Groceries in the cheap: a different way of buying your groceries.

Groceries on the cheap takes a different approach to shopping for groceries.  The end result is that you always have food on the house and you have paid about 1/2 price for your food.

Instead of meal planning and buying what you will need to prepare your meals and perhaps missing something, you buy basics and meal plan from your basics.  

Everyone has a set number of recipes that they make for dinner,    Most families I know eat Italian and a form of Mexican -- kid friendly dishes.  

First : write a list of kthe items that you purchase  on a regular basis to make dinners.  Everyone has a group of 12-15 items that are shelf ready or frozen that they use in a regular basis to make meals.
For instance : ours are :

• Hamburger - preferably 7 percent fat
• Pork loin to be cut up at home, 
• Chicken breasts with ribs. 
• Cheese , can be frozen in grated form. 
• Sausage , cooked and frozen 
• Diced tomatoes 
• Mild green chillis 
• Dry beans
• Flour 
• Sugar 
• Rice 
• Corn
• Green beans 
• Oatmeal
• Pasta
• Pasta.sauce 

Having a master list with the RBP ( rock bottom prices  for those items makes it easy to rotate your purchases and only buy what's truly on sale.  Rotate your proteins on a monthly to six week basis.  When something is on a really good sale oroce, buy enough to last you for the number of times you will eat that protein source.  I.e.: if you cook chicken twice a week, you will need enough for 8 meals for the month.  Buy that protein in bulk - like a whole pork loin or a mega pack of chicken, and portion control it for the freezer.   This saves time and money.   

Know your prices and stock a determined amount when that particular oriduct goes on a good sale,   I I want to pay .50 for canned tomatoes, beans, and vegetables.   I mostly,buy fresh or frozen veggies and dry beans, but keep some for emergencies.    We use a lot ofmdoced tomatoes because I don't buy much tomato sauce or paste.    It keeps things simple.    When tomatoes go on sale form.50, I buy as much as they will let you buy or as much as I need to fill our shelf out to my limit.    

It's a way to always avoid that nasty F word ..... FULL PRICE.  Avoid it like the plague.    If you lay 1/2 price, you can maintain a stick and never get stuck without food on the house.   Having some basics means even if it snows or you are sick or any other disaster happens, you can still pull together a meal or more.    

Learning how to scratch cook efficientky is another key.  Unless it's efficient , many people with grow tired of scratch cooking,   It needs to be fast and easy.  This comes with time. 

Dissecting  the ads and going to the two best stores is your best bet for getting the Best possible  prices in your cart.   Also, you get the best produce of two stores .  Certain stores have things that they are notorious  for having the lowest prices on.  .   

The average cart is 50 percent drinks and junk.   Avoid drinks and junk.   Stick to milk and coffee/tea and no junk food.   

Friday Recipe day

Friday is recipe share day.

Last night we had sour cream chicken enchaladas.  

1. Use a cup of shredded or diced  up cooked chicken breast .   
2. Mix cooked chicken with grated cheese.  I usually keep Mexican blend on hand, 
3. Place chicken mixture on a flour tortilla in a line close  to one side.   Roll the tortilla up and place in a greased baking pan, side by side.(9X13) 
4. In a saucepan on the stovetop, melt 3 T butter and add 3T flour.   Cook roux slightly to take away the flour taste.  Add two cups chicken or vegetable stock and whisk  until thickened.   
5. Take pan off the heat and add 1/2 cup sour cream.   Stir until blended 
6. Add a can of diced mild green chilies, drained.   
7. Pour sauce over enchiladas, sprinkle with  more,cheese  and bake at 375 for 20 minutes . 

Dairy free?   

Use a little sauce and some chopped cooked broccoli, well drained to the chicken.   Omit the sour cream in the sauce.   

Winco haul with prices

Wimco short haul

Yoplait yogurt 8pack 3.68-100 coupon is 2.68
Tortilla chips 2.38 - extra large bag
Grape tomatoes .99
Betty Crocker apple cider cupcake mix - .98
Green grapes 198 lb
Mission corn tortillas 1.28
Bag of chocolate "rice crispier" 6.37


Total 24.45

Most of our grocery  hauls are between 25-30  a trip.   I average two stores a week.
This trip was to fill in the blanks,    We bought the cup cake mix last week.  It's .98 and has the mix for cupcakes and a frosting  packet.   Add oil, water and egg.    The rice crispies are for treats and are long term storage.   I try to keep one snack in the house, baked.   We always have fresh fruit.  

This week we dehydrated  eggs.  I haven't tried using them yet, I will before I do any more.    It pays to have  a back up plan.   Sunday, before we went to Freddies., granddaughter wanted pancakes.   I had nonfresh milk left.   Instead of running to the local store and laying full price or bothering the neighbors to bum a cup of milk, we made mom fat dry milk up and it worked.   I just measured the dry milk with the dry ingredients and added the liquid to the liquid ingredients,   Easy fix.  

Bullet Day - 10 things to make ; save money

This is ten  things that you can make in 15 minutes or less

• Cream soup base -3-4 ingredient recipe- saves cream soup at the cost of at least a dollar.    
• Taco seasoning - and you get just the amount of heat you want,   
• Croutons - why pay for someone else's dry bread :also bread for dressing . 
• Bread crumbs: they can cost as much as 2.40 and who knows how long they have been in the store.   
• Refrigerater bread,    Hands on time about 15 minutes - about a tenth of the cost of a bakery loaf.   
• Cocoa mix 
• Muffin mix 
• Baking mix 
• Gravy instead of a jar or mix 
• Cupcakes - cupcakes were six dollars a dozen for small cupcakes.   

Safeways 15 percent off with basket coupon. Haul

Safeways had a 4.00 off of 25.00 basket coupon and in ad coupons,
Spent 22.40 net

Pasta sauce - 24 ounces .84
Bread -2 loaves .84 total .42 each
London broil, net 2.35 a pound,  I made stew meat of it that was 5.99 a pound .   Savings of 3.64 a pound.
Hamburger was 1.69 a pound net.   I fried and de- boned  it.   Net six meals.   .82 a meal

1 lb  cod - wild - 4.25


A lot of protein for 22.40.  The "stew" meat alone would have been 24.00.


.

The ads - no mail ads, these are from the internet

Alberways

Just 4 you coupon 4.00 off 25.00


Strawberries 3.48 -2 lbs
1/2 Pork loin 1.69
Bread 2/1
Pasta sauce in glass .99@@
Peanut butter/preserves 2/5@@
Brewers 2.99@@
DiGiorno 4.99@@
Oatmeal canister 1.99@@


2 WEEK AD FOR QFC

Draper valley whole chicken .88
Strawberries 3/4
Chunky soup, .99$$
Large sour cream/ cottage cheese 2/5
Pork loin 1/2 1.99
Grapes 1.99
Romas or sweet onions .99
Ground turkey 7 percent 3.99 ( note ground beef is 3.28 for 7 percent )

Ideas day - Tuesday

 They see that Americans waste 50% of their food. If you add the fact that 50% of your food cart consists of  snacks and drinks, that would be a  hundred percent of your food. There's something wrong with those statistics. We however all know  and a lot of food is wasted in our country. Part of it is that we fill  plates  for our children and they eat  only part  of what's given to them. Use smaller plates and give them half of a portion. If they want more, give them more.  Another idea is to cut smaller children's sandwiches into shapes and save the bread scraps for bread pudding, bread crumbs , or croutons i.e. Dressing.   Portion control.

Find ways to use leftovers  in such a manner that you  don't know you're eating leftovers. I made chili  one day.  Two days later, the chilli became the topping for nachos after drained  it.    I added cheese, black olives, peppers.

 Chili can also be revisited with rice. Leftover rice can't be put in tomato soup.  Tomato-based sauces can't be added to soups or stews.

 Leftover vegetables can be added to soup.  The ends of the carrots and celery can make veggie stock or be addd to bones t make meat stock.   Of ylumdomt have  bought veggiesmr bines, save them up in the freezer.   Freeze in ice cube trays or a freezer bag,   Bags are best frozen sitting on a cardboard from the recycle bin,    Otherwise, it is hard to get it off the metal grate shelf of the freezer.

 Leftover hotdogs can't be sliced into coins and added to beans.

 Leftover chicken pieces and be quesadillas, burritos, chicken pot pie, chicken soup, chicken tacos ,  chicken noodle casserole.

 If you have an abundance of sour cream, you can put it in almost anything that calls for milk. Sometimes you need to dilute it with some water or milk.  Some  muffin recipes call for Greek yogurt. Sour cream is a good substitute. I have also added  sour cream to scrambled eggs.

 Sausage crumbles Can be  added to a quiche, leftover bits can be added to a pizza, or added to a pasta sauce or scrambled eggs.

Bits of veggies and chicken bones can become chicken stock.   Chicken stock is a couple of bucks a quart.   That two dollars can buy a couple of chicken breast.  

Think what can I do with this before you throw anything away.  The other mantra is keep a close look on the pantry and fridge to make sure you are eating things before they spoil.    Rotate canned stock.
Yes, this takes some time, but the reward is money in the bank and your family will eat better.

I now have it to the point where if I get a pan of bread in the oven. My husband will check it when the timer rings and uncover it and do the last step if I am busy in the front of the house.   LOL.  There is something about the smell of hot bread right out of the oven.

Kitchen management day

Kitchen management day,  

1. Clean fridge.   / organize.  
2. Dehydrate eggs,   This is an experiment.  If it works, I should be able to save eggs when they are a dollar a dozen and isle them when they are two dollars or more a dozen.
3. Slice cucumbers and tomatoes.   
4. Meals are easy thru Tuesday.   Wednesday is shopping day, but we don't need to go, I can finish kitchen management then.  
5. Wash kitchen floor.   
6. Make bread.   I made bread 🍞 Saturday and took it to the neighbor.   
7. Wash fruit
8. Prep a veggie for mondays dinner,   
9. 
   

Fred Meyers Haul (Kroger)!

Sunday is ad day at fred Meyers. My main focus was that we didn't have any fresh milk in the house,  I made pancakes for granddaughter with non fat dry,   It worked and I don't think she knew the difference.

Fred Meyers had a 10/10 sale, and you had to buy 10, mix or match, 

1. Marshmallows,  -2 ea - we love chocolate rice crispy Treats.  
2. Cream cheese -2 ea 
3. Crescent rolls - -3 ea 
4. Sausage -2 
5. A zero drink 

I was careful not to buy anything we wouldn't use and anything that was cheaper elsewhere.    I have a cracker crust and want to make a cream cheese pie for a special treat sometime soon.   

I have seen a taco pie on Facebook that would be good to try and we love putting a little cheese on them and rolling them up for a go to when having ansoup that lacks full protein,   Sausage is a given when we have breakfast for dinner,.  

Ice cream sandwiches were two dollars for 12.  .  

Blackberries were .99

Naval oranges were .99 - two large oranges were 150

Milk was .99 -!we got two regular and 1 chocolate,   

Total 18.43

Sunday meal plans

Having a couple of standbys helps a lot when making meal plans.  Part of the work osmdome for you.   Having a matrix is a good guideline to narrow your infinite possibilities.    We already know " Four plus one is five.   Four people. One dinner, Five  bucks.    That is the calculations to stay on a four dollar a day per person budget.  My mantra os that if you can stay on a low budget, spending more isn't hard.   LOL.   Meals aren't mecessarily in  chronological order.

1. Chicken parm , green vegetable 
2. Pizza 
3. Chicken and rice , salad 
4. Tacos, refried beans, Spanish rice 
5. Pork chops, dressing with apples and cranberries . Green vegetable 
6. Salmon patties. Baked potato, glazed carrots.   
7. Breakfast 4 Dinner  

Notes 

1. Chicken parm uses  spaghetti  (.49/2=.25) , chicken patties ( Foster farms- 1.80 ) pasta sauce ( .88/2=.44) green beans .33 -  2.82 
2. Pizza  uses.  Crust .(17, ) 1/4 of pasta sauce .(22) 1/2 of pepperoni .(25 ) 1/4 pound cheese (.50) total 1.14
3. Chicken and rice : rice is .03 a serving .(.12) chicken breast average 1.40 a pound.   ( 1.40) veggies (frozen mixes veggies (1.00/2=.50) total 2.02.  
4. Tacos 🌮: 1/2 lb hamburger ( 1.59) , taco shells ( .50) cheese (.25) lettuce, tomato ( .45) rice (.12) beans (.88) salsa ( .25) total 3.16 
5. Pork chops and dressing : pork chops ( 1.50) , dressing (1.00) apple  (.35) veggie (.50) total (3.35)
6. Salmon patties : salmon patties (2.33) potatoes 🥔 ( .40) green beans (.33) total 3.06
7. Breakfast 4 dinner  : French toast ( .43) fruit (3.00) total 3.43 

Total : 18.98.   Does not include small amounts of staple items. It also would cost more if you are eating seconds or are feeding a teenage boy. LOL.  Either case, you are still well below the 5.00 a day amount ( 35.00) . 

Tomorrow Fred Meyers ad

specials for Fred Meyers

Grapes 149
Blackberries,.99
Milk .99
Oranges .99
Bread 4/5
Chunky soup , crackers .99$$

A lot of the veggies  are cheaper at Winco.    Peppers are well under a dollar.   Last I was there they were fifty eight cents for red and sixty eight for green.  

Recipe: shrimp stir fry

This is a recipe that, obviously, cost more than five dollars.    It works because several other recipes during the week are a lot less ( average) .  

1 bag of shrimp. 

2 carrots , sliced thin 

2 celery ribs. Sliced thin, 

1 red pepper 

1 small onion or 1/2 a large onion, cut in half, then sliced. 

1 pkg top ramen, cooked without the seasoning packet 

Soy sauce to taste 

Olive oil or vegetable oil for cooking 

• Cook shrimp of raw and clean . 
• In skillet with sides or wok. Stir fry veggies until soft.  
• Add in cooked shrimp and cooked ramen noodles.  
• Season with soy sauce to taste.   

Note : we can get frozen stir fry veggies at times and I have found them with a .35 coupon.  
You could substitute cooked chicken breast or thighs cut into small pieces instead of the shrimp
I used red pepper, celery and carrot.   I would add mushrooms, green pepper  and onion if my husband ate them.   

Bullet day - five safety nets -in progress

It's  always a good idea 💡 to have a few go to dimmers that can be cooked in a hurry for days when a ))$. Storm happens.  Face or, life isn't perfect or scripted and ):;? Storms happen to the best of us.   If your mission is to keep your food budget low, having a plan helps.

• Low sodium chunky soups go on sale and you can find generous coupons,   Mymanswe to they are so bad for you is that take out usually is bad for you and a whole lot more hassle and money,   I recently got progresso chunky  soups  for .75.   Two cans with a little water fed three of us.   
• Foster Farms chicken patties are another item that can have coupons and be on sale.   Five dollars will make several meals for three people.   Chicken parm?    Chicken sandwiches.   Chicken salad ( just cut strips from the patties.   They cook in two minutes in the microwave, better cooked in the oven,  
• Keeping my a frozen  pizza , again bought on sale with coupons and s a good back up.   
• With already cooked hamburger in the freezer, you can make tacos in a flash,   
• Loaded baked potatoes take I utes in the microwave and you can make a bar with leftovers etc from the fridge: frozen broccoli, sour cream, cheese, chilli, bacon 🥓? 

Friday recipe - skillet Mac n cheese

Skillet dinners are quick and easy,   Sausage and bratts were in sale at Fred Meyers for two dollars.   I know, it's a fat storm ..  you don't eat it Every Day!  


Mac and cheese with sausage.  

3 cups chicken or veggie broth ( preferable homemade)
8 ounces small shell macaroni
Frozen peas
1/2 pound sausage,   Partially boil to get some of the fat out  and slice .
8 ounces shredded cheese- A blend of some part skim Motts is preferable.

In deep sided skillet, bring stock to a boil.  Add pasta and boil until a dente  about six minutes.
Add peas and sliced sausage . Cover and cook until pasta is done.
Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

Serves 4

Winco haul.

Winco haul.   Winco does not have ads.

Jose ole tacquidos   3.48
Chicken chow mein 3.96
V 8 juice 4.96
Ragu pasta sauce 1.57

All of these things have coupons to go with them that total 3.75.
10 lbs potatoes 1.98
5 lbs carrots 1.98
Apple cider cupcake mix with frosting .98
2lns carrots .98
Bell peppers , red .58
Engkish cucumber .78
Bananas 2.16   4.5 pounds
Total 21.81


About my average basket total.  

Bullet day

bullet  day : things you can cook that save time and energy.   Every household has times when saving time and energy -- yours or the grid is a welcome sight,

• Bake potatoes in the slow cooker.   Wash potatoes 🥔.,dry and coat with olive oil and rub with koshure or sea salt or your favorite seasoning,    Place on slow cooker and cook on low.   Start checking for doneness at four hours.  Note : a baked potato bar is a good way to use up leftovers and children can help.   My granddaughter loves to clean veggies.   I put vomegar on the water and she uses a vegetable brush that looks like a ladybug.  
• Betty Crocker and readers digest cook  book has a lot of foil packet dinners.  You can wrap food in parchment first of foil bothers you.  It kits you custom dinners to individuals preferences and you have almost no dishes to do.    http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/green-chile-cheddar-burger-foil-packs/6d3f0544-8702-42b6-8424-ddcef8f23745?utm_source=Email_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BC_03_15_2017&vcode=AQAAAAAN1ybNS-9j26q6mS3BVdiDOUxX7QqEQ-CYVForZlYxAzuIgCJQUpSRMd3iScz1qRet5L-qkZrI6F8YE2eiAbqECPv1pmPRdpnSETiSRhpu0g
• Skillet suppers.    Cooking 🍳 a whole meal in a skillet saves dishes to wash and time.   One of the best meals I did when we were  camping was sausage, peppers, and potatoes.   I would add onions if my hubby ate them.    There are a lot of skillet  meals on Pinterest and on line.   Personally, I would avoid meal boxes because their per ounce price is high and you add all the basic ingredients anyway.  The ingredients read like a who's who of ingredients that you can't pronounce. 
• freezer meals can be made in bulk and placed in the slow cooker with very little effort.   Bulk meat made in bulk dinners  can save time and money when time  is in short supply.   
• One of my favorite tricks for summer dinners to beat the heat in the kitchen is to make a variety of salads on the week end and add a BBQ or quick main protein to go with.   Hamburger , hot dog, bbq chicken etc.   

Wednesday - the ads - Alberways only

Alberways,

Flat cut corned beef 3.99
Cabbage .59
Milk 1.99@@
Corned beef brisket 1.99@@
Oranges .99
Kens dressing 1.88$$


Note @@ means there is an in ad coupon
$$ means that there are coupons out there for this.  
As always, favado is a good resource, although they are not  100 percent accurate.

Tuesday : notes

Tuesday note day.  

A few months ago I set out to scratch cook anything that was cheaper to scratch cook,   It gave us the benefit of being cheaper and of avoiding preservatives and things we didn't want to eat.  

Scratch cooking without spending all day in the kitchen was a priority,   I realize that not everybody is retired and people have lives.   While eating is a necessary part of life, it's not everyone's entire life.  

The start of that mission was to find the cheapest price on quality ingredients,   Buying bulk was the answer to some of those things.  

The next step was to find easy ways to cook /bake the things o could cook/bake efficiently.  I happened on to peasant bread,   It is the cheapest , easiest bread you will ever make.   Next to it is refrigerater bread and pizza dough.  None of them have kneading, some of them don't have rising time,    They aka taste food,   Our pizza dough is thin crust,   It's what my husband prefers and I like a chewier crust, but I'm diabetic and thinner ismbetter for me.    Having a few go to breads that you can almost have memorized cuts costs dramatically.  A loaf of scratch  bread 🍞 costs about twenty five cents or less.   A pizza dough to fill a cookie sheet costs .17 and takes less time than you think,   It's a matter of mixing the dough ( I use  a food processor) , letting it sit for 10 minutes while you assemble the toppings, and rolling or patting it out.   It's a favorite thing to do for our  year old and she's getting really good at it. Pizza once a week is a winner for the whole family and easily fills a meal plan square.  

I have had a slow cooker for years,   They are getting really inexpensive for basic units,   Imwoukd buy one with a timer in it,  it's another way to cook scratch and not take a lot of time doing it.  The common name these days is a dump dinner.   There are ways to omit those cans and jars if ready made ingredients and still not take a lot of time.   Cream soup base is easy,   Hey, if my culinary challenged  husband can do it, anyone can!    Lol.   To his credit, he did build our house with a carpenters hammer, two thirty dollar drills, and a twenty five dollar skill saw.   No small Feat!  

Another way to cut the ready made ingredients is to make your own spice  blends.   It only takes minutes and you control the salt and the heat of the spices.   A good way to teach children counting or fractions.   Non alternative math!   Lol 😂 This new math kills me.   One plus one is fourteen?   Too bad my banker doesn't think that!    Lol.

Pre cooking some meats before you freeze them saves time.    You are cooking bulk meats and portion controlling them.   It takes the same amount of time to cook three pounds of hamburger as it does one pound of hamburger.   You just use a bigger pan.  It makes some meals a snap.   Things like getting Mexican sloppy joes in the slow cooker takes minutes.  

Scratch soups are filling, cheaper than canned soups and have a lot less sodium.   Slow,cookers are a hit here.   A few ingredients and you're out if the kitchen . Throw a loaf of bread in the oven and you have a glorious  meal - sometimes for  next to nothing.  

My objection to cooking dry beans from scratch instead of using a can of beans was the time factor.   Intellectually I knew that canned beans had more salt in them. But , beans and rice have a very short referigerster life and don't freeze well and keep their texture.   We have foir people in our home.   I have to cook small quantities. The thought of soaking beans overnight and then changing water and cooking the, was not my idea of fun.  Que insta pot. It's as easy as put beans in pot.   Add enough water to cover beans,  don't fill pot more than 1/2 full when cooking anything that expands,   Cover,
set to seal mode, and push the bean button.   Done.  

The basis for chilli, soups. Refried beans. A stretcher for tacos 🌮.

Using  scratch ingredients and passive cooking is the key to cooking efficiently and saving money while feeding your family good food .

Fred Meyer haul

Fred Meyers 3/13/17

Facial tissue 1.00 for 160 sheets
Sugar free candy 1.25 (usually 2.50)
Blue  bunny  ice cream 350
Total


English muffins - larg oaxkage 167
Nabisco rots crackers 2.00
Bratts 2.00
Stella asaugo cheese 4.99
Strawberries 2.00
Blueberries 2.00

Total regular food 22.66

Picture day / better, cheaper, faster.

In the time it takes you to drive to the store, stand in line and buy artisan. Read, you can make it from scratch.  WRm from the oven, no preservatives and about a tenth of the cost.    Actual hands on time about ten  minutes.

1. Make refrigerater dough,   Flour. Salt, yeast, water.   6 cups flour  .42, water and salt, pretty mich free, and yeast .09.  Total .51 for two large loaves or about .25 a loaf,   Artisan bread that size is 2.98 a loaf at Winco.   Measure ingredients im a six  quart  intainer with  a lid.  Let stand on counter for two hours.   The dough will aboitmdouble on size and there will be " bubble holes " in the dough. 

1. Refridgerate dough until ready to use up to two weeks" the longer you keep it, the more like sourdough it will taste.   You can make bread immediately.  Dough is a rough dough.  
2. When ready to make bread, cut off a hunk of dough.   About half thof mdough will be approximately 1.5 pounds.   
3. Shape dough into a ball.  You will need to place themdough onto a flour covered surface as the dough will be sticky  .

Place dough ball on a sheet of parchment paper.   (DT)

Pre heat oven to 200 degrees for a few seconds.   Turn over off.   oven should be warm, but not hot.  

Place dough, parchment paper and all in a four quart oven safe pan .  You can just place ball in the oven to rise, but your loaf will be flatter and wider.   

When dough dough has doubled on size. Put then,is on the pan, turn the oven on 450 degrees for 35 minutes.   After 35 minutes, carefully remove thenlidmwith good hot pads and cook at 450 degrees for 5 minutes or until top has browned.   

We like our artisan bread 🍞 natural, but you can carefully make shallow slits in the top of thembread and /or give it a brush with an egg wash,    

Kitchen management day

Monday  is kitchen management day. This blog post is not to tell you what I do , but rather to show you my thought process.    Kitchen  management day is the day you clean the oven of it,needs it and you have time, or fill salt shakers or anything that needs filling. Reolentish mixes if you are running low.   Deep clean the stove top.   Prep anything that you can to Oreo foods on your meal plans.   Organize and check dates on food on the pantry,   Make bread dough for the week.  

• Make notes of prep work on meal plan work sheet.   
• Cook chicken for chicken pot pie.  Make crust if you are not using the bisquick recipe.   I'm using the insta pot, but my mother ised to poach chicken on the microwave.   
• Note things on the fridge that need to be used up.    
• Make a new batch of cream  soup base.   
• Make bread. 
• Post meals on dry erase board and post things that we need to use up.   Use those things first.    I saw a clog once where a lady marks things like milk with numbers so the children know which jug to use first ( or next) .   

Keeping a stock  and replenishing your stock when prices are at their lowest   instead of buying just what you need when you need it saves time and stress.    If you can't ormdont want to go shopping, you don't have to.   Even if you are a shop when you need to shopper, it's a good idea to keep a few ingredients and a plan for dinner when one of those ;);) storm days happens. We have all had them.   Also, keep a few things that you can eat without having to cook them in case of an emergency,   I still keep cans of beans for when I am on a hurry and don't want to cook scratch or for  emergencies. You can't eat them cold if you have to. We live in a  part of the country where we have wind storms in the winter and often the power goes out and sometimes takes days to get it back.  You can't brave the weather I go to the next town to eat at a restaurant and stand in line, or you can be prepared to cook at home.  I have been known to cook canned soup in a cast iron Dutch oven in the fireplace.  Not the best fare, but our tummys were happy.    

Meal plans for week of March 13

Meal plans. Not necessarily in cronogical order.

1. Chicken pot pie 
2. Pizza
3. Pork chops with crab apple dressing
4. Chicken nachos 
5. Chilli 
6. Shrimp stir fry
7. Breakfast 4 dinner 

Notes 

1. Chicken breast was 1.50 for Foster Farms when I de-boned it myself,   
2. Pizza - scratch crust (easy) no knead crust that takes 15 minutes to make excluding bake time and cost is .17 . Safeways had premade pizza dough that  you still have to roll and bake for two dollars.    Dough is just flour, salt, water, amd yeast.  There are almost always pepperoni 🍕 coupons on coupons.com that make pepperoni .50 at the dollar store.   (2/1) dollar store sauce is a name brand, themcheaoest anywhere and you can freeze the sauce in an ice cube tray and use as much as you need (no waste) . The cheaoest  real cheese I have found is at Costco unkess you find a sale,  remember those little bags are 6-8 ounces and you have to do the math,  they might sound cheap  until you figure the per pound price.  Unit pricing can be tricky when it calculates per ounce .   Some prices I have in my head are for cans and you have to do the math. 
3. Pork chops are still the center cut chops that I  cut from a 1.50 a pound Pork loin. Apples  are still 3.69 a bag at Winco.  That makes them about .69 a pound,    
4. Chicken nachos.    Tortilla  hips are cheaper  at Winco for mission brand ,   You can bake them from flour tortillas in a pinch,   I have not done the math to tell of that is,cheaper, but, you can control the fat and the salt.   Cheapest at DT or on bulk at Costco.    I add grated cheese, chicken or beef cooked. Tomatoes, mild  peppers and sometimes black  olives and/or refried beans as a base.   Sliced olives are cheaper at  Winco.  
5. Chilli in the slow cooker.   I always prefry the hamburger meat and portion control it when I get it home from  the store.   I can cook the beans in the insta pot, turn the pot off , drain them when done and add the tomatoes 🍅 and seasonings and turn the pot back on slow cooker mode.   One pot and almost,no hands on time.  
6. Shrimp stir fry.    Stir fry veggies are frozen.  Sometimes  I add ramen noodles cooked without the packet , or make  rice.
7. Breakfast 4 Dinner.    Everybody cooks.   Family night. 

Tomorrow's Fred Meyer ad

Four day sale - SMTW

Kroger brats irmotalian sausage 2/4
DiGiorno pizza 3.99


Kens salad  dressing 1.99$$
Bottom round roast 2.97
Eggs .99
Tomatoes on the vine .99
Berries 2/4
Tillamook ice cream 2/6
Gala or Fuji apples  .99
Strawberry Rubarb pie 3.49
Barilla pasta  1.00

Note Barilla pasta was a dollar atmthemdollarmatore for 16  oimces.  
Apples are on bags for 3.69'at Wimco.  
$$ means there is a coupon out there for that  product.
@@ means it needs an on ad coupon,  

Safeways and Winco - no Fred Meyers this week

So far this week, we have spent 32.76 on food ,

Winco 14,00
Safeways 3.98
Dollar tree 5.00
Grocery outlet 9.78

Note dollar tree and grocery  outket are next to each other and on the way home from a business errand,

Safeways and Winco are less than two mikes apart on the same street.

Safeways

2 dozen eggs 1.98
Yoplait yogurt 5@ .40 with coupons

Winco
Shrimp 3.45
Red peppers 2@.58
Roma tomatoes .78 lb
Strawberries 2,98
tachitos  2.48 with 1.00 coupon
Yoplait yogurt 8/2.68

Bazaar grocery outlet and dollar store haul

This is something short of unreal.   We went to a nearby town on business.  I always go to grocery outlet and the dollar tree on the way home.   The savings pays for our gas with our little car.   I shopped at dollar tree as usual.   Then I went next door to grocery outlet and shopped as usual.  It's an overstock store and it's a you snooze , you loose.  Buys here today, gone tomorrow.    We got up to tuemcheckstand and the system was down and we couldn't use our debit cards.   The lady behind us offered to pay ahead our order.  That has never happened to me.   We did t take her up on her offer, thanked her, the clerk suspended our order and my husband left me there while he ran to the nearest branch of our bank and got cash.   Meantime I went to the front of the store in order to not be in anyones way.  Looking out the window, I saw the truck our PD was looking for because they hit and ran  and injured a road worker.   I called 911, but when you call with a cell phone, it takes a while to get to the proper people.   Don't know if I helped or not.   Crazy.   We f the machines weren't down, I would have never been looking out the window.  

On to the grocery hauls

Dollar store
Barilla speghetti, a full pound
Pinto beans
Brown rice. Grown in USA.

Grocery outlet
Coffee 299- maxwell house
Mixed fruit in a jar 199
Sliced cheese 2.39

Saved more than I spent.  

Recipe day - cream soup base

Keepimg with  the theme of things that save time and money, the recipe  for today is cream soup base,   Cream of XXXX soup is in sale for a dollar a can for the name brand.  Sometimes you may find a coupon that takes it down.  Personally, I would rather isle otmfor chicken noodle --granddaughters favorite!

Cream soup base.

4 cups dry milk
1.5 cups cornstarch or flour
2T onion flakes
1T basil
1/2 cup chicken granules ( you can  find no msg and low sodium )
Pepper.

Mix together all ingredients.

For 1 can or condemsed soup equivalent.
1/3 cup mix to 1-1/4 cup water.  

Place mix and cold water in a saucepan,  store with wire wish over medium heat until thick.

To make scratch sauce for Mac and cheese, add grated cheese of choice - maybe a half cup.   (To taste)

Two batches makes enough for a large pan of a noodle cassarole.  



Note, if you prefer not to use chicken granules, you could omit the granules and scratch chicken  stock instead of water.

Bullet day : five appliances that pay for themselves

 Five Workhorse small appliances that pay for themselves .


 1) pop corn popper.   Microwave popcorn has dry "butter" powder that is not good for you.  Store bought popped pop corn is expensive.   Popcorn is a good snack when you can control the add on items.   Our air popper was about fifteen dollars and it pops corn without any oil.   You can add salt or butter controlled.  

2) slow cooker .   There just is something about having a busy day and coming home to the smell of dinner and not having to cook all day to get it.   Some people make freezer meals ahead and can just thaw them the night before in the fridge and dump and run.   I make a vegetable soup than takes minutes and dinner is done.  The best part is everyone eats it.  It doesn't take much power and you can use it on the summer almost anywhere to get the heat out of the house.   

3) coffee pot or kerig with fillable  pods.   Coffee can be five bucks at the big bucks places .  Coffee on sale is five dollars a CAN.   I'll admit we are. It coffee snobs.   It's still cheaper with better coffe on sale.   

4) insta pot.   It is one appliance that dies the work of three and surprisingly does all of them well.  It saves time and money,   I finally can cook rice ,perfect every time that is a huge amount cheaper than redi rice and more healthy than instant rice.  It's a slow cooker only on low.   But, you can put it on sauté, cook your ingredients, change mode. Add your liquids and other ingredients and put it on slow cooker.  One pot, one meal.   It's a pressure cooker.  My objection to making beans from scratch before was that they took too long and it wasn't practical to cook a couple of cups.   Beans and rice have a short fridge life.  It's ,not safe to hold them very long.   I can make beans without soaking time in seconds, no watched  pot.  Beans from scratch cost  four cents a serving.   Canned beans on sale for

Fifty cents a can costs seven cents a serving and have salt in them. 

5) kitchen aid mixer.   I do use my kitchen-aid when I make rolls sometimes  and for Christmas cookies, but the biggest use we have is to grind hamburger.   I only buy seven percent fat hamburger.   When it's too expensive or I find a roast or steak cheaper. We grind our own.  Better hamburger, you control the fat and when o can get seven percent hamburger for two or three dollars a pound, I'm happy.   The bulk hamburger at Costco wholesale is cheap, but I don't like the texture.  It's ground too fine.   

I pretty much lists these in cost order. Lowest to highest.   You can get a insta pot on Amazon for as little as eighty dollars at times. Considering it does the work of three appliance and takes up less room than three appliances, that's a bargain.   

The ads

QFC   TWO WEEK AD

Grapes 1.78
2 lb strawberries 3.99
Milk 4/5. Incl chocolate
Johnsonville chicken sausage 2.99
4 lbs oranges 2.99

Corned beef 3.99 lb


Alberways

Bottom round roast  2.99
Grapes 2.79


Eggs .99@@

Case lots buy 24 - that's a lot unless you are going to split the cost with someone or are just starting to build stock .  Most of the time, o can get that price every 4-6 weeks at Fred Meyers .

.49'eaxh or 11.76 a case

Green beans or corn
Diced  tomatoes or beans
Safeway brand. Chicken noodle or tomato soup

Signature kitchen pasta .59 for 20


Thats about it.  

Ideas.

Why buy a Costco card!   I have seen a lot lately of oriole that think paying to buy a warehouse card is stupid,    Not doing it,     I see their point,    It sounds silly.    The argument is that if you have a small family, it doesn't pay,  

We buy a membership that gives you cash back.   Depending on if you have some big ticket items to buy in a year or not, otmcan pay for  the card.

• I buy my non prescription drugs that the doctor has prescribed .    One months worth of prescription allergy meds has a 12.00 co-pay.   A years supply at Costco was twice the monthly charge. There were three other meds that were a lot cheaper also.    
• Gas is remarkable cheaper, somerimes  as much as a dollar a gallon compared to some gas stations. 
• Some things that don't spoil can be bought in bulk and you can save a lot.  I have started making bread.  A loaf of artisan bread is upwards of three dollars.   It cost .25 when you buy flour in bulk.  Artisan bread is just yeast, water, salt and flour.   Themcheaoest flour I could find was .09 a cup.   Costco is a rounded .07.   Like pennies in a jar...it all ads up.    Rice is another item.   If bulk is too much , consider going together with family or friends and splitting some things,   
• Eye exams are free.   
• I have found some things that are remarkably cheaper and not on too large of quantities.   Boxed, organic tomato and roasted red pepper soup is one.   Birthday cakes are a lot cheaper. As well as pizzas, cheese, and children's clothes.   Pajamas with two bottoms -7.50.  Pork loins  for 150 a pound.   The ground beef, however, is not a good texture.   It's texture is more like ground chicken.    Like any stores you need to know the prices so you can spot something you need that is cheaper.    
• Costco wholesale has things like soup stock, chicken noodle soup, restrauant dishes that are almost indestructible and inexpensive, coffee syrup a lot cheaper than in a grocery store, five pound bags if frozen veggies. I like the fact that I can lay ten dollars and have enough bandaids to last us ten years and not have to worry about buying them again.    
• Printer paper is another item that you can buy a case of, it doesn't spoil, and its a lot cheaper.    It comes in several qualities.   For home use to print coloring pages, recipes, jokes, an occasional letter, the cheap stuff is fine.   

We have found that shopping wisely and buying gas ⛽️, the savings more than pays  for our membership fees.   

Kitchen management

https://youtu.be/1pSazDl5iDw

Above is a recipe on u tube  for a hamburger soup/ stew that I ran onto.  This lady is a really good cook.  She isn't necessarily  the most healthy of the lot, but she has so many good recipes that can be adapted to fit your diet.  

I had a meeting to ggo to this am, so kitchen management didn't happen.  I have to find the recipe on Pinterest for chicken and broccoli with creamy mustard sauce.  

• Find recipe
• Thaw pork roast 
• Prepare nachos 
• Make bread ( the neighbor broke her ankle ) 
• Make chocolate rice crispy treats.   
• 
  

I did do some pantry cleaning  over the weekend when we bought 25 pounds of rice and 24 pounds of flour.    Those cost about. 15.00, but  will last us about three months.  Costco has yeast for about 2.50.    For about nine dollars - the price of three loaves of bread, you can make two dozen loaves of bread.   I did clean on the coupon binder and add new coupons.  I have a wonderful friend that brings me hermcohpons as well as my own.   I can average five dollars a week.   That's 260.00 a year.   I can almost feed us for a month on that.  And, contrary omthose that don't like coupons, most of what I buy on coupons os for real food.    

Last night we had scrambled eggs, a blueberry muffin I made from scratch muffin mix (taste of home) and some berries.  Breakfast 4 dinner.   Taste of home is a good resource for recipes.  You can google what you want to make and find a recipe.   I have written for them in the past as well as Women's Day.  

Meal plans

Meal plans for the week of March 6th o 12 - not necessarily in cronolical order.

1. Chicken, broccoli, with creamy mustard sauce ( pinterest) 
2. Pizza 
3. Pork roast , baked potatoes, green beans 
4. BBQ pork Sandwiches. Oven baked fries and veggie sticks 
5. Nachos 
6. Shrimp fettuccine 
7. Breakfast for dinner

Repeating family favorites that can be versatile is a great way to minimize the job of meal planning.   Children like repetition and consistency.   Another way to make meal planning easier is to have a matrix, an outline, a plan so to speak.   We have a protein matrix : 1 beef, 1 fish or seafood, 2 vegetarian, and 3 chicken or pork.   Planning a second meal from a roast or a batched of meat cooked saves time and energy.   

Some people base their meal plans on those of meals: soup, roast, etc .  Some people on themes- Mexican, Italian, Asian food etc.   

Whatever works well for you.    

Make a plan, or plan to fail.   It's to easy when you have no plan to get caught on the I have no meat thawed so let's go out trap.    It will derail your budget.   

Notes : 

1) Chicken breast was 1.29 a pound, recipe os on Pinterest .   Trying something new shakes up the boring,   

2) Pizza crust from scratch is seventeen cents.  Sauce is a dollar a jar and you can get more than five pizzas from it.   Pepperoni continues to be .50 a box and you can use a little sausage and 1/2 a package of pepperoni,   Fill in with onion, peppers, or a little mushrooms.   Cheese ism2.00 or so a pound if you watch sales.  Cost of a pizza about 1.09.  Saving little bits if anything that goes in a pizza is a good way to not waste food and make a food 🥘. 

3) pork roast was purchased  in the  form of a pork loin for 150 a pound at Costco wholesale. Potatoes are 1.00 for five pounds again at FM. 

4) scratch sandwich rolls are super cheap. Slice roast very thin and add BBQ sauce.   Oven fries,   

5) nachos are a favorite here,   Refried beans from scratch are easy in the insta pot, add cheese, peppers, tomato 🍅 (on sale at  wimco) salsa (also on sale with a coupon at Winco) and  taco meat .

You  have a dinner our whole family loves, 

6) shrimp is a treat--a bit more expensive than we usually have.   It can be done with averaging .  Pizza is sooo cheap, it balances the cost along with breakfast for dinner,   

7) breakfast for dinner is always a favorite and it's cheap.  Eggs 🍳, waffles or pancakes. Fruit.   An easy dinner and the whole family cooks,   Granddaughter is in charge of buttering toast or English muffins.  Last week, she drizzled the frosting on the cinnamon rolls.    

Children with washed hands can help you cook.   It might take you a little longer when they are little, it they love it and considering you don't have to clean up the mess that they leave while you are cooking, it's time effective.   My granddaughter is good at washing veggies with the vegetable brush, she can load a pizza, and roll crust.   I got bowls with rubber on the bottom somshe  can stir things.   Working a food  processed that has been  loaded and closed by an adult is another thing they can do.  Making bread crumbs with the plastic blade comes to mind.   

Winco haul - good buys and coupons.

Coupons and their links are on favado.    Favado is an app that tells you the prices of things in stores on your area.   They also link coupons to the sale prices.

The Only non food item in ought was an Easter cling for the fridge for granddaughter.  It was .98 and was more sparkle than the dollar tree.  

Total 24.68 minis 4.60 coupons leaves 20.18 less non food / treat budget 4.96 equals 15.22

5 lbs Granny Smith apples 3.68. - at least 1.00 a pound elsewhere .
Cucumber .38
Grape 🍅  1.28- 2.50 at FM usual price
S and w black beans and garbanzo beans .67 less .25 coupon is .42 a can
La Victoria salsa 1.58 less coupon is 1.03
Green chilies .58
Kens large dressing 1.98 less .75 is 1.23 - we got blue cheese because ranch dressing we can make ourselves cheaper.

FRED MEYER ADS for Tomorrow

four day sale   SMTW

5 # russet potatoes .99
Green beans .99
Zucchini .99



Milk .99
Ritz crackers 3/5
Fred Meyer OJ .99
Goldfish crackers .99
Turkey breast 1.39
Romas .99
Parsley 2/.99


Favado has a number of match ups with coupons that they will direct you to that are a really good buy.  

S and w beans
kens  salad  dressing

10 nasty things not to eat

I just ran on to a u tube that was very interesting,   I can't remember where I saw it and I haven't fact checked I, but some things I know to be true,  

• Microwave popcorn.  For the fake dry butter. 
• Fake butter : has hydrogenated oils in it.   Bad for heart disease.    
• Fake maple syrup.    
• street food. For cleanliness 
• Fake vitamins 
• Non cheese cheese 
• Artificial flavors for chemicals 
• Artificial Coloures 
• Fake foods l??????Cheese powder?   Rice from china?    
• 
  

Recipe day. Green Beans

Yesterday we went to Costco and bought 25 lbs of rice and 25 lbs of flour.   Total less than fifteen dollars.   That will last us about three months.   Eight pounds of rice at the dollar tree cost about the same as 25 pounds at Costco.

Today, is recipe day,  

First, though, King Arthur flour has a recipe on line for refrigerator bread dough,   It takes minutes to mix in a six quart container.  You leave it on the counter for two hours or so and put it in the refrigerator,   Take it out of the refrigerator and cut off a piece and shake it into a loaf.   I out ours on a oven safe pan and put it in the oven with the oven light turned on,    After it has risen to double on size, I turn the oven on 450 degrees, place a lid on the pan and bake for 45 minites, after 45 minutes, I take the lid off and bake an additional 5 minutes to brown the top of the bread,   This makes an artisan bread.

There are many other no knead bread recipes on the internet.     https://youtu.be/KYguurntfkI
On Jill4 today .

The recipe for today:

Green beans up a notch

2 Tsp butter
1 pound fresh green beans washed with ends cut off.
1 cup broth : chicken or vegetable
1/4 cup grated or shredded

In a  deep sided skillet, melt butter. Add prepared green beans, stock. Cook over medium heat until he green beans are crisp tender.   Drain green beans onto a colander, place green beans on serving dish or back on the pan and sprinkle with parm.

Bullet list: making a grocery list

Meal plan work sheet.   

• When making your work sheet ( this one was done on an excell spread sheet ) add the perishable items that you  use on a regular basis on the left  column- type the list  to be a master list . 
• Write your meal plans based on your matrix and protein you have on hand.   
• Check your stock in the fridge and check off what you have.   Add what you will need to make your meals in the right column  . Star anything in the left column that you need to use up.   
• Attach a post it note to your work sheet.   Check the pantry and mark anything that has a 25-50 percent shortage and wrote it on the list it note.    This is a watch list.   You are going to check the sale ads for a good price.   If you don't find one, stick the list on next weeks work sheet.   If you do, cross that thing off the post a note.   
• Gather the sale ads.  Of you don't have all the stores you shop at consider looking at a app on your computer or phone    List the things or circle the things that are at RBP that : a) you need to stock, 2) that you can use to fill in the sides for your meal plan or 3) the one protein item that is going to be your rotation protein,   Buy enough for a months worth of that particular meal.   If you eat beef once a week, you will buy enough for four meals.   
• Study at least two stores, preferably two that are noted for good buys and near each other or near places you will go that week to maximize your gas expense,   
• Bring your list, ( you can cut that section off the worksheet or copy the sheet) any couponsnyou might have , and your bags of your town requires them.   
• Go to the store with blinders , only buying what is on your list. Do keep an eye out for clearance tables or specials that are truly a good sale.    
• Know your orices of the things that you buy on a regular basis.   Don't go over your target price unless ot os something you just can't do without.     
• Being a small calculated so you can do the math.   Even stores like Costco will tell you the price per pinch, not the price per pound.    I keep a zipper pouch on my coupon binder that has a pen, a calculater and a small pair of scissors to cut in store coupons if I need to.    

• 
  

A grocery haul?

I watched a grocery haul today from a lady that really thinks nksmshe has her stiff together.   I would never criticize a blogger on their blog.    They are trying their best to help someone  and everyone has at least a few good ideas in their blog.    I will, however ,anamously,  use it as a tool to debunk some techniques.

1. She shops once a month at wall mart.    I have a "vote with your pocketbook" issue with Walmart.   I know, it's personal and everyone has their opinions and is entitled to them.   Regardless. They price things and of you squawk and show them where it is cheaper, they will match the price.   Bologna .   I don't have patience with that.   Besides, for me, it's a long ways away,    
2. Once a month shopping to one store does not give you a good 😊Variety of sales.  You, depending on the store and the time of the month could be paying top dollar for your food.   You also only have one pick of the produce.   We went to Costco yesterday to get some long term stock items.   The strawberries looked terrible.   A lot of people get paid the first of the month,  the stores know that and they don't have the best prices as a rule of thumb.   They are going to charge what  the traffic will bear because those people shop from payday to payday for what they need,    In other words, they HAVE TO HAVE food.    So, they can give you the short end  of  the stick.  
3. It's never a good idea to buy a lot of snack foods and pop.    
4. Even if you buy food once a month, you will still have to go for perishables or you are eating canned and frozen the end of the month.   
5. If you include alcohol , household items and heigene items and junk food in your total, you are not getting a true price of cost of food at home.    Besides, shopping at the grocery store for those sundry items means you are laying top dollar for them usually.   that isle has the biggest markup.   Keeping a separate line item on your budget for sundry items is a real eye opener.   
6. You need to have blinders on when it co,es to impulse buys,  impulse buys are 60-70 percent of a stores profit.   They over price these things often and prominently display them to tempt you. Often, the things in that temptation isle are higher priced than another same item in the store.   
7. To be fair, she was not saying that she was on a limited budget.     Even if I had ootkes of money, I would not buy ootkes ofmsnaxk food.   It's not good for you, and it's wasting money on my book.   If it doesn't have some real  nutrition, it's not a good buy.   

Just a note : my daughter and I dissected a hamburger meal box.    The analysis is on an older blog.    Bottom line os that it was over two dollars and it had 4 ounces including tare weight  of pasta ( about .22 if you pay an average price for pasta , and 1.57 ounces of a cheese sauce that didn't have any cholesterol.  That calculated to 13.00 a pound.   Good steak is 13.00 a pound!    

The ads 3/1/17

Alberways

Signature select ice cream 199 ( note I have not tested the quality if this )
Strawberries 3.99
Yogurt .38@@

QFC
Strawberries 2/5
Sirloin tip roast 2.99

This could be good
Free milk when you buy post or GM cereals up to 25 ounces.   4/8
Assuming milk cost two dollars, cereal would be 1.50 each,
Assuming you buy the 25 ounce cereal.


About it.  Not a good day for sales.    Sirloin tip roast could make good hamburger for 2.99 a pound.  But, I get seven percent hamburger for 3.28 at Winco often,  

Ideas day

 I started to make an  outline of subjects to cover on certain days. Today is  ideas day. In the interest of having less typos I am trying to dictate this. It's hard to text correctly when you can't see what you were typing 

The USDA lists food plans to show the cost of food at home for levels.  It is on the Internet and you can download the chart. A family of four  with preschool children that's with the plan is $128 a week.  The same family of four with gradeschool children is $146.60 a week .    These are the latest statistics for December 2016. Our average for the first two months of 2017 is $50.35 a week.    That is for my husband and I and preschooler.  That also is not only notonky food eaten at home, but also maintaining a stock,    It's no secret this is done by not paying full price for the majority of the food we buy. It is possible to get wholesale prices while  shopping at regular stores. You cannot, however,  do it buying a weeks worth of food at a time.   

Stores  have sales to bring you in the store. Their  object is to have you buy one weeks worth of food at a time and make up the somcalledmloss leader by pricing  other thins at what my mother used to call top dollar.    They have tricks to make you spend more and succumb to impulse buys.  On all accounts sixty to  70% of all purchases are impulse buys.   

 Stores have studied shoppers habits. They have studied Ways to get you to spend more.   It's no accident that snack food and junk food is at the opening of the store as you walk in.  If you walk in hungry, you are more likely to buy more snack items,   It's also no secret that snack ite,s are so,e of the highest priced "food" in the store.    In some estimations. Fifty oerxent of your grocery cart is junk and drinks.   Eliminate the junk and buy just coffee and tea and milk and you can drastically cut your food bill.   Some families consume  a gallon or more of milk a day.   Look up the RDA of milk or dairy products your family,needs based on age .    Stick to the RDA.   There are health concerns regarding milk.  I personally don't believe in fake anything.   I tend to think that moderation and a varied and complete diet is better for you,   Through the seventy years I have been on this planet, the. Ition ofmwhats good for you and what is not has changed as much as the fashions.   

Part of my career was working for a non profit that helped small farmers and suppliers of food get their products into  the marketplace.  I found out that the percentage of mark up for products varies between stores.  Basically the fancier and more specialty products a store carries, the more mark up and, thus the more expensive the food costs.    It's no secret that if a store has to spend more for rent, it has to pass the costs on to their customers. Soecialtynfoods don't have as much turnover typically.  That idea translates into higher prices.  One store in particular has a 46 percent markup.

Manufacturers pay slotting fees.   Basically they pay the store to place their merchandise on eye level or other predominate places on the store. No sexret: the price of that merchandise reflects the slotting fees. Look up. Look down, look on the back of the store.   Case in point: Fred Meyers has a table at times at the back of the store.  Some things are no bargain, some not.   I got a large box of meds that the doctor prescribed for eight dollars.  The cheapest cost o had flimd was 13. At Costco.  The box was not in good shape.    Don't ingest  the box. LOL. 

If you don't fall into the stores typical shopper mode, you can save a lot of money. Tend to buy what's on sale for a good price and buy enough to last you a while if it os either not perishable or you can make it that way.   Rarely do I pay full price for something.  I have to need it pretty bad, or it is something that never goes on sale.  

It all goes back to spend more time studying the ads and planning a trip and take some I even to download coupons and checking a site like Ibotta and make up the time cooking scratch efficiently.   There are appliances that pay for themselves.  And with some research , you can find dinners that are inexpensive, tasty and have little non-passive time.  A slow cooker meal only takes the time to dump it on the slow cooker.   Many times that is five minutes or less.  An insta pot is a rice cooker. A s,ow cooker, and a pressure cooker.  It has safety features that our grannies pressure cooker never had.  You can get a six quart as low as 80 dollars on sale at Amazon.   Divide the 80.00 in three and it's really quite inexpensive considering how much each of those appliances would cost separately and takes less room on your counter. If you don't put it away, you will use it more often.   

I have more than saved the cost of the appliance on food savings.  Beans alone pays  for it. Beans are a staple in this house.  With the pressure cooker you don't have to soak them. It takes literally a couple of minutes to put beans on to cook .  The cheapest canned beans are .50 on sale at Fred Meyers.  .9st per half cup serving 12 cents. The cost of a serving of dry beans is .04 a serving.the cost of home cooked rice is .03 a serving.  Before a rice cooker I either bought  ready or instant rice.  The difference in nutrition and cost is remarkable. 

Rice bought in bulk is .03 a serving ready rice is closer to fifty cents. Ditto things like rice w seasoning in a box rice mix takes few minutes and saves lots.  It's a matter of chicken stock and seasonings. You can get low sodium chicken granules .  Or you can add seasonings to your rice and cook it on homemade chicken stock.  Less salt less preservatives and less money. I don't want to eat anything I can't pronounce .  

  

Kitchen management day

Previous blog has the meal plan for,this week.   Yesterday I got split chicken breast for 1.29.  
Today is kitchen management day,

1. Clean out the fridge, 
2. De-bone chicken breasts and cook the rib portions for stock and the meat from the bones,   
3. Clean veggies and make sticks , chop somemcarrots and celery for soup.   
4. Chicken pieces can  be for a buffalo chicken pizza.    
5. Box veggies .   
6. Wash kitchen floor 
7. Make bread 
8. Clean the toaster tray.  
9. Clean the microwave 
10. Disinfect the sink drains. 
11. Purge some cookbooks 
12. Make chocolate rice crispy treats. 
13. Wash stove vent screen - it's the first of the month for all practical purposes .  
14. Make split pea soup 

The first thing to do is prioritize so that the things that take the longest get done first.  Enlist hubby  becaise my wrist won't take that much action between de-boning , chickens and making rice crispy treats.   

A calculated serious kitchen management couple of  hours can save a lot of dinner hour time.   Dinner hour becomes a few minutes.    

Meal plans - Feb 27

Meal plans for week of February  27
My meal plans are based on a protein based matrix for variety.   We eat vegetarian two nights a week.   This reduced the cost of meals a lot.  We have beef once a week for the iron and other nutrients that are only found  in beef.    I try for fish or seafood once a week and the other three days are based on chicken or pork,  

• Tuna melts, vegetable sticks 
• Pizza 
• Out : steak, baked potatoes, vegetable stir fry and salad.  
• Mystery freezer meal 
• Split pea soup 
• Meat ball subs, oven fries, salad 
• Breakfast 4 dinner 

Notes : 

1) Tuna melts on English muffins , carrot, celery radish, broccoli 

2) scratch pizza - depending on toppings, usually about 1.25 for a pizza enoughnto cover a sided cookie sheet,   Square cut oizzamosmeasoer to deal with.   Granddaughter is getting really good at topping a pizza. 

3) parents night out with a group of friends.   Steak special.   

4) we have a freezer full on the basement.   I plan once a week to go down and pull something to cook as a way to start eating our way through the freezer.   

5) splitpea  soup in the insta pot.    Quick , easy, make bread .   Refrigerater bread is soo easy and 

quick.  Take dough out of fridge, shape on parchment, place in Dutch oven in a warm oven that has been turned off.  ( our kitchen  has two outside walls and is never warm  unless I have been cooking all day ) after it has risen to double in size, cover and bake at 450 for thirty minutes, uncover and bake an additional ten minutes or until the top is brown.  Delicious crusrymbread and almost no non-passive time.   

6) meatball subs -bake sub rolls- the recipe is done in the kitchenaid and takes almost,no non-passive time.    Meatballs in the freezer.  Add BBQ sauce and fill.   Oven fries.   Salad 

7) breakfast 4 Dinner.   An easy way to s t r e t c h your dollar.   Eggs are about a dollar  a dozen here ( sometimes less) .  An impossible pie   is easy, quick, and well received here.   Add a mixed green 

salad or fruit.   

All of these meals are inexpensive.   The meatball subs are the most  expensive , but averaged with the breakfast for dinner and pizza they are all within  our five dollar  price point.   A rule of thumb is that five dollars per dinner for a family of four is a benchmark to stay in a four dollar a day budget.  Four dollars a day is what SNAP allotment is based on.   I try for three dollars a day on order to keep a stock.   

Buying your food when it's at a RBP and stocking enough to feed your family until you find another sale is a way to keep costs down.  I have allowed certain space for certain items,  I can tell at a glance what we need to watch for.   We have a side by side refrigerator.    The freezer has bins and shelves in the door.   I marked the bins with chicken, Pork. Beef, and fish and veggies .   I can tell a glance  what we are running low on.   The basement freezer has things like ice cream, veggies, frozen pizza for back up  etc.   my pantry has specified sections of canned goods and the bulk items,   I can tell at a glance when I see white shelf space when I need to watch for a sale.   I store dry beans in the bulk popcorn jars  from Costco.   

Having target prices ( nothing to  do with the store with the red balls ) on the things you stock gives you the best bang for your buck.   It affords you the luxury of never being completely out of food.   

Limiting yourself to a certain matrix of proteins that are all oboist two dollars a pound or less keeps your budget in tact.   

Groceries in the cheap is a different way to shopping for food.   Instead of meal planning and going to the store for a weeks worth of food. You go to replenish  your dairy and perishables and stock a so called loss leader protein and any item you are running low from your stock when it is a remarkable price.   Of course, you have to stay on budget.   Shopping two stores is paramount in achieving your goals.   Certain stores are notorious for have food prices on certain things,   There is always certain stores that have a reputation for lower prices.  Mostly they are stores without a lot of frills.   If there is a fish tank full or lobsters, it's probably not going to be your store.    If it's a small store and carries convenience one every foods, it's not probably your store.  

We had a shakeup in the grocery business a year or so ago.   A lot of buyouts and one store that wanted to be KING of the stores and failed.  It was a rough period until things got to a normal.  Basically, we have Kroger stores and Albertsons stores.  We have an employee owned store and 

Costco.   For us, Winco and Fred Meyers usually have the best prices.    

Spending a bit more time planning your trip from the ads and using coupons and cooking as efficient as possible gives you the best balance of your time.   Less time cooking and more time planning saves a lot of money.    Once you are set up and in a maintenance mode, you probably will spend no more time than the person that just shops and decides at four o'clock what's for dinner.   

Keeping a stock of the basic things you always use and replenishing is the most efficient and less costly way of getting the food on the table train.   

The ads - Fred Meyer tomorrow

four day sake  smtw

Dryers 2/5
FM veggies 12 ounces
Red Barron pizza 2/5


Mandarines 3.49
Grapes 1.49
Tillamook yogurt 10/4
FF split chicken breast 1.29 valu oack


About it,  
My rotation meat would be the chicken breast.  

Recipe day - scratch pizza

A bag of diced ham is 2 38  at Winco.   Adding other proteins to ham cubes can stretch the bag into three meals for four.   1/3 of a bag of ham is .80  before you open a can , jar, or package if something you aren't going to use up, think of how you are going to use the rest.  Can it be frozen?   Can you incorporate it into another dish?

• Ham and pineapple pizza .  Homemade pizza dough, pizza sauce, ham, red pepper, pineapple, cheese.    
• Pizza crust:  www.food.com/recipeprimt.do?rid=188519.   Food.com no knead food processed thin crust pizza dough 
• Layer 2 cubes frozen pizza sauce, thin layer of cheese, chopped red pepper from the tops of the pepper, 1/4-1/3 of the ham cubes and a slice of pinespple, cut into pieces.   Pre bake the docked Dough for just enough time to partially brown  the bottom crust, ( 6 minutes or so 450 degrees.    -watch it. We  put ours in a cookie sheet with sides.    Then spread sauce over dough and add toppings,   Return to oven and bake until the bottom is done and the cheese has melted.   

Notes: pizza 🍕 sauce is a dollar at the DT.  Put it in an ice cube tray and freeze.   When it's frozen, place on a freezer bag and pit in the door of the freezer.  Docking  is poking  the dough with a fork about every two inches or so . This keeps the dough from making bubbles on top of it.    Excess pineapple can be on a pimeapple  and cottage cheese salad. With pork chops, sweet and sour chicken or on a fruit salad. Cost 1.87

• Impossible pie.   One of our families favorites.    Egg, ham, cheese. Layered on a pie plate and add the impossible pie mixture .  Recipe is on the back of the box or on line.  Use another 1/3 of the bag .   Add a salad.   Eggs right now are really cheap.    (.065 each )  1.59 

• Split pea soup :  split peas were .71 last week.    Add water and some chopped or shredded carrot , maybe some celery and the ham and cook until the peas are soft.    Serve with cornbread or muffins- beer bread?    Probably 2.50 total or less . 

Three meals for an average of two dollars each for the entree
That makes it really easy to not break five dollars even if you make 2 entrees for teen eaters.
Betty Crocker has an on line cookbook.   It's a great resource for recipes, ideas to use up something.   And it's free.    They a,so send you recipes and a calander each year for free if you ask for it,

The ads

These are taken from the internet, I still don't have my ads.  

QFC is same as last week,

Safeways ad is sparse.   The main thing is Foster Farms whole chicken is .78 a pound.    It would be our rotation pick of we needed one,   There are recipes for fast, easy whole chicken cooking on previous blogs.  

Bumble bee tuna .69
20 percent ground beef 199@@
Danton yogurt .48
Oranges .99
Milk 199 gallon @@

Note also QFC has a rewards program.    A pound of sausage is free as well as a box of Cheerios.  

Winco haul -  Winco does not have an ad .  Some things are always a better buy there.  

Two pounds of potatoes are often close to a dollar.   Not perfect, but good tasting,  
Mission tortillas 40 count 6.15
Red bell peppers .68
Bag of fresh broccoli heads 3.98
Roma tomatoes 78 a pound
Note my daughter bought organic on Sunday, Wednesday they were on the edge of too ripe .  I



dehydrated them tomsace them.   More money, less quality
Diced ham 238 ( several meals.)
Grace romatoes 128
Green chillis .72 - up from .58, but still cheaper than name brand
 Graoes 1.25 lbs
Progresso soup 98 , I had a fifty cent coupon for two.   Get beef , it gives you more bang for your buck .  Another case where eco o you is a state of mind.    Beef costs a lot more than chicken.  

Other things that are cheapest at Winco are

• Frozen veggies 
• Bread and buns 
• Great bulk food section 
• Ice cream 
• Some meats .  Often I can get 7 percent hamburger for 3.28 
• Cake mixes 
• Soeghetti sauce / hunts 
• Beans, canned unless FM has a sale 
• Beans, some dry.   DT has the cheaoest pimto  beans not on bulk at Costco.   
• Eggs - check the price between 18 and a dozen.   It varies which is cheaper. 
• Flavored mashed potato pouches 
• Chicken granules 
• Sliced black olives 

Five cheap meals - kid friendly

kid friendly cheap dinners

• Pizza -   Last nights pizza had pizza sauce , cheese, red peppers, and pepperoni.    Total cost 1.09.   I ised a scratch crust.  Garbage red peppers. 1/2 of a pepperoni package that I got with a coupon,and 1/6 of a dollar jar of sauce from the DT and 1/4 pound of cheese at two dollars a pound.   
• Breakfast for dinner. : orange french toast. Berry cup.  Use stale scratch  bread 🍞.25 , four eggs .26. Berries 3/4 of a box - 2.01 
• Chicken soup and bread.    Scratch bread .25, chicken stock FREE, veggies 1.00. Chicken breast (1/2) 1.00.  2.25 
• Speghetti and meatballs - 1/2 lb .38, sauce .78, meatballs 1.50,  green beans .33 total 2.66
•  Chicken chicken enchiladas- 4 tortillas ( .33) chicken parts from bones free or 1 chicken breast 2.00.   Cheese .50,  2.88. Plus sauce : flour, butter(.17)  , chicken stock (free) and sour cream.  100. Total  3.95 

 Total 11.96 divided by 5 equals 2/40 a meal.   Divided by three is .80 a plate 

Like dropping pennies in a jar

Today is supposed to be ad day.   Because of the holiday, our mail is always behind .    Instead I'm switching Tuesday's theme for Wednesday's.   It's errand day at our house and it's going to be ideas day on the blog.

Groceries on the cheap is a mind set.  Often it's the little things that are almost invisible that can make a difference.  Like pennies in a jar, they all add up.

My mother had a friend that used her finger to get all the whites out of an egg shell.  I don't usually go that far...but, there are a lot of little things that can add up.

We touched a little on that subject yesterday.

• Two pounds of French fries are about a dollar at Winco.   They are not perfect fries.   They taste the same as perfect fries, but they are not all the same size.   They aren't huge.   Same nutrition, half the price or more.   
• Apples at Fred Meyer in Sunday were .88 a pound,   They did not look beautiful.   They appeared to be without bruises, so I bought four.   I cut one when o got home for us to have a snack.    They were fine and tasted good.    Same nutrition, after you peel them, no one would know the difference.  
• There are some food items at the dollar tree are the same brands and the same size as the grocery store, but a lot cheaper.   Hormel pepperoni is 1.69 even at Winco.   They are a dollar at DT and you can use a dollar off of two coupon and get them for .50.  Half a package is all you need if you pit enough other things on a pizza. Tortillas are 12 for a dollar.    Pizza sauce is a dollar .  A name brand and cheaper than any sauce I have found.   You can make sauce from a bit of tomato sauce and some Italian seasoning.  Pretzels are cheapest there.   It's hard to mess up with the simplicity of a pretzel.   Some dollar trees have a brand of bread that is upwards  of three dollars a pound elsewhere.    Read the labels.   Know your prices.   Some things are cheaper, some not.   I have found ore ida potatoes there. You never know.   Be a quality snow, not a dollar tree snob.   
•  Pick two stores with the best prices that week using the ads as a benchmark.  Plan your trip to maximize the shopping experience while minimizing the gas and time consumption.    You get the best prices on two stores.   Go with an idea of the category of foods you need and with an open mind.    If you insist in a particular thing, you are shooting yourself in the foot.   Being flexible can save a lot of money.  Hamburger was 5.00 a pound and ground pork was two dollars a pound.   By the time I got it into the slow cooker with enchilada sauce I got for a dime at the DT.  ( usually upwards.  of a dollar )  no one knew the difference.   
• Last night, I cut the red peppers I got at Winco for .68.  I also got a quarter off one on Ibotta.  I cut the top off of them, and sliced the rest of it into strips for the freezer.    The end caps I diced up for color on pizza or in a casserole.  I threw very little away.   
• Ibotta takes a few minutes.   It's just a way to make a few extra bucks on your food bill.    I look at the website after I shop for what I want where I want.  Ibotta does not influence where or what I buy.   But it does lower my food bill.   Those twenty bucks can snowball if you use the money to buy something, perhaps  in bulk.
• Buying things that are a staple you will use on a regular basis in bulk can save a lot of money.   Flour at the cheapest price on ten pound sacks ( two five pound sacks were cheaper ) was almost ten cents a cup.    Flour at Costco in twenty five pound sack was just under .07 a cup.   The attitude of "oh, wow, two cents. What are you going to do with two cents " will shoot you on the foot.    Two cents for a cup of flour compounded over a years worth of baking can amount to a lot.   It all adds up like the pennies in a jar.   

• Another blog ( "Living  on a dime ") is a good resource. They had a vlog yesterday on what you can give up and how much it saves in a year.   The totals were remarkable.   While it is Not practice to give up everything because sooner or later you will feel deprived and binge making all your sacrifice for not , some things can be eliminated and some scaled down to make a big difference.    A three dollar bag of chips a week will cost you 156.00 a year.  And, they aren't good for you.     
• Having a vegetarian meal once or twice a week can save a lot.   Breakfast for dinner can save a lot.    Last Sunday. We had French toast with the homemade bread that was going stale without any preservatives.  ( a good thing )  eggs were .79 a dozen and the bread cost .22.   I added berries that were two dollars a box.   Total cost .36 for the French toast and two dollars for the fruit.    2.36 cents.   Plus syrup pantry item.   
• Last one. Making meals that include pieces of meat instead of a whole piece of meat as an entree cuts your meal cost drastically . Children like it more and you are money ahead.   It's no secret why our grandmothers had speghetti with red sauce, green salad and French bread for family dinners.  It was and still is a way to feed masses for little money.   

Grocery hauls

Fred Meyers

 Not food, but tops were 70 percent off the last marked price at Fm.   I got tops for 6.00

Total 17.13

• Milk .99
• Parsley 2/.99
• Lard 1.27 
• Strawberries 2.
• Blueberries 3.99
• Apples .88 lb. 
• ground Pork 2 00 lb
• Cinnamon rolls .99
• Sour  cream .99

Winco.  10.60

• Barilla pasta 1.08 less .55 coupon 
• Split peas .71
• Red peppers .68 - less .25 Ibotta 
• Jumbo shells to stuff 1.28
• Polish sausage 2.98
• Strawberries 1.98

If I didn't have a stock, this would not be a balanced grocery haul.    Basically we needed dairy, fresh fruits and veggies. And I filled n meat that was a good price and some staples that I could get on my target prices.    

Kitchen management day,

Monday at our house is kitchen management day,   The sales ad for Fred Meyers comes out on Sunday And the fridge is loaded.    Time to clean out the vegetable bin and prep the veggies for the week ahead.    Mea plans are done and it's easy to Prep what,need to be prepped  to make for a more efficient meal time.  

• Mondays meat ball subs are becoming sloppy joes because I have a package ofmhamvirger bins sitting on the bread box tombe send up.   Prep sloppy joes for the slow cooker.   
• Make a salad or prep  veggie sticks.   
• Save some sloppy joe filling for the baked potato bar. 
• Make refrigerater bread dough 
• Make bread crumbs.    
• Slice red peppers bought for .68 cents less a .25  Ibotta nets .43
• Wash fruit with vinegar water.   
• Wash kitchen floor.   

Two things I was reminded of while watching a u tube.   I can watch u tubes while I work on other things woth the reader.    

One of the best ways to s t r e t c h a dollar is, it to waste,   Why throw out stale bread and buy so,done else's for upwards  of two dollars a pound ?   Throw away your chicken bones and buy chicken stock loaded with salt for four dollars a quart!    Save your bones.  Of you don't have enough or anrent ready to make stock, freeze them.    All chicken stock is water, the ends of onion , carrots, celery, and the chicken bones.  If you aren't going to be home, pit ot on the slow cooker and let  it rip.  I refrigerate it for a few hours so I can skim the flat off the top. You have virtually free chicken stock.  

Strain it and put in containers , portion controlled . To freeze.   You can freeze on mason jars, just leave some head room and cool before you freeze.    When you are ready for chicken soup. Just thaw and add vegetables and bits of chicken,   

Bread crumbs are essentially saving the crusts and any bread that hasn't been eaten .  I pit the, on the food processor and process to make crumbs and put them in a cold oven until they dry out.  Laying them on a sided cookie sheet makes them dry on one layer.    No preservatives.   You can also cut bread into cubes and make 🍞 bread  pudding,   Or last night we had orange french toast for dinner.    

Neither of these things takes more than a few minutes.   My granddaughter loves to. Ate bread crumbs,  I put the plastic blade on the food processor and I supervise somshe doesn't tough the blade. She can do the rest.    As for the chicken 🍗  stock, I don't allow her to touch raw meat, but she can dump the vegetables in the pot.   She's getting the idea of how cooking works.    

Besides the toaster, the food processor and the insta pot are my work horses on the kitchen.    They are two appliances that pay for themselves.