is a good way to use your resources.  

Winco Haul

Winco Haul.....I am still on budget 

Pickles 1.48

Salmon burgers 4.28 lb 

Pie 6.48

Frozen veggies .99

Frozen veggies .88

Darigold butter 2.98 less coupon 1.98

Hamburger buns 1.07 

Black beans , bulk .83 lb 

Green grapes 1.98

White bread 1.18

3 lbs onions .98

Total 24.85 

Thursday Notes : dispelling myths

The internet is full of myths.....wives tales, ......people’s perceptions .....

Grated cheese costs more than buying a brick and grating it yourself.

Cheese is cheese .   A pound of cheese is a pound of cheese.   Check the price per pound.   Often, grated cheese is cheaper than the brick.   You can freeze grated cheese and that allows you to buy it when its on sale.  We toured the tillamook factory.   They make cheese is huge bricks.   It goes to a chopping block where a cutter comes down and cuts the blocks of cheese into two pound bricks.   The cheese that is left over goes into what looks like a buss boy tray and is taken to the shredder.

Its hard to make bread from scratch.  

There are easy ways to make bread.   Peasant bread is a good start because the hardest part is taking the temperature of the water and dealing with a 450 degree oven.   Then, you can go on to other breads.   Peasant bread takes 10 hands on minutes and they are spread between two days.

You can’t eat good food on 4.00 a day.

 Yes, you can eat good food on 4.00 a day.   I was trying to cut our food bill down as far as I could because I write this blog.   It was a game.   I was shocked when I stopped to write a grocery shopping class and discovered  that we were actually eating on less and had been for 15 months.   This also covered feeding  grandchild some ( she eats at home and at our house) and grew a pantry..    We eat good, old fashioned food.   Three squares a day.  Salmon, pork loin roast and chops, 7 percent fat hamburger, boneless skinless chicken breast from Washington.   We dont just eat beans, and we dont shop at the whole paycheck food store.  There is a happy medium.

Clipping coupons takes a lot of time and you get a whole quarter back.

It takes about ten minutes to print coupons the first day of the month.   Cutting time and putting them in a binder can be done watching TV.   Ditto flipping through an insert from the paper and cutting what you are likely to buy.   It saves up to 25.00 a month if you aren't a prepared food buyer.

Ibotta and such apps profile you and you loose your privacy.

The truth is, none of us is immune to being profiled. .   Everything we do we are being watched —everything  from being on Facebook to using a store loyalty card.  We don't live in a box.

Chain store ads

QFC

Buy 6, save 3

Marie Calenders frozen dinners  1.79
Cottage cheese. Sour cream .79
Sweet baby rays .99
Pillsbury rolls 1.49 - coupon on multiples 1.00 on three

—————-
English cucumbers..99
Milk .99
Cream cheese 3/5

Saturday only digital coupon
Sugar 4 lbs .99

Safeways

Ham 1.37

Shank half or whole .97

Starkest tuna @@. .59
Bread 1.49 @@
Lean ground beef 80/20 1.99@@


Kens dressing 1.99 - @@ paper coupon, ss, .75 off

@@ in ad coupon store card

Tuesday Notes

Its the first day of spring and I want to talk about the snowball effect.   Not too strange, we hae had snow this late before.   Saving money on groceries to reach a bottom line is like rolling a snowball from a mass that fits inside your fist to the size of a snowman head.   It might take some time, but it has a great reward.   Savings amass with time.

I priced a jar of ragu for 2.00 this morning at Wallmart on line.   We paid .79 with a sale and coupon .
That’s roughly 1.20 per jar.  We bought 4 for a total savings of 4.80.   Now, if I took that 4.80 and I added .20 cents to it and bought 2 lbs of cheese at safeways, I would have 2 lbs of cheese an 4 jars of pasta sauce for  about the same price as I would have if I just went to wallmart and bought the jars of pasta sauce.    Stay with me.  

I bought pasta sauce and saved 4.80
I added .20 and bought cheese  5.00

Saved 7.00

Now I have:   4 jars of pasta
                       2 lbs of cheese
Take the 7,.00 saings  on the cheese and buy
English muffins, whole wheat
Bagels, whole wheat
Hot dog nuns
Rye breads


Now you have
4 jars of pasta
2 pounds of cheese
A package of bagels
Hot dog buns
Rye bread
English muffins
And you have 3 dollars left/

That buys the hot dogs to go with the buns

Now you have spent 8.00
And you hae
4 jars of pasta
2 pounds of cheese
4 packages of bread
And a package of Nathan’s hot dogs.

Or \another way to look at it is that you got 34.00 worth of food for 14.80 for a savings of 19.20.




                     

Notes from the grocery class.

Yesterday my daughter and I hosted a Cut your grocery bill in half class.   Here are a few bullets to  ponder.

• Buy thing in bulk when it makes sense:   Flour, rice, oatmeal.  That 7 dollar bag of flour can save you a hundred dollars replaeing store /manufactured frozen items.   
• Keep a basic inventory of the things you use on a regular basis every week and buy a 4-6 week supply of them when they are at their RBP.
• Keep a small notebook 📓 to record prices of your key items until you find the  RBP in your area.   
• Efficient scratch cook.   Find recipes that are easy and use the instapot, slow cooker etc to minimize your time in the kitchen.   You basically get paid for planning and shopping wisely at two stores in the form of savings.   You don’t get paid for cooking.   
• Use coupons, ibotta, sales, closeout bins and basket coupons wisely to save money any way you can.   Coupons.com, ibotta, 
• There are some people that are on U-tube that are great sources of information.   Betty Crocker on line cookbook is free.  Substitute ready made products with scratch if you can.   There are more people.   Freedom Homestead, Big Famiy Homestead , She’s In Her Apron,  April Holly Smith to name a few. 

Kitchen Management - March 19, 2017

Its that day again, Kitchen Management, and today is a busy day for us, so something will have to slide until tomorrow.   Tuesday is errand day, and we have to do the errands today too.  We hae all been there....life is sometimes a juggling act.   LOL

This is a good day to put on a pot of soup.   I will sub for pizza night.   Soup always works when I have a meeting early evening.   

• Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead.   
• Wax the refrigerator 
• Disinfect the counters and sinks and drains. 
• Wash the kitchen floor. 
• Make soup
• Wash root veggies with vinegar water 
• Make vegetable platter . 
• Straighten the pantry.   
• Log the cash for groceries.   

I’m sitting at 50.00 this week.  A lot of it was pasta sauce because I got it for super cheap with coupons and a sale.  That’s under four dollars a day per person.  

Reminder of meals : adjusted 

• Roast chicken with oven roasted veggies 
• Soup
• Spaghetti and meatballs. Salad 
• Tacos, Spanish rice 
• Salmon, baked potatoes, green beans 
• Chix nuggets, (homemade) oven fries, vegetable sticks.   
• Breakfast for dinner.