Day 2

My, my, my...how time flies when you're having fun! The sun is finally out and inspiring all the neighborhood cave dwellers to venture outside. Makes me want to think GARDEN!

I forgot to mention that when we went grocery shopping day before yesterday we had our oldest grandson with us. He is a real charmer and especially likes to flirt with the ladies. He was getting a little antsy riding around in the cart, so my husband went to get him a sucker. I was thinking little sucker like you get at the bank, but when he came back, he had a purple baseball sized wad with bubble gum in the middle that took two hands to hold. That calmed the baby down alright...he couldn't utter a sound when he finally got the thing in his mouth. All is well for the next two aisles, when out comes the sucker and hits me on the front of my shirt followed by NUM, NUM, NUM. Everybody that passed by got a good look at the sucker followed by NUM, NUM, NUM. Stuff like that makes for an interesting day. I'm a cheap date.

I invaded my stash of ground beef last night and fixed spaghetti...NUM, NUM, NUM...the 80% ground chuck was $5.53 for almost 3 pounds, canned tomatoes (4 @ $.55), diced onion ($.20), fresh garlic ($.05), fresh mushrooms ($1.29), a cup of wine (can't be purchased with food stamps but worth a splurge) and my garden herbs (free). The total comes to $9.17, but I have enough left over to freeze for a later meal, and enough to make a casserole, which means my three meals come to just pennies over $3 each. I keep lots of dried pasta on hand, several kinds, because it's very versitile.

Now and then we get low on canned goods, so we go to Aldi's and load up. Most of their canned goods are really good, and range from $.39 to $.59 each. They always have salad mixes on sale for around a dollar, and the dairy is excellent. A pound of real butter is $1.79 or less and makes all the taste difference in the world. The canned soups (cream of something) is less than half what you pay for the name brands and is very good. Eggs are around $.79 a dozen so we buy plenty to get us through. We can load up on the things we use frequently and still have enough left to buy a little meat.

If you buy lots of ground beef and are used to getting the 73% mix because it's cheaper, try buying the 80% grind. There is much less fat and you will end up with twice as much meat. It is a little more expensive but sure does go farther. Our local store often runs a special for ground chuck, 10 pounds in a tube. For less than $20 I have enough ground beef for the month. They will cut it and wrap it for free, so I usually have it cut in 2 pound sections.

Chicken is another bargain...whole chickens run from $.79 to $.89 a pound. I prefer to buy whole chickens and cut them up myself. Split chicken breasts were $.99 a pound this week, so I bought a package. It's really east to remove the bone and skin, leaving you with a boneless, skinless breast for $.99 instead of $3.00. I already told you what I do with the skin and bones...my never-ending supply of chicken stock is always around.

I haven't heard THE QUESTION yet, but I can tell it's coming. What's for supper tonight? I will ponder this a while and straighten up the living room...then Carpe Diem!