Wednesday, February 14, 2024

 


Do You Buy Food?
It doesn’t matter if you are single and living at home with your parents, or single out on your own, married with kids or without kids.  I can guarantee that 100% of you are going to eat food!  Even if you are not buying your own groceries now, there will come a time when you will be doing it.  It is a fact of life.  We must eat to live and since most of us don’t live on a farm and grow our own stuff, we will need to make a trip to the grocery store.

Right now, we are having some tough economic times swirling around us.  There may have been a time when we used to have some money leftover at the end of the month - now we have month leftover at the end of the money.  What can we do?  Well, the Bible says we are to be good stewards of what God has given us and to make wise decisions.  Let me show you one way to do that.

Each week we make decisions about what we are going to eat.  There are 3 kinds of shoppers.

 
·      The first type goes to the store and hope they see something that they want to buy to make for dinner or whatever.  They don’t have a list and buy whatever strikes their fancy at the time. 

·      Another type of shopper will plan ahead and pick a menu and then make a list of things they need at the grocery store and then go shopping.  They may see some sales and save a little money on their shopping trip. 

·      Or, we can do be like the 3rd type.  Instead of planning our menu first, we look at the store sales flyers first.  All the stores have their sales flyers on line, so we don’t even have to buy a newspaper.  Check over the flyers and see what meat is on sale - what vegetables are on sale, etc.  Then, look over your coupons - wait, you guys do use coupons, right? When you don’t use coupons on products that you actually buy - you are throwing away money. Most grocery stores have digital coupons on their website – you don’t even have to cut them out! 

We now have our list of ingredients made out according to the sales flyer and we have matched up our coupons to get the best deal.  But is it the best deal? Some of you may think that I have come from another planet when I tell you about my price book.  Before I buy something that I think might be a good deal, I check my price book.  For instance - maybe I need butter: 

Example:  (these are not real prices, just an example) Publix has it on sale for $2.00 a lb. - is that a good deal?  When I check the price book, I see that Costco sells 4 pounds of butter for $5.99 which means that one pound costs $1.50.  The sale at Publix is not a good deal.  It would be better to buy the 4 lbs. at Costco for a savings of $2.01.  The “upfront” cost is greater than buying just one pound but we have stocked up on butter and we won’t need it for a while - which means we won’t have to buy it again at $2.00 or whatever the price may be.  It does cost money to have a Costco card and that’s a decision that needs to be thought about carefully.  (Note: the membership fee is $60/year which works out to $5 per month.  I save more than that with the lower prices which makes it a good deal for me.) 

Sales and coupons not worth it? Here’s an example of my food purchases for one month.  My groceries cost $511.65 but I only paid $346.13 for a savings of $165.52.  That is just one month.  We don’t just purchase exactly what we need each week - we take advantage of sales to store up supplies for later use. For example: Quaker Instant Oatmeal is 3.89 a box.  A couple of weeks ago, Publix had a sale of buy 1 get 1 free.  So, I got 2 boxes for 3.89 which means I paid 1.95 per box.  That is a good price.  But, I also had 1.00 coupons.  I was able to use 2 of those coupons - even though one box was going to be free, they still accept a manufacturers coupon for it.  So, instead of paying 3.89 for 2 boxes of oatmeal, I paid 1.89 total for both boxes  - which means the price per box was only .95 cents.  So, the average person might pay 3.89 for one box of oatmeal and I paid .95 cents because I am paying attention to sales and coupons.  I bought several boxes that day and now I have a nice supply that will last me for a good while.

Where do we get these coupons?  Some are in the Sunday newspaper.  But if you don’t get the newspaper, there are websites online where you can print out just the coupons that you will use.  And, the store’s websites have digital coupons – you create an “account” and choose the coupons you want.  When you check out, you give your info and the coupons come off your total.  It doesn’t get any easier than that.

Some things are cheaper at Publix with their BOGO sales.  Some things may be cheaper at Walmart (for items that are not on sale at Publix).  And some things are cheaper at Costco.  But you won’t know it unless you do your research.  Meal planning, checking sales flyers, coupons . . .it does take time and requires planning ahead, but there is a reward – saving money! 

Saturday, January 13, 2024


 

BACON WRAPPED TURKEY







Around Thanksgiving, I read an article that Chef Gordon Ramsey wraps his turkey with bacon.  So, I decided to try it!

Ingredients: 


Turkey
Bacon (1 lb)
Butter (1 stick to 1.5 sticks)
Spices (I used onion powder, garlic salt and Italian seasoning) I didn't measure, just eyed it.


You will need a good size pan for the turkey.  Don’t forget to remove the stuff inside the turkey.



First, I put some butter under the skin.  (I used a butter knife to get the butter under the skin.)  Then I melted some butter and added onion powder, garlic salt and Italian seasoning and spread it over the top. 




 


 I put the turkey in the over for an hour.








I removed the turkey from the oven and completely wrapped it with bacon and then put the turkey back in the oven to finish cooking.



When it was done, the bacon was browned and the meat was moist.  It was probably the moistest turkey that I have ever made.  I will definitely do this again!






Monday, December 18, 2023

 


Do you have chickens?  Yes?  Welcome to the Backyard Chicken Club!  If your chickens are like my chickens, then they most definitely love treats.

Disclaimer:  Treats are not meant to be their total food supply.  Make sure they have enough feed and give the treats in small amounts.

Here’s what we give to our 10 girls:

1) Apples – poke a hole thru the apple (I cut mine in half) and then string them together and hang on a pole.  It gives them something to do (boredom buster) and gives them a sweet treat.

 

2) Cabbage – I do the same thing as the apples.  Cut in half and pull string thru and hang on a pole.  I hang each half separately.  Another boredom buster!  Keep your girls busy and there will be less trouble (pecking each other).





3) Cucumbers – I cut the cucumbers in half long ways and just lay them on the ground.


4) Cantaloupe – I cut up the cantaloupe (I save some of the fruit for me) and throw the rest (seeds and rind) to the girls.

 

5) Corn ice cups – in the summer I make ice cups to help them cool down. I take a can of corn and scoop some into each of the cups in a cupcake pan, add water and freeze it.  I use silicone cups – makes it a lot easier to get the ice cups out.   On a hot summer day, the girls love these!


Also, in the summer, I will make ice cups with pieces of watermelon, tomatoes, cantaloupe, etc. Chickens can get over-heated during the hot summer and the ice cups are a nice cooling treat.

6) Pumpkins  - Cut a pumpkin into several pieces – leave the seeds and guts and give it all to the girls.  My hubby just takes an ax and chops it into a few pieces.

7) Watermelon – Another treat for a hot summer day.  Cut up a watermelon – they will eat it all!




8) Sprouts – I make sprouts from lentils – another treat that the girls go crazy for!  It takes 6 days for the sprouts to get to a good size.  Here are the instructions:

Day 1 – add ½ cup of lentils to a quart size mason jar and fill with water.  Put in a dark place over night.




Day 2 – take jar from dark place – drain out the water and then rinse the lentils twice (it is very helpful to have a strainer type lid).  Rinse them twice a day.  I usually rinse in the morning and in the evening.













Day 3 – Rinse the lentils twice again (morning & evening).  You will notice that they are starting to sprout.








Day 4 – Rinse the lentils twice again (morning & evening).  You will notice that they are expanding in the jar.








Day 5 – rinse twice again (morning & evening) – almost ready!




















Day 6 – Ready!





















9) Tomatoes – chickens are drawn to the color red.  I buy the small tomatoes (cherry tomato size) and just throw them and watch the chickens run for them.

10) Raspberries – the same as tomatoes – they love the color red.  I just throw them and watch then chase each other to get to them first.

11) Banana peels – peel the banana (and eat it yourself) and then give the peels to the girls.  Nothing goes to waste!

12) Corn on the cob – another favorite.  Peel the husk off and give it to them.  They will peck every single piece of corn off the cob.

13) Strawberries – when I buy strawberries for myself, I cut off the tops and give them to the girls.  It’s another favorite!

There are lots of treats that the chickens can have.  I pulled together this list from various websites:

(This list is not all inclusive – check out some chicken websites for more options.)



















Enjoy your girls!

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Chicken Pot Pie

Who loves chicken pot pie?  Me!  And I think homemade is best.  This is how I make it.

Ingredients
½ cup butter
1 small onion – chopped (I used frozen chopped onions)
½ cup flour
14oz chicken broth (I used chicken bouillon powder and made 14 oz.  I ended up                  making another 8 oz as the mixture was too thick)
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ cup frozen corn
½ cup celery  (I had some frozen celery)
2 cups frozen veggies (peas, carrots, green beans, etc)
Parsley  - I just took a few pinches and sprinkled it in
Dill – just took a couple of pinches and sprinkled it in
3 cups cooked chicken  (I cooked up some chicken tenders) or you can use turkey
Piecrust (Pillsbury, etc) – one package was not enough so I ended up making some 
(recipe for pie crust at bottom)
1 egg
1 tbsp water


Preheat oven to 400. Melt butter over medium heat in pan.  Sauté onions & celery for about 7 minutes. 


Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes.  Whisk in the chicken broth


and then add the salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil.  If the sauce seems to be too thick add more chicken broth.



Remove from heat.  Add in the veggies, parsley, dill and chicken.  Mix well.


 

















Pour into unbaked pie shell.   (I had to make some as the Pillsbury box wasn’t enough for the quantity I was making)



















Whisk egg and water.  Coat one side the 2nd pie crust with the egg mixture.  Lay the side that was coated on top of the chicken mixture.  Cut some vents in the top.




















Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes (until pastry is golden brown and mixture is bubbling.


Note:  I made one to eat that day and froze the other 2 without baking first.

 

Pie Crust Recipe
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup of vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons cold water

Stir the flour and sale in a medium bowl.  To Mis, cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.

Place 1/3 cup of the flour-shortening mixture in a small bowl.  Add all the water to it and mix with a fork.  Then add this to the rest of the flour-shortening mix and mix with a fork.  Then, with your fingers, mix until the pastry holds together so that you can shape into a ball with your hands.

Roll out and fit into a pie pan (makes 2 crusts depending on the size of the pan)


Friday, October 27, 2023

Eggplant Parmigiana 


Eggplant parmigiana is one of my most favorite things to eat!  When I make it, I make a bunch!  Here’s is how I make it (learned it from my mom):

Eggplant  (I typically buy the largest eggplant I see - I used 2 this time)



4 bottles Ragu (24 oz) approximate amount
3 pkg mozzarella (8 oz) approximate amount
5 eggs and some milk  (whip together)
Several cups of flour
Olive oil
12x9 pan – 1
8 x 5.5 pan – 2 
(can also use smaller pans to make more individual servings – this dish freezes and reheats wonderfully)

1)  Peel and slice the eggplant (about ¼” thick).

2)  roll in flour and then dip in the egg mixture (yes, do it in that order).


 

3)  fry the eggplant and drain on paper towels.

4)  Pour some Ragu (or other spaghetti sauce) on the bottom of the pan.

5)  Put a layer of eggplant on top of the sauce.
6)  Pour spaghetti sauce on top of the eggplant and then sprinkle mozzarella on top of that.

 

7)  Repeat layers until pan is full – spaghetti sauce and cheese will be the last layer.




8)  Bake at 350 until sauce bubbles and the cheese is melted and a golden color.


Note:  if you plan on freezing the eggplant, you do not need to bake it first.

ENJOY!!


Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Food Prep Day 


One of my best money saving tips is food prep day.  Having the food items already prepped for the week makes it highly likely they will be used.  I don’t want to waste food and having ingredients just sitting around until they go bad is not good.  But, I also don’t want to have to cook bacon or a waffle or French toast, etc. every time I want some. 

By cooking a pound of bacon at a time, I can snack on a piece whenever the mood hits.  Same thing goes for fruit smoothies and chilled Frappuccino’s.  I make a mess for one day during the week and then can enjoy the fruits of my labors the rest of the week. There are several things that I only make about once a month as they last longer than a week.  Prep day is a lot of work but then no fuss, no mess to clean up the rest of the week.  Here are some of the things that I make:

Bacon
Chilled Frappuccino
Keto Friendly Fudge 
Pumkin muffins
Fruit smoothies
Belgian waffles
French toast

Let’s get started!

Making the Bacon

There are quite a few ways to make bacon.  Frying pan, oven, air fryer . . . to name a few.  But there is also another way.  Using a deep stock pot – cut the pound of bacon in half – separate the strips and layer it on the bottom of the pot.  Don’t worry about all the bacon being in a pile – it will cook.  Cook on a low flame and flip them over every 2-3 minutes so that they all get cooked.  It took approximately 26 minutes to fry the pound of bacon up in the pot.  Here’s how it looked: 

 

  

If you don’t like your bacon cold, it only takes about 15 seconds (give or take) to heat up in the microwave.

If you want to make the bacon in the oven, see blog post dated December 21, 2020

Chilled Frappuccino

For instructions on making the Chilled Frappuccino, see blog post dated June 2, 2020.  I store the Frappuccino in mason jars in the refrigerator.  One batch will make a quart and a pint of Frappuccino.

Use a smaller cup and you will get a few more servings.  This also will last me for a week (if I use a smaller cup, not the one pictured).


  


Keto-friendly Fudge

If you are on a keto diet, you may have heard of fat bombs.  This fudge recipe is similar to a fat bomb.  They are really rich and just one piece usually satisfies those cravings.

Ingredients list
4 tbsp of creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp cocoa powder (no sugar added)
1 oz cream cheese
1.5 packets of non-sugar sweetened (Truvia)
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.

Remove from microwave and stir for 10 seconds.  Put back into microwave for 30 seconds more.

Remove from microwave and stir – until blended all together.  Pour into a greased pan (8” x 8” or smaller)

Put the pan in the freezer.  After 30 minutes, take the fudge out of the freezer and cut into pieces (it is easier to cut at this point).  Store them in a plastic bag and put back in the freezer..  They will keep in the freezer for a long time – if you don’t eat them all . . .  (I don’t make this every week as this lasts me several months - I usually make a double batch)


  (The pan that I used in the below photo, holds a double batch of the fudge)
  


Pumpkin Muffins

Fall is now upon us . . . and there are pumpkins everywhere.  What to do, what to do . . .  Make pumpkin muffins!  If you will be using a fresh pumpkin, it will need to be cooked.  

To cook the pumpkin:  cut the pumpkin into several pieces and scoop out all the seeds and stringy stuff. (You can also toast the seeds for an extra treat!).  Put the pumpkin on a cookie sheet (have the outside shell be on the top and cut side face down on the pan).  It will take approximately 45 – 60 minutes in a 400 degree oven to cook (depending on how big your pumpkin is).  Once the pumpkin is done (the insides are soft), allow the pumpkin to cool.  Once it is cool, scoop out all the flesh and puree it in a blender or food processor. 

If you don’t want to mess with cooking a pumpkin, a can of pumpkin puree will do just as nicely.

Recipe

3 eggs
1 cup of oil (I use olive oil but any oil will do)
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of pumpkin (or one can)
3 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups of flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp baking powder
½ cup of nuts (optional - I like to use macadamia nuts but I will use whatever I have on hand)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325.

Stir together eggs, oil, sugar, pumpkin

Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, vanilla and nuts

Grease and flour muffin pan – unless you are using the paper cupcake liners

Bake for 40-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Makes 24 muffins

(I don’t make this every week as these last me for 1-2 months)


  


Fruit Smoothies

I use the big bag of frozen fruit from Costco – it has a good variety of fruit.  A couple of handfuls of the frozen fruit along with one banana, water and flavor enhancer is all I use.  I fill the blender with water and add a couple of squirts from a flavor enhancer (the kind you mix with water).    A full blender will make a quart and a pint of the smoothie.  Gives me plenty for the week!



Belgian Waffles

I use Krusteauz Belgian Waffle mix.  Typically, I use the ingredients for the 4-5 waffles but I always get about 8 waffles when all is said and done.  After they are done and cooled down, I wrap each one in plastic wrap and then put them in a Ziploc bag and throw in the freezer.  When I want one for breakfast, I heat it up in the air fryer.  It tastes like I just made it!

(I don’t make this every week as it lasts me longer than a week) 


French Toast

Another breakfast treat that I make is French toast.  I usually cook 8 or 9 slices of bread.  It takes 3-4 eggs and some milk beaten until blended.  I butter the frying pan and then cook them up.  After they are done and cooled down, I wrap each one in plastic wrap (and put in a ziploc bag) and throw in the freezer.  I also reheat these in the air fryer and they taste like they are freshly made.  (I don’t make this every week as it lasts me longer than a week)

That’s it!  I now have either Belgian waffles, French toast, bacon or pumpkin muffins for breakfast along with a fruit smoothie.  I also have chilled Frappuccino for after dinner with a piece of fudge.  And I won’t have to mess up the kitchen to enjoy any of it!  At least not until it is food prep day again . . .




Friday, September 8, 2023

 

The Good Ole Days


Grocery shopping sure has changed over the years.  I have been grocery shopping for over 50 years and one thing has stayed the same - the need to save money on what I am buying.  There may be people in this world that have an unlimited budget when it comes to buying food.  I have never been part of that group!  But we always had enough food to eat with the help of coupons.  My mother used coupons and she taught me how to save at the store.

Back in the "ole days", coupons and refunds were a big part of grocery shopping.  Stores would compete with each other and give out coupons for free items.  
Manufacturers were also in competition and would offer refunds on their products.  You would save the label from a certain item and then mail it with the form and in about 6-8 weeks you would receive a refund of some sort.  Could be a $1.00 or even the full price of the item you bought.  Many times, it would be a gift or a toy.

There were coupon clubs where people would meet and exchange coupons that they didn’t want for those that they could use.  In the 70’s and 80’s newspapers were full of coupons.  Stores would offer to double the face value of a coupon in order to get your business.  Then other stores would offer to triple the value of coupons.  Coupon wars! Sometimes there were limits and sometimes there weren’t.  But usually, any amount less than a dollar was either doubled or tripled.  Many times, it made the item free.

In September of 1979, one of the local newspapers (The Star Ledger) was running stories on how people were fighting inflation.  I contacted them and described how I save money with coupons and refunds.  They did a story on me!  The reporter followed me around the store which created a lot of curiosity among the other shoppers.  When I was done shopping, my grocery bill was over $60.00.  After deducting my coupons, I only paid $8.29.


Then in July of 1980, I was featured in another newspaper (the West Essex Tribune) and a reporter went with me on another shopping trip.  This time the total was $77.89 before coupons.  After the coupons were deducted, I only paid $3.89.  

It did take time to cut out coupons and save labels, etc. I usually spent about 2 hours a week organizing, cutting coupons and saving labels. I considered it my part-time job.  All in all, it was time well spent when you saw how much you saved on the food bill.

Coupons Clubs weren’t the only way to get extra coupons.  There were also conventions!  Some were just one day long and others may last the whole weekend.  Attendees would bring boxes of labels and box tops to trade for items they needed for a particular refund.  Example:  If you have a refund form that states you can get $1.00 back from buying dog food but you don’t have a dog, you would trade for the labels you needed.  

There were also magazines that were dedicated to letting you know what refunds, coupons and conventions were available.  They had a pen pal section so that you could find like-minded people and possibly trade coupons, etc.  One magazine (The National Supermarket Shopper) attended a refund convention that I was at and I even got my photo on the cover of the magazine!  

Those were the days.  Things are different now.  The newspapers don’t carry a lot of coupons.  But you can find some online.  Some stores have coupons on their website.  You log in at the register and the coupons come off your bill – no need to cut them out.  Refunds are almost non-existent.  I can’t even remember the last time that I was able to send in a refund form.  And it seems like stores are no longer in competition with each other.

But, we can still save money.  It may take a little more work initially but it could end up saving you some cash.  One Saturday, I look the time to travel around to several different stores and check the prices on things that I buy.  I wrote it all down (no way I would be able to remember it all!).  I created a “price book” and listed 3 stores with the prices of each item.  It helped me to see which store had the best price on various products.  But, not all the items were cheaper at the same store.  For me, all 3 of those stores are located on the same street so I was not wasting gas running around town.  I was able to shop at each store and get the best price for the items I needed to buy.  Each person would need to calculate the cost of gas to see if it is worth to travel to different stores to get the cheapest price.

Fast forward to 2021 when we were all dealing with covid.  Store shelves were empty, and prices were rising almost every week.  Here’s an example of the price of a 4 lb. package of bacon at Costco:

2/4/21 – 12.99
4/1/21 – 14.99
4/22/21 – 16.99
8/19/21 – 18.99
9/9/21 – 19.99
10/14/21 – 21.99
4/1/22 – 14.99

Thankfully, the price has come down.  The bacon is just one example as all the stores were raising prices, not just Costco.  I think the most frustrating thing was finding empty shelves.  It certainly changed the way that I did the grocery shopping.  Now, if I need an item, I will typically buy 2 so that I also have one in reserve. I try to make sure that the pantry and freezer are well-stocked, just in case we go thru another pandemic or a hurricane or some other event that would prevent me from going to the store.

So, coupons are few and far between and refunds are pretty much non-existent, but we still have opportunities to save.  Some stores do the BOGO (buy one, get one free) sales and many stores will allow you to use coupons on those items.  Also, look out for clearance sales.  Every little bit helps!

For many years I have been using a “shopping notebook” – it helps me to stay on track.  Details about that are part of another blog that I wrote June 7th – November 6th, 2020 (6 part series).

Times may/will change but don’t give up!  You can still save money on groceries!