The best of the ads. 5/1

Alberways

Berries  BOGO. Bargain?...

THREE  DAYS ONLY. FSS

Pork blade roast 1.49
Roma’s, onions, avocados .99
Sour cream, tortillas .99


Barilla pasta @@.99
Salsa 1.99@@

Only at Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mountlake terrace
Apples .99
Black olives .79


QFC
18 ounces blues 4.99
Milk 4/5

NBH (no bargain here )
2 lb deli chicken 7.99

Chicken breaks even with bone to meat ratio at 3 lbs,
At two pounds, you are laying 8.00 a pound for the chicken
Last week, split chicken breast was .88 a pound at Fred Meyers,
Almost 10 pounds for the cost  of one!

Sprouts

Corn 5/1
Tomatoes .88
Apples .88

Fred Meyers

Berries 2/5
Wishbone dressings 1.79

Digital FRI, SAT, SUN
Shrimp 4.99
Tortillas, chips .99
24 ounce sour cream , cottage cheese 1.29

What we ate April

Meal plans are a road map, sometimes we take side trips.

1. daughter cooks 
2. Clam strips, fries, coleslaw 
3. Hamburger  steak, fruit salad, vegetable salad 
4. Chicken soup 
5. Chicken stir fry 
6. French Toast, oranges, bacon 
7. Chicken soup 
8. Pizza
9. Shrimp salad 
10. Vegetable stir fry with chicken 
11. Waffles, strawberries, bacon 
12. Ham and cheese sliders, fruit salad ( homemade buns) 
13. Tacos, chicken tamales 
14. Pizza
15. Chili 
16. Ham quiche 
17. Chicken pot pie 
18. Spaghetti 
19. Tomato soup. Toasted cheese 
20. Sheet pan dinner, sausage and oven roasted vegetables 
21. Potluck, Broccolli roasted 
22. Potato soup, cheese drop biscuits 
23. Pizza
24. Herb crusted chicken breast, corn on the cob, salad 
25. Chicken enchiladas 
26. Hamburger steaks with blue cheese, vegetable sauté with summer squash, red peppers , tomato, celery, red pepper flakes  and parsley 
27. Baked potato bar 
28. Sausage, waffles, strawberries 
29. Chicken pot pie 
30. Potluck. Refried beans (scratch)

L

Monday Kitchen Management

The joy of Kitchen Management is that you are free to do as much or as little as you want.  Kitchen management or food prep is a tool for getting you out of the kitchen fast in week nights that are sometimes hectic and your plate is full.  

Reminder of meals
Chicken pot pie
Pizza
Breakfast for dinner
Taco soup
Chicken noodle soup
Pork stew

1. Wash kitchen floor 
2. Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead 💀.
3. Clean and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains. 
4. Wash vegetables : carrots and potatoes , dry
5. Chicken is already cooked as well as the hamburger for the taco soup. 
6. Check the homemade  mix levels.   Magic mix? Rice? Muffin? 
7. Clean the microwave .

I bought colored tortilla strips at the dollar tree.  I also bought hamburger buns and Texas toast that we need to freeze or use during the week.    

The Texas toast we use for French Toast for breakfast for dinner.  Last night I snuck whole wheat flour into the waffles.   Some people have used hamburger buns for poor mans French bread. Lol. O think I’ll freeze  them for sloppy joes.  Bagels are food for breakfast and we have cream cheese.   

Having muffin mix means you can have muffins made in about 15 minutes at a cost of about .32.   

Add the cost of any flavoring like a small apple or strudel topping 

It costs three cents  a serving for rice.   Adding some chicken stock and some herbs is pennies and far cheaper than a box mix.

Magic mix is basically a mix that makes white sauce with the addition of water.  Faster and easier than scratch.  Add chicken stock instead for green enchilada sauce and add mild green chilies.   These are cheapest at Winco for Winco brand.  Winco canned foods have no BPA in the cans along with being cheaper.   

Dollar tree had Hormel chicken tamales , tortilla strips , orowheat bread including bagels, Texas toast type bread, and hamburger buns,   They also have hints ketchup in a large bottle, a sea salt grinder, pizza sauce (name brand) Chex mix (name brand), sometimes Barilla pasta.   Watch the frozen foods, many are from China,   I have got Ore Ida there before.   I watch for American name brands.  Some things  like cereal, cake mix, pasta sauce, suddenly salad and canned veggies are cheaper elsewhere and  sometimes in a bigger package.  Pinto beans are .67 a pound.  The only place beside buying 25 pounds at Costco that I have found cheaper is in the bulk isle at Winco.    

Sunday, it must be meal plans

Meal plans save time and money and keep you organized along with a prep , kitchen management  day.  We use a protein driven meal plan.

• Chicken pot pie 
• Pizza
• Roast chicken, pear salad , mashed potatoes, green beans 
• Taco soup, chips, cheese, sour cream 
• Chicken noodle soup , cheese biscuits 
• Pork stew, bread 
• Breakfast for dinner. 

Notes 

1. Chicken pot pie is quick and easy and uses magic mix, frozen mixed veggies, and chicken pieces. 
2. Pizza is a mainstay.  A cheese pizza costs about a dollar, five or take a few cents .
3. Roast chicken is frozen, pear salad has blue cheese and walnuts.  Pears were cheap at sprouts. 
4. Taco soup is easy on the insta pot— or not.  Hamburger is already cooked and on the freezer.   
5. Chicken noodle soup uses frozen chicken pieces, cheese biscuits add to the origin and are quick and easy. (Betty Crocker) 
6. Pork stew is on the insta pot for 35 minutes . Stew meat comes from a pork loin end. Potatoes are a dollar at Alberways. 
7. Breakfast for dinner is another mainstay.  Sausage was on sale at Fred Meyers . Eggs were 1.13 a dozen . 

Balancing some cheap dinners with some more expensive ones makes for a better variety of meals. 

Principles of thrift

Basic necessities of food can be inexpensive and are the start of providing good meals for your family.  Trying to keep up with the Jones’ that earn three times your income doesn’t work.   The reality is, you have to make it on what you have. It’s the truth, but you can actually eat better, because you aren’t eating a bunch of preservatives and fat.

Buying your groceries 1 week or day at  a time means you are paying  top dollar for your food. Using a replentish based shopping strategy instead of a panic strategy is key.  Panic strategy is when you have nothing left in the refrigerator but a jar of pickles and you rush out to buy groceries at the nearest store.   Replentish based shopping, replentishes  what you used, yet  you still have food in the house,  It is a lot more relaxing,  you can go to the store at your leisure and take advantage of sale prices at two stores.  You are going to the store for a rotation protein, your dairy, and produce, and to replentish your stock of something  is at a good price.   The price of the same thing, in identical box and brand can have a spread in price of two dollars.   All those two dollars add up fast.  Something as simple as buying frozen instead of fresh can make a big difference.  In actuality, many times the meat you are buying has been previously frozen anyway and the frozen vegetable has been frozen at its peak of freshness.

Ten dollars during spring and summer months at a Sprouts or a farmers market can buy a basket of food.   Not buying organic saves a lot of money.  Pesticides are water soluble.  Wash your produce with vinegar water. Peel it if it makes sense.   There are a lot of storage containers  that keep  the gasses  out and keep vegetables longer.  Organic food doesn’t last as long as regular.   The upshot can be a sixty percent markup from regular food.  My take in that is that I have lived through almost three  quarters of a century with regular food and  they used to use a lot more caustic pestisedes than they do now. I am still alive and kicking!   LOL

Oxy moron. LOL
They say that not buying junk food and pop can save 50 percent of you food budget.  Buying things half price can save 50 percent.  But, somehow that doesn’t mean you are getting your food for free!

• Never pay full price.  My mother used to say that some people could have a bargain get up and bite them in the butt, and they wouldn’t see it.   Don’t be that person . 
• Identify the foods you use in a regular basis.   If they are  on perishable, consider keeping a four to week supply of those foods.   That means that of you eat spaghetti and sauce once a week, you need  to keep four packages of pastah and four containers of sauce. 
• Buying your protein in bulk when it is a “loss leader” and purchasing enough for a four to six week supply, saves money and avoids waste.   Break  the bulk down on meal sized portions.  If you eat ground beef once a week, you will need four meal sized portions. For is, that would be two pounds.   
• Keep fresh fruit and vegetables in stock at home,   Buy produce when in season,   The basics of carrots , celery, and potatoes are year round.   When produce is in season, it tastes better and is cheaper.    
• Dairy usually goes on sale once a month,  most dairy with the exception of milk had a month pull date.  Buy the basics when it is on sale.   Milk can be had usually with coupons or with deals for free pairing cereal and milk,   Use coupons for the cereal.   
• Eggs are a good source of protein .   The prices vary,  again, you have a month pull date.  Buy them when they are cheap and keep a four week supply.   Replentish as you use them and when they are at their cheapest. 
• Know your prices.   If it is something that you can substitute something else for or go without, don’t buy anything unless it is at or below you target price.   
• Portion control is good for your waistline as well as your pocketbook.   Know what the RDA mis for protein and milk.   It just might surprise you. 
• Keeping a four to six week supply means you never have food anxiety,   Food anxiety can actually lower you life span.   This also good insurance against not having  food  in an emergency.   It’s not like you can live without it.  I’m recent years, we have had floods that meant the trucks couldn’t get to the grocery stores; snow, and a government shutdown  .   Grocery stores carry a three DAY supply of food.   In an emergency  situation, you can’t depend on the store to cover your butt.
• Learn to efficiently scratch cook.   If you are stretched for time, spend more time planning and organizing and less time cooking.  Planning an organizing, and shopping wisely saves money, efficient scratch cooking saves time and money. It costs .28 to make a loaf of artisan bread and takes ten minutes of your hands on time.  It costs up to 3.99 for a loaf of artisan bread.    ( Safeways) .   A full pot of potato soup and cheesy drop biscuits cost about 1.50. The same price of a can that serves 1

Finally Friday

Yesterday, we bought a bulk tray of split chicken  breast;  it is Foster Farms.   Last night I de boned 4 chicken breasts. The tray  totaled five pounds that cost about 4.50.

I did this quickly and didn’t try to get real close to the bone.  Each breast was over a pound.  I got four reasonable single serving breasts and   it left a lot of meat on the rib bones.  This morning I placed the bones in the insta pot on the slow cooker mode.  I will have chicken stock and a lot of chicken pieces to make numerous dinners.  This netted 2.75 quarts of stock, 4 chicken breasts, amd a full pound of chicken pieces.   

It doesn’t take a lot of hands in time to de bone chicken and saves a lot of money.  I put corn n the cob in the microwave, made a green salad, and cooked chicken breast in the insta pot.  The recipe I used called for an herb and olive oil paste on a boneless , skinless  chicken breast.  You browned it on the sauté mode , then  removed it, de glazed the pan adding a cup of chicken broth.  Replaced the breasts on the rack and processed it for  6 minutes. I felt the breasts were bigger than normal, so I added a minute to the time.  While the chicken was cooking, I disinfected the cutting board and made salad .   

Today, we are having chicken Enchiladas with some of the meat from the insta pot slow cooker

.   .   

Cooking meat ahead of dinner time goes a long ways to making dinner time efficient. 

1 cup of shredded , cooked, chicken 

2 cups green enchilada sauce 

1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese 

1 can - 4 ounces , diced green chilies (small can is .69 at winco ) 

6 small flour tortillas

• Mix together in a bowl, the chicken, half of the green chilies, 1/4 cup cheese, and enough sauce to bind together,   
• Place small amount of mixture in the lower third of a tortilla, roll and place seam side down in a baking pan that has a small amount of sauce in the bottom.   
• Pour  remaining sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese,
• Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling around the edge of pan,   
• 
  
• Serves 2 adults and two children. 
• 
  
• Enchalada sauce is magic mix made with chicken stock instead of water.   Add green chilies. 

•  
• 
  

Hauls to 4/24

Fred Meyers

7 chili .99
5 butter 2.49
Peppers .99
Blackberries .99
Sour cream .99
Total 25.33

The best of the ads 4/24

Sprouts
Strawberries .98
Tomatoes .88
Mango 2/1
Oranges .88
Pears .98
Squash .88
Blues, blackberries 2/5


Alberways

Chicken , whole or part .99
Ribs, pork 1.99

General Mills cereal. Buy 2, get three free.  -bargain?..

Milk 1.99@@
Bread .79

Dollar sale
Garden salad
Red delicious apples
Roma’s
Peppers
Naval oranges

Corn on cob 2/1
Potatoes 5# 1.00

QFC
.99
Tomatoes
broccoli

Digital coupons
Cheerios 1.79
Milk 4/5

Digital coupons 4 days only Thirsday  - Sunday
Sausage 1.99

Fred Meyers
Very hard to follow ad

Foster farms chicken .88 includes split breast 
Kroger bacon 2.99 # I’m 3 pounds package 
Milk 4/5 
Sausage   2/5 
Sausage 1.99


Digital coupons 
Marie c frozen dinners 1.88
Cheerios 1.79
Yoplait yogurt 10/5
Deli meat Oscar  Mayer 2.49 

Digital thurs -Sunday 
Cheese .99

Note : split chicken breast and cheese at Fred Meyers is a good stock price.   Note vlog on split chicken breast....make the chicken stock pay for the chicken.  

How many things can you make from flour

A 25 lb bag of flour at Costco is now 7.29. That is .29 lb or .087 cup.

Most bakery items and frozen bakery items are marked up by about 90 percent.  Understandably, when there  is someone else’s labor involved, we need to pay for it.  But, when you are economizing it usually means you have more time than money.  Besides the fact that homemade has no preservatives and you control the ingredients.

• Artisan bread 
• Pizza
• Muffins
• Pancakes 
• Tortillas 
• Noodles 
• Dumplings
• Biscuits 
• Cookies
• Pie crust
• Bread
• Doughnuts 
• Fruit crumbles 
• Waffles
• Buns for sliders
• Cake 
• Cupcakes 
• Hoagie rolls 

Monday * the price book

 Price books are a tool to keep track of the lowest prices on your master list.   I have a few things in my master list  and keep it in my head.  You can, however, keep a spiral book and keep t 8n your purse or coupon book.

Small spiral tablets  are about three for a Dollar at the DT.  List the item on top of the sheet, add the date, store and price .  After a few times posting to the sheet, youmwill have a sense ifmwhat the lowest price is.

Canned vegetables .50
Any fresh veggies 1.00 or less
Chicken less than 1.30
Hamburger 80-20 less than 3.00
Pasta sauce 1.00 for canned
Pasta sauce in jars 1.50
Tomato  sauce , 8 ounces 3/1
Ketchup, 1.00
Mayo 3.00
Diced tomatoes .58, , .50 is better
Cream soups .50 or less.
Sugar 4 lbs 1.00
Eggs 1.50 tops.
1/2 gallon milk 1.00
Sour cream 1.00
Pork loin 1.00- 2.00 #
Pizza sauce 1.00
Suddenly  salad  1.00 large box
Pinto beans .67 a #
Cheese 2.00-2.50 lb
Cheese slices 2.19 - real cheese

Meal plans

Meal  plans are a necessary part of an organized kitchen and help us  to stay in track and save money and time.

• Potato soup w ham , cheezy biscuits 
• Pizza
• Black bean enchiladas 
• Beef stew, with carrots, and potatoes 
• Sausage cream pasta ( Big Family Homestead u tube) 
• Salmon, glazed carrots with honey and ginger. Green beans 
• Breakfast for dinner : waffles, fruit, eggs 

Balancing cheap meals with some not so cheap helps to keep you in budget without feeling deprived. 

Notes 

1. Potato soup comes in at less than a dollar.  Ham cubes are left over from another meal.   
2. Pizza is a mainstay.  Cheese pizza comes on at a dollar a pizza.   
3. Black bean enchiladas are a Betty Crocker recipe,  ,ale your own enchiladas sauce. 
4. Beef stew is made a n the inst pot on 35 minutes. 
5. Sauce cream pasta is a skillet meal and quick.   
6. Salmon, glazed carrots and green beans used regular carrots coins and fresh green beans 
7. Breakfast for dinner is another mainstay.  It can be cheap or not so cheap.   Waffles can be healthy with grains and fruit and eggs finish the meal 

What 4.00 a day doesn’t mean

what four  dollars  a day doesn’t mean...

1. It doesn’t mean that your cupboard  is bare at the end of the month 
2. It doesn’t mean eating boxed meals full of preservatives or top ramen 
3. It doesn’t mean you need to work all day in the kitchen 
4. It doesn’t mean you shop at the corner store or the organic store 
5. It doesn’t mean that you have to give up the five food groups. 

1. It does mean you get organized and know the meals you cook on a regular  basis.
2. It does mean that you simplify your list of stock items that help you make a meal anytime you want.
3. It does mean you can have artisan bread 🥖 with ten minutes work anytime you want for a cost of a quarter— give or take a penny, instead of 3.99.
4. It does mean that eventually you will have a stock to carry you through a month if necessary.
5. It does mean that you shop to replenish, instead of shopping in a panic . 
6. It does mean you go to two stores—the best of two stores and cut your food budget in half or more,   
7. It does mean you save the planet by not wasting food and making best use of what you have.
8. It means you actually eat healthier because you aren’t  eating hydroginated oil, too much meat, gmo, HFCS, oreservatives, avoiding trans fats, amd a lot of sugar and salt. 

Introduction

Back in 2012, I started this blog at the encouragement of my children.  My daughter has taught children from low income households for years. Some were lamenting that their SNAP money ran out before the month ran out.  My daughter told one that her mom knew how to stretch a food dollar.

In the early 1970’s I found myself a single parent with more bills than money.  We went through double digit inflation with no raises in three years and my child support was spasmodic at best.  I had no choice but to economize the best I could.  We turned off heat on the bedrooms, I stopped the dishwasher to air dry and I read everything I could get from the library and watched everything I found on our 10 inch black and white tv with rabbit ears.   I already knew some principles from watching my mother.  I just added to it, some things I tried were hits, some things were misses.  It was a learning curve.

Times changed and things got a lot better, but we still economized.  It was a habit by then.  We continued to find new ways to save money on groceries.   I am still learning.  I don’t make money from this blog, my motivation is to help people.

Groceries on the cheap takes a different approach to buying your groceries.  Instead of buying just what you need a day or week at a time , you buy what you need to replenish your supply.  Instead of running out of things and stretching the last week of the month to get by and running to the store the minute pay day comes, you always have food in the house.   Studies have revealed that not  having food in the house lowers your life expectancy.

Having a four to six weeks supply of food is not hoarding and it is a good insurance policy in case of adversity.  We have had roads flood, snow storms, amd a government shutdown on recent years.  Having a four week supply of food takes care of at least one necessity.  It is not hoarding

The basic premice is to buy food when it is at its lowest price and eat it when it is at the highest price.
It is the same premise as stockbrokers use.  And not different than our great grandmothers on the farm, canning food when it was orevelamt in the summer to get through the winter,

This principle allows us to eat well on a four dollar a day budget.   The idea is that if you can do it for four dollars a day, it isn’t hard to spend more. Lol 😂

Unless you have a big influx  of money, this doesn’t happen overnight.  Bit by bit, it happens.   We have had a four dollar a day budget for over two years now.  We strive for low sugar, low salt, low trans fats, non gmo, HFCS, hydroginated oil, and junk food.
We do get REAL Parmesan cheese, real vanilla, real maple syrup, real butter.  We afford this because we don’t buy fake boxes of food.

We talk about the tricks retailers use to get you to buy more,  Pitfalls, efficient scratch cooking, meal plans, basic stock lists, new recipe ideas, old recipe ideas revisited to be healthier, and tools to make life  easier.

I blog everyday.

Hauls to 4/ 17

costco bulk run

Rice 9.79

Flour 7.29

Bomboli 8.99

Oatmeal 8.29

Cottage cheese 4.99

Total 39.35

Sprouts
Strawberries 2/3
Cantaloupe 2.50
Red peppers .98
Grapes .98
Roma’s .88
Yellow squash .88
Total 10.46

Winco
Milk 1.37
Lettuce 1.28
Grape tomatoes 1.38
Total 5.41

Grand total 55.22
Of which 25.37 is long term storage. 

The best of the ads 4/17

Alberways

Shank half ham .99
Spiral ham 1.29
Broccolli, cauliflower.99

Bread 1.49@@
Butter 1.99@@

Pillsbury rolls 4/8$$
Pantry essentials BOGO bargain?...

Foldgers 5.99@@
Cream cheese 1.69@@
Ketchup 2.99@@
Classico pasta sauce 1.49@@


QFC
Spiral ham 1.37
Tillamook ice cream 2/6

B6S3

Cream soup .49
Redi whip 1.99
Healthy choice 1.88
Cottage cheese 1.79
Best foods 2.99
Butter 2.49

Sprouts
Corn 5/1
Green beans .98
Berries 3/5
English cucumbers .98
Snacking tomatoes 2/5
Apples .99


Fred Meyers

B6S3


Butter 2.49
Ritz 1.79
Cream soup .49
Nalleys chili .99
Baby rays sauce .99
Pasta .49
Best foods 2.99
Sour cream .99

*****
Spiral ham 1.27
Blackberries .99
Peppers. Cucumbers .99
Tillamook ice cream 2/6

Military discount Thursday only with coupon

5 budget changing ideas

I was thinking last night...scary idea!  And came up with five change of habits than can save a lot of money and be healthier and safer too.

• Look over the ads and note the items that you need that are a good price. You are  looking for the best two stores.  Going to two stores gives you the best of two stores.  No one store has the lowest prices on everything and going to two stores gives you the luxury of picking the best produce from two stores.   
• Identify your sources of protein,  ours would be beans, rice, cheese, eggs, chicken breast, pork loins and good hamburger.  Buy your protein in bulk when it is a “loss leader “. And buy enough for four to six weeks. IE: if you eat hamburger once a week, you will buy four to six meal sized portions.  
• Identify meals you make on a regular basis and list the items you need to make them,   Sort between shelf stable and perishable.  You want to start trying to stock a four to six week supply of the shelf stable items when you find them at a RBP.  Again, if you use diced tomatoes twice a week, you need enough to make 8-10 meals.   This will take time, but finding the RBP will help.  If you can  buy 2 or 3 for the same price as one, it  doesn’t  take long. 
• Simplify the amount of items  you buy and buy in bulk whenever possible.  It’s cheaper and you have less items in your cart.  Soon, instead of buying just what you need for the week, you will be buying a rotation protein, perishable produce and dairy, and anything on a real sale that is on your stock list and you need. 
• Last one, collect efficient scratch recipes.  This is a way to save a lot of money,   A Costco bag of flour can  save hundreds of dollars.   Artisan bread a quarter, five or take instead of 3.99.  Muffins cost .30 plus a flavor instead of 5.00.  Pancakes fractions of what that bag in the freezer section costs.  Most things save 90 percent and many take ten hands on minutes.   My mother started us baking at 9 yo.  It was good for us, and saves her time.
• Stop buying junk food and pop from your grocery money.  The operative word on SNAP is nutrition .  There isn’t much nutrition in pop and chips.   If you really think you need junk food, take it out of a entertainment bidget.  It will make it abundantly clear how much that stir is costing you.   

7 meals for the A last week of the month,

7 dinners that are super cheap.

1. Chicken noodle soup, cheezy biscuits come on at 2.00 per 4 servings.   NOT 2.00 a serving, 
2. Potato soup, artisan bread comes in at 1.50 for four servings. 
3. Baked potato bar 
4. Spaghetti with parm cheese comes on at 2.00 for four .
5. Chicken enchiladas come in at 3.00
6. Pizza, cheese comes in at a dollar, add pepperoni for an additional .50
7. Scrambled eggs, oranges and strawberries, toast,   3.26

Total 15.00 -

Emergency stretching ideas. 

1. In Washington, chicken leg  quarters are 5.90 for TEN pounds. They are as low as .39 other places on the US. 
2. Potatoes are still cheap and have a lot of nutrients. 
3. A 7.29 bag of flour at  costco can save well over a hundred dollars. 
4. A ten Pound box of oatmeal at Costco makes a serving of oatmeal .085 .  No, here aren’t any decimal mistakes! Lol.  One serving of real oatmeal is the equivalent of 4 bags of that so called instant stuff and it takes a minute and a half to cook.
5. A big bag of rice at Costco will make a serving if rice .03. 
6. The total of the rice, flour and oatmeal is about 25.00 or the price of a good delivery pizza.   
7. Beans are cheaper at Costco, but come on a very BIG bag.  They are .67 a pound at the dollar tree and are grown in USA and non gmo. The last I looked.   They are cheaper at Winco in the bulk department. 
8. Pizza sauce, tortillas, Barilla pasta, and noodles are at the dollar store.  NOT all things at the dollar store are cheaper or as good a quality as one would like.  With coupons , on sale, cold cereal can be lots cheaper.  Many if the frozen  foods are from China.  Know your prices and look for name brands. The pasta sauce is cheaper  at Winco.  Name brand pepperoni is there. 
9. A ten pound bag of chicken legs and thighs can stretch into a lot of meals. 
10. About leg quarters, Place all the quarters on a sheet pan or other pan with sides.  Don’t over crowd the pan.   Make 2 batches of you need to.  Bake at 375 until they are cooked  through and test at 180 degrees. Check several times during the cooking, and remove some of the fat of it is collecting.  Not allowing the fat to re absorb into the chicken is a good thing,   Using a turkey baster can be helpful.  When done, remove from pan and let cool.  Drain it onto a colander that is placed on a pan to collect any fat.  When it is cooled, remove the meat from the bones and save the bones. Bones make good chicken stock.  This makes chicken stock free instead of paying upwards of two dollars a box.  The meat can be used for tons of recipes. 
11. Chicken pot pie, chicken enchiladas, pulled chicken sliders. Chicken noodle soup. Chicken pizza, chicken tacos, burrito bowls. And many more . 
12. Chicken stock can be the basis for chicken gravy, chicken noodle soup, and potato soup and is something that is called  for in many recipes.    It freezes. Pour  your broth in glass jars, refrigerate and when the fat has congealed, scoop it off.   Freeze in bags flat.   

Meal plans 4/15

Meal Plans are a necessary part of eating on a budget of any kind.  They make your life more organized and thus less hectic.

• Chili, tortilla chips and cheese or sour cream 
• Pizza
• Chicken enchiladas with green sauce, salad 
• Pork stew 
• Salmon cakes , oven fries, salad 
• Chicken pot pie, fruit
• Breakfast for dinner, 

Notes 

Pizza and breakfast for dinner are mainstays here. Oirm7 yo has been making pizza since  she was 4.  

Breakfast for dinner is  a family affair, everyone cooks. 

Chili is homemade in the insta pot. 

Chicken enchiladas are homemade and green sauce is easy with magic mix.  Green chilies are cheapest at Winco for their brand.  Winco does not have BPA in their cans 

Pork stew is from meat cut from the ends of a pork loin.   Add carrots and potatoes. 

Salmon cakes are from canned salmon from Costco, 

Chicken pot pie is from frozen chicken and a leftover pie crust, 

Making meal plans that use up what you have is a good way to stretch your food dollar and nit waste food.  He rest of the fresh  Green beans will make their way into the  chicken pot pie.  The green chilies will do double duty in chili and enchilada sauce. 

Freezing your meat in meal sized packages portion controls you meals and saves money and your waistline.  

Strike while the iron is HOT

And old saying that saves a lot of money,    The Kroger stores have been running three and four day sales that are really good prices.   If there are things that you use on a regular basis. It is a good idea to buy them in bulk.   Most of the time their limit is five.   This week it is bacon and la Croix  water.  I buy sparkling water out of our entertainment budget, but allow myself one glass a day. Some  days I just drink ice water,   And usually I find quarts cheaper.

Eating on four dollars a day is totally believable,   Actually the SNAP average on Washington is 4.25 a day.

It is not  what you buy as much as it is when and where you buy it.

Knowing what is the RBP on the things you buy on a regular basis is a good start in s t r e t c h I n g your food dollar.    Make a list of your basic foods you buy on a regular basis,   Que this with the 7-10 meals you make on a regular basis from inexpensive sources of protein. Buy your protein on a rotation basis using the ads to pick a meat that is a so called  loss leader.  This is another easy way to save money and reduce waste.  Buy in bulk and portion control in meal sized bags and freeze.

Some people could have a bargain get up and bite them in the butt and they wouldn’t see it,  don’t be that person.

  Know when something is really on sale, not just for sale.   Not everything in a store ad is on a real sale at a reduced price.  Some things are just featured items.  Checking if there are coupons to go with a sale  item helps too although coupons are becoming few and far between.  If it is a shelf stable item or a freezer one, and you use that item on a regular basis, consider buying up to a months supply.   This saves time, money, and gives you the luxury of always having food in the house in case of an emergency.

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

Buying something the kids should eat, but won’t, does not save money.  Buying organic vegetables that go bad a day after you get them in the house, is not saving money,   Organic ups your cost of that food up to sixty percent.  That’s quite a hit on a four  dollar a day budget.

All good quotes.

On another note, the quote out there that says Americans waste forty percent of our food took on a new meaning when I happened on to a video recently.  I assumed that people were  insuating that we as cooks were wasting that much.  In actuality, it also means that the farmers send food to the landfill and plow some food under becaise it isn’t perfect in size or it didn’t fit into the bag correctly.

That being said, it is a good idea to try to incorporate little bits of things onto another dish,  or morphing last nights leftovers into something  new.

Making best use of what you have is always a good thing .

Lists : little ways to save money

So, you don’t want to go super cheap!  But, who doesn’t like the feeling of saving a little money.  In my lifetime, I worked for several small business people that were multi millionaires.   It probably wouldn’t surprise you that they both watched their pennies.

• Taco seasoning cost a dollar an ounce.   It’s really simple to get taco seasoning ingredients for fractions of the cost in the ethnic isle in bags or in the bulk isle.   90 percent savings for ten minutes of work is worth it. 
• Peasant bread costs .25,  the equivalent loaf of bread is well over 2.50.   Time!  10 minutes spread over two days. 
• Bread crumbs.  Another ten minute chore that saves 90 or more percent, 
• Pancake or muffin mix another few minutes that saves 90 or more percent.  Four large muffins cost 5.00.   A batch of 18 smaller muffins cost .30.   Add a fruit and you are still well under 90 percent profit.   And they can  be hot out of the oven. Yum,!frozen pancakes and waffles are expensive.   
• Cream soup base is pennies instead of dollars for a can of soup. 
• Bread machine bread costs .50 instead of upwards of three dollars.   Again, minutes of your time. 
• Insta pot makes beans in a matter of less than five minutes hands on time.  Dry beans cooked cost .05 instead of a can of beans that cost anywhere from .58 to over a dollar.   
• Rice bought in bulk and cooked costs .02 a serving.  Ready rice is about 2.50 for a four serving bag.
• Conversely, pasta sauce can be as cheap as .88.  It takes more to make it from scratch unless  you have a bumper crop of tomatoes from your garden.  
• Meatballs , especially with coupons, are cheaper to  buy than they are to make.  

• 
  

Best of the ads 4/11

The  best if the ads ... we got them late last night.

  Sprouts 

Mangos 2/1
Strawberries 2/3
Grapes  .98
Zucchini .88
Roma’s .88
Naval oranges .98


Grass fed ground beef 3.99
*********


QFC 

Cream cheese 3/5
Cresent  rolls, grands 2/4$$
********


Alberways 

Meat  sale BOGO. Bargain?????

Ham .99
Spiral cut ham 1.29


Free milk with 4 GM cereal products @4/8—8.00 less 2.00 for milk is 6.00/4 is 1.50 and there are coupons at coupons.com 

Milk 1.99@@
Buns .99@@
Pork tenderloin 4.99@@

@@ means with in ad coupon 
$$ means there are coupons out there. 
*******


Fred Meyers 

Raspberries 1.88
Cantaloupe 3/5

FF chicken breast, thighs BOGO bargain .....??
Spiral ham 1.27

18 eggs 1.49
Cresent rolls 3/5
Cream cheese 3/5

Buy 6, save 3 

Cream soup .49
Pasta .49
Sour cream 1.39
Nalley chili .99

Note senior 55 10 percent sale with coupon 4/16. Only covers private selection food. 

Hauls to 4/10

Hauls to 4/10

Shopping to replentish rather than by panic

Grocery outlet
Foldgers 6.99
Tomato,sauce (3) 1.00
Strawberries 4.99
Sliced cheese 2.19
Homey ham  1# 3.99

Total 25.73

QFC
Sugar 1.98

27.71

Sprouts
As I predicted, prices are going up higher now that the novelty has worn off.  Onions were twice what I pay at Winco, bit I didn’t want to stop just for onions.

Blackberries 1.67
Cucumber .98
Oranges .88
Roma’s .99
Corn .25
Rolls 1.00
Onions 1.98
Total 8.47

36.18

Lists- Pantry

Your  pantry list will probably be different than mine.  You will tailor yours to your families likes.

• Diced tomatoes 
• Pasta sauce 
• Pasta ( pasta has an 8 YEAR shelf life) 
• Corn 
• Green beans 
• Dry beans in popcorn canisters from Costco. 
• Suddenly salad 
• Cake mixes 
• Tuna 
• Salmon
• Chicken 
• Canisters of dry milk
• Flour. 
• Diced mild green chilies 
• Black olives, sliced 
• Canister of rice 
• Tomato paste 
• Salad dressing, ketchup, mayonnaise, bbq sauce 
• Dried vegetables including zucchini 
• Baking supplies in separate cupboard. 

Monday Kitchen Management aka meal prep

Keeping then management is a tool that enables you to make dinner hour easier and keep a head start in the deep cleaning of the kitchen.

Reminder of meals

• sausage and veggies sheet pan dinner 
• Pizza
• Chicken Normandy 
• Tacos, Spanish rice 
• Ham and cheese sliders  ( make rolls) 
• Salmon cakes, oven fries fruit salad 
• Breakfast for dinner 

1. Wash kitchen floor 
2. Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead 💀 
3. Wash and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains.
4. Wash potatoes, and carrots and fruit , dry. 
5. Make banana, oatmeal, cranberry bread (use up ripe bananas) 
6. Wash south side cabinets. 
7. Thaw pizza crust, 

1. 
   

Meal Plans

Meal plans

• Sausage, potatoes, peppers 
• Pizza
• Chicken Normandy , green beans 
• Tacos, Spanish rice 
• Ham and  cheese sliders , pasta salad, veggie sticks 
• Salmon cakes, oven fries, fruit salad 
• Breakfast for dinner 

Notes 

• Chicken and basil sausage 
• Pizza is a mainstay, crust made in bulk and frozen 
• Chicken Normandy is from chicken frozen breast, 
• Spanish rice uses the juice from a can of diced tomatoes 🍅 tomatoes used for salsa 
• Slider rolls from scratch,   
• Oven fries are cut, soaked in water and drained, dried off, amd tossed woth olive oil and garlic pepper and air fried. 
• Breakfast for dinner is a mainstay,  everyone cooks. 

This is about chicken

Chicken  is the cheapest priced meat at the moment,  here, it was .90 a pound for whole chicken and it was Foster Farms. It is the best quality including the quality of the butchers in the area.  It always makes sense to buy locally grown chicken.  Perdue is a good brand in the south.  Never buy a whole chicken that is less than three pounds.  At three pounds, you are at the break even point —half your meal bill is laying for bone and 1/2 is paying for meat.   That’s why if you are buying that 6.99 two pound chicken from the deli,you are actually paying 6.99 a pound for cooked chicken.

I bought a 5.5 plus pound chicken yesterday.  It is my intention to take you along as I see how many meals I can get out of a 5.89 chicken.

First

Open bag of chicken and drain off any liquid there may be into a colander placed in the sink.
Place chicken in a roasting pan with a rack.
Place anything you have short of the kids dirty Sox  in the cavity..an onion, an apple., a orange, a lemon,
Wash your hands .
Pour some olive oil over the chicken and pour a little more into a cup.  Rub the chicken down with the olive oil on both sides.
 Place  the cup in  the colander and wash your hands .
Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper,

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes

Reduce heat to 350 and cook an additional 20 minutes per pound.

Chicken should have juices run clear, be at 180 degrees and the keg should easily pull from the body of the chicken .


1  chicken Sunday dinner
2 chicken sliders
3, chicken noodle soup 4
4. Chicken stir fry 4
5. Chicken pot pie 4
6. Chicken enchiladas with green sauce
7. Buffalo chicken pizza 4
8. Chicken Normandy

Friday recipe

Magic Mix

Magic mix is a mix that makes cream soup base for a non preservative cream soup equivalent.  It also makes chocolate pudding .

4 cups dry milk powder (not instant )
1 cup flour
2 stocks butter

Cut in the butter into the dry ingredients
You can use the kitchenaid, or food processer or a
 Pastry tool

Store in refrigerator or freee
To use

1/2 cup mix to 1 cup

You can add seasonings as you like,
Garlic, Italian seasoning celery seed or
Ranch dressing mix



To make  chocolate pudding
1 cup mix
1/2 cup sugar

2:T cocoa
2 cups water

Heat to boiling, stirring
Take off the heat and add 1 tsp vanilla
Cool.

Hauls to 4/4

Dollar Tree

Ravioli. - an experiment

Egg noodles


Sprouts

Strawberries.2.50
Baby cucumbers 2.50
Blackberries .50
Cantaloupe 1.98
Grape tomatoes  2.00

Green beans 1.35
Zucchini .73
Red bell pepper .98
Sweet potatoes.85
Yellow squash .68
Blue cheese 3.99

Bread.  1.99
Bread rolls 1.00
Total 27.49

Grand total 29.49

QFC
5 bacon 2.99
14.95

Grand total 44.46

Winco

Bread 1.18
Beans .48
Olives .98
Cucumber .98
Green onion .48
Bars 1.48
Strawberries 1.98

Total 9.38

Total 53.84

The best? of the ads

Slow ad day this week......I guess they are saving it for Easter.  LOL

Alberways

Lean ground beef 2.99 - FM is cheaper
2# strawberries 4.88
Eggs .99@@. Limit 2
Bread .99@@

Cantaloupe 2/5



QFC

4 days only -thurs-Sunday
Sugar .99
Ground turkey 2.77

*****
Barilla 1.00

NAB stands for not a bargain
Deli whole chicken 6.99 - two pounds.  That’s at best 6.99 for a pound of meat!  

SPROUTS

Grapes  .98
Blues , raspberries , blackberries 3/5
Tomatoes, on the vine .98
Cucumbers, eggplant .98

Friday Saturday, Sunday
Corn 4/1

Fred Meyers
This is a hard one - a lot of restricted bargains

Flat out
80/20 ground beef 1.90 - rotation meat time !
Peppers. English cucumber.99
Raspberries 12 Oz, 3.99
Pork sale BOGO including pork loin.  This may be a good buy , pork loin should be 1.00-2.00 obviously, the cheaper the better.

FRIDAY! SATURDAY ONLY DIGITAL
Pie 3.99
Turkey breast frozen .97

FREE MILK with 4 Kellogg’s specified products
4/8.00 less 2.00 for milk makes the cereal 1.50 each.
Coupons?

FOUR DAYS ONLY THURS TO SUNDAY
Breakfast sausage 1.99
Sugar .99

Lists: what we ate

March meals - nite some of these meals I just write down to main dish, we did have a balanced  meal

1. Chicken Normandy, green beans, mashed potatoes 
2. Breakfast for dinner: eggs and veggie omelette, fruit 
3. Pizza
4. Potato soup cheese biscuits 
5. Chimichanga, salad 
6. Potato soup, cheezy biscuits , strawberries 
7. Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic parm bread 
8. Taco casserole 
9. Pork chops , baked potatoes, mixed vegetables 
10. Eggs, oranges, sausage , rolls 
11. Hamburgers, French fries, lettuce and tomatoes 
12. BLT, fries, salad 
13. Tuna casserole , peas and carrots 
14. Chilli and bread 
15. Eggs, sausage, muffins 
16. Hamburgers, French fries, fruit salad 
17. Crab cakes, Mac and cheese, mixed veggies 
18. Stew, bread 
19. Pizza, salad 
20. Dagwood sandwiches 
21. Roast beef a jus, salad 
22. Sliders, hamburger and bacon, salad 
23. Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, veggie, strawberries and cream 
24. Chicken sliders, tomato salad 
25. Chicken soup, French bread woth parm, bitter and seasoning 
26. BBQ Pork 
27. Roast Beef a jus, salad 
28. Fish and chips 
29. Salad 
30. Stuffed green Peppers. Cheese beer bread 
31. Waffles, cantaloupe and strawberries 

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   

Monday Kitchen Management

Kitchen Management aka food prep is a tool that takes a lot of stress out of a hectic dinner hour amd tackles deep cleaning the kitchen, one small project at a time.  At Management school, they taught us the Swiss cheese treatment.  Of a project is too big amd dauting, break it down into small segments, and it somehow seems a lot more manageable.  Knock holes in the Swiss cheese  and it’s less of a solid mass.

Meal recap
Pizza
Potato soup, cheezy biscuits
Taco casserole
Chicken stir fry
Chicken ala king
Breakfast for dinner

1. Wash kitchen floor 
2. Wash and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains. 
3. Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead 💀, 
4. Note anything that needs to be used soon . 
5. Wash fruits and vegetables, clean the green beans for stir frying 
6. Wash potatoes and carrots 
7. Wash the vent screen for the stove. 
8. Mark on meal plan times to thaw food. 

Meal plans

Meal plans are a tool that makes life easier and more efficient,  the more efficient you are, the better and less hectic life becomes.

Our meal plans usually are based on a protein matrix,  beef, chicken or pork, and vegetarian,  sometimes a fish.

• Mom out : daughter cooks 
• Pizza
• Potato soup, cheezy biscuits 
• Tacos, Spanish rice, refried beans 
• Chicken stir fry (Facebook) 
• Chicken aka king 
• Breakfast for dinner, 

Notes : 

I am working on a blog on how many meals can be prepared from a six pound chicken. Some we have already eaten, the rest of the chicken was separated and frozen.   My husband would have squawked if I fed him chicken six days in a row. Lol 

1. Pizza is a mainstay.  Easy when the crust is made in bulk and frozen and the cost is a dollar a cheese pizza.  Add toppings that have been leftover from other meals or not.
2. Potato soup and cheese biscuits come in at less than 1.50 for a total of four servings when ingredients are purchased at RBP.  
3. Tacos are from already cooked hamburger, rice can be batch cooked for Spanish rice and the chicken aka king.  
4. Chicken stir fry is from a recipe on Facebook with the addition of parm, cooked chicken, and maybe some red pepper flakes .  Green beans, and zucchini were both really inexpensive at sprouts.  
5. Chicken  ala  king is an old recipe.  Use magic mix and add frozen peas and maybe some chopped red peppers .
6.  Breakfast for dinner is a mainstay.  Everyone cooks.  It may or may not be economical, depending on what you cook and the amount of meat you serve.  Eggs are cheap.   Fruit in season is always a hit.  

Concept: meals:a master list

Groceries on the cheap takes a different approach to shopping for groceries.   Instead of the panic method, you use a replentishntish method,   This is good  because  you always have food in the house.   Studies have shown that not having food on the house lowers your life expectancy.   It is not good for children.  It is also not good because bleep happens.   Snow, sickness, government shutdowns, layoffs, any number of things can happen  Having a month to six weeks worth of food on the house is not hoarding, it is being responsible.

• Make a lot of 10-14 meals you family eats on a regular basis.  The average cook on a house has that many on their memory.  Now, list the ingredients.  Use inexpensive sources of protein if you are on a budget . 
• Pull out the non perishable things on your list.  The perishables on a separate list,  I have them on my meal plan form. 
• Non perishable list:  estimate how many if that item you will use in a month period.   If you typically use two to four cans of diced tomatoes, do the math.  This is easy on a spreadsheet.   
• Now, when things are on sale at their RBP, buy as many as you can until you get to your self imposed storage number.   
• The average family will have 10-15 items.  
• Things like ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard, I keep one ahead.   When I pull my backup out of the pantry, I start watching for a good price on the backup.  
• Flour, sugar. Yeast. Oatmeal. Baking powder, vanilla, beans. Dry milk I reolentish when I feel I am running low.   
• The basic survival list is part of my regular stock.  It comes in 2 parts of 5 items. One is from a Costco type store, the other is from a dis pint store like Winco.   The size of the packages can be determined by the size of your family,   
• Flour, beans, oatmeal, rice, yeast.  Yeast is close to 3.50 at winco.  A lot lot more at QFC.   
• Sugar, Vegetable  oil, butter, baking powder, dry milk.  
• Organize a closet, pantry, or cupboard so that  things are grouped together and you can tell at a glance when you need to look for a sale. 
• Simplify.  One or two kinds of tomatoes are sufficient.  The more variety you have, the harder it is to shop and maintain stock.   

Mexican stuffed peppers

Green  peppers were .77 this week at Sprouts.

Mexican stuffed green peppers

1. 4 bell peppers 
2.  1 C cooked rice 
3. 1 can mild diced green chilies , drained 
4. 1/2 lb cooked ground meat 
5. 1 T taco seasoning 
6. 1/2 cup Mexican blend cheese, grated 
7. Enchalada sauce (homemade) 

• Wash green peppers and slice top off about a 1/2 inch down from the top.  Take the seeds and membranes out.
• Place in a baking dish 
• Prheat oven to 350 degrees 
• Warm pre-cooked meat with taco seasoning , 1 TBLS of the diced chilies and some enchilada sauce to make the consistency  of taco meat, 
• Add some sauce and chilies to rice just to moisten,   
• Layer meat mixture  rice, and cheese inside the peppers 
• Repeat layers until the peppers are full.  Top with cheese 
• Cover Peppers with their ‘lids’ 
• Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until peppers are tender and filling is hot. 

• 
  

Hauls to 3/28

Fred Meyer

Fred chicken 5.86
Bread 1.34
Onion .91
Cucumber .99
Spaghetti .69



Total 10.48

Fred Meyers

14,24

Lost slip
Sausage, strawberries.

Total 24.78

Potatoes 2.48
Wheat tortillas 3.43
Bread 2.28
Pickles 2.71
Bacon 3.98 less .75
Eggs 18- 1.45
Ice cream 3.83
Roma’s 1.34
Apples 3.82
Pears .65
Grape tomatoes 1.48
Grapes 2.38
Apples 3.96

Total 30.92

Grand total 49.58

The best of the ads 3/27

QFC

Draper valley chicken BOGO- good buy? 

Oranges, apples .88

Cottage cheese/ sour cream 4/5 

Ice cream 2/5

Berries 2/5 (raspberries, blackberries 

Digi, thurs- Sunday 

You can buy 5

Bacon 2.99 $$. .75 coupon out there, 

La Croix 1.99

Wide own bread 1.99

Sprouts 

Blackberries .88

Green beans .98

Cantaloupe 1.98

Walnuts 3.99 lb

Pumpkin pie 3.99

Squash .88

Grapes 1.98

Strawberries, blues, raspberries 2/5

Alberways 

At select stores 

Green beans .99

Russet potatoes 5# .99

Has avocado 5;5

Grass fed chuck  roast 3.99

Regular ad 

Pork shoulder blade roast .99

Mandarins 2.99 3#

Shreds, coleslaw 5/5

GM cereals  3/5 must buy 5$$

Yoplait .38@@ 

Bread 1.49@@

Milk 1.99@@

Fred  Meyers 

Grapes 1.48

Ice cream 2/5

Raspberries/blueberries 2/5

BUY 5, SAVE 5

GM. Cereal  1.79$$

Nature valley bars 1.99

Mayonnaise 2.99

Ritz 1.79

Kraft bbq sauce .49

Thursday to Sunday only 

No coupons 

Sausage 2/5 

Asparagus. 99

Tillamook yougert 3/1

Pan bread 1.99

Lists : what we buy

First, what we buy that may surprise you .  Even on four dollars a day, you can have life’s little luxuries.
Low fat beef

1. Real butter.  The other stuff has nasty things on it.  My opinion is to buy the real thing and use it in moderation, 
2. Real maple syrup.   I found it for five dollars at Trader Joe’s, 
3. Real parmesean cheese. Not the green box that has wood pulp in it, 
4. Real vanilla.   It cost a lot, but it lasts a long time and you use it sparingly.  
5. Real whip cream.   Again, we watch our oils — hydroginated oils are not good for you. The article I read said that they thicken the blood,.
6. Real cheese.   Just real cheese. 
7. Olive oil
8. Quality ice cream
9. Low fat beef 
10. 
    

Monday kitchen management

Kitchen  management takes an hour  so when things are less hectic to prep food for the weeks dinners and do some deep cleaning. In management school, we learned that the Swiss cheese treatment was the best way to tackle a large job.

1. Manage the six pound chicken we cooked yesterday, 
2. Make chicken noodle soup and chicken stock, 
3. Make bread dough 
4. Wash kitchen floor 
5. Clean and disinfect counter tops and sinks and drains. 
6. Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead 💀. 
7. Straighten the pantry. 

Meal plans

Meal plans are necessary to make life easier, cheaper, and for a more organized dinner time.

• Roast chicken , mashed potatoes, veggie, strawberries 
• Pizza
• Sausage, cream, penne, peppers. 
• Chicken enchiladas with green sauce, salad 
• Tacos, refried beans, Spanish rice 
• Chicken noodle soup , beer bread 
• Breakfast for dinner 

Notes 

1. Chicken was a dollar a pound,   I bought a six pound one, 
2. Pizza is a mainstay.  Cost of a scratch cheese pizza is a dollar. 
3. Sausage is chicken basil.  Yum 
4. Chicken enchiladas are easy and a way to stretch your chicken.  Remember, you are adding cheese  so you don’t need a lot of chicken .
5. Tacos. Uses already cooked and de fatted meat.
6. Chicken noodle soup is easy on the insta pot and another s t r e t c h of chicken.  Beer or cheezy bread is a good addition and easy, 
7. Breakfast for dinner is a fami,y affair and everyone cooks, 

Back to basics

I have been watching a lot of food hauls.  Some are good use of budget friendly items and some not so much.  Not everyone takes the word budget the same way.

• Shop two stores.   Get on and get out,   Two stores give you the best choice of vegetables and fruit and specials.  
• Buy your protein on a a rotation basis using the RBP principle.   Usually at least one grocery store will have a loss leader on protein. If you buy a months worth of that protein and portion control it, you will spend less and always have food in the house.   Ie: if you eat chicken three times a week , you will need enough chicken for 12 meals,   At a quarter pound serving for four oeople is a pound,   Or, 12 pounds of chicken.  Today, chicken breasts are .99 a pound,   You will spend 12.00.  That’s cheaper than buying three packages of different meats.  You have better portion control and it is cheaper.  
• Groceries on the cheap is not about inferior food.  It’s about getting the best quality you can at the lowest price.  Instead of a panic shopping method—- “It is payday and there is nothing thing in the house or refrigerator “ , you have a replenish method.  It’s buying produce and dairy, your rotation protein, and filling in staples that are on sale and you are depleting. Keeping a specified amount of certain staple items keeps it real.   
•  Making a list of things you buy on a regular basis to complete meals simplifies your grocery list and helps keep you away from impulse  buys.  Some accounts have impulse buys at 70 percent of a market basket.  Impulse buys is what jacks up you grocery bill.   Having a basic list saves time.  We have perishables on the meal plan to check off what we already have. 
• Purchasing foods that are versatile simplifies the buying experience.  We buy a basic of chicken breast, pork loin, amd hamburger.  Add eggs , cheese, beans.  Limit our tomato products to tomato powder, diced tomatoes, and pasta sauce.
• Keeping a basic stock means you will always have food in the house.   Being organized and having a section of pantry or cupboard for each thing means you can tell at a glance what might be running low and you can watch for a sale.  The idea is to buy everything at its RBP.  That means you have to buy more than one of a lot of things. One week it might be 6 cans of green beans. Another week, to might be six bags of frozen vegetables. You will spend less in the long run.  Most refrigerator freezers will keep a months worth of food for a family of four. Food insecurity is a bad thing.  Not having enough food on the house reduces your expected life span.   
• Cook from scratch.  Efficient cooking can save time and a ton of money,   A batch of muffins made from a homemade mix costs .30 plus any flavoring.  Like an apple and some cinnamon.  A Six  pack of muffins can cost 5.00 or more amd you can control the sugar.   A loaf of artisan bread was 3.99 last  week, the cost is .25 and about ten minutes.  The difference between a frozen waffle and scratch is astronomical.  Consider sneaking on some whole wheat flour with your regular flour. You can control the ingredients.  The more boxed meals you buy, the more expensive they are and the more chemicals you are putting in your family. 
• If you are on a four dollar a day budget or less, you can’t be looking at organic and alternative  foods.  Not a popular idea with the younger people, I know. But, organic food costs 38 percent more and add a 20 percent depletion  rate means you are paying almost 60 percent more for your food.  The sad, but true reality is that you have to eat all month.  Running out is not an option. Most pesticides are water solvable.  Wash your produce with vinegar water.  Peel what makes sense to peel.  
• Balanced meal- a protein, a starch or carbohydrate as it’s called, and fruits and vegetables.  
• You have a limited budget don’t waste it on empty calories.  Go for food value.  The back of every box has a nutrition label.   Read labels and ingredients.  Ingredients are listed in order of volume.  Fake cheese.....the first ingredient is emulsifiers.  Then a peleferia of oils, os,e good, some not. 
• Becaise you are buying your food on the cheap doesn’t have to mean it isn’t healthy,   We avoid salt, sugar, trans fats, hydroginated oil, GMO.  HFCS, preservatives and chemicals.  Soap and wood pulp are a good thing to avoid too.   LOL 

• 
  

• 
  

Friday recipe : magic mix

It is all about saving time and money.

Magic Mix - store in the refrigerator or freezer. 

Makes basically a white sauce with adding just water.   

Use for Mac and cheese, instead of cream soups on any recipe. 

You can make by hand, or use a food processor.   

• 4 cups dry milk (not instant) 
• 1 cup flour 
• 2 sticks of butter 

Cut butter into dry ingredients.   Store in container with  a right fitting lid in refrigerator or freezer. 

Use 2/3 cup mix to 1 cup water.  

For the consistency of a white sauce, use 1/2 cup to 1 cup water. 

Lists - things we don’t buy

Now, things we don’t buy ...

• Microwave popcorn 
• Boxed Mac and cheese.  Some  of it has harsh detergent in it. The other has more fat .
• Cold sugary cereals.   Again, some of it has harsh detergent, and avoiding a lot of sugar is a good thing. 
• Fake anything. 
• Pop and sugary sodas.  Water, herbal teas are good iced and hot, milk in moderation, 
• Potato chips  and like junk foods.   Empty calories.  Get more bang for your buck, 
• Premade cookies, cakes, rolls most of the time.  There are recipes that take little time and avoiding a lot of those items is better nutrition.  We almost always have some kind of fresh fruit.  Ready made treats can bump your food bill up a lot, 
• Any canned item that is easier and cheaper to make from scratch.  Winco does nit have BPA in their cans.  
• Southern grown chicken 
• 
  

Hauls to 3/21

QFC

10# cheese @2,00

Strawberries 2/5

Nectarines .99

Bread 1.49

Cottfe cheese 1.49

32.56

Winco 

Paprika 1.59

Garlic 1.02

Onion powder .87

Spinach 1.98(

Chili powder .79

Sausage .98

Pinto beans 2.46

Grapes 2.99

Total 12.68

Grand total 45.24

Ten pounds of cheese at 4.00 a pound is 40.00

It pays to buy bulk when it is on sale of anything you use a lot of.   Cheese freezes.   

Dollar tree
Tamales
Noodles
2.00

Safeways
Mixed vegetables 1.00
Peas and carrots1.00
Crab cakes 4.24
Grapes 3.70

Total spent 1.52
Grand total 48.76


Costco
Bisquick 5.49
Total 54.25

Best of the ads 3/20

QFC
Grapes 1.48

Milk 1.25
Butter 2.50
Sour cream/ cottage cheese 4/5

Buy5, Save 5
Tillamook ice cream 2.99
Dbl cream cheese 2.99


Sprouts

Apples .98
Pears .98
Jumbo avacados .98
Minincucumbers 2/5 -1.5#

Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Blackberries .98
Blues, raspberries. 2/5

Alberways

Apples, oranges .99
Apple juice 1.25

Tuna .59@@
Hot dog or hamburger buns .99@@

Fred Meyers

Oranges 5# 4.99

Sirloin steak 2.97

Peppers, eng cucumbers .99

FF whole, drums, split breasts .99

Milk 1.25

Strawberries 2/5

Note : it is real easy to cut off the rib portion of chicken breast and I use them for stock and chicken pieces by cooking them in a slow cooker.

Lists: Thinking out of the box

Things that are cheaper to watch for.   Sometimes getting something a lot cheaper is just a matter of thinking out of the box literally.  Most boxed food has preservatives and is more expensive than making scratch.  Making scratch doesn’t have to take all day conjuring up memories of I Love Lucy and her flour shenanigans. Lol

• Pinto beans in the bulk isle were cheaper than the DT and a lot cheaper than a regular grocery store in a bag. 
• Pepperoni ends were a lot cheaper at grocery outlet. Pepperoni is pepperoni no matter what shape it is in,   
• Bacon ends were really inexpensive at Winco . I rendered  them down while I cleaned and made muffins, draining off the fat out  of the grill pan as I went with a turkey baster.  This keeps the fat from leaching back onto the meat.  I will use it to season and add protein to dishes.  Green beans and so,e soups come to mind. A little bit goes a long ways 
• Buying nut pieces in the bulk isle when they have them saves time and money.
• Buying seasonal food off season is pennies on the dollar .  The pull dates are still in compliance, the food value is the same.  Being flexible really pays off.  
• Buying spices in the bulk isle is a good price and you can reuse your jars you already have. 
• Making your own taco seasoning is a whole lot cheaper.  Anything that is 90 percent cheaper is worth taking a little time to do. 
• Making a batch of bread that stores in the refrigerator takes minutes and saves a lot . Artisan bread was 3.99 at Safeway's. 3 loaves would cost 12.00.  The cost.....75.   94 percent savings. Hands on time...about 7 minutes a loaf.   
• Muffin mix is easy, it’s cheaper than the box and a whole lot cheaper than than frozen  counterparts.  If you use the frozen ones to save morning time, make them in your kitchen Management day and freeze them in bags,  save the bags and reuse them for the next batch. Waffle mix just adds oil.  You can do the same with them.  
• Magic mix is basically a roux mix.  Makes Mac and cheese in a hurry, or the cream soup that you use for casserole or chicken pot pie and costs less.  Takes not much more time than finding the can and opening it.   

Kitchen Management aka meal prep

Kitchen  management is a good tool to save time and money in the kitchen and make dinner time less stressful.   By doing a little deep cleaning each week, the deep clean job is less time consuming and easier.

• Wash kitchen floor. 
• Wash and disinfect countertops and sinks and drains. 
• Clean out the refrigerator and dump anything dead 💀. 
• Make a note of things that need to be used up.  You can search ingredients on the on line Betty Crocker cookbook for ideas of you need to. 
• Wash potatoes and carrots for stew and chicken pot pie , potato soup 
• Fill cheese containers. 
• Make pumpkin muffins 
• Make pumpkin pancakes and freeze . ( uses a 15 ounce can of pumpkin up) 
• Make a loaf of artisan bread. Oven is still  hot. 

Meal plans

Meal plans are necessary to be organized and save time and money.  Being organized reduces stress and just makes life easier.

• Stew, bread 
• Pizza
• Creamy sausage with pasta 
• Nachos 
• Chicken pot pie 
• Potato soup, cheezy rolls 
• Breakfast for dinner, 

Notes 

1. Stew in the insta pot takes 35 minutes .
2. Pizza is a mainstay.  Easy and a dollar each plus any toppings.   We recently got pepperoni ends cheap. Something as simple as changing the shape of a product can save a lot of money,   
3. Creamy, sausage with pasta (Big  Family Homestead - u tube ) chicken basil sausage .
4. Nachos are simple. Especially  if you have already  cooked hamburger.  
5. Chicken pot pie is easy and uses magic mix.
6. Potato soup is another dollar dinner and cheezy biscuits add to the protein. Quick and easy Yum! We got cheese for 2.00 a pound at QFC.  
7. Breakfast for dinner is another mainstay.  Everyone cooks. 

One thing at a time

Saturday blog for a while is going to be one thing in detail that you can do to save  time and money on food.   One concept at a time.  It’s the snowball effect.   You start with a little snow ball, add to it and pretty soon it’s a snowman.

First up...one of the easiest.  Bulk protein. If you do a protein rotation, you can get your meat cheaper and control portions.  Use the ads to find what is on sale,  we buy pork loin, good hamburger, and boneless chicken breast.  Add eggs, cheese, and beans.  Maybe sausage .

• Hamburger can be cooked, de fatted, and portion controlled.   It makes some meals a matter of minutes to make.  And you clean up once.   You are nit likely to stop and de fat hamburger when you need dinner in a hurry.  But de fatting meat can reduce the fat content up to 17 percent.  Tacos don’t need as much for a portion than say, spaghetti sauce.  You are adding cheese for an additional protein with the tacos.  It takes almost no time to knock a bag of ground meat on the countertop or pit it in a pan with water and taco seasoning.  Pit a little water in the pan and add seasoning,  stir together, add the hamburger.  Meanwhile, chop what you need for toppings.
• Chicken is just separated into breasts in quart bags,. To save money, you can put individual chicken breasts in a dollar tree bag and then put the quart bags in a gallon bag. Be sure to roll the excess bag around the breast so you get neat packages to pull. Putting the bag into a container like a deli carton  and folding the zipper  over the edge makes it easy to take things and dump each breast in the bag.  
• Pork loin.  You can get a good pork loin for between one and two dollars a pound. Open the bag and drain off any liquid.  Cut the ends of they taker down.  Use this for stir fry meat or cut cubes for stew.  Now cut a roast from one side, pork chops from the middle and leave enough for another roast.  Bag the, for the freezer..

Sales go on a four to six week cycle.  If you buy a four to six week supply of that protein a week, you should be able to always get your meat at a RBP.  Add cheese, dry beans, and sausage when it is appropriate.  

We buy eggs when the price is right. We have a target price of no more ham 1.50.  Obviously, a dollar is better.   If you keep a two to odor week supply, you can usually keep the stack going at a reasonable price.   Save your cartons, some people hat keep chickens will trade you for eggs. 

Cheese has a target price of 2-2.50 a pound.  You can freeze cheese especially if it is grated.  It is a misnomer that grating it yourself is cheaper.  A pound of cheese is a pound of cheese, no matter what shape it is in.  Go by the price ore pound.   Watch for sales.   Sometimes  Costco is cheap.  Simplify.  Usually we keep mozzarella and Mexican blend.  I add others if the small bags are a dollar.   

Pinto beans are cheapest in the big bags at Costco. For smaller quantities. They are cheapest at the dollar tree.   1.5 pounds are a dollar.  That’s .67 a pound.   The large bags at Winco are higher.   

Check bulk departments on other beans .  We saved the popcorn canisters from Costco for storage.   Having them all the same just looks neater on the pantry and saves space because they nest.   

Slow cookers and insta pots make cooking beans easier.  Be sure to wash and pick out any bad ones or rocks before you cook and do t keep cooked beans more than three days in the refrigerator.  Beans and rice have a short refrigerator life.  Some beans in cans are a good thing because they are harder to find raw or are expensive.  Wait for a sale.  Fifty cents is my target price.   The equivalent of a can of cooked beans cost .05.  A can can cost upwards of a dollar.   Even at .50, you are saving 90 percent.   

Sausage has taken a leap.  You can still find it for about two dollars a pound of you watch.  Use coupons of you find them.  We try to eat sausage sparingly.  Bacon and pepperoni can be purchased in bulk ends.  Bacon recently was two dollar a pound in a vacuums sealed bag.  Just put it on a big frying pan or grill pan with sides a d let it cook on low heat.  Use a badger to pull the fat as it accumulates.  It is good for seasoning green beans or adding a little flavor to soups.  Bean and bacon soup is a good meal stretcher.  Now they are making chicken alternatives and some with no nitrates.  

 Chicken and basil is to die for. 

 Buying a 4 to 6  week supply of  protein I’m bulk saves time and money.  It uses portion control so there is less chance of waste.  A four week supply is the amount you need for a meal Times the number of times you will serve that meal in a four week period.  In other words. If you eat chicken twice a week, you will need 8 meal sized portions.  

Groceries on the cheap uses a replenish shopping strategy rather than a week by week shopping strategy,  the benefits is that you always have food on the house and you lower your food budget drastically.  We have been growing a stick and eating on four dollars a day for over two years.   

.

Friday recipe -taco seasoning

Seasoning Packets can cost a dollar an ounce.  For a few ingredients most of which you already have in your cupboards you can have multi packs.

This recipe is for taco seasoning.  It is based on parts, so that you can make as much or as little as you want.  If you are taco eaters or you eat chili 🌶  Or burritos, enchaladas, you might want to make a pint jar. You can omit anything you don’t want and tailor it to your family. 

Look on the ethnic isle for small packages or in the bulk isle for spices.  You can buy just what you want and refill spice jars.  Dollar tree and Big Lots are also a resource.   

Parts : use Tabkesooons, or the same measuring cup in units . 

1 - each of 

Garlic powder 

Onion powder 

Red pepper flakes 

Oregano 

2 - paprika 

6- cumin

3 - sea salt 

4-black pepper

12- chili powder 

Use 1 Tbls per pound of meat 

One thing at a time

Part of a series to tackle lowering your food budget. Tackling change one thing at a time.

• We have already talked about a rotating bulk protein plan.  Ie meat. 

One easy step is to go over the ads for the week and circle or star the things that are truly on sale, not just for sale, and analyzing what grocery stores have the good prices on what you need.   

Pick 2 stores, preferably ones close to each other, or close to somewhere you have to go.   Like the gym or doctor or ???.

Make a list or at least have a basic idea of what you are going to te store for.

• Our basic idea would be :  a rotation protein, replentish eggs, replentish dairy, and fruits and veggies.   Basically, this week we will do the perimeter of the store.
• We have already looked at the local stores prices and will go to the one store that has no ad first to compare.   

Get in the store and get out.  The more time you spend in the store, the more you will spend.

• We have bags that lock on the cart.  This is for sanitary reasons.  It also makes the cart smaller. This saves money.

Hauls to 3/14

Sprouts

3 peppers 3.00

3 avacados .98

Roma tomatoes .98

Strawberries 1.98

Total 7.50

Winco 

Tortillas 3.09

Buns .92

Sausage .98

Swiss cheese 2.18

Havarti cheese 2.18

Black olives (4) 2.18

Strawberries 1.98

Salsa .98

15.31

Total 22.81

Grocery outlet

Foldgers 6.99
Ripe olives (2) 1.38
Rope sausage 2.50
Chicken garlic sausage 2.50
Pepperoni 1# 2.79
2 pkg, bacon 4.98

Total 21.14

Grand total 43.95

The best of the ads

QFC

RBP alert

Digital coupons , can buy 5
Friday, Sat,  Sunday 
Cheese 3.99 - 2#
Nathan’s hot dogs 1.99

Apples .99

Draper valley chicken BOGO

Lean cuisine 1.88 

Strawberries 2/5

Sprouts 
Grapes .98
Green beans .98
Blackberries .98
Cabbage 3#1.00
Avacados 2/1 
Oranges 2/1
Cantaloupe 2/4 

Note artisan bread 3.99 - a loaf of artisan bread takes about ten minutes and costs a quarter.  The ingredients : salt, water, flour and yeast.  Sometimes a half a teaspoon of yeast.   A half teaspoon of yeast costs half a cent. 

Alberways 
Green peppers 2/1 

Milk 1.99@@

Buy 4 mix or match 
Manwich  .88
Cream cheese 1.49
Skippy 3.99

Fred Meyers

Avacados .88
Foster Farms  BSCB bogo 

Lean cuisine 1.88
Greeen peppers/  cucumbers 2/1
Hillshire farms sausage 2/5 

Digi Dreyers Ice cream 2/5 

Tuesday lists : March first ten

Meals for the first 10 days of March

• Chicken Normandy, green beans, mashed potatoes 
• Breakfast for dinner : eggs, fruit, bread 
• Pizza
• Potato soup. Cheezy biscuits 
• Chimichangas, salad 
• Potato soup , fruit 
• Spaghetti with meatballs, garlic Parmesan  bread 
• Taco casserole 
• Pork chops with garlic, thyme bitter sauce, baked potato, mixed veggies 
• Egg omelette, orange slices, sausage and cheezy biscuits. 

Cheezy biscuits are a nice addition and take almost no time,   

2 cups bisquick, 1/2 cup grated cheese, 2/3 cup milk.  Drop by 

Heaping  tabkesooons into parchment paper on a baking sheet, bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes. 

Makes 8 biscuits. 

From the bisquick cookbook, 

Monday Kitchen Management aka meal prep

Kitchen Management is a tool that can help you save your money and time in the kitchen .  The hardest part of prepping can be the clean up.  Doing the prep prep in batches instead of one meal at a time saves clean up time.  Prepped food makes meal time faster and easier.   Deep cleaning a little at a time saves the chore of deep cleaning the whole kitchen in one day.

• Wash kitchen floor 
• Clean and disinfect counter tops and sinks and drains. 
• Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead 💀. 
• Wash outside of refrigerator. 
• Wash carrots, celery, and fruit. 
• Make a green salad .  
• Clean toaster and microwave. 

• 
  

Meal plans

Last night we had baked potatoes, mixed vegetables and garlic, thyme butter pork chops.

Meal plans are a way to keep organized and avoid the panic or stress of answering the question, “What’s for dinner,

• Chicken stew 
• Pizza
• Chili, tortilla chips or bread 
• Hamburgers, oven fries, vegetabke platter
• Cream, chicken basil sausage, pasta , salad 
• Tuna casserole m peas and carrots 
• Breakfast for dinner. 

Notes:

• Chicken cubes from chicken breasts bought in bulk, new potatoes, carrots 
• Pizza is a mainstay and costs a dikkar a cheese pizza from scratch.  Bulk pizza dough is made in the kitchenaid and frozen,  makes a months worth of pizza dough, 
• Chili is made on the insta pot with already  cooked hamburger,   
• Hamburgers are from hamburger patties we got at Sprouts fir a dikkr a pound,  loss leader,   
• Cream, sausage, tomato pasta is a recipe is from the  Big Family Homestead on u tube, 
• Tuna casserole, peas and carrots, 
• Breakfast for dinner is a family dinner and everyone cooks.  

• 
  

Grocery lists

Meal plan, grocery list
Groceries on the cheap is based on a replenish shopping, as opposed to buying one day or one week at a time.  Once you are set up, it will actually take you less time to go to two stores than it does going to the store for one day or one week’s worth of food at a time.   Rarely will you need to run to the store for that thing you forgot.

• List ten to 14 dinners you cook that your family likes.  Pick things that take an inexpensive protein if you are on a low budget.   
• Now list the item you need to make those meals. 
• Add things you eat for breakfast and dinner if you eat those items at home. There are  children get breakfast and lunch at school. 
•  Now, estimate how many of those items you will need on a four  to six week period .
• Separate the items that are perishables that are freezer and shelf stable. 
• Now you have a basic list .

Once you have a supply of the shelf stable items, you just need to look for a sale on the things that are becoming  short in supply.  

Add to your list the basic dairy and pantry will give you the list.  A brief glance in the fridge and pantry will make your list.   

Our meal plan sheet has a list to check off.   This can be done on a matter of minutes.   

So, any grocery trip is prefaced by looking over the ads, picking a rotation meat or protein that is at your target price. Noting the things that you are showing short  and matching of any of those things are on sale .  Add your produce and dairy list and you are done.  

Shopping is quick because while you are going to two stores, you are buying less items.  Try to plan your trip to use less gas and try to go when it’s nit prime time  it just makes life easier.

Milk
Butter
Sour cream
Cottage cheese
Parmesan
Cheese , white. Yellow
Eggs
Carrots
Celery
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Potatoes
Onion

Bananas
Apples
Cantaloupe
Blueberries
Strawberries
Oranges
Grapes

Bread
Tortilla chips
Tortillas


******
Diced tomatoes
Pasta sauce
Pasta
Replentish backup catsup, mustard, salad dressing
Bbq sauce
Canned corn, green beans
Chili
Sliced black olives
Mild green chilies

Cream soup
Tomato soup

Friday Recipe

Yesterday, I spent some time looking through u tube for recipes for the bread baker and scratch bread.  I decided  to write them in a Spiral  notebook so I didn’t have bots of papers all over.   I usually try a recipe and then put the ones we like in a personal cookbook.

There are literally thousands of recipes out them. We have a basic list of groceries that I keep in stock. That diminishes the list accordingly.

Groceries on the cheap is based on a theory that includes replenishing a basic stock  of food  instead of going to the store and buying just what you need for a day or a week.  This theory cuts you food bill on half or more.   Our groceries cost less than four dollars over person per day last year, and four dollars per day the year before.   We eat well, we don’t eat fake food, and we eat basic food.
We eat a lot of comfort food that has been adapted to be low salt, sugar, hydrogenated oil, trans fats, HFCS, GMO, and preservatives.   Efficient scratch cooking is the key.  A lot of recipes, take no more time to make then their boxed or bagged counterparts and are free from the garbage.

Keeping a small stock of food and rotating the buying when the price is right saves money and assures you that when bleep happens, and bleep will happen— you will always have so,e food on the house.

I digress
Last night we had spaghetti and meatballs in the insta pot.  Total hands on time was three minutes.

• 1/2 package of spaghetti (1#) , broken in half and layer in the bottom of the pot like a bird nest, 
• 1 jar or can of pasta sauce , pour over pasta 
• Meatballs placed on top. ( ready made meatballs on sale are cheaper than scratch) 
• 2 cups of a stock poured along the sides of the pot. 
• Cover, seal, and process 8 minutes on manual.  
• Quick release. 
• Cost 2.38

Bread on the bread baker

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 beaten egg
• 2T butter
• 3 cups flour 
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese ( we used shaved real cheese) 
• 2 T sugar 
• 1-1/2 tsp garlic 
• 2-1/2 tsp yeast

Process 1.5 pound loaf with light crust

Hauls to 3/7 /19

We decided check out alternative shopping,

Trader Joe’s was a bust.  Everything was waay too expensive.

Pure maple syrup 4.99
Blue cheese 3.49

Total 8.48

Sprouts
Was a bit better because I suspect it’s their grand opening . Time will tell.   It isn’t on our way to much, so it will probably not be our first pick.

Blueberries 1.49
Radishes .69
Grapes .98 lb
Bluecheese 3.96
2 # beef patties 1.99 total
French bread 1.50
Total 12.66

Dollar tree
Thin sandwich bread 1.00

22.14 grand

QFC
Dinners 7.52

Winco

Potatoes 1.98
Meatballs 1.98
Roma’s 1.22
Grape tomatoes 1.96
Romaine 1.96
Bacon 2# 3.98
Cottage cheese 2.25
Parm 2.38
Total 17.61

Total 47.21