Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the Beginning of June

Friday

• hot dog taquitos
• cole slaw

Saturday (husband cooks)

• rice
• beans
• eggs
• rhubarb

Sunday (husband cooks)

• pumpkin rice souffle
• cole slaw

Monday

• Asian chicken noodle salad, on lettuce, with snow peas, celery, cabbage, chive blossoms, sesame seeds, garlic, with a chive blossom vinegar, soy sauce and oil dressing
• leftover pumpkin rice souffle

Tuesday

• corn dogs
• oven fried potatoes
• roasted carrots
• leftover pumpkin rice souffle
• strawberry and banana slices

Wednesday

• spinach, chive blossom and cheddar quiche
• brown rice
• strawberries and banana slices

Thursday

• waffles, topped with blackberries, pecans, whipped cream, and maple syrup
• banana slices

That's what we ate this past week. I have to say, my favorite meals this week were the frozen corn dogs and oven fries, and last night's waffles. I've done those waffles before, just like this with frozen blackberries, toasted pecans and whipped cream. They are pretty amazing. Even using kinda expensive ingredients, like the pecans, whipped cream and real maple syrup, I estimated hat a 2-waffle serving was still only about $1, which I think is not too bad.  The frozen corn dogs I bought in a 16-ct carton, at Fred Meyer, on sale, with electronic coupon and senior discount.  They came to about 21 cents each, which blows fast food out of the water, price-wise.

I hope you had a good week, and now have lovely plans for the weekend!

Grocery Shopping in Between the Holidays

This came up in discussion, here, recently.  In my area, I have found better sales a week or two outside of the holiday week, for those special holiday foods.  This week Fred Meyer (a Kroger affiliate) had Hebrew National hot dogs, potato chips, and graham crackers/marshmallows all on sale. These items are all what I think of as BBQ foods (graham crackers/marshmallows for s'mores).

Memorial Day was over a week ago, and we're still 3 weeks out from 4th of July week. My thinking is that the stores know they "have us" just before the holiday, but want to entice us outside of the holiday period, with season-specific sales, during those weeks when we might not be thinking cook-out.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I used this week, along with my discount for Senior Day, to grab some bargains to save until the 4th of July.  If I find these same items for less than I paid this week, it won't be by much. And if I don't find them at these prices, then I'm ahead of the game. Like with other treats, the potato chips and graham crackers are hidden in my "other" pantry, and the Hebrew Nationals have been designated "do not touch" and are in the garage fridge.

For some price comparisons -- with senior discount, I paid $1.35 for each box of graham crackers. when compared to Dollar Tree's graham crackers in a 10-oz box, the equivalent amount of Kroger's grahams (in a 14.4-oz box) were 93.75 cents, over 6 cents per box cheaper.  The Hebrew Nationals I am willing to spend as much as $3.99 per package. So I saved $1 per package.  The least expensive potato chips I can buy at Dollar Tree have 6 ounces in a bag.  The Kroger ones have 11.5 ounces in each bag.  I paid $1.69, with my discount.  A 6-ounce equivalent of the Kroger brand cost 88 cents. what I did not buy -- I did not buy the marshmallows. I can get a better deal at WinCo than $1 for the small bag advertised. And I make our own ketchup and buy mustard in gallon jars, so I save on those items outside of shopping Fred Meyer's "in-between" sale.