Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Late January

This is the filling for Friday's turkey and dumplings. Doesn't it look colorful?
It's got turkey, mushrooms, onions, carrots, cooked squash, frozen spinach, barley, and canned green beans in it.

I spent $2.10 at Walmart this week on boxed stuffing mix, bringing my monthly spending up to $83.12. I have $22.92 remaining in January's grocery budget. There's only 1 week of January left, so I think we'll do fine with the budget this month.

Our meals were again all made at home.

Friday

Friday
turkey, vegetables, and dumplings
orange wedges

Saturday

Saturday
bean tacos, using fried homemade flour tortillas, filled with refried beans, sprouts, salsa, yogurt
carrot sticks
orange wedges

Sunday
ham from New Years
boxed turkey stuffing
roasted butternut squash

Monday (we watched a movie from the library with dinner tonight, fun times)
lentil vegetable soup (made a double batch to have again later)
toasted cheese sandwiches

Tuesday (daughter's night)
baked lentils (like baked beans, just using lentils because they cook so quickly)
mixed canned green beans and canned corn
corn muffins
apple pie

Wednesday (other daughter's night)
scrambled eggs
boxed stuffing
canned green beans
apple pie

Thursday

Thursday (the power went out just as I was serving dinner)
homemade ham and pineapple pizza (dough and sauce was frozen from another night, ham from New Years, canned pineapple)
slaw with cabbage and lentil sprouts, scratch dressing
carrot sticks
orange wedges
cookies


Last night's dinner was somewhat exciting. I had just taken the pizza out of the oven and was in the process of cutting it into slices. All of the side dishes were made and plated up. At 6:07 I called the family to dinner and before they could get to the table, our power was out. I scrambled to find flashlights, battery-powered candles, and a couple of wax candles/matches. I finished serving up dinner and we ate in very dim light. It was just over an hour when we had all finished eating, and the power came back on. We're very fortunate to live in an area where power rarely stays out long. 


This has been a difficult week for Seattle. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, there were 3 shootings in a very crowded part of the downtown area. This is very unsettling for most of us in the region. It's what everyone is talking about. When you read about a mass shooting in someone else's city, it never seems to register just how upset the entire population of that area will be, and for several days. But when it's your own city, the city where you may go often or just occasionally yet always feel safe, it feels so tragic and inconceivable. It also feels wrong to those living in the affected area that this news story fell off of the major national news sites' front pages. I know -- the rest of the world goes on. But for us, right now, this feels so sad and very confusing that this could happen here. 

Sorry, so off-topic. But I just don't feel right, right now.

I am wishing you all a good, safe, and secure weekend. Be back Monday.

Making a Master List of the Least Expensive Foods Available in Winter Months

The other day, I was brainstorming ways that I could save money on groceries in this new year. This is what I came up with. 

• shop more at discount stores, such as Grocery Outlet, check all clearance sections of other stores I frequent
• cook meals from scratch
• prepare snack foods at home in place of commercial snack foods (this is a critical downfall for me)
• concentrate on creating menus from the least expensive foods available in winter

The last item on this list side-tracked me and prompted a look into the least expensive foods in winter, based on basic food group or nutritional need. 

So, just what are the least expensive foods? Obviously, marked down foods in any category can beat the price on foods that fill a similar nutritional need. For now, I'm looking for foods that would be available to most folks during the winter.

Here's the start of my list. As I was brainstorming, I added some ideas for how I could use some of my least expensive foods for our family meals. I've included those notes as well.

What else can we add to the list?

least expensive sources of protein

• milk -- use milk to scratch-prepare yogurt, pudding, cottage cheese, white sauce
• eggs -- frittatas, baked, scrambled, fried (as is or to top other dishes, like beans and rice or ramen soup), boiled (egg salad, deviled, or chopped and sprinkled over other foods to boost protein)
• peanut butter
• canned tuna
• dried beans
• chicken legs/leg quarters

least expensive winter vegetables

• fresh cabbage
• fresh carrots
• fresh onions
• fresh winter squash
• fresh celery
• canned pumpkin
• canned tomatoes
• canned green beans
• homegrown sprouts

least expensive winter fruits

• fresh oranges
• fresh grapefruit
• fresh apples
• fresh bananas
• canned applesauce
• frozen concentrate 100% fruit juice, such as orange juice

least expensive starchy foods

• fresh potatoes -- baked, mashed, oven fries, hashed, cubed/sliced in casseroles
• rice -- pilafs, desserts, plain as hot side dish or hot breakfast cereal
• oats -- hot cereal, granola, baked oatmeal, breakfast cookies, desserts
• wheat flour -- white and whole wheat to bake quick or yeast breads, blend half white/half wheat when making muffins, biscuits, pancakes, quick breads, or for making yeast breads and rolls
• popcorn kernels -- pop in a pan on stove or in an air popper
• cornmeal -- cornbread, polenta/cornmeal mush
• simple pasta shapes, such as spaghetti and macaroni. (I buy both at Dollar Tree in 24 oz packages -- so 67 cents/lb. In contrast, I find ramen in 3 oz packages for 20 cents, or $1.07/lb. It's less expensive to make a noodle soup using spaghetti noodles, homemade chicken, turkey, or ham stock, salt, and a bit of onion powder, garlic powder, and soy sauce.)
• canned corn

least expensive cooking fats

• leftover fat from cooking meat, such as ham, turkey, bacon, chicken, pork, or beef fat
• vegetable oils, such as soybean, corn, safflower (We do buy and use olive oil, but mostly reserve it for dressing salads or for finishing soup or pasta.)
• vegetable shortening and/or margarine (My family has chosen to limit consumption of hydrogenated vegetable fats, but I do buy Crisco-style vegetable shortening to use for pie pastry and greasing baking pans.)

inexpensive flavor and color enhancers

• fresh radishes, green onions
• bulk herbs, spices
• lemons, limes, bottled lemon or lime juice
• bulk onion powder
• Worcestershire sauce

I originally made this list for my own purpose. I then thought this list might be helpful to someone else or someone else here could share their expertise with us and offer suggestions. As you share your thoughts on other least expensive foods, I'll add them to the above list.