Score!- 100lbs of Meat!

When meat runs at .99lb (or less!) it's time try to stock up!

Split chicken breasts were on sale for .99lb and so was loin end pork roast.

I normally don't buy a lot of pork but at .99lb, I couldn't pass it up.

Ground beef was at 1.99lb; a little more than I prefer to pay but better than other stores have it priced right now, and I was getting quite low in my freezers. Ground beef can stretch far, fix up really quick, thaw pretty fast, and so it's really a blessing to have on hand.

So- how much did I buy?

40 lbs chicken @.99lb= $40

30lbs pork end loin @ .99lb= $30

30lbs of ground beef @ 1.99lb= $60

100lbs of meat for $130!

Not bad!

one big box of pork loin

one big box of ground beef and one big box of chicken

When I got it home, I browned over 1/2 of the ground beef and boiled up almost all of the chicken,shredded it, and made broth.

I divided up some of the beef for meatloaves, meat balls, etc, then divided up the cooked meat, bagged, and dated.

It was a lot of work when I got home (cooking, dividing, repackaging), but no more grocery shopping for a month -except for milk and eggs (in about 2 weeks)!

Praise the Lord!

Prov 31:14  She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

Highlights from this month's shopping...

-for $68, I bought a bunch of chicken and divided it up for 16 meals and froze it ($4.25 per meal)
-for $43, I bought enough fish for at least 8 meals ($5.38 per meal)
-for $28, I bought enough ground beef for about 6 meals ($4.67 per meal)
That's one month's meat for $139.

Also bought chicken livers!

Also bought;
50 lbs potatoes
1 bag of spinach
1 large bag romaine
2 bags of onions
1 large bag of carrots
1 large bag of celery
1 large bag of peppers
2 bags of apples
1 box of strawberries
1 box of blueberries
parsley
(Praying the garden progresses and helps me towards the end of my shopping cycle!)

Several bags of frozen veggies.

25lbs plain flour
several pounds of cane sugar
2 jars of honey
2 large bags of brown sugar

large cans/containers of;
ketchup
pizza sauce
mayo
syrup

bay leaves
yeast
sea salt
gluten

butter, eggs, milk

Splurges with coupons:
2 boxes of Cascadian Farm Cereal
1 bag Starbucks decaf
3 half gallons of coconut milk
Easter candy

Locals, pay attention to Food Lion this week!- some local sale prices

Most of the time, Food Lion's prices can be beat, but every once in a while, they'll top all our local stores with their meat prices.

Here's what's on sale right now at Food Lion:
store brand shank hams and spiral hams are .99 per pound
Holly Farms chicken- thighs, legs, and split breast are .99 per pound
Holly Farms whole chickens- .99 per pound
chicken quarters are- .79 per pound

Save-A-Lot
3lb onions $1
chicken quarters .69 per pound

Aldi
bananas .44 lb
4lb bag oranges 1.49
pineapples  .99
grapefruits  .25
bottled water 2.49 (24 oz bottles*)
turkey bacon 2.29 12 oz

Kroger
clementines 4.99 5lb box
cherries 2.99 lb
avocados $1
milk 2.79

Leo's 
50# potatoes 9.99
5lb grapefruit 1.99
tomatoes .89
Charmin Basic 12 roll 2-$10


*(When bottled water is that cheap, I like to buy a pack or two. One to keep in case of an emergency and one to keep in the van in case of an emergency or the kids get thirsty and we're out longer than I planned ;-)

Local Grocery Sales...

Just the highlights:

Kroger:
Hunt's Pasta Sauce 10/$10
5lb flour $1.99
Boneless,Skinless Kroger Chicken Breasts $1.99
Kroger 12 to 16oz Cheeses $2.99
Milk $2.79 gallon
12 double rolls Northern $5.99
Chicken of the Sea Tuna .69
24oz Cottage Cheese/Sour Cream $1.99
Ground Beef $1.99
3lb Tangerines $1.99
Avocados 10/$10
Cabbage .49
Tomatoes on the Vine $1.49

Food Lion:
assorted bulk apples .99
Hellmann's B1G1F
24oz ketchup .89
Gwaltney Bacon B1G1F

Aldi (as starting on the 30th):
Boneless Ham Steak $1.69
Frozen Broccoli Cuts .85
Bay Scallops 5.99
Smoked Gouda or Edam $2.99
NY Extra Sharp White Cheddar 2.69
Cooking Spray $1.29
Confetti Cake Mix .99
Holiday Frosting $1.29
Gingerbread House $6.99
Rice Krispies Holiday House Kit $4.99

***My personal notes***

Prices on baking supplies usually go down within a week to two weeks of Christmas. That's a great time to stock up on chocolate chips, butter, and hopefully self-rising flour can be found in bulk at Sam's during that time too! (It isn't usually but can be found at Cash-n-Carry, usually, and I often get the discounted bags.) Also, keep looking at the deals on turkeys and hopefully hams will drop closer to Christmas as well. It would be a good time to stock some in your the freezer! (I bought 6 last month and we're down to 4!)   Also eggs are .49 at Aldi last I checked and butter was down to $1.99. I hope the butter comes down even more!

This Month's Shopping, Jabbering and So Much More...Like Masa Flour

I mostly worked on fruits and veggies this month (canned and frozen), as everything was GONE from my pantry and freezer. Last month I restocked flours, baking soda and powder, salt, beans, rice, etc.

This is some of what I bought this month and some explanations.

-50lbs potatoes
-40lbs apples
-several bags of onions
-.69 squash (several pounds)
-about 40 lbs of frozen veggies
(my garden gave me some for fresh through the summer, but not enough for freezing much)
-several 5lb bags of frozen fruits
-25lbs of sugar
-2 jars of honey
-1 container of molasses
-10lbs carrots
-4lbs cabbage
-12 dozen eggs (this will last for about 2 weeks)
-5 lbs oatmeal
-5 lbs bananas
-canned items
(chili beans, pineapple, evap milk, beets, etc)

The purchases to jabber about-

masa flour

This is worthy of conversation!

Not only is it pre-soaked in lime (as Nourishing Traditions speaks of) but it also has some goodies in it!

Per 100g , which is about 3/4 cup, you have;

-6.7 grams of fiber (fiber is a good way to tell if flour and meal are whole grain)
-6.9 grams of protein (this is great, and (from what I've read) when combined with a legume, it's a complete protein
-10% of your daily calcium
-10% of your daily iron

Regular corn meal cannot compare to this, as most of its nutritional content is what has been 'added'.

Read the ingredients on their bags to see what I mean ;-)

Masa flour is easy to use and its not textured like "meal"- it is "flour".

(Here are 3 recipes (scroll down)that I've posted with it before. This makes good tortillas too, but it will work so many other ways.)

I think masa is better stored in the freezer too, since it is the whole grain, whereas regular cornmeal is stripped to prolong its shelf life.

Another interesting purchase I made, I can hardly believe myself. You see, it's not something that I've ever cooked before. My kids however saw one at the Butcher's once and I promised them that I would try one sometime in the future.

Several have also recently read Lord of the Rings. Do you remember a dish they prepared in that story? (No, not Smeagol's fish.) Come on- think, think, think. With thyme, sage, and bay leaves? (For some of us- Hasenpfeffer might ring a bell.) 'Coney' ring a bell? Yes, a rabbit for Rabbit Stew. 

I think Bugs Bunny's Hasenpfeffer sounds like a great way to cook it!

Dh said he wouldn't eat it and I almost backed out because I didn't want to waste- but- sigh, I did make a promise to them and my word was more important - I plan to fix a pot of beans and cornbread to have on stand-by!

(And I can ALWAYS smuggle it into something ;-)

Anyone else use masa or cook rabbits?

Care to share recipes?

Out with the old and In with the new...

 Welcome to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays!

I have a shopping/food storage/pantry building tip this week:

This month will be "clearing the shelves" month for lots of stores.

It's almost time for all the seasonal baking supplies to be brought out so be looking for sales on items such as; canned pumpkin, evaporated milk, spices, flours etc.

(I'm personally holding my breath hoping the price of nuts will come down soon. They're $9 a pound here!-With the exception of almonds.)

Then again in November, close to Thanksgiving, you will see them drop again. Happy frugal shopping!

Once-a-month-shopping: FRUIT

I wanted to share what I did this month for our 'fruits' with you and how I'm going to stretch them out over the month. This first week or so we'll have- berries, bananas, and grapes. Those were the best priced. They will be eaten with breakfast, alongside scrambled eggs or on top of pancakes or oatmeal. They will be served in small portions (old yogurt cups) after meals as well. When they begin to get old, they'll be tossed in smoothies for breakfast (freezing leftovers for 'pops'). If there are leftover bananas, they'll be frozen and used later for banana bread or dropped in smoothies- they add yummy natural sugar!

For the rest of the month I bought a bag of frozen strawberries and I have a little frozen blueberries and blackberries leftover. I also have two and a half quarts of frozen blackberries from our bushes this year. And I hope I have about 3 bags of frozen apples from the orchard last year.

I also bought some dried fruit. I did a little searching to find out which fruits had the highest nutrition when they were dried. (I love this site! Be sure to scroll down the page once you've entered your food of choice.) But after some digging, I elected raisins and prunes.They are both very sweet which will satisfy the sweet tooth of my children and they are packed with lots of goodies that I never knew they had!

Prunes- 12 grams of fiber per serving! But not only that- Do you know how much vitamin k they have???? They also supply a nice amount of several other vitamins and minerals. The trick will be hiding them here and there and making them appetizing. Chopped in muffins, on cooked cereal is where I LOVE them, and maybe some sauces.

Raisins- 6 grams of fiber is pretty good for starters, but did you know they have 17% of your required daily iron? They also have 35% of your daily potassium. Not so bad, huh?

But you know what's really great about these two foods?
Uh huh- they're both quite frugal too!

******

This post is linked to Homemaking Link-up Wednesday's.

Have You Noticed My Silence About Once a Month Shopping?

If you have....its because I haven't done it! ;-)

I have something else up my sleeve these days.

For quite some time, I've shopped, always replenishing the flour, bean, corn, sugar, etc buckets. I keep the bigger bottles of seasonings and when I need salt, I buy about 4. I've also put some of Brandy's tips in play, and I've stocked up on canned goods and tucked them away under my son's bed downstairs. When things went on sale, I bought extras; such as a case of spaghetti sauce when it went on sale for .59 a can.

So- I've had a good supply here (and some garden food) and I decided to take advantage of it and do something different! I've been saving up for months, living mostly from food storage, and will be buying half an angus next month! Yah!

I've bugged the butchers half to death telling them of all my special desires. "I want all the bones you can get. I want all the organs. Make sure you get me some marrow bones for roasting! (mmmm!) I want all the fat to render..... Yes all the bones you can. I want big ones for soup and small ones for dogs!"

You know what they told me? "We can't get the head."   "Uhm, that one's okay. I'm not up to making head cheese .....yet."    ;-)

But, doing this, I get grass fed beef and it will work out to somewhere around $1.99 per pound (hanging weight). It will certainly be better than store prices right now and I will get some special cuts that dh and these boys will certainly appreciate!

Oh- And did I mention that I worked a free freezer into the deal? Yeah. It was part of another special that this place has running....so I asked could I have one with the deal I wanted! ...NEVER hurts to ask.... He said he had one that had been used for a couple of months that he would let me have. Sweet!

So...there's my story about why I've been quiet about Once-a-Month-Shopping. Once this is taken care of, I will need to replenish the buckets, frozen fruits and veggies, canned goods, and baking supplies. But this has been another benefit to learning to store up food for longer periods of time.

Heads Up Coupon Queens!

AllYou.com has a new feature that you gotta check out!

It's called a Grocery Circular Round Up. It can help locate prices in your area, as well as coupons, by simply entering your zip code into the box.

They also have some coupons on their site that you can't find just anywhere.

Once a month shopping report- so fun!

I got beef! Whew hoo!

I bought about 16 roasts, leaving ten whole for roast, potatoes, and carrots.
The rest I sliced up for Frugal Roast Steaks and Roast Sandwiches.
1 1/2 was diced up for stew.
1 was cut into strips for a stir fry.
Yippee!

I also bought a box of 50 hamburger patties for $25! Sweet deal! And oh the praises that box got me when I came home with that jewel!  (Matter of fact, after dh viewed the meat freezer and saw this box of patties he said; "ok, whatever it is you're wantin' outta me, you can have it"! lol--perhaps I should have got that in writing, I'll need him in the garden soon!)
 ;)

I found some super cheap extra thin steaks that are marinating for (much begged for) beef jerky. -Kids are ecstatic!

I bought a large pork loin for $17 and had it sliced a little over a quarter inch thick- and now it will make 4 meals of pork steaks/chops. Not  bad- and dh was beside himself and so was a couple of my pork loin-lovin' kids.

I bought 8 pounds of hamburger, sectioned in 2lb bags for meatloaves.

I bought several pounds of chicken legs at .69 lb- enough for 3 meals.

4 lbs of ground turkey.

2 lbs of chicken liver- when I oven-fry any chicken, I love to toss these in- super easy.

I bought a bushel of apples and about 6 lbs of grapes! Heaven!

I bought 50lbs of self-rising flour for $20! Super sweet!

I bought 25lbs of white beans.

I bought 25 pounds of cornmeal.($8)

4 lbs of black beans.

Frozen cherries, berries, peaches, and lima beans. (Lima were buy one get one free- bought 3 bags, got 3 free!)

Several pounds of cabbage.

Several pounds of large carrots for juicing.

2 small hams ( I had coupons for $2 off each of them.)

2 pks of bologna.

A couple lbs of yellow squash. (89 lb)

Several pounds of cabbage.

Several bags of onions.

Big can of olive oil.

Salt and baking powder.

3 gallons of vinegar.(This is my main cleaner, with citrus of course!)

Lots of other odds and ends, like spices, and gum that I had coupons for.

Splurges- yes- 2!
I bought a couple of packs of Goldfish crackers for .99.
Easter candy- but I had coupons for every pack I bought, paying no more than $1 per pack. A sweet, sweet!

I still have more to finish tomorrow.

I forgot to get a brick of yeast. (1lb bags are wayyyyy cheaper than the little jars or packs.)
Need some other things- potatoes, lemons, baking soda, eggs, butter, and milk. (Yah for Aldi!)

What are you putting in that buggy?

This is a question I've asked myself on more than one occasion...especially now that gas prices and grocery prices are sneaking right back up again!

Help me, if you will, with my figures!
One package of super cool zippety-doo-dah cookies could easily cost you $4.
Toss in a couple of extra kids, a hungry husband, and you'll need at least 2 or 3 of those. So-$12? per week?
So- $48 per month for 'cookies'?

Pretty insane when you look at cookies that way, huh?

Well, now let's consider some basics!
25 lbs sugar under $10
25 lbs of flour $10?
oil $3? times 2 =$6
pound of butter $2 times 2 = $4
chocolate chips .99 per pound times 3 (its chocolate!) $2.97
dozen eggs .79 times 3= $2.37

My guesses tell me that would make cookies for 3 months! For less than store-bought cookies for 1 month.
Throw in a jar of peanut butter that was on sale last week for $1.25 and you can have variety and still stay under one month of store-bought cookies ;-)

Local Sales this week...

ALDI:
mushrooms.99
2lb onions .99
3pk peppers .99
4pk corn .99
zukes 24 oz .99

LEO'S:
fryer chicken breasts.99
spiral hams 1.29 lb
10lb chicken quarters 3.90
Field's dinner franks.99
1lb baby carrots .99
cukes 3/$1
20lb russet potatoes 2.99
1 lb strawberries 1.89
cantaloupes 1.49
jumbo eggs .89
Wishbone dressings 1.69
24 oz ketchup .89
56oz ice cream 1.69
2lt cokes .99
Van Camp pork'n'beans 2/1
peaches or fruit cocktail 16 oz .69
Hunt's spag. sauce .89
Special K 2/$5

WALMART:
24 pk cokes and pepsi $5
corn .19 per ear
40oz Heinz ketchup $1
large frozen cooked shrimp 2lbs $10
bl,sl, chicken breast 1.98

FOOD LION:
b1g1f GM and Kellogg's cereal
cluster tomatoes .99lb
2.5 to 3 lb frozen chicken breasts and tenders 6.99
O.M. franks b1g1f
shank hams 1.29lb
apricots 2.69lb
mangos .99
5lb vidalia onions 3.99
red, green leaf or romaine lettuce 1.29 lb

KROGER:
(having crazy 8 sale)
8oz pizza .88
OM bologna .98 (net coupons right now)
2lt pepsi .84
BC brownie mix or M.white muffin mix .98 (coupons available usually)
strawberries; 1lb 1.97, 2lb 3.79, 4lb 5.99
yellow sq or zukes .98lb
florida corn 6/2
green giant frozen veggies 7 to 10 oz .88 (usually coupons)
Mom's Best Natural Cereals 1.99 (coupons are available, my kids love this)
6oz black or blueberries 2/4
california cherries 3.99 lb
english cukes 4/5
dole blends 2/5
org. cameo apples 1.19 lb
4lb oranges 3.99

***
These are just highlights from this weeks fliers. Happy Shopping!
May the Lord help you all to stretch your shopping $! :-)

Two Days of shopping= tons of food!

My once-a-month shopping trip went far better than I expected. I had looked at the shopper guides and got a little bummed out about the prices, but, I managed to do pretty good in spite of that. Seems there were lots of good in-store sales and some very handy coupons!!! This month I splurged a little more, on some junky stuff, than I normally do, due to the fact that we'll have to spend more time in the garden in the next few weeks and I had some really good coupons that some how seemed to make it okay! ;-)

Here's some of what I brought in;
30 lbs split fryer chicken breasts
20 lbs chicken legs
40 pounds chicken quarters
several pounds of natural sausage
several pounds of bacon
rib eye loin sliced very thin for several meals of steaks
several pounds of nitrate free hot dogs (on sale at 2/$3)
20 lbs ground beef
several cans of tuna
canned salmon
frozen salmon fillets, wild caught
2 bags of shrimp
1 box popcorn shrimp (coupon)
1 bag of fish sticks (coupon)
ground chicken
turkey polish sausage for butter beans
2 packs of bologna for bologna cups
13 dozen eggs (.79)
15 lbs sugar
12 lbs of cane sugar
5 lbs 10-grain cereal mix
40lbs apples
6 lbs green grapes
6lbs onions
15 lbs cabbage
5 lbs carrots
6 avocado
broccoli
green onions
100lbs potatoes (on sale at 5.99 for 50lbs)
2lbs asparagus
6 romaine hearts
8 roma tomatoes
1 lb grape tomatoes
4x 8oz mushrooms
1 box spinach (hopefully mine from the garden will be in soon!)
6lbs lemons
celery
pomegranate/acai juice (b1g1f coup)
tortilla chips
salsa
dried fruits
12 lbs roast
choc chips
vanilla
mustard
ketchup
1 gallon of mayo
1 gallon of dressing
several boxes of cereal (I was able through sales and coupons to get these for about $1 a box, shame on me but my kids are excited to bits! and I got coups for $5 off my next purchase!)
several kinds of dried beans
brown rice
canned goods, such as tomatoes
whole grain pasta
blackberries
butter
cheeses
frozen veggies

There's more, I just can't remember it all.
I also saved $179 at Kroger's between coupons and my Kroger plus card! I also earned coupons worth $11 off my next purchase there. Not to mention that earned me some sweet fuel points- which saves me .10 a gallon on gas!!!

The Frugal Fish: pollock

My last shopping trip I picked up a couple of bags of Pollock at our local Cash-n-carry. One pkg had 4 large fillets and the other had 5 fillets- the price- $2.46 and$3.36. Each bag would feed a normal sized family with small children but it takes both to feed mine- but still- pretty frugal for fish!

I love this fish breaded and fried- today I'm baking it.

LOCAL SALES...

ALDI:
bananas .39lb
carrots .49 2 lb bag or 1 lb baby carrots
broccoli 99 16oz pk
strawberries .99 16 oz
(you can get on their mailing list and get emails once a week of their sales too!)

Food Lion and Kroger can also be viewed online and always remember to look for in-store sales and markdowns and manager's specials!

IGA doesn't run an add every week, usually just the first of the month so they didn't have an add this week.

LEO'S MARKET:
Kellogg Cereals 1.99
Bottom round roast 1.99
pork loins 1.69
rib eye 6.99 (Food Lion or IGA often run these for 4.99)
10 lbs leg quarters 4.29
ground beef 1.49
Wampler sausage 1.69
O.M. bologna 1.49 1lb
potatoes 50 lbs 6.99
cantaloupes 1.49
cabbage 4lbs $1
jumbo eggs .99
grapes .99
grapefruit 5lbs 1.99
(in store apples are 3lbs for 2.99)
Hormel 5oz meats-ham turkey chicken .99
Suddenly Salad 99
Inst potatoes .99
May-field Ice cream 2.99
Duncan Hines cake mixes .99
hamburger helper 4/$5
baked beans 4/$5
1/2 gal orange juice 1.69

Food Lion has whole chickens this week for 79 lb

Kroger has Smithfield bacon 2/6 (I think they have a nitrate free)
turkeys at .59
sockeye salmon 6.99
Perdue sl bl chicken breasts 1.99

Once a Month Shopping: Day two of two

Day two of my shopping trip proved to be just as exciting as the first day!

Below is my other freezer. This one holds mostly fruits, vegetables, treats, broths, and there's some flash freezing going on in there right now.

Some of what I bought and what's in this freezer;

bag of cherries, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, coconut, some frozen homemade cookie dough, two pans of flash freezing meatballs, a pre-made and ready-to-bake meatloaf and another one on its way down, a couple of containers of whipped topping, homemade whole wheat french garlic bread, pie shells, several bags of bone broth, pizza roll treats for the kids for mine and dh's 'date night', and that second shelf is loaded with frozen veggies- corn, green beans, green peas, brussel sprouts, speckled butter beans, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, lima beans, veggie medleys, mixed veggies, and who knows what else!

But I got lucky (blessed!) and got several great deals at Kroger on frozen veggies. The store brand and the Bird's Eye brands were on sale at $1 and I had several coupons for .30 off one and .70 off two and the coupon fairy had left a few in the freezers, and I also had one for $3 off if you spend $15 in the frozen foods section. Sweet!

Back to the ole fridge:

I added more eggs for breakfast casseroles and hopefully to make up some breakfast burritos for the freezer. (Jumbo 4/$5!) There's also 2 pks of romaine lettuce, 2 to 4 pkgs of mushrooms ($1), a pack of beef fat for rendering (free), a drawer full of cheeses, one drawer full of baby carrots (.49 lb makes for perfect snacks), a drawer full of cabbage (.29 lb), and yeah, there's a little bit of a leftover mess from the meat that I used to make the meatballs with- oops!

Pantry is full again- was nearly empty!
Sugars, cornmeal, plain flour, salts, baking soda, cocoa, canned salmon, peanut butter, chocolate chips, cake mixes (got bdays coming in a few weeks), 4 or 5 kinds of beans, whole grain pasta, corn tortillas, olive oil, salsa, canned tomatoes, and yes, even some naughty cereal for "those" mornings! (remember I told you how cheap it was on the "day one" post;)
Let's go back to the meat freezer! I found ANOTHER turkey! (that's 3 if you are counting!) This was on sale for .59 lb and I had a $3 off coupon! (six dollar turkeys make you full of Thanksgiving even in April!)
I also added 2 ten pound bags of drumsticks at $2.95 each. (We ate one bag for lunch today.)
I bought about ten pounds of hamburger, making another meatloaf for the freezer, and dividing the rest for tacos or taco salads, likely.
I added some other things but I may have mixed them up on day one, not sure. (like sausage, turkey bacon, turkey pepperoni, etc)
Also, not pictured, is my side by side fridge upstairs in the kitchen!
Its loaded up!
Some of the other foods I bought;
8 cans salmon, 3 bunches of bananas, 3 boxes of raisins, one bundle of red pairs, 2 pineapples, zucchini, brocolli, cauliflower, onions, sweet potatoes, celery, spinach, turnip greens, 60lbs potatoes, 3 pkgs of whole grain bagels (less than $3 for all with coupons), canned beets, honey, molasses, 2 bundles of grapes, 4 boxes of strawberries, 2 boxes of blackberries, tomatoes, asparagus, black olives, green chillies, and I'm not sure what else!
I didn't get to buy a big box of apples this time like I usually do but hopefully we will make do with the extra fruit from the freezer.
We normally eat our fresh foods up during the first two weeks and then eat fruits and veggies from the freezers. I like to set aside extra to replenish the fresh fruits and veggies later in the month but this month, I didn't as I am hoping for some fresh food from the garden in a few more weeks. (Looks like we will have kale in no time! And maybe some romaine soon too.)
Now that my food is all here, I have another four or five weeks of not having to fret about what we will eat! Yah!
Time is precious and I'd rather spend it with my family than running back and forth to the store :-) And you wouldn't believe how euphoric everyone gets around here with all of this food in the house! hee hee hee

Wanna see some of how this month's shopping went? day one of two:

Did you notice some of the prices of food seems to be sorta creeping up these days? I'm hoping its just because of Easter specials but things like onions were almost triple price! Ugh!

But- I searched to stretch my $$$ as far as possible and here's some of what I bought on the day one of my two-day shopping!

I bought 1 1/5 boxes of roasts.When I got them home, dh helped me "process" them for all sorts of meals. I will tell you more below.

I quickly tossed in about 10 pounds of chicken breasts to boil so I could dice up the meat for later on in the month.

These two boxes had chicken. I had about 20 pounds of fryer breasts, about 10 lbs of tenders, and about 10 to 15 pounds of quarters.
For one meal, here is some of the quarters in a Food Saver bag, seasoned and ready to dump in the crock or baking dish, for Spicy Dump Chicken.

With most of the tenders I made Laura's popcorn chicken for the freezer, for later in the month.
This will make for a quick and easy lunch, alongside some potato wedges, and a raw veggie.

Here is what one freezer looked like after day one. This has all meat.

Here's a partial list of what's here along with what we did with some of the roasts;
3 Food Saver bags of marinated sliced roast beef for Sandwiches (pics of these coming soon)
1pkg pre-seasoned beef for stew
1 Food Saver pkg pre-seasoned steaks sliced from the roasts for a "steak night"
2 bags pre-seasoned beef for stir fry (all I have to do is thaw and dump in the pan along with some veggies and serve with brown rice and fruit)
1 pkg of pre-seasoned steaks for dh (this will be for a night when kids and I pack a lunch and go play tennis, etc)
2pks of popcorn chicken
3pkgs of 4cups each diced cooked chicken (If I use this for supper, it will be 3 meals if I use it for lunch then I might get up to six meals.)
1pkg pre-seasoned chicken for stir fry
1pkg chicken tenders
1pkg pre-seasoned spicy dump chicken
2 meals worth of chicken quarters to fry
4 meals of roasts
1 roast for beef jerky
2 meals worth of chicken breasts for oven fried chicken
1 semi-boneless leg of lamb
2 Turkeys
1 meals worth of pollock
1 meals worth of salmon
2 meals worth of calf liver
1 bag of scallops
2 whole chickens
1pkg of ground beef
2 days worth of mini-burgers (shame on me- but I knew these would come in handy during these shopping days for something quick to eat)

In the spare fridge is several heads of cabbage (.29 Leo's), several quarters of butter ($1.50 Walmart), eggs, one gallon of what turned out to be free milk* and the organic milk just cost me $1.50-coupons- (buttermilk and yogurt coming up with these), and the extra ground beef and sausage will be for meatballs....just as soon as I get around to rolling them up!
=
Tomorrow.... the shopping will be on the "odds and ends" , fresh and frozen veggies, and cheeses.

Day Two coming up!

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Once a Month Shopping, Works for Me Wednesday!

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*Food Lion is running a special on Special K cereal- yeah, I know bad- but with six kids, sometimes if pays to have a back-up in the back of the pantry- and listen to the price ;=)

Special K was 2/$5.
If you buy 4 boxes, you get $5 off, which means you get four boxes at $1.25 each (even cheaper if you have other coupons)- then, on top of that, I got a print out for a free gallon of milk up to $4!
Sweet deal and I couldn't pass it up!

Pulling off another Once-a-Month-Shopping ...wanna see?

This shopping trip took me about an hour one afternoon, and several hours the following day.

I stopped by Kroger the first evening, picking up beef fat, coconut oil, and some other wacky things that I can't get at other stores. ...One fancy find was little lamb chops! I was like a kid in a candy store!

The real hard work began when I got home though! The first night, I rendered fat and got several containers. If you remember, here while back, I rendered lard. I love my lard, but the lard is more prominent so I like to have the beef fat around too. ....But anyway, I was happy to have that job done so I could do more bulk shopping and storage the next day, so it worked out very good to break the trip up.

I went first to pick up a LARGE quantity of meat at Leo's. Its our local 'hometown' market. Fryer chicken breasts and roasts were the sale items this week so I bought 40 lbs of chicken and about 20+ pounds of the roast.

Wanna see what I did with all of that?

Below is 2 bowls of ground chicken with all the ingredients to make chicken loaf. I stirred them all up and I will show you how I freeze them below.

I usually have the butcher do different things with the roasts but I was thinking we'd eat them all as "roasts" but once I got them all home, I realized that I had more than I thought. So, I got out the handy dandy Kitchen Aid and ground up some!
See? Ground beef! Fresh- no fillers- just meat!

I 'flash froze' these patties then bagged them all up with my Food Saver.

And with some of the ground meat, I made a beef meatloaf BUT this meatloaf has more than meats the eye! I also ground up 1/2 a pound of chicken liver in this ;-)! Shhhhhh! I added extra seasonings, and hopefully no one will notice!

Some of the meat, I chopped up for stew.

This one, I decided to slice up to make 'roast beef' sandwiches, sorta like these.

(Again, I could have had the butcher do this ...sigh..)

I put almost half the chicken on to boil. Both of these pots have fryer breasts in them, and will then be used with the bones to simmer for 1 to 2 days for broth.

Below is an interesting picture, huh? Well, when I tell you what's in the pot, you'll think I did this on purpose to "hide" what's in the pot! But it was actually steam from the chicken that caused my lens to fog ;-). Oh- what's in the pot? The rest of the chicken liver- sauteing in a little seasoned lamb fat. (Its really good this way.) I chopped this up and froze it in portions that I will later sneak into other dishes. SHHHHH!

To freeze the chicken and beef meat loaves, I lined my baking dish with plastic wrap, sprayed, and put the meat in so as to mold it.

Then I wrapped the plastic around it.

That made it easy to seal in a Food Saver bag quickly and also to have a shape that can be easily transferred to the baking dish when I decide to cook it.

When the chicken was done, I shredded it all up and portioned it out into freezer bags. Some will be used for casseroles and other dishes, but some already has been 'spoken for' to use to make shredded chicken sandwiches, a family favorite. They also begged for chicken and dumplings but I told them I bought whole chickens for that! (Nothing like using the broth as your base and using meat from the whole chicken- yummy!)

I also bought lots of other fresh and frozen goodies, like scallops and shrimp, and blueberries, and lima beans- speaking of lima beans- my kids can't seem to understand why kids on tv hate them so much- go figure!

:-)

Frugal tip: buy meat when its on sale and you have extra to spend!

A frugal tip for OAM shopping...

I love to shop once a month! With six kids with bottom-less bellies- its just a HUGE relief to know there's food here! ..Not to mention it saves me money!

I've written under my grocery tab about my shopping and 'how to', but I wanted to share about a tool that helps me and saves me money!

Yeah, the

FoodSaver® Vac 550

When I get my fresh meats home, I often don't have time to re-wrap so I will stick them in a Food Saver bag and seal them up. If I buy a large quantity of ground beef or chicken, then I will section the meat up into meal size portions and seal them up.

I still use Ziploc bags for foods that I know will be eaten pretty soon, but for the foods that may be in there for weeks, or longer, then the Food Saver truly saves the day!

Last month, I had fresh celery with crisp leaves for weeks, all zipped up in a Food Saver bag.

Another handy thing is, leftovers! If I just have a little of this and a little of that, I save it and it becomes a meal for someone who might not have been home at meal time or if I have to run somewhere and dh has the roam of the castle, he can still eat like a king! ;-)

These are also very useful for OAMC!

Once the bags are sealed and frozen, they can be reheated any number of ways. You can drop them in boiling water, microwave, or drop them in hot water to thaw enough to slip into a pot.

I also reuse my bags, scrubbing them out with a little vinegar and/or baking soda to make sure all odors from previous foods are gone!

You can also seal other forms of bags back together with them. I found some mixed organic veggies on clearance and kept them fresh longer by resealing the bag every time it was opened. It only takes just a sec to seal- easy peasy!

For more money saving tips and recipes, visit Frugal Fridays!

Local sales this week...

Leo's Spring Street Market:
split fryers .99
bottom round roast 1.99
potatoes 1.99 10lbs
strawberries 1.99 16 oz
5lb grapefruit 1.99
3lb onions 1.29
eggs 1.29
flour and cornmeal 1.69

Aldi:
grapefruit .25 each
red and green grapes .99
bananas ,39
pineapple .99
scallops 6.99
mussels 2.99
salmon & flounder 3.99
whiting 24 oz 3.49

Hill's IGA:
10lbs ground beef 13.90
bone in turkey breast 1.29
potatoes 5 (10lb bags) for $10
carrots 10lbs for 10
mushrooms 10 (8oz pkgs) for 10
naval orgs. 20 for 10
yellow onions 10 (3lb bags) for 10
strawberries 5 (1lb pkgs) for 10
apples 10lbs for 10

Kroger:
fish 2.5 lbs 9.99
eggs 4/5
cheese 8oz 2/3
perdue oven roaster .99
frozen sockeye salmon 6.99 lb
idaho potatoes 10lbs 2.28
8lb naval oranges 3.99
red grapefruit .64 each
green peppers .68 each
6oz blueberries 2/5
pre-cut 12oz veggies 2/4
whole mushrooms 16oz 2.48
salad blends 12 oz 1.99
organic mangoes 4/5
organic carrots .98
organic salad blends 2/7

Food Lion
whole fryers .89
shrimp and scallops b1g1f 5.99 and 7.99
coke products 3/9
zukes and yellow squash 1.29
kiwi 2/1