Getting Inspiration.

My daughter brought a take out menu home from a bistro. I thought I would analyze it for inspiration.
Inspiration can come from anywhere. Having varied menu plan keeps things interesting and makes you not even realize that you are eating on the cheap.

Nicoise salad, I totally forgot about. with salmon and balsamic vinegar dressing.

Shrimp salad with field greens, shrimp, corn, tomatoes, jack cheese

Blue cheese and Pear salad. With candied pecans and dried cherries.

Vegetable pizza. Roasted artichokes, baby spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, mozzarella, provolone,Parmesan and basil.

Chicken and angel hair pasta with garlic pasta sauce, spinach, mushrooms and rosemary butter.

Most of these are doable on a budget with some variations, watching for sales. They sound yummy to me without the 10 plus dollar price tag per serving.

inspiration can come from anywhere, your favorite bistro, magazines, the Internet, the back of boxes or even the back of a candle!

When my children were young, they were more likely to eat the same familiar things like pizza, burritos, tacos, spaghetti etc. Someone asked the school one time why there was not a lot of variety on the menus. The answer they got was that they could tell by how much was left in the garbage can what the kids ate and they cooked accordingly . you can encourage children at home to try just one bite of new foods often. Eventually, they will eat a more varied diet. Often it is the texture and sometimes they outgrow it. Just keep trying. Don't make ot a power struggle. I offered my granddaughter mashed potatoes the other night. She Buttoned up her mouth and turned her head. I put a little on my finger and put it on her pouting lip. She ate it. I gave her the bowl, and before long, she was eating it out of the bowl. She needed a bath after that, but she ate it. LOL.

Often, when my husband and I were having spicy food, I would make the preschool age kids Mac and cheese and green beans. They wanted to taste our food.

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The other meals

It was brought to my attention (thank you my one commenter ) that I don't talk avout breakfast and lunch much. breakfast in most families is not a sit down together affair. We are all rushing somewhere in the morning, and are separate places for lunch.

I take a more casual approach ot the other meals. I usually have whole wheat toast and fruit, or banana bread, or yogurt, sometimes with pumpkin seed granola.

Muffins work well. They can be madenand frozen when you have time, and pulled out of the freezer the night before or defrosted in the microwave. You can put all kinds of nutritious stuff in them and the kids will eat it!!! I have a muffin cookbook that has a formula for muffins, and and a whole lot of variations.Any basic muffin recipe will work. Just substitute what you have for the bananas or whatever. Bare in mind what texture and consistency your new ingredient is and match itmwith the old one.

I tend to use bisquick, it's cheap and easy. The banana blueberry one is so nutritious, I usually use it. Making a quick bread is easier and more efficient.

Thinking about the ingredients.

Low fat bisquick
Oatmeal ( lowers colosterol)
sugar ( I use fake because I am diabetic, but it is not a lot)

Bananas ( they are super ripe, good for anti cancer)
Blueberries (antioxidants)
Eggs, you can use fake eggs
Low fat milk

A lot of good nutrition.

Lunch for us is either a sandwich and a piece of fruit, leftovers, or a salad. I especially like whole wheat crackers, cheese, and a piece of fruit like an apple.

The answer to another question! How do I keep a budget and fill my teenage kids hollow legs!
When my kids were teenagers, I had a fifty dollar a week budget. I posted the weeks menus on the fridge so they knew not to eat the rice I had double batched for another meal etc. I also had a list of things that they knew were FREE stuff. Things they could eat all they wanted of if they hungry.
It was top ramen, beef and bean burritos, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and popcorn.

I get the which is cheaper, WinCo or Costco question often. The answer is no one grocery store is cheapest.
The best way to beat the system is to pick the two cheapest per week. Then go to the overstocked stores, the bakery outlet, WinCo and Costco on a need basis for the things that are cheaper there. We hit Costco once a month or when we are running out of meds or TP. WinCo we once every six weeks or so. Grocery Outlet and big lots we hit when we are in that section of town for something else. I plan our trips so we can make the beat use of our time. Thankfully these stores, except WinCo and the bread outlet, are clustered together. I have learned where the food is and can get in and out quickly.

If you just hate to shop and record keeping is not your bag, don't hestitate to deligate the job to a trusted family member. Even an older child sometimes can research prices and fill in a spread sheet.

That being said, I remember putting a grocery list on the fridge, hoping when someone noticed we were almost out of something, they would write it down, and not put the empty box back in the cupboard. I got snicker bars in the list. Like I was going to buy snicker bars. Nice try. LOL

I remember sending my husband to the store to grocery shop because I had had an operation and couldn't go. He came back with a pomegranate and a case of beer! I sent my college age daughter with a budget to Costco. We got a weeks worth of good food.

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The Stats

I have had the day to myself for the first time in what seems like years. I did some research on the Internet. Average food stamps are 133.00 per person per month. 533.00 for the typical family of four. USDA stats for low income family of four is 627.90 a month. High income is 1245.60. Those figure are for June 2012. This is for food only. Paper products, alcoholic beverages etc. Are not included. I am sitting at 1/2 the low income stats and have built a stock besides.

Meals from the ads

My usual post after the ads post is to do a post on making meals from the ads and what is still in my fridge. It is mainly to show the process. My fridge is probably not your fridge and my family dynamics are probably not yours.

My formula for meal plans is

2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish

We tend to like Tex Mex (easy for me to compensate for the veggies). When the children were growing up, we tended to have the same things, because the kids liked them a lot.

1) Tacos,Refried beans
2) beef barley soup, crusty bread
3) chicken pot pie
4) pork spareribs
5) Tomato soup and quesidas.
6) pizza
7) tuna casserole

I got wheat pizza crust at grocery outlet for 2 crusts for a buck. Mots is 2.19 a pound at Costco. I got tortillas for .60 at big lots.Spareribs are on sale at top. My very technical recipe for country style ribs is to slice an onion on top of them in a slow cooker. Add a beer on top and cook for 8-10 hours. Carefully take them out with a slotted spoon when done. Place them on a broiler pan, brush with BBQ sauce and broil until sauce is bubbly.

The chicken, beef, and taco meat are already cooked in the freezer from previous weeks.
Mixed veggies were at the dollar store, also on sale at QFC. Good tuna is on sale as well with a coupon.

My tag phrase is 4+1 is 5. Four people, one meal, five bucks.

If I know that we are doing to have a long, hard day,I plan a meal that cooks itself , so dinner is ready when we are.

I was asked one time, why I would want to feed a family of four for 50 bucks a week. My reply was that my husband and I had both been laid off and we took cuts in pay to get new jobs. And, the mortgage company didn't have a sense of humor! LOL. If you have never been there, you don't understand.

But, besides averting disaster, groceries on the cheap can free up discretionary money for other life enriching things--like the kids college fund, or a vacation that you have always wanted to go on. There is a smug satisfaction that you have beat the stats and a sense of security knowing that You have food in the house at the end of the month.

I started this blog when it was brought to my attention that there were people on SNAP that were running out of money before they ran out of month. The amount of full food stamps is well enough to live on, if you manage it wisely. The trick may be to realize that they are FOOD stamps, not SNACK stamps.It is healthier to snack on an apple or some air popped popcorn than potato chips or sugar coated cereal. It also, won't work if you buy ready made meals.

Knowing how to grocery shop on th cheap is empowering. Even if you don't need to, why waste money??


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The ads

Here are the ads


QFC

10 for 10

Mini carrots
Apples
Frozen veggies 12 oz

Strawberries 2/5.00
Pork shoulder 1.79

Grapes 2.49


SAFEWAYS

sirloin steak 2.99
Milk 2.59

FIVE DOLLAR FRIDAYS

BLUES, 18 ounces
Shrimp

Skippy peanut butter

Sausage buy 1 get1

Coupon****. Tuna, solid pack. 1.19
Coupon. Brownie mix . 99


Frozen foods. Buy five, get ten dollars on your next trip.

Frozen fries 2/7
Mornimg star farms 2.99. That makes them a buck EACH!!!!


ALBERTSOMS

BUY 10

Hunts pasta sauce .80
Brown and serve. . 80

Chicken breasts . 99
15 ground beef. 2.49****
apples .88
Lettuce 1.00
Carrots 1.69




TOP

Apples 1.00
Tomatoes .89
Grapes 1.99

15/10. Beans and tomatoes canned. .67 each"""""


Blues 16 ounces. 3.98
15 percent ground beef 3.00****
Pork ribs 2.00
Pork chops 2.00
Pork roast 2.00
Beef roasts 3.00



Note the flux of ground beef prices, You probably would be better off making it from sirloin Safeways.
Also, there is a great flux on baby carrots.
Beef roast is 3.00. The new two dollars. That's a fifty percent increase.
The 15/10 canned foods are a stockimg alert.
Vegetarian alert Safeways has a net of 1.00 a package on vegetarian "meat".

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The rest of the story

Today is the day I usually do the ads. However, I couldn't finish yesterday's blog.

There are a lots of tricks to make cooking from scratch fast. There is one school of thought that makes a entire month of meals one day, and freezes the rest. I call it marathon cooking. I don't have the stanima for that,but I can see where it might be beneficial to some families. I have dome a mini version of it before and boxed up some for our elderly mothers. I thought it might be fun for them not to eat their own cooking and have some things that they wouldn't cook for one person.

I use the slow cooker a lot of I am going to work the late shift, or entertain. It just makes life easier. The last thing I want to do after I have been on my feet on cement floors all day is to set on to cook a meal from scratch.

When I get a bulk batch of ground meat, or make ground meat, I cook and de fat it and portion control it. Put it into bags and label. It makes life easier and dinner is half made. I make taco meat, crumbles, meatballs, Salisbury steak, and we have meatloaf that night. You can do that for sausage also.

Or I roast off a chicken and separate it into 4 bags: 2 1/2s of chicken breasts, one leg portions and the bones for soup.

I cook off a roast beef or pork and we have a roast meal and then slice the rest thin for a hot sandwich and freeze on family portions.

Take a couple of zip lock bags and put them in the freezer door,label them meat, and veggies. Every time you chop a veggie or cook a meat that goes on a pizza, set aside a little in your bag. I would use separate bags for the meat. At the end of a week or two, you have enough for "almost free pizza". The recipe for dough is on a prior blog. It is really easy and fast. You use the food processor. We also found pizza crusts whole-wheat for 2/1.00 at the grocery outlet .

Another idea, if you are not the tracking type, consider delegating to another family member. I set up my mothers file system when I was in jr high school.

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Jane

Will return with the ads

The basics revisited again !!!

About every first of the month, I go over the basics for any new people, or to refresh memories.

This blog is about grocery shopping on the cheap. It takes a three pronged approach at putting inexpensive, tasty meals on the table. It is not about eating cheap hot dogs, top ramen, or .28 a pound chicken or dumpster diving??!! LOL. There are many reasons why one would want to economize on food. Some people read this blog to see new recipes or get an idea how to get out of the kitchen fast. The idea is "If you spend more time on the front end of the 'get the food on the table train' and less time on the back end you will be better off. You essentially get paid for shopping, not for cooking.

If you can cut your food bill in half, and save 75 dollars a week on food, you save almost 4 thousand dollars a year. What can YOU buy or save for that much money. If you are like I was in my early years, I didnt have it to save. I just had to make what I had stretch.

The basics take a three pronged approach.1) Planning and organizing,2) shopping and 3) cooking from scratch

1) Planning and Organizing
Everything successful starts with a plan. First, gather main dish recipes that use inexpensive sources of protein that your family will eat. Start with seven, and go from there. Fourteen is better for variety.

Now, make a list of the staples you use frequently. In our house it would be beans, refried beans, cheese, diced tomatoes, pasta sauce, pasta, some tuna, and some salmon and instant mashed potatoes.
make a spread sheet or a small spiral notebook to track the prices. Record the item, the size, the amount you paid, when and where. Pretty soon you will discover the rock bottom price of the article. Plan your menus when you get home from the store keeping in mind what is leftover in the fridge before you went to the store. Nothing fancy, just jot down seven main dishes. Do this after you shop something that is on sale might not be as good a quality as you want, or not available.

2) Shopping.
When you find the rock bottom price, buy a) as many as the store will allow you to buy, b) as many as you can afford to buy,or c)as many as you need to replenish stock. If I use something once a week, I keep 24. If I use it once a month, I keep 6. This isn't about hoarding.

When the grocery ads come out, take a piece of computer paper , divide it in fourths. Put the name of a store at the top of each section. Go through the ads and mark down any meat and veggie buys that are a good price and any stock items that are a good price. Skip the ready made items and snack food.

When you are done,cross off any thing that is a higher price and anything you don't need. Record lowest prices of your target foods. Pick the two stores that have the lowest prices on things you need. plan your trip to save gas.

Take the ads, and your list. Get in and get out. The More time you spend in a store, the more money you will spend.

Store your fruits and veggies properly. There are storage solutions on the market that make fruits and veggies last longer.

3) Cooking from scratch
There is no room in a good food cheap budget for snacks and ready made foods. That being said, there are a few things that are cheaper to buy ready made than to make from scratch, and a few things that are best bought ready made. Refried beans, canned beans and tortillas and mayo come to mind. Sometimes instant mashed potatoes are cheaper than scratch. There are ways to make dinner as fast as you can by using a box. I did a post on a hamburger dinner box. It is a real eye opener. it is about the most expensive item in the store pound for pound. Booze excluded.

I'm out of time, hope I covered everything.

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Jane

Price comparisons

My mother was an antique dealer. She always said that every antique store had sleepers and the trick was to find them.

No one grocery store has the lowest prices on everything. If you can effectively and efficiently take advantage of
The lowest prices, you can master 1/2 price food.

We did a Costco run yesterday. We only needed a few things, but they were really necessary things. I thought I would spend some time comparing prices. I have had a lot of questions about comparing Costco prices.

Many produce prices at Costco are pretty stable year round. Bananas are 1.39 the cheapest anywhere. Grocery Outlet is 1.99, other stores .79. All bananas are organic. Berries are almost always cheaper. Blueberries are full of antioxidents and are very versitile.

Toilet paper is the cheapest I have found.

They have pizzas on sale at times. I got a extra Large pizza for 5.99 yesterday. It is so large that I havento cut it into quarters to get it in our fridge and oven!

Cheese was 3.19 a pound. I have been getting it for 2.50 a pound. They had mots for 2.19 grated. Grated cheese should not be more expensive than the bricks. We went to the Tillamock factory. Mthey make cheese in huge molds. Then put it through a cutting machine. The excess goes into a plastic bin and goes to the grater machine. Basically, it is the leftovers.

The chicken sausage that I buy for 2.99 at grocery outlet was more expensive.

I buy the brown and serve baguettes from Costco unless I can find them at the bakery outlet. The bakery doesn't always have them. I keep them in the fridge, they last a long time. Tortillasmaremcheaper. I keep them in the fridge too.

Re fried Beans were cheaper than the regular price at the other grocery stores. They were not the .50 that got them for on sale.

Pasta was a lot more expensive. Pasta has a very, very long shelf life. You can stock very comfortably.

Spices are a lot cheaper. I buy the spices that I use a lot from Costco along with better than bouillon low sodium. Some that I don't use often I get at the dollar store or Big Lots.

Stamps are less than par value at Costco.
Magazines are thirty percent off. They don't have a complete selection.
Some magazines are .50 at the goodwill.

Cottage cheese and sour cream is cheaper at Costco most of the time.

Dry beans are really cheaper. The quantity is huge! In would get together with friends , neighbors, or family and split a bag.

The trick to all this is to know the prices ofnthe things that you use all the time. If you can't remember, keep a spread sheet or spiral notebook . It gives you an overview of prices and where the rock bottom price is. Often times, you can save as much as a dollar or more on an item.

It adds up fast. 75 dollars a week is almost 4 thousand a year!

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Notes on Sunday

I came across a trivia that is interesting. The grocery chain stores research their locations carefully. they are based on demographics. The dollar stores piggy back certain stores. If you notice most of the time, the dollar store be in the same strip mall as Safeways or grocery outlet! Grouping your stores saves time and gas. We have TJ MAXX , Safeways, and the dollar store and Costco just down the highway. Oe we have Joannes, Albertsoms, Safeways, and the dollar store, and big Lots in a cluster and grocery outlet nearby.

I know I sound like a broken record, but the slow cooker is my best friend in the kitchen. I have to work the late shift today. I'm going to put soup on this morning so it's ready when I get home.

Beef and vegetable soup

1 pound lean ground beef, cooked and defatted
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 bottle beer
1cup beef broth
1 cup water

1-1/2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup celery
1/2 cup chopped sweet pepper

Salt, pepper, bayleaf

Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Discard bay leaf.

Note. You could use ground pork or turkey. I don't know how fake meat would hold up, but you could add it the last and heat through. You, of course, could add non alcoholic beer.You couldmusenany other rootmvegetables that sounded good to you or add some noodles or cooked rice at the end.


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Shopping trip

I cleaned the fridge, and made banana blueberry bread. Decided to go shopping anyway. I got cheese for five bucks at Top and apples. We took baby to her mom so we got lost for an hour. In less than an hour including travel time, we went to Safeways and got sour cream and some lunch meat. the dollar store was next where I got French fries and hot poppers. The grocery outlet was where I got whole wheat pizza crusts two in a package for a buck. Also chicken and artichoke sausage for three bucks. Yum!



I posted the last of the receipts for February. I averaged 68 a week and more than maintained our stock.

The banana bread recipe is bisquick. It is a healthy banana bread with egg substitute, low fat bisquick and low fat milk. Add oatmeal and bananas that are to the point of anti cancer properties and blueberries with anti ocidents and we have a real winner.

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Finally Friday

Today, I am not going grocery shopping! We have enough food stocked that I dont have to. I am not seeing any terrific buys that are calling me LOL. Just one more reason why stocking is beneficial. They are predictimg 30 mile an hour winds today. A good day to stay home and get caught up on paper work or do some work for the business.

A good day to use the crockpot if the power doesn't go off. We have been real lucky since the power company cut down a tree up the road.

Batch cooking sloppy Joes

3 pounds ground beef
3 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
6 drops liquid smoke
1 Tsp dry mustard


Cook ground beef until no longer pink. Defat. Return to clean pan and add ingredients. Simmer until warm and flavors have blended-- about 10-15 minutes. Bag in meal sized portions.

In also have used a recipe from the crockpot cookbook for a croud that takes veggies and canned tomatoes.

My favorite thing to make when I am having a crowd is something in the crockpot with a couple of simple sides, it takes all the pressure off at serving time. Ome time I had sloppy joes,tater tots and coleslaw. Another time I had sirloin tips with caramelized onions, rice, and green salad.

Salisbury Steak

1 cup milk
28 saltiness, crushed
1/4 cup minced onion
4 tsp parsley flakes
2 poumds groumd meat

Mix together all ingredients. Shape into 8 patties. Spray baking pan with cooking spray. Place parties in pan and bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until temperature is 160. Make gravymaddimg w sauce.


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Jane

the ads

The ads for this week are here.

QFC

Pork loin roast 1.59
Boneless chicken breast 3.75 a pound***
milk 2.50

Broccoli .99
Strawberries 2.00
Grapes 2.49
BRYERS 2.99

TOP

Cheese 5.
Chili 1.00
Broccoli 1.00
Potatoes 1.39
Apples .89

SAFEWAYS

Round steak 2.49
Sirloin tip 2.99
Pork loin 1.69
Shrimp 5.00

5 dollar Friday
Salmon 12 oz
Lemon me range pie


Pasta sUce 1.00
Potatoes , mashed 1.00
Carrots .79

ALBERTSONS

Manufacture coupons round to a dollar
YOPLAIT .50
tuna .78 coupon

That's all.

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Jane

Wednesday notes

I am getting writers block. Please comment what kind of recipes you want to see. Do you want to see the recap of the ads every week? Meal plans? I would really appreciate your ideas!

Today I am going to survey the fridge. We were lucky enough to be able to go out. Happy hour food is much cheaper than the regular menu. I just drink ice tea. My husband loves finger foods for dinner sometimes. You can make finger foods healthy.

Tomato soup is too expensive to make from scratch. My mother-in-law used to make it from canned tomatoes. unfortunately, I never saw her do it. There was a piece on Americas Test Kitchen comparing soups. There are actually tomato soups that have no tomatoes in them. kinda like the cheeseburger macaroni that has no cheese in it. LOL. I like then tomato-roasted red-pepper soup in a box. I can't afford it unless I happen to see it at Costco for about two dollars a box.I add basil, blue cheese, and some milk.

Veggie Sandwiches

Hummus
Feta cheese
Roma tomatoes
Lettuce

Small tortillas

Serve with salad.

I got garbanzo beans for .50. feta cheese with tomatoes was cheap at grocery outlet. small tortillas were .60 at big lots. I keep them in the fridge. I'm not surenincouldnget my husband to eat this for dinner, but maybe it would be a good lunch dish.

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Quick meals

I'm getting a lot of inquiries about horseradish sauce, chicken pot pie, WinCo and split pea soup.

The only thing I haven't seen a lot of is recipes that call for horseradish sauce. It's a strong taste and goes well with beef.

PIZZA PASTA
Sausage, mushrooms, pepperoni, green pepper, pasta sauce, onion, ripe olives, Italian seasoning. serve over pasta of choice.
Note I bought big cans of sliced ripe olives for 50 at big lots. I'll post later as to the quality.

CHICKEN TACOS

Chicken pieces, cooked
Drained diced tomatoes
Taco seasoning

Corn tortillas

Toppings
Lettuce, cheese, tomato sour cream avocado

CHICKEN QUICHE

Sauté 1/2 cup chopped mild onion and 2 tsp chopped garlic in a teaspoons of olive oil,
In a large bowl, beat six eggs. Add :
3/4 cup heavy cream, 2 cups cooked chicken, 2 cups shredded cheese, and 5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled.
add onion and garlic.

Grease a pie plate and pour mixture in it. Bake at 375 35-45 minutes.

Notes
to reduce the fat!!
You can substitute milk for the cream. Use maybe a half cup instead.you could use turkey bacon and reduce some of the cheese or mix parmesan with cheddar to total 2 cups.


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Gleaming ideas from magazines

One of my machines needed parts. Had to go to joannes to get it. I picked up the family circle. Magazines are ten percent off. That pays the tax!!!

We also went to big lots. I got fruit pouches for baby for fifty cents. I also got stewed tomatoes for .50 and chicken noodle soup in a larger can...30 percent more for .95.

I thought I would dissect the Family Circle. As usual, the food is in the back. They have a months worth of meals. Woman's Day has been doing that for years.

I won't quote the recipes, but will give you their titles. kinda like you thumbing through it at the checkouts.
chicken stuffed with tomato and cheese
Turkey sausage and spinach Orecchietti
Shrimp and sweet pepper fajitas
Meatballs in creamy dill sauce
Broccoli and onion pie
Pork medallions with apple
Honey soy glazed salmon

Balsamic pot roast
Chicken and hominy chili bowl
BBQ short ribs
Smoky navy bean soup


A lot of these recipes are in their month list.
A lot of sausage, fish, vegetarian, turkey and chicken, and some beef.
Some things I have never heard of, and some my husband wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole...broccoli and onion pie comes to mind. Heck, most of them he would make funny faces about! LOL


Some of these recipes are just to expensive to make. Some you can get into my budget if I find the ingredients on sale. Salmon was on sale this week at Safeways. It was still pricy, but I can offset it withza a couple of inexpensive meals--average. Short ribs are expensive when you consider how much is bone and how much meat you actually get to eat! Chicken breasts are more expensive ,but you can get them on sale, or cut up your chickens and save the breasts up in the freezer. There is a post of things you can do with leg portions. They used to be .50 a pound. Now they are a buck...more than buying the whole chicken. I can find chicken for .88 to a buck a pound.

I don't these days de-bone a chicken very often. I'm not as proficient as I used to be. I am retired, run two businesses, belong to a service club, take care of my granddaughter 10-12 hours a day five days a week and when I don't take care of my granddaughter, I work retail on my feet two days a week. Shopping on the cheap doesn't have to take more time that just going to one store and buying anything you want. Once you are organized, it probably takes less time collectively. Remember, if you spend more time on the front end of the" get dinner on the table train" and less time on the back end, you will be better off. You get " paid" for shopping, not for cooking.

There are ways to cut kitchen time and not sacrifice good food. Box dinners are neither cheaper nor faster. There is a post on that too. LOL. My daughter and I proved that!!
Better, cheaper, faster.

Not everything is organic. Organic can have three percent pesticides and still be labeled organic. Not everything is fat free, or sugar free, or gluten free. Pay attention to what they are putting in those things. It might me penny wise and pound foolish. I think it is interestimg that when our society is turned on to a speciality diet, suddenly even the stuff that never had whatever is being toted as healthy, has a big sign on it's package as fat free or gluten free or whatever. I believe in moderation and balance. They change their mind like some people change their underwear. Remember when liver was good for you?? Drink three glasses of whole milk a day, no don't drink three glasses of milk a day. Eat pasta. No don't eat pasta, you will get diabetes. I really think moderation and balance is the key.

Enough soap box.

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Jane

Sunday and one more day off!!!

I bought salmon, stew meat, and hamburger this week, all in bulk amounts. My husband cooked all the salmon Friday night and I will make a salmon noodle casserole tonight. That leaves me with the stew meat and hamburgernto cook today. I am really hungry for beef barley soup. I wish I had paid attention to how my mother cooked it. I don't remember, but maybe because she started it before I got home from school. Que the Internet!!I have a notion that it had tomato paste, beef, beef stock, carrots...umm

Beef stew
1 pound beef cubes
4 carrots cut into chunks
1/2 pound red potatoes cut in half ormquarters to equalize size.
Red peppers, cut onto chunks
1can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup flour
6 ounces tomato paste
3/4 cup beef broth

1/3 cup additional liquid, water, stock, wine?

Salt, pepper, garlic, thyme

Brown beef. Place beef, vegetables in slowncooker. Add tomatoes over top.
Mix in a bowl, flour tomato paste and broth until smooth. Add the additional liquid, salt and pepper, garlic and thyme. Stir into contents of slow cooker.
Cook on low 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.

My mother cooked stew meat the way her mother did. She dredged it in flour. She then browned it with some oil and added water and braised it.

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soups..easy, cheap and satisfying

One of the most requested recipes I have is for soups. We all want spring to come, but reality is that http://www.pinterest.com/pin/157907530660665317/ still winter. A hearty bowl of soup fills you up and usually it is healthy.

I bought LARGE bag of split peas at Costco. It was fractions of the price it is at even the grocery outlet. I split them with my husband's siblings.

Split Pea Soup #2

1/2 cup celery, sliced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
16 ounces of split peas
9 cups water
1 cup carrots, diced
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
Parsley, basil, salt and pepper

Your choice of meat, ham , kielbasa,or turkey kielbasa, fake sausage???

Sauté onion and celery in olive oil in a soup pot. Stir in 6 cups of water and the peas.
Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer andncook 25 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook an additional 25 minutes. Don't forget the remaining 3 cups of water.

I think you could sauté the veggies and dump everything in a slow cooker for 8-10 hours. You could also substitute veggie stock for the water, or chicken stock. Also, you could sneak in some cauliflower. I usually blend all or part of the soup to make it thicker. If I wanted to sneak in the cauliflower, I would the food processor on it first so it blended in better.

Very technical chicken noodle soup

Sauté vegetables - carrot, celery,and onion
Add chicken broth,diced cooked chicken,and poultry seasoning.
Cook til warm. Add a couple of handfuls of noodles and cook until done.

We like anpiece of hard crusty bread with ours.

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Jane

Post grocery shopping

We gone shopping. First we went to the closing sale atmPetosas. They had everything is 1/2 price. I got rice, cream soups, and some sugar free jam. Then off Safeways. Again, there was no 7 percent hamburger. I did get salmon and stew meat. I am hungry for beef barley soup. Mashed potatoes were .90 cents.

I found frozen potatoes and mixed veggies at the dollar store.


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Jane

Finally Friday.

The internet is a wealth of recipes so you don't get stuck in a rut. Betty Crocker has a web site that you can type in what you have and it will give you recipes. Just be mindful that you can substitute a box of ??? For real food.

There are only a few " rules" that will make a real difference on your food bill. It's rather funny to me that my mother a half a decade ago did most of them. There was not then deluge of ready made products back then, or the
Variety of vegetables we have now. The alternative food eaters didn't exist either to complicate things.

I have managed to work around vegetarian. Some of our meals can be adapted, sometimes, she has to make her own.
I have a husband that won't eat vegetables, a daughter that won't eat meat, and I am diabetic, so I can't eat a lot of starch. We all have to co exist! LOL

I digress.

1) never pay full price for anything. Sometimes I get stuck, but it is usually somethimg that never goes on sale. I still try to find the lowest price.

2) Never ( never say never) buy ready made foods. there are a few things that are cheaper ready made andna few that are too time consuming to make yourself.

3)Always shop at more than one store. Stores price some things low, planning on you buying what goes with them at a jacked up price. beat them at their game.

4) Plan your trip, research, make a list. Plan your route,get in and get out.

5) Try to use up everything. Cut the waste. How clever of our great grandmothers to make banana bread!

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Jane

Meals from the ads

Today is usually meals from the ads. Even though I usually wait until after I shop to plan my meals. Sometimes I get to the store and Shay is on sale is in way too large a package or is not good enough or they are out of it.
A couple of weeks ago, QFC had pork loi . Most of it was dark meat and it had large gristle stuff running through it. The strawberries were growing gray hair prettier than mine!

My formula is

2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish

Your spread may be different. these are my strategies than have worked for me. Use the things that make sense for
Your world now.

It seems as if the same cuts of meat are on sale . Trying to mix it up is a challenge. my mother seat one mealmplan and we coldntell what day of the week it was by what we were having for dinner. Pizza.. It must be Thursday. Roast, it must be Sunday. Hamburgers was Saturday!

1- steak, baked potatoes, horseradish sauce mixed greens with strawberries.
2- tacos

3- chicken noodle soup - scratch.
4- pork loin sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, cheese, broiled.

5- Mac and cheese
6- pizza

7- salmon, oven roasted root veggies, salad


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Jane

The ads

It's that Timel of the week.

The ads

Safeways

7 percent hamburger 2.99
Chicken .99

Apples -99
Salmon 5.99
Milk 2.59
Nathans b1G1
Blues,blacks 3.99


QFC

grapes 1.99
Chicken .88
Breyers ice cream 2.99
Klondike bars 2.99
80 percent beef 2.66***

TOP

Sirloin tip B1G1. 2.75 net


ALBERTSONS

Klondike bars 2.60
Chicken .88
Apples .88
Oranges .88
7 percent beef 3.49***

Note the spread between the hamburger prices and the chicken prices.

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Jane

Tuesday

It's time to take a quick look at the fridge and incorporate anything hanging around too long. We mare goimg tp have breakfast for dinner to use the berries I bought Friday. Maybe blueberry waffles.

Hreycvv. (Baby Dear is helping! )

A thrifty kitchen always has ground beef or turkey or textured vegetable protein. It's usually inexpensive and versatile.

Beef Stuffed French Bread

1 poumd ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 large baked potato, cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Mushrooms
1tsp parsley
1/4 tsp dried onion powder
Pepper
Dash of red pepper sauce

Hard rolls

1cup cheddar cheese, grated

Cook beef and onion until no longer pink. Drain.
Add potato, soup, mushrooms and rest of ingredients except bread and cheese.

Cut a slice off the top of the bread and hollow out center, leaving a shell. Make bread crumbs out of the pieces. Add one cup of the crumbs to the beef mixture. Stir on cheese.

Fill bread shells replace tops. Wrap in foil. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving

From Taste of Home booklet.

Notes. I would use already cooked and defatted beef. Instead of a can of mushrooms, I would use fresh so I could control the amount. A good recipe to use that leftover baked potato. Safeways has hard rolls in a bag. 8 for three dollars. Our TOP has them in bulk bread bin.
Can be made ahead of time and frozen. Thaw in fridge and bake for 20-25 minutes. I like things that I can
Put in the oven and finish dinner while it cooks. Maybe a green salad or veggie sticks.


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Jane

Shopping Trip and $5.00 Dinners

Good Morning. After I get home from any shopping trip where I buy groceries, I post to a spread sheet. Recording my grocery purchase totals keeps me on track.
If I see that I have spent more than my 75 dollar limit, I know I can back off the next week. I typically spend less on some weeks, and spend more the weeks that I find a good price on my stock items or a bulk meat.

Last night we had Pork Loin Roast, Mashed sweetpotatoes, green beans and salad. It would be a five dollar dinner --actually 4.50.

I got Ragu sauce for 1.00 and pasta for a buck. Add some meat and a salad and you have well under five dollars.

Sausage was buy one get one. Sausage and eggs and fruit and toast would be less than five dollars.

Split Pea soup and toasted cheese sandwiches would be less than 5.00.

Chicken Pizza would be less than 5.00 with a salad.

Tacos come in at less that 5.oo.

Pork sandwiches and coleslaw. The trick here is to find buns for a good price. Sometimes, the bread store or Grocery Outlet.

One of the tricks for keeping your food bill low is to group your meals in such a manner that you use all of what you purchased. If you buy spinach for a spinach salad, then you can use some spinach on a pizza. If you have cottage cheese left, make lasagna or stuffed shells. Leftover bread can beoome dressing for chicken or pork , or breadcrumbs for meatloaf or a thickening agent for soup. Cooked to much pasta...make pasta salad for lunch or to go with a sandwich for dinner. Fridge management cut down on the amount you have to throw away. The average family throws out a lot of food--like thirteen pounds a week by one account.

Pot Roast was on sale at Safeways. I am pretty well stocked, so I didn't opt for 18.00 worth of pot roast. If I hadn't been well stocked, I would have divided it into four pot roasts and frozen three of them.


My very technical recipe for pot roast in the slow cooker. Dump the pot roast in the slow cooker. Slice an onion and spread over the top. Salt and Pepper.
Pour a 12 ounce beer over the top. Add enough beef stock to almost cover the roast. Cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours.

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Jane

Is anybody out there?

Is anybody out there? Yesterday I posted recipes for pizza that were different than the hum drum pepperoni...most of them a bit more healthy. I don't know are looking for because I am not gettimg any comments from anyone. There is an anonymous button on the comments section.

It's Sunday and I have to go to work today. That's six days this week, ugh! Soup is a good go to for days like this.

Burger Beef Soup

12 ounces cooked, defatted ground beef

1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced

1 can diced tomatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Salt, pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 cup uncooked noodles


Brown onions, carrots and celery in a little EVOO.
Stir in remaining ingredients except noodles.
Heat to boiling. Stir in noodles. Simmer 10-15 minutes until noodles are cooked.
Serve with hard crusty bread or croutons.

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Jane

Suddenly Saturday

It's Saturday finally a day and a half off. Yeah! Saturday is a pizza kind of day.

Pizza crust is recipe is on a previous post. It's really easy.
Sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 scant teaspoon EACH of grated onion and minced garlic
Pinch of Italian seasoning
Salt,pepper

Toppings
1.5 cups mozzarella, grated
2 ounces diced ham
1 small red or green pepper, diced
1/2 can sliced black olives, drained **
onion
Parmesan
Basil

bake crust at 375 for 15 minutes. Spread withnsauce and toppimgs and bake an additional 15-20 minutes.

chicken pizza toppings
Chicken chunks
Onion
Garlic
White cheese
Diced peppers
Smoked Gouda

Note : smoked Gouda isnat grocery outlet, chicken strips are buy 1 get 1 Safeways thisnweek. I have not calculated the end cost of those. peppers are cheap at grocery outlet as well.

Mexican pizza toppings

Black beans
Onion, chopped or grated
Peppers, chopped
Tomatoes, chopped and seeded
Garlic, jalapeño, chili powder, cumin
Spinach, cilantro
White cheese

Pizza crusts like bomboli are 2.18 at WinCo. Or pre bake the crust recipe.


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Please share. I am trying to help people eat better for less and save time in the kitchen.
There are still people that are under employed, unemployed or just want to get ahead.

Jane

Bake accordimg to your crust instructions.

Comfort Food

Comfort Food seems to be a topic I see lots. I also see inquiries about chicken pot pie, split pea soup,Tex Mex WinCo vs Costco.

Before I start talking about comfort foods, my daughter told me somethimg worth repeating. Costco green beans have 300 less grams of sodium than some of the other green beans. Their price is comparable except for the .33 ones I purchased from WinCo.

ORZO stuffed Tomatoes--6 servings

2/3 cup uncooked ORZO
6 medium tomatoes
1T butter
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese, reduced fat
1tsp basil
2tsp parsley
Salt, pepper

Cook pasta. Drain
Cut a thin slice off the top of the tomato.
Scoop out the pulp leaving a shell. Invert tomatoes on a paper towel.
Cook butter in a saucepan. Add ORZO, the tomato pulp without seeds,drained and the remaining ingredients.
Spoon into tomatoes. Bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes.


3 T butter
3 T flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1-1/2 cup milk

4 ounces shredded cheese
3 cups grated potatoes.
1 cup grated carrots
2 T onion.

Make white sauce with the butter, flour and milk. Remove from heat and add HALF of the cheese.
Add the vegetables. Transfer to an 8 inch square baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Uncover, add remaining cheese and bake an additional 15 minutes until cheese is melted and potatoes are tender.

NOTE

I think you you could use less cheese. You could also grate all of the veggies in the food processor and drain them. Good with roast chicken.


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Jane

Notes on Wednesday

Today is the day that I usually make a list of meals from the ads. I'll do that, but I found a recipe booklet at the dollar store that is well worth the buck. it is called America's Cookbook. It has shopping tips, recipes and the history of some foods. it is a great educational tool for children.

They have tips for shopping most of them I have already posted and knew. A couple of them I forgot about.

Never go to the store hungry. Everything looks good and it's to easy to impulse buy. Watch the scanner for errors. I was charged twice for the same thing the other day. Finding it after you leave the store is a hastle to rectify.

Beer Bread

3 cups flour
1T baking powder
1tsp salt
2T sugar
1- 12 ounce can of beer
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375

Mix together dry ingredients. Add the butter and beer. Fold together just until well combined. Batter will be sticky. Pour into greased pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until bread tests done. Cool and turn out onto a wire baking rack.

This booklet is a wealth of information. History of foods, nutrition facts, measurement table, a lot of good basic recipes.


Meal Plans

I usually use a template to plan meals.

2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish

I try to stick to this plan so that we are balanced. Beef has some nutrients that no other meat has. If you pick your cuts and cook it properly, it can have less fat than a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Even Dr Oz says twice a week is OK. The two days are balanced by chicken, pork, and vegetarian and fish. When a family member only ate chicken and pork. They had to go to the hospital for an operation and he was so anemic he had to have blood transfusions before they could do surgery. I think the trick is moderation.

Tacos, refried beans
Pot Roast, red potatoes, carrots, salad

chicken pot pie
chicken soup

Potato Soup
quiche

salmon

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Jane

The ads. Again

I hit the wrong key and the entire blog erased. Basically, there are not many good buys this week.
QFC has good buys on dairy and Safeways has round steak and petite sirloin for 2.69.

QFC
18 coumt eggs 1.99
Butter 2.49
Cottage cheese 1.67
Strawberries 2.00

TOP

Oranges organic .89
Strawberries 2.00
Eggs1.50
Apples .99
Blues 18 oz 5.98
Salmon 7.00

Safeways
Round steak 2.69
Petite sirloin 2.69

Blue and blackberries B1G1
oranges .88
Buy 6: brownies or cake mix .99
Sausage B1G1. JOHNSONVILLE or chicken strips.
Ragu pasta sauce 2/3 plus get 1 pasta for free.

Albertsoms is just a bust. White breadnis .88, but I don't buy white bread.

Note.
Good ground beef is 3.99 a pound. Your best bet is to get round steak and grind your own. You can control the fat. If you don't have a grinder on your mixer, get the manual kind at a garage sale or a antique store or raid your grandmothers kitchen.


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Jane

Tuesday

I am researching my old personal cookbook. One of the ways to bust the budget is to buy seasoning mixes. Spices are a buck all over. For spices that you only need a little of, the bulk isle is your best bet. Basil is really cheap at Costco in a Large container...share!! We eat a lot of Tex Mex. I can make it and still accommodate the vegetarians without cooking separate entres.

Chili seasoning

4T chili powder
2 -1/2 tsp ground coriander
2-1/2 tsp ground cumin
1-1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Store on airtight container is a dry place

3 tsp for 2-1/2 quarts of chili.

Taco Seasoning
4 T chili powder
3T + 1 tsp paprika
3T cumin
2 T onion powder
1T + 2 tsp cayenne pepper

Makes 1 cup

Use 2 rounded Tablespoons per pound a meat. in cook the meat until no longer pink. Drain in a colander. Pour boilimg water over the meat. Return to pan with a little water and add seasoning. Bring up to temperature. Cool slightly and bag.


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Jane

Monday madness

I ran on to meal plans that I did In 2002..some ten years ago. You can tell the adjustments made for the rising cost of food and the more health conscious climate. This was for the month of May and assumed you would add the appropriate veggie and starch.

Pizza, salad
Meat balls
Ham quiche
Hamburgers
Meatloaf
Dagwood Sandwiches
Tuna Cassarole
Beef Briskit
BBQ Beef Sandwiches left from yesterday)
Pizza, ham, pineapple, peppers
Hot Dogs
Roast Chicken
sloppy joes
Chicken pot pie
Tacos
Shrimp muffins, potato soup
Pizza, chicken, olives, onion
BBq spareribs
roast Pork loin
Shrimp fettichini
Pork stir fry
Bacon quiche
Tuna casserole
Pasta bake
Top round steak
Roast chicken
Hamburgers
London broil
Pizza
Chicken casserole
Spareribs

I'm not seeing much difference, except the large beef meals are a thong of the past most of the time. Steak is ten dollars a pound!

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Jane

Suddenly Sunday

Good Morning.

I just realized that I hadn't done meal plans for this week. I pretty much didn't buy much this week because most of the specials were all about expensive snack food and booze. it's just another good reason to stock. I still have enough food with the exception of fresh food to cook all week. I am using up the perishablesmthat are in the fridge so my split isn't as diversified as it usually is.

1) ribs, oven roasted red potatoes,green salad
2) Mac and cheese. ( uses up the odds and ends of the cheese) and green beans
3) quiche with ham cubes, strawberries
4) pizza, green salad
5) chicken stir fry
6) sausage and bean soup, brown and serve sourdough from Costco
7) Tacos, refried beans


Notes
Ribs were on sale at Safeways Friday. I buy lots of variety of cheeses because we like it. Cheese was 5 dollars for 2 pounds Safeways again. Ham cubes need to be used up. They work I'm pizza and quiche.
Chicken Stirfry is from chicken in the freezer pirchased at a dollar a pound. Sausage and bean soup and tacos use cans that I purchased for .50 last week. Total cost, rounding is 33.75 dollars divided by 7 is 4.82 a meal.

I could have substituted chicken for the ham on the pizza, but I want to use the ham up so it doesn't go to waste and it doesn't freeze well.

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Jane

Dinners

I spent 40.00 at the grocery store this week. There just wasn't much there. I spent considerably more last week because it was a good stocking week. This week most of the ads were about the big game party food and booze.

I mostly bought fresh veggies. My husband went ton the grocery outlet and bought green peppers and sliced cheese.

When it is cold or when I know that it's going to be along day, I like to putna pot of soup on or put it in the slow cooker.

Sausage and Bean soup

1 quart of water
1 medium potato, sliced and cubed
1/2 pound sausage, cooked
2cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2cans diced tomatoes
1/2 a small onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
Salt and pepper

Bring water to boil in stock pot. Add potato and cook for 10 minutes until potato is tender. Add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat to simmer and cook another 10 minutes or so until veggies are tender.


Creamy Chicken Soup

sauté in oil in a stockpot until soft

1 rib celery chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1/2small onion chopped
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Add 3 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup of left over rice
Salt, pepper

Cook om low until heated through

Add 1cup cream or milk
And 1 cup diced chicken

Mix 2T flour with 2T butter to form a paste.

Add to soup stirring until soup has thickened and soup in appropriate temperature. Do not boil.
Over storing will make the chicken tough or stringy.

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Jane

Outsmarting the retailers

As I have said before, the retailers have spent considerable money to research our habits and find ways to get us to spend more money.

Advertising multiples, when you can only by one item is one trick they use. Because something is 3/1.00 doesn't mean that you have to buy three.

The longer you spend in a store, the more money you will spend. That's why some retailers change things aroumd frequently. Costco is notorious for it. If you have the mind set that you are on the clock and want to get the most bang for your buck, you'll spend less time. It's a game. I want to save as much as I can in the least amount of time.

Impulse buying is the retailers profit. They figure that 70 percent of what we buy is impulse. Often it is the most expensive things in the store that you don't really need. We want the retailers to prosper but they can do it on someone else's dime who can afford it.

Create your own path through the store, if you don't need anything in an isle, don't go there. The true necessities are on the outside perimeter of the store.

Sometimes, what is truly on sale isn't the featured items up front.

Exercise the hands off rule. Studies say that if you touch it, you are most likely going to buy it.

It's a well known trick that if prices have to increase, the manufacturers will reduce the size of the package instead of outwardly increasing the price.

Know your prices, the bulk isle isn t always the cheapest price.

Keep in mind that foods are sold other places other than grocery stores. Many time you can find overstocks at the dollar store, big lots, Bartells and almost anywhere. Keep your eye open, and know your prices.

Pick your grocery store based on the prices, not how friendly the clerks are or how fancy the store is, or how uncrowded it is. think about it, there is a reason why the store is crowded. Either they have just forecasted that dreaded S word, or it's because they have the best prices. You go to the grocery store to purchase your food.

Stores charge manufacturers slotting fees. Basically they charge rent for the eye level shelves. You can just bet they are going to pass on the cost. Look UP and DOWN for the best buys.

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Jane

The basics

Good morning. If you are just looking at this blog for the first time, this blog is about eating on the cheap.
Almost everyone has times in their lives when they need to economize. People loose their jobs, decide to save for a vacation or the down payment on a home, or just don't want to waste money. This blog is designed to save 1/2 on your grocery bill.

1/2 price groceries takes a three pronged approach :

Plan and organize
Shop wisely
Cook from scratch

1) plan and organize
Any endeavor starts better with a plan. Start with comimg up with at least 7 main dish recipes that use inexpensive protein sources that your family will eat. Try to eventually get tp 14 so that you have variety.

Plan your meals after you get home from the shopping trip. Use what you have in the refer that you need to use up and the new things that you bought. It doesn't have to be fancy, just jot down om a piece of paper the main dishes. One of the best way to derail your budget is to not have a plan. Having to answer the question " what's for dinner" after a long hard day makes it too easy to say. "take out".

Make a list of the staples that you use often. In our house it would be cheese, beans, refried beans, diced tomatoes, pasta sauce, some tuna and canned corn and green beans. Make a spread sheet or a small spiral notebook that has the name of the food, the size of the container, the date you bought it, the store, and the price. Pretty soon you will get a consensus of what the cheapest price for that food. This is harder with rising costs right now, but it still helps. When something is the rock bottom price, buy

A) as much as your money will allow
B) as many as the store will allow you yo buy
Or C) as many as you need to replenish your stock.
If I use the item once a week, I want to have 24. If I use it once a month I keep 6.
This isn't about hording.
Havimg a stock gives you a sense of security, you have enough to make a meal no matter what happens and makes you prepared for a natural disaster.


2) shop wisely
When the grocery ads come out. Take a piece of computer paper, divide it into fourths. Put the name of the store on the top of each quarter. Now go over the ads and write down everything you are out of, the meat and veggie ads Ttat are cheapest, and anything that you stock. Now cross off anything that is higher priced than somewhere else, cross off anything you don't need. Skip the snack and ready made foods. For the most part, they are a lot more expensive than scratch. There are a few things that are cheaper than scratch or are just too labor intensive to make scratch. Tortillas, mashed potatoes, refried beans pasta sauce are all cheaper at least some times of the year.

Now, pick the two stores that have the cheapest prices. Go there with your list and the grocery ads, get in and get out. The more time you spend in the store, the more money you will spend. The grocers have researched our spending habits and know what to do to get us to spemd more. The bigger the grocery cart the more you will spend. The fancier the store, the higher the prices. Someone has to pay for that fish tank. LOL And they have many more tricks too.

If you can, invest in storage solutions that keep your veggies fresh longer.
I keep a cooler bag in my car to store frozen and perishable foods between stores. I try to keep my shopping trip at a minimal time, and a route that takes the least gas.

3)cook from scratch

his isn't as daunting a task as it sounds. There are ways to make the task as fast or nearly as fast as the ready made.

If you spend more time on the front end of the "get the dinner on the table" train and less time on the back end, you will be better off. You gent"paid" for shopping-- not for cooking. If you save 75.00 a week on shopping and spend an additional 1/2 hour shopping, you are making 150.00 an hour. And if you work for a living, you would have to earn an additional 15 percent at least to spend that 150.00.

Back to strategies. Buying meat in bulk and batch cooking and storing with portion control saves time, dishwashing and money. your slow cooker and pressure cooker can be your best friends in the kitchen. Anything that you can prep quickly and put in the oven to cook while you make more things or do other chores is also a time saver.

Making a double batch of things like rice and pasta to use the other half another dayy is a great help. I call that stair stepping. I try to post ideas on the blog frequently.

next time-- what your grocer doesn't want you to know!

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Jane

Suppers

in ran on to a booklet that I had bought years ago. we all like easy recipes in this day and age of busy lives.

EASY CHICKEN

2/3 cup of flour
1 tsp EACH of salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning

1 cut up chicken or chicken parts to your liking

Butter, or butter and olive oil

2 cups chicken broth


Dredge chicken parts in seasoned flour.

brown chicken parts in skillet with butter and or olive oil

remove chicken from skillet to the slow cooker

Make a sauce using the remaining flour for a roux and the cynicism broth.

Pour sauce over chicken .

Cover and cook on high for 2-2-1/2 hours or untilmchicken is do e and the juices run clear.


GERMAN STYLE SPINACH

1 package frozen chopped spinach
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1T butter
3strips bacon, crumbled
Nutmeg
Salt

Cook spinach according to package directions
Drain well
in skillet, cook onion on butter. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat through.


NoteS

Bacon was a buck at grocery outlet . I might use fresh spina h instead.
minced garlic is really cheap at Costco--cheaper than buying the heads of garlic and chopping them yourself.
If you don't think you can use that much, co sider sharing with a family member or neighbor.
I found split peas in bulk at Costco a lot cheaper than even grocery outlet. I just split them between my husbands siblings.


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Jane

The ads

Here are the ads for this week.

SAFEWAYS

Beef Top Sirloin 3.99
20 percent beef 2.49
Milk 2.59
Shrimp 5.00...Friday thru Sunday
Strawberries 5.00
Salsa 5.00
Shredded cheese 5.00--24-32 ounces. Get 32
Chili .99

TOP

PORK RIBS 1.57
dryers ice cream 2.99
Buy 10
Chili .75
Sour cream 1.49
Sirloin 3.49


QFC

chicken breast 1.49
Dryers ice cream 2.79
Sour cream 1.49
Frozen potatoes 2.49

Buy 5
Hebrew national. 2.99
Johnsonville brats. 3.49
Yoplait .50
Pasta 1.00

ALBERTSONS

blues 1.99
Apples .88
Dryers ice cream 2.88 coupon 1/31-2/3
Buy 10

Best foods 2.99
Coffee 7.99
Sour cream 1.49
Refried beans .49

Hot dog and hamburger buns 1.00


That's all. Not much this week. It is a "holiday " weekend. LOL

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Jane

And you spend WHAT on groceries?

And you spend what on groceries? There was a piece on the network newscast night about a family of four . They were talking about what they were spending on food and not throwing so much food in the garbage. They spent three hundred dollars a week on food. That's Four months on my budget. It did not sound like they were eating any different than we do for about 65.00. The difference is paying our utility bills and real estate taxes.

Beef Soft Tacos

3/4 pound cooked and defatted groumd beef
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 of a green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup green olives, sliced
1/2 tsp cumin
1can diced tomatoes
6 inch corn tortillas
Romaine lettuce,torn

Cook beef,garlic and green pepper in skillet for three minutes. Add remaining ingredients except lettuce. Cook 5 minutes more.

Heat tortillas accordimg to package directions.
Add torn lettuce to top of taco.

Notes. I would serve with rice cooked with salsa.
Romaine is the least expensive of the lettuces because it lasts so long there is usually no waste. The darker the green, the more food value it has.

Quick Crazy Tamale Dish

Combine 3/4 pound of cooked ground beef, 1-1/2 cups salsa and a can of kidney beans in a microwave safe square dish.
Heat on microwave until warm--about 8 minutes. ( cover to reduce splattering.)

Place a tube of polenta on a 9 inch square casserole. (microwave safe) Cut in slices to cover bottom of pan.
Place meat mixture on top of polenta.
Cover dish with plastic wrap and cook for 6 minutes or until thoroally heated. Sprinkle with cheese and heat until
cheese is melted. Serve with salsa, as spicy as your family likes.

Note
You could substitute small pieces of cubed cooked chicken foe the beef and make polenta and spread it in the pan.

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Jane

Monday madness

It's Monday. We went to world market yesterday because I got a coupon for 49 percent off. My husband likes their fancy olives. We had to go for some supplies at Michaels too. I try to group my trips so that we use less gas. We stopped by Grocery outlet on the way home. I got feta cheese with roasted red peppers and basil, pepperoni with cheese, and my husband got bacon for a buck a pound. He came home and cooked it on the George Foreman. I like to use a little bacon in some things for flavor. One slice of bacon in a dish cam make a real difference. They have a wide variety of cheeses for a reasonable price. They had 32 ounce jars of mayo too, but their pull date was Jan 11---too far out of date to make it safe in my book. Wen can freeze the cooked bacon and pull it out when we need it. You never know what you are going to find-- not everything is full of sodium.LOL. they have good prices on other things too.

I think my point is that I am cognizant of prices where ever we go.Good prices on food can be everywhere. Often times good buys can be in stores who's main focus is not food. I watch pull dates and brands.

I had always gone grocery shopping by myself. Since we have been retired, my husband goes with me. He also went with me when we were both out of work. I didn't think he was paying attention to anything as he wheeled the cart around. One day we were at a store and there was and end cap with 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce for .25. He said, that's not on sale, we paid .10 last week for them. Boy, was I surprised!

A bit of a splurge, but sometimes Bartells has artichokes on sale. The price of tuna balances it.

Tuna melt on English Muffins

1/2 cup artichokes, drained and rinsed
1/4 sliced green onions
1-T lemon juice
1tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1can tuna, drained and flaked

2 English muffins, split and toasted
1-1/2 ounces of grated provolone or sharp cheddar.

Preheat broiler5
Combine first 7 ingredients and a dash of pepper.
Divide evenly among English muffin halves
Sprinkle with cheese.
Place on baking sheet. Boil 4 minutes until golden.

Serves 2

Notes

This calls for canned artichokes. Artichokes in a jar are cheaper.
Just. Don't use the oil. If I didn't have green onion, I would use some onion powder and parsley. English muffins are at the bread store often.Sometimes they are on sale 2 for at the regular chains.

I also read Panini with chickpea spread and sautéed spinach. itncaught my eye because I got garbanzo beans for .50 last week.

Process 3/4 cup garbanzo beans
2T lemon juice
2tsp capers
1 T water

Combine in a food processor until blended.

Sauté spinach on 2tsp olive oil. Add dash of pepper and 1tsp garlic minced.
slice sub rolls lengthwise. Fill sandwich with a layer of bean mixture and a layer of spinach. Top.

This would also taste good with thinly sliced chicken or pork and maybe a little white cheese.

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Jane

Suddenly Sunday

It's already Sunday. The weekend goes to fast!

Twenty years ago, I was published in the Woman's Day magazine for a recipe for economical pizza. Since then I foumd an easy recipe for pizza crust in the food processor. The kids always liked watching the sponge develop. --great science experiment. ( see earlier post). They insisted on substituting sausage in casing for bulk sausage. Sausage is cheap at Costco and sometimes Grocery Outlet.


Breakfast Pizza
Cooking Light All Time Favorites

1-8 oz can low fat crescent dinner rolls

Cooking spray

12ounces turkey breakfast sausage
1cup shredded hash browns, thawed
1cup shredded cheddar no fat cheese
1/4 cup fat free milk
1/4 tsp pepper
1-8 oz carton egg substitute
2 T parmesan

Preheat oven to 375

press dough together to form a 12 inch circle. Make a rim and place on a pizza pan that has been coated with cooking spray.

Cook and drain sausage.

Top dough with
Sausage
Potatoes
Cheese

Combine milk, salt, pepper and egg substitute. Whisk.
Carefully pour into crust. Sprinkle parmesan.
Bake at 375 for 25 minutes until crust is browned.

8 pieces. Cal 203, carbs 20

Note. Cost over the top! Eggs are a dollarmandozen at QFC. If you are worried about whole eggs, use one egg and supplement the eight ounces with egg whites. I would bet that somewhere on the Internet there is a recipe for egg beaters.
The other thing that is expensive is the dough.


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Jane

Notes on Fridays shopping

I was surprised to find out that I could have vegetarian refried beans and low sodium beans as well. All of the canned goods were at least a buck a can off. That ads up fast. I got ten refried beans, 10 diced tomatoes and 10 beans. They had garbanzo beans too so five of them were garbanzo beans. My daughter likes humus. I spent 15.00. I saved over thirty dollars from the regular price-- I paid 33 percent on the dollar.

Another way to look at it is that no bank is ever in this day and age going to give you 67 percent interest on your money.

The more meat skyrockets in price, the more recipes we will see for token meat dishes and rice and beans. I so far, am seeing meat on sale for a reasonable amount. Certainly, it is not as cheap as this summer, but it isn't too outrageous yet.

Meals from the ads


2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1 fish


1) meat ball subs, vegetable chips
2) tacos, refried beans, rice
3) chicken ( oven fried) mashed potatoes
4) sausage and saurkraut
5) quiche
6) pizza
7) salmon

Notes. Spinach artichoke chips were 2.00 at big lots. Refried beans were .50 at albertsoms. We got groumd beef for 2.50 a pound at Safeways a few weeks ago. Chicken is a buck a pound at albertsoms. Sausage is 5.00 for 10 large ones Safeways Five dollar Fridays that have been extended with just 4U. Eggs are a buck at QFC.
Carrots were .79 a poumd at Albertsons. sauerkraut is cheap at big lots.


Fusilli with creamy panchetta pea sauce

About 1 ounce of panchetta or bacon
1tsp olive oil
1cup diced onion
1tsp minced garlic
2T flour
2cups low fat milk
1/4 cup low fat cream cheese
2-1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1-1/4 cups grated parmesan cheese
Basil
Salt, pepper

5 cups cooked fusilli

cook panchetta or bacon, remove from skillet.
Add oil to skillet. Add onion and garlic
Add onion mixture to meat.
Add flour to pan. Make a roux with milk.
Add cream cheese. Stir until cheese melts and sauce is smoot.
Stir in basil, salt, pepper, and 1cup parmesean. Add cheese sauce and parmesean to the
meat mixture. Toss with pasta.

From cooking light

Notes. I got low fat cream cheese at QFC last week for .50.
I think almost any small pasta would work for this.


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Jane

Friday

I would like to stop for a few sentences and talk about learning how to cook from scratch. I dont know the age group of my readers, so I'll address this issue anyway.
It is well worth your while to get a basic knowledge of cooking. It's not hard. I went to cooking school when I had a chance, but I have also learned a lot from Tv cooking shows. PBS has a lot of them. Martha Stewart has a series going on about basic cooking and there are more. Kids need to know that food doesn't always come out of a box or the deli! LOL

Chicken strips are on SALE for 7.49 for 2 pounds or less. Chicken has been on sale for a buck a pound lots. one week I got it for .88. crispy chicken strips is breaded chicken that has been baked. It takes as long to cook the frozen pieces as it does doing it from scratch. I got bread free at the bread store. It took a few minutes to dry it in the oven, put it in the food processor, and dry it . I did it while banana bread baked and put them back in the oven when the banana bread was done and I turned the oven .

This is a good week to stock up. refried beans, beans and diced tomatoes are all .50. That is the lowest price that I have seen. A lot of times, they are close to a dollar.
There are a lot of dishes that you can make from them, and they are good for you. beans are good for your cholesterol. Just rinse them well to reduce the sodium.

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Jane

FINALLY, THE ADS

I finally got the ads.

QFC

Sirloin Roast B1G1 nets 3.25
Strawberries 2/5.00
Eggs 1.00
Tomatoes and beans .50
Brats 3.49
Raspberries, blackberries 2.99

SAFEWAYS
Pot roast 2.69
Loin chops
Top round, London broil

Grapes 1.99


5 buck Fridays
Blues -18 oz
Cream pie
Diced tomatoes .75 ***
Donuts 4.00. Just for u

TOP

10 for 10 sale

Romas
Carrots, baby
English cucumbers
10-16 ounce frozen veggies

Chuck roast 3.00

ALBERTSONS

APPLES .88
chuck roast 2.99
Chicken, whole, drums, thighs
Green peppers .50
Carrots .79
Refried beans .49. (10)
Chili .99


Notes

Note spread on canned tomatoes, pot Roast.
.50 on beans and refried beans is the lowest price they have been in a long time.
Fresh veggies are an additional 20 percent On just4 U.


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Jane

The OTHER white meat

The ads on TV and the print ads a few years ago Refered to pork as the other white meat. They have made pork lean and more healthy. It is also less expensive than beet generally. I had not cooked pork until I got married. My husband cooked pork chops and I learned to cook more. I found pork tenderloin and loin roasts. I can still fimd pork chops and roast for 2.00 a pound or so. Basically, you can cook pork the same as chicken.

Pork loin roast can become chops before it is cooked, or sliced as roast and thinly sliced to make a bbqnpork sandwich.

Years ago, I made up a recipe for a pork hero sandwich that was published in Taste of Home.

Note, there was a typo in the recipe.

1 loaf French bread
3T olive oil
2 pounds pork tenderloin cubed
1 julienne green pepper
1 julienne red pepper
1/2 cup celery, sliced
1small onion, chopped
2tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1tsp pepper

1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cups sliced plum tomatoes
1cup shredded mozzeralla cheese.

THIS FILLING MAKES TWO BATCHES. YOU CAN EAT HALF, AND FREEZE HALF.

Cut the top fourth of the bread off, reserve.
Hollow out the bread leaving a 1 inch shell. Save the extra bread for breadcrumbs.
Set aside.

In large skillet, heat oil. Add pork cubes and brown. Add vegetables, except tomatoes, and cook until pork done and vegetables are tender. Add chicken stock and simmer until mixture is reduced.

Set aside 1/2 of the filling and freeze.

spoon 1/2 of filling into bread shell. Mixture should not be soupy. Top with tomatoes and cheese. Replace bread top.


Wrap in foil. Seal tightly. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

NOTES

I would use pork cubes that have already been cooked and might use pork loin instead of tenderloin. I would use Roma tomatoes that have been seeded.


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Jane

Sunday notes

Yesterday my daughter and grandaughter and I went shopping. I found a blank weekly calendar with big squares for writing. It was 2.00 less 70 percent. Itnwould have been less if I had the 25 percent coupon from the Internet. We went on the spur of the moment and I didn't prepare. I am going to use it for meal plans.

My husband is not particulary fond of chicken and pork. He wants us to go back to the good old days when pork hadnfat on it. LOL. Because of trying to eat a bit more healthy, we are eating a variety of meats. His main beef about chicken is that it has no taste. I am trying to find chicken recipes that are more tasty.

Jerk Rub for chicken

1T allspice
2tsp cinnamon
1tsp nutmeg
2tsp minced garlic
Salt and pepper

Combine ingredients. Rub on chicken or pork. Grill or broil.

Balsamic vinegar glaze
Thyme, berry preserves, and a touch of balsamic vinegar.


chicken and pasta.

1/2 package of a long pasta....spaghetti, linguine, fettichini
1/2 pound cooked chicken cubes
Olive oil
1small chopped onion
1tsp minced garlic
1cup chicken broth
8 cups spinach
4 ounces swiss cheese

Sauté cooked chicken in olive oil. Add chicken broth,onion, garlic,salt, pepper. Combine pasta, spinach, and cheese in large bowl. Add chicken mixture and toss.

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Jane

Sunday Dinner

We don't always have Sunday Dinner.That is, we have dinner, it just isn't always a special dinner. It depends on what is going on that day.

Rosemary Potatoes

1T butter
1tsp minced garlic
1tsp dried rosemary
1/2tsp salt
1-1/2 pounds red potatoes, quartered

Melt butter and garlic in a 8 inch square baking dish in the microwave. microwave on medium high for 45 seconds.
Add rosemary, salt, pepper and potatoes. Toss.
cover, and microwave on high for 15 minutes


SPINACH AND MANDARIN ORANGE SALAD

1-10 ounce bag of spinach, torn
8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced
2-11 ounce cans of mandarin orange, drained well
1ounce crumbled blue cheese
2T chopped pecans
1/2 cup raspberry vinaigrette

Toss all ingredients

NOTE.. To make this low-cost, I would use a regular orange or a tangerine. you use walnuts if pecans are more expensive or dependimg on what you have after Christmas.


PORK CHOPS IN HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE

4 pork chops
2tsp olive oil
1-1/2 cups white wine
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

salt and pepper pork. Brown on both sides in oil about 5 minutes each side.
Add honey, mustard, and wine and bring to a boil for three minutes.
Add the pork to the pan. Simmer for 6 minutes A SIDE or until pork is done.

Adapted from Cooking light
NOTES. Honey is the one food that never goes bad. If it crystalizes, heat it in the microwave or in it's glass jar , uncovered in boiling water.

chicken broth would be a substitute for white wine.



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Jane

Suddenly Saturday

It's Saturday and I have three days off.Yeah! I have a sinus infection but I am going to enjoy them anyway.

New Menus from the WinCo shopping trip. Not having an ad for WinCo, I went with my ten dollar coupon just looking for bargains and knowing what I was short of. I bought just the amount of particular product that I knew I had used up lately.

Almost everything that I purchased was either the same as a sale price ( Roma tomatoes )or cheaper than my current lowest price--about twenty to twenty five percent for the same or comparable brands. Add another twenty percent and I averaged 40 percent off of SALE prices or about sixty percent. Our car uses little gas, but the savings was well worth the trip. you have to know your prices, some things were more.



Not knowing what you are going to find, or NOT find, is why it is prudent to do your meal plans after you shop. Case on point-- QFC had pork loin on for 2.00 but when I got there, they looked terrible. The strawberries had gray hair prettier than mine!!

Two beef, two pork or chicken, two vegetarian and a fish.

1)sloppy joes, oven baked fries
2)spaghetti and meatballs
3)roast chicken
4) chicken pot pie
5) quiche
6) pizza
7) tuna melt

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Jane

Winco buys

I got a ten dollar coupon on 50 dollars worth of food at WinCo. it is not spend 50 at the grocery store. If you combine the coupon with specials,the net cost is really low.

I had to spend 50. at winco. I spent 51.28! Less Sunflower seeds 2.41 equals 38.87
I got almost everything for 20 plus percent off the regular lowest price on my list.

a few things were more expensive, so I didnt buy them. Cheese was 2.79 per pound.

Parmesean cheese was about 1/2 what I paid last week. Ground Pork was 2.18 a pound.

Pepperoni was 1.88
Pizza shells (like Bomboli) were 2.18 each.
hamburger buns 1.98
JWhite Bread .88
Roma Tomatoes 1.
Fuji apples .87
American Cheese (Kraft) 8.78
Nallys chili .98
olives .95
Mayo 2.98
Taco Chips .98
Mashed Potatoes .88 usually 1.00 on sale
Green Beans, corn .33
Pasta Sauce .79
red pepper.68
Tuna .68
canned chilis ..79

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Jane

I'm watching the chew

Today I am watching the chew. they are talking about leftovers. Their stays say that we throw out half of our food. They are advocating 3 trips a week to the store. That is a way to spend twice what you need to spend. That's probably why they think a meal costs 25.00 Lol. The trick is to stay on top of your perishables and find ways to use then up or pit them up.

Roast chicken is becoming chicken salad and chicken crepes.


Chicken crepes are white sauce, leftover veggies, parm and chicken. Sounds good with spaghetti or noodles.

Just a note



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Jane

Meals from the ads

Traditionally, groumd beef is one of the cheapest ways to buy beef. It os also one of the most versital. by buying in bulk you can portion control and avoid waste. Sometimes I have been finding low fat for 2.50. When a roast is cheaper, I grind my own. You can de fat hamburger and make it have less fat than a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Beef has some nutrients that you can't get in any other meat. Moderation is the key. It seems like what is good for you today, isn't good for you tomorrow. Remember liver on the 60's?

On to meals... I'm talking my mindset so you can do it yourself using you families tastes. I am just doing the main dish, fill on with what's appropriate and inexpensive.

I'm still with

2 beef
2 chicken or pork
2 vegetarian
1fish

Using last weeks ground beef at 2.50 a pound

Taco soup
Spaghetti and meatballs

Chicken is .88 at QFC. That is about 1/2 of the price of a deli chicken. Buy a 4 or five pound one.

Roast chicken.
Chicken pot pie. If you make your own white sauce and portion control the bisquit, you can control the fat and calories.

Quiche
Mac and cheese

Tuna is .80 at Top.
Tuna melts

That's all.

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Jane

The ads

I finally got the ads .

QFC

CHICKEN .88
flour tortillas 10 ct for 1.00
Pork loin 1.97
1/2gal milk 1.00
QFC pan bread 3/4.00
Strawberries 2/5
Yoplait 10/5.00
Chili 1.00
Chuck roast B1G1. Nets 3.50....this summer 2.00


TOP

Ground sirloin 3.77 ***
hagan tomatoes 15/10.00. .67 each
Apples .89
Pork chops 1.99
Boneless bottom roast or steak 2.74 net B1G1. ****
rice 4lbs 2.99

Tuna 10/8.00
Blues 3.00


ALBERTSOMS

ground beef 3.99***

Tomato or chicken noodle soup 4/3.00. .75

Blues 2.99
Lettuce .99
tuna 1.25***


SAFEWAYS

pot roast 2.49
Sirloin tip 2.99
Bottom roumd 2.99

Boneless pork loin 1.99
Chicken parts, thighs, drums, split breast 1.25
Apples 1.00

5 dollar Fridays

Sub sandwich
Clementines 5 lbs
Canola oil
Shrimp per pound

Milk 2.59
Coffee 7.99

Chili 1.00

Blues , blacks. 3.00
Oranges 8 lbs 5.99
Grapes 2.99


Just 4 you. Nathans2.99
Pudding ring. 2.88


Notes

Note the variance of prices of ground beef. That is why we bought it for 2.50 last week.

At the difference between 4.00 and 2.50. (1.50). Times 8 poumds is 12.00 .

Boned chicken breasts 1.25. Boneless 3.99. (2.75) and you get the start of chicken stock to boot.

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Jane

Wednesday

it's Wednesday,mid week for most people. We used to have Pizza establish,nets that had all you can eat pizza on Wednesday night. Kinda like the all you can eat tacos Tuesday now. But, you could bring the kids.

It was a great inexpensive way to have a night out mid week.

I thought I would talk about different pizzas. The recipe for crust is on a older post.

Spinach mushroom | Very well Ed and squeezed spinach, feta, mushrooms, garlic, diced tomatoes, garlic and Italian seasoning.

Bacon and clam pizza

olive pizza

Pepperoni

Mushroom and black olive

Chicken and olive

Ham and pineapple


Thanks for watching.

Ads later

Jane

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Terrific Tuesday

I watched the chew yesterday.They are advocating meatless Monday. Their stats say that if you eat vegetarian one day a week, you reduce your chance of heart disease by 19 percent. They also say you reduce your chance of diabetes by 15 percent and you reduce your food bill by 100.00 a month. The 100 dollars a month is had for me to believe. if don't spend 25.00 a meal, you can't save 25.00 a meal. LOL

They made two vegetarian burgers. The lentil one doesn't appeal to me, but the mushroom one sounded ok.

The news yesterday was about beef takimg a LARGER HIKE. It already is almost double.
My plan is to watch for sales and hang on until it is never cheap enough and rework my menu spread to eat more chicken and pork if they don't skyrocket too. This is hard, because my husband only likes beef.

My plan will still reduce food costs, but maybe not to 75.00 a week. With the drought and the freeze in California, I suspect the average grocery shopping bill will increase significantly. We can, adjust as our grandmothers did in WWII and the great depression. Not to mention the Nixon years. Stocking now , without overstocking, will hedge it.

On to a more positive subject.
Ground beef was 2.50 a pound for 10 percent .
One of the ways to reduce your protein costs is to stretch it and use less. Another point they made on the chew.

BEEF AND MUSHROOM ROLL.

Filling:
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
4 ounces mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup dill pickle relish?
1tsp salt
1/4 tsp EACH mustard and pepper

2 T flour
1/3 cup water

Cook everything in a skillet until the meat is no longer pink.
Make a slurry of the flour and water and add and cook until it thickens.

CRUST
2cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup plus 2 T milk, divided

Combine dry ingredients . Cut in shortening. Stir in 3/4 cup milk. Stir into ball. Roll or pat into a 12X 9 rectangle.

Set aside 1/4 cup meat mixture. Spread remaining beef mixture on dough within 1 inch of edges. Roll up starting with the large side. Pinch edges ton seal. Place seam side down on baking sheet that has been greased. Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

For gravy, melt 2 T butter, stir in 3 T flour, salt and pepper. make a roux. Gradually add remaining milk. Heat, storing, until gravy is smooth. Nstir in reserved meR.

Slice roll, serve with gravy.

From Taste of Home.

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Jane

Monday madness

It's Monday again...funny how that works. Back to the old grind. I thought I would talk about the Family Circle magazine that I got at Joann's for 1.80.

I think that it is interesting that they always have a really good desert on the cover right when everyone is trying to diet. It is next to the 35 ways to be healthier.

I bought it because the cover talks about cooker recipes. They are in the very back of the magazine. There are also ideas for organizing-- that dreaded kitchen counter catch all!

Chocolate caramel brownie stacks....
Sharp cheddar shells and cheese
grilled cheese and tomato
Chicken and dumplings
pomegranate chicken
Meatball and barley soup
Apple, sausage and walnut pasta
Salmon tacos

White chocolate peppermint yum!

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Jane