Menu Plan Monday ~ Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen

My Frugal Week

The yogurt I made last week was pretty thin for yogurt, but I didn't let it go to waste. I used some of it to make cornbread, and some of it I used as the milk in pistachio pudding. Both were eaten, so no food waste there. 

We used up our dinner leftovers for lunches this week as usual, so no food waste there either. 

Recipe of the Week

This Turkey Gravy on Biscuits is a recipe from The Tightwad Gazette. We were recently given two packages of turkey burgers from a friend, so I used this recipe for inspiration. I added beef bouillon and Worcestershire sauce to doctor them up to our liking. I didn't serve ours with biscuits as I didn't want the carbs. 

What’s for Dinner

Monday ~ Chicken Teriyaki, Butter Beans, Steamed Broccoli.

Tuesday ~ October Beans, Collard Greens, & Cornbread.

Wednesday ~ Egg Roll in a Bowl, Corn. 

Thursday ~ I had chili on the menu, but had some cabbage I wanted to use, so I made an Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole for dinner. I served this with corn on the cob, roasted sweet potatoes, and watermelon. 

Friday ~ Salmon Patties, Fried Potatoes, Green Peas, and watermelon. 

Saturday ~  One way we save money here is by eating our leftovers, even if we each have something different. We use up what we have in our pantry, fridge and freezer. Having no food waste is one key to a frugal budget. 

For dinner on Saturday, I reheated the Cabbage Casserole from Thursday, which was enough for one  person, so I also used a package of BBQ Pork for the other person. To those I added some Hot Potato Salad, and then used the Green Peas from Friday. 

Souper Sunday ~ I decided to use up a dry Frontier Soup Mix I had in my pantry to make a South of the Border Chicken Tortilla Soup. It also allowed me to use up a container of chicken, a jar of salsa, the last of the green peas, and the corn off three ears of corn. I should call this Use It Up soup. It made ten cups of soup in all and will be used for dinner today and lunches for the next two days.  #useitup

I made some cornbread to go with the soup. 

I've been experimenting with making a smaller batch of cornbread. I take three or six tablespoons of cornmeal, one egg, and two to four tablespoons of milk (depends of if it's just me or me & Bailey eating) and mix together. 

Then I use a Dash waffle iron to make the cornbread. They only take a couple of minutes to cook, it's a small enough batch so there is none wasted, and I'm using  a small appliance to save on electricity by not using my oven to make cornbread. It's a win-win situation. 

Monday - Cauliflower Taco Meat, Corn Tortillas, Pinto Beans, and Corn. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

Belinda

Homemaker at Heart

Mortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Second Frugal Friday of September 2024

   

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 
Quote of the Week

In a financially responsible home, no expense is sacred and are all subject to closer scrutiny. ~ Barbara Garrett

My Frugal Week

Last Thursday morning I came out of the house to feed the cats and looked down in the moat and there was a bear in the yard. He saw me about the same time I saw him and this is a picture of him retreating. Life is always an adventure in the woods.
Autumn is definitely in the air as temperatures here are down a bit. The morning temperature on Monday was hovering around 50 degrees and I was chilly when I woke up that morning. I know we will still have hot weather for another month or so, but Fall is definitely around the corner. 
We received a check for $209 from the consignment sale just for stuff we had hanging around here that we no longer needed. There is another sale coming up at the end of September that we are gathering for stuff to sell. Here are the details if you are local to here: Grown Zone
Other frugal things we did this week include:
- Line dried several clothing items on racks rather than run the dryer. - Cancelled one subscription to avoid a monthly charge.
Saving on Electricity 

This is a screen shot of our electric usage over the last week. On Friday, September 6th I was able to turn the air off and keep it off for the majority of the day. There is a big difference between that day and the day before on Thursday, which was a laundry day. Turning off the ac makes a big difference in our electric bill. 
Fads ~ Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Fads come and go, and in the end, thrift stores and yard sales will be flooded with items someone just had to have at one point.  We regularly see bread machines, blender ball cups, clothes, shoes, and kitchen storage containers on a regular basis.  
Bailey has just returned from the consignment sale and she made the comment that there were a lot of Stanley like cups for sale this time. They have been all the rage since before Christmas. And like other fads, they will die out soon. I didn't buy myself a Stanley cup, but just kept using the reliable reusable cup I've aways used. 
Freebies

On Friday I had an appointment and there was a representative from Humana there giving free fresh food to everyone. She gave me four potatoes, two apples, two oranges, and one onion. Her main objective was selling insurance, but she wasn't pushy at all, and I thought that was so thoughtful.  
I also had  friend give me three zucchini, seven ears of corn, and a watermelon out of her garden this week. 
I received a brown paper grocery bag filled with brown grocery bags, which I love to line my garbage can with. This is how my Mom lined her garbage can back in the day, and it always reminds me of her. 
Photo of the Week

Brand name companies do in fact make some store brand items. Check out this photo from a can of Aldi tomatoes where the label is falling off and you'll see the name Red Gold, which I consider a fancier name brand. Pretty neat in my book. 
And in the news this week, Consumer Reports has the article, Grocers are adding more private labels to store shelves, cutting food costs.  This article states that the following store brands and which name brand companies produce them. 

Costco’s Kirkland Tuna is made by none other than Bumblebee Tuna, Walmart’s Great Value Canned Vegetables are sourced from suppliers like Del Monte, Green Giant, and Libby’s. ALDI’s Millville Cinnamon Crunch Squares are made by General Mills, which also makes Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Publix Brand Deli Meats are made by various meat suppliers, including Boar’s Head and Hormel, Kroger Brand Cereals are manufactured by General Mills and Kellogg’s, and finally, Food Lion Brand Coffee is manufactured by Kraft Heinz and J.M. Smucker Company.

Savings of the Week

This week I used one of my five Circle K rewards to take 25 cents off a gallon of gas and ended up paying $2.33 per gallon. 
Saving Money YouTube Videos
Cathy from The Cheapskates Club recently interviewed Wendy Gower who runs the My Abundant Life blog. In this video she discusses how she feeds her family for $37.50 per week.  
What I've been Reading This Week
How This Melbourne Couple Keeps Their Grocery Bill to Just $37 a Week
The Bumpy Budget ~ Grandma Donna talks about the cost of living increases today and how some of her generation are having to go back to work in retirement. The comment section has good tips to read as well. 

How was your week?  

Did you manage your home, pantry or garden well this week?  

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.

BelindaHomemaker at HeartMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Menu Plan Monday ~ Saving Money in my Frugal Kitchen ~ Stretching Our Food Dollars

My Frugal Kitchen ~ Stretching Our Food Dollars

I'm back with Menu Plan Monday instead of including it in my Frugal Friday posts this week. 

One way I save money in my kitchen during these times of higher grocery prices, is to avoid making some of my more expensive recipes. We have multiple options available to us and the main dish does not have to be meat. Foods such as eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, and beans are all high in protein and inexpensive and sometimes healthier than meat.

If you want these hard financial times to have as minimal an impact on your grocery bill,  things need to change and the change has to come from you. We need to be prepared that these high prices might be here to stay.  So you can either absorb the extra cost into your household budget or you can change the way you shop.  

Sometimes our budgets can't absorb these extra costs. This is the time for us to be wise and think of what we can do with different ingredients by changing what we eat and adjusting what we spend. 

The grocery budget is one of the most flexible areas of the household budget.  We can pick and choose what to buy, which brands to buy and pick menus that are inexpensive for us to prepare.

Some things we do to save money on groceries include not stocking up on beef like we did in the days when it was more affordable. Ground beef is a dinner item we only indulge in occasionally now. And I stopped buying beef roasts years ago as I considered the price too high for my budget.

We don't need name band products and utilize generic brands when we can, although I do prefer Dawn dishwashing detergent. I'm fine with store brand tea bags, canned vegetables, generic ketchup (I used to only buy Heinz, not anymore). 

We also portion control our food since we have a dual purpose of fueling our bodies and losing weight. I first read about this tip from my late friend Barbara. She had made a roast in her crockpot and divided the meat into three ounce portions and froze them.  She was a single Mom on a budget, so I understand why she did that and we too have started portioning out our meals as it is so much healthier for us. 

This week I opened two of the 105 ounce cans, also known as a number 10 can, one was green chilies and the other was black olives. The green chilies were put into individual bowls and stored in the freezer while the black olives went into the refrigerator. 

Last Friday I made six sugar-free gelatin fruit cups. 

I also made an attempt at making my own yogurt again using this recipe. I forgot to add the yogurt starter until later and the yogurt didn't set up completely and I think that is the reason why. But, no worries, I will still use the thinner yogurt to make some ranch dressing and as a substitute for buttermilk in cornbread. Waste not,

want not.

How are you cutting back on your grocery bill?

The Dinner Menu

Saturday ~ A friend gifted me a zucchini this week, so I shredded it up and included it in my Fluffy Baked Omelet recipe. I also included some chopped tomatoes from the refrigerator. I served this with macaroni & cheese and  the last of this week's pinto beans. 

Souper Sunday ~ Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chris Hyde of Olympia, Washington had retired, but felt lonely and so he decided to make and give soup away for free to his neighbors. He is still going strong one year later and has created the Facebook group, Souper Sunday. I thought it as a neat project and decided to borrow his name and have Souper Sunday today. 

Monday ~ Chicken Teriyaki, Butter Beans, Steamed Broccoli.

Tuesday ~ October Beans, Collard Greens, & Cornbread.

Wednesday ~ Egg Roll in a Bowl, Steamed Broccoli. 

Thursday ~ Chili in either Chili Tacos or Chili Mac. 

Friday ~ Salmon Patties, Potatoes, Green Beans & Onions.

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

Recipe of The Week

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

1 - 15 ounce can corn

1 - 15 ounce can tomatoes 

1 - 15 ounce can pinto beans 

1- 4 ounce can green chiles

1 yellow onion, diced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

10 ounces enchilada sauce

2 tablespoons taco seasoning

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 teaspoon pepper

Toppings (optional)

Tortilla strips

Shredded cheese

Sour cream

Directions:

Brown the chicken and then add to the slow cooker. 

Place chicken in a crockpot.

Sauté onions in the same skillet and add to crockpot. 

Add the remaining ingredients except the toppings. 

Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 6 hours. 

Remove the cooked chicken from the slow cooker and shred. 

Place back into the slow cooker and stir. 

Serve and top with toppings of your choice.

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
How was your week? 
Did you manage your home, pantry or garden well this week? 

We would love to hear all about it in the comment section.

BelindaHomemaker at HeartMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

First Frugal Friday September 2024

 

Welcome to Frugal Friday! 
Quote of the Week

If you don’t see a clear path for yourself, sometimes you have to make it yourself. Embrace the journey, carve your own way, and never be afraid to create your own opportunities.

My Frugal Week
We finally received some much needed rain on Sunday evening. 
After paying bills this week, I went ahead and did my budget for the next year just to get an idea of my own financial picture.  Keeping on top of my finances is a good money saving/penny pinching habit/skill to possess that helps me stay on track and adapt to changes in my financial situation. This helps me to always be making progress. 
I've been able to turn the air off in the house a couple of hours each day, and turn off lights during the day, which helps save on electricity. 
I listed one thing for sale on eBay this week and it sold immediately. I love it when that happens. 
On Wednesday I had errands to run including two doctors appointments. One was for a cortisone shot in my shoulder, the other for an echo for surgical clearance. I brought my lunch to eat between visits, but the echo tech called, knowing I was in the building, and said she was ready for me now, which was very thoughtful and saved me time. 

On Thursday we went to a church yard sale. I picked up a brand new Kohl's sweater with the original price tag of $40 for $2.00. Along with a nice pair of warm thermal socks for this winter, a Disney princess coffee cup (Christmas present) and a storage container with handle all for $4.00. 
Freebies
One of the local churches was giving away free food on Saturday. We got four winter squashes, one watermelon, granola bars, meat, blueberries, onions, and some potatoes. 
Saving Money YouTube Videos
Jennifer Thornton ~ I first saw a video by Jennifer on TikTok and was intrigued by some of her money saving meal videos. If you're not on TikTok, you can see some of her videos on Youtube or Instagram, but she has a Value Menu Meal Series on TikTok that is very educational that she does not have posted on YouTube. 
Saving Money on Entertainment
I had been watching Leave it to Beaver on Facebook, but sometimes they only show parts of the show, so I've been watching it on Tubi Tv for free this week. Tubi is a free and legal video streaming application, which keeps it free by showing advertisements.  I'd rather watch an ad than pay to watch old television shows. 
What I've been Reading This Week
18 Ways to Save Money on a Tight Budget
37 Frugal Living Tips To Save A Ton Of Money

My Frugal Kitchen ~ Stretching Our Food Dollars

All meals were cooked at home this week. Eating out is reserved for special occasions as restaurant prices have risen along with higher food costs. Eating at home allows me to keep an eye on food items that need to be used up before they go to waste, further stretching our food dollars and allowing us to have a lower food bill.

We've been eating in season produce along with several meatless meals in order to keep our grocery bill lower. We've been eating apples, which we purchased at the local apple orchard along with the free watermelon we received this week. 

I grated my own cheese this week that I bought previously on sale and stored in the freezer. It crumbles and shreds so easily after it has been frozen. 

I used my slow cooker this week to save on fuel for cooking.

The Dinner Menu

Saturday ~ Homemade Chicken Nuggets, Baked Squash, and Green Beans with Onions. 

Sunday ~Chorizo Tacos, Corn, Green Beans & Onions. I also put some pinto beans on to soak, cut up a watermelon, and made sweet tea. Last week I made soup beans (great northern) and this week it was pinto beans. I have a big stockpile of various dried beans to have plenty of variety. 

We bought the Chorizo at the UGO for $1.00 and weren't sure we would like it, but Bailey did and we will definitely buy it when we see it again. As with closeout stores in general, you don't know what you'll find each time you shop. 

Monday ~ Leftover Chorizo Tacos plus I made Taco Style Lentils & Rice as I found the Chorizo too spicy. This is an older recipe from the original Hillbilly Housewife website. It has a really good flavor and makes a great filling for burritos or tacos. I served this with corn and watermelon. I cooked the pinto beans I soaked overnight in order to make dinner on Wednesday. 

Tuesday ~ Pinto Beans, Cottage Cheese, Chopped Tomatoes. Bailey was out of the house for dinner, so I kept my dinner simple. 

Wednesday ~ I had a rotisserie chicken thawing in the fridge, so I pulled the meat off the bones. Added to a skillet with green chilies, onions, and taco seasoning. I chopped up tomatoes and served them with my homemade cottage cheese chipotle ranch and tortillas. Sides were a choice of watermelon, corn, pinto bean and grapes. 

Thursday ~ Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, which used more of the pinto beans I cooked for this week. I used a can of enchilada sauce we received for free earlier this year from someone’s pantry clean out. I added some of the rotisserie chicken from Wednesday to boost the protein. Sides were corn, watermelon, and grapes. 

Friday~ I’m making the Lentil Loaf from the Living Simply FB group, and I’ll make up a package of vegetarian brown gravy that has been in my pantry to use it up and get it out of there as a sauce for the loaf. I’ll serve this with roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli. 

What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?

How was your week?  Did you manage your home, pantry or garden well this week?  We would love to hear all about it.      

Thank you for dropping by my frugal blog, you are always welcome here. 
We would love to hear all about your week in the comment section.

BelindaHomemaker at HeartMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27