Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Sugar!

Wow...I found sugar at the Dollar General Store for $1.65 for a 4 lb. bag. Tonight I will sit down and make my grocery list...food stamps come out tomorrow. There are lots of specials this week, Easter is coming up and I have been reading the ads. One of our stores has 80/20 ground beef for $1.89 a pound - 10 pound roll.

We made it through the entire month without going too much over our $97, but I'm down to 3 eggs and one package of chicken legs.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

2 Days Left

It's getting close to the end of the month and groceries...we had a package of ground beef left and I made a meatloaf last night. We may have to do leftovers the next two days but we made it pretty good this month. Thankfully I have a good supply of flour and staples, so we can concentrate on meat bargains for April.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Mom's Scalloped Potatoes

Hubby found 10 pounds of potatoes for $1.99 at Atwoods of all places. While I don't usually shop at the farm supply store for groceries, I sure would buy more potatoes from them. They had a full pallet of them and they are very nice...not green and sprouting.

I decided to make scalloped potatoes last night to go with the grilled spatchcock chicken we cooked. My mom used to make them all the time and they are really good to go as a side dish with just about anything.


Spray whatever size baking dish you need with non-stick spray or butter generously. Peel and slice potatoes into the dish. When you have enough potatoes to cover the bottom of the dish, season generously

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Cake Balls!!!

Okay...I kept hearing about cake balls. On the net, in the newspaper, everywhere. SO...I decided to try my luck. I just happened to have a Devil's Food cake mix and fudge frosting on hand. I also had a block of chocolate confectioner's coating in the freezer.


This is so easy it's just about silly. Bake the cake according to the package directions. Remove from the oven when done and let sit out to cool. When the cake is cooled, crumble it in a large mixing bowl using a fork or your fingers. To the cake crumbs add 1 carton of ready-made icing and mix until thoroughly combined. Roll the mixture into bite sized balls. Place in the refrigerator or freezer to cool.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Rainy Day Comfort Soup

I have a favorite soup that is good for what ails you. It used to be called Feeling Sorry for Myself Soup and I made it when I needed a hug. It's a little expensive to make but makes a good bit and reheats very well.


Fill a large stockpot with water and add any chicken pieces you desire. I used legs and breasts for this batch. Season well with salt, pepper and sage. Add some cut up onion and the leafy parts of a stalk of celery. Stew until the chicken is just done. Remove the chicken to a bowl to cool and drain the stock to remove the vegetables.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Yummo

THE QUESTION hasn't been answered for today, but we had a good one last night. Hamburger steaks $3.49) with mushrooms ($.49), onions ($.25) and brown gravy. I used green pepper from the garden and shopped onions, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and salt and pepper to season...cooked them in my electric skillet and after draining the fat, I added the mushrooms and sliced onions and simmered it until they were done. That and a baked potato was supper, with a pineapple upside down cake for dessert. 

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Sweet Tooth

Got a sweet tooth the other night so I decided to make mini pineapple upside down cakes. The recipe made 8 serving size cakes and were delicious.


The canned pineapple chunks were $1.00, the other ingredients were nominal, including 1 egg, 1 cup of flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and 1/3 and 1/4 cup butter. The entire recipe will be posted under the recipe page link.

After a short vacation from the kitchen (my Ninja Turtle injuries) I finally got to make the roast pork and dressing I'd had in mind for some time.

                                      

The small pork roast ($3.53) was lightly browned and placed in a 6 qt. slow cooker on medium heat. It cooked until it was tender and almost done. To that, I added my dressing mixture.                   

Cornbread, buns and light bread from my freezer were allowed to thaw and get stale. I crumbled everything and seasoned with salt and pepper and sage from my garden. Sauteed onion and celery were added, along with 5 eggs.
                                   

I added enough chicken broth to make a soupy mixture and poured it into the slow cooker around the pork roast. When the mixture had puffed and crisped around the edges it was ready to serve.

                                    

It was very tasty with the spiced cucumber rings I canned last summer. They are very similar to apple rings, but are made with the cucumbers that are too large to use for pickles. I would generally serve a veggie of some kind, but hubby said all he wanted was dressing and roast. There was plenty of leftover dressing which reheats very well, or it can be shaped into patties and lightly fried in a little butter.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Spring has Sprung

Our first day of spring hit with a huge snowstorm...two days of it. Fortunately the ground had warmed some and the snow turned to rain, so nothing stuck. Doesn't my garden look nice?


Desperate times call for desperate measures so all my good intentions about supper went out the door. That first day of snow called for chili dogs made with leftovers from the batch Randy made. The cost was chili ($.0, it was already figured from a previous meal), 4 hot dogs ($.49), slaw ($.35), buns and chips ($.75) for a total of $1.59. Not bad!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Freebie Dinner

6C9EDEKR6KE3 Hubby just walked in and brought dinner home! My daughter made lasagna last night for a friend...the special request was for lasagna and carrot cake. She made a huge dinner and had plenty to share. I hope it's as good as it smelled while it was cooking!

Tomorrow night - pork roast and dressing. The roast was $3.51, and I've been saving cornbread and buns for the dressing, so that will only include the cost of celery and onion.

More tomorrow!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Ninja Turtle

Okay. I keep talking about these turtles I'm making. Got one nearly finished and was going to take it outside to put a coat of finish spray on it. Seems I missed one of the steps going to the back yard, the turtle flew out of my hand (I swear I heard him yell EEEEYAAAAAAHHHHH) and wedged under the patio chair.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Busy, busy, busy

The picture at top, bottom left clockwise: blackberry jam, spiced cucumber rings, salsa, sweet pickles, green tomato pickles and elderberry jelly.

Wow! It's been a full last few days. I finally found some dried elderberries to make my mother-in-law some jelly. We went to a wine making supply store and found them. It wasn't as cheap as going out and hunting them, which we won't be able to do until late summer, but I wanted to see if it would be worth trekking through God's country and dodging snakes, chiggers and scorpions for a little taste of 60 years ago.

Friday, March 12, 2010

My Achin' Back

We've been working in the yard...the leaf fairy must have visited sometime the other night. I have used muscles that I thought had disappeared a long time ago. The weather was nice though, so it was nice to get outside and do something constructive.

Dinner the other night was a real cheapo. The store where we shop offers "magic coins" to apply on items they select. If they have tuna for $.89 a can, sometimes they offer it for $.09 with 8 magic coins and there is no limit. You receive coins for every $5.00 you spend, so we always wait until something we use a lot of is on sale. The last time they offered tuna, I was able to get 12 cans for $.09 each.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Hobby Time

Wow! We had a great weekend...we cooked out all weekend...burgers on Sunday and the neighbors had a get-together with everything you can imagine on the grill...SO my Sunday meal was a grand total of $3.79 for ground beef.

My kids bought half a hog for the freezer a while back, they generously shared some of the meat with us. Last night we had a pork roast (free) with turnips ($1.19), a pan of cornbread ($.89), baked sweet potatoes ($1.38)  and finished off the deviled eggs (free), for a total cost of $3.46. The pork and turnips were delicious...the meat is seasoned with crushed red pepper, salt and a little sugar and stewed or cooked in the crock pot. Add the turnips and enough sugar to smell the sweet and cook until they are fork tender. They are wonderful.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Chicken it was...

Well, we decided to do the chicken and lo and behold hubby cranked up the old grill and cooked it outside. It was very good, nice and moist and well seasoned.

Dinner cost was chicken ($3.53), 3 half ears corn on the cob ($.21 each), oven browned potatoes ($.50), and deviled eggs ($.59) for a total of $5.25. There was enough chicken left over to make chicken salad for sandwiches for lunch. Not too bad and a really good Friday night dinner.

Friday, March 5, 2010

I think today is Friday

Hubby is enclosing the garage to make a MAN CAVE...we worked pretty much all afternoon and it came out great. Now it's all weatherproof and we can work on the inside at our leisure. This is a major accomplishment as he is just learning to use the shed full of tools he got from his Dad. Some time ago I convinced him he could cut out the wall between the kitchen and living room.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Day 3

I'm on a roll! Finally had to answer the dreaded "What's for supper" question and decided to have a meat casserole. It's easy and cheap and as usual, lots of leftovers.

This is a make as much as you need recipe depending on the size of your family and is filling and tasty. My recipe cost as I made it last night is: Potatoes ($.50), onion ($.15), cabbage ($.50), hot dogs ($.79), butter ($.20), salt, pepper and water, Parmesean cheese ($.50), for a total of $2.64. This reheats really well - we usually have it for lunch the next day.

We have decided we are going to go berry hunting this spring. My mother in law's favorite jelly in the world is elderberry. She sent me the recipe her mother used to make when she was little. I did a little research on the net and discovered that while elderberries grow wild all over the place, they don't come off until late summer around August. We thought about buying some plants, but our gardening space is very limited. SO...we have a couple of places in mind to hunt for them. A friend has a stocked catfish pond out in the boonies and generously allows us to fish it to help control the fish population. Last time we talked to him they were up around 5 - 6 pounds. I can't wait! The area is full of wild blackberries and I'm sure I've seen some elderberries. Had I known then what I know now, I would have elderberries in my freezer. I found some elderberry jelly on Ebay but is was nearly $8 a pint. Hmm. Methinks I shall hunt for them and make my own.

My daughter is a jelly maker and has turned out some really, really good products. She makes a tangerine/pomegranite jelly that is unbelievable. It's the color of an Oklahoma sunset and tastes like Heaven. She and her husband make pesto with our fresh herbs and they keep it in the freezer. They also make their own sausage...garlic and Italian...that is the best I've ever had. They use natural casings, grind their own meat and season with a delicate hand. They also have sourdough starter in the refrigerator that they have kept going for quite some time now - they call it "Boo". Boo has given us lots of good sourdough bread.

I think I need to get out of the house some. My favorite song is the theme to "Spongebob Squarepants" and I hum "ringing, the phone is ringing, there's an animal in trouble" from Pets on Nick. Hurry up spring...I need help!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

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!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Day 1

I went to the grocery store yesterday (my $97 worth of food stamps were issued) and after much searching and shopping I decided to share how I feed my family with limited funds.

Clipping and finding coupons has become an art. Sale bills are my preferred reading on Tuesdays, when the grocery ads come out. I generally use two stores, a local warehouse store and WalMart. Both honor coupons and run good specials. Meat is purchased at the local store, along with their weekly specials.