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.

The best of the chicken

Making chicken work for a proverbial family of two adults and two school aged children .

1- tray of split chicken breasts.  This includes breasts with the rib portion.   Probably the most perfect way to buy chicken especially if you don’t care for dark meat.   Dark meat has more fat.   Usually, here , you can purchase split chicken breasts on sale for anywhere from .88 to .99 a pound. My last purchase was 4 breasts for a total of 5.17 pounds.  It netted four good sized chicken breasts and a pound of meat pieces plus 2 quarts of chicken stock.   Chicken stock is 2.44 a quart .  For a total of 4.88 for the value of the stock alone.   You just broke even with the stock.   

• Cut 4 chicken breasts out of the four big chicken breasts .  These should be about the size of the palm of your hand, or about 4-5 ounces.   If you are nit using them that night, place each one in a quart zip lock bag.   I get our quart bags from the dollar tree.  Place the quart bags in a gallon bag and mark it for the freezer.   
• Place the rest of the chicken meat and bones in a slow cooker and add water to within an inch of the top.  Add 2T Italian seasoning and any vegetable scraps you may have to the pot and turn on low for about 6  hours or high until the meat is cooked and falling off the bone.  Meat should measure 180 degrees— well done.  Strain the bones from the broth after it has cooled enough to work with,   I use a colander lined with cheese cloth and put into quart jars to refrigerate.   Any fat that may be in the broth will rose to the top and you can spoon it off.
• When the bones are cooked enough, take a fork and pick the bones for the meat.  I got more than  a full pound of meat from the 4.55 package along with the four good sized breasts.   The pieces  were over half the gallon bag.   
• Now, you have 2 quarts of stock for a total of 4.88; 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts for a total of 6.70.and 16 ounces of chicken pieces cost 17.26 using wall mart prices.   For 28.84 worth of chicken.  
•  The chicken breast can be cooked for dinner as one dinner,   I added corn on the cob and a salad. 
• The stock is the base for two or three soups: potato, chicken noodle, vegetable bean 
• The pieces can be chicken noodle soup, chicken enchiladas, chicken tacos, chicken noodle casseroles, chicken and dumplings, chicken pot pie, chicken stir fry, and many more,   Probably enough for four other meals.   
• Thats about 7 meals basically from 5.00 worth of meat.   

Sunday Meal Plans

Meal plans are a necessary part of being organized and maintaining a low cost grocery expense.  We all have to eat and using time and money wisely, you can eat well without breaking the budget.

Using what you have and need to use up is a good basis for plans as well as a matrix that keeps things interesting.  Last week, we ate brats three days in a row because I neglected to separate the package into meal sized portions and they were frozen, so I couldn’t refreeze them.  I switched the ingredients so at least there was a variety! Lol

• Lemon pepper chicken pasta (BC) 
• Pizza
• Breakfast for dinner 
• Hamburgers, oven fries, salad 
• Fajitas, tortillas, rice 
• Meatball stew , rolls 
• Vegetable bean soup, rolls 

Notes 

• Lemon pepper chicken uses spaghetti and is a Betty Crocker on line recipe, 
• Pizza is a mainstay.  Cheese pizza made with RBP ingredients costs about a buck.  Adding leftover bits bumps it up. 
• Hamburgers were purchased  at 2.50 per pound,   Bins left from last week.   Air fried French fries have no fat added.   Tomato, cucumber, lettuce salad. 
• Fajitas are chicken from breasts, and peppers  purchased for .50. Rice cooked with tomato powder. 
• Meatballs are purchased for 2.00 for almost a pound at Winco,   Fast insta pot meal, 
• Vegetable bean soup is my own recipe,   Rolls are scratch . 
• Breakfast for dinner is a family meal.  Everyone cooks. 

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Concept: To buy ready made ...OR NOT .

Groceries  on the cheap is based on the principle of not paying full price for your groceries, stocking a four to six week supply, and efficiently scratch cooking .

That being said, there are times when ready made is CHEAPER than making something from scratch.

Sometimes here there are fruit pies  for three to four dollars.   At the cost of blueberries , usually, it is cheaper  to buy a three dollar pie than  it is to make one from scratch. Ditto pumpkin,  a can if pumpkin is almost as expensive as the pie.

Unless you grow a bumper crop of tomatoes yourself, it is cheaper to buy pasta sauce on sale.

With two of us, it is cheaper for me to buy single rolls for a sandwich than it is to buy a package and making just two rolls is hardly worth the time unless you have refrigerator dough.

Pasta is time consuming.  Spaghetti especially can be found for as little as fifty cents and have got it for .33  lately.

Recently ,  I bought seasoned bread dressing for  a quarter.   Normally, I would have made it myself.

I write a blog a while ago about three things that take almost  no time, no money and save 90 percent of retail.   It was a hit!

Most puddings are just as easy to make scratch as the boxed ones.

I have been getting cake mixes for free, so that is no contest.

It always pays to look at the labor involved and the cost involved before deciding to make scratch.  Prioritizing the things that are sooo much cheaper than ready made or semi ready-made is the best use of your time. A lot of things are just as quick to scratch cook, and cost a lot less.

Creative problem solving

Last week, I bought a package of brats.  They were frozen and you shouldn’t refreeze a meat after it has been thawed.  I should have divided  the package into our meal sized  portions, but I didn’t.

The solution , we were going to eat the brats three times because there are two of us that eat brats.

First meal : sauerkraut, apples, brats, bread sticks.   I rinsed the sauerkraut, added a chopped apple to cut the acidity if the sauerkraut, and added the brats. A little beer added enough liquid to let it simmer,   Cooked in a skillet until the apples were tender and the brats were cooked,  baked off the breadsticks and brushed them with melted garlic butter,

Second meal :  sheet pan dinner.  We have been cooking this long before anyone started calling it a sheet pan dinner.   I lined the sheet pan with parchment .  I boiled the brats until they were partially done about five minutes. Then I cut summer yellow squash in quarters , quartered potatoes, added some green and red pepper  slices  I had in the freezer, and the brats cut in half to the sheet pan.  I tossed the ingredients with olive oil and sprinkled them with garlic pepper.  Baked them 40 minutes at 400 degrees.

Third meal :  sausage pasta dish (serves 4)

1/2 package sturdy pasta like bow toe or rotini.
Sausage, but into pieces or rings
Olive oil
2 tsp chopped  garlic
1/2 small onion chopped, or 1 tsp onion powder
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup milk or enough to make the sauce creamy
Parmesan cheese, grated

Sauté garlic and onion or onion powder in a little oil.   Add sausage.  Cook until the sausage is cooked through.
Add the can of diced tomatoes holding back some of the juice. *
Add enough milk to make the sauce creamy .  Add back tomato juice if needed.
When sauce is hot, add pasta.
sprinkle with  parmesan  cheese

Serve with red pepper flakes

* the original recipe calls for a whole can of tomatoes and 2 cups of cream for 8 servings,
From the BIG FAMILY HOMESTEAD on u tube.

Normally we wouldn’t eat sausage that many times in a week.   It was a case of waste not, want not.

Hauls to 6/19

Safeways

Eggs .88
Johnsonville brats 2.99
Apples 3# 4.99

Total 9.74

QFC
Hamburgers 2# 4.99

Winco
Bread sticks 1.98
Sausage .98
Grape tomatoes 1.48
Gala apples 1.54
Strawberries 1.98
Corn .48
English cucumber .78
Blues 3.98
Total 15.06

Total 29.89

Best of the ads 6/19

QFC

Digital coupon
Friday, Saturday
Up to 5
Bacon 2.99
Cheese .99

******
Butter 2.77
Barilla 1.00


Alberways 

Western tri cities only 
Onions .39
Peppers .79

Meat BOGO.  Good buy ?

Cereal buy 4. 1.99$$

Milk 1.99@@

SPROUTS 

Grapes .88
Peppers .98
Cherries 1.88
Cauliflower .98
Blues 2/4
Oranges .98


FSS only
Cantaloupe.88


FRED MEYERS 

Butter 2.77
Milk .99
Eggs .99

FF split chicken breast, parts  .99
Ground turkey 2/5
Ground beef 93/7 2.99

FRIDAY! SAT only 
Digital 
Cheese .99
Bacon 2.99

Meals, of June

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 

Monday Mixup

Concept:  the time it takes to make a meal isn’t the time from start to finish, but rather the hands on time,  If you throw a few ingredients in a slow cooker or  insta pot and walk away to go to the beach or do the laundry, you aren’t cooking, you are doing something else.

A lot of the recipes we use are low impact recipes.   Scratch cooking doesn’t have to take much more of any more time than using the boxed stuff.  The boxed stuff has ingredients you can’t pronounce. 

I am a firm believer in the insta pot. ( surprise!)  The objection  I have heard is that it takes just as long. 

The reality is that time is measured in hands on time,   Let’s take spaghetti.  It takes  maybe five minutes to fill the insta pot. You set the pot on manual, for  8 minutes.  You check the pot periodically because you want to manually release as soon as it starts to count down.  If it sits on the steam, your noodles will be mushy.   There is one pot to wash, and you aren’t watch No, storing the pasta pot and the sauce pot.   Now, if you prefer your sauce and pasta separate, this ones not for you,   We always add Parmesan cheese to it before serving and maybe some red pepper flakes.   

Layer cooked meat , spaghetti, broken in half and placed in a circle like a bird nest, then pour a jar or can of pasta sauce over the noodles, and pour 2 cups of water in the pot around the outside edge.  You can also use a stock instead or part water and part wine.  One dish to wash,   

Most scratch dishes are minutes.   

Stew

Pot roast 

Soups

Chili

Beans and rice are simplified.

Beans: wash the beans in water and pick out any ricks or funky looking beans,   Pour onto insta pot liner,   Add enough water to be about two inches above the top of the beans.  Never fill the pot more than 1/2 full if you are cooking something like rice or beans that expands during cooking.   Close the lid, set the steam button, and push the bean button, done,  let the steam release on its own,   

Rice: measure equal parts of rice and water or stock.  Sometimes I add a teaspoon of tomato powder per cup of water.   Stir.   Close the lid, set to seal. Push the rice button.  

You can cook meat from frozen,   No more worry about taking something out to thaw.    

Stock cooks in an hour and a half instead of all day,   

Be sure  to look up my blog on “almost no time, almost no money, save 90 percent of retail. “ 

Most hits ever next to my rant on everything nit being good for you. LOL.  It got a “best blog EVER” comment.   

You can cook dinner from scratch efficiently.  Find the recipes your family loves and you have it made.   

Meal plans

Meal plans are a necessary tool to save time and money in the kitchen.  Using up what might be on the edge is a good thing,  

1. Fajitas 
2. Pizza
3. Chicken breast, stuffing, 
4. Chicken pot pie 
5. Tacos, Spanish rice 
6. Tuna  casserole 
7.  Breakfast for dinner  

Notes

Peppers were on sale last week.   I froze them
Pizza is a mainstay,  Scratch pizza costs a little more than a dollar .
Chicken breast is from the split chicken  breast .  Dressing was .50 at the grocery outlet .
Chicken pot pie uses chicken pieces from the freezer.  
Tacos uses already cooked hamburger . Spanish rice in the insta pot.
Tuna casserole uses solid albacore tuna from Costco.
Breakfast for dinner is a mainstay . Everyone cooks.

10 random hacks

10 things that will make your life easier on the kitchen.  Bit by bit your time in the kitchen can be shortened without sacrificing meals.

• Hard cooked eggs :   Eggs are .88 this week,   They are an inexpensive source  of protein. Place eggs in the shells into the cups of a muffin tin .   Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Immediately purge into an ice water bath. 
• Keeping a receptacle, such as an individual popcorn container (Dollar Tree) on top of the refrigerator makes it easy to gather ice for an ice bath. 
• Putting things that go together on the same space on the refrigerator saves hunting  for things, and saves time.  A plastic basket or food container can corral individual yogurt cups.  Putting all the sweet condiments on one door shelf and all the savory on another saves hunting  time.  
• Salad dressing in another.  If it is full, you have too many variables. 
• Take one freezer door shelf for pizza. Pizza  sauce is a dollar at the dollar tree.  ( name brand) . Freeze it in an ice cube tray, that should make 10 cubes,  you need 2 for a medium pizza.  After they are frozen, you can pop them out into a zip lock.  
• When cutting peppers, cut the top and bottom off.  Then cut the middle into slices ready for casseroles or fajitas.  The top and bottom, cut into small dice for pizza.   Freeze in a zip lock and put on the same shelf.  It is easier to slice anything with a waxy outer shell if you cut it with the inside up.  You are cutting into the flesh instead of the waxy outside.  
• Anytime you are cutting or cooking  something that goes on a pizza, save a bit for the pizza shelf,   Instant easy pizza.  Homemade cheese pizza costs a bit more than a dollar when ingredients are bought at RBP. 
• Grouping dairy, leftovers, and condiments on the refrigerator shelves makes it easy to see what you are missing, and avoids that dreaded science  experiment in the back of the refrigerator. 
• Lining your vegetable bin with paper towels makes clean up easier.   
• A large plastic bucket with a lid does double duty as a receptacle for vinegar water for cleaning veggies, a ice bath bucket, and a bulk bread dough container. 

Rhubarb Dump cake

My granddaughter and I have been making dump cakes.   She really enjoys it especially when gramps is impressed.   Lol

Rhubarb Dump Cake

1# rhubarb , cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup Sugar
1 pkg strawberry jello (3 Oz)

Sprinkle sugar and jello over fruit,
Sprinkle yellow cake mix over the fruit mixture,

Top with
1 cup water DO NOT STIR
1/4 cup melted butter

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

Note:  regular jello works better than sugar free.

Hauls to 6/12

Winco
Meatballs 1.98
Carrots 2# 1.18
Bread 1.18
Strawberries 1.78
Blues 3.98
Potatoes 10# 2.28

Total 17.32

Sprouts and grocery outlet 

Sprouts had a lot of individual produce for .50 

Cheese at grocery outlet was from 1.99 to 2.19

Bacon 12 ounces 2/5 

Hunts diced tomatoes 2/1 

Buns 1.00

Dressing .50 

Sprouts 

Blackberries 2/1 

Cucumbers 2/1

Italian squash .99

Red bell peppers 2/1 

Red grapes .98

Roma tomatoes .99

Yellow squash .99

Total 9.38

Grocery outlet 

Diced tomatoes 2/1

Ketchup.79 - no HFCS

Candy bars .25

Green olives 1.49

Ice cream cones .99

Herb stuffing .50

Buns .99

Bacon 2/5

Sliced cheese 2.19

Swiss sliced cheese 1.99

Total 23.31

Grand total 50.01 

Best of the ads 6/12

QFC
Blues 2,99
Lean cuisine 1.88


Digi / FSS only / use up to 5 times

Bush baked beans .99
Hillshire farm smoked sausage 1.88


Sprouts

Apricots .98
Naval oranges .98
Strawberries, blueberries 4/5
Apples .98
Cantaloupe .98
Squash or eggplant .98

93% hamburger 3.99

Alberways

Grapes 1.77
Safeway ice cream 2,88

Eggs .88@@
Buns .99@@
Brats 2.99@@

Barilla .99@@
Cake mix -Duncan Hines .99@@


Fred Meyers
grapes  .99
Strawberries 4/5

90/10 ground beef 3.99

Digi /FSS only/ up to 5

Hillshire Farms sausage  1.88
Bush’s beans .99
angel food.  cake 2.49
Ice cream 2/5

Tuesday concepts

Tuesday is scheduled for lists.  
I am writing a blog, cleaning the bathroom and going to work.   After that, I have to get an order out. So, this list is going to be ten 15 minute dinners. Taking an hour or so to prep foods especially meats saves a lot of time,

• Tacos 
• Taco soup 
• Fajitas 
• Breakfast for dinner : eggs, toast, fruit or yogurt parfaits
• Chicken noodle soup, scratch 
• Chicken pot pie 
• Impossible breakfast pie
• Hamburgers, oven fries, lettuce salad, or sloppy  joes 
• Chicken Parmesan, salad 
• Potato soup, cheezy biscuits 
• Insta pot spaghetti, Texas toast, salad