Storage for My Dried Beans

Cleaning out the cool storage room today and I came across a few small bags of dried beans purchased in 2023. They're nearing the sell-by date on both varieties, chickpeas and navy beans. Of course I wanted to know just how much longer these will be good. I had other questions, too. So I did some reading. Here's what I found out.

Does that best-by date really mean that's when the beans will no longer be edible?

Several sites I read said dried beans are still edible even after expiry. It's a best-by date. The beans are still perfectly good to cook with for 1 or more years past the best-by date when stored in the manufacturer's plastic bag.

What are the enemies of dried beans?

moisture, direct sunlight, insects, oxygen, and heat

Can dried beans be kept in long-term storage for emergencies?

Yes, but they need to be kept from their "enemies." First, a little preventative work is recommended to kill off potential insect eggs by freezing the packages for 36-48 hours or heat kill on a baking sheet in a 250 degree oven for about 20 minutes prior to storage. Next, dried beans should be kept in airtight containers, like clean and dry canning jars. 

The jars do not need to be processed or heat sealed, and the lids can be previously used ones. Once in jars, or other airtight container, keep the beans in a cool and dark location. Storing in this simple manner, dried beans will last for up to 3 years past the best-by date. By the way, a 1-qt canning jar holds approximately 1 1/2 pounds of dried beans.

If you want to keep dried beans for 5 or more years, vacuum sealing is a better option, as it removes excess air from the package before sealing. Beyond vacuum sealing, various airtight containers used in conjunction with oxygen absorbers can extend the life of dried beans for a decade or longer. Finally, some folks store their dried beans in the freezer. Many sources indicate that dried beans will keep indefinitely in a freezer.

Do dried beans lose nutrients when stored long term?

Yes and no. The vitamins in the beans will degrade gradually. However, the protein, calories, and minerals will remain intact. 

How can I know if my dried beans have gone bad?

Smell and/or appearance will be the tell. If the dried beans have an off odor, beyond their usual dried bean-y smell, or if the beans have noticeable mold or fuzz on them, it's best to compost these beans. It's possible beans with a higher fat content can go rancid over time. And if moisture has become an issue where the beans are stored, and they're not in an airtight container, that's when mold can develop.

I went the simple route and stored my beans in clean canning jars, tucked into a cool and dark corner of our cool storage room. This room is on the north side of the house, and even in summer, this spot remains fairly cool. This is where I store our grains, vegetable oil, and canned goods. If nothing else comes of moving the found dried beans to canning jars, at least I'm now aware of how much I have and am making plans to use them up. I see some hummus in our very near future.

How about you? Have you ever had a problem with cooking old dried beans? How old would you think is too old for dried beans?

"The American aim is that every man, woman and child may enjoy the better things of life."

This was a quote at the beginning of a 1941 sales/informational film, It Happened in the Kitchen. While this was basically a sales pitch for modernizing an older kitchen, that statement made me think about the "better things of life" from a 1940s perspective.

These days, when we think of the good life, we often consider expenditures for travel, fine dining in restaurants, a beautifully-furnished home, the latest smart phone, and other toys and luxuries. This isn't us, necessarily. But our current culture seems to push more and more extravagance in order to be satisfied in life.

In the 1940s, I do think American tastes and expectations were simpler. Perhaps the better things in life included a small starter home for the young family, an automobile ("an" as in singular), some leisure time on the weekend to enjoy with your family, and ample food. Add in a drive in the country on a Sunday afternoon, an occasional picnic, and a new dress or shirt each year and you felt like you had it all.

I'm trying to see my own life and its "better things" from a 1940s perspective. We now have a good solid roof over our heads to keep us (and our belongings) dry and a brand new furnace to keep us warm. Our freezer and pantry are well-stocked, and we have leisure time to enjoy picnics in spring and summer. We even have two cars, now, giving us freedom of transportation even when someone in the family has the other car out for the day. I suspect 2-car households were pretty rare in the 1940s. 

I don't think we're "bad" people for wanting to travel or eat out or have a beautifully-appointed home. Those are all really nice luxuries that many of us are fortunate enough to afford from time to time. But I do think it is a helpful mindset to consider that even without those luxuries, we are blessed. My tummy is full tonight and my room is warm. Those are blessings. 

Culture puts out a lot of noise about what we should want and how we should think. I'm trying to tune that noise out and think for myself. I've asked myself what I really want in this life, what are the better things in life for me. The answer for me is to have my family around, cook some good food for us all regularly, own a nice enough home to enjoy, have some ease in life so I'm not constantly worn out, own a reliable car so we can go interesting places for day trips, and have zero debt. Those are the better things in life.

The film was interesting and informative. Even if I don't plan on redoing our kitchen, it is helpful to see how I could organize my storage for greater efficiency and repurpose space to meet my needs more closely.

How do you define the better things of life?

Do you save meat bones for making stock?

This afternoon, I was cutting some beef off of a bone to make beef and vegetable stir fry for dinner. I had some extra time, so I thought I'd make a little stock with the beef bone. Then I remembered the bag of uncooked beef bones that I had in the freezer, accumulated over the past 6 to 8 months. So I made a nice large pot of beef stock, browning the bones first, then simmering in water with simple seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder). It came out delicious, and now I feel like I got full value from the cuts of beef.

I routinely make chicken stock from chicken bones and ham stock from the ham bone, but I've only made beef stock once before. I wasn't thrilled with that batch of stock. I later figured that it lacked flavor. Hence adding some simple seasonings to this batch of stock.

I've been making a lot of soups this winter. I had depleted my supply of chicken stock and have just one more container of ham stock and a few containers of pumpkin stock remaining. So, I will be glad to have additional stock ready for more pots of soup or to add to sauces.

How about you? Do you use leftover meat bones for making stock? Do you a favorite type of stock? Do you have a method that works for you?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! Wishing you a very lovely day and weekend ahead.

We have heat!!! The new furnace is in, and it already feels like it heats the house faster than our old one. Last night was a cold one. 

The living room got down to 57 degrees F overnight and the bedrooms hovered around 50 degrees F. At 5 AM the air felt so cold around my head that I just got up and turned the fireplace and space heaters back on. We didn't want to leave them running unattended overnight, so I turned them off when I went to bed on Thursday.

The four of us had a delicious Valentine's brunch in front of the fireplace. We listened to music on spotify and enjoyed a few minutes together. One daughter had to rush off to her job for the weekend and the other needed to work on her latest commissions. My husband took today as a work from home day to be here for the furnace installation and the brunch. After brunch he got right back to the computer.

I baked the pie for dinner early this morning, keeping the oven going to add heat to the kitchen. Any heat we could get was helpful. Have you ever been so cold that your body seemed to have a memory of being cold even after the temperatures had warmed up? That's how I feel right now, an hour after the new furnace has been working. I'll keep myself moving and will feel warmed up in no time.

The saga of the failing furnace has now come to an end, thankfully. I'm grateful to live in a time when the homemaker doesn't normally need to spend so much time thinking about increasing the heat in the house. We just push a button and forget about it.

Anyway, have a wonderful day and weekend!

Well the temporary ability of the furnace failed overnight,

and our new install isn't until tomorrow. Today's high was 39 degrees F and low about 26 degrees F. That's the bad news. There is good news.

We kept the living room and entry hall at 64 degrees F until noon and 66 degrees in the afternoon, using a space heater and the electric fireplace (with heat output). That's really good. The fireplace and space heaters were turned on at 3 AM. It was 27 degrees F when I got up this morning and the temp in the living room hadn't changed for the worse. I'm keeping the kitchen warm enough with the large cast iron griddle across 2 gas burners on low (with a pot of hot cereal keeping warm on the griddle) plus 1 burner with the tea kettle on low. It doesn't take much to keep the kitchen warm-enough. The bedrooms are chilly, but we're doing okay. The other good news is the furnace lasted through the coldest of this cold snap, and the temps will only rise incrementally from here. The other good news is we absolutely know that we eked every last bit out of our furnace. I'd say we got "good value" out of that furnace, purchased 29 years ago.

We also have a couple of microwaveable heat pads for personal heating and for heating beds at bedtime. We only have to get through one last day and night before our new furnace will be installed. That's all good news.

The other positive to today is I cooked a hot lunch for all of us and we enjoyed not only a hot meal, but eating together. And I was motivated to begin cooking for tomorrow, as being in a warm kitchen cooking is better than any colder place today.

I'm choosing to look for the good news in all of this. Soon, this period will be behind us, and we'll have reliable heat once again.

I hope your week is going well.

Some egg talk

Egg prices are beginning to come down in my area. (keeping fingers crossed this trend holds)

About a week ago, Walmart had their 60-ct cases of Great Value eggs priced at $26 -something. Today, those same cases were $24.60 (works out to $4.92/dozen). Last week, Fred Meyer had a dozen Kroger large eggs for $7.49. Today, those same eggs are priced at $6.49. Our other grocery chain is Safeway/Albertsons. Their eggs are even more expensive at $6.99/dozen. These are historically high egg prices for ordinary white eggs. 

Chickens have to be cage-free in my state. But that's not the same as pastured chickens (much more expensive eggs). Cage-free chickens may still spend their entire lives indoors, never seeing actual sunlight. So these egg prices are for the least expensive eggs in my stores.

This morning I shopped at a small NW chain grocery, Town & Country. They're not terribly convenient, but they do carry some items I can't find in my local stores and they have a nice gift section. (I was shopping for a gift for someone today.) I've become obsessed with egg prices lately. So of course I checked the egg cooler there. T & C tends to be on the pricey side for many items. Imagine my surprise when I saw eggs priced at $3.99/dozen for cage-free brown eggs. $3.99 per dozen is a fabulous price on eggs for my area right now. It gives me hope that eggs will be even more affordable as we inch closer to spring. I bought 1 dozen eggs while there this morning.

I had used my last fresh egg over the weekend. So I was glad to find the T & C eggs today priced so favorably. The plan is to use the frozen eggs that we have on hand, with an occasional fresh egg when I only need one at a time or need a hard-boiled egg for something. I searched through the various freezers and found 32 frozen eggs. They're spread out between 6 containers of 4 to 6 eggs each. I can make these eggs stretch for perhaps 6 weeks, using 1 container per week. I'm hoping that the price of fresh eggs will be lower when I've exhausted my frozen supply.  

As I judiciously use the eggs I have, I'm using egg substitutes in baking and cooking as much as possible. I made pancakes Monday morning, substituting 1/2 teaspoon additional baking powder plus 1/4 cup of applesauce for the egg in the recipe. The pancakes turned out really well. I've baked no-egg cookies as well as this no-egg cake for my family in recent weeks. I'll give no-egg waffles a try this Friday morning. It goes without saying, having an egg for breakfast is off limits for now, unless it's a special day, such as this coming Valentine's Day.

What are egg prices like in your area this week? Have you noticed any price trends, up or down, since late-January? Have you tried any no-egg or less-egg recipes lately?

Valentine's Day Menus

I'll be cooking 2 meals for Valentine's Day this year, brunch and dinner. If family wants to snack in between meals, that's up to them. 

I'm trying to use what we have on hand as much as possible. I went shopping this morning for the remaining items, but overall didn't spend all that much additionally. Here are the menus:

Heart-shaped waffles -- I bought a waffle iron at Value Village (thrift store) last July for $5.59. 

Brunch

egg, pepper, onion, cheese, sausage casserole (using frozen eggs, a frozen onion/pepper medley leftover from Christmas brunch, cheese we already have, and 2 sausage links from the freezer, diced)

scratch waffles (maybe no-egg ones)

canned pears (from the pantry, need using)

orange juice (from frozen concentrate. I did have to buy the oj this week.)

bacon (from the freezer, leftover from Christmas brunch)

coffee, tea, cocoa, milk

Dinner

beef fillet (from the freezer)

chicken Cordon Bleu (2 ready-to-cook servings from the freezer, leftover from birthday dinner last year)

sautéed fresh green beans and garlic (I did have to buy the green beans)

baked potatoes (Again, I did have to buy the potatoes)

scratch cherry pie (our tree cherries, pitted and frozen)

We had some leftovers from Christmas Day brunch, an entire unopened package of bacon and about 1/3 of a bag of frozen peppers and onions. 

With the dinner's beef and chicken, since there are about 6 servings total, after cooking I'll slice each up, and we can all enjoy some of both. I tried to make dinner as stress-free as possible. After all, it's my Valentine's too. 

For both of the meals, I only needed to buy 1 can of orange juice concentrate, almost a pound of fresh green beans, and some potatoes. The rest we had on hand, which I think is pretty good considering I haven't been doing that much grocery shopping for over a month now.

How about for your household? Will you be cooking any special meals for Valentine's Day? Will you be dining out on or near the holiday? Is Valentine's Day irrelevant for you? 

And this is why we save . . .

This morning we woke up to a cold house and a bad electrical smell. The blower motor was stalling and eventually shut the furnace down completely. The bad smell was the motor as it was trying to restart itself.  My husband called the furnace repair company at 6 and left a message. We must've been the first to call in this morning, as just after 8 AM the repair guy knocked on our front door.

While the repair guy was working on our furnace, we did our best to stay warm, using 2 1/2 space heaters, the electric fireplace in the living room (that serves as a heat source), and the stove in the kitchen. I got the cast iron griddle going and made a batch of no-egg pancakes and a small pot of brown sugar syrup. I also kept a kettle of water heating instead of using the microwave to heat tea water. Between the griddle, the syrup heating, and the tea kettle, the kitchen wasn't too bad.

I said we have 2  1/2 space heaters. The 1/2 heater is a small desktop heater. We used that to keep a bathroom warm. The other 2 portable electric heaters kept the downstairs warm enough, while their heat rose toward the upstairs bedrooms.

This is perhaps one of the worst weeks of the year to have the furnace go out on us. The lows are in the 20s overnight and highs are in the 30s. Homes in this area are not as well insulated as homes in regions that routinely have very cold winter weather. So the house cools down very quickly.

The repair guy worked for close to two hours. He has it barely working again, with the warning that it won't last more than a couple of days. It needs a new blower motor, which is a factory-ordered part and would take 60 days to receive, not to mention its very hefty price tag. Our furnace is old and has a few other issues that will fail sooner rather than later. It sounds like the cost of all of these repairs would just about equal the cost of a new furnace.

So, the furnace sales person will be out in the morning to advise us on what would work for our house that can be installed as soon as possible.

If you're keeping track, this has been a very expensive year for my family, new roof, new car, laundry and oven repairs, my dental/medical bills, and now a new furnace. We'd been saving for a new furnace for several years. So this is something we're prepared for. We could have splurged on many luxuries along the way -- taken extravagant vacations, gone out to eat in nice restaurants, bought chic new clothing for ourselves, and/or driven the latest and greatest cars. Instead, for all of these 38 years, we've prioritized saving for rainy days. And the rainy days all came in just over a year's time. It took my husband and I all of 5 seconds to say yes to replacing the furnace. 

Having the necessary funds to cover our emergencies is about the best worldly luxury we could have.

There's no escaping rainy days. They happen to all of us. Having an umbrella and boots at the ready makes the rainstorm a little less stressful.

Snow Days -- Me Getting Stuff Done in the Kitchen

I think a snow day is a good day to

• do a little baking (blueberry muffins today)
• clean out the fridge
• refill containers and organize the pantry
• sit in a cozy spot by the window and watch snow fall

My daughters think a snow day is a good day to

• go for long walks in the snow
• play in the snow
• drink cocoa

My husband thinks a snow day is a good day to

• check tree and shrub damage from the snow
• catch up on favorite podcasts on his lunch hour

What do you think a snow day is good for?

Budget-Friendly, Mid-Century Tuna Burgers for a Winter Supper

A trip down the memory lane that passes through my mind.

My daughter made tuna burgers for us for dinner tonight. These hot sandwiches were served at Disneyland's Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship restaurant/Captain Hook's Galley from 1955 through 1982. 

image source: 
davelandweb.com

There are two recipes online for Disneyland's tuna burger. The first was printed on the paper placemat/tray liner when the restaurant was sponsored by Chicken of the Sea. 

The Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant Recipe

This recipe calls for 6.5 oz can tuna, drained, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1/4 cup finely chopped celery, salt/pepper to taste, 4 sesame seed hamburger buns, Thousand Island salad dressing, sweet pickle slices. 

The directions are to mix together the tuna, celery, and seasonings. Spread the bottom bun halves with the Thousand Island dressing. Add tuna salad to each bun half and top with a few sweet pickle slices. Top with the other bun half. Wrap in individual squares of foil. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 20 minutes. Serves 4. 

This version was served at the restaurant until 1969, when the Chicken of the Sea sponsorship left Disneyland.

"mermaids" from the early years at Disneyland

The Captain Hook's Galley Recipe

Captain Hook's Galley tuna burger
image source:
Disney Parks Media

When Disneyland took over the operations of this restaurant, they renamed it Captain Hook's Galley. Disney 's website has provided a recipe for the tuna burger that is like what was served from 1969 on. This is the version my daughter made for us tonight, with a couple of minor modifications. 

For one, we had 2 hamburger buns, 1 hot dog bun, and 2 soft (and flattish) drop biscuits to use for buns. In addition, my daughter used two 5-oz cans of tuna (in place of a 9-oz can) and sweet pickle relish (in place of sweet pickle slices). 

Also, our sandwiches were not double decker. Otherwise, she made the sandwiches as directed. And, we passed the mayo-chup at the table for those who wanted more dressing.

I said at the top that this took me down memory lane. I lived in Southern California for most of my childhood. When I was in middle school (6th, 7th, & 8th grades), if a student made honor roll for the first 3 quarters of the year, during the 4th quarter he/she could go with a school group to Disneyland for the day. I was fortunate to go each year. On one of those days, my mother gave me money to buy myself lunch. What do you think I ordered? I ordered the tuna burger from Captain Hook's Galley, aka the pirate ship. My daughter's tuna burgers were every bit as good as the one I remembered from my youth.

Like all kids, mine have asked me about some of my childhood memories. Several months ago, I mentioned the pirate ship restaurant that is no longer in Disneyland. I also recalled a hot tuna fish sandwich that I had for lunch one time. One daughter especially likes to recreate restaurant dishes. So she went on a quest to find this hot tuna sandwich from my childhood. The internet makes finding such things a breeze. Tonight was my daughter's night to cook dinner for us, and she asked to make the tuna burgers. How could I turn her down?! A memory and a meal wrapped up in a square of foil.

While canned tuna isn't as cheap as it was 5 years ago, it's still a decent budget "meat". Both WinCo and Walmart carry canned tuna fish (5-oz) for 88 cents per can in my area. Two cans feed the four of us adults. So under $2 for the tuna portion of a family meal. That's a pretty good value.

Do You Ever Hang Clothing to Dry?

an umbrella clothesline -- what I remember
from my own childhood

When my parents married (in the 1950s), my father made a couple of vows in addition to a lifetime of faithfulness. He vowed that my mother would never have to keep a vegetable garden and he would buy her a tumble clothes dryer as soon as they could afford it. My father grew up feeling poor. My grandmother was raising 5 children as a single mother. My father and his older sister were put in charge of the housekeeping and vegetable gardening (as well as tending the 3 younger siblings) during the summer months while my grandmother went to work. Both a large vegetable garden and a clothesline were reminders to my father of feeling poor. 

My mother did need to hang dry the laundry for the first several years of their marriage. But when I was about six years old, they moved into a house with a spot for both a washer and a dryer, and they had the means to afford both. My mother would continue to hang or lay flat some clothing items to preserve their shape and lessen wear, however.

When my kids were young, I hung the laundry to dry as a matter of necessity, even after my in-laws purchased a washer and dryer for us when we bought our house. I hung it all -- baby diapers, towels, sheets, and all of the clothing for 5 people. I once calculated the monthly savings by hanging everything to dry each week. I think it was about $18 per month savings. When you have just a tiny amount of wiggle room in the household budget, $18 is a significant amount.

Although we can afford to tumble dry all of our laundry now, we continue to hang some clothing each week. While we do this to save money, it's not the savings on our electric bill that we have in mind. It's keeping our favorite clothing for as long as possible that motivates us. (Washing also puts wear on your clothes. But  so far, I haven't found a way to keep my clothes clean and odor-free without washing.) All of that lint you pull out of the lint trap? That's part of the fabric of your clothing and other textiles! Both heat and rubbing of fabrics against each other is hard of fibers.

In a 1999 study reported by Science Daily, high heat drying can reduce cotton fabric strength (and lead to tears) by about 25%. In addition, tumble drying wet cotton fabric resulted in more wear than tumble drying partially dry cotton fabric. 

I didn't know about this study when I was hanging our laundry to dry all of those years ago. But for many years, I sort of intuitively knew this through my own experience. I just didn't know how much line-drying prolonged the life of our clothing. If it seems that pieces of your clothing hold up longer when exclusively line-dried for it's life, it's not your imagination.

Here's my math. If I can extend the length of a shirt's useful wear an additional 25%, that's like buying one fewer shirt every four years. My favorite, around-the-house shirt right now is on the rack shown in the photo. I always, always hang this one to dry. It's developing tiny holes near some top-stitching in different areas. I'll be sad to relegate this one to the rag bag, as it's so comfortable and soft. I bought this shirt in 2015, ten years ago. I've worn it once per week, almost year round, for those 10 years. If the Science Daily estimates apply to this shirt, I imagine it would have worn out about 2 years ago.

I have 3 portable indoor racks for laundry-drying. In nice weather, we move them out onto the deck. They're collapsible. So when we have guests over, I can fold them up and stand them against a wall of the laundry room. While these three are very practical, what I'd really like to have is something like this:

Isn't that a beautiful clothesline? Practical tools don't need to look boring. I have just the spot in the garden for one like it. Perhaps someday I'll get some help building a set-up like that. 

How do you feel about hanging laundry to dry? Does it call to mind feelings of economic disadvantage? Would/do you line dry specific clothing items so they would/will last longer?

Two Great Depression Ways to Extend a Few Eggs

Meals Tested Tasted And Approved, Good Housekeeping, 1931

I got the go-ahead to eat most of our normal foods today at my one-week post-op visit with the surgeon. I still can't have things like carrot sticks or nuts, but most of the rest of our foods are now a-okay. I came home and had a slice of bread, all in one piece (not cut up into small cubes). And I didn't puree our chicken noodle soup plus ate the biscuits as is. It was only a week, but I was really tiring of everything blended, pureed, liquified, or made soggy in liquids.

from page 59, Meals Tested Tasted and Approved

Anyway, one of the foods I did eat when needing things to be very soft were eggs, prepared in two ways that were popularized in the Great Depression: 1) soft scrambled eggs stretched with water, and 2) eggs with bread crumbs (as in the recipe above for Crumb Omelet).

The first egg variation, with lots of water, was a way to stretch a few scrambled eggs to look like more food for a family. Obviously, one would be filling out the egg meal with cheap starches like macaroni, biscuits, or potatoes, plus whatever vegetables or fruits the cook might have access to. The upside to stretching eggs with water (besides looking like more eggs) is that they come out very soft and easy to mash against the roof of one's mouth with their tongue. 

To extend eggs with water, I used 2 tablespoons of water for 1 large egg, beating well together, adding salt and pepper then scrambling in a hot skillet with fat. I cooked the egg until it was set, but not dried out. The water in the egg not only extends the egg, but it also creates steam which puffs up the egg, making it look like more volume. Most instructions for adding water to eggs recommend between 1 and 2 tablespoons of water per large egg.

The second egg variation extended the few eggs with bread crumbs, again making a few eggs look like many. For my purpose, I incorporated the bread crumbs this past week as a way to add soft grains to my meals. 

The recipe above calls for making this omelette-style. I made mine as scrambled eggs. As you can read in the recipe, this omelette was made with 4 large eggs, yet it served 6 people. That's 2/3 of an egg per person. Again, I would hope that the cook would be filling out the meal with lots of other filling and nutritious foods, perhaps a dandelion salad and a dish of fried potatoes.

Many home-cooks weren't fortunate enough to have a lot of eggs to work with each week in the 1930s. Stretching the eggs one did have to feed a large family was a bit of a challenge. We're rather spoiled in comparison, with the idea of two eggs as the normal serving per adult. In the cookbook pictured at the top of this post, most recipes provide 1 egg per serving, but there are a couple of other recipes that call for 5 eggs to feed 6 people.

Grocery Shopping for January 2025

I grocery shopped 3 times in January, and my daughter picked a few items for me on 1 occasion.

January 2.  We needed milk and a couple of other items, so I went to Walmart, which is about our closest grocery store. I bought 1 gallon milk ($3.67), 2 small boxes frozen turkey breakfast sausage ($1.78 ea),1 bar unsweetened chocolate ($2.84), 2 3-lb bags of apples ($3.28 ea), 2 packages turkey snack sticks ($3.72 ea), bananas (50 cents/lb), cabbage (86 cents/lb), garlic powder ($1.12), and 4 avocados (78 cents ea). I spent $33.81.

January 13. This was my big stock-up for the month and in preparation for not going anywhere for about 10 days. I went to WinCo because most of their prices are better than Walmart, and the quality of both fresh and frozen produce is higher. I would shop at WinCo every time, but they are a good 20 minute drive from my house. Gas is still very expensive in my area, so how far I have to drive to shop is a consideration.  

I bought 1 large bag frozen petite peas ($2.99), 7 small bags broccoli cuts ($1.18 ea), 2 gallons milk ($3.67 ea), block of sharp cheddar ($3.48/lb), block of mozzarella ($3.48/lb), family pack boneless skinless chicken breasts (about $2/lb), a lb sliced pepperoni (about $6/lb), 7 avocados (68 cents ea),1.5 lbs raisins ($2.58/lb), 1/2 lb cashew pieces ($4.48/lb), 1 lime (25 cents), dried cranberries (70 cents), .38 lb dry milk for cocoa mix ($4.08/lb), sesame snack ($3.16/lb), green pepper (78 cents), 2 3-lb bags apples ($3.28 ea), celery ($1.28), 5-lb bag carrots ($3.48). 2-lb bag tangerines ($2.98), 2 heads cabbage (78 cents/lb), bananas (50 cents/lb), mayo ($3.28), Roma tomatoes ($1.47/lb), bread flour ($4.98/5-lb bag), 2 lbs freshly ground peanut butter ($2.18/lb). Total spent at WinCo -- $96.65. I was buying a couple of snacky foods for our de-decking the halls dinner while at WinCo. Their bulk section is great for small amounts of snack treats.

January 24. My daughter picked up a jar of smooth natural peanut butter, a box of Cream of Wheat hot cereal, and 4 cans of green beans for us. These items came to $12.44.

January 31. My first time grocery shopping since my mouth procedure. Our fridge was beginning to look a bit bare, especially the produce drawer. Since this wasn't a big shopping trip, I just went to Walmart -- less driving.  I bought 2 packages turkey snack sticks ($3.72 ea), 1 bag frozen spinach ($1.16), 1 bag frozen peas (98 cents), 1 lb mozzarella cheese ($4.22), celery ($1.88), 5-lb bag carrots ($3.98), 3-lb bag apples ($3.28), 3-lb bag tangerines ($3.28), 1 green pepper (92 cents), Roma tomatoes ($1.28/lb), cabbage (86 cents/lb), bananas (50 cents/lb). I spent $32.39.

My total spending on food groceries for January came to $175.29.

I think my groceries are pretty basic. It feels easier to me to cook from basic ingredients and not worry about ingredients that bother my digestion than to buy a lot of convenience foods. Plus, I think cooking from basics saves us bunches of $$$.

What I bought in January:

3 gallons milk

3 pounds cheese

small amount of powdered milk (for cocoa mix)

4 packages turkey snack sticks

2 small boxes turkey breakfast sausage

family pack chicken breasts

a pound of sliced pepperoni

a couple of bunches of bananas

9 lbs apples

5 lbs tangerines

4 heads cabbage

10 lbs carrots

2 green peppers

11 avocados

several Roma tomatoes

2 bundles celery

1 lime

10 bags frozen vegetables

4 cans green beans

1.5 lbs raisins

garlic powder

1 jar mayonnaise

10 lbs bread flour

3 containers of natural peanut butter

Cream of Wheat hot cereal

cashew pieces, dried cranberries, sesame snacks for a fun dinner

Dealing With Meals for the Rest of the Family

First of all, I have to say that I'm fortunate to have 3 other cooks in the household. But still, I didn't want the burden of meals to fall on the others when they also have lives and work. And, one daughter was sick for a week, so she couldn't help much. 

This is how my family managed:

As I mentioned before, I made my own foods in advance to eat for the first few days. I also did some baking last weekend to see my family through the week -- bread, bar cookies, and granola. This saved me from feeling like I needed to get back to work before I was ready.

For the family meals, one daughter had last Friday as her family cooking night. She made us pepperoni pizza, doubling the recipe so that there would be an additional large pizza for this week. On Sunday, she was making a lunch for her boyfriend and his grandparents. Again, she doubled the recipe to save extras for this week. So, Monday and Tuesday, my husband and two daughters had the leftovers from her cooking for the boyfriend and family, reheating the pasta dish and making a fresh salad both nights. Wednesday and Thursday the three of them had the leftover pepperoni pizza with some steamed broccoli one night and Cole slaw and tangerines the second night.

All four nights of this week were super simple for dinner prep, thanks to my daughter doubling 2 meals she was cooking. My other daughter has been able to rest this week and work at regaining her strength. And my husband didn't have to cook at the end of a work day.

My thoughts -- if we ever have a situation like this again, where we know in advance that I will be incapacitated for a couple or a few days, doubling recipes a couple of nights the week in advance would provide enough heat-and-eat meals for the rest of the family to simply serve themselves. This wasn't all planned out in advance. It just sort of came together with the help of the non-sick daughter. But now that I know how well a little extra cooking and baking in advance could make a hard week so much easier, we will work things out in this same way again.