CT on a budget

Rare: Bumble Bee tuna coupon

2012-02-26T09:05:00.002-08:00

Image: http://westindianshop.com/ProductImages/G2143V.jpg
"Like" Bumble Bee tuna on Facebook, go to the coupon tab on the left and when the page reloads, click on the picture of BB albacore tuna to download a $1 off/can BB tuna.

Spring clothes shopping

2012-02-26T07:40:00.004-08:00

http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/hmorganic_springwomens1.jpg
Clothes shopping as a definate "as needed" item now. While stores are advertising sales and profiling Spring/Summer fashions, I will, instead, turn to my current wardrobe of seasonless clothes and clothes packed away for Spring/Summer, switching out the woolens for layered sets of cotton/acrylic T style tops, 3/4 length sweaters, sandals, etc. I plan on doing this by early April.

Image: http://www.weissmantours.com/images/2007US4BoysA1240.jpg

DH, and 2 older kids are on their own to determine "needs" although I know that DS #1 who has an April birthday, will be receiving some new pants and jeans that he needs. Peraps sneakers.

2 younger ones will try on everything they own (much to their chagrin) and then we "shop" in older DS's former clothes bins. A list is then generated to fill in any gaps. Shoes tend to hit the list quite frequently. Whenever possible, I alter clothes to extend wear (too short pants become shorts kind of deal), additionally, I am constantly mending to keep clothes in good condition.

Image: http://www.haltomthrift.com/portals/179/TFT_Inventory.jpg

Once a list is generated, I typically hit the second hand stores to address these gaps. Always buying new is cost prohibative at the moment. Besides, if a second hand item gets ruined, I am out alot less money than if I paid retail.

Trying something new: oat convenience mix

2012-02-26T07:19:00.002-08:00

Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JhjRiCyC_-o/R914-Gks59I/AAAAAAAAAdQ/k1W5stHAFNQ/s400/blondies+027.jpg
I'll be mixing up a batch of this oat based "bisquick" type baking mix and trying a batch of fig bars, using the jarred figs that are lurking in my pantry.

http://umaine.edu/publications/4029e/recipes-4/

Cost comparison: homemade vs bought cocoa mix

2012-02-26T07:12:00.003-08:00

During the Winter months, the kids have cocoa in the morning. I buy it at Aldi's (the non marshmallow variety), spending $1.19 for a box of 10 packets or 12 cents a serving.

I recently returned to a great website for information on homemade convenience recipes, and noted there is one for cocoa mix: http://umaine.edu/publications/4029e/recipes-5/

I priced out the mix, using sugar (19 cents), instant milk (23 cents), cocoa powder (96 cents). This totals $1.06 for 6 servings or 18 cents/serving.

Aldi's remains a cheaper option for me, although the commercially prepared stuff does have ingredients I'd rather avoid.

It's turkey day

2012-02-26T06:34:00.003-08:00

Image: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/images/1139_golden_roasted_turkey.jpg
Turkey isn't just for Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is a very economical and versitile meat to serve. I've defrosted what I believe is my last whole turkey, to roast this afternoon. I simply look at a whole turkey as a large chicken, I am not intimidated by it.

Sides will be oven baked sweet potatoes, salad with choice of dressing, homemade pan gravy, cranberry sauce (my last commerically made can-we moved to homemade and canned), broccoli.

This turkey will provide soup stock, 1/2 a breast to be frozen for future sandwiches, sandwich fillings for this week, cubed meat for future meals including tacos this week, sliced/cubed in homemade gravy for a "frozen asset" meal

Sunday breakfast

2012-02-26T06:25:00.002-08:00

I used the marked down loaf of store brand "wonder bread," some instant milk, 2 eggs, cinnamon, vanilla to make a large batch of French toast (18 slices in total). I also mixed up a batch of Mapeline pancake syrup (1 cup water, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 tsp maple extract). Simple sugar syrup, no HFCS or chemicals.

Sides are bacon (sale), fried egg per person (Aldi's), OJ and Coffee (same).

I figure that this cost me well under $10 and will provide extra (I hope) for a quick breakfast tomorrow morning for the kids. In past years, we would have been at the local, Greek diner for Sunday bfst, spending well over $70 for the pleasure to do so. While it's nice to eat out, there are no dishes etc. I just can't rationalize spending that kind of money, even if it was only* once a month (we used to go weekly before I said to drop it to once/month). Obviously, we haven't returned in a very long time.

It's pizza again

2012-02-26T06:20:00.003-08:00

Just me and 2 kids last night so I offered to make pizza instead of soup (very windy out and we have a drafty home, so putting on the oven was a good thing). I used up the other 1/2 of my opened pint of homemade pizza sauce, more of the lurker, shredded, Cheddar cheese that I had originally planned on using for homemade mac n cheese but that got switched out for the boxed stuff in the pantry. I also used some block Mozzarella that I paid $1 for. Saturday's version had Pepperoni, onion and mushroom. It came out really good. I made a pizza party out of it and served root beer soda as a treat.

Major, Major shopping trip today!

2012-02-25T14:25:00.003-08:00

Image: http://images.agoramedia.com/everydayhealth/gcms/pg-living-with-pain-easier-tasks-08-full.jpg
After 3 weeks of shopping for only jugs of milk, and 1 doz eggs, I went shopping today for the March stock up. Here's what I got:

Store #1: Aldi's:
1 12 ct pack toilet paper, 2 jugs scoopable cat litter (tallied separately), 10 lbs potatoes, 2 lbs wild caught salmon fillets, 8 boxes tissue, 6 lbs yellow onions, 6 cans ck lite tuna, 2 lbs stick margarine, 1 tub soft margarine, 1 lb butter, 6 12 oz cans fzn oj, 2 64 oz each: apple, cranberry, ruby red juices; celery, 1 lb Deli smoked ham, plastic wrap, 2 3 ct pkgs Romaine hearts, 3 3 ct pkgs gum, 20 lbs sugar, 3 cans beets, 6 lbs carrots, 2 qts 1/2 and 1/2, 6 lbs apples, 2 375 ct pkgs swabs, 1 box sandwich baggies, 2 8 oz pks mushrooms, 2 cans mandarins (on list, wasn't planning on getting any but saw them selling @ 55/can!), 2 jars manzanilla green olives, 1 lb block of Cheddar, 8 oz Deli sliced Munster, 8 oz Deli sliced Colby-jack, 2 bottles lite soy sauce (99 cents!), 6 cans pink salmon, 5 boxes cocoa packets, 4 gallons 1 % milk, 4 doz eggs, 1 wedge Parmesan, 1 pkg sliced Pepperoni, 2 lbs br sugar, 1 box "ritz" crackers, 1 box saltines, 2 boxes cheese crackers, 2 pkgs Amer cheese singles, 2 42 oz canisters oats, 2.75 lbs bananas, 1 pkg hotdog buns.

I spent $180.93.

Store # 2 Shoprite:
2 40 oz bottles ketchup, 4 cans BB albacore tuna, 2 cans pineapple juice, 25 lbs unbleached AP flour, 2 pkgs Knorr noodle mix, 4 lbs popcorn kernals, large pkg of split chicken breasts (79/lb cpn sale), 4 lbs Navel oranges, 2 lbs strawberries, tub of soft margarine (a freebie after cpn), bacon, 2 Swiss yogurts, eggs, 3 pkgs of Deli meat ends: 2 are ham (thinking deviled ham salad this week), one has 2 ends of Genoa salami and some Panchetta at $2.79/lb!), 2 lbs fzn Tilapia (cheaper than Aldi's), a box of Sea Pack Tilapia tenders ($3.49 after sale and cpn), 5 marked down tomatoes at 99/lb.

I spent $61.01, saved $9 in coupons.

Store # 3: Xpect Discounts
2 Speed stick Deodorant for Men (BOGO cpn), FL Naturals Ruby red juice, organic baby spinach, large tub organic mixed baby lettuce greens, 15 lbs bread flour 2 bars Oil of olay soap, lady's shave gel, non pareils, 2 pkgs cupcake liners, 2 41 oz cans pork beans, 2 28 oz cans baked beans, 2 30 oz bottles dish soap, eyelash curler (I wasn't going to spring for one, but found one that is the same company as makes my nail clippers, tweezers and they are designed for people with hand issues. Only $2.05 vs the Cover girl one @ over $6); wedge Parmesan, marked down bunch of Romaine, 2 marked down bags of mange tout peas, parsnips, pair of boot laces for DS # 1, bacon, 2 lbs red onions, 2 lbs fzn Whiting.

I spent $57.68, saved $5.54 in coupons

Store # 4: Stop and Shop
1 each: marked down rye bread, marked down large sandwich rolls, marked down sub rolls, marked down "cheap" white bread (french toast tomorrow); 2 qts low fat vanilla yogurt, 10 lbs sugar, 4 cans pineapple chunks in juice, 2 cans chili with beans, 3 2 l bottles soda, 2 boxes granola bars, 1 box decaf tea bags.

I spent $32.86, saved $9.70 in coupons.

March grocery totals:

Spent: $ 323.99
Coupons: $24.24

Recipe share: Tropical delight parfait

2012-02-25T04:53:00.001-08:00

From Mennonite Girls can cook:

http://www.mennonitegirlscancook.ca/2012/02/tropical-delight-parfait.html

Changing the menus again

2012-02-24T16:00:00.001-08:00

Just me and the 2 younger kidlets for supper tonight, so I dropped the idea of salmon cakes and made a simple onion-mushroom pizza from scratch, using the rest of my fresh mushrooms (forgot to add them to Thurs stew) and a 1/2 of a leftover onion. Came out really good. Rainy, raw out, it was a good call to heat up the oven.

Saving buttons, and pennies, too

2012-02-24T15:29:00.003-08:00

DS # 1's thrift store purchased, Gap cargo khaki's finally died. I've mended them several times, it's time to say goodbye. Before I toss clothes out, however, I am always sure to salvage any sewing notions possible, in this case, several, large, beige buttons that are commonly used to close the top of a pair of pants. Nice freebie.

Egads!

2012-02-24T14:58:00.002-08:00

Image: http://fortydayznfortynites.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/heating-oil-delivery.jpg?w=460
$839.25 was how much I spent to have our oil tank filled today. Now if I can sneak thru to April? I doubt that, so I may do a top up (just order say $200 worth) in a few months for chilly, Spring days.

Thursday's crockpot stew

2012-02-24T13:55:00.001-08:00

Was absolutely delicious, and provided some luncheon leftovers.

Lenten meal: mac and cheese

2012-02-22T16:39:00.000-08:00

I had the best of intentions of making homemade macaroni and cheese for supper this afternoon. Unfortunately, I didn't have a good night's rest and needed to take a short nap this afternoon. So, I went with plan B, which accomplished another goal: using pantry items up. These are the last of my packaged macaroni and cheese.

A lb bag of Angel Food sugar snap peas (love these!)steamed in the microwave with a pat of margarine, some seasoned salt.

Here's my dinner plate.

Planning ahead with crockpots

2012-02-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

Thursday always seem to be crazy days for me, work is usually followed by 2 back to back meetings. I often turn to my crockpot as a result. Tomorrow's supper is now prepared and chilling off in the cellar fridge. Come morning, all I have to do is set it on low and forget it. I used a lurking, gifted to me packet of chicken gravy, seasoned with a bit of extra black pepper as my stew base.

I baked off a 12 count tray of homemade chicken meatballs, using only 1 lb of ground meat, homemade breadcrumbs, spices, egg, milk, white worcestershire. They came out nicely in the oven, very lean, no real fat in the baking tray after they were cooked.

My crockpot was filled first with a slew of this and that for veggies: 4 tiny, old potatoes were peeled and sliced (I am officially completely out of fresh white potatoes but do have sweet potatoes on hand (I had forgotten about them), my last 2 cans of sliced white potatoes were drained and tossed in, a good sized handful of Swiss chard stalks were cut up (I use it like celery),2 small sprigs of celery were cut up (the end of the celery) 1 regular sized carrot was peeled and cut, about 1/3 of a lb bag "baby carrots" were added in (the end of the carrots), 3/4 of a large onion was chopped, 2 good sized parsnips (one a bit long in the tooth) were peeled and cut up, a can of crash and burn kitchen cut Gr Giant green beans were drained and added, a large bay leaf topped it off. I topped the layered veggies with the meatballs, poured the chicken gravy over the top.

I plan on baking off a tube of 67 cents out the door Grand biscuits to accompany this stew, which I am pretty confident will be delicious.

Quick and easy: creamed tuna on rice

2012-02-22T02:27:00.000-08:00

This was my "fish on Mon" meal, moved to Tuesday. Sides were green bean saute, leftover fruited coleslaw.

Making a list, checking it twice

2012-02-20T12:50:00.000-08:00

Image: http://img4.realsimple.com/images/1107/grocery-list_300.jpg

I'm getting ready for my big end of the month, stock up shopping trip for March this upcoming Saturday. It'll be 3 weeks since I did a mini shop, with picking up milk, and today a doz eggs, to get us through.

I am planning my stops, to include Shoprite (need to return a 4 pack of tuna @ $6.99 that DH got when I wanted 4 individual cans @ 99 each). I also have my soda/beer bottles/cans to go back (that'll probably be Stop and Shop), a peak into Xpect also for produce, but ALdi's will probably be my largest expenditure.

My list so far:

seasonal fruit (need to stick to $1.50 or less/lb)
seasonal vegetables
Swiss chard-2 bunches organic
bananas
large bag (2 lbs?) popcorn kernals
organic baby spinach-1 tub
10 lbs potatoes
5 lbs carrots
parsnips-1 pkg
mushrooms-1 8 oz pkg
cucumber-1
cabbages-2
lettuce-2, 3 ct pkgs Romaine hearts
1 large bin of organice, baby lettuce greens
6 lbs yellow onions
4 tomatoes (if domestic and look decent)
Parmesan-2 wedges
qt vanilla low fat yogurt-2
Cheddar-1 lb
American slices-2 pkgs
Presliced sandwich cheese-2 pkgs (thinking Munster, Colby)
Presliced Deli ham in tubs-1 pkg
butter-1
stick margarine-2
tub margarine-1
1% milk-4 gallons
1/2 & 1/2 quarts-2
eggs-4 dozen
tissues-8
toilet paper-1 12 pack
swabs-1 500 ct pkg
dish soap-1 bottle
42 oz canister quick oats-3
lite soy sauce-2
coffee-1 35 oz
green olives-2 jars
ketchup-2, 24 oz no HFCS bottles
ginger ale, cola-1 2 liter each (for sick tummies)
Asian frozen stir fry veg kit-1
white sugar-25 lbs
brown sugar-2 lbs
AP flour-25 lbs
Bread flour-25 lbs
bacon-1 (if under $3.50/lb)
salmon fillets (fzn)-1 pkg
canned salmon 15 oz -6
albacore tuna-6
cocoa instant packets-5 boxes of 10 ct each
juice (apple, cranberry, ruby red, etc)-2 each
OJ-8 fzn concentrate
cheese crackers-2
plastic wrap-1
sandwich baggies-1
scoopable cat liter-2 jugs

What am I NOT getting that's "on the list"?

-walnuts ($$$$-and we're using the free to me SC pecans)
-Greek yogurt(sticking with the regular stuff that's 50% cheaper)
-individual cups of yogurt (usually cheapest to buy the quart tubs)
-men's deodorant(they'll have to use the unisex scented ones in the cabinet first)
-Men's body wash (move to bar soap or use the more unisex scented body washes in cabinet)
-eye lash curler (mine died, I can live without)
-kitchen scrubbie pads (returned to using dish rags. Already paid for, so avoiding an expense)
-bird seed (sorry birds, times are hard)
-salt pork (I have reserved bacon fat in the fridge for flavoring, as well as 1 lb of bacon on hand. A little can go a long way, flavor wise)
-fzn meat ravioli and fzn meat tortellini(used up what I had, there are still cheese versions of both in the freezer. Once those are gone, that's it for a while)
-stuffing shells, lasagna noodles(made up trays of both and they are now frozen assets in the chest freezer. no urgency to restock the pantry with these noodles.)
-Ovaltine (pricey, we used up what I had. Moved to Aldi's cocoa for the kids in the morning. At about $1/box, I get more mileage with Aldi's.)
-pimentos-a nice extra, not essential
-plain Panko (will have to settle for the Italian panko on hand or my homemade bread crumbs)
-canned mandarins (can do without, still will have other canned fruits on hand)
-canned kidney beans (using dried kidney beans or other types of canned beans already on hand)
-roast beef (need a decent sale)
-non pareil sprinkles (using what I already have-even if not "in season" although I've been successful keeping in theme)
-whole nutmeg (substituted Penzey's baking spice in my hot cross buns today, excellent results) this can wait
-Craisins(still have some left, as well as other dried fruits to jazz up my morning oats)

That hopefully is all this week. I have culled thru the coupon box, noting that there really are considerably less coupons in the box at the moment. Since I shop private label brands (esp Aldi's) that's OK. I usually save by using coupons for taxable nonfood items, which I need very little of this month.

What is glaringly NOT included above?
-meat beyond 1 tub of sandwich ham
-cleaning and laundry supplies beyond dish soap
-personal care items beyond swabs
-convenience foods
-many snack items beyond popcorn kernals, cheese crackers. (I plan on offering the crackers still in the pantry, along with the bag of pretzels, and 3 bags of multi grain nachos (we also have salsa on hand)for snacks this next month, to supplement my home baked goods such as banana bread, muffins, cookies, etc)
-baked goods (make my own)

Fish Fry at St Rose of Lima, Newtown

2012-02-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

The Knights of Colombus are again hosting their annual Lenten fish fry dinners on March 2,16, 23 this year. $8 for adults, $5 kids (1/2 portion). Max per family, if attending the sit down dinner (not take out patrons) is $25. Good deal, and really high quality food.

With funds so tight, I am not sure that we'll be able to participate this year.

Lenten meals on a budget

2012-02-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

Image: http://isabellascloset.org/images/Monroe%20on%20a%20budget.jpg
Paula @ Monroe on a budget has a repeat posting of a great piece on alternatives to a more expensive, fish based meal for Lent:

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget/2012/02/monroe-news-column-lenten-but-budget-friendly-dinner-ideas/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=monroe-news-column-lenten-but-budget-friendly-dinner-ideas

Hey big spender!

2012-02-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

Spending big bucks today: went to the local $$ IGA down the street to take advantage of LOL eggs on sale @ $1.88. Added a doubled 50 cent coupon, out the door @ 88 cents. I was out of eggs, so this was a great deal for me. i used pocket change to shop, too.

Freezer dig out for lunch

2012-02-20T07:54:00.000-08:00

I unearthed 3 12 oz bags of meat tortellini from the cellar fridge freezer, which will become lunch today, topped with some jarred marinara sauce. Intentional planned overs will become a quick lunch for kids at home from school tomorrow, while I am at work.

Lenten tradition: hot cross buns

2012-02-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

I have everything that I need to make my own hot cross buns for Lent today. Golden and regular raisins, eggs, spices, butter, (not pictured: bread flour, sugar), even 2 bottles of white glazing (super cheap after large coupons). Last year, when I first made these myself, I calculated the cost and compared them to what it costs to get them premade at the grocer's. I save 72% by making them at home, using my ABM for the dough and baking them off in the oven.

Very happy with the results, too.

Here they are, freshly baked. The house smells so good right now. : )

Trying something new: fruited coleslaw

2012-02-20T05:58:00.000-08:00

After surfing the net for "fruited coleslaw," I selected a recipe that would use ingredients I have on hand: cabbage, mandarins, pineapple, Miracle Whip (instead of mayo-trying to use this up!), honey, poppy seeds

Now mixed together and stored in a plastic tub in the fridge to allow time for the flavors to blend. Some versions call for coconut, which I do have, but I wasn't sure that would go over with the family and I am contemplating making an ambrosia later this week.

Moving the menus around: chicken nuggets

2012-02-20T04:38:00.000-08:00

Image: http://myfindsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/nuggets.jpg

Today is another day off from work for me, reality returns tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. Our Monday obligation is also cancelled so I am switching menus to take into consideration that I will be home and able to take longer to make supper tonight. The menu is for oven baked, homemade chicken nuggets/fingers made with whole wheat Panko crumbs, with choice of dipping sauce (ketchup, mustard sauce, Franks sweet chilli sauce, BBQ), buttered noodles, green beans and I am thinking of researching a fruited coleslaw that uses pineapple tidbits, mandarins for our side salad. Fresh produce on hand is scant to say the least, we are making do.

Use what you have

2012-02-19T10:37:00.001-08:00

My usual split pea soup calls for split peas, onion, carrots, a meaty ham bone. My fresh produce supplies are quite low right now, and I don't have a ham bone or even some cubed ham, so I've improvised. I started by using some frozen ham stock from the freezer, warmed it up and then added some additional water, 1/2 of an old onion from the fridge now minced, 1 carrot diced, 3 small old potatoes cubed up, some ribs from Swiss chard now diced (I use it like celery), a bay leaf, black pepper, 2 packets of Goya ham stock flavoring. Smells good, pretty colors, too.

Change in menus plans

2012-02-19T10:30:00.000-08:00

Today's dinner menu was supposed to be a beef roast, problem is, I miscounted the number of roasts I had in the freezer and the sales lately haven't been that great-never mind that I am trying not to shop this week. So . . . it was time to get creative. Since this was C.O.R.N. weekend, I chanced upon some BSCB that needed to be used up before it went bad. I cooked some of my ton of rice in stock that I pulled out of the freezer, topped it with a bag of broccoli florettes from Angel Food, topped the broccoli with the now cubed chicken, mixed 2 cans of lurking cr broccoli soup with 1 can of water and some black pepper and tarragon added to make a sauce. I then poured the sauce over the chicken, as evenly as possible. I then took some frozen shredded white Cheddar that has been lurking in the chest freezer (It's from Big Y-so I know I've had it for some time!)and sprinkled a generous amount of cheese over the top. It's now covered with Saran wrap and refrigerated until I need to bake it off, later today.

Very little tossed salad remains so I made a salad of grape tomatoes, chick peas, black olives, 2 small CSA organic onions (one purple, one yellow) now minced, marinated in some homemade balsamic dressing. Looks pretty good.

Nebraska dry bean commission

2012-02-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

Image: http://www.agr.ne.gov/ag_contacts/dry_bean.jpg

Image: http://www.agr.ne.gov/ag_contacts/dry_bean_commission.jpg
From the Nebraska dry bean commission: http://nebraskadrybean.com/# (not a ton of recipes, but some ideas)
From the Nebraska dry bean growers association: http://beangrower.com/Recipes.aspx

Idaho bean commission

2012-02-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

Image: http://bean.idaho.gov/images/logo.png
From the Idaho bean commission: http://bean.idaho.gov/recipes/recipes.cfm

CA dry bean board

2012-02-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

Image: http://www.calbeans.org/images/sub_10.jpg
From the CA dry bean board: http://www.calbeans.org/recipes.html

Michigan bean commission

2012-02-18T15:05:00.000-08:00

Image: http://clarke.cmich.edu/resource_tab/information_and_exhibits/michigan_cookbooks/images/michigan_bean.jpg

From the Michigan Bean Commission: http://www.michiganbean.org/recipes/

US dry bean council recipe link

2012-02-18T15:02:00.000-08:00

Image: http://design-mockup.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/usdrybean.jpg
From the US dry bean council: http://www.usdrybeans.com/category/recipes/breakfast-beans/

Today's baking

2012-02-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

I finally made the batch of Toll House cookies that I had been intending to make for several days now. Toss in a few back to back headache days-this got pushed. Glad they are done, made up 3 1/2 dozen. I used stick margarine, sale plus double cpn chocolate chips, gifted to us SC pecans.

I also was able to get the second box of strawberry cake mix that was gifted to us, made into a sheet cake, at one of my son's request vs cupcakes. I will use the rest of a tub of vanilla frosting and some red/white/pink non pareils to decorate it.

Still plenty of bread on hand for a few more days. I also want to make some Hot Cross buns this weekend.

Cleaning and organizing is free (almost)

2012-02-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

Today, I have 2 Xl loads of HE laundry out on the line, drying in the sun. It's cool (mid 40's) but I also hung out yesterday, and everything was dried come 5 p.m. when I brought it in. Washed in cold, well water using sale purchased plus cpn detergent.

The bathroom got a thorough scrub down yesterday, so all I want to do is run the shower curtains thru the wash and get those clean, too.

I also am organizing which tends to be a no/low cost project. I put the remaing paper napkins left over from last Summer's picnic season, into our napkin/silverware holder that sits out on the side board. It is next to a basket that held some cotton napkins, which we are used to using. I pulled all of my cloth napkins out of the china cabinet drawer and this basket and organized them into sets again, returning only the fanicer, Damask napkins to the china cabinet drawer and placing the sets of cotton napkins for everyday, into one of the sliding wire basket "drawers" of the sideboard. Easy access and the basket is now off the side board. It's a good thing. I also unearthed 2 smaller packages of Christmas print paper napkins, which are now in the napkin holder to be used up. While the bulk of my cloth napkins don't match our everyday dishes, I really don't care. This is a utilitarian, "go green" move on my part. When we first married, I did get napkins that matched a former dish set. Now it's a bunch of mostly thrift store purchased napkins. They work, the colors are cheery. : )

Once the napkins develop holes or fray beyond repair, or should they get terribly stained, then they become cleaning rags, if they are all cotton. I do have a pretty, floral print set of napkins but I know that they have a high polyester content and won't do for cleaning.

A previous post mentioned that I am keeping dish scrubbies and nylon sponges off of my grocery list for now, turning to my ample supply (found some more today as I was organizing, not realizing just how many I have!)of cotton dish rags. I corralled them together into a plastic bin, now stored under the sink for easy access. I change these daily. I am now using a dish rag to wash dishes, something that I grew up doing. While I like the yellow kitchen scrubbies, my cloth dish rags will have to do, with the additon of a bit of scouring powder, as needed, if not the use of a Brillo pad.

Should these all get trashed with such heavy use, I don't care. I will then just turn to my supply of cotton terry (former towels)rags. Works for me.

It's C.O.R.N. day

2012-02-18T04:53:00.000-08:00

Bits of this and that, leftover soup=Clean Out Right Now day here. No sense making my usual pot of soup today, when leftovers need to get cleared out.

Pictured is my supper tonight: leftover vegetable soup with additional peas and thin haricots verts added to the soup pot, a tossed salad with a bit of leftover coleslaw, dressed with bottled French dressing that was $1 out the door. Perfect.

Fish on Friday: beer battered fish fillets

2012-02-17T12:06:00.000-08:00

Here's my dinner plate tonight.

4 large, individually wrapped, previously frozen fillets of Swai, which will be turned into beer batter fish tonight. Not pictured is the jar of homemade tartar sauce that I made to accompany it.

My basket of aging potatoes, will be turned into oven fries.

Ingredients used to make a homemade coleslaw, now chilling off in the fridge, to allow the flavors to blend and mellow. I did sacrifice 1/2 of this upcoming Thursday's stew's carrots to add color to the cabbage.

Making substitutions: Bisquick mix

2012-02-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, I made up a batch of homemade bisquick, following this recipe from the Food Stamps Cooking club website: http://foodstampscookingclub.com/blog/category/baking-2/page/2/

Pretty simple to do, I've done so before. With groceries funds as tight as they are, I can't rationalize spending twice as much for a convenience item that I can easily make at home, using ingredients already on hand. I estimate that this 8 cup batch cost me about $1.25 make, which equates 78 cents for a 40 oz box of Bisquick. Getting Bisquick on sale plus a doubled coupon for under $2 is a feat, no way can I match 78 cents. So, homemade version it is.

Make your own sausage

2012-02-17T11:05:00.003-08:00

2, 1 lb bags of ground pork unearthed from the chest freezer and a 4 oz pkg of Penzey's breakfast sausage seasoning. I bought this spice mix in an effort to make my own sausage for less. I had forgotten about it in the hall pantry (eating down and unearthing things CAN be a good thing!). I am planning on mixing in this spice mix and then forming bfst sausage patties for tomorrow morning's bfst. If we end up not caring for the sausage, I figure that i can disguise it in a bfst quiche on Sunday.

I pais $2.49/4 oz bag of the spice mix. It requires 1 Tbsp spice per lb meat. This will make 8 lbs worth of sausage meat @ 31 cents/lb expense. It is noted on the package that alternative meats can be used (chicken, turkey etc) but the flavor will not be the traditional one expected.

It's worth a try!

A new snack idea: recipe share

2012-02-17T04:52:00.000-08:00

Image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Haj7rlK_VIg/TpxYSuF2rrI/AAAAAAAAAZc/mlAHcoY_ODQ/s320/mennonite%2Bgirls%2Bcan%2Bcook.jpg
From Mennonite Girls can cook:
http://www.mennonitegirlscancook.ca/2012/02/cinnamon-mapletoasties.html

This looks like an easy and very affordable snack

$279.61

2012-02-16T15:59:00.000-08:00

Image: http://www.ornamentsandmore.com/images/products/display/Budweiser.jpg

Image: http://www.ksl.com/emedia/slc/139/13998/1399830.jpg
A gallon of milk, a 6 pack of beer for tomorrow's beer battered fish fry brings my Feb grocery bill up to $279.61. While over the $225 from Jan's spending, I am still far below what our normal grocery budget is. I am trying really hard not to shop for 9 more days. We're running out of alot of basics now.

Using what's on hand: prunes

2012-02-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

A family favorite: prune coffee cake, using a circa 1930's recipe.

When there are more bills than income . .

2012-02-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

Image:http://www.crowcountryprimitives.com/cart/html/images/thymedishtowelset.JPG

everything is second guessed. Case in point: the kitchen scrubbie pads. This is my latest substitution: my supply of cotton dish rags. They are replacing sponges (store brand of course)

Image: http://ourohio.org/uploads/images/stories/home_gardens/keeping_safe/ks_sponges.jpg

the sponges replaced store brand, rectangular, 3 count packages of nylon encased kitchen scrubbies that were costing less than $1 each scrubbie. These were an alternative to what I used for years:

Image: http://m2.sourcingmap.com/smapimg/en/n/11d/kitchen-dishwashing-bowl-scrub-scouring-sponge-pad-cleaner-yellow-176219n.jpg

Image: http://pics.drugstore.com/prodimg/88950/300.jpg

The Dobbie kitchen scrubbies that escalated to $2 for one.

All purchases are being second and triple guessed. Instead of writing sponges on this month's grocery list, I am turning to my stack of cotton dish rags/cloths and my small basket of cut up terry towels for washing dishes, wiping down the counter, stove, etc. This is costing me nothing, and they are switched daily, washed in with the rags. Not an issue for me.

Tweaking the bills: cell phones

2012-02-16T09:31:00.001-08:00

Image: http://eastchapelhillobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/cell-phones-1vdbdu1.jpg

Tweaked yet another bill today: the Verizon phone bill. I long ago dropped our land line, no regrets doing so, saving $35+/month for a phone line we rarey used, since 4 of us had cell phones. All long distance calls have been made on cell phones for years.

Next to check over was our cell phone bill. We have 5 phones tied together on this account, using just over 1/3 this current month, of the allowable minutes in my billing package. I called and asked if I could drop that down to a cheaper plan, maintaining all of our current features (unlimited text for example). Starting with my new billing cycle on 3/8/12, I will be at this lower minute plan, saving $20 plus taxes on that $20. This is over $240/year so yes, I'll take it, thank you very much.

Since I had a customer rep on the phone, I checked when each of the 5 phone lines contracts are "up" for renewal. 2 of the kids phones are "open" and can be changed now, mine will be on April of this year. It's not until Nov of this year that the "house cell phone" that replaced the landline will be open and DH's not until Jan of next year. This information is useful in planning what company to switch to (should research prove that this is the way to go), what plan to keep, etc. as time moves forward.

So $20 from this simple change in plan minutes on the cell bill, $8 in a change in our newspaper subscription is netting me an extra $28 plus tax added back to my monthly budget. I like where this is heading. : )

today's baking

2012-02-16T09:04:00.001-08:00

2 freshly baked, 2 lb loaves of white bread made in my ABMs. i find that a loaf lasts 2 days if I am lucky.

Seeking alternatives

2012-02-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

The fruit bowl is removed from the kitchen table, freshly washed and stored away as we are out of fresh fruit of any kind now. Since I am desperately trying not to grocery shop for another 9 days, I have placed 2 cans of fruit in the fruit bowl's place, to temp snack seekers. I also have dried fruits which we tend to use in oatmeal and a ton of home made fruit preserves. Fruit will remain in our diets, just in alternative forms.

Monthly inventory: canned soups, fish

2012-02-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Is-jjlIfEog/R7-oeRFNvaI/AAAAAAAAAWE/2RZZff01Gxg/s1600/Canned_Fish_00028_resize.jpg

I managed to get 9 cans of fish and 11 cans of soup out of our stockpile this past month, leaving me with the following:
tuna 2
crab 1
chopped clams 7
salmon 15 oz pink 2
salmon 8 oz red 3
sardines 4

Image: http://www.harisingh.com/Images/hscampbells.jpg

Soups:
cr mushroom 13 (bulk was gifted to us)
golden mushroom 1
cr broccoli 3
cr celery 4
tomato 8
ck noodle 7
ck rice 2
oyster stew 5
bean with bacon 3
beef barley 3
potato broccoli cheese chowder 1

gravy:
chicken 4
beef 2

Monthly canned goods inventory: veggies/fruit

2012-02-16T08:26:00.001-08:00

Image: http://change-production.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/wordpress_copies/food/2010/10/canned-veggies.jpg
My new monthly menus are done (March 2012), and I am double checking my stockpiles to see what if anything needs to be added to the stockup grocery list for the 25th. In Jan, I did an intensive inventory of commercially and home canned goods on hand. this month's version will be more condensed:

Canned veggies
Gr beans 20 + 2, 28 oz
Gr gr beans 8 + 3 28 oz
Wax 13
Limas 4
Zuke with tomatoes 2
kernal corn 7
creamed corn 18
yams 3 29 oz, 3 40 oz
white potatoe 2
pintos 7
navy beans 7 + 1 40 oz
black beans 10
kraut 1
chilli with beans 1
cranberry sauce 1
chick peas 4
black bean-mango organic chilli 5
rotel tomatoes 4
enchillada sauce 4 28 oz + 2 Mexican style soups
black olives 4
artichokes 1
salsa 4
28 oz tomato sauce 15
28 oz plum tomatoes 18
home canned tomatoes: 22 pints, 23 quarts, 9 pizza sauce, 11 taco sauce, 8 tomato sauce
tomato paste 1 6 oz, 8 12 oz
sloppy joe sauce 2
spaghetti sacue 4
alfredo 128 oz baked beans 2
29 oz peaches 17, + 3 15 oz, + 2 gingered peaches, + 5 24 oz
29 oz pears 3
mandarins 1
pineapple (crushed/sliced/chunk/tidbit)14
homecanned apple sauce 4 pints

Additionally, I have a ton of home canned jams, apple and blueberry pie filling, cranberry sauce, rhubarb sauce, relishes, pickles and pickled vegetables

Freebie: Stayfree sample

2012-02-16T07:30:00.000-08:00

Image: http://mommywantsfreebies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/stayfree-ultra-thin.jpg
https://secure.startsampling.com/sm/stayfree102018/captureAddress.iphtml?item=102018&source=ba-stayfree

NK Hurst beans: recipe share

2012-02-16T04:47:00.000-08:00

Image: http://www.hurstbeans.com/system/images/5/original_15%20HB%20small%20cropped.jpg
Here's a link to NK Hurst beans's website with a ton of bean based recipes; they even have a bean blog:

http://www.hurstbeans.com/recipes

Totally money: menu planning for dummies

2012-02-16T04:10:00.000-08:00

Image: http://www.totallymoney.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/menu-planner-300x300.jpg
A good post on menu planning: http://www.totallymoney.com/blogs/menu-planning-dummies/

Thursday casserole: pate chinois

2012-02-16T03:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the baked off casserole and the rest of my salad that I decided to serve vs a coleslaw as originally planned. I normally serve this with an apple-raisin coleslaw, but I have no apples.

2 1 lb pkgs ground beef (from marked down)defrosted, some of the small onions I got off of the "freebie"table at the CSA this Nov. I do have several, X large fresh onions remaining, but figure it's best to use these stragglers up first.I'm making a pate chinois, a French-Canadian version of Sheppard's pie. Also on the menu is homemade coleslaw.

My basket of fresh potatoes, these are starting to go, and I planned this casserole to accomplish this goal. Use it up before it goes bad. Still stretching out the time between grocery shopping trips, hoping to make it until next weekend, the 25th-another 9 days of no shopping other than fresh milk

Update: I forgot that I need fresh potatoes for tomorrow's fish n chips, so I put the spuds back, and used some gifted to us instant potatoes instead.

2 cans of crash and burn creamed corn @ 57 cents/can. Long gone are the sales @ 4/$1 or 3/$1, normal everyday price 50 cents. Store brand corn now sells normally @ $1.09/can.

A frozen assets day

2012-02-15T03:51:00.001-08:00

Swiss Chard sauteed in butter and seasoned with salt, pepper

Vegetable lasagna

Simple salad of Romaine, cabbage, carrot, grape tomatoes

An easy day, meal prep wise, for me today. I will be pulling one of the frozen lasagnas I made a while back, out of the chest freezer and having older DS bake it off while I attend a religious obligation late this afternoon. In the meantime, I will prep a tossed salad, and get the Swiss chard ready to be sauteed when I get home tonight. Supper will be almost done and waiting for us, upon our return. Planning ahead like this saves me time and money.

Knobby apple coffee cake

2012-02-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

A double batch of Bisquick classic coffee cake with some about to expire apples, peeled and chopped, added on top of the batter before topping with the streusel crumb. Smells wonderful, and will be a great snack if not bfst cake in the morning.

Staying on top of paperwork and taxes

2012-02-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

Image: http://www.cvbrownhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/know-about.jpg

Image: http://cdn.smartonmoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/tax-changes-2011.jpg
As of 9 a.m. this morning, my taxes are at the CPA's. We are in for a large refund, so this is a good thing.
Keeping up with paperwork right now, means increased cash flow, a good thing. I am trying to be vigilent about follwing up on medical insurance reimbursements as well. There always seems to be a glitch of some sort. @@ I communicate with them about once/week re: status updates, new issues, etc. I got super organized during Christmas break and I moved an old, 2 drawer filing cabinet next to my desk. I now have my files at my fingertips and can easily access my file for insurance issues.

Coupon Mom's offerings

2012-02-14T07:48:00.001-08:00

In the past, I have always used coupons, saving on average $45 and up each month. Shopping thru Angel Food and Aldi's has reduced my use of coupons, yet I still do use them. I checked coupon Mom's offerings today,and printed off some coupons for basics: juice, sugar, canned chilli (a convenience treat item to be sure). While not an extreme couponer, they do save me money, especially on taxables.

Purex detergent sample

2012-02-14T07:22:00.000-08:00

Image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xE_EtVdJFBk/TP2vfzRZCMI/AAAAAAAABaE/fi0WoJz79n4/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-12-06+at+8.49.30+PM.png
From fun being frugal, click on the image of the Purex detergent, watch a mini video and a link will come up to fill in your contact info. Get a sample of reg Purex or the new ultra packs. You can also decide to get a coupon instead

http://funbeingfrugal.com/free-sample-purex-or-purex-ultra-packs/

Crockpot Tuesday: meatloaf

2012-02-14T05:05:00.001-08:00

Here's my dinner plate

A beef-turkey meatloaf baking in the Crockpot all day. It comes out nice and moist, this conserves energy, too vs using the electric oven. I added homemade whole wheat bread crumbs, eggs, instant milk reconstituted with water, freshly grated Parmesan, spices. No celery as my last few sprigs will be used for chicken salad, no fresh onion as I am conserving what few I have (so I substituted minced, dried onion), no green pepper (some strips are in the freezer down cellar but I am being lazy. Peppers bother me anyway and this large meatloaf will be used in sandwiches later this week, so I am avoiding a GERD flare up). I topped the prepared meatloaf with the tsp or so of steak sauce that came out of the upside down A1 bottle, as well as the last 1/4 cup or so that came out of the Lea and Perrins steak sauce bottle. Used both up, the bottles are rinsed and recycled. I then "went shopping" down cellar and brought up one of my 2 spare steak sauce bottles.

Sides will be instant potatoes that were gifted to us (will doctor them up with milk, butter, salt, pepper, onion powder, light sour cream, chive), a doctored up mushroom-onion brown gravy using a 1/2 of a fresh onion in the fridge, about 4 oz sliced fresh Aldi's mushrooms, and 2 cans of beef gravy (one was gifted to us, the other is a crash and burn find); canned beets and leftover, CSA, organic butternut squash. I have several commitments this afternoon, returning home about 5:30. Finishing supper off will be a quick task, due to my preplanning.

Fish on Monday: salmon

2012-02-13T04:07:00.000-08:00

here's my supper plate tonight

For health reasons, we moved to fish twice a week, well over a year ago. Affording it has been a challenge, however. I often turn to canned salmon, much preferring wild caught Alaskan, red sockeye varieties. Today's version uses pink salmon, still wild caught AK. Much of the farmed versions have pink dyes added to make them look more "salmon like" which is off putting, to say the least. I paid approx $2/can for this salmon, which I could easily get about 1 1/2 ago @ $1-$1.50/can. Like everything else, prices have climbed yet this remains a good alternative to "fresh" (often just thawed frozen) from the fish dealer. I'd much rather just buy my own fzn fillets if that's the case, and save some pennies in the process.

Today's menu will be creamed salmon over boiled potatoes, fzn petit pois, green salad. Quick and easy.

Sunday supper

2012-02-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

Here's the cooked supper. See older post for how to, step by step recipe.

Our daily bread

2012-02-12T11:43:00.001-08:00

One 2 lb loaf of white, one 2 lb loaf of honey wheat bread. Best part, I did it at home, using ingredients on hand. No shopping this week, if at all possible.

Making Swiss Steak

2012-02-12T09:48:00.000-08:00

tonight's supper uses some cubed steaks that I got on marked down and froze. After defrosting them, I made a mixture of all purpose flour and seasoning salt. I dredged the beef while melting some margarine in a skillet

I browned the beef on both sides, cooking in stages as I have 7 cubed steaks

I placed the browned meat in a slow cooker

I added additional margarine to the skilllet that now had tons of crusty, brown bits at the bottom-great for my sauce. I fried 1/2 of a sliced onion, about a cup or so of mixed red and yellow pepper strips from the freezer, 2 sliced cloves of CSA organic garlic

I placed the cooked vegetables on top of the beef

I drained the juice of the 29 oz can of stewed tomatoes into my skillet, and placed the drained tomatoes on top of the veggie mixture.

Using a wire wisk, I deglazed the pan thoroughly

The tomato juice was added to the slowcooker, along with additonal black pepper and some dried basil.

I also added a nice slosh of red wine. This will cook all day in my brand new, never used with instruction booklet, Thrift shop Westbend multi-purpose cooker. Some nice lady paid $41.60 with shipping thru Blair back in the day. What I like about this particular unit (besides it just screams 1970's) is that the cooker rests on a Teflon mini griddle-perfect for grilled cheese, a few eggs,burgers, etc.

tonight's dinner will be served over buttered and seasoned medium egg noodles, with a side of thin green beans thru Angel Food. Some months back, there was a shortage and the following month, AF replaced the items but also gave me an extra 9 bags (1 lb each) of fzn green beans. These, coupled with my garden produce, have been lurking in the chest freezer so I've made menus surrounding them, to use them up. Space is definately opening up,so I know that I am reaching my goals.

Planning ahead: Sunday supper

2012-02-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

After supper I gather my ingredients for the next day: I now have 2 smaller packages of cubed steaks thawing, I grabbed a large can of stewed tomatoes, and 2 jars of medium egg noodles, I also placed a bag of thin green beans in the upstairs freezer. Done, I have what I'll need.

Here's today's supper

2012-02-11T15:28:00.001-08:00

A simple supper, perfect on a cold night. See older post for how I made this

Working on St Pats theme

2012-02-11T09:56:00.001-08:00

I know that most, if focusing on a holiday, are thinking Valentine's Day. I've already got a plan (see older post) and have been focusing my attention on the month to come, March.
-My menus are set (see older post)and I already have a corned beef on hand, check.
-I made my own soda bread, using everyday ingredients already on hand, check.
-I will need fresh carrots, cabbage, potatoes, these are already on my grocery list, check
-St Pat's themed dessert for the kids? I've reviewed the ever dwindling yet still bountiful, hallway linen closet turned pantry closet for dry goods, and I have 9 white/vanilla/yellow cake mixes (as well as 1 each carrot, devils' food, spice cake mix)that will work nicely as either a sheet cake or cupcakes, which have been the latest and greatest here lately.
-Frosting? I will most likely use up the rest of my vanilla/white tub frosting this weekend when I make a batch of Valentine's Day cupcakes and the 2 remaining tubs in the pantry are both chocolate. No problem, I will mix up a batch of buttercream frosting, which I prefer anyway, using butter, XXX sugar already on hand.
-St Pat's sprinkles? I dug out my green Xmas sugar sprinkles (some were actually crash and burn), a bottle of white non pareils, a bottle of Wilson St Pat's themed green and white sprinkles. I also unearthed a bottle of green food coloring (an ancient relic I believe)so that tinting some of the frosting is an option. I also thought of using the white non pareils to stretch the Wilson St Pat's sprinkles. Either way, there seems to be ample on hand to decorate a cake/cupcakes as well as some homemade, basic sugar cookies.
-So dessert is set, check.

My list is forming for an end of February stock up shopping trip to Aldi's. I am hoping to hold out 2 more weeks before I do so.

Tweaking the newspaper bill

2012-02-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

Image: http://www.adrants.com/images/Newspaper_stack.jpg

For months, I have been tweaking every bill. Long gone are magazine subscriptions, except for those that are gifted to us. The local town "newspaper" was cancelled years ago, I found that I never missed it although I do read it on line, or at the library when I go.

Recently, I had to change my automated monthly cc payments and noted that the daily newspaper had inched up to $23.99 or $287.88/year. More than I care to pay for, although I've read a newspaper daily since I started to read. I do like the ads, the local news, the coupons, but tough decisions are currently being made.

I called customer service since I had to change my CC automated payment and I inquired about alternative delivery plans. I decided to go down to teh $15.99/month plan which will provide home delivery of the newspaper on Th, Fri, Sat, Sun. The Mon and Tues papers are so thin, and pretty much devoid of "news" that I don't think they will be missed at all. The Wed does contain the food section/recipes that I am interested in, but again, I can peak on line. Not everything is included on line, unless you pay for a full "on line subscription" so this is an experiment. I am hoping that, like with the local town newspaper, I will find that this is not a hardship to me at all. I will save $96/year or $8 month. It's worth a shot. There are also additional, lower cost, home delivery plans, the most radical for me, as an adjustment to what I am accustomed to, is to move to a Sunday only paper @ $8.99/month or $107.88/year, offering me a savings of $180/year over what I have had, or $15/month.

This new delivery plan is in effect starting next week, when I will not get a paper until Thurs. We'll have to see how it goes.

This week's grocery shopping

2012-02-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

Image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L6G77uYj5ec/ToqCTCbuKHI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/muQwtt4lbpI/s1600/shopping-cart.jpg

This is another no grocery shopping week, so the cart remains empty. I am already over what I spent last month (an incredible $225) yet at $264.99, I remain under 50% of my usual budget.

We will need a few gallons of fluid milk (a quick stop at the gas-convenience store which sells milk cheaper than at the IGA) and I need a 6 pack of cheap beer for Friday night's beer battered fish. That's it. We'll muddle thru, using what I already have on hand.

Valentine's Day baking

2012-02-11T05:48:00.000-08:00

Although I spotted some cute, Valentine's themed baked goods a few weeks ago at Aldi's, I resisted, keeping in mind my goals to use what's on hand, eat down our stockpiles. Today, I dug out what I am calling my Valentine's Day baking supplies. I found a strawberry cake mix (not my favorite but the kids like it) that was gifted to us, an extra tub (plus the opened one from the fridge) of white frosting-both purchased for 67 cents or so, "Xmas" red sugar sprinkles, hearts sprinkle mix, and a Wilson Valentine's Day assorted sprinkles canister (only paid 99 cents in clearance at Xpect-love it!). So, strawberry cupcakes with white frosting, decorated with assorted Valentine's Day sprinkles it will be as a treat for the kids.

Saturday soup

2012-02-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

Saturday soup day here, as usual. Light snow is falling, forecast downgraded from the original 3-6 to now 1-2 inches of snow but an artic cold front is still going to blast CT, sending temperatures plummeting. Hot soup will certainly be welcomed tonight. I started by taking my large container of chicken stock out of the fridge. I later removed the hardened layer of fat on the top before placing the stock into the soup pot.

I pulled out some soup ingredients: low sodium V8 juice, a pint of home canned organic CSA heirloom tomatoes (which I later returned to the canning shelf*), celery, the other half of an onion from last night, a wedge of cabbage,carrots,a frozen pkg of CSA organic chopped Kale leaves, a can of white beans, a pkg of fine egg noodles, a pouch of store brand chicken-noodle soup that has been lurking in the pantry (it was a crash and burn find @ 99 cents)I selected it really for the salty bouillon contained within

I then searched the fridge for any leftovers to incorporate, finding 2 soft tomatoes*, some cooked chicken (the rest is being turned into a chicken salad sandwich filling using the rest of my celery), a cup of leftover petit pois and pearl onions in an onion cream sauce, the leftover carrots from last night. Into the soup these went.

It is now simmering away. Smells wonderful, and will be served with a selection of crackers or perhaps a cooked tube of Grands biscuits that I got for 67 cents after sale and doubled cpn.

March 2012 menus

2012-02-10T15:36:00.000-08:00

Image: http://thepeacefulmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/meal-planner-foto.jpg
Mid month already, so time for my new month of menus, first looking over what is on hand, what we have in surplus, what needs to get used up. There is very little below that I must buy, 98% of what I will need, (outside of salad ingredients,cabbage which is normally a loss leader in March because of St Pat's, carrot which are usually cheap) is already on hand. We continue to eat down our stockpile, pantry and cellar shelves, including home canned goods, and our chest freezer. This is keeping my grocery bill quite low.

1- Crockpot Swiss steaks with stewed tomatoes over buttered egg noodles, green beans
2-broiled salmon, mashed potatoes, wax and green beans
3-homemade minnestrone soup, saltines
4-roast chicken, rice, sauteed kale with garlic
5-creamed tuna over buttered rice, peas
6-broiled teriyaki marinaded (use bottled) steak, oven fries, corn
7-linguini with Italian sausage crumbed into a meat sauce in homemade marinara, salad
8-crockpot ground turkey chilli with pintos, homemade corn bread
9-salmon cakes (use canned pink), coleslaw, green and waxed beans
10-homemade corn chowder using creamed corn, canned evaporated milk; oyster crackers
11-sausage-kale quiche, salad, steamed carrots
12-creamed salmon over boiled potatoes, green bean saute using fzn red/yellow/orange peppers, onions
13-ground turkey sloppy joes on homemade buns (use canned sauce), salad
14-hamburger and macaroni, salad
15-crockpot pork chops, sweet potato casserole (use canned yams), apple sauce, broccoli
16-tuna noodle casserols, salad
17-corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, homemade soda bread
18-roast turkey breast, mashed potaotes, cranberry sauce, Butternut squash
19-baked Tilapia, rice, coleslaw
20-planned overs: corned beef hash, baked beans, coleslaw
21-homemade mac n cheese (use fzn shredded, instant milk), salad
22- ground turkey meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots
23-salmon impossible pie (use canned red sockeye), salad, French green beans
24-homemade clam chowder, saltines
25-baked chicken thighs (shake n bake), rice, fried cabbage with bacon
26-crabmeat impossible pie using Havarti with dill, salad, green bean casserole
27-chicken-black bean enchilladas, corn
28-vegetarian linguini, salad
29-meatballs in gravy over egg noodles (make meatballs ahead),beets
30-baked Swai, rice, coleslaw, broccoli
31-homemade chicken rice soup, bread and butter

Trying something new

2012-02-10T14:56:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I am making a fish pie for the first time, for our Friday night fish night meal. I started by peeling and cubing some potatoes and setting them to boil until soft.

Meanwhile I took the 1/2 lb shrimp, 2 small fillets of salmon and 3 or so small fillets of Haddock out of the fridge (had thawed them) and I cut them into bite sized pieces, placing them into a Pam sprayed baking dish, which I later discovered was a tad too small.

I added a 1/2 of an onion, chopped and some parsley on top of the fish.

I then made a standard bechamel sauce using stick margarine and reconstituted milk for savings. I seasoned this with salt, pepper, Old Bay, dill weed. A splash of white wine would be a nice addition, perhaps next time.

I took the last bit of Cheddar we have on hand and I hand grated it before adding it to the white sauce I made. I did make a nice difference.

I then topped the fish/onion mixture with the bechamel sauce before topping it all with freshly mashed potatoes that I made with fluid milk, butter, salt, pepper, onion powder.

It's baking off in the oven, I first had to remove some of the extra sauce. The baking pan I needed is in the freezer. I'll know next time. : )

Tonight's dinner inspiration from England

2012-02-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

Here's my plate of fish pie with a side of steamed,baby carrots.

http://frugalincornwall.blogspot.com/2011/11/frugal-fishy-pie.html

Stretching meat with burgers

2012-02-09T15:31:00.000-08:00

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Yes, with BURGERS. Burgers normally use up quite a bit of meat. Easily 1 1/2 lbs for my family. It is much cheaper for me to use 1/2 a lb, or a third, for example and make a casserole, meat sauce over pasta, etc. To stretch meat for burgers, I do the following:

-opt for reduced price beef or stock up when it's on sale for $3.50 or less a lb (normally $5.49/lb locally)
-use ground chicken or turkey which i can easily get for $1.49-$1.99/lb on sale, sometimes also finding ground poultry breast meat on marked down
-add 1 beaten egg, a cup or so of homemade bread crumbs, seasonings, grated vegetables, spices and make the patties out of this mixture. I made 6 very generous sized burgers out of 1 lb ground turkey tonight.

Planning ahead: baked beans

2012-02-08T16:26:00.000-08:00

Dinner leftovers are packed away, my container for my lunch is prepared and refrigerated for tomorrow. Dishes done, so I turn my attention to tomorrow's meals and what prep I need to do. Ground turkey is now defrosting, dried navy beans are simmering away, the crockpot has all the other ingredients for my Crockpot baked beans:

No salt pork or bacon on hand so this batch will be vegetarian baked beans I guess. While I still have 3, 28 oz cans of baked beans on the shelf, there are no homemade containers in the freezer and all of the ingredients (minus salt pork/bacon) are on hand so a homemade batch it is. I'd rather save my canned beans as an emergency meal for now.

Tonight's pasta

2012-02-08T15:10:00.001-08:00

A quick green salad and penne rigati with homemade sauce. got home about 5:25, dinner on the table for 6. Perfect.

Wed-pasta day!

2012-02-08T12:28:00.001-08:00

A lb pkg of Italian chicken sausages now crumbled and browned along with a large,chopped onion, some chopped red and yellow peppers (move marked downs that I freeze as strips), chopped celery, organic CSA minced garlic. Using so many veggies really helps to stretch the 1 lb of meat that will serve 5 tonight, a few second helpings and most likely be my lunch tomorrow at work.

Added 1 29 oz can tomato puree and 1 29 oz can stewed tomatoes, spices, some beef bouillon.

I now have a nice, chunky sauce simmering for a few hours before it will be served on top of a lb of Smart taste penne rigati. Green salad on the side with choice of dressings.

No real cooking tonight

2012-02-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

Image: http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lshxcd9PaY1ql14hlo1_400.gif

Although homemade chicken pot pie was on the menu plans for tonight, it didn't make sense as this was a night when we get home at the dinner hour and nothing was prepared ahead. I also still had a good bit of homemade beef-barley soup on hand and several leftover salmon burgers. So soup with optional sandwiches it was. Done, easy. : )

Fish on Monday: salmon cakes

2012-02-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

Homemade pink salmon cakes, using homemade bread crumbs, beaten eggs, grated carrot, Old Bay, pepper, diced minced onion and served on marked down, store bakery rolls topped with homemade tartar sauce. Homemade buttered noodles, leftover green beans.

Craft/repurposing share: crochet dish scrubbie

2012-02-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

Image: http://giftsgaloreandmore.undertherainbow.us/images/dishscrubbie.jpg
http://www.kaylaksthriftyways.com/free-crochet-pattern-dish-scrubbie-from-recycled-materials/

Too bad I don't crochet. Neat idea for repurposing!

Saving make-up

2012-02-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

Here is my saving make-up station: I combined the dregs of a slightly darker mineral face powder that I wear in the Summer, into a new container of the same. I now had a free container. I used a tea spoon and crushed the broken pieces of my powder blush, in order to save it. It started crumbling some time ago and now the bits are starting to fall into the sink. Wasteful, so I had to come up with a way to save it, before I open my Freecycled new blush.

Here's the new, ground rouge powder that I anticipate will take me at least thru this week, if not into next. I apply blush with a large make up brush, so this is not an issue (application that is)

This week's baking

2012-02-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

a
24 devil's food cupcakes, using a box mix out of the pantry, the rest of a tub of chocolate frosting, 1/2 a tub of vanilla. I used up several canisters of sprinkles including the Winter snowmen, sharks, pink sugar. I'm using these up, knowing that I have red, mini hearts and other Valentine's themed ones as well as green and St Pat's themed sugar sprinkles awaiting. Good to clear out the older stuff.

A box of Aldi's brownies mix, with free to me, SC pecans

2 loaves of pumpkin-pecan breads, using the aforementioned pecans and reserved juice from canned sweet potatoes instead of water

One 2 lb loaf of white bread. I got lots of marked down rolls the other day.

I'm calling this "baking" as it involves dessert. 2 pkgs instant piscachio pudding mixed with well chilled, reconstituted milk.

Product review: Aldi's all beef hotdogs

2012-02-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

In the past, I've only found cheaper types of hotdogs at Aldi's: chicken/turkey, with fillers such as soy, etc. I came across these all Beef, no filler type and decided to give them a try. I would rate them as comparable to Ball Park, although they are seasoned just a bit differently than those. Quite good. I am an admited hotdog snob, BTW. : )

This week's sandwich fillings

2012-02-05T13:08:00.000-08:00

I recently took advantage of a BOGO deal on Hillshire farms beef kielbasa, adding an additional large cpn on top. Since we're officially out of sandwich fillings, and these were cheap, I pan fried these and will slice them on the bias and serve on Rye with spicey mustard this week.

I also boiled up a doz eggs for egg salad this week.

tonight's roast chicken will be turned into sliced breast meat for sandwiches as well as cubed for chicken salad.

When we're out, I move to PB& J.

Sunday supper: roast chicken

2012-02-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

2 small fryers, stuffed together in one of my classic, blue enamelware roasters, seasoned with fresh lemon juice, Mrs dash's lemon pepper.

Sides will be AF fzn green beans, CSA organic butternut squash that I'll oven roast and then mash, chicken and herb seasoned couscous.

Simple tips to cut food waste

2012-02-05T05:39:00.001-08:00

Image: http://www.myessentia.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/13368_love_food_hate_waste.jpg

A good post on avoiding food waste for a smaller family, but the tips can apply to anyone:

http://www.totallymoney.com/blogs/cut-food-waste-simple-tips/

Recipe share: eggs

2012-02-05T05:20:00.000-08:00

Image: http://www.delish.com/cm/delish/images/oP/cookbook-eggs-1-lg.jpg
Here's a great link to a British site with egg recipes. Locally, eggs have been on sale (anything under $2/doz is a bargain)My pricey IGA for instance, has lg eggs on special starting tomorrow for $1.09/doz. Lots of eggs will be entering my menus, especially lunches.

http://www.eggrecipes.co.uk/

Saturday soup: beef barley

2012-02-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

Tonnight's supper is homemade beef barley soup with leftover homemade cornbread on the side.

Here's the amount of meat that I was able to get off of the 2 beef shanks I used. While not a ton, it was ample for our needs. Compared to what is typically found in canned soups, we came out ahead of the game!

Small grocery shopping week

2012-02-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Image: http://thegreenists.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/grocery-store.jpg
I was hoping for just a few gallons of milk in the shopping cart, but other items were added to my list of must buy this week, after I reviewed the local grocery store ads last night. A morning hair appointment brought me to the city, where I would be passing by Xpect and Stop and Shop. Here's what I bought:

Xpect:
2 3 lb bags apples @ $2.99, bananas @ 57/lb, cauliflower @ $1.99, 3 lb bag carrots @ $2.50, 4 lb cabbage @ 49/lb (really fresh, too), 2 gallons milk @ $2.89, Nivea after shave lotion for DS $5.59, 2 pouches cat treats @ $1.09, 2 canisters paper muffin liners @ 74 cents, 1 qt buttermilk @ $1.79, 2 pints USA grape tomatoes @ $1.50. Spent $2.32 on cats (tallied separately), $32 on food.

Stop and Shop:
1 pkg marked down bakery hamburger rolls $1.60, 2 pkgs store brand NE style hot dog rolls @ $1.50, 2 pkgs marked down store brand large sandwich buns (one wheat, one white)$1.67, 1 pkg marked down store brand wheat sub sandwich buns @ $1.74, 1 pkg marked down store brand rye bread @ $1.67, 2 pkgs OM beef no nitrates hot dogs @ $2.50, 1 bunch organic Swiss chard @ $1.99. I spent $18.45 on food.

Because of my big Aldi's stock up, I am already over what I spent last month. $264.94 to date. I still have a goal to keep this as low as possible from here on out to the end of the month.

Saturday soup/homemade beef stock

2012-02-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

I start making beef stock by browning some beef bones. I prefer to work with meaty beef shank bones that I pick up when marked down. I get the nice marrow bone as well as a bit of beef for a future soup.

Once the beef bones are browned a bit, I add a large, sliced onion, some slivered garlic. I cook these until carmelizing.

Cover with water and let simmer away until all of the marrow is disolved into the stock. Remove the beef bones, cut up the meat and return it to the soup pot. Add additional water as needed (V8 or tomato juice is also lovely), vegetables of one's choice.
Tonight's soup will be beef-barley, something we haven't had in some time.

Planning ahead for Sunday supper

2012-02-04T13:44:00.000-08:00

Local IGA has yearly anniversary sales and several years in a row, fryers have been on sale for the same number as the anniversary year. I recently cooked my 2 fryers from last years' 61 cents/lb sale, and tomorrow, I will be cooking the more recent anniversary sale fryers @ 62/lb. Since I normally cook at least an 8 lb oven stuffer roaster, 2 fryers are called for. The extra meat will be incorporated in sandwich fillings, soup, planned over dinner.

My 2 cheapo fryers are now defrosting for tomorrow.

Lenten seafood recipes from Stop & Shop

2012-02-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

Image: http://cdn.relish.com/11230-fettuccine-alfredo-shrimp-asparagus-mushrooms-seafood-lenten-relish__crop-landscape-534x0.jpg
Here are many recipes for Lent:

http://stopandshop.shoplocal.com/stopandshop/Default.aspx?action=browserecipecategory&storeid=2598917&recipecategory=16

Oil change

2012-02-03T15:52:00.000-08:00

Image: http://www.newfuturecars.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/2012-Toyota-Yaris.jpg

Asked DH to stop and pick up supplies that are needed to do an oil change on the economy car that I drive: oil filter and 5 qts of GTX oil were $23.30 out the door.

I wonder how much a dealership or local service center would have charged us.

Fish on Friday

2012-02-03T15:50:00.000-08:00

Quick and easy, on a night when I am really tired. Oven baked Aldi's Tilapia fillets, seasoned with Mrs Dash's lemon pepper seasoning; buttered rice, petit pois and baby pearl onions in cream sauce. Yummy!

Last minute rally

2012-02-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

Image: http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/7761/536994-ldwlogo_large.jpg

I got a phone call around supper time today, a co-worker called to tell me that our boss forgot to mention that tomorrow WILL be a fellow co-worker's last day with us. She had been filling in temporarily since August. Her last day has been in limbo for some time, and finally HR found a permenant replacement so the temp is no longer needed, although she had told HR that 2/3 was the absolute last day as she has sold her home and is relocating across country. She needs the next month to empty out her current home and move.

So, co-worker was calling to tell everyone that this IS the final day, and the boss wants to put together a farewell luncheon for TOMORROW! Ack! it's almost dinner time, I am up to my eyeballs helping kidlet with homework, finishing cooking dinner. Let me get back to you.

OK, pulled an angel food cake mix out of the pantry (a whopping $1-$1.25 there and only requires cold water-SOLD!), I also put together an Italian pasta salad using multi colored pasta (a freebie after cpn), some bottled creamy ital dressing, diced celery, sliced black olives, a rinsed and drained can of Roman beans, spices. Done-probably $1 to put that together.

So, I pulled the magic out of my chef's hat, and I can contribute 2 items to tomorrow's VERY impromptu lunch.

A busy week, what's been cooking

2012-02-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

Wednesday pasta day was Angel Food angel hair spaghetti with homemade marinara and homemade meatballs, side salad with choice of dressings.

Busy day at work, followed by a long meeting. Luckily, the crockpot helped me out for the second day in a row! No photo, but I made a ground turkey-pinto bean chilli using 1 qt of my organic, homecanned heirloom tomatoes. Option for shredded Cheddar on top. I made a double batch of my Southern cornbread, so planned overs for breakfast tomorrow, if it lasts the night!

Planning ahead: Sheppard's pie

2012-01-30T15:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the leftovers/planned overs from last night's Sunday supper: roast beef, gravy from the crockpot, fresh mashed potatoes. Not pictured is about 3/4 of a cup of canned corn.

I cut up the beef and ground it in the food processor, then placed the meat in a Pam sprayed, deep casserole dish.

Here is the ground meat with the leftover gravy mixed with some beef stock I had in the fridge, made when I deglazed a pan recently

I topped the beef mixture with some cut carrots, the leftover corn, 2 cut up parsnips, 1/2 of an onion, chopped; some fzn Angel Food haricot verts

The leftover fresh potatoes were added on top of the veggie layer, topped with a batch of instant (free to us)potatoes made with milk, butter, salt, pepper, onion powder.

Once the potatoes were smoothed out, I sprinkled Paprika on top for nice color.

Didn't take me too long to put this together. We are using up leftovers, and avoiding take out tomorrow when I walk in the door at the dinner hour. One kidlet is instructed to put the now chilling casserole into the oven for 5. A quick green salad and supper is on the table when I get home tomorrow.

Fish on Monday: salmon fillets

2012-01-30T15:48:00.000-08:00

Here are some salmon fillets that I bought at Aldi's last month, to try. I simply sprayed some parchment paper (actually used a sample piece tonight) with "Pam" then placed the rinsed fish on top. Squeezed some fresh lemon juice, then seasoned with a light touch of salt and pepper, followed by a good dose of dill weed.

Buttered white rice, leftover brussel sprouts and cauliflower, leftover beets.
Quick and easy as I had to get tomorrow's supper prepared in the meantime.

Today's freebies

2012-01-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

Through Freecycle, 2 bottles of Victoria Secret products: a shower gel and a moisturizing lotion. Nice.

Sample Crystal light energy drink plus a coupon.

Sunday supper: pot roast

2012-01-29T14:50:00.001-08:00

Tonight's dinner menu: crockpot pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed cauliflower (99/head @ Aldi's), canned corn. Planned overs will reappear on Tuesday. The house smells so good!

Product review

2012-01-29T14:43:00.000-08:00

Image: http://media.tecca.com/2010/12/07/black-and-decker-6-sheet-crosscut-paper-shredder-angleimage-320w.jpg

Yesterday, I bought a cross cut paper shredder at Aldi's for $19.99 plus tax. I had seen it in the ad, the price seemed good. While not branded Black and Decker as the image above shows, it would not surprise me if it was indeed made by B & D for Aldi's. Mine looks just like the B & D model.

I've been using it today, on and off to shred the sensitive documents that I recently purged from my filing cabinet. Nice to get this done, and the paper is now ready for recycling.

I definately recommend this shredder; if anyone was contemplating getting it, you won't be disappointed if you do.

Sunday roast beast

2012-01-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

About 4 months ago, I took advantage of a great sale at Shoprite on roast beef, buying several at the time (4-6, I don't recall exactly). I now have my last one out of the chest freezer for tonight's Sunday dinner and this Tuesday's planned over Sheppard's pie. A 4.5 lb roast, this will shrink some, but still provide plenty for 2 meals.

Roast beef is now on the ever growing grocery list. I won't buy any until I see a deal. Meanwhile, we continue to have a varied menu at home, using what is on hand, purchased at the best price possible.

This weekend's baking

2012-01-29T09:42:00.001-08:00

I used a box of Aldi's yellow cake mix to make up a batch of cupcakes, since the ones I made last week went over so well. I was able to use up the rest of a tub of white frosting before switching over and using about 1/2 a tub of chocolate. I also used up 3 canisters of sprinkles, and most of a 4th. Paring down my supplies is a good thing. Some of the sprinkles are just multi colored jimmies, there are non-pareils (my staple), some leftover Fall motif sprinkles, and finally most of the remaining canister of Winter themed snowmen.

A 2 lb loaf of white bread for PB & j sandwiches

A 2 lb loaf of honey wheat for lunches or toast for the beginning of the week

2 loaves of cranberry pecan bread. I am out of walnuts and even Aldi's is charging $6/lb. I am using my gifted to me SC pecans. They work just fine. : )

A tray of brownies, using an Aldi's mix, and the rest of my aformentioned walnuts. Until I can get a great deal, we're doing without them. Luckily, I have pecans to fall back on.