Hauls

Dollar Tree and Winco fill in haul


Dollar Tree:
Ancient Grains salad
Barilla pasta
Pepperoni

5.00

Winco
I checked the Fresh Food Market , the prices were higher.

Tomatoes - grape
Tomatoes - Romas
Bananas at .42 lb
Strawberries 1.78

Total 8.52

13.52


Safeways

Hunts ketchup.88
Blue bunny ice cream 2.50
Grapes 1.48

Total 7.46

Chain Store Ads

In spite of the fact that it is graduation , there seems to be a preponderance of good buys and some not so good.

Alberways

Fab 4 Sale:  buy at least 4 I am assuming mix or match

manwich .88
cheese slices 1.99
mayo 2.49
Classico Pasta sauce 1.88
16 ounces peanut butter  1.79
Blue Bunny Ice Cream 2.49
Hunts catsup .88
cascade dishwasher tabs 5.49

Note:  coupons work with these kinds of sales.

grapes 1.48
salad kits 3/10
Petite sirloin steaks or 80/20 hamburger BOGO -buy at your own risk. no way of telling if it is a bargain.   my buy price for 80/20 would be less than 2.99 a pound.  I paid 2.44.

Tillamook yogurt  10/5
grands biscuits 1.00-usually coupons
suddenly salad 1.00


bread .79@@
milk 1.79 gal @@
bacon - 12 ounces 2.99

NOT A BARGAIN: Jimmy Dean Sausage 2/7; nathans 3.99; BSChicken Breast 2.99lb

QFC

grapes 1.99
tomatoes on the vine .88
brats 2.99

BUY 5: SAVE 5
nature valley bars 1.79
dryers 2.49
Kleenex .99
Hebrew national 2.99
Kroger cheese 2 lbs 4.99(top of the buy list )
Classico pasta sauce 1.99

FRED MEYERS

Strawberries 2/5
milk .99

BUY5; SAVE 5
cheese 4.99
goldfish .99
Classico pasta sauce 1.99
Hebrew national 2.99
nature valley 1.79
dryers 2.49
orowheat bread 2.49

NOT:  ground beef 93/7 4.99lb

NOTE:  Fred Meyers on Saturday 6/2 has a digital , Saturday Only on Large sour cream .99
NOTE:  Fred Meyers senior day is Tues 6/5-- 10 percent on Private Selection foods.  

Betty Crocker Ancient Grains Salad

We are making Betty Crocker Ancient Grains Salad for dinner.  It was a dollar at the Dollar Tree.  I am sure it was one of those items that never made it through the trials.   It is hard to cook and takes a long time. ( the actual 18 minutes didnt work) .  It might serve 3 as a side.   I like the fact that it is quino and wild and brown rice, and it has dried cranberries and almonds in it.   If I were to do it again, I would add a 1/2 cup of cooked rice to the salad to stretch the quanity and I would cook the rice as I would pasta with a lot of water.  The water they called for was used up and the grains were not tender yet.   It tastes good , it just needs some tweaking to work better.  

Along with the ancient Grains salad, we had a tomato salad with olive oil and basil. And a hamburger. .

For four people :
1/2 pkg. Hamburger  buns   .88
Ancient grains salad 1.05
Tomato salad 1.04
Hamburger 2.44

Total.  5.41

How did she do that?

I can’t tell you how many times someone says “ya, sure”.

Last night we had  chilli .  I cooked the beans in the insta pot and rinsed and drained them.   (2 cups beans to enough. Water to cover your second knuckle - or at least an inch above the beans.  Never fill the insta pot more than 1/2 full if you are cooking something that will expand.   )
Added them back to the pot and added: Beans 1.5 pounds at DT for a dollar or .67 a lb.

1/2 lb cooked hamburger that had been de-fatted. ( 2.44 a pound at Zaycon
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste ( GO for 6/1.00)
1-1/2 cups of stock made from vegetable boullion ( fractions of cents -Costco Business )
2 cans stewed tomatoes ( GO for 3/1 Organic Hunts -pull date June)
1 T homemade taco seasoning
1 tsp each of garlic powder and onion powder.

I put the instapot back on the slow cooker mode and let it simmer all afternoon.

we served it with choice of sour cream, tortilla chips, and .or cheese.

Total cost of chilli for a 6 quart pot.

Beans:  Pinto cost for 6 cups cooked is .15
Hamburger :  2.44 lb is 1.22
Vegetable boullion. :  too small to calculate
Stewed tomatoes:  .33 a can for a total of .67
Taco seasoning:  : too small to calculate
Tomato paste 6/1 is .16

Total for 6 quarts is 2.20 or .366 a quart or .19 a bowl

Its not necessarily what you buy but when and where you buy it.
Watch for name brands, watch for pull dates.   Some things can go beyond pull dates, but do not trust canned goods that have acidic content.   Dry things like powdered milk etc last pretty much forever.
The pinto beans are grown in USA. Non GMO.   Alternative stores are limited to the variety of product, but a careful eye can find good bargains .

Pizza sauce is half the price of any other store at the Dollar Tree and it is a name brand.   They also carry some Betty Crocker, and Campbells.  Some items at the dollar tree are more expensive than the regular grocery store.  You do have to know your prices.

Grocery Outlet is an overstock store.  A few things are regular items.  There are also great buys on here today, gone tomorrow.   Many have reasonable pull dates.   I got Pillsbury Whole wheat flour for. .25 for 2pounds.   It was gone when I went to the seattle store.  He who tarries is lost.   Check your pull dates, stick to a good brand, and buy accordingly.   I bought six cans of Hunts, Organic stewed tomatoes at 3/1.00.  The pull date was June.   I left the ones in the box that were March.
I just bought what I knew we would eat in the six weeks that were pre pull date.   You can put stewed  or diced tomatoes in the food processer or Leander and make them more like sauce.   Its not a bargain if you cant use them up before the pull date or you dont like the flavor.  If you aren’t picky about only eating seasonal flavors during that “season” you can clean up.   We got “Oreo” type cookies that were pumpkin flavor for .50 a box.   They are perfectly good food with a reasonable pull date, it just isn’t fall.   Honestly, I cant taste the pumpkin.

  A lot of times the merchandise is something that was put out on a test market and didnt fly.   We were getting cassarole starters for free a few years ago just because they put them out for more money than the meat that went in them.   People, surprisingly, didn’t  buy them.  Someone else’s trash is someone’s treasure.   You need to be careful not to overbuy unless you intend to share it with the food bank.

We scratch cook unless the store bought alternative is either cheaper or it is too complicated to make. It doesn’t pay me to make something that takes hours of time.  I figure the money savings.  If im going to make ten cents an hour to make it from scratch, you can forget it.

The chilli cost us a little over two dollars for 12 servings.   12 servings would cost at least 6.00.   It took me maybe 15 minutes  hands on time.

Kitchen Management

Monday is Kitchen Management day here.   You pick you day to fit into your schedule.   Kitchen Management is a tool that saves a lot of time and money.   Time because you set up to do kitchen chores and get more done setting up once instead of several times during the week.   Base your list on things to be cleaned and the recipes you will cook for the week.   Just as with a meal plan, grouping ingredients , especially ones that need to be used up, saves money because you are not wasting and saves time because you set up once. Dinner time is a snap with dinner prep done.  It cuts dinner prep down considerably during that busy, hectic dinner hour.

Reminder of Meal Plans :

• Hamburgers, ancient grain salad, tomatoes w basil and olive oil 
• Pizza 
• Baked potato bar 
• Pork Roast/sliders; baked potatoes , glazed carrots 
• Salmon, sweet potatoes,  green beans
• Salad 
• Breakfast for dinner. 

Prep: 

1. Wash kitchen floor 
2. Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead and clean the ice maker drip pan. 
3. Put the stove vent filter through the dishwasher. 
4. Wash and disinfect counters  and sinks and drains.
5. Wash potatoes and carrots with vinegar water:  designated brush.  
6. Wash tomatoes 
7. Straighten pantry. 

On another note, because of the change in the scheduling of ads for Fred Meyer, Saturday blog time is free.   I am trying to fill take three days that aren’t scheduled.  

• Sunday: meal plans 
• Monday : Kitchen Management 
• Tuesday:  How did she do that? 
• Wednesday:  Chain store ads 
• Thursday: Grocery Hauls 
• Friday: recipe 
• Saturday:  Let’s Talk ???? Hacks, Ingredients in dep

Meal Plans for week of 5/ 28/18

Meal Plans are a necessary part of groceries on the cheap.  They don't have to be fancy, but a rough draft of one helps keep us on track and organized.

Spring and summer is here and things are more laid back.   Still, staying organized and batch/ prepping (kitchen management) still helps keep things under control .

Incorporating  what you can find on a good sale helps keep costs down and meals interesting.

Taking an quick look at what may need to be eaten soon helps to keep waste down.   Check pull dates.

• Hamburgers, ancient grains salad, sliced tomatoes with olive oil and basil. 
• Pizza
• Baked Potato Bar 
• Pork Roast , baked potatoes, glazed carrots 
• Salmon, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans 
• BBQ Pork sandwiches, salad 
• Breakfast for Dinner:   Whole wheat pancakes, eggs, fruit 

Notes: 

1. Memorial Day.   Hamburgers use the buns we got for .88...   ancient Grains salad is from the DT and it is Betty Crocker.   It has quinoa , and other grains.   Tomatoes can be sliced anddressed witholive oil and fresh basil. 
2. Pizza :  scratch pizza 🍕 costs less than a dollar for a cheese pizza when ingredients are bought  on sale.   Add toppings that you can pull from ingredients used during the week.  
3. Baked Potato Bar is a good pull together meal when you know you have a hectic out of the house day. 
4. Pork Roast does double duty with a “sunday “ type meal and a pick up meal that uses the rest of the hamburger buns.   This roast was purchased for a dollar a pound and we played Butcher. 
5. Salmon was purchased from GO and is wild caught.  Sweet Potatoes are from Betty Crocker and were purchased for .33.  Green beans were .39. 
6. Breakfast for Dinner is trying whole wheat pancakes with pillsbury whole wheat flour purchase for  .25 in a 2 lb package. Eggs were 1.15 a dozen.  Cantaloupe is 2.00 at Alberways this week. 

Even if you dont have the buys we do, or live in a different part of the country,  or another country, the basics for the meal plan still work.   This isn’t to tell someone what to eatm but rather how to go about a thought process to reduce costs and make best use of resources.   Other parts of the country have lots cheaper prices than we do in the PNW.   We have the 7th largest COL in this area and it does not include housing.  I am seeing prices from the mid west and south that are half the price we are paying.   Potatoes are the exception .   Our close proximity to Idaho I suspect is a key factor in this.   However, they have had cheaper California grapes.  Go Figure.  

Finding basics for the cheapest price in your area is a basic concept to reducing your food costs.  You can have the same good nutrition and eat well too.  Buying your food and avoiding the “faddish” food helps a great deal.  Its like buying a fad piece of clothing vs buying a classic piece that will last for years.   Better to spend money on a applalnce that will save money for years, than buy a fad ingredient that will give you no more food value, but cost double because its a fad.   the difference between buying a can of beans at 1.58 for two cups of beans (scant) and buying dry beans and cooking for three minutes (hands on time) in an insta pot is 1.50.  It doesn’t take long before an insta pot bought on sale is paid for .  Ditto hands on time for rice inthe insta pot vs redi rice or the instant type that doesn’t have the food value.   The cost of a reasonable food processer is also made up in a small amount of time.   

Hope this has helped someone.   I blog everyday and have been for six years.   Please share so I can help more people.   

Grocery Outlet Haul

Gorcery Outlet Haul from seattle.

Pickles 1.49
Taco dinner:  .99
Pacific Organic Tomato Soup 1.99
Salmon fillets , 2 lb 8.99

Oscar Mayer Bacon 2.47 a full pound

Hummus -medium olive .97

Muenster slice 1.99

X sharp white cheddar slices 1.99

Total 29.54

Savings 61.96

Trim the Sugar

This is a Taste Of Home Book.....One of this that are soft cover and limited access.   It was a splurge at ten dollars.   We are all trying to limit our sugar and carbs mostly because of health reasons.   We all have to have some, but white refined sugar is not supposed to be good for us.   No, I’m not going to turn this into a health nut blog.  That is not what the theme of this blog is about.   We do need to eat in moderation for our health first, and it doesn’t hurt our pocketbook either.

it starts off with a good breakdown of the kinds of sugars -real and fake and hidden sugar in condiments.  

There are a lot of good recipes in the book.   A lot are far above the budget of four dollars a day, but some are believable for a stretch.

Whole wheat pancakes are the first thing  I’m going to try.  I got wheat bread for a quarter at GO.

Least amount of sugar in condiments is mayo and soy sauce, hot sauce and mustard. .   Minimum is ranch dressing, followed by light ranch dressing ( yes, that isn’t a typo.) followed by tartar sauce a d honey mustard.  Organic bbq sauce is the highest along with ketchup and honey bbq sauce.

That’s  a real eye opener. I did now that a lot of things that say LIGHT are light on fat,not sugar.  
Both are important for a diabetic, I guess for all of us.   That’s why we eat beef once a week and try for a 4 ounce portion.   The rest of the week it is pork loin that I cut the fat cover off before I cut roasts ad cops, and boneless, skinless chicken breast.   We supplement eggs, and beans.

The book also has recipes for low sugar and more healthy options , many of which are still economical.   Some seem less than desirable  to me...but you be the judge.

Peanut butter banana oatmeal

Frittata

Whole wheat pancakes

Mexican omelet

Rustic vegetable frittatas
Sausage tortilla breakfast bake

Grilled jerk shrimp orzo salad
Tuscan turkey soup
Veggies nicoise  sale
Classic Cobb salad
Orzo salad w tomatoes
Grilled veggie sandwiches with cilantro pesto (might try this with reg pesto)
Feta chicken salad
Pesto corn salad with shrimp
Salmon feta wilted shrimp salad
White bean soup with escarole
Grilled salmon wraps
Mexican cabbage roll soup
Salmon dill soup
Pan roasted chicken and vegetables
Stuffed zucchini
Pork Roast
Grilled PorkTelnderloin
Skillet pork chops with apples and onions
Shrimp and corn stir fry
Skillet chicken with. Olives
Juicy and delicious mixed spice burgers
Italian turkey meatloaf
Zucchini crust meatloaf
Mediterranean pot roast dinner
Lemon garlic pork chops
Parmesean jpotato wedges
Vinaigrettes

Grilled Brussels sprouts
Vegetable and barley pilaf
Garlic ssesame green beans
Apricot ginger acorn squash
Garden cucumber salad
Plum crisp with crunchy oat topping

Ginger plum tart
Flourless dark chocolate cake
Berry white ice pops
Chocolate swirled cheesecake
Vegetable and beef stuffed peppers

Layered hummus dip
Waffle sandich
Beef and blue cheese penne with pesto
Mediterranean ozo chicken salad
Honey orange broccoli slaw


Thats a lot of recipes.   Most can be found if you google them.  I dont have permission to republish.  

Friday

It’s Freakin Friday

Last night, the meal plan went out the window.   Some days are like that and this week has been full
 of one of those days.  

Because we got .88 buns and 6/100 corn , we had sloppy joes and corn on the cob last night.  
The inexpensive buns are good because we are all trying to limit carbs and the price is right too.
Being flexible is a good thing.  Total cost was .84 a plate.   Bigger , younger families i realize would eat more.   But, at this rate, more would still be cheap. Two sandwiches each plus a whole corn and another veggie would still be less than five dollars.

Its no secret, mothers have been doing it for years, buying things on sale and incorporating them into your meal plan works to cut your food bill.  And, fresh veggies are at their peak.   The corn was really good.

Anything we didn't eat , we will push ahead to the next week.   I haven’t had to cook a lot all week.  
Adjusting for life’s ups and downs still works if you have a stock of food.   If its a cold rainy day, that picnic food can be substituted for a nice hot pot of soup.  

I can’t say enough about bulk cooking hamburger.   It is more efficient. You are washing one pan.  You are de-fating once. And, cooking a dinner is a snap.  There are numerous recipes tried and true that call for hamburger.   Remember the days when you would take a frozen block of hamburger and fight in the pan to cook from frozen, or try to defrost it in the microwave and have hard spots around the edges.   A few minutes in the microwave defrosts cooked hamburger and you are making:

• Sloppy joes 
• Spaghetti sauce 
• Enchiladas 
• Stuffed peppers 
• Tacos 
• Burritos 
• Taco soup 
• Lasagna 
• What did I forget?   

Simplify,  cut costs, always have food in the house.  

Four plus one is five:  Four people, one meal, five bucks. 

Dinner: better, cheaper, faster.   

You are not doing your family any good if you are feeding the food to the garbage disposal.  

Thursday Notes

Good Morning.  

Keeping track of what you are spending on food is an important step in controlling your food budget.  A spread sheet is a good tool.  

column

Month              store  store  store  store  store  total average  
week 1
week 2
week 3
week 4
week 5

average is the total spent so far divided by the weeks recorded.   ie:  55+50 is 105/2.0  or 52.50 average.  (/ is the code for divide. ) ( * is the code for times )

or you can do it by hand making columns with a ruler.

We are sitting at .42 a week under budget for the year.   However, we still have a week to go.   I can justify that because I have purchased bulk hamburger, chicken and sausage.   Because we don't have to buy protein except for eggs, our remaining budget for a while should be a lot lower.   When you buy your groceries in bulk to replentish stock.  It all averages out and you will spend less in the long run.  

If you are going to only one store and buying just a weeks worth of groceries, you are not going to save as much as if you buy things at the lowest possible price at a variety of stores.   If you have a good idea of what is on sale that you need and what you need in the dairy and produce department, you can get in and out of two stores as fast as going to one and wandering around isles making decisions.  Decisions on the fly are almost always bad decisions.   Going to the store without a plan almost always results in buying a bunch of junk food.   Junk food is expensive and not the best nutrition usually.

We can get in and out of two stores with travel time in a little over an hour.   We usually hit the Dollar Tree and Grocery Outlet once a month or so.   The DT is a good resource for facial tissue ( 200 ct ) and other incidentals.  With few exceptions, you can find pocket tissues, stick pens, etc cheaper than anywhere else.   There doesn't make much sense to pay big money for something that you throw away.

We all want quality food.   On four dollars a day, we still eat low fat cuts of meat and real food.   Fake is never better.   Avoiding processed foods by efficiently cooking from scratch is a better alternative than fake food.   You control what goes in it.  

Avoid, too much salt, sugar, trans fats, HFCS, GMO, and hydrogenated oil.   Hydrogenated oil , so the experts say, thickens your blood.   That can't be a good thing.  


note: this was written on our big computer.  My tablet has a virus and we are still working on getting it back to normal.  All I can say is to watch carefully where the things on Facebook are coming from. I'm here to tell you this is a pain in the rear when I already have things to cope with.   LOL   I still say that I am going to write a book entitled:  COPE is a four letter word spelled H E L L.

Safeways Haul

We usually group two or more errands together when we go out.  

Safeways Haul

Sweet Baby Rays BBQQ sauce .99
Hamburger buns .79
Cantaloupe 2.00
Corn .34

Total 6.89
Savings 61 percent.  

Chain store ads -WE 5/29/18

QFC

4 days -FSSM
DIGITAL COUPONS

JOHNSONVILE SUSAGE 1.99
WATERMELON .29
ANGEL FOOD CAKE 1.99
CRACKERS .99
ICE CREAM SANDWICHES .99
——————

Hebrew National BOGO

Draper Valley Boneless chicken breast BOGO

Darigold butter 2/5
Tillamook ice cream 2/6

Strawberries 2/5 -lb

Lean ground beef 5.99lb —-NOT

Cream cheese 1.88

ALBERWAYS

Corn on cob 6/1

DIGITAL ONLY- 2 LB CHEESE 3.99 LIMITI ONE

Hot Dog or Hamburgr buns .79@@
BBQ sauce.99@@
Johnsonville sausage 2.99@@
Best Foods 2.49@@
Dryers ice cream 1.99@@

80/20 hamburger 2.99

Sugar 1.99@@

FRED MEYERS

B.S. Chicken breast bogo
80/20 hamburger 3.49
Bacon 3.49
Pork shoulder 1.79
Sweet peppers, cucumbers.88
Strawberries 2.49

Fruit Pie 4.00
Cake mix/ jello 1.00

Cottage cheese/ sour cream 4/5

Notes :   Buy price for BS chicken breast is 2.00 tops.   80/20 hamburger I paid 2.44 a lb, but 2.99 doesn’t seem too bad.   Now would be a good time for a bbq sauce, even if there is a limit. .99 is my buyprice.   I have gotitnfor .55 with a coupon  before.   Coupons seem to be few and far between on food items.    Because of flour shortage, I would stock a little for buns if Icould.   They are a pain in the rear to make.    BBQ season is a good time to stock picnic supplies.   Usually better prices at the time of the fourth.  

Tuesday Notes : motivation

We all get them:   Creative slumps.....writers block....robots heads...whatever you call it , its normal.

Sometimes, just putting on upbeat music and an apron helps.   Sometimes not....

I always get more done if I have a list.   It motivates me to see how many things I can check off the list.   Its a tool to keep yourself on track and doing things in a logical sequence.

I purchased a couple of books at the DT.   One on burgers, and one on chicken.   Both have spice blends and sauce recipes that are not our usual fare and will spice up our meals.   Sometimes it s just fun to try something different .

I remember the first time I has tacos, it was at a friends birthday party.  I was maybe 13.   My mother never did cook tacos.   I made them again when I got married.    My mother cooked pizza in the 50’s, but that was about it for any foods other than the basics. How times change.

Spring is here and summer is not far behind.   One of my tracks for summer is to make a bunch of salads on the weekend or on Kitchen Management day.   Then dinner can be hot dogs ,hamburgers, grilled chicken etc that can be cooked on the grill if it is hot in the kitchen.   Tacos are another meal that you can do in a short amount of time to get out of the hot kitchen.  Precooked ground meat that is in portion controlled bags is a real time and money saver.

Time to get the deck cleaned from the winter and set up to be able to eat outside.

Burgers:

Black and Blue:  blue cheese, salt and pepper
Indian Turkey
Black bean burger
Buffalo chicken burger
Portobello Burger


Chicken:
Curried chicken
Sticky Soy Orange chicken
Chicken with lemon and ginger
Chicken Fajitas
Hosin Chicken with mustard and brown sugar.
Jamaican Jerk Chicken
Asian Chicken
Chili fried chicken

Monday Kitchen Management

Kitchen management is a tool that makes your kitchen more efficient and saves time and money.  It is easier and takes less time to prep ingredients for a weeks worth than doing it one day at a time.   The last thing I want to do at six o’clock at night is to set in to scrub veggies and wash the kitchen. Floor.  
LOL

I picked up two small books at the dollar tree.  Chicken and Burgers.   They have all kinds of recipes for new to me flavors .   Even if you aren't going to make the chicken or ground meat, the sauces are worth the buck.   Liquid and dry measurement equivalents on the back page.  

Reminder of meals

Tacos , refried beans
Chicken pot pie
Pizza
Hot dogs , salad, veggie sticks
Salmon, rice,
Pork stew, bread
Breakfast for dinner.

1. Beans can’t  be cooked too far ahead.   Best done the day of eating.  Fortunately, in the insta pot, all you have to do is dump and push buttons.  
2. Tacos are made from cooked hamburger, so they are a snap. 
3. Pizza crust is made the day of and takes a few minutes.I have a recipe that is dome in the mixer and you can freeze it. 
4. Wash carrots and potatoes, celery, peppers 
5. Check the stock of your rice mix. 
6. Start refrigerator bread 
7. Wash kitchen floor 
8. Clean out refrigerator and dump anything dead.  
9. Clean pantry and take inventory . My meal plan page has a list of perishables so you can check off what you have and list what you need.   
10. Wash top of stove and drip pans. 

Groceries on the cheap is a different way of buying and cooking food.   Instead of going to the store and buying just what you need for a week or a day, you have a master list and you buy what you need to replace to replenish stock.   You always have an emergency stock of food and by shopping wisely, you actually spend a lot less than others.   We spend four dollars a day per person (SNAP guidelines I hear ) and supplement a grandchild and have built stock.  You can eat well on four dollars a day.  IT takes buying food at RBP and efficiently scratch cooking.  You don't spend any more time, but you have a whole lot of more food for less money.  Simplify, lower your costs, always have food.  

Grocery Haul

We had to go to meet a lady to share some egg cartons, so we stopped at dollar tree and grocery outlet.   Spoiler:   Wheat flour is a quarter. -pillsbury.

Pizza sauce -DT

Sun dried tomatoes - DT

Whole wheat flour .25

Planters nut  medley 1.99

Nature valley granola cups with almond butter .99

Taco kit .99

Fake n bake cookies .49

Total 7.75

We are under budget including bulk meat purchases.   

Meal plans

Meal Plans are necessary to be organized and save time and money.

• Out -mom has a dinner meeting -chicken pot pie 
• Pizza
• Tacos, refried beans 
• Hot dogs, potato salad, vegetable platter 
• Pork stew , Bread 
• Salmon, rice, green beans 
• Breakfast for Dinner. 

Notes:

1. Chicken Pot Pie is an impossible pie.   Its easy and less caloric.   (Carbs) 
2. Pizza is a dollar family favorite.  Add your favorite toppings.   It really helps if you pull a little bit of something you are chopping for another meal and save it for pizza night.  It saves time and money.    We use the tops of the sweet peppers when slicing them for stir fry or peppers and sausage.   Saving a little cook sausage helps too.   Pepperoni is a dollar for oberto  at the DT.  Pizza sauce is a name brand and cheaper than anywhere else, even scratch at the DT.   We put the jar of pizza sauce in an ice cube tray and freeze it.   Dump the cubes into a zip lock and put it in the freezer door.    2 cubes work for a pizza at a cost of .20/   
3. Taco kits are a dollar at the Grocery Outlet.   When  we can find them for that , I get them because that is the buy price for taco shells.   We have got them for .48 , but that is an aboration .   Refried beans are scratch in the insta pot.   This way they have NO fat.  They do have tomatoes and chillies and scratch beans.   - less salt.   
4. We cook rice in the insta pot....no watched pot and perfect rice every time.   I add chicken stock and some herbs.   
5. Salmon is cheapest at Winco in a bag of individual portions.   It makes for a quick and easy dinner.   Green beans were .39 a can in a case lot with a basket coupon.    It’s one of those times when you have to strike while the deal is there, but it is worth the savings.   Canned veggies are .50 at winco again.   
6. Pork stew cooks in the insta pot and is from pork cut from the pork loin.   A case of when life gives you lemons, make lemonade or roll with the punches.   I got a pork loin for 1.29 a pound at Fred Meyers.   It had fat all through the center part of the loin.   I got beautiful chops cut, but ran into fat in a cross section.   I made cubes out of it.   I have had better luck at Costco Business for pork loins.   Whole carrots are much cheaper than the baby ones.   The best price i have found on baby carrots is a dollar a pound.   Whole carrots at winco are 5 pounds for 2.28. Or .46 a pound—less than 1/2 price.   We wash them in vinegar water and cut them for vegetable trays. 
7. Breakfast for Dinner is a mainstay here.   It can please everyone and everyone cooks.  Its a family affair.   Eggs at winco this week were 1.15.  Buttermilk pancakes are really good.  Buying dried buttermilk is not cheap, but there is no waste and it lasts forever.   

\

QFC Haul

5 Barrilla pasta 2.00/1.00

Betty Crocker cake mix free/1.99

1 sausage roll. 6.49/free

Retail 18.49.  Spent 5.00

73 percent savings.

6 meals under 5.00 -GOC prices -22.01.

The key here is working on a RBP budget.   Ingredients are basic ingredients and no specialty items.
This is 5.00 dinners for the proverbial 4 person family—two adults and two school aged children.
If you spend 1.25 on dinner, and have a bowl of oatmeal and a small addition of fruit ( 35) you have 2.40 left for lunch and staples/ stock.

Pork Stew and Bread 
Carrots, Potatoes, gravy, 1 lb pork cubes. Peasant Bread
2.25
Vegetarian Spaghetti 
Noodles, sauce, diced tomatoes, parm cheese 2.53 add a salad, 1.22.   Totals 3.75
Bread .25,   Salad 1.00 is 5.00

Tacos, refried Beans 

Taco kit, 1/2 lb meat, lettuce, tomato, cheese, refried beans 4.41

Chicken Pot Pie
Peas, carrots chicken, gravy biscuit top. Salad 3.70

Quiche UIKEYINPUTUPARROW

Sausage,  3/4 pound, mushrooms, celery, bisquick crust, salad. 4.73 


Pizza

Pizza crust .19, cheese .50, pizza sauce .20. Total .89
Add toppings:   1/4 lb sausage (see quiche). .61 , 1/2 sweet pepper .50, 1/2 pkg pepperoni .50, parsley , cubed ham (1/4 pkg. ) .50.  Pick 2 .   For a 2.00 pizza.   You can make 2 and still have a simple salad.   Total for a cheese pizza and salad 1.89

Winco Haul.

Note:   Apparently there is a flour shortage.  I kinda alluded to that when the price of some bread products went up and flour at Costco.   For a while , the DT has no orowheat bread.

Winco.

Potatoes 10 bs 1.98
Potato salad 3.98
Eggs 1.15
Hot dog buns .88
Nathans 2.78
Hummus 1.98
Strawberries 1.78
Lettuce .98

Total 16.60

Friday Recipe

Chicken and Pasta -serves 2

1 large chicken breast (8 ounces)
1/4 of a box of penne pasta ( or pasta of choice)
2 T butter
2T flour
1-1/4 cups milk
Garlic pepper to taste
1cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line sheet pan with Parchment.   Spray with cooking spray.
Pat chicken dry with a paper towel.  Rub with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a spice mixture.
Brown chicken on both sides in a skillet on the stove for one minute each.
Transfer chicken to baking sheet and cook until done.  Time will depend on its thickness.  5-15 minutes or until juices run clear and it tests done with your meat thermometer.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta and drain.   Pasta cooks in 2 minutes in the insta pot.  1 package needs a quart of water.   Or, boil it on the stove.

In separate pan, heat butter in the pan and whisk in the flour . Cook a minute.   Add milk a little at a time until you have a thickened sauce.   Add cheese.   Stir until melted.  Stir sauce into the noodles.   Garnish with dried parsley.   Add garlic pepper if desired.


Spice mixture:

Equal parts
Paprika
Garlic pepper
Onion powder
Pepper
Thyme
Oregano