January grocery money journal -- mid-month

Jan. 5. Did well this month, didn't need to go to the grocery store until Jan.5. And even so, we could have done without, but tonight is our tree un-decorating party. We usually do this on Epiphany, but are going ahead one day early, due to scheduling conflicts tomorrow. So, for the tree un-decorating dinner, it will again be snack-y things, like mixed nuts, orange slices, carrot sticks, olives, pickles, pretzels, and crackers and crab salad. The crackers, pretzels and crab salad are what we picked up at the grocery store (Albertson's), along with 2 packages whole wheat tortillas, for vegetarian burritos for lunches this week. Total spent $10.24

Jan. 7. Stopped by Trader Joe's on way to daughters' school. Picked up mostly lunch supplies -- 2 jars peanut butter, 7 bananas, 2 containers tofu, 1/2 gal. soy milk and 2 doz. eggs. Spent $16.46 today. I'm hoping the eggs and peanut butter will last 2 weeks. Will need to stop at wholesaler for other items en route to school tomorrow. Total to date spent for month $26.70.

Jan. 8. Needed just a few things at the cash and carry wholesaler. Bought 10 lbs of onions (yes, I know, I only bought the small bag this time! No daughters with me to help lift the 50 pounder into the trunk), 10 lbs potatoes, 5 lbs carrots, gallon vegetable oil, 1 head of cabbage, box of plain tea. These are the foods needed to get through this week's dinner menus, as posted on  A Return to Menu Planning for January. Total spent -- $17.85. For the month to-date spent, $44.55

Jan.14. Monday morning stop at the restaurant supply/wholesaler on the way home from daughters' school (this is so convenient for me. It'll be a shame when they graduate from high school, and I'm no longer in this area of town every day. I'll just have to go back to what I used to do, head down there once a month for a big stock-up). Bought 2.5 pounds of sliced mushrooms (I'll sautee and freeze for soups and sauces), 4-pack of celery, 3 pounds frozen spinach, quart of soy milk, 5 pounds mozzarella cheese. Most of these items are for dinners for the week (My weekly menu plan).Total spent $28.16 Month-to-date spending $72.71

Our freezers are still well-stocked with basics like meat, fruits, pasta sauce and shredded cheese. I imagine I'll need to spend more on groceries later in the month, to fill gaps as we use up our supplies. But hoping to come in significantly under budget this month.

Stores I shopped at this month:
Albertson's (Mukilteo)
Trader Joe's (196 and H.99, Lynnwood)
United Cash and Carry wholesaler (H.99, Lynnwood)

Best deal(s) -- the mushrooms, 2.5 pounds for $5.83, or $2.33/lb. Mushrooms at a regular grocery store would cost us about $3/lb , and the tofu, 14 oz. organic firm tofu for $1.49, about half of the price charged by local regular grocery store

Zesting oranges the easy way

For a fresh zing to add to baked goodies, I add a pinch of orange zest, that I keep safely tucked away in the freezer. I save enough zest over the course of the winter, that I often still have some left, when the cranberries come in the next October. And cranberry-orange bread is very yummy!

Here's my easy way to zest oranges.

You'll need a vegetable peeler, freezer and food processor. No food processor? At the bottom of the post is how I chop the strips of peel by hand.

Before peeling an orange to eat fresh, I wash the outside of the orange with a drop of liquid dish detergent, and rinse well. Then I use a vegetable peeler to remove just the zest of the orange, in wide strips.

I keep these strips of orange zest in a container in the freezer, until I have enough to run them all through the food processor, still frozen.

We go through about a dozen oranges, over the course of a week. But there have been times when it took a month to accumulate enough strips to do a batch in the food processor. If I happen to be using a lemon or grapefruit, I peel and add those to the orange strips.

In my food processor, with the blade attachment, I process about 1  1/2 to 2 cups of the orange peel strips at a time. My food processor has a 7 cup capacity, so that's about 1/4 of the fp's capacity at a time.

I pulse, to break the peels into smaller pieces, cleaning the ends of the blade from time to time. If a bit of peel gets stuck between the blade tip and the bowl, it will slow the machine's function just enough to fail to break the peels down into small bits. So, when it looks like my peels are not getting chopped, I check the blade tips, and just scrape out any hunks that are stuck.

Once processed, I scoop this all back into the freezer containers, and keep frozen until I wish to use some in baking. It breaks apart easily enough to scoop out a spoonful or two at a time.

The next time you make cranberry bread, scones or muffins, try adding a couple of teaspoons of this orange zest to the batter. The cranberry and orange flavor combination is wonderful! I also like a bit of orange zest in plum desserts, cherry pie and rhubarb sauce.

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When I need zest and don't have enough strips to run through the fp, or just don't want to dirty it, and so have to wash it ; ) here's how I get the most zest from an orange, in a hurry.

Using a vegetable peeler, I remove strips of orange peel, just as above.

Then on a cutting board, with a sharp knife, I shred these strip into fine julienne (it goes much faster than you'd think).

It turn the julienne strips sideways, and chop away. That easy! And the zest doesn't get trapped in a grater or zester.