I've Got My October Grocery List Put Together

Friday and Saturday I worked on my grocery list for October. (What? Where did September go?) We will need the usual milk, coffee (decaf), and non-dairy milk, all items that I buy every month. In addition, we will run out of eggs (fresh and frozen), whole wheat flour, lemon juice, vegetable oil, and possibly ground cinnamon before the end of October. So, I'll pick up all of those foods. It would also be nice to have more cheese and tofu, but we can do without both of those if the prices are too high.

Our budget is the *new and improved* amount of $135 plus $13.31 leftover from last month, giving me $148.31 to work with for October.

So, I sat down and made a list of the must-haves and nice to haves. This is what I came up with. 

Cash & Carry Smart Foodservice

Tutto Benne Extra Virgin Olive oil, gallon, 20.07

Vegetable oil, First Street 35-lb 16.98 thru 9/29

ADM whole wheat flour, 50-lb 11.99 thru 9/29

First Street pizza blend cheese 5-lb, 11.77, thru 9/29

First street sharp cheddar cheese 5-lb, 11.77 thru 9/29

First Street ground cinnamon, 11-oz $3.39

5 dozen extra-large eggs, $4.09

Lime juice, 1 qt, $1.99

Lemon juice, 1 qt, $2.39

Fred Meyer (Senior Discount day - 55+ Oct.1)

Milk, 2 gallons whole, 6 gallons 2% 16.49

½ gallon almond milk $2.51

Kroger tuna, 5 oz 71 cents (2) – maybe skip?

Kroger refrig orange juice, $1.50, 64 oz (2)

Walmart (check before FM for milk)

Great Value Oj,12oz frozen conc. 1.23 (3)

Bananas 42 cents/lb (10 lbs for month)

Decaf instant coffee, $3.57

Tofu House Foods, 16-oz firm, $1.44 (1)

Milk, 2 gals whole, 6 gals 2% -- $1.78/gal (14.24)

Budgeted amount -- $114.82 (if Walmart milk and FM OJ) 

If also skip tuna, then $113.40

produce to look for in October – apples, garlic, pumpkins

(milk also at Safeway/Albertsons, 89 cents ½ gal w/ coupon limit 4 through Tuesday, Oct.1)

If I happen to be in this neighborhood, I'll also go by WinCo and pick up ingredients for the cocoa mix. I'll check around for other deals while I'm there. My 2 purchases will increase my spend by $2.

WinCo -- total maybe, only if in that area
dry milk powder, $1 worth
dry coffee creamer, $1 worth


You'll notice some of the items at Cash & Carry are/were on sale only through 9/29. I pre-spent some of October's money to buy those items over the weekend. It was a savings of about $7 to buy those items 3 days ahead of the month.

As indicated, I will keep an eye out for apples, garlic, and pumpkins at a good price. My list puts me at about $35 below my budget, so there is plenty of wiggle room for unplanned bargains.

We are buying not one but two kinds of cheese this month! Yay! A pizza blend and a sharp cheddar were both on sale at Cash & Carry. We're big pizza lovers, and sharp cheddar adds so much zip to cheese dishes. I couldn't pass on either of those deals.

Currently, the best price on eggs is a 5-dozen box, at about 82 cents per dozen. I compared both Walmart's and Cash & Carry's price on 5-dozen boxes of eggs. In fact I checked every store in my area for egg prices. Cash & Carry saved me 66 cents over the next nearest price (Walmart). 

I have been buying the 12-oz cans of frozen concentrated orange juice at Walmart for $1.23, which is a pretty good price for oj. This week, Fred Meyer has the half-gallon jugs of refrigerated orange juice for $1.50 (with Senior discount). When comparing the jugs to the frozen concentrate (reconstituted makes 48 ounces), the savings is 10 cents for every 48 ounces for the jugs. Sometimes, finding the best price includes looking at different forms of a food -- frozen concentrate compared to bottled, or canned compared to fresh or frozen.

I decided to buy olive oil this month, as it's supposed to be anti-inflammatory. Right now, the least expensive olive oil is in the 1-gallon container. We keep our opened, large containers of olive oil in the refrigerator and fill a small, dark glass bottle with oil as needed, then stored in a dark, cool cupboard. Based on past use, I anticipate that we will use this gallon of EVOO in about 1  1/2 years, before it has the opportunity to become rancid. (fingers crossed)

So, that's my shopping list for the month. It doesn't look terribly exciting, does it? I remind myself, it's what we do with ingredients that lends excitement. Back to the kitchen to see if the scratch brownies are about done. Like I said, it's what you do with the ingredients that makes the product exciting.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the End of September

Cheap & Cheerful posts show, week by week, how a budget of $135/month for groceries works out for our family of 4

Friday
ground beef and cabbage sir fry, using 10 oz ground beef, shredded cabbage, onion, garlic, ginger (powder), soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, sugar, and vinegar over
brown rice
tomato wedges in yogurt dressing

Saturday
bean, vegetable, noodle soup, using frozen chicken stock as a base
scratch biscuits
last of the summer peaches

Sunday
red cabbage cole slaw (red cabbage gifted to us)
bean and cheese burritos in homemade whole wheat tortillas

Monday
Mexican-inspired casserole, using leftover cooked rice, canned corn, salsa, chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic, onion, leftover cooked pinto beans, cheddar cheese, shredded cabbage, and fresh tomatoes -- delicious casserole and I had leftovers to use for lunches
applesauce cake

Tuesday
lentil and vegetable curry over
brown rice
applesauce cake

Wednesday
rosemary polenta smothered with
beefy marinara (actually, was leftover pizza sauce from freezer with 10 oz. ground beef added)
tomato, onion, chard, and summer squash medley

Thursday
garden chard and onion omelet
brown rice topped with salsa
baked acorn squash (from garden), simply dotted with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon
garden salad of cucumber, tomato, and lettuce in a homemade vinaigrette of chive blossom vinegar, oil, oregano, and salt


I continued to harvest from our garden and use supplies from the freezer, fridge, and pantry. The only food item that I bought this week was a jar of instant decaf coffee (wow, we blew through the instant decaf this month -- must be the cooler temps). So for food, this week I spent $3.57, total, bringing my up to $128.77 for the entire month of September. That's $13.31 under what I had to spend for the month, which will be added to next month's budget. 

We eat a lot of brown rice in our house (Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday). Brown rice is a whole grain and helps to keep my blood sugar stable, which in turn helps with my depression. Brown rice is a good thing. However, it gets dull. So, I try to have something to top it, such as the curry and stir fry, or mix it with other foods. When I just don't have any idea what I can use to top brown rice, I add a generous spoonful of salsa. If you've never tried this, I'll tell you, it's good. My family loves salsa. Maybe that has something to do with its success on rice in my house.

On Wednesday, I served rosemary polenta that was topped with a pasta sauce (beefy marinara). Polenta is an easy-to-make alternative to pasta to use as the starch for adding sauces. I used a coarse grind of cornmeal labelled for use for polenta, bought in the bulk section at WinCo. You can substitute a medium to coarse grind of regular cornmeal to make polenta. Most cornmeal that isn't labelled either coarse ground or fine ground/cornflour are likely medium ground (the kitchn.com). When I don't have polenta corn meal, I use regular cornmeal -- no issues. 

What I like about polenta (besides adding variety) is its creamy texture, ability to add savory flavorings, such as herbs, and its cost. I pay about 60 to 70 cents/pound for polenta cornmeal at WinCo, which is comparable in cost to pasta bought at Dollar Tree (67 cents/lb in 24-oz bags). So for the variety, change in texture and flavor, I can add polenta to our repertoire of meals at no extra cost. I also use rice as a base for pasta sauce, which can be even more economical, while still changing things up for our meals. Leftover cooked rice can be added to cooked pasta to stretch a meager amount of noodles. As a bonus, adding rice to pasta dishes adds a nice, chewy texture that will make the pasta meal seem meatier.

That's what was on our menu this past week. What was on yours? Do you make polenta? What have been your favorite variations? Do you serve pasta sauce over foods other than pasta?

Making Crystallized Ginger

I made this back in late spring, using some fresh ginger that was becoming a bit wrinkly. I bought the ginger in a small bag from Ranch 99 at a very good price -- about $1.89 for several good-sized pieces. Bonnie asked me for the recipe and I thought this could be a good gift during the holidays -- as a hostess gift, to use in a special gingerbread loaf (crystallized pieces in the batter, then after baking, some bits on top of cream cheese icing -- yum), or as a general holiday gift for someone who enjoys baking. 

Making the candied ginger was easier than you might think. The process is like making candied orange peel. 

A Good Morning to Hand-Wash My Sweaters

With the cooler weather, this week seemed like a good time for hand-washing my sweaters. This morning, the sun was pouring into the kitchen, adding a bit of warmth to that end of the house for an hour or two. I have a drying rack set up near this large window -- perfect spot to dry some of our laundry.  

After finishing some kitchen chores, I grabbed the dirty sweater bin from the floor of my closet and brought the load to the bathroom adjacent to the kitchen. Two at a time, I washed the lot in the bathroom sink, gently pressed water out of each sweater over the sink, removed additional water by rolling each in a large bath towel, then gently hung to dry on the rack. 

I go through 1 towel for every 3 sweaters before the towel is simply too wet to remove any additional water. I lay the towel out on the top of the dryer, carefully laying the wet sweater out on the towel, fold the arms of the sweater in, fold the edges of the towel in over the sweater's sides, then roll the bundle up. Rolling sweaters up in a towel is a good way to press the water out without stretching or twisting the sweater. Hand-washing sweaters and coloring hair are some of the best uses for those very ragged bath towels.

I don't use any sort of fancy detergent like Woolite, just the cheap liquid hand dishwashing detergent from Dollar Tree. I choose a liquid detergent that has the least amount of color, in case the soap were to deposit any of its color onto my garments. I also guard the color of my sweaters by washing like colors together, as 2 sweaters will fit in my sink at a time. Despite using cheap liquid dish soap and washing by hand, my sweaters wash and dry nicely, offering no indication that I go the cheap route. 

To speed up the drying process, and prevent mildewy odors, I set up a box fan on the floor near the drying rack. Doing so seems to cut the drying time by about one-third.

I don't wear many wool sweaters, but I do wear (and hand-wash) cashmere, silk, and cotton sweaters. Of course, my sweater-washing bravery (even with my "good" sweaters) may be due to the fact that almost all of my sweaters have come from second-hand stores, paying from 99 cents to $4 each. 

In my mother's time, sweaters were brought to the dry cleaner once or twice per season. I'm not even sure where our nearest dry cleaner is for my area, as I haven't had anything professionally-cleaned in over 20 years. I'll continue washing my sweaters by hand, saving some money, and keeping those icky chemicals out of my breathing space. 

Rodent-Proofing the Pantry for Winter: My Task for the Week

You may remember, last February we discovered there had been a mouse in our house nibbling at 2 packages of food. We never did find the little critter. He may have slipped out as quietly as he stole in. 

In response to this discovery, we put absolutely every food item that was not already in a can, glass jar, or hard plastic container into the various freezers and fridges of our home.

This was our first encounter with mice. We have seen rats in our area, but not mice. However, this summer, we discovered a family of mice living in our garage and a mouse or two was spotted near our garden. 

We took care of the family of mice that we discovered in the garage, but for all we know, there are more just waiting for the opportunity to come inside for a savory repast in my pantry.

The weather is cooling. Soon the nights will be rather chilly, and the outdoor food sources will become scarce. My plan is to make sure that even if a mouse did find its way into our house, my pantry would be as inhospitable to the tiny diner as possible, while still maintaining the ability for me to easily prepare human meals. 

I buy large bags (25 to 50-lb) of pantry staples, such as rice, flour, oats, and beans. A paper bag is flimsy protection from chewing critters. I could go out and buy more, large plastic containers, such as the one in the photo above. These are very nice containers. They're sturdy, thick-walled, and seal well. However, they also cost about $25 each. This is expensive for my current budget. So, I am using what I have to secure our pantry staples. 

I've mentioned using the institutional-sized, plastic jugs in which my vegetable oil comes packaged, like the one above. The sturdiness of the plastic jugs is reinforced with an outer cardboard box.

Once I finish the oil, I wash it out and allow it to dry. After it has thoroughly dried, I can fill it with some of the pantry staples.

This past week, I emptied the last 35-lb jug of vegetable oil and readied it for the 25-lb bag of rolled oats that I purchased in summer. I am now up to 3 of these large jugs for pantry storage, holding the rolled oats, steel cut oats, and brown rice.

In addition to these jugs, I use some 1-gallon jugs in which seasonings came packaged (bought many years ago), some 1-gallon mayonnaise jars, and the 3-lb plastic tubs from Crisco-type shortening.

I am nowhere near done. I still need to find a container for the 50-lb sack of pinto beans that I bought earlier this month. I may have to play musical chairs with some of the staples in the larger jugs, pouring the steel cut oats (currently in a 35-lb jug) into a 1-gallon container, then filling the larger jug with the pinto beans.

Mouse-proofing the food is a great start. I am also using peppermint oil to deter entrance of these critters. According to folklore, the scent of peppermint may mask the pheromones that are left behind from previous mouse-entrance. I dabbed a couple of cotton balls with peppermint oil and placed these on the floor of the closet (former back-up pantry) where we found evidence of a mouse, as well as the floor of the kitchen pantry.

If we still find evidence of mice this winter, our next step will be to "borrow" some used kitty litter from a friend. It sounds extreme, but the scent of used kitty litter has been known to keep mice away. 

Update: I moved the brown rice to a 1-gallon jug and filled the large 35-lb jug with pinto beans. About 35 pounds of dried beans fit into this large, institutional jug, leaving me with pintos to fill 2  1/2 one-gallon containers.

The Basic Seasonings Associated with Different Cuisines and How I Use Them to Menu Plan

I have a list that I keep in my mind of the different seasonings that I can use which offer flavors of different cuisines. My personal list on includes seasonings or foods that I am likely to keep on hand. I reference this list almost every day, as the chief cook in our household who needs to dream up dinner menus on a budget. 

Having a cuisine in mind helps me organize my thoughts about each night's meal and bring varied ingredients together with a theme. The most recognizable example would be a Mexican meal. I may be planning on using beans, rice, meat, tomatoes, and any of various veggies. Without adding Mexican seasonings, this would make for a rather bland dinner. By adding chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic, and onions, a flavorful and cohesive menu bursts forth.

As a frugal cook, I skip commercial seasoning blends and packets, as I feel they are expensive for what you get. So my list of seasonings is basic. Many of these ingredients appear in several cuisines, which makes for more condensed storage. 

Speaking of storage, I don't organize the seasonings in my cupboards by cuisine. Instead, I organize the herbs and spices by savory vs. sweet, the size of container, and whether the seasoning needs refrigeration or freezing. This just works best for me and my household of cooks with various interest in keeping things organized.

As a note, I don't use every seasoning in a cuisine category for each meal. This is merely a list to get me thinking.

Mexican

• garlic
• chili powder
• cumin
• oregano
• cloves
• cinnamon
• cilantro
• lime juice

Italian

• basil
• oregano
• rosemary
• garlic
• red pepper flakes
• fennel (or anise)
• savory
• bay leaves 

Mediterranean/North African

• lemon
• oregano
• garlic
• rosemary
• mint
• dill
• cumin 
• plain yogurt
• Harissa chili paste (sometimes called Tunisian chili paste) -- a spicy blend of dried chilis, olive oil, garlic and spices (thanks Mrs. Armstrong)

Middle Eastern

• Za'atar -- a spice blend used as a condiment, rub, or sprinkle, typically containing toasted sesame seeds, dried sumac, oregano, marjoram or thyme, cumin, coriander, and salt (thanks Mrs. Armstrong)

Indian

• curry powder
• cumin
• cinnamon
• coconut milk
• cilantro 
• bay leaves
• Garam Masala

Asian (generic for stir fries)

• garlic
• ginger
• soy sauce
• sugar
• red pepper flakes
• sesame oil

Chinese (see comment by Allie)

• garlic
• ginger (fresh preferred)
• soy sauce
• sugar
• red pepper flakes
• black vinegar
• hoisin sauce
• oyster sauce
• Sichuan peppercorn
• broad bean paste (or red bean paste or doubangiang)
• star anise
• cloves
• white pepper

Korean

• fermented products, such as soybean pastes like mild doenjang, spicy gochujang, and ssamjang
• gochugaru (mild pepper flakes)

Japanese

• miso 
• kombu (dried seaweed)
• mirin (sweet rice wine)
• katsuobushi (shaved dry fish flakes)

French

• thyme
• mustard powder
• tarragon
• chervil
• rosemary
• lavender (as in herbes de provence) 

Thai

• coconut milk
• lemon grass
• lime
• dried red chili peppers 
• basil

Jamaican (such as for Jerk)

• scallions
• Scotch Bonnet peppers (substitute jalapenos or serranos)
• thyme
• allspice
• ginger
• nutmeg

Creole

• paprika
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• cayenne pepper
• black pepper
• thyme
• white pepper
• basil
• oregano
• roux made with butter/flour
• tomatoes
• creamy sauces

Cajun

• above Creole seasonings along with
• additional cayenne pepper
• ground allspice
• ground cloves
• onion, celery, bell pepper in a mirepoix
• file
• green onions 
• parsley
• roux made with oil/flour

Hawaiian

• fruits such as pineapple, guava, passion fruit
• ginger
• garlic
• sea salt
• Chinese five spice 

It's nearly 2 PM and I'm still working on tonight's menu. Having a list such as this one is especially helpful when I have no idea what to make for my household's dinner. I have some leftover cooked pinto beans, leftover cooked rice, canned corn, red cabbage, tomatoes, corn tortillas, cheese, and salsa. I think I'll make a Mexican-inspired, mock bean/rice/corn/veggie enchilada casserole for tonight's supper. See how easy I find this? Meal planning solved. Now to go and actually make this.

I'm looking to expand my list. You may have noticed that there are several blank spots. What seasonings would you add to any of these cuisines? (I'll update this main post as we generate an additional ingredients' list.) What other cuisines do you like to use for home-cooked meal preparation?

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Mid-September

Another week of family meals, as we gathered around the kitchen table.

Friday
Mexican-inspired bean and vegetable soup topped with homemade salsa, homemade yogurt and cheddar cheese
corn tortilla chips

Saturday
bean and cheese burritos on homemade tortillas
homemade onion rings ---so, so, so delicious!

Sunday
greens and onions
pancakes (using the leftover batter from the onion rings)

Monday
veggie burger patties (I shredded the carrots in the food processor, processing extra carrots for Tuesday's carrot salad)
focaccia bread
homemade applesauce (apples from neighborhood free pile)
tomatoes with homemade yogurt dressing

Tuesday
leftover veggie burger patties
brown rice
gingered carrot and peanut salad
tomato soup (from canned tomato paste) with Parmesan cheese and leftover grissini breadsticks (from event in June)

Wednesday (spent the late afternoon down at the beach with both daughters -- daughter A's cooking night)
beef pot pie, frozen
green cabbage cole slaw
leftover tomato soup

Thursday (daughter B's night)
beet green quiche (using this fool-proof pie crust recipe)
red cabbage cole slaw


Details of the week On Saturday, one of my daughter's had a craving for onion rings (and she knows that I love them, too). So she set to work to make a large batch for us. They were so delicious and even great reheated the next day at lunch.

On Thursday, the daughter whose night it was to prepare dinner opted to buy pot pies for us all, at her expense. This is fine with me. 

Each of our daughters have one night per week where they have to provide the family dinner. They can choose to cook from what I keep on hand, or they can choose to buy foods or even get take-out for the family. However, the latter option is at their expense. Either way, their experience will teach them how to provide meals for themselves in the future, by cooking or making price-comparisons. 

I spent an additional $1.63 this week at Fred Meyer, picking up 3 freebies (2 yogurts, 1 energy drink) and a bunch of clearance items (canned veggies, Pringles potato chips, Kool-Aid powder). That brings me up to $125.20 for the month of September. Not too bad. 

I hope you all had a great week. Have a wonderful weekend!

Holiday Earrings

This is a new pattern that I've been working on. I like these as earrings for their size.

This the Christmas tree pattern that I really liked. However, it was too big for earrings. I tried, unsuccessfully, to make this pattern smaller, and I just could not do it. I do like the pattern and may use this in other applications, for instance, making charms to attach to homemade gift tags.

Anyway, wire wrapping is a jewelry-making technique that is learnable by the novice. And results in pretty nice pieces of jewelry for just a small outlay.

Veggie, Bean, and Cheese Burger Patties -- About 6 Cents Per Patty

These patties are a bit different from my regular bean burgers, as I've added vegetables and cheddar cheese to the dough and left out the usual egg and bread crumbs. 

The only binder in the recipe is all-purpose flour. (Rice flour or tapioca flour could be substituted for the all-purpose.) A starchy flour absorbs some of the fat from the cheese as it melts when cooking and help the patties retain their shape and firm up.

What I like about these patties -- the veggie content and the cost

I'm working at increasing my vegetable consumption, so these patties help in that regard. I think that the amount of carrots and greens could be increased, perhaps up to double the amount. The patties are flavorful and the texture is soft. As a bonus, these patties freeze well for 1 to 2 months (to be reheated individually as needed) or keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

I had been looking at veggie patties in the frozen section at Dollar Tree. Their veggie patties were 50 cents each (package of 2 patties for $1). My homemade veggie patties cost me about 6 cents each, or almost 1/10 the cost of the Dollar Tree version. I used greens, oregano, and garlic from my garden and pinto beans, onions, carrots, flour, and cheese from SmartFoodservice Cash & Carry. If I had to pay regular grocery store prices for all of the ingredients, these might cost as much as 10 cents per patty. That would still be 1/5 the cost of the Dollar Tree veggie patties.


Remember the other day, when I discussed my 4-step method to getting what I want for less? My end goal in wanting the veggie burger patties from Dollar Tree was to have high protein, veggie-filled entree items that I could easily heat for my lunches. But I didn't want to spend 50 cents apiece. So, I thought I could make something that would provide the protein and veggies that I wanted, but at a fraction of the cost. I've made a variety of bean-based patties and balls over the years. However, this time I was interested in adding vegetables. I was pleased with how these patties turned out. The above recipe made 15 patties. I wrapped and froze what we didn't eat at dinner the other night, leaving me with a half-dozen heat-and-eat veggie burgers.

From Trash to Treasure

Do you remember this past May when I mentioned I'd made crystallized ginger from some aging, wrinkly fresh ginger? I had bought that ginger in mid-January, and with every week, it became more and more unappealing for fresh use. By slicing the roots in a sugar solution, I was able to transform something that looked like it was destined for the compost bin into a "gourmet" ingredient. 

This afternoon I added a few tablespoons of minced crystallized ginger to a carrot and peanut salad. (Carrots and ginger are a natural pair, IMO.) I am out of raisins, so I was searching for something interesting and sweet to add to our salad for tonight. This candied ginger that was near-free to make nudged my ordinary salad up a few notches.

I've mentioned a few times that I make flavored vinegars, here and here. Homemade herb vinegars are a simple method of transforming ordinary white vinegar into something that is gift-worthy. Today I decanted my chive blossom vinegar (which had been infusing since late June) into a couple of salvaged cider bottles. The sparkling cider bottles might have gone into the recycling container, but I could see they had possibilities.

Two winters ago, I showed you our cocoa and toppings bar -- a large container of homemade cocoa mix and several small jars of goodies to add to cocoa, oatmeal, granola, pancakes, muffins, or ice cream.  

Formerly, these lovely, square jars held lemon curd. One of my volunteer jobs was preparing food for charity teas and luncheons. The woman who led our group bought commercial jams and spreads for the scones. At the end of our shifts, I would take home any jars or containers that looked like they had promise for an afterlife. I love these jars and still have the cocoa and toppings bar set up on my kitchen counter.

There's the green mantra to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Perhaps reusing is the best way to both reduce and recycle. For my cocoa bar or vinegar bottles, I could have easily found beautiful new containers in a store like Target or World Market. As well, I could have composted the wrinkly ginger root. But I find it very satisfying to know that I salvaged something that looked like trash and transformed it into my very own "treasure." 

Reuse, Reuse, Reuse.