|
|
| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 158 responses total. |
denise
|
|
response 100 of 158:
| 
Jul 20 18:09 UTC 2007 |
Yep, I have; I've been to the farmers market within a day or so of the
grocery store and in-season is often more at the farmers market [as I
thought I said earlier; at least I meant to. Though apparently Colleen
found this to be true, too].
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 101 of 158:
|
Jul 23 18:44 UTC 2007 |
Here are this weeks best buys from my shopping list. As usual, they are
in order from cheapest up, and only go to the cost/serving limit shown.
Milk
Kroger $1.25 half gallon
Meijer $2.50 gallon
Meat (< .15/oz)
Tuna .49/6 oz Busch
Chkn Leg Qtrs .69/lb Busch
Ham 1.59/lb Meijer
Whole Chicken .79/lb Meijer
Vegetables (< .10/serving)
Cucumbers .33@ Meijer
Cabbage .29/lb Busch
Summer squash .77/lb Meijer
Celery .77/bunch Meijer
Green beans, frozen 1.00/lb Busch
Green beans, fresh .99/lb Busch
Fruit (<.10/serving)
Grapes .99/lb Busch
Nectarine .99/lb Kroger
Pineapple 1.99/can Busch
Peaches .99/lb Kroger/Busch
Extras
Bacon 2.19/lb Meijer
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 102 of 158:
|
Jul 29 15:12 UTC 2007 |
Tried a new recipe last night. Amounts are for 4 servings and 1
serving.
Lemon-Caper Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Dilled Green Beans.
Chicken thighs 1 lb 1/4 lb
Lemon juice 1/4 C 1 Tbsp
Capers 1 Tbsp 3/4 tsp
Cook on low in crockpot for 6-8 hours.
About half an hour before serving
Potato 1 lb 1/4 lb
Butter 2 Tbsp 1 1/2 tsp
Chicken broth 1/4 C 1 Tbsp
Boil potatoes, then mash with butter and lemon caper broth from chicken.
Green beans 1 lb 4 oz
Dill 1 Tbsp 1 tsp
Steam green beans, then sprinkle with dill. If using fresh dill, triple
above amounts.
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 103 of 158:
|
Jul 31 17:56 UTC 2007 |
Fine Print: Vegetables and Fruits all cost less than .10 per serving,
and are arranged from least to most expensive. Meat costs less than
.15/cooked oz, and is arranged from least to most expensive.
New fruits and vegetables on this weeks bargain list.
Fruit
Plums .88/lb Meijer
Kiwi Fruit 6 for $2 Kroger
Grapes .99/lb Meijer
Vegetables
Summer squash .77/lb Meijer
Green Peppers .77/lb Meijer
Green Beans .77/lb Meijer
Tomato (canned) .99/ 24 oz Busch's
Frozen broccoli .88/lb Meijer
Frozen green beans .88/lb Meijer
Roma tomatoes .77/lb Meijer
Meat
Eggs .99/doz Busch's
Ground Chuck 1.49/lb Busch's
Chicken Thighs .89/lb Meijer
Pork Shoulder, bone in 1.19/lb Meijer (western spareribs or pork
steaks or roasts)
Ground Round 1.79/lb Meijer
Other
Everybody has butter on sale this week, but as usual, Busch is the best
buy:
Kroger 2.99/lb
Meijer 2.00/lb
Busch 1.88/lb
|
edina
|
|
response 104 of 158:
|
Jul 31 18:04 UTC 2007 |
Butter is something I buy pretty much only at Costco ($6.75 for 4
lbs.), though I will buy it for $1.50 a pound at Safeway when they run
their "really great deals". I use a lot of butter at the holidays
when I bake, so I start stockpiling it right about now and put it in
my freezer, that way I'm not hit all at once with the costs.
|
i
|
|
response 105 of 158:
|
Jul 31 18:11 UTC 2007 |
Bello Vino has had beef ribs at 99 cents/pound recently. Probably
less meat-per-dollar than the Busch's chuck, but there's some
nutrition and maybe a lot of flavor in the bone.
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 106 of 158:
|
Jul 31 18:42 UTC 2007 |
Thanks, i!
I did some voodoo and some math (actually Excel did the math) and
figured out that the beef ribs come in just under the goal, at $.146 per
ounce of cooked, drained, lean meat.
Yeah, the protein costs a bit more per gram, but frankly, with all the
measurement variables, the "under .15/oz" is close enough for me.
Another bargain for the week!
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 107 of 158:
|
Jul 31 18:45 UTC 2007 |
Notice that I'm comparing the cost of a *cooked, drained, lean* ounce
for all of these meats.
This means that it's cooked, the liquids are drained off, and the
visible fat and skin is separated from the lean. It's the best
side-by-side comparison I know short of the $/gram standard.
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 108 of 158:
|
Aug 1 01:59 UTC 2007 |
If anyone can point me to a store that has better everyday prices than
what I've listed, let me know.
Dry, refrigerated, and frozen storage are limited to a small apartment
with an apartment-sized refrigerator, so anything above 10 lbs or 1
gallon is of no use.
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 109 of 158:
|
Aug 1 20:29 UTC 2007 |
With chicken thighs and grapes both on sale this week, here's a way to
use them that I really like.
Chicken 2 thighs
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Onion 1/4 C
Grapes 4 oz
Rosemary, fresh 1 Tbsp
Preheat oven 340.
Rub chicken with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Slice grapes in half, slice onion. Remove rosemary leaves from stem.
If making more than one serving, quarter onion and roast. Otherwise
thick slices will work.
Spread grapes on bottom of pan, top with onion slices.
Sprinkle half of the rosemary leaves on top of grapes.
Place chicken on bed of vegetables and fruit. Sprinkle with lemon
juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then remaining rosemary leaves.
Roast for about 20 minutes.
Serve with rice, with cooked vegetables, fruit, and juices.
|
edina
|
|
response 110 of 158:
|
Aug 1 20:30 UTC 2007 |
Yum!!!
|
jadecat
|
|
response 111 of 158:
|
Aug 1 20:51 UTC 2007 |
That sounds good!
|
denise
|
|
response 112 of 158:
|
Aug 1 21:18 UTC 2007 |
Wow, I would've ever have thought to combine grapes with onion; how
interesting!
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 113 of 158:
|
Aug 7 01:57 UTC 2007 |
This week we're beginning to see the effect of food price increases:
there is only one meat choice that still falls below .15/oz.
Milk 2.50/gal K/M
Fruit < .10/serving
Plums .88/lb M
Grapes .99/lb M
Nectarine .88/lb M
Vegetables
Green pepper .77/lb M
Zuchinni .77/lb M
Green beans .77/lb M
Tomato, Roma .77/lb M
Meat <.15/oz
Pick of the Chick .99/lb M
Other Good Buys:
Sugar 1.97/5 lb M
Spaghetti, macaroni 1.00/2 lb Busch
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 114 of 158:
|
Aug 7 02:00 UTC 2007 |
SaveALot has a good buy on bottom round, that comes in at .154/ounce.
They've got it on sale for 1.69 a pound until August 11.
|
keesan
|
|
response 115 of 158:
|
Aug 7 02:03 UTC 2007 |
Zucchini - free from garden. Pattipan, butternut, buttercup, acorn ditto.
Green beans - Cherokee Trail of Tears, Tigre, Fagiolino, Great Lakes Special,
Tucomares runner. Red cherry, yellow cherry, roma, Principe Borghese, large
bumpy red. Kale, beet greens, lettuce, melokhiya, amaranth. Cucumber. Small
pumpkin. Japanese beetles. No more groundhogs. First pears. Grapes almost.
Add rice.
|
edina
|
|
response 116 of 158:
|
Aug 7 15:31 UTC 2007 |
Is it me or is milk just going through the roof? I've especially
noticed it in cheese prices.
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 117 of 158:
|
Aug 7 15:42 UTC 2007 |
Milk is going through the roof.
Anything that involves corn in the production cycle is going through the
roof: meat, dairy, corn sweeteners.
Part of the blame is the move to bio-fuels. A lot of corn production is
being diverted to fuels.
|
edina
|
|
response 118 of 158:
|
Aug 7 15:46 UTC 2007 |
Not to mention that people are drinking more milk. Demand with
lessening supply means going up prices.
|
i
|
|
response 119 of 158:
|
Aug 8 02:40 UTC 2007 |
Everyday price of skim milk is $2.75 at Washtenaw Dairy; used to be
$2.40.
My impression is that lots of non-corn foods prices are skyrocketing,
because "plant corn instead" is far more profitable for the farmer.
Aren't those *billions* of American taxpayer's dollars being spent to
push up corn prices just so well invested?
Save American - lynch the politicians before it's too late (tm).
|
denise
|
|
response 120 of 158:
|
Aug 15 02:56 UTC 2007 |
I hadn't been grocery shopping in ages and ages [though I love to eat, I
rarely get fired up to do the shopping for it part, so I only go maybe
every 3-4 weeks for a regular/big shopping and then if needed, I'll run
in someplace for specific/limited needs].
I'm trying to incorporate a lot of Colleen's stuff that she's been
sharing with us: Starting a basic pantry list of inexpensive stuff to
have on hand most/all the time and then supplement the basics with the
seasonal things that are more readily available, thus, often less
expensive during that season. And just taking advantage to stuff as they
become on sale and stocking up as I'm able. [I, too, have somewhat
limited space do to living in a shared housing situation.]
So today, though still feeling somewhat under the weather, I did head
out and did some shopping at Save-A-Lot. Since my cupboards, fridge
and freezer were pretty lean, I did have to buy quite a bit of stuff.
However, by saving on their lower prices on a lot of things compared to
other grocery stores and with taking in some of the sale items, I think
I was able to get more stuff than I usually get in a monthly trip at a
somewhat lesser cost AND a bigger variety of stuff as well [including
getting a few more seasoning/herb type stuff]. Again, I'm trying to
not only shop the inexpensive basics learned here, I'm also trying to
incorporate a lot more healthy foods. So some of the stuff I did
purchase today includes chicken [on sale], macaroni for pasta salad,
rice, canned vegetables [including tomato sauce, spaghetti style sauce,
etc], canned fruits [many of these things ARE less expensive than
fresh, though I did by a cucumber and some raw carrots], cottage cheese
as well as a bit of regular cheese [gotta have that cheese!], whole
wheat bread, beans, flour tortillas, frozen dinners as well as a couple
frozen pizzas for under a buck each, a couple packets of pizza crust mix
[just add water, mix, let rise, prep and bake] for less than 30 cents
IIRC, at least 3-4 spices, sweet relish to go in my egg salad, olive
oil for cooking with, and I'm sure a bunch of stuff I'm not remembering
right now.
Sometime in the near future, though, I do need to get some more eggs
and, for a bit more variety at breakfast--to get into something simple
to fix in the morning, some oatmeal.
So... the next steps include finding new ways to fix what I have, and
MAYBE I'll even take a stab at doing some menu planning, too, to keep
my nutritional needs better covered. Though one step at a time. I'm
*great* in having all kinds of wonderful ideas and even starting a lot
of them but then, not sticking with them because I try too many new
changes at once and/or I just get too overwhelmed...
OK, between my most recent postings in tea this evening as well as here,
I've rambled enough for one day. :-)
|
keesan
|
|
response 121 of 158:
|
Aug 15 04:39 UTC 2007 |
Sounds like you are becoming a much more adventurous cook.
At some point you can try making pizza crust by adding water AND YEAST to
flour. Is there anything else in the mix? Maybe salt?
We have oatmeal for breakfast nearly every day, with a different fruit if
there is any around. This week dried Chinese jujubes. Nuts are good too.
Jim put dried haws in - they are VERY sour and are meant for sweetened tea.
|
denise
|
|
response 122 of 158:
|
Aug 15 12:58 UTC 2007 |
I don't remember off the top of my head what else is in the pizza-crust
mix. It probably does have salt in it [but I do like salt to add
flavor]. Though I don't use very much salt on a day to day basis [and
only add salt to stuff maybe once a week, if that. And I've reduced
the amount of stuff that already has added salt, so my salt intake at
this point doesn't concern me. :-) ]
Growing up [and periodically on my own since then], we had a lot of
oatmeal. And it IS something that's easy and quick to fix and it tastes
good; especially with some of the added fruits, nuts, cinnamon, etc.
Anyway, I guess you can say that I am becoming a more adventurous cook.
:-) I hope it sticks!
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 123 of 158:
|
Aug 15 15:17 UTC 2007 |
I could have sworn I posted this yesterday, but when I went online last
night at someone else's computer, I couldn't find it.
This Week's Shopping List
Item is one of 50 listed on Cheap Eats shopping list.
Meat is less than 15 cents an ounce.
Vegetables and fruit are less than 10 cents a serving.
Lists are ordered lowest to highest.
Meat
Peanut Butter .99/18 oz Kroger
Eggs 1.00/doz Meijer
Chicken Thighs, bone in .96/lb Kroger
Chicken, Whole .79/lb Meijer
Chicken Breast 1.20/lb Busch
Vegetables
Cabbage .25/lb Meijer
Celery .77 Meijer
Zucchini .99 Kroger
Green Beans .99 Kroger
Fruit
Peaches .88/lb Meijer
|
cmcgee
|
|
response 124 of 158:
|
Sep 4 13:05 UTC 2007 |
This response has been erased.
|