Flash Your Stash

What does you freezer and pantry look like right now? Are your cupboards full of summer sale condiments?  Mine are.

I'm starting to run low on pasta sauce and soups but I'm not worried because I know those sales are coming up soon.

Here's my current stash

Grocery Bootcamp Week 3: Learn to make a grocery list my way

I don't plan a menu for the week and then make a list of things I need. Instead, I look at my inventory and the minimums I like to keep in the house and make my list to fill in my minimums. For meat and produce, I decide how many meals I will be making at home and list that. Then when I go to the store, i buy meat and produce that meets my rules requirements to fulfill those needs. It's tough at first, but you get used to shopping that way. After I buy all my list items, I figure out how much money I have left in my grocery budget (remember our overall goal is to get to $25 a week per person) and buy items that we use regularly that are on sale to help fill my pantry and freezer.

Good luck and have fun! Feel free to ask me questions, either her or on our facebook fan page.

The Rules for Stretching Your Budget

The Rules Here are the basic rules for stretching your budget. 1. Your budget goal is $25 a week per person. If you cook for 1 or even 2, it will take you some time stocking up to get here. You might find it easier to shop every other week instead of weekly so you have a little more money to work with. If you do this, leave some money for fresh produce every week. 2. Spending limits: Only buy produce that is $1 per pound or less. Only buy meat that is $2 per pound or less. 3. Buy produce that's in season. Why? It's cheaper and tastes better. 4. Shop with a list, but be prepared to be flexible. If there's an amazing sale on something you eat regularly, buy that instead and take something else off your list. 5. Remember your coupons. Only cut coupons for things you eat regularly. When you have a coupon, put a star next to the item on your list so you remember to use the coupon & get the right item(s). 6. Take advantage of produce stands and farmer's markets. You can often, but not always, get amazing produce for a great price.

The Importance of Staples

The Importance of Staples Someone asked me why it's important to keep a minimum stash of staple items in your fridge and pantry. The simple answer is this: it makes life easier and saves you money. Tonight is the perfect example. We got home from our weekend out of town just before 6:30. We were hungry. The baby was hungry. I had a list of things that had to be done before I went to bed. Robert asked if I wanted to just hit a drive thru. I almost said yes, but just really wanted to get home so I said let's unpack the truck first then decide. When we got home, Robert unpacked the truck and I raided the fridge & pantry for dinner. I grabbed tortillas, cheese, mushrooms, olives, green chilies, and a can of fruit cocktail. In 10 minutes I had dinner ready: delicious veggie quesadillas and fruit. Much better than a drive thru and cheaper too.

Convenience Meals

I'm not a huge fan of packaged meals, this includes frozen meals, canned pasta (ex. Chef Boyardi) and boxed meals (ex. Hamburger Helper). That doesn't mean that they aren't in my house. It's important to have some quick go to meals that can be prepared in a time crunch. It's faster, cheaper, and generally healthier than a drive thru. This week, I want to focus on recipes using these convenience products.

FROZEN MEALS and CANNED PASTA
Let's face it, there's not much you can add to these to make them healthier, so choose the healthiest versions to have on hand. Pair them with a salad, steamed or sautéd veggies, and some fruit and you have a healthier version of the covenience meal.

BOXED MEALS
My personal favorite convenience meals are Hamburger Helper (or tuna or chicken). It doesn't really matter which one you buy. You can add any protein to it. Get what's on sale AND don't forget your coupon. Here's an example of how to stretch that box into a larger quantity, therfore stretching your budget and adding a healthier twist. Prepare the dinner as instructed on the box using your protein of choice (I often substitute chicken in tuna helper and vice versa). Here are your additions: More pasta. That's right, prepare additional pasta in boiling water and add it to the skillet before adding the sauce packet and liquids. You can add the dry pasta and let it cook in the skillet instead, but sometimes it doesn't cook as easily. After mixing in the sauce packet and liquids, add in some canned or frozen veggies. You can also raid the fridge for leftover veggies. Let the meal simmer and finish cooking as directed on box. I recently made the pasta alfredo Tuna Helper this way. I didn't have tuna, so I used chicken. I doubled the amount of pasta and added frozen peas and canned corn. I paired it with a salad for a healthier version of the meal. Since I added more pasta, and veggies, we had leftovers for lunch for a couple days.

USING LEFTOVERS IN CONVENIENCE MEALS
A great way to use leftover protein is to use it as the protein in boxed convenience meals. We had 2 grilled chicken breasts and 1 thigh leftover. I chopped all the meat, heated it in the skillet and then prepared cheeseburger Hamburger Helper as directed on the box. I also use leftover protein and veggies in soups. I heat the leftovers and add them to Cup A Noodles for a quick lunch. Do I recommend eating these foods everyday? Of course not. Boxed and canned foods are filled with preservatives and high in sodium. We all know this. These products make life easier sometimes. We all have busy days and need quick meals.

The next time you reach for a convenience meal, experiment with what you have in the house to make the meal healthier and what you can add to it to stretch your budget. Look for these things to help you:
1. Leftover pasta, rice, protein, and veggies.
2. Additional pasta (or rice, depending on the meal)
3. Canned or frozen veggies.

Taking Inventory

How to Tip of the Week: Take Inventory

It's time take inventory. This week spend an hour or two (depending on the size of your fridge, freezer, and pantry) taking inventory of what you have. Throw away anything that is outdated. Throw away anything in the freezer or fridge that is unidentifiable. Once that is done, take inventory of your staples. In our house the following are considered staples:

FRIDGE:
milk (non-fat and 2%)
eggs
cheese (please, please, please if you learn nothing else from me, remember this: don't waste money on shredded cheese, buy a brick and shred it. You save SOOOOO much this way)
cottage cheese
yogurt
butter/margarine

PANTRY:
white sugar
brown sugar
powdered sugar
flour
baking powder
baking soda
cornmeal
syrup
powdered coffee creamer
coffee
pancake mix (the just add water kind)
canned fruit (pears, peaches, fruit cocktail; in juice or water ONLY, no syrup) (we keep about 3-4 cans of each on hand)
canned veggies (corn and green beans) (we keep about 5 cans of each on hand)
canned tuna (5 cans)
canned chicken (5 cans)
canned stewed tomatoes (5 cans)
canned diced tomatoes (we like the kind with diced chilies) (5 cans)
canned diced chilies (3 cans)
canned kidney beans (5 cans)
canned garbanzo beans (5 cans)
canned black beans (5 cans)
brown rice
pasta (5 boxes/bags)
pasta sauce (5 jars) (we make our own in the summer, but we always keep canned/jars on hand)
a variety of cereal (I'm pregnant; I live off cereal some days)
oatmeal
raisins

FREEZER:
Ground turkey
Boneless skinless chicken breast
Shrimp
 
CONDIMENTS and SPICES:
ketchup (1 open and 1 on hand)
mayonnaise (1 open and 1 on hand)
mustard (1 open and 1 on hand)
Tapatio (1 open and 1 on hand)
Tabasco sauce (1 open and 1 on hand)
BBQ sauce (1 open and 2 on hand)
Buffalo sauce (1 open and 1 on hand)
salsa (in the summer, I make my own from the garden.)
taco seasoning (we buy the small packets when they're on sale, we usually have 4 in the house)
black pepper
salt
garlic powder (not salt)
parsley
oregano
minced onions
cinnamon
nutmeg
ginger

After you take inventory, it's time to start stocking your kitchen. DON'T, I repeat DON'T go out and buy everything at once. It will cost you a fortune. Spend the next 4-6 weeks using coupons and shopping sales to stock your pantry. How much you need and what you need will depend on your "go to meals" and your family size. We will talk about "go to meals" later.