I have been busy

Our local big chain grocery store (coughkrogercough) has 8 lb bags of chicken leg quarters on sale this week for $3.47 a bag, so I got 2. Keep in mind this is before I knew that I would have weekend guests (10 people total in my house). That is 16 pounds of chicken, counting the bones. So this morning I got up, started the coffee, started the laundry, and last night's dishes.

Then I proceeded to debone all that meat. I canned 8 pints. That is somewhere between 10-16 meals for us.

I threw all of the bones,skins and fat into a pot and added a couple of gallons of water and boiled it for the hour 15 the chicken was in the canner.

By this time, DH was home for lunch. I took a few of the bones out of the pot and scraped enough meat off of them to add to a box of stuffing mix (generic, for 89 cents) to have "dressing" for lunch.

After lunch, I strained the rest of the bones, skin, etc off of the pot of broth, skimmed the schmaltz off of it (got about 3 cups of that now in the fridge) and canned 7 quarts of broth.

Then I spent the next hour getting all the little remaining bits of meat off of the bones (did you know that the tiny bit of meat in the tail is white meat?) and with the rest of the broth, I am making up some chicken soup. I should have between 4 or 5 quarts when it is all said and done.

So...for $7 worth of chicken, I have at least 15 meals for my family.

Now I just have to clean the kitchen back up and take a shower before everyone gets here. But I have to get all of this done before the hand surgery. Dreading the 6 weeks of a cast.

I am beat.

Eating Natural

We haven't actively been trying to go natural, but it is working out that way.

A couple of years ago, DH went thru a layoff scare, Thankfully he didn't lose his job, but it got us thinking about grocery bills and the way we eat. I had started canning the year before and was looking forward to doing more. We stopped buying things like Hamburger Helper, Mac and Cheese, and all of the other processed foods because they were so expensive for very little nutrition. My mother gave me a Make A Mix Cookery cookbook and her copy of The Old Virginia Cookbook. We started buying foods in bulk and on sale and vacuum sealing it into portion sizes. I got a dehydrator and started using it regularly.

We have essentially stopped buying anything packaged, except for my son's lunch box stuff. We also look for origin labels on ANYTHING consumable. If it isn't made or grown in the US or Canada, we just won't buy it. It has made us really crave fresh veggies over the winter, since so much is grown out of the country and shipped in, but since the garden is up now, we know it won't be long before I am shelling peas and snapping beans.

And fortunately, we had a lot of last years harvest canned or dried to use over the winter. With the exception of dairy and eggs, we still have at least a month of food put back, including meats and fruits, so we would not have to buy groceries if he loses his job. And this way, I know exactly what is in it. No preservatives, not too much sodium, no MSG, no high fructose corn syrup, and nothing that I can't pronounce.

My goal is to eventually get to the point where I only have to go to the store, maybe, once a month. But that is still a couple of years off. Until then, we are doing what we can to protect our health, and our expenses, by eating closer to the land.

Eating Healthy on the Cheap

I read an article this morning about how eating beans and whole grains can help to reduce your cholesterol levels a significant amount. "According to a 2001 study from the Archives of Internal Medicine, people who eat beans four times a week reduce their heart disease risk by 20 percent." While I am not sure we could stand to eat beans that often, I think that eating beans a little more often will certainly help improve our health. And not only that, but beans are a very inexpensive way to get extra protein in our diet. And they are very versatile. We could easily have a vegetarian night once a week. And once a week will not cause too much disturbance in our house.

Bean burritos are probably the easiest way to serve them. Of course, we also like brown beans with bits of ham cooked in it. But like any true Southerner, you have to have fried potatoes and cornbread with it, and that will probably counteract the health benefits from the beans. Or a bean salad with lots of fresh veggies. When I was growing up, my mom made a really good bean salad that had kidney beans, chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, corn, (and something else, I don't remember) with a little bit of mayonnaise and salt and pepper. It was really good when we grilled out. I might actually try that tonight for dinner.

Garlic was also mentioned as a plus. We use a lot of garlic anyway so that shouldn't be a problem to just use it a little more.

The article also talked about how oats and oat fiber help you offset the negative effects of cholesterol by, essentially, soaking up the fats in the digestive tract. The good news is that oats are also inexpensive. And they are very versatile as well. Not only can you simply eat a bowl of hot oatmeal, you can run them through the blender to make oat flour for baking, make oatmeal cookies, use it as a binder for meatloaf or meatballs, the list goes on. I think I will be using a lot more oats in my daily cooking than I have in the past. Not only does it help with the cholesterol, it is an excellent source of fiber, and that is never a bad thing.

Purple grapes, either as juice or as wine, are rich in biflavinoids that will reduce the "stickiness" of platelets in the blood, reducing the probability of clots. It will also help repair damage caused by free radicals. So again, that is a good thing. 8 to 10 ounces a day is all that is needed. So go ahead and have that glass of red wine with dinner.

Eating cheaply doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your health. Between the beans, oats, garlic, cutting back on fried foods, and getting a little more exercise, we should be a lot healthier in the long run and still not be overspending on overpriced health food.

Brown bag vs. cafeteria

The lunches they serve at school are expensive and not very tasty. My kids have complained about them for years, actually I complained about them when I was in school too. But lunch kits are expensive and not very filling especially for teens. So I have found a few ways to save money on school lunches.

These I mostly figured out through trial and error, and may not work for your kids but you can take the idea and adjust it for your children.

Make sure the meals are balanced. It isn't doing either of you any good if they don't get the right mix of foods. Too many carbs and they will crash in class in the after noon. Too much protein and they will not have any energy for recess or changing classes. Too much sugar and they will be bouncing off of the walls. I try to make sure there is protein, grain, and a veggie of some sort every day. It is usually a sandwich, chips, a bottle of juice, some pudding or a fruit cup, and a cookie. That way they get 2 grains (2 slices of bread), protein (lunch meat or peanut butter), chips or carrots, a fruit(juice and fruit cup) and a dairy(pudding). My daughter also gets a tea bag since she has a teacher who allows them to drink either coffee or hot tea in class as long as they contribute to the supplies.

Now as to ways to make this meal less expensive. I buy the bread at the discount store. We have a really good one that sells Sara Lee breads for about 70 cents a loaf. That means that I can get the whole grain wheat bread for about 1/4 of retail. I stock up when I go and put it in the freezer until it is needed.

The lunch meats I make my self. I have posted before about making ham and salami. I also made a LOT of jams this summer so I can buy generic peanut butter for inexpensive sandwiches. Adding cheese to the sandwiches will add another dairy to the mix. Lettuce will add another veggie.

The chips I buy in big bags from the Dollar store or Big Lots and put them into sandwich sized zip top bags. That way they actually get more chips than are in the little individual serving bags, and I spend a LOT less for them. I can get about 6 lunches from an average sized (10-12 oz) bag that I pay about a dollar for. That is about 17 cents a bag instead of 30 or 40 cents for the little prepackaged ones.

The juice is another big savings. Buy a couple of single serve (8 oz or so) bottles with the screw on lids and refill them. You can find some sort of juice on sale just about all the time to refill the bottles with, and a 64 oz bottle will fill 8 - 8oz bottles at a fraction of the cost of buying new each time. Or you can refill with water, Kool-Aid, tea, lemonade, what ever. If you freeze them the night before, they will help keep the lunch cool until time to eat and still be thawed in time for lunch.

Pudding is another saving. Make your own. Invest in a couple of small (1/2-1 cup sized) containers from the dollar store. And some plastic spoons. These can hold fruit, pudding, a slice of last night's cake, what every you want to put in them. If you use them for fruit, I would suggest that you drain all of the juice out first in case the lid leaks. You don't want your bread to taste like soggy peaches. Don't buy the individual servings. You wind up paying for packaging and don't even get a full sized serving of fruit since they are mostly juice.

The cookies, again, you can make your self. or make brownies. These can both be made up and stored in the freezer in individual serving sizes. If you can keep the kids out of them after school.

You have to make sure your kids understand that ALL of the plastic comes home every day. Spoons get thrown away a lot. This is easier with lunch boxes, but my kids want paper sacks. My son had his lunch box stolen twice last year so paper sacks it is. And I can draw little pictures or sayings on them. Weird I know, but hey, they are still my kids and I like to make them smile. OR groan. Or, hehe, be embarrassed by silly stuff on their lunch bags.

Is it really cheaper to brown bag a lunch rather than eat in the cafeteria? If you consider that their lunches are about $2 a day, and they will not eat all of it or in some cases even most of it, I would say that it is. You know that they will eat what you give them since they get to help you shop for it and you will know that they are eating right. It is also nice to know that you are teaching them that they do not have to buy a lunch every day when they get to college or in the workforce. This is a money skill that is highly overlooked these days. The less money they waste, the less they will need from Mom and Dad.

Healthy meals on a budget

Low fat doesn't have to mean low taste. I have taken the extra fats out of lots of common everyday meals without any noticeable loss of taste. When you saute meats or vegetables, use broths instead of fats. You are actually adding flavor without adding any fat. I have done this with meats, stir fry, and even vegetables. That is where the ice cube tray comes in handy for freezing broth. Any time you cook meat and there is juice in the pan when you are finished, save it. It is amazing the amount of beef flavor you can get from a pot roast to add later to your soups or rice.

A few tips to follow when you are getting ready to start cooking frugally is to keep in mind the things you have on your shelf. What are you most likely to eat first? Can you make it yourself? Even if you can make it yourself, is it cheaper to make it or buy it? Will everyone in your household like it or just you or your spouse? Is your favorite recipe going to make enough of that meal to feed an army or just the two of you? Can you freeze it?

These are some of the things that ask myself every time I have to go shopping. The things we are most likely to eat first are snack foods. I have two teens in the house and my son will eat the pantry bare if I let him. My husband is also a big snacker. I try to keep things for everyone to nibble on between meals that doesn't involve chips and candy. Brownies seem to work out fairly well as does popcorn.

Since I cook a lot, there aren't really many things that I can't cook myself that aren't as good or better than purchased. This is a major plus on the frugal side. I have learned how to adapt a recipe to use less expensive ingredients and to make it healthier than most of the frozen convenience foods available. Recipes are available all over the internet or just flip thru a cook book to get some basic ideas. Soup is by far the healthiest choice. And soup can be just about anything you want to make it. Have left over mashed potatoes? Make potato soup for lunch the next day. Just add milk, black pepper, and a little shredded cheese. Add a piece of unbuttered toast and a salad and you are good to go. Have some bacon left from breakfast? Make a bacon and cheese sandwich for lunch. Left over breakfast sausage is perfect for adding to fried potatoes or use it to make cream gravy with biscuits the next day( I am Southern, can you tell?) Never let anything go to waste. Have a spoonful of corn and half a spoon of beans or peas left from dinner? Put them together in a freezer bag. Keep adding to it until the bag is full then thaw it all out together and make soup.

I have discovered that while I can make my own bread, it is actually cheaper for me to go to the thrift store to buy it. I can get a big loaf of brand name whole wheat sandwich bread for 69 cents. If I figure the cost of the yeast and flour, plus the energy used in baking it, it cost me way over that. I can still cost effectively make dinner rolls and specialty breads like cinnamon swirl, but for sandwich bread, it just doesn't justify.

Will everyone eat it is a tough one at our house. My husband isn't fond of pork, my son doesn't like sauces or eggs, my daughter will eat just about anything except corn ("corn is evil" she says) and I am not likely to cook something that I won't eat. It makes for some interesting meal times, but we have found ways around it.

Making a pan of lasagna is expensive, but by splitting it into two pans, bake one and freeze one, makes it almost cost effective. Soup can be done the same way. Soup is a very inexpensive way to serve up left overs and you can split it up and freeze part of it for a meal another day. If your family just can't give up an expensive meal, save it for a special time like for a birthday or anniversary. Or if you only make it once every couple of months, cut costs on other meals that month to make up for it. The secret here is to don't stop making it altogether, just cut back on when you make it. You don't want to feel deprived of your favorites, just make them more special.

Another thing we do at our house is freezer night. Evey couple of weeks, we go through the freezer and find the 10 chicken nuggets, 3 fish sticks, a hand full of frozen peas, the few french fries left in the bag, leftovers in the fridge, anything that isn't enough to make a meal by itself and cook it all for one meal. Everyone can take a little of everything or if they don't like it they can skip that food completely. This has a dual purpose. You can clean out the fridge of anything that might get overlooked or buried on grocery day and it will help insure that no food will get wasted. I usually do this the night before a planned shopping trip. The kids like it because it gives them another shot at leftovers they had forgotten about and it is kinda fun to just go digging thru the freezer. It also helps you get creative with ways to recycle veggies into a meal.

With a little planning, the weekly grocery trip will stretch a lot farther.