Author Topic: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop  (Read 105238 times)

carolinakaren

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #100 on: November 06, 2012, 04:34:07 PM »
My entire wallet was stolen a few days ago and it helped me realize that I still have plenty of food (even though I've been trying to spend less on groceries this month).  I've been doing minimal shopping to compliment the items that are already in our pantry.  The original challenge was a good kick in the pants, and I decided the changes needed to be permanent.  After having to shut down all my accounts and having zero identification I was left with only cash-on-hand.  Thankfully right before I left on my bike to go buy pet food I took some cash out of my wallet and stashed it at home.  My reasoning was that, since I'd just gotten a large ATM withdrawal, it would be unwise to bike around with alot of money.  Thank heaven I did that! I don't know when I will be able to access checking or credit card accounts again.....5-10 business days most likely.  :)  hahaha  No one in this house will starve during that time I doubt!

N

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #101 on: November 07, 2012, 01:57:08 PM »
oops. went to Costco on Monday for butter and eggs, and to return a box of eggrolls that we didnt like.
ended up not buying butter or eggs, but spent 70$ on other food. granted, I didnt buy any chocolate, but I hadnt planned on spending that much. so now I really have to buckle down and eat out of the pantry and freezer for a few weeks.

today Im making pizza from scratch. I have some plain ground pork (was cheaper than flavored sausage) and I added spices to make it mild italian. I have all the other ingredients for pizza.

already have my menu plan for the next few days, but then have to plan weekend and next week. should get interesting :)

Nancy

carolinakaren

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #102 on: November 08, 2012, 03:06:39 AM »
Today I made a spinach and herb dip out of some forgotten "spinach and herb" spice mix.  The recipe said equal parts mayo and sour cream, but since I'd used up all of our sour cream I substituted plain yogurt and some cream cheese.  We didn't have any tortilla chips either, but we made some out of corn tortillas (spritzed with oil and baked).  This was a great snack basically made out of scraps!

kkbmustang

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #103 on: November 11, 2012, 02:41:19 PM »
We decided to completely skip the grocery shop this week. I'm pretty sure we can make it. We still have 1/2 gallon of milk, 1/2 gallon of soy milk and some produce. We have chicken, shrimp and beef in the freezer and a half a loaf of bread. Plenty of dried beans, pasta, and cereal in the pantry. I'll have to make some bread and tortillas this week from scratch, but that won't be an issue. I'll just use our bread machine. It's gonna be slim pickings by the weekend, but we can do it.

PJ

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #104 on: November 11, 2012, 07:01:36 PM »
I did about $20 of shopping yesterday for some produce, milk and margarine and a box of cereal.  Still going strong on keeping the grocery bills to a minimum, and hoping to continue that through the rest of November and even December.  Milk, produce ... that should be about all I need, except for more flour so I can continue to make my own bread, like you, kkbmustang!  For now though, I'm working on my sister's bag of flour, which she's unlikely to use before it expires in Feb.  So I'm really doing her a favour - especially when I take her down some freshly baked treats ;-D

kkbmustang

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #105 on: November 11, 2012, 07:58:13 PM »
That's awesome, PJ! 

We're fine on veggies, not as much on fruit. But, if need be, I can pick up some bananas and apples midweek for $5. We'll see how far we can stretch one apple, 4 oranges, some grapes and a couple cups of frozen berries. We should be fine. We'll just make some smoothies with dinner to get some fruit in the kids. I'm pretty determined to do it. 

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #106 on: November 11, 2012, 10:05:58 PM »
Sounds like everyone is doing good:)


We did our big monthly shopping trip this weekend (did the last one Oct 4th) We were going to stretch it out even longer, but had t go into town to pick up some things for work so decided to get it all done at once. 

I had a detailed shopping list and a meal plan and it made shopping way faster and less stressful! Although I gave up on the trying to plan the next month of meals to the day and just created a list of things I want to make without forcing them into a specific day - that took a lot of the pain out of it.

We are planning on not doing a major shopping trip until January so we stocked up on meat and some holiday things, but still came in under budget for this month. We have definitely been looking at cooking and shopping differently.

We went to the butcher and he gave us a great deal on some soup bones (In the grocery store they cost 7.99 a kg!) we also picked up some chicken feet, once I got over the look of them  (sorry PJ, this might be too much info) and are turning both into bone broths. I used the skins and ends of some onions and celery tops and carrot tops.

I think the biggest change is I am dealing with everything right when it comes in...instead of letting things hang out in the fridge to be forgotten about. We got some Asian cabbage and greens that I have sliced thinly and combined into freezer bags so we can add to soup as we want to. We bought a beef roast and chicken thighs that I broke down and froze into small amounts I can make meals out of. 

Other then milk and fresh produce when we can get it, we are going to go as long as we can without having to do another shopping trip. I think we will be ok until January which gives us the added bonus of not having to deal with the pandemonium and extra temptations around Christmas - I am going to have to make my own eggnog this year though:)




PJ

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #107 on: November 11, 2012, 10:27:49 PM »
We have definitely been looking at cooking and shopping differently.

We went to the butcher and he gave us a great deal on some soup bones (In the grocery store they cost 7.99 a kg!) we also picked up some chicken feet, once I got over the look of them  (sorry PJ, this might be too much info) and are turning both into bone broths. I used the skins and ends of some onions and celery tops and carrot tops.

I think the biggest change is I am dealing with everything right when it comes in...instead of letting things hang out in the fridge to be forgotten about. We got some Asian cabbage and greens that I have sliced thinly and combined into freezer bags so we can add to soup as we want to. We bought a beef roast and chicken thighs that I broke down and froze into small amounts I can make meals out of. 
 
 
Thanks for your sensitivity, swick!  As long as you don't actually cook the chicken feet in front of me, I'm good :-) 
 
I've really been enjoying my pot of potato/celery/onion soup - using lots of celery gave it lots of flavour.  In the past, I have no doubt that those last few potatoes from the bag, the second half of the bunch of celery, and the last onion from the bag all would have ended up going out in the green bin.  For me the difference is that buying less means I can see clearly what needs to get used, and I'm forcing myself to follow through with that.  My food waste has gone way down. 

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #108 on: November 12, 2012, 10:43:42 AM »
Our food waste has gone way down too!

I have been going through my fridge every couple of days and everything that doesn't look like it is going to get used right away I have been chopping up and freezing. We are definitely still trying to get use to this only being able to grocery shop once a month but I'm finding that by doing this I know what I have because I had to deal with it and it does make getting nourishing meals on the table easier and faster during the work week.

How is everyone else doing? Kulshagirl? CarolinaKaren? Startingfromthestart? mustachecat? mustache brony? Use it up, wear it out...? caligulala?jennie?Russ?kolorado?DocCyane?

Anyone have some nifty tips or things they have learned along the way? Or challenges?

caligulala

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #109 on: November 12, 2012, 12:48:25 PM »
We're doing pretty well! We did another 2 week meal plan which has helped keep costs down. I do feel like we aren't eating quite as many vegetables as I would like, so trying to think of a way around that issue that doesn't require extra trips to the store. We're doing trips to Aldi once or twice a week for fruit. It really is so much cheaper than the regular grocery store for the exact same things. I only wish they had more variety in the veggies.

Fell victim to going straight by a recipe I wanted to try and bought a $20 bottle of ouzo last weekend. It was on the list, so I bought it without thinking "do I really need to have this bottle of liquor for this one recipe?" So I will be drinking ouzo cocktails for awhile to come. Good thing I like anisettes.

Spent for the month so far is $263. We'll need to go shopping again the week of Thanksgiving. We're hosting 12 people semi-potluck style. We separately budgeted for the expensive free range turkey, so don't have to worry about that coming out of our grocery money. Will need to buy some extra butter, eggs and heavy cream for the meal. Hoping to stay under $400 for the month which would be about 25% less than average.

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #110 on: November 12, 2012, 01:10:16 PM »
Great update:)

We struggle the most with veggies too. One thing we watch out for is deals on frozen brussel sprouts. On sale we can get a big bag from our co-op for 2.00.  We roast them with a cut up apple and onion all tossed with a splash of grapeseed oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. These are awesome! I have even converted a few brussel sprout haters. We actually get cravings for these sprouts and sometimes dinner consists of a whole pan of them and nothing else:)

When I can find veggies on sale I also have been making up Stirfry mix and splitting it into single meal bags. It makes it easy to toss into a wok with some udon noodles and leftover protein and a quick homemade sauce.

I have also been doing more with winter squashes since they keep so well.


FI@2022Jem

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #111 on: November 12, 2012, 06:41:39 PM »
So we are still doing pretty well.  we get a CSA delivery of fruits and veggies every other week, and have bumped our regular grocery shopping to about once every 3 weeks (before it was every other week). 
Tips I have learned:
-I will eat whatever is easy.  So every few days I have been doing one or more of the following: make a big pot of beans, cook up some rice, fry up some bacon crumbles, quick steam some broccoli (I like it bright green but still crunchy), roast some winter squash, bake a few extra potatoes/sweet potatoes, etc.  Then I can just have these things in the fridge and my husband and I can easily assemble some kind of meal for ourselves with the addition of cheese, bread, tortillas, salad greens, salsa, spices and condiments, etc. 
-These 'snack' foods supplement my 'stache or frozen individual soups/stews in the freezer.
(I am quite pleased as there is always something relatively healthy to be eaten relatively easily.)
-it is getting cold enough to have oatmeal for breakfast again!  cheap, easy and flexible flavors with chopped apple and cinnamon, shredded coconut, raisins and other dried fruit, chopped nuts, etc.

everyone else: please keep the tips coming! (I love this thread!)

PJ

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #112 on: November 12, 2012, 07:00:23 PM »
Never underestimate the beauty (aka tastiness) of a quick snack type meal!  I've been working on my big pot of potato celery soup for several days, and needed a change tonight.  So I toasted some (homemade) rye bread, chopped up some grape tomatoes and put them on top, drizzled some olive oil and sprinkled some parmesan on top.  Put it under the broiler, then added some guacamole on top.  So yummy! 
 
For dessert, microwaved a tablespoon of peanut butter and dipped apple slices in it.  Also yummy :-) 

kkbmustang

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #113 on: November 12, 2012, 08:45:49 PM »
I had to go to the store to get some Vitamin D for my son, who is battling a cold (at the recommendation of the nurse). While I was at the Natural Grocers I picked up 2 bottles of the Vitamin D gummies ($13), plus a loaf of bread, can of organic spaghetti-o's, fruit leather for lunch boxes, and some organic poptarts. The total for everything was $27. I caved.

But, I did discover an entire bag of apples hiding in the back of the refrigerator, so score!

Tonight for dinner was homemade baked potato soup, chicken tenders and berry smoothies.

N

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #114 on: November 12, 2012, 10:30:00 PM »
that dinner sounds good. potato soup sounds good and I have over 10 lbs of potatoes to use up! :)

ok, Im heading off the computer, to menu plan for the week!!

skandrae

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #115 on: November 16, 2012, 12:33:25 PM »
So far, my only grocery purchase this week was $4 for a carton of eggs. Not organic or free-range or phoenix eggs, just regular old eggs. I *lurve* living in the North ^_^

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #116 on: November 21, 2012, 10:02:17 PM »
The great thing about living in the North (although I'm not nearly as North as you, skandrae) is there are lots and lots of days where you only want soup. I have been making my own bone broths and making a few pots of soup a week.

These are easy, can stretch a couple of meals and allows me to do a little twirl and cheer every time I empty the last little bit out of a forlorn, forgotten about bag of something. 

How is everyone doing?

skandrae

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #117 on: November 22, 2012, 11:06:51 AM »
Haha, swick, you're quite right. And I am experimenting a lot more with lentils and dried peas :)

I think I have to go to the store today, as yesterday was delivery day, and if I miss out on the opportunity to buy some veggies, I may develop scurvy or some other illness. We'll see what's left in the cooler by the time I get there.

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #118 on: November 26, 2012, 04:12:35 PM »
Well looking at the budget, it doesn't look like we will be saving any money this month. I'm going to wait till next month to see though, because our big shopping trip should last us into the new year easily.

Although I did save quite a bit of money on Christmas Presents this year - and some grocery money went into those as well.

I do feel like I am continuing to stretch my comfort zone and save money in the process. A fried gave me some deer and they were just going to throw out all the bones - so I am trying to use them to make stock. We'll see how it goes:)




PJ

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #119 on: November 26, 2012, 10:37:49 PM »
I'm not into the meat broth, but I do love a good pot of soup!  And it's been cold enough here in Toronto to make having soup several times a week quite enjoyable - I had a tomato based veggie soup with cornbread (both made weeks ago and frozen in smaller portions) for dinner tonight.  Yum!  :-) 

skandrae, I spent a couple of months in Iqaluit years ago, and I hear you on the veggie scarcity (not to mention quality issues and high prices).  In terms of produce, I think I may have survived on frozen veggies, if I recall correctly, which I've always heard have very high nutritional value since they're frozen soon after being picked.  My diet was very very simple when I was there - didn't help that our kitchen (shared accomodation) was pretty disgusting. 

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #120 on: November 27, 2012, 03:03:46 AM »
great idea - i have lots of freezer meals to eat. sometimes i love cooking and make lots of meals for the freezer, then in the weeks where i am super busy or lazy i can eat out of that and only really need buy lunch/breakfast.
plus i have a lot of cans that i should probs use. and lots of spices i'd like to learn to use, think this challenge could be just the thing for that! might be a fairly vegetarian week.

kkbmustang

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #121 on: November 27, 2012, 09:28:00 PM »
Here's an awesome go-to lunch for me. I love this and it's healthy to boot:

1/2 cucumber, diced ($.20)
2 roma tomatos, diced ($.30)
1 avocado, diced ($.30)
juice of 1/2 lemon ($0.10)
Feta cheese crumbles ($.20)
salt and pepper to taste

The avocado and feta fill me up. The lemon juice makes it taste very bright and I love cucumbers and tomatoes. It's delicious and takes less than 5 minutes to put together.

PJ

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #122 on: November 27, 2012, 10:10:38 PM »
MMMMM ... Avocado!  One of my favourites!

Sunflower

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #123 on: November 28, 2012, 09:25:10 AM »
I'm not into the meat broth, but I do love a good pot of soup!  And it's been cold enough here in Toronto to make having soup several times a week quite enjoyable - I had a tomato based veggie soup with cornbread (both made weeks ago and frozen in smaller portions) for dinner tonight.  Yum!  :-) 

Maybe you already know this but it's just as easy to make vegetable broth that will completely beat out the store bought stuff. Just save any ends of vegetables that aren't especially tasting to chomp on (like carrot ends) and sometimes I even throw in the rind of a block of Parmesan which adds a great flavor. Simmer, strain, enjoy!
http://www.thekitchn.com/basic-techniques-how-to-make-h-136725

MafiaPrincess

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #124 on: November 28, 2012, 10:04:21 AM »
That's a great primer on making broth!  Thanks!  We have a fully stocked freezer that I keep advocating that we should eat down.. And my family continues to grocery shop often for un-needed items.  Grocery bill is a little lower as I stopped eating most pre-packaged items...  But it can be wasteful to be buying un-needed fresh things when the freezer is full full..

So even if there was a good sale.. Freezer is full.

kt

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #125 on: November 28, 2012, 11:04:26 AM »
today i made a quick and delish sausage & bean casserole-thing with leftovers, freezer/cupboard stash and spice. really easy and tasty, def going on my can-cook list.

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #126 on: November 28, 2012, 01:01:30 PM »
Ohh how I wish avocados weren't 3.00 each and feta wasn't 8.99 for a small tub, I would eat that salad ever day!

I add old Parm rinds to my soup broth too - especially good in veggie broth.

Anyone have any god Quinoa recipes? I have a giant bag (25 pounds) that we have been slowly eating down...but always looking out for tasty recipes:)


grantmeaname

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #127 on: November 28, 2012, 03:06:17 PM »
Quinoa salad: Cold quinoa + crunchy diced veggies (onion, carrot, cucumber) + oil & vinegar.

Quinoa in squash: Halve an acorn squash. Scoop out the guts. Fill with cooked quinoa and something else interesting (for fall, I like craisins, shredded turkey or chicken, onions, and big cubes of a sharp cheese). Bake for about an hour, until everything's hot and the squash is squishy. Serve the quinoa mixture, being sure to pull some of the sides of the squash out with it. Nomnomnom.

kkbmustang

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #128 on: November 28, 2012, 06:59:37 PM »
Use quinoa in place of rice, add black beans, corn, cilantro, tomatoes, avocados and lime juice. Delicious.

skandrae

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #129 on: November 28, 2012, 07:48:34 PM »
Well, I had $30 in my wallet earmarked for groceries, but spent $100. It's the first time I've ever been the first person in the store after the truck was unloaded, and I went crazy on produce and flatbread and things for the dessert I'm making for this Friday's potluck ^_^

It's -39C out, and everyone is battling with the "Do I start the vehicle and go for groceries, or take my chances that everyone is staying in tonight and there will still be great selection tomorrow?" issue.

The past two weeks of eating out of my pantry/eating all the vegetables in the fridge meant food was getting pretty sparse. It's hard to get excited about steamed frozen peas for the 7th night in a row. The bruschetta I made for supper was definitely worth putting on my parka for.

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #130 on: November 29, 2012, 05:30:18 AM »
Thanks for the suggestions:) The stuffed squash sounds super tasty!

This is one of my favorite Quinoa recipes so far - Tomato Basil Quinoa: http://www.pink-parsley.com/2012/07/tomato-basil-quinoa.html

Bravo for braving the cold - I'd be hiding inside :)



PJ

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #131 on: November 29, 2012, 02:10:48 PM »
I'm not into the meat broth, but I do love a good pot of soup!  And it's been cold enough here in Toronto to make having soup several times a week quite enjoyable - I had a tomato based veggie soup with cornbread (both made weeks ago and frozen in smaller portions) for dinner tonight.  Yum!  :-) 

Maybe you already know this but it's just as easy to make vegetable broth that will completely beat out the store bought stuff. Just save any ends of vegetables that aren't especially tasting to chomp on (like carrot ends) and sometimes I even throw in the rind of a block of Parmesan which adds a great flavor. Simmer, strain, enjoy!
http://www.thekitchn.com/basic-techniques-how-to-make-h-136725
 
 
Thanks for the link, sounds delicious.  I have made broth in the past, but to be honest I'm just not cooking often enough lately to produce enough veggie scraps to make broth with.  I mostly cook when I'm actually making the soup!  That's ok, I like tomato based veggie soups - usually start with canned tomatoes (whole, chopped or crushed) and add a dash of this and a splash of that and a couple of bay leaves to develop some complexity of flavours in the base of the soup. 

That's a great primer on making broth!  Thanks!  We have a fully stocked freezer that I keep advocating that we should eat down.. And my family continues to grocery shop often for un-needed items.  Grocery bill is a little lower as I stopped eating most pre-packaged items...  But it can be wasteful to be buying un-needed fresh things when the freezer is full full..

So even if there was a good sale.. Freezer is full.
 
I'm pretty prone to this myself.  And it's usually because things are on sale.  But, um, if I'm paying interest on debt then it's not much of a deal to buy stuff I don't need when I could be putting that toward the debt, right?  Yeah, even if there is a good sale!

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #132 on: December 01, 2012, 11:49:58 PM »
Well I discovered our health food store got in some Organic Mandarin and Satsuma oranges 3lbs for 4.69. At the grocery store conventional mandarins from China sell for about 3.29 for 3 lbs.

Not only are these some of the best oranges I have ever had (and it just wouldn't be Christmas without them) I got hubby to save his Mandarin peels and I have dried them, which I will turn into flavored salt for Christmas Presents.

I just finished candying the Satsuma peels - as everyone in my family loves them and the anti-mustacian ones pay upwards of 20.00 for 100 grams of them. Mine might not have been candied in France, but they are just as tasty!

Anyone have some more ideas for using things we usually toss out? I know we have scrap bags covered for soup and such, but anyone have any other ideas?


badassprof

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #133 on: December 02, 2012, 09:06:03 AM »

Swick, how do you candy those peels?  They sound yummy! I do have a food dryer, but I haven't used it yet.

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #134 on: December 02, 2012, 11:34:33 AM »
Candied Orange Peel.... or lemon or lime or grapefruit

2 cups orange peel (I cut the oranges in quarters, peel them, keep the orange for fruit salad and slice the rind)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
1 oz dark rum (I just use homemade vanilla extract)
2 Tsp Honey
1 vanilla bean split and scraped or 1/2 tsp ground vanilla pods (optional but very tasty)

Extra sugar for coating peel

1. cover orange peel with cold water, bring to a boil and simmer for two minutes. Repeat TWO MORE TIMES  to get all the bitterness out.
2. In a pot bring the rest of the ingredients to a boil.
3. Add orange peel and simmer until slightly translucent - stirring every 10 minutes or so. This may take about an hour to an hour and a half depending on the thickness of the peel.
4. Fish orange peel out of the syrup (keep the syrup!) and spread out on a parchment lined cooling rack. Leave overnight to dry.
5. Roll in white sugar. Enjoy!


Also, for the dried peel you don't need a dehydrator for thin skinned citrus like mandarin. Just leave out on a cooling rack until they are brittle :)

Baboo

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #135 on: December 15, 2012, 01:46:01 PM »
This thread was so inspiring to me.  I know it went on for two months, but I check it often to see if there are any updates.  I devour this stuff!

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #136 on: December 15, 2012, 02:21:03 PM »
I'll update if you do, Baboo :)

On the using up what we have front, I'm continuing to do as much as I can. On the actually saving money front, not so good. Even though we havent done our big shopping trip (a 4 hour round trip) since just before this thread started, there always seems to be a big grocery expense. Part of that is living so far away from a major city, when the opportunity comes - like an organic vegetable shipment or free-range organic frozen chickens (for less then battery hens at the grocery store) you fill the freezer. We have 330 of our 600 monthly grocery budget left.

I struggle because I think I should be doing better - but the fact is living in mid-northern BC you can't get the same food deals as down south and eating healthy homemade food is very important to us, and also one of our primary sources of entertainment.

That being said, we have been committing to using up our pantry ingredients and have been having some fun with it. My hubby loves granola and eats it every day - with milk on yogurt, as a snack. This would be disastrous for our budget but I have been making it from scratch and I recently came across an AMAZING method for making granola super easy - without having to stir the pan in the oven! http://www.bojongourmet.com/2010/06/stolen-granola.html

It is easily adaptable to whatever bits and pieces you have to use up.

I have been doing a bunch more with candied orange peel, have a second batch on the stove right now. I have been adding orange peel and crystallized ginger to no-knead bread for a special breakfast treat, adding it to granola, cookies it is a great use for something that would otherwise be tossed out. Hubby says it makes everything taste "special"

I have been sneaking cooked Quinoa into everything, today it will be added to pizza dough. 

What I'm trying to be more conscious of is what is hiding deep in the recesses of my fridge, there always seems to be the tiniest bit of something that I forget about or gets lost and I end up having to throw out. As I use things up I'm trying to also get into the habit of scouring the fridge BEFORE I go to the Pantry.

How is everyone else doing?

skandrae

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #137 on: December 16, 2012, 09:26:21 AM »
Swick, you are making seriously consider buying up a box of manadarins...

This week's grocery shop consisted of a loaf of rye bread, a container of cherry tomatoes (probably too expensive, but I only recently discovered that they are not, in fact, poison and I really like them), and some cheese. I lucked out at the staff Christmas party on Friday - lots of people were sick and didn't attend, so I have a lovely selection of leftovers that are going into the freezer for easy meals ^_^

I just bought a small chest freezer from a friend, and am looking forward to filling it up with those *opportunity* goodies.

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #138 on: December 19, 2012, 01:25:58 PM »
Score Skadra! Don't you just love opportunity leftovers?

I have been making slow and steady progress into my 25kg bag of pinto beans. Yesterday was bean Quesadillas and today is Taco Soup. Like the fact that having beans on hand makes for quick and easy meals.

I also turned some leftover Quinoa and various bit and pieces of veggies and cheese into a really tasty Fritatta.

We are kind of giddy with excitement because the in-laws bought us a Blendtec on sale for Christmas. I'm super excited to be getting more out of my juicing veggies and being able to break down a lot of the whole grains and legumes I have into my own flour:)


caligulala

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #139 on: December 19, 2012, 02:04:40 PM »
ooooh, the blendtec can grind grain as well? I didn't know that. It may have just placed itself more prominently on my kitchen wishlist.

We are doing great so far this month. We're at a hair under $500, but that includes 2 special birthday dinners and our fancy organic Christmas ham. Meals are planned through the end of the year and the pantry is stocked up. And I've been switching over to organic staples when they are available, so the $500 includes those upgrades. Not too shabby! My goal has been to keep all our food spending on groceries and restaurants under the SNAP level of benefits for our state. It's very possible that we'll beat that this month.

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #140 on: December 19, 2012, 02:20:23 PM »
It says it can, I haven't tested it yet, but will report back...given the outrageous price for Quinoa flour here...if I can grind my own that would be great!

Sounds like you have managed a lot on 500.00! your fancy organic Christmas ham sounds pretty tasty:)

I have discovered I can make two batches of bone broth out of of one pot of chicken bones, so between getting the meat and the money saved on broth, it's actually eating pretty cheap! The broth is really good too and add such great flavor to the staples - especially rice!

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #141 on: January 02, 2013, 09:14:22 AM »
Just discovered you can make carmalized onions in a crockpot...http://fullbellysisters.blogspot.ca/2011/02/foolproof-caramelized-onions.html

This makes me incredibly happy and solves the problem of having way too many onions because a big sack is way cheaper then buying a few at a time and it is always a struggle to use them up before they go. Add in some homemade beef bone broth and no knead bread and I'm on my way to a pretty healthy and frugal french onion soup :)

In other news, managed to spend 400.00 on groceries this month, 200 less then our budget!

Updates? Anyone?

kkbmustang

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #142 on: January 02, 2013, 09:08:04 PM »
We were with family for the week of Christmas, so we skipped the grocery shop for that week and just scavenged 12/23 to 12/24. Santa got peanut butter cookies. (1 egg, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of peanut butter. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes. Easiest cookie recipe ever. Can also sub cashew butter or any other nut butter.)

This past weekend the Hubs did the grocery shop for this week. We came in at $49 at Whole Foods and $82 at Aldi, for a total of $131. We've been eating all of our meals at home (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) while the kids are home from school. I'm pretty happy with this. I've increased our produce purchases because I'm making fresh juices almost every day. I plan on using the pulp to make bread or muffins (kale, spinach, apple, lemon for the most part).

I'm making a concerted effort to reduce the meat consumption and transition over to more plant based foods, nuts and seeds. A slow transition will be less noticeable to the family. I'm okay with fish, eggs and dairy. So, one package of chicken this week. Otherwise, we're eating seafood and meatless meals. Kids are also transitioning from cow's milk to soy milk. So far, no problems.

FI@2022Jem

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #143 on: January 02, 2013, 09:40:37 PM »
Swick and kkbmustang: crock pot caramelized onions and making fresh juices?!? YUM!

I am inspired!

We have been doing pretty well but I have been getting a bit bored and had lunch out a bit more than i should.  Thanks for the reminder and new ideas. 

Other than the few extra lunches outside of the house, we have still maintained our reduced grocery budget and have been doing great with making coffee at home.

Simple Successes: 

-It seems really silly but we have been on a hard boiled egg kick, so easy to make once you perfect your timing and a great snack to have on hand in the fridge for when i am hungry and grazing. 

-apples are great right now (and cheap!) I find any meal or snack is  made better with a side of sliced apples either with lemon juice or with cinnamon, or apples with peanut butter.

Basically, I have realized that all the snacks my Mom put into my lunch when I was little are extremely budget friendly and still tasty/comfort foods to me.  While these examples are specific to me, I'm sure this concept applies to other people as well.  And as always I am open to more ideas and suggestions. 

Also, following from the pinto beans in the crockpot idea, we have been making blackbean soup in the crockpot: beans, water, finely diced onions, garlic, chills, cumin.  Cook on low 7-8 hours.  It is extra delicious with greek yogurt as a sour cream replacement!

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #144 on: January 03, 2013, 01:24:49 PM »
Jennie, the black bean soup sounds great! do you start with dried beans or canned?

Lunch is always a hard one, I tend to make planned left overs of dinners for hubby to take to work, he is always happy:) I either work from home/ or odd hours so I have a hard time remembering to eat lunch...I'll be sitting down to dinner and realize I forgot lunch which leads to me snacking more then I should in the evening. I am trying to come up with a way to remember, it might actually require me to start 'packing' a lunch in the morning so I have set things to snack on I can just grab and go. Will have to give it some thought:)

I have mostly given up drinking coffee, I was making coffee with a lot of milk becuase I'm not much of a breakfast person either, but then I realized I was still spending over 300 bucks a year just on milk and that might not be the most nuritious or cheapest of breakfast calories. Anyone have some cheap and tasty breakfast ideas other then oatmeal?

caligulala

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #145 on: January 03, 2013, 03:58:20 PM »
My favorite apple snack is sliced apples with a quickly shaken mix of dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar. Holy moly, so tasty! Sweet and savory at the same time!

swick

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #146 on: January 03, 2013, 04:41:48 PM »
That sounds awesome! Going to have to try :)

Platypus

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #147 on: January 03, 2013, 05:45:08 PM »
I love this thread! We've skipped a lot of our grocery shopping over the last month since we're moving next week. I took it as a challenge to have as little as possible left when we move. We'll be eating the last meat item (ground turkey) from the freezer as tacos tomorrow. Had to buy a few things yesterday to keep us fed while we do last minute packing, but grabbed things that'll pair up with stuff left in the fridge still. :)

Loving the vegetable broth recipe link and the stolen granola!

One of my favorite ways to use up beans is in enchiladas -- black bean and sweet potato enchiladas are amazing.

And one of my favorite ways to use up lentils is in a cold lentil salad for work lunches -- cook up lentils in vegetable broth and a clove of garlic, drain, mix up dressing of oil, vinegar, lime juice, ground pepper, and top with feta (or on it's own is good when we forget to grab feta). Sometimes I make it fancy and add veggies, but it's super simple and quick without so I often default to that.

One way I use up quinoa or bulgar is in tabouleh-like cold salads, which are very similar to the lentil salad above. Here's an example: http://afoodcentriclife.com/quinoa-salad-tabouleh/

My go-to work lunch lately has been grilled cheese, though. Really quick and easy to make in the work toaster oven and pair up with any available soups.

FI@2022Jem

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #148 on: January 04, 2013, 11:35:51 PM »
sorry in advance this post is kind of all over the place...

Swick- I use dry blackbeans.  The amazing part of the slow cooker is that you are not required to soak the beans prior to cooking because they cook so slowly!  Re: breakfasts, it might be too similar to oatmeal, but I like to use leftover rice for breakfast (any kind of rice, heat up with milk-dairy, almond, coconut, whatever, then add coconut oil or butter, cinnamon or other spices if desired, honey, raisins, nuts, chopped fruit, or anything).  I am guilty of having milky coffee as my breakfast sometimes but I also like to eat dinner leftovers for breakfast or a hardboiled egg + sourdough toast (I lucked out and received some delicious homemade jams around the holidays!).

Caligulala-Dijon and balsamic with apples?!  that sounds delicious!  I love chopped apples in my salads so I'm sure I will love this.

also tasty is to melt 50-50 chocolate chips and almond butter in the microwave for 30 seconds and use that as an apple dip (just made this discovery a couples days ago!)

Platypus- I always think hot soup using lentils (mmm greek lentil soup) but I am definitely going to expand my mind to cold lentil salads.  Your recipe sounds great and a good way to throw in chopped up veggies that might be a bit past their prime. 

I have also been re-introducing myself to my blender this week for smoothies/soups/flavored waters.  We had a watermelon that was tasty but not the best texture.  Blended it with a bit of ice water and it was AMAZING!

other delicious waters (my version of 'agua fresca')  that will keep in the fridge for a day or two:

blend up a pitcher of water with a cucumber, lemon, and mint leaves

blend up a pitcher of water with a peeled orange, grapefruit or lemon (any combination) and their zest. 

I have also thought about making a pitcher of water and steeping a few sprigs of rosemary but haven't tried it yet...?

**I have easy access to citrus trees, mint and rosemary although sadly that is where my gardening ability ends.  However, agua frescas are also made with melons, strawberries, pineapple... use what it is nearby! repeatable with almost any fruit you can think of, and a bit of simple syrup or sweetener can also be added if needed.

***also can be used in a refreshing cocktail with gin (or vodka, tequila, etc).  Just sayin'


tmac

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Re: Fire drill! Skip this week's grocery shop
« Reply #149 on: January 05, 2013, 06:26:36 AM »
Just hopping in to chime in on the blender drinks. I've been putting chunks of watermelon and other fruits in the freezer if they don't get eaten, then using them in smoothies.

Kids' most recent favorite: Watermelon, bananas, blueberries (bought frozen), and OJ. It disappeared quickly.

Our typical  smoothie includes: bananas, berries, peanut butter, a scoop of superfood powder or a handful of fresh spinach, and soy milk. If you use the spinach, you have to drink it quick or it turns a weird shade of grey. Sometimes I'll throw in a dash of cocoa powder and Truvia as well.

More generally...

I did a big shop at Costco this week and am trying to see how long I can go without hitting the market again. The things we run out of most often are milk and kids snacks. I bought several gallons of milk and the kids know when it's gone, that's it. I'm trying to get into a rhythm of making granola bars, banana bread, and (a new recipe) cheese crackers, which I package in small portions and dole out a bit at a time, stashing the rest in the fridge.