Hello to all this morning. Hope this finds you all well and safe.
Well, it isn't raining this morning (yet or still). Boy did we have rain yesterday. All day and aaallllll night!!! We had storms and tons of rain over 2 1/2"yesterday). Quite a bit more coming later on today. UGH! I have a lake in the back 40 as do the neighbors. I went out this AM and cleared the street drain - it was completely clogged - nowhere for the water to go. It sure looked like a river flowing when I cleared. I wish people would be careful with leaves and debris.
Today more words on affordable grocery shopping and good eats. I know I talk a lot about this, and maybe repeat a few things, but new people read every day and we all need to know these things. Now is the time to really be careful and stretch those dollars.
- Make recipes and meals with simple ingredients. There are tons of things that can be had.
- Count your pieces in bagged produce! Seriously!! Those are servings. A bag of oranges may have 7 pieces or it may have 10 - supposedly the same weight. Well, a serving is important to stretch it out
- Weigh those bags of produce. May be advertised as 5lbs for a price - some may weigh more and some less
- Make friends with dept. managers to get a heads up on when they mark things down
- Check every dept. for markdowns! Maybe the store has a central clearance section - look and use it. I hardly ever pay full price for anything - either sales or clearance
- Beef is high in price. Ground beef is high - look for markdowns or use ground pork, chicken, etc. Add beef bouillon to give it more of a beef taste.
- Think about getting pork loins when they go on special for .99 or 1.99 a pound and have the meat dept. grind it for you!!! Heck of a lot cheaper than ground beef.
- Add oats or bread/crackers crumbs to ground beef to stretch it further. You can add cooked lentils as well - great protein and stretches it. Lentils take on taste of what it is cooked with. I add beans a lot for tacos. Make bean burgers or lentil burgers - you may be amazed at the taste.
- DON'T feel bad to use food pantries if needed. They are there to be used and help out
- Ask your/or neighborhood church for help if necessary
- Add bread or biscuits to meals - it is filling and you use less of the main course
- Keep basics on hand - sugar, flour, dry milk, pasta, rice, canned tuna, oats, peanut butter, crackers, canned tomatoes, corn meal, dry beans and lentils - you can make all kinds of meals with basic ingredients
- If you can't buy fresh veggies cheaply - buy frozen. Closest to fresh taste, no added ingredients (buy plain) and keep well
- Fresh - carrots, potatoes, apples, cabbage, bananas, celery - all pretty cheap
- If need be - get hot dogs and add to meals. I know many don't like that idea - but you get what you can in a pinch, and it is filling. Same with Spam or mini canned hams. Used tuna
- Remember tortillas are super cheap (and so easy to make at home) - they can be made into chips as well as having many uses soft
- Use leftovers in new ways or for lunches or breakfast (you can always add an egg!
- Use up what you have in new ways. Add to soups and casseroles and pizzas - new combos can make for a tasty meal
- Things getting old? Use them up. Older apples - fried, baked, sauce. Oranges - juice or use in a sweet & sour Asian meal, use in a shake. Carrots or celery limp? Place in ice cold water to replenish or cut up and use in soup. A few sprouts on potatoes? Cut them off and use. USE THEM UP!
In my opinion there is no recipe for soup - just throw things together, and I bet you won't be sorry. It sure can stretch fewer ingredients into several meals. Add some pasta or rice and it stretches even further.
Think about shopping less often. Maybe start going every other week and using YOUR pantry/freezer in between. Stretch that food - yes shop at home first. Then maybe you can go three weeks - it is all about what you get used to. I have found for me, the less often I go, the less I spend a month. I learn to use other things and substitute and figure out new things to cook. Get creative - you knew I had to say it!!!
Small changes can make big differences in funds. IF you don't need to worry about that - fantastic.
Today many do need to worry about money. Do the work!!!!! You have to do the work.
Keep it simple and keep it affordable and make good eats.
Have fun all - give us your tips!!!!!
Have a blessed day to all.
What did you use for a crust for your pizza?
ReplyDeleteThis time I used a box pizza crust mix I had - it needed used and was in the pantry. I sometimes make from scratch - or use tortillas for single size pizzas. I have even purchased dough in egg/cheese/biscuit dept. on clearance and frozen them for later. I one time even used leftover rice I had - with egg and flour for a different type of crust. It was tasty.
DeleteThanks for the bread pudding recipe. I've not made bread pudding in ages and I love it - raisins, cinnamon, OMGoodness!
ReplyDeleteRamen is a good cheap food to have on hand: saute mushrooms, onions, greens, leftover vegs, bits of leftover meat, drain the cooked ramen and mix in some of the seasoning packet. Or skip the meat, add an egg and cook it to taste. Very yummy. :)
MaryB
Glad you could use the recipe.
DeleteYES, Ramen is a cheap thing to have on hand. You can use as is, add leftovers or just use the noodles. Super cheap.
I like the idea of making it kind of an egg drop soup!
I ALWAYS have some on hand - lots of salt, but sometimes a nice hot snack.
Your pizza looks yummy! Lots of excellent toppings! We mostly use large tortillas, fry them lightly, dress them up and pop in the oven. That used to be our Sabbath meal as they were easy to put together, doing all the prep on preparation day. When Ryan's was open on 38th Street, they had the best bread pudding with lemon sauce. IMHO, a bread pudding should be filled with all sorts of yummy fruit and nuts. One of the worst things I ever had was a tomato dish in bread, kind of like a bread pudding. Soggy and definitely unappealing. Apparently it is a southern thing.
ReplyDeleteWe need to sort through the freezer in the house. There's probably enough in it to eat for at least a month or two. We are abundantly blessed.
I am looking out my office window at the fog. It seems to be getting worse. Good thing we can stay home.
Bits won't have any sun puddles today! Good day to veg and read, maybe nap.
Sounds like you had scalloped tomatoes. I think they're wonderful, and my friend often makes them for potluck. They're not nearly as solid as the other bread puddings. She never has any left over. :)
DeleteMaryB
MARY my mom used to make scalloped tomatoes as well. Dad loved them - me not so much. I have a problem with different consistencies - smooshie is one! LOL
DeleteDONNA - that sounds like a neat way to make the crust - never thought about frying them first. I make tortilla pizza in the air fryer - so they get crispy.
DeleteI like nuts in bread pudding - my niece makes a rum and pecan one and boy is it good.
It has been foggy for sure. Eerie looking. Bits laid next to me a lot this morning, then the phone rang (he hates that) and is laying under the dining room table now.
Think I will go sew for a bit.
I love bread pudding and haven’t had it for a long time. I also love rice pudding. Barbara M.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I have actually had rice pudding. My sis and brother love it; I guess mom made it a lot when they were younger.
DeleteWe call them breaded tomatoes and I think it may be a southern thing because my family is from Kentucky originally and we always had them. I love them if they are not sloppy. Especially with a pot roast or pork roast.
ReplyDeleteI use raw carrots chopped and then blended in my smoothies and it is wonderful!
JC
Yep, mom made them too - I wasn't a fan. Dad loved them.
DeleteThat is a good idea with carrots - adds extra nutrients.
Mixed reviews on the breaded tomatoes. My family is all from Kentucky (Laurel County) and we never had those at home. they might be better if not sloppy. The Farmer's mother made them and they were just gross.
DeleteOnce I started making bread pudding drier (used more bread) I liked it.
ReplyDeleteI use the 29 oz can of crushed tomatoes from Aldi's for everything. Pizza sauce, pasta sauce, soup, ketchup, bbq sauce. $1.49 per can. I've tried lots of others. I like theirs the best. Even better than most of the expensive Italian brands.
I didn't like frozen vegetables until I started steaming them. Last night I steamed a bag of broccoli, cauliflower & carrots then dressed it with salt, garlic, lemon juice. The family ate it all.
Oops tomato can is 28 oz not 29 at Aldi's
DeleteI like bread pudding drier too.
DeleteCanned tomatoes are the all to be all in my book. Whether store bought or home canned - they can do so much. I often take tomatoes or sauce and add my Italian seasonings to make pizza sauce. Super easy and cheap.
I do like frozen steamed and broiled. Seasonings and maybe a little cheese and yum.
I have recently started making bread and butter pudding and, also rice pudding, My local supermarket had clearance hot cross buns so I sliced them up and they became bread and butter pudding. The rice pudding recipe was one I found on internet, uses 4ingredients and milk instead of cream. I made it with arborio rice, supermarket own brand. I share serves with my elderley mother-in-law and this really supports her too with extra food and nutrition, like the calcium from the milk. I serve pudding after meat-free meals here, so not every night, but they are filling, cheap and delicious!
ReplyDeleteMeg
My sis and brother have always liked rice pudding with raisins added. I am sure there are many different ways to make it, just like so many ways for bread pudding. It is always nice to find ways to get extra nutrition into others!
DeleteGood idea to use it on meat free nights.
I've loved bread and butter pudding since I was a child. My grandparents lived in sheltered housing and my grandad, being one of the few men there, was much fawned over, which amused grandma no end! One elderly lady made him a bread and butter pudding every week as she missed making them for her late husband. My grandad loathed bread and butter pudding, but didn't want to offend her, so I got what grandma didn't eat and the old lady was none-the-wiser.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet story. I am sure the lady missed her husband, and wonder if maybe she was sort of sweet on your grandpa!
DeleteYou are the second to mention bread & butter pudding - I have never heard it called that or don't know exactly what it is.
How kind to just pass it on and not offend her.
All such great ideas, keep them coming.
ReplyDeleteSure will - so many tricks out there to help us all.
DeleteI love trying to figure out new ways to use what I have and have come up with amazing meals. According to some British bloggers that I watch, there is bread pudding which should be a drier consistency and then there is a bread and butter pudding which is slightly different and is a bit more on the wet side.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.