Monday, June 20, 2011

Saving Money On Food

 Growing salad greens is so easy!

It is so strange the way everyone wants to use coupons and rebates for food in the store. Couponing is big I guess. I used to do it many years ago. It took a lot of time cutting the coupons and saving labels for the rebates. I did pretty good on it back then. I have found the best way to save money though, is not by couponing and rebates. It is by purchasing in bulk, growing a garden and cooking from scratch. Not only is it easier once you get started, it is healthier.

 Maines' truck

I buy in bulk from a local restaurant supply store, Mainsesource. Since their food is restaurant quality, it has to be good. Restaurants would not stay in business very long if their food was of low quality. I can tell by the ground Angus beef I buy there for our hamburger. It does not have much grease and doesn't cook up real small. What a disappointment, to make burgers and take them out of the oven, and they are the size of a small cookie!

 My son holding rolls of Angus ground beef

I bring the meat home and can it. It is easy for me to do and I can store it forever that way. I use it in casseroles that way. You can make the ground beef into patties or what some call "hamburger rocks" to can. It is a matter of it fitting in the jars. However you want to do it. I find it a pretty easy job, even though I brown the beef in the oven before I can it. It can be raw canned. Follow the directions in your canning book.

Canned ground beef and chicken breast chunks

Chicken, beef roasts, turkey breast and sausage are all meats that I can on a regular basis. You just have to make sure when you put the lids on your jars that you really wipe that grease off. That is the number one reason why a jar will not seal properly. I find if I make sure there is no grease on the rim or the lid they will seal fine. If you have any leftover liquid from canning, can that for broth. It is great for gravy and soups. Don't forget to make a list of all the meals you can make from each type of food you can. That should give you the incentive to get started! Good luck!






 Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

8 comments:

The Redhead Riter said...

ABSOLUTELY beautiful! You are such an inspiration. I foresee lots of canning in my future -- next year. I just love the way everything looks and I know it all tastes fresh too.

Bookncoffee said...

We coupon here to save money. We both have pretty demanding jobs and we do have a garden with herbs peppers tomatoes and beans and squash. But we have found many things just as cheap to buy as it is to spend time and effort growing. I would love to expand though if we had more home time. Take care.

katlupe said...

Why thank you Red! I hope you will start canning. I figure if you do it, then you will come up with lots of new canning recipes. Thank you for coming to my blog today and for your comment!!

katlupe said...

Sonya, it isn't so much about buying things cheaper in the stores, but having high quality foods for your meals. I am very particular about what I buy in a store. Thank you for coming to my blog and making a comment today!

PythonKatie said...

I coupon (on a small level - no extremer here!) and I cook everything in our house from scratch. We don't do a bunch of super processed foods and we eat really well, yet frugally. We use a lot of spices and sharp cheeses because they go a lot farther and make things tastier. :-) PLUS, we have a large garden. I don't can a lot of our produce, but I do freeze a lot! It works "almost" as well for most things!

Teresa Meadows said...

One of my favorite memories is canning fruits and vegetables with my Mother and Grandma. We never canned meat. You sure gave me something to think about.

Paula said...

Kat, a post to my heart again. When I arrived I did a lot of couponing and spending hours over hours in various supermarkets to get a feel for the brands,prices and products and as you know me I was not really impressed.
Whilst my patio garden is not doing as good as I wanted - I learned about planting zones a bit to late ;-((( but still herbs, green salads and arugula is growing steadily and fills my desire for greens. No space for berries and I found them incredibly expensive here! I do get certain things at Whole foods only - milk, eggs from free ranging chickens and use coupons for very little mostly though for Skips unhealthy stuff. Currently I buy only flour in bulk. So much to learn anew. I am so glad you keep me on my toes that I do not start slacking! Much love

katlupe said...

Paula, berries are VERY expensive in the US. Especially this year here! We have many U Pick places here but it is too difficult for me to do that myself. You could get one of those strawberry planters for your patio. And there are patio blueberry plants available. They might be a good option for you.