Welcome to Frugal Workshop where every Monday I share the simple strategies used to save money in my kitchen over the past week, along with the meals that made it to our dinner table. You'll find practical tips on how we saved money on food hopefully to inspire your own meal planning using the foods you have in your own pantry.
Today is Memorial Day, when we pause and honor the brave men and women who gave their lives while serving our country. We remember those who never made it home, and we hold close the families who continue to carry that loss every day. The freedoms we enjoy today were made possible through their sacrifice, and on this day, we gratefully remember those who gave everything for our nation.
My Frugal Week
Monday I was walking through the yard in Dad's old garden spot and and found two strawberries and about a cupful of sugar snap peas. I washed them and served them with our dinner that night.
On Friday I boiled two and a half dozen eggs to have in the fridge for lunches, snacks, and deviled eggs.
I peeled and sectioned the last five oranges in the refrigerator and put them back in a container for eating as well. Remember I bought five bags at the beginning of the month? They've been great to have on hand to eat this month.
I took inventory of the meat I have in the freezer and made notes about meals for the upcoming week.
I've been reading online about how expensive it is to eat out these days and read a comment from someone who bought three burgers, one fry, and a drink from Five Guys and spent $46.75 on the meal. Yikes!
And I've been reading articles like this one about groceries just had the biggest hike in years, rising 2.9% in April. Bad growing weather, tariffs, and rising fuel prices have all contributed to the huge changes.
One thing we can do to combat the high grocery prices is to eat healthy foods that are less expensive than others such as eggs and cottage cheese to make meals. Quiche, with no crust for those who are low carb, is a good meal and can be made inexpensively.
Choices included:
Greens
Lettuce
Beets, red and golden
Zucchini
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Squash
Cucumbers
This is such a great resource and really helps lower my grocery budget through the week.
Recipe of the Week
I was reading the other day about Julia Child's Magic Quiche ratio. You can read about it here or do a Google search.
Magic Quiche Equation
Crack 3 eggs into a measuring cup.
Add enough milk to reach 1 ½ cups of liquid total.
(eggs vary in size, so adjust as needed).
Add whatever fillings you like such as cheese, veggies, ham, or whatever else you have on hand.
I've been wanting a hamburger lately, so I stopped at Food City while I was out running errands the other day and found this package on markdown:
The package was just over one pound for $5.77, which is so much cheaper than eating out and why we refrain from eating out as much as we do. I also used my new bottle of Weber's Gourmet Burger seasoning, which I picked up brand new in bulk at a yard sale recently.
Use It Up Item Of The Week
This would be the package of fish my friend gave me. I don’t like to keep fish in my freezer, so using it up gave us a free dinner this week.
Savings of the Week
Walmart has raised the price of their three pound bag of Gala apples from $2.97 to $4.27, which is an increase of $1.30! Aldi has the three pound bag of Galas for $2.99, so I will get them from Aldi for the time being.
Photo of the Week
What’s for Dinner
Monday ~ Grilled Chicken, Brussel Sprouts, Kale Salad.
Tuesday ~ Movie Night for Bailey who had the last of the BBQ Chicken, and I had a serving of chicken salad on top of a bed of lettuce and tomatoes, which was refreshing.
Wednesday ~ Mediterranean Baked Fish, Steamed Carrots, and Radishes.
A friend of ours gave us a bag of frozen fish because they don't eat fish, so I made it for dinner on Wednesday. I marinated the fish in a little bit of EVOO, lemon juice, and spices before baking. I also included the last of the brussel sprouts from Tuesday on my plate along with a few grape tomatoes.
Thursday ~ Grilled Chicken, Steamed Carrots, Roasted Broccoli.
Friday ~ Bailey had book club, so it was every man for his self for dinner. I made Bailey an egg salad since I’d boiled all those eggs, using blended cottage cheese instead of mayonnaise. She had orange slices to go with it.
I made an individual enchilada bake for myself. But, when I went to make it, I realized I was out of canned enchilada sauce in my pantry. No worries though, I took one of the cans of tomato sauce, bought at a yard sale last summer for 25 cents, and added a packet of chili season, which worked. Necessity being the Mother of invention and all that.
Saturday ~ Egg Roll in a Bowl
I used the Napa cabbage from the Mennonites and chopped it up with an onion for this dinner. I like this type of dinner because I can also use it to "clean out the fridge", so I added some chopped peppers, onions, a bag of frozen stir fry, a package of stir fry rice seasoning, toasted sesame oil, and soy sauce.
Sunday ~ Beefy Baked Beans, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, and Steamed Broccoli.
This was such an inexpensive meal since the sweet potatoes and broccoli were free, and the beef was actually ground turkey bought at UGO when it was $1.00 per pound.
What’s been on the menu in your home this past week?
Did you build up or organize your pantry this week?
How are you managing food prices?
We would love to hear all about it in the comment section.
Belinda
Homemaker at Heart
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