Valerean

Ten Things We're Doing to Be Frugal with Food Adjusting Expectations: We prefer to eat at home over going out, but we also realize we can't eat like we're millionaires even when we're making it ourselves. We've both been looking for ways to save money on our grocery bill and stretch food farther. I will make anything myself if it's cheaper than store-bought, like safe-for-me low carb bread, like the almond flour variety I make for my breakfast toast . My guy watches for sales wherever we go, and if I ask will take me to a market on the other side of town where we've never shopped to check out their sales (their chicken is the cheapest and best quality in town.) Couponing: The other night we got two footlong subs from Subway for $12.99 using a coupon from a phone app, as we haven't been getting the print variety in the mail. Now we're starting to look for more electronic coupons, too. Halfing and Reducing: Our appetites are definitel...

Back in June I posted a little update about the improvement in my health situation. Since I'm now on a basically carb-free diet, walking around 3-4 miles a day, and taking twice the diabetes meds I took previously, I thought I'd write about how that's going so far in more detail. I should say upfront that I love many carbs, especially bread, and I do miss them at odd moments because they're always delicious, even if they're not good for me. Positives: I have my blood sugar back under control, which was the most important goal. I've also lost 11 lbs. over the last couple of months, which helped me shed all the weight I gained during winter plus a few extra pounds. I think I've grown a bit stronger as well, and I'm not having as many arthritis flare-ups. Because my blood sugar numbers have dropped so much I can eat a little fruit now and then, which I love. The main goal for me with the increased exercise, modified diet and extra meds is to stay...

I'm writing this post on April 30th (yep, I'm eight weeks ahead on posts again) because of a growing problem that isn't helping anyone but people who want to make a lot of money by terrorizing the public: fear mongering. If you're not familiar with the term, it's deliberately alarming people with questionable claims in order to manipulate their behavior, primarily in this country to sell products and services. You've also been a victim of fear mongering if you bought something because the advertising made you afraid of what would happen if you didn't. When you need to sell anything from storm shutters to counter cleaners, frightening your targeted consumer is an excellent and effective marketing tool. You don't even have to be telling them the truth. Just scare the crap out of them and they'll hand over their money -- and people wonder why everyone's anxiety level is through the roof lately ( According to this , in 2024, 43% of adults sa...

It's been a year since I started my emergency pantry project, which has provided all kinds of benefits I never expected it would. I think these are the top three: Convenience: When I run out of a staple I don't have to drive to a store; I now always have plenty on hand. Lower Food Bills: I can buy nonperishables we frequently use when they're on sale and keep the extra in the emergency pantry. Less Waste: Thanks to the first-in first-out strategy and the labeling of expiration dates on the face of food products, we've also been able to cycle foods into our working pantry as they grow close to expiring, so nothing is wasted (in a year the only thing I've not used before it expired was a dollar store package of ramen.) I'm also able to see what we constantly use (soups, rice, pasta, canned veggies, small containers) versus what we don't (dehydrated foods, mixes, canned meats, huge containers) so I have a better idea of what to stock up on for...

In an effort to help me lower my blood sugar during a weird spike, my guy suggested I buy some zero sugar gelatin as a snack. I was in a hurry and didn't look at the label, so I didn't realize it was artificially sweetened with aspartame, which I try to avoid. Also, it's Jell-O, which still brings back unhappy childhood memories. Mom made Jell-O because it was cheap and she was probably trying to give us a treat (we didn't get many of those in our house.) She made cakes with it, partfaits, and that molded ring with canned fruit in it, too. Unfortunately my mother expected me to eat it every time she served it for dessert (along with all the other food she piled on my plate. She constantly overfed me because I was small.) I could never refuse, even when her Jell-O concoctions made me sick enough to throw up. Then Mom would get mad and yell at me for that, which she believed I did deliberately like I did with milk (I was severely lactose intolerant, too.) S...

Since the pandemic began putting food on the table has gotten a lot more expensive. Until this last year our usual market was charging almost double what we paid before Covid-19 struck, so we quit going there and explored other options. I'm now back to paying what I was before the pandemic, and here are ten ways that helped me do it: Budgeting: I know people hate to budget, but you have to set dollar limits or you will likely overspend. Right now we're managing to feed two people for about $400.00 per month, and we eat quite well. I give myself a budget of $150.00 when we do our bi-weekly shopping. Then I give myself $50.00 twice a month for incidental purchases, farmer's market visits, etc. I can calculate prices in my head, but it doesn't hurt to bring a calculator with you and add up what you're buying as you shop. My total for the month is almost always under my budget. Sourcing different foods at different markets: I stopped trying to get ever...

While we were walking the mall in Daytona Beach in June we also stopped for lunch at Mr. Dunderbak's Deli and Restaurant. It's a small hole in the wall type place that serves German food, and named after a franchise restaurant that my grandmother used to take me to in South Florida (sadly all of those closed.) My guy and I were both raised on German food so we really like places like this. Beer sure has changed since I was a bartender, lol. They offer a lot of artisnal and craft brews in colorful cans. I had a little deli sampler that included wonderful cheeses, salami, rye bread and some landjäger sausage (partly dried, kind of like beef jerky) and my guy had two big weiners with kraut. We don't often get real German food so it was a lovely treat.

To save money (or for other reasons) I'm trying to recreate dinners we've always liked at restaurants, which I found I can make much cheaper. Here's an example from last month: my guy grilled a steak for him, and I made salmon in the air fryer for myself, with a baked potato, a loaf of french bread with an olive oil herb dip, and a wedge salad for both of us. Breaking down the cost: I shopped around until I found four ribeye steaks for $23.00 at Winn Dixie (which has consistently been the cheapest place for steak.) The entire loaf of bread was $1.00 at Wal-Mart, and it is surprisingly quite good if you can get it the minute they put it out on the racks in the bakery (that's also cheaper than even I can make it.) The oil/herb dip was made from a 10-serving packet, and cost about fifty cents per portion. The wedge salad came from leftover iceberg lettuce I got for $3.00 and used for two other meals. We grew the radishes. The potatoes were from a five-pound bag f...

Last month when we wanted some corn with dinner we paid another visit to our local farmer's market. Everytime we go it seems like they're moving truckloads of cucumbers. I was happy to see more people shopping there during the week, too, but it did make it impossible to take pics. Suffice to say there was plenty of sweet corn, watermelons and other produce for sale at prices much cheaper than the market. My little haul. :)

Last month I finished buying and storing an extra supply of nonperishable foods along with beverages, sides, snacks and things I'll need to make bread and such in our emergency pantry. It's a big relief for me to have this project done, as it provides a sense of food security I've really needed. My math was a bit off. My goal was 180 individual meals, which would be a three month supply for me and my guy. I calculated the number of meals I could make from all the emergency supplies I've collected, and it's about 290, or about four and a half months of food for each of us. In my defense I didn't know that 4 lbs. of peanut butter would actually make 128 sandwiches! Now my task is to make sure we use up the food before it expires, and then replace it as we do. My inventory list will help a lot with that. :)

We took a trip out to our favorite local farm last month to pick up some veggies for us and a neighbor, and their flowers were in full bloom. Seeing the first cucumber harvest of the year being taken away in truckloads always tickles me. The first pickling cucumbers of the year were also on sale, which I bought for my neighbor so she could make her own refrigerator dills. I forgot to photograph the rest of my haul, but it was a bag of corn, pickling spice and one of those big cucumbers we can only get at the farm. :)

It's not all writing and quilting with me, you know. Last month I tried a couple of times to recreate the pepperoni bread my dad loved, using my own recipe and some ingenuity. I blew out a seam on this loaf, but otherwise I'm pretty close. Once I've nailed it I will post and share my recipe, because even when I fail it's really good bread. I'm also still on the spring cleaning. Last month I unloaded Kat's bins from high school, sent her the pics, and then had her tell me what to keep, discard or donate. The system is working pretty well, and by the time she comes back from the islands she won't have to do this herself.

I've just finished inventorying, labeling and organizing our emergency pantry supplies. The first thing I did was clear the non-food hurricane supplies from the cabinet (they're going to live on some shelves across from it) and rearrange the foods as I was labeling them with their expiration date. I was able to move almost all the food from under the sink to the top cabinet. Now anything I add to the emergency pantry will need to be labelled and placed in first-in-first-out order. I also created an inventory list on word that will be easy to check before I go shopping, and update as I add new supplies. I have one version in alphabetical order by item, and another sorted by expiration date. At the beginning of each month my guy and I will check the expiration list, and rotate foods that need to be used before they expire into our regular pantry. Here's how much space I created by reorganizing. This should be enough room to hold our larger items, and maybe e...

Since starting this project in April I've been buying extra nonperishable food weekly to add to our new emergency pantry. I have about an extra month's worth stored now. We're also trying different canned foods to see what they're like, and decide if we really want to live on them possibly for months. Hormel canned chili, for example, was surprisingly good -- we agreed we'd eat it even in non-emergency situations when I don't have time to make chili from scratch. Spam roasted turkey tastes just like the ham variety (and all Spam has a lot of salt in it.) In addition to food I've invested in nonfat dry milk, baking soda and powder, salt, yeast and other ingredients I'd need for baking. Thanks to the military I can make almost anything in a skillet over a campfire, including flat bread, cornbread, pizza and rolls. The most challenging part of this project has been finding enough variety. If you've tried one Chef Boyardee pasta, for example, y...

While my guy and I were out running errands we decided to stop for lunch at Too Jays, which is a restaurant, deli and bakery all rolled into one. It was our first visit, but we were both reminded of the wonderful Jewish delis of south Florida. Here's what he ordered: a Philly Grilled cheese on challah bread, or their version of a Philly cheesesteak, plus fries and cole slaw. I got their traditional chicken salad plate. The server gave me a piece of their rye bread to try, too. Although the place was busy our server made sure to check and take care of us. The prices were fair for the amount of food we got, too. We liked the rye bread so much we bought a loaf of it from the bakery. Too Jays franchise is only in Florida, but if you ever visit and want a good lunch, I highly recommend stopping by.

We made a trip out to the local farm for some veggies, and saw the first signs of spring blooming there. It's too early for cucumbers and corn yet, but I was happy to pick up some local citrus. The cabbages were especially gorgeous. Alas, only I eat cabbage so they would be wasted on us. Here's my little haul.

I gave our neighbor some extra pickling cucumbers I picked up from the farm market, and in return she gave me some of the bell peppers she's growing in her garden. As I was slicing them up for the freezer this one gave me a little surprise. There was a tiny pepper growing inside it. I've heard of this but never saw it before now. So cool.

The other day we took a trip out to our local farm where we buy produce, as they've just reopened their market for fall. With Halloween and Thanksgiving right around the corner, there were plenty of pumpkins to buy. I'll never be a fan of pumpkins, either, but I do love how they put together displays with them. Lots of tomatoes on sale. The big wagon in the middle of the market. In summer they fill it with watermelons. This is squash season, too. There was the first crop of fall corn to buy as well, and I grabbed a bag for us to hold us over until our corn is ready to pick from the garden at home. This is a working farm, so just outside the market they were lining up truckloads of cucumbers to be washed. More pumpkins. They had the back room of their cafe set up like a pumpkin patch, too. One last display. I love this place. Here's my little haul. I'm going to pickle the cucumbers to make dills out of them, and it's ...