We are having a yard sale at my house this Saturday from 7am-1pm. We have tons of clothes, kitchen items, toys, and interesting odds and ends. Come see what we have and BUY SOME THINGS!!!!!
Email me for directions if you need them!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Stretching your dollar on meats
Probably the most expensive thing I buy at the grocery store is meat. I have not eaten red meat since 1989 for personal reasons, but my husband enjoys it quite often. Usually, the only time I buy beef is if we are grilling, and my hubby gets a nice bone-in rib eye for himself and boneless skinless chicken breasts for me and our daughter.
We still love tacos, meatloaf, hamburger helper, spaghetti and chili. I used to make it with ground turkey, but it seemed to lack some flavor. I started buying ground pork. Now I use half and half ground pork and ground turkey in a meatloaf, but most everything else is ground pork.
Buying ground pork in the package with the name brand on it is quite cost prohibitive. I learned a little trick when my husband worked as a meat cutter, and I will share it with you. :)
Wait until the boston butts go on sale. Our local Piggly Wiggly store has them for 99 cents a pound about every 8-12 weeks. Ask your friendly butcher to do you a favor***....most of the time they will cut anything for you. Ask the butcher to cut the boston butt in half. He can grind the boneless half for you and make nice juicy country style ribs from the other half. I bring this meat home and package the ground meat in quart size ziploc bags and the ribs in gallon size ones. Some stores will have a policy that you can only buy one of the boston butts at this price, so make a couple of trips or ask your hubby or sister to go through the line for you so you max out the savings.
The ground pork has a very nice taste and texture, and when it browns you will find that very little fat is left to drain off. NICE!
Enjoy!
***Some stores, such as WalMart and our SavALot do not have a meat-cutter on staff. They have meat stackers, which are employees who wear white coats like a butcher but all the meat comes into the store already cut and wrapped. They just stock the case. These employees cannot cut or grind meat, and most stores do not even have the equipment for them to do it if they would.
However, in a regular grocery store, a meat-cutter can cut and grind just about anything you want. Sometimes they get an attitude about it because they have to clean the grinder after grinding one kind of meat before switching to another (this should be a no brainer right? Who wants E coli mixing with your Trichinosis???)
If your local grocery store meat market employees refuse to grind the meat, contact your district office. This is their JOB!!!! They can and should grind it and most will, but some days I run into Mr. Attitude which can quickly be adjusted with a quick phone call. :)
We still love tacos, meatloaf, hamburger helper, spaghetti and chili. I used to make it with ground turkey, but it seemed to lack some flavor. I started buying ground pork. Now I use half and half ground pork and ground turkey in a meatloaf, but most everything else is ground pork.
Buying ground pork in the package with the name brand on it is quite cost prohibitive. I learned a little trick when my husband worked as a meat cutter, and I will share it with you. :)
Wait until the boston butts go on sale. Our local Piggly Wiggly store has them for 99 cents a pound about every 8-12 weeks. Ask your friendly butcher to do you a favor***....most of the time they will cut anything for you. Ask the butcher to cut the boston butt in half. He can grind the boneless half for you and make nice juicy country style ribs from the other half. I bring this meat home and package the ground meat in quart size ziploc bags and the ribs in gallon size ones. Some stores will have a policy that you can only buy one of the boston butts at this price, so make a couple of trips or ask your hubby or sister to go through the line for you so you max out the savings.
The ground pork has a very nice taste and texture, and when it browns you will find that very little fat is left to drain off. NICE!
Enjoy!
***Some stores, such as WalMart and our SavALot do not have a meat-cutter on staff. They have meat stackers, which are employees who wear white coats like a butcher but all the meat comes into the store already cut and wrapped. They just stock the case. These employees cannot cut or grind meat, and most stores do not even have the equipment for them to do it if they would.
However, in a regular grocery store, a meat-cutter can cut and grind just about anything you want. Sometimes they get an attitude about it because they have to clean the grinder after grinding one kind of meat before switching to another (this should be a no brainer right? Who wants E coli mixing with your Trichinosis???)
If your local grocery store meat market employees refuse to grind the meat, contact your district office. This is their JOB!!!! They can and should grind it and most will, but some days I run into Mr. Attitude which can quickly be adjusted with a quick phone call. :)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Bread Pudding
Being a "GRITS"....(a girl raised in the south)I developed a love of bread pudding at an early age. I just hated the raisins in it though, they always looked like dead bugs to me.
I found a recipe not long ago that uses chopped apples instead of raisins and has a yummy caramel sauce on top. YUM! I have made it for Wednesday night supper at Church several times and my Pastor loves it!
One of the ways I have found to make it on the cheap is to save the end pieces of my bread and left over dinner rolls, croissants, etc. I go ahead and tear the bread up into bite size pieces and throw them in a gallon size Ziploc bag in my freezer. When the bag is full, it is the perfect size for a 9x13 pan of bread pudding. I just mix up the eggs, milk, butter and seasonings, and throw it into the oven. Quick, easy and CHEAP! :) The addition of apples, cinnamon and other spices make it smell so heavenly while it bakes. The caramel sauce helps too, with it's warm buttery flavor mixing in.
Good thing I just ate dinner, other wise I would be starving! :)
I found a recipe not long ago that uses chopped apples instead of raisins and has a yummy caramel sauce on top. YUM! I have made it for Wednesday night supper at Church several times and my Pastor loves it!
One of the ways I have found to make it on the cheap is to save the end pieces of my bread and left over dinner rolls, croissants, etc. I go ahead and tear the bread up into bite size pieces and throw them in a gallon size Ziploc bag in my freezer. When the bag is full, it is the perfect size for a 9x13 pan of bread pudding. I just mix up the eggs, milk, butter and seasonings, and throw it into the oven. Quick, easy and CHEAP! :) The addition of apples, cinnamon and other spices make it smell so heavenly while it bakes. The caramel sauce helps too, with it's warm buttery flavor mixing in.
Good thing I just ate dinner, other wise I would be starving! :)
Friday, October 24, 2008
Saving Money on Yeast
I love to make my own bread in the bread machine. My father in law says I am his favorite daughter in law because most everyday he comes home to find a fresh loaf of warm bread waiting for him. (Never mind that I am his only daughter in law!)
A friend of mine recently moved across the country so she gave me a TON of stuff from her pantry. I am so thankful for this blessing because my husband is still out of work on workman's compensation after his arm injury. We inherited tons of spices, canned goods, frozen foods, and pantry staples. I was most excited about the large package of yeast she gave me and the various types of flour. I get to experiment!!!!!!
Usually I buy yeast in the jar and keep in in the refrigerator. However, money has been tight so $6 on yeast seemed to be excessive so I have been buying the 3 package strips for about 98 cents. More costly in the long run for sure, but easier on the wallet at one time. However, aforementioned father in law made it a challenge to keep up with yeast purchases.
I buy my bread flour in 25 lb. bags at a warehouse club, and keep it in Tupperware containers in my pantry. It last a long time and comes out much cheaper than buying it by the 5 pound bags. I knew I was saving money that way, but the yeast still posed a problem.
My friend that moved gave me a box of yeast. It had 18 strips of 3 packets each, for a total of 54 little packets. At last, costly yeast was not an issue! I could bake, bake, bake and have a happy family!
However, since it was the fast rise kind of yeast, I only needed to use 1 1/2 teaspoons per loaf of bread. I found that each package held more than I needed, so I was measuring out the 1 1/2 teaspoons and then just tossing the rest. Suddenly it dawned on me what a money squandering idiot I was! I started pouring the leftover yeast into a tiny recycled jar (it originally held the blueberry syrup from Cracker barrel and has a tightly fitting screw on lid). Each package actually holds about 2 1/4 teas of yeast, so I measure out my 1 1/2 teaspoons and then pouring the remaining 3/4 teaspoon into my jar. I figure this gives me 3 loaves from 2 envelopes. This may not seem like much, but the math goes something like this:
Original Way:
98 cents divided into 3 loaves meant I was paying almost 33 cents per loaf for yeast.
33 cents for yeast times 54 loaves =$17.82 for the yeast alone.
This adds up to 6 3/4 boxes of yeast for a year which would be $120.45 if you make one loaf a day.
New way:
(Factoring in IF I had purchased 54 envelopes)
4 1/2 loaves per 3 pack strip
22 cents per loaf x 81 loaves =$17.82
This adds up to 4 1/2 boxes of yeast per year which would be $80.19 for one loaf a day.
This means I am getting an additional 27 loaves from the same box of yeast, which adds up to a savings of $8.91!!!!!!
For those of us who make bread daily this could add up to big savings over the course of a year! In fact, super smart math hubby totals this up to be over $40 a year saved on yeast alone! WOW!
Now....can anyone do the comparison based on jar rapid rise yeast????? Let me know your findings! As I said, I believe that jar yeast is much cheaper, however, since this box of yeast was gifted to me I figure I just saved a bunch of money!
How's that for rolling in the DOUGH? ha ha ha ha ha! I crack me up! :0
A friend of mine recently moved across the country so she gave me a TON of stuff from her pantry. I am so thankful for this blessing because my husband is still out of work on workman's compensation after his arm injury. We inherited tons of spices, canned goods, frozen foods, and pantry staples. I was most excited about the large package of yeast she gave me and the various types of flour. I get to experiment!!!!!!
Usually I buy yeast in the jar and keep in in the refrigerator. However, money has been tight so $6 on yeast seemed to be excessive so I have been buying the 3 package strips for about 98 cents. More costly in the long run for sure, but easier on the wallet at one time. However, aforementioned father in law made it a challenge to keep up with yeast purchases.
I buy my bread flour in 25 lb. bags at a warehouse club, and keep it in Tupperware containers in my pantry. It last a long time and comes out much cheaper than buying it by the 5 pound bags. I knew I was saving money that way, but the yeast still posed a problem.
My friend that moved gave me a box of yeast. It had 18 strips of 3 packets each, for a total of 54 little packets. At last, costly yeast was not an issue! I could bake, bake, bake and have a happy family!
However, since it was the fast rise kind of yeast, I only needed to use 1 1/2 teaspoons per loaf of bread. I found that each package held more than I needed, so I was measuring out the 1 1/2 teaspoons and then just tossing the rest. Suddenly it dawned on me what a money squandering idiot I was! I started pouring the leftover yeast into a tiny recycled jar (it originally held the blueberry syrup from Cracker barrel and has a tightly fitting screw on lid). Each package actually holds about 2 1/4 teas of yeast, so I measure out my 1 1/2 teaspoons and then pouring the remaining 3/4 teaspoon into my jar. I figure this gives me 3 loaves from 2 envelopes. This may not seem like much, but the math goes something like this:
Original Way:
98 cents divided into 3 loaves meant I was paying almost 33 cents per loaf for yeast.
33 cents for yeast times 54 loaves =$17.82 for the yeast alone.
This adds up to 6 3/4 boxes of yeast for a year which would be $120.45 if you make one loaf a day.
New way:
(Factoring in IF I had purchased 54 envelopes)
4 1/2 loaves per 3 pack strip
22 cents per loaf x 81 loaves =$17.82
This adds up to 4 1/2 boxes of yeast per year which would be $80.19 for one loaf a day.
This means I am getting an additional 27 loaves from the same box of yeast, which adds up to a savings of $8.91!!!!!!
For those of us who make bread daily this could add up to big savings over the course of a year! In fact, super smart math hubby totals this up to be over $40 a year saved on yeast alone! WOW!
Now....can anyone do the comparison based on jar rapid rise yeast????? Let me know your findings! As I said, I believe that jar yeast is much cheaper, however, since this box of yeast was gifted to me I figure I just saved a bunch of money!
How's that for rolling in the DOUGH? ha ha ha ha ha! I crack me up! :0
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Welcome!
Hello everyone,
I have lately been inspired by several things to start this blog. I am not claiming to be an expert of any kind, just trying to pass on what I know and what I have learned about stretching money. I will be posting ideas on a daily basis, hopefully, and looking forward to learning from everyone else along the way! Don't forget to check out my blog roll...these ladies really have it together and can teach WAAAAAAY more than I could ever think of!
Looking forward to s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the bucks with you!
I have lately been inspired by several things to start this blog. I am not claiming to be an expert of any kind, just trying to pass on what I know and what I have learned about stretching money. I will be posting ideas on a daily basis, hopefully, and looking forward to learning from everyone else along the way! Don't forget to check out my blog roll...these ladies really have it together and can teach WAAAAAAY more than I could ever think of!
Looking forward to s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the bucks with you!
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