The week at Krogers

Some weeks I have find good deals and other weeks get me so excited I get giddy.  This week I’m giddy about canned meat.  To be honest, I’m a recovering canned meat snob.  I’ve never used canned meat in cooking.  There was really no reason to use canned over fresh in my mind.  Canned meat is usually more expensive than fresh and I am not used to the texture/ flavor.  And I’m not to the point where I’m canning my own.  However…. As my regular readers know, Ike changed the way I view preparedness and I’ve been getting ready for this hurricane season (or other unexpected event) ever since.

During Ike I lost everything in my fridge and freezer.  This year I’m using all my stocked up freezer meat before the season and have a plan.  See this post for a detailed plan on managing your freezer in hurricane season.  Once we ran out of freezer meat, we had nothing except canned veggies, beans and pasta.  And it took a while for the stores in my area to come back.  There were no gas stations working, so I didn’t want to drive out for supplies until I knew I could get gasoline once I was out of my area.  So now I want to have all this in my pantry instead of relying on the freezer/fridge.

This week Krogers had a hormel deal.  I’ve stocked up on chili, chicken and hormel compleats meals using coupons. With coupons, I purchased the canned chicken breast for $.43 a 5 oz can which equates to $1.40 a pound.  Now I need to learn to prepare it in something other than chicken salad.  Being prepared is about product in your home and knowledge on how to use it.

I also found flashlights in the clearance pile.  Can you believe I found flashlights on clearance days before hurricane seasons starts!  Yes, it was a good week.  And eggs were 88 cents for 1.5 dozen.

Here’s the list

• 2 cases water at $3.99 each less 75 cent coupon
• hormel compleats:  $1.40 less 75 cent coupon
• chili:  88 cents less $.55 coupon off 2
• eggs:  88 cents
• pork spare ribs 99 cents a pound
• chicken breast 1.69 a pound
• Flashlights:  $2.69
• chicken:  88 cents a can (look for 25 cents peelies)

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For other great finds this week see http:/southernsavers.com and http:/moneysavingmom.com.

I have a book problem

I’ve written about this before.  I admit it…. I am a book junkie.  I used to purchase new books and look back cringing at all the money I wasted.  Now my favorite place is the used book store.  It is a much more frugal way to build your home library.  In Houston, we have one of the best homeschool bookstores in the country, with a wide assortment of used books.  Yesterday I spent a couple of hours going through the used books gearing up next year.  We are homeschooling year round, but I’ll be finishing our current curriculum this summer.

I’ve also started selling books.  Last year I sold several hundred dollars of Abeka books just by posting on craigs list.

I purchased 50 books for about $250.  Three of these were new science textbooks which accounted for $90.  Here’s a pic, but a few are missing.  When we arrived home, my oldest snagged the ones she wanted to read first.

For more ideas see life as mom for frugal fridays.

80 year old’s physical

My sister sent this to me and I thought I’d share.  Thanks Cindy.  The older I become the funnier these jokes get.  And I seem to find the “potty” jokes the funniest.  We joke about potty noises when we’re kids and then do it again when we’re older.  All my 40 year old friend are joking about which brand of depends is best.   Here ya go…

An 80 year old man goes for a physical. All of his tests come back with normal results. The doctor says, ‘Ed, everything looks great. How are you doing mentally and emotionally? Are you at peace with God?’ Ed replies, ‘God and I are tight. He knows I have poor eyesight, so he’s fixed it so when I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, poof, the light goes on.   When I’m done, poof, the light goes off.’ ‘Wow, that’s incredible,’ the doctor says. A little later in the day, the doctor calls Ed’s wife. ‘Ethel,’ he says, ‘Ed is doing fine, but I had to call you because I’m in awe of his relationship with God. Is it true that he gets up during the night and poof, the light goes on in the bathroom, and when he’s done, poof, the light goes off? ‘Oh my!’ Ethel exclaims. ‘He’s peeing in the refrigerator again!’

I have a question about canning fruit and veggies

I’ve seen a lot written about canning lately and how frugal canning is for families.  But generally, people are canning items from their garden.

I have not started to can and have no idea how this process works.  The reason I have not tried is economics.  I don’t have a garden and would have to purchase my produce.  It seems cheaper to buy green giant cans on sale or dole fruit with a coupon, rather than do it myself.  I’m all for learning new skills, but I want them to have a purpose.

If you know anyone who does this without a garden and makes it economical purchasing produce, please give me their site so I can do more research.   Thanks.

Learning old kitchen skills for today’s homemaker

Last week I posted my menu for the week.  I stopped following it by Monday night.  One reason is that I was doing a pressure cooker week and I broke my new pressure cooker the first day I used it.  It was my fault.  I’m usually very good with new kitchen equipment.  But I’d never used one of these and had not seen a modern pressure cooker in action.  It didn’t “pressure” because I didn’t tighten a screw and I let it go for 30 minutes… not sure how long it took to come to pressure.  We’ll it got so hot it melted the rubber pieces on top.   The manufacturer sent replacement parts at no charge.   I was in no danger b/c of all the built in safety mechanisms.   This weekend I installed the new parts and tried again.  It is working like new.  Now I have a better feel of how to use it.

The pressure cooker experience reminded me again how much knowledge we’re losing in our society.  I had no one to call who uses a modern pressure cooker.  Instead I was emailing a lady I’ve never met who blogs about pressure cooking (thanks Kellene).  I’m the ONLY person I know who even owns one.  My circle of friend are instead experts at using the microwave.  And in general, the people in our country are not close to our relatives geographically so that grandma can teach others how she managed her house.  M0st people have stopped making stuff at home and using the old methods of doing things.   Now the world is changing and a few people are becoming more interested in learning old ways (canning, pressure cooking, gardening).  However, much of this will have to be self taught unless we find communities of friends who are doing the same thing and start sharing knowledge.   As a result, when I try to learn a new skill I’m mostly on my own with an instruction manual, 1800 number and laptop.

I am trying to change this in my world.  Instead of meeting at Starbucks, my girlfriends come over and we practice recipes.  We’re starting to exchange ideas about homemaking instead of the latest style of shoes.  I find myself gravitating to friends who are either wanting to learn about this stuff or are will to share their knowledge.   With the economy and political state of the world, I’m seeing wives/mothers want to learn how to make do with less.  We’ve come from a world of excess and are realizing that a world of less may be beautiful if we know how to use what we have in wonderful ways.

Here’s what we’re having this week…

• Monday:  Steak, jasmine rice, homemade rolls and salad
• Tuesday: Pressure Cooker Pinto beans, cheese grits, squash casserole and salad
• Wed:  Shrimp / chicken gumbo, salad and crackers with butter
• Thursday:  Pressure Cooker Chicken, green beans and homemade wheat bread
• Friday:  Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salad and homemade rolls

Uses for Bulk Dried Corn

Today I’m joining lifeasmom for Frugal Friday.

My mother recently bought me bulk popcorn from Sam’s.  This is just plain dried corn.  No artificial butter or microwave bags.  The cost is approx $17 for a 50 pound bag of corn.  That is really cheap when you consider the nutrition value and how good it is for filling up tummies.  I’m bagging the corn in gallon plastic bags and storing these in free plastic buckets we obtained from local bakeries.

I started using this product by making stove top popcorn.  You put a little cooking oil (about 3 tablespoons) in the bottom of a pan with 2 test kernels.  Place the lid on top and wait for the test kernels to pop.  Then add about 1/4 cup of corn.  Continue cooking and you’ll have a pot full of popcorn in minutes.

It would take me forever to use this much corn if I only made popcorn.  So I’ve been experimenting with grinding.  I have a vitamix blender and this worked fabulously for turning it into meal.  So if you don’t have a fancy wheat mill, check your blender’s instruction guide to see if it is powerful enough to grind corn.   I’ve been using a course grind and making corn grits for breakfast.  Next on my list is polenta for dinner and a finer grind for cornbread and casseroles.

I like having this in my stockpile because it is so inexpensive and easy to store.  Also, nearly everyone will eat it and it is extremely nutritious.  My kids never turn it down at snack time.  I’ve also read about using it as a substitute for breakfast cereals.  For cereal, you add light coat of sugar to the popcorn while it is hot.  It is definitely a budget conscious item in today’s world.  And if you don’t have a Sam’s membership, check for free one day passes.  I  recently received a free coupon in the mail for a one day pass that doesn’t expire until the end of summer.

Walgreens Day!

What a day at Walgreens!  I got all this for $14ish and walked out with a $10 gift card.  So the net was approx $4.oo.  I used the $5 off $25, thanks makingcentsintexas.

I had th checker ring up until my total was about $27, then I stopped handing her items.  She said it had to be a little over $25 if there were taxable items.  She scanned the coupon and it worked.  I also had Walgreens Coupons and Manufactuer coupons I provided after the $5 off $25.

Here’s the kicker.  When I got to my car, the system had voided out the Walgreens coupon for the cans of shrimp/crabmeat, which was also $5.  I unloaded the kids and went back in.  The checker discovered that the system would not take walgreens coupons if that made your total go below $25, but it would accept manufacturer coupons.  Since I had told her upfront I was trying to use all the coupons, she called the manager and they gave me a gift card.  The gift card was supposed to be for $5, but because it took so long for me to wait they increased it to $10.  Sometimes it pays to smile while you’re standing in line with 3 kids wanting to rip all the pages out of the magazines.  I’m rarely that smiling lady.

To see others’ shopping trips visit www.southernsavers.com or www.moneysavingmom.com.

Encouraging stories – being prepared

One blog I enjoy is Casaubon’s Book.  She’s rec’d feedback from several readers who were prepared for the unexpected and the unexpected happened.   In this blog, she summarized a few of these.  I thought you might find these encouraging.

http://sharonastyk.com/2009/05/19/real-life-food-storage-stories/

Those who oppose Israel will be cursed

I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.  It says (my summary) those who support Israel will be blessed, and those who oppose Israel will be cursed.

I am very concerned about the consequences for our nation regarding our relations with Israel.  The Bush administration worked with Sharon to get Israel to pull out of Gaza.  Right after they pulled out, we had Hurricane Katrina.

Now it looks like Obama will push for the division of Jerusalem.  If we push Israel to give up God given territory, I would expect our country to experience God’s wrath.

Read here for more details on this current event.

Keeping up with children’s socks

We have 6 little feet in our home.  I had the hardest time sorting laundry.  Children’s socks just don’t look that different in size.  Some are stretchy and look small, but fit larger feet.  Others are not and fit smaller feet.  They all look the same to me.  I ended up with piles of socks in my to-do bucket and hated the task of matching and placing with the correct child.

One day I had enough.  I cleaned out a drawer in the chest in our game room.  I removed all the socks from the bedrooms.  Now all children socks go in this drawer.   They typically put their shoes on in this room anyway, so it is convenient.

If I have a straggler sock it goes in there too.  Periodically I’ll dump it out and get the kids to pick out socks that are too small for the smallest foot.  And they’ll be responsible for matching the one-off socks together.  Any that don’t have a match go.  Before  I had to check all rooms to see if the other sock was in a sister’s drawer.  Now the investigation work is over.

Downside is that each child no longer has personal socks that belong to them.  Germ folks may think this is gross, but we bleach socks or wash colored socks in hot water.   We are sharing germs anyway just by living together.  I’ll not sweat this one and go on with life…. and have one less complication!