My Favorite Shopping Spot On Wordless Wednesday

PD's In Otego, New York

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

Shopping For Food Frugally

I am shopping for potatoes today!

Frugal shopping takes planning, as I told in my previous post, Making A Plan For Frugal Shopping. Walking into my local grocery store, Mainesource in Binghamton, NY, with my well planned list should result in a good supply of food for my family. Now if you shop in the discount grocery stores, you will get bargains. Bargain food in those stores though, is usually not quality grade food. It is good and safe, but most times the meat is greasy and the produce has seen better days. Not so at Mainesource, which is where I do most of my shopping.

Plenty of choices for potatoes or onions here!

Upon entering the store, the first thing we encounter is the fresh produce. My plan included potatoes and onions, as we eat a lot of them and are always running out. Have you ever bought those five and ten pound bags of potatoes and get them home to find they are spongy, full of sprouted eyes and some are really dirty? Many times the other stores put them on sale to move them out of the store. At Mainesource, the potatoes are always fresh, clean and almost perfect.

Top quality food for restaurants is good for consumers too!

After paying more money for those small bags of potatoes, I was pleased to see the prices on these bags. We bought one 50 pound bag of potatoes for $13.49. Potatoes is a good food to serve your family as it helps you to fill up those with big appetites. There are so many ways to serve them and usually everyone likes them. I like to find recipes for old favorites and add some variety to our menu.

Good sized, fresh potatoes!

The next time you go to the store you make your big purchases for something else. After all, you shouldn't need more potatoes. If you find you do, because you used them all up, then you should buy two bags instead of one. By knowing your family's eating habits you will know whether they will go through something quickly. Sometimes it maybe that having something new in bulk makes them eat more of it. After a period that may wear off. Then they'll be saying they are tired of it, unless you fix it in different ways.

Home fries in the making!

I like serving potatoes for breakfast as home fries or hash browns with eggs and toast. Makes your family members starting the day out with a full stomach. There are many recipes for potatoes online, you can make so many dishes with them. Here is one from my friend, Paula, Fanned Potatoes. That is a recipe I will be making soon, as I know Paula is a fantastic cook! Here are some of my own:

   Steamed Potatoes

Wash clean a dozen well-grown new potatoes, steam
until a fork will pierce, dry in heat five minutes, then peel, and throw
into a skillet, with a heaping tablespoonful of butter, well-rolled in
flour, half a pint of rich milk, ten drops onion juice, salt and pepper
to taste, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley. The sauce must be
bubbling when the potatoes are put in. Toss them in it for five minutes,
put in deep dish and pour the gravy over. Serve very hot.

Easy Shepherds Pie

1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Cream of Mushroom Soup, or whatever you have
1 tbsp. ketchup
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
Mashed potatoes to cover the top.

Cook beef and onion in 10" skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring to break up meat. Pour off fat. Stir soup, ketchup, black pepper and peas and carrots into skillet. Spoon beef mixture in 9" pie plate. Spoon potatoes over beef mixture. Bake at 400°F. for 15 min. or until potatoes are lightly browned.

Parmesan Corn Chowder

2 cups water
2 cups diced peeled potatoes
1 cup sliced or diced peeled carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cups milk
1 can (14 3/4 oz.) cream style corn
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, combine the first five ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender (do not drain).

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir into the vegetable mixture. Add corn and Parmesan cheese. Cook 10 minutes longer or until heated through. Yield: 7 servings

Parmesan Potato Casserole

2 cups mashed potatoes
8 ounces cream cheese
2 eggs
1 small onion, diced
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs; set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, combine mashed potatoes, cream cheese, eggs, onion, and flour. Beat with a mixer on low speed until blended. Beat at high speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Add salt and pepper. Pour potato mixture into a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with bread crumb/Parmesan cheese mixture. Bake for 35 minutes

Potato Deutsch's

7 potatoes
6 slices dry bread
2 cups milk
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Grate potatoes, rinse in cold water, press dry. Soak 6 bread slices in milk, then beat in 2 eggs, salt and pepper, to taste.  Stir in the potatoes. Pour into a greased dish, top with sour cream, bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

 Latkes


Potato pancakes are really tasty!

2 cups grated peeled raw potatoes, well drained (about 2 large)
1 beaten egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 - 4 Tbsp. flour (just enough to make a thick batter)

Drop by spoonfuls (spread with spoon to 3/8" thick) on a well greased griddle or heavy frying pan containing hot oil. Brown on each side. Drain on paper towels and newspaper before serving. Great with applesauce!

A pleasant buying experience at Mainesource!

I am trying to buy most of our food in bulk these days. The reason is that you get more food for less money. Once you get started doing this, you will really see the savings over time. You will be paying less money per pound. So for me it is worth the drive 32 miles away to buy the food. Buying not only potatoes, but other produce, meat, dairy products, canned goods, condiments and pasta this way, will really stretch that food budget in these tough times.

$13.49 for 50 lbs.

By the way, According to the FTC Blogging Disclosure, I have to let you know that Mainesource did contact me about writing a post about how to save money by shopping in bulk. That was after I had posted about their store in several past posts, since it is my regular store. In no way did they influence me on what I wrote!

If you already shop in bulk, put a comment in telling your tips for buying, storing and using your bulk food. I'd love to hear from you and may use it in a future post on this blog.

FTC Blogging Disclosure

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

Making A Plan For Frugal Shopping

Nowadays you can't just walk into a grocery store without a plan and a shopping list. When people ask me how to shop frugally and bring home some decent food for their family, that is the number one answer I give them. "Make a plan and a list!"

Making the grocery list without your plan will work, but it will not be the most effective use of your grocery budget. When making a plan, you must know what meals and snacks your family will be eating for the week or month. Keeping a list of the foods your family eats on a regular basis is the first step.

The next step is to have a permanent list of the ingredients you use. That way if you need to change the way you make something, you can just delete the ingredient to add the new one. This is a post I wrote about making my list for our low carb food plan in 2010, Planning Your Meals Around Special Diets. You just write it around the type of diet your family eats.

Do not neglect adding new recipes,which you should, to add some variety and pizzazz to your table. There are many online sources of recipes such as All Recipes. You can locate recipes of all descriptions and ingredients to build a repertoire of recipes to fit every size budget.

If your list is for one week, plan what you will serve for each day. How much does your family eat? A family with teenage boys may need more than a family with little children or no children. Plan to have enough food that is nutritious and enough so they won't leave the table hungry.

Always include the sale flyers from the stores you are shopping at, if possible. Sometimes you may find a good deal on a meat or other ingredient you weren't planning on serving this week. Make your list flexible enough to change the plan for the week to include it. In 2008, I had wrote a post called My Frugal Grocery Shopping Plan that is just a quick overview of how to do it.

If you have children, of whatever age, include them in the making of the food plan for the week. That way, they will understand the process, and as they grow up, they will have an understanding of how to do it themselves. While they are younger though, it teaches them why they are eating certain meals this week, and not others. Ask them for their ideas for meals, and it can be an activity of teaching math and frugal shopping.

In future posts, I will be going into detail on how you can best shop frugal and stay well within your budget. If you have any suggestions yourself, please feel free to post them in my comment section. I love to interact with my readers, and may use some of your ideas in my future posts!

Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

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

Making Little Increases In Preparing

One of things I have been doing is adding to my preparations by buying extras when I go shopping. Sometimes it is canned evaporated milk, coffee, tuna or things I don't really use that often but might it I was in a bind. Like pasta, dried beans or rice. If you need one of something, add two. Like dish detergent or toothpaste. It is as easy to buy two of something as the one you need. I find that by adding some extras like that into my shopping cart seems to be easier to include it into my budget.

Since most of my vegetables are replenished in the summer and fall when I harvest my garden, you'd think I wouldn't be purchasing any other vegetables at all. But I do. I always buy if I see a good sale. Sometimes farms and farmers' markets will offer such a good deal that I can't turn it down. This year, especially, I will be taking everything I can get a good price for. Food is going up and I am not going to stop eating. So the best way to conquer that problem is to find sales and preserve what you can.

I shop often at a local restaurant supply store, Mainesource Food and Party Warehouse. Not only do they offer great deals on meat, but their produce, is more often than not, from local suppliers. So I buy in bulk some of those and can it for our winter supply. You could easily freeze it if that is how you preserve your food.

Remember though, only buy foods and supplies you use. If you buy some that you have never used or that you really don't like then you are not saving anything. Only buy what your family likes. I'll throw something new in every now and then for a treat. But I don't make a practice of that.

You can easily do this by just adding ten dollars to your grocery budget and spend that only on your extra supplies. Then put that away in your pantry and don't use it unless you have to. If you do, then replace it. Once you have your supplies built up, incorporate it into your every day use, then replace it when you shop. It's easy once you get the hang of it. Make use of sales as much as possible. That is the way to get the best prices at a variety of stores.

Copyright © 2011 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2011  Kathleen G. Lupole

Frugal Skills Needed For 2011!

Gardening should be #1 thing for everybody to do in 2011!

One of the things I have been concerned about is that I think food is going up. Every time you go to the store you see the prices rising. Maybe the Social Security Administration doesn't see it, but everything in the store has gone up since 2008. They say it hasn't. Wonder where those people shop? I'd like to go there!

Livestock feed has risen quite a bit and so has the fuel prices including diesel. You know what that means don't you? It means that we will be paying substantially more at the check-out counter. So the time to implement your frugal skills at buying food is right now! Better get a start on it. Here are some ideas I have, of course everyone who reads my blog know that I buy meat in bulk and can it. And that I have a garden and do the same with my harvest. Now is the time to talk about other ways to save.

Everyone keeps telling me about the Angel Food Ministries  and I studied it. I looked at the menus and I am sorry but they just don't offer enough food for the price. Most of it is breaded or processed but I see they are offering more of the meat than they used to. My husband is a big eater, not fat mind you, just a big eater and he does a lot of physical work. No way can a one l.5 lb. roast feed us. Maybe in an emergency. But not for a good meal with more than one helping and giving us some leftovers for the next day.

Same with coupons. Coupons usually are not for the foods I use. Most of the stores in my area have signs up saying they will not accept them if they are printed out on your computer. They need to be the ones you cut out of the papers and magazines. I could use some for condiments and pet foods. But I am working on a good grocery budget that does not use them unless I happen upon one that I really use. Some of the stores of the discount grocery stores do not accept coupons. So making your own condiments, bread and dry mixes, such as baking mix, pudding mix and hot cocoa mixes is another big savings at the store. Of course, we don't use any of the high carb foods or anything with sugar, white flour or processed so that is a big saving right there.

If you go to the store and see meat on sale. That is when you buy it. Buy a quantity. Bring it home and freeze it if you must, I can mine. Try to find things on sale as much as possible. Make a network of friends in your area who shop to save money. Maybe you can go into together on larger quantities of foods. Buy from a  co-op or local farmers. I shop at my local Mennonite market. Nothing is boxed in fancy boxes. Just plain bags of oatmeal, cream of wheat, brown sugar, etc. You can get a lot of stuff in these stores.

I like to shop at a restaurant supply store near me. They have some of the best deals on all sorts of things. What I usually buy is the meat, produce and some of those large cans of tomato products which I can into pint jars. The brand I purchase is one that has no sugar and nothing but tomatoes. I can't find that everywhere. Since two years in a row my tomato crop was hit with the Late Blight, I have to buy them. But they also have great deals on paper items, such as paper towels that go in rest rooms. I like them for a variety of things. Plastic garbage bags, is another thing I found I could buy a box of them that will last almost forever. Our landfill will only allow clear bags and they are getting harder to find lately. Otherwise I would not be purchasing plastic if I can help it.

Tomorrow I am making a spread sheet and keep track of every penny I spend. I just need a picture of where it is going. Easier to track the groceries this way and to see what we can knock off the list. Anything we can make at home cheaper and better tasting will also be a plus, and a significant savings. What about you? Are you trying to save money on food and household supplies this year? What ideas do you have? Gardening will be the number one way people can cut back but many won't. Even people in the country with huge yards. I see them out there mowing the lawn, but no garden. Wonder why?

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Cash Flow On the Homestead

Adding to your cash flow is the hardest thing to do. But if you find ways to cut your cost of living that should give you a little more cash. Here are some ways I have found to really cut down on cash going out.

One big saving has been having our own energy system. Take your electric bill and add it up for the year. Then multiply it for the amount of years you have lived in your home. I have lived here for almost eleven years now. My electric bill to live here would have been costly. At least $100. a month. This house is old and not insulated so if we were using a furnace that would have been running a lot. Plus, we have two computers and in the past we had the big desktop ones. Now we have three laptops, because my son has been living with us and he has his laptop too.

Our last house was a two bedroom ranch house we rented in 1997-99 and the bill ran approximately $119. a month. So this is not an out of line figure. At $100. a month, the annual amount paid would be $1200. and for 11 years that would come to $13,200. Now it doesn't sound like a lot of money.  But I could have taken that same amount, or got a loan and put in an awesome solar system.  Then pay for it monthly like you do the electric bill. It would be paid for now and from now on our electric would be free. Now that sounds good doesn't it? To eliminate that $100. a month bill. I know! I  know! Most people I know, tell me how cheap their electric bill is and how they just love paying it! That is their choice. Not mine. If it was only $10. a month.............I'd still choose to have my own system. It gives you independence and that is why I chose this lifestyle in the first place! I hate being told what to do...............

Unfortunately this is not our wood pile!

Another way to be independent and add to your cash flow is by providing your own fuel for heating. We use wood and have taken trees down off our small piece of land while we have been clearing it. It was pretty much all woods right up to the house. Firewood is a lot of work and I would never say it wasn't. But if you provide it yourself  then the cost is your hard work and chainsaw costs. I have never figured out what we have saved over the years. There are times when the weather is not cold enough for the wood stove so we use a kerosene heater during those times and try not to use it unless we have to.

One of our raised beds in 2009

A garden saves you so much money! Plus it allows you to eat those vegetables and fruits that are too pricey for your wallet. You can grow whatever you want. Start the seeds early in your house and get a head start on the growing season. Grow as much as you can, and can or freeze it for the winter months. Now this is where you can make a big difference in your cash flow!

By growing your vegetables and fruits you can afford to buy meat from local farmers. Or try to find  a way to buy meat in bulk and it will save more money. You can sometimes make a special deal with a farmer.

Another way I have found to save is by following a low carb diet. I call it a food plan not a diet as it is my way of eating for life. Now most people will say it is an expensive way to eat. But I have found it is exactly the opposite. The reason being that if I live on low carbs, no processed foods and no white flour or sugar or artificial sweeteners.................that saves you A LOT of money right there! Just look in other people's shopping carts and see how much of that stuff is in there. Adds up to a lot of money. I try to buy only some dairy products, fresh meats, some low carb mayonnaise, mustard and ingredients to make my own salad dressings and condiments. Just think how much that saves? It is healthier and makes you feel great as soon as you have been on it the first two weeks. And if you need to lose weight it does that too.

I have been working on buying some of our supplies online. That saves me not only the gas of running around  to stores, but the time. My time is really stretched..............and I work at home! Maybe that is why. I have been finding that ordering supplies from Alice is a good thing! Just fill my cart and order pet foods, personal supplies and household supplies. Free shipping.  I also save money by shopping at Netrition and they only charge $4.95 for whatever size order you have. I buy all my low carb bread mixes, almond meal, etc. there. Very quick shipping for me since they in Albany, NY.  You can find online sites yourself that sell the products you use. In the long run it saves me much money.......puts that savings in my cash flow.

Just search through your budget for things that take your cash and see what you can do to cut those costs. It is very expensive to live now. We are in a major depression and trying to make ends meet is not easy. So I do what I can do. How about you?

Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole

Food Planning For Winter On A Budget

The Grocery Game and Coupon Mom are web sites you join to save money on your groceries using sales and coupons that are posted on their sites. Anybody could do the leg work themselves to find this information out, but for the measley five bucks a month the Grocery Game charges it's easier for most folks to pay for the service. Lots of people love it and save tons of money on their grocery bills. Which is very good. It made me think maybe I could subscribe and save some on ours..........

Well, what was I thinking? I found out from the Get Rich Slowly blog that it only pays if you eat store bought processed foods. If you are eating organic, natural, fresh or bulk foods there are no coupons or deals for those. Mostly boxed foods, frozen foods, new products that they want you to try, etc. So basically, the bottom line is if you are a homesteader or self-sufficient type of person, you will not want to subscribe to to a site like that-unless you join to save on pet food, paper products, personal products like shampoo and toothpaste, household cleaning products. Which is why I might still join. But not for the food products unless it is a condiment or something I do buy at a store.

I like to grow as much as our food as we can. What we can't grow or what crop fails that year I try to buy locally so I can still put it up for the winter. Yes, I do try to put up enough food to get us through from one harvest season to the next. We keep increasing our raised beds and hopefully will be adding fruit trees and berry bushes this coming year. We had to get our land cleared first, which my husband did himself with no equipment except a chainsaw and manual tools.

This harvest season I was able to can wild elderberry juice, wild blackberry jam, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, beets and applesauce. Now that the gardening part is over, I will try to acquire meats to can. I have been buying store bought meats, as I am able to get them at low prices. Low prices being the bottom line for me at this time. Now if I was wealthier.......I'd be buying only organic, pasture raised meats.

Canning isn't the only way I store foods. I have a root cellar that I wrote about on here a few days ago. So I store foods also. This year I have stored potatoes (had an awesome potato crop!), acorn squash, butternut squash, pumpkins, onions and herbs and hot peppers that I dried.
All summer we lived on the vegetables that we can't store, the zucchini, yellow squash, dandelions, plaintain, lambs quarters, lettuce, mesculin, cucumbers, peppers, salad tomatoes, new potatoes, swiss chard and fresh wild berries.

Living in the middle of the forest adds to our food plan immensely, as there is so much available out there. I use pine needles for tea and that is also a good way to get a high dose of vitamin C. I haven't even begun to make a dent in how much is really out there. I am learning more though every season and it is something I really enjoy. After all ,God put it there for us to use for our health and our food.

One thing that really got me thinking about this is that yesterday my husband cut down a tree that the top of it had fallen in the wind last week on our horses' fence line. Inside the tree was bird's nest packed full of bedding and elderberries. He felt so bad! Hopefully, that bird had made other nests in case of something like this happening. I know chickadees do make many, so I hope he planned for that type of emergency. Which is why people too, should not depend on grocery stores or freezers......both can go down.

katlupe

"He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."Romans 8:11