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Monday, January 22, 2024

My Frugal Kitchen ~ Cooking From Scratch ~ What We Ate This Week

                                  


My Frugal Week

We let our Instacart subscription run out at the end of last year, and rather than pay the exorbitant fees of $8.99 service fee plus $6.99 long distance fee plus a good tip for the shopper/driver, we will just make do with what's here until I can go to the grocery store again. 

While we were housebound this week, I finished up the inventory of food in our pantry and freezer since adding food from Dad's pantry to ours. We have 61 pounds of dried beans! I'm not sure how long that many beans will last, but it's probably more than one years worth. I'm thinking of all the money saving ways we can use them this year to save money on food. The possibilities are endless. 

On Wednesday I busied myself in the kitchen since we were still housebound by cold and ice, and I did multiple tasks to keep busy. 

I made BBQ Sauce and Homemade Ranch Dressing. I took my powdered sugar canister out of the cabinet, emptied it, scrubbed it clean, and put the new bag I bought last month inside of it. I wanted to clean the older 10X sugar out, because we don't use it much and it was a few years old.

In the winter time here is when my salt gets moisture in it and doesn't shake out very well, so I used rice to absorb the moisture one day, and the next day sifted the rice out, only leaving a few kernels behind to keep this under control. 

We've been drinking so much herbal tea to keep warm, so I went thru my tea bags and hot chocolate and got all those organized together. 

On Thursday I peeled and roasted a butternut squash and made a meat sauce for lasagne. I put the meat sauce into meal size containers and froze that for a later date. 

If you run out of aluminum foil, you can use items you already have in your kitchen instead. For example, we've been using a large cookie sheet to cover our 9x13 glass baking dish and it works well for this. I also used my largest glass lid to cover a pizza the other day to keep it warm until we could eat it. 

We ran out of almond milk this week and I had inventoried my nuts the other day and realized we had 14 pounds of dried almonds combined with what Dad also had. So I soaked some of them overnight and made almond milk with them on Friday. 

Afterwards, I dried the wet almond pulp in the oven and will make crackers with the dried pulp. This is a great alternative to store bought almond milk since the almonds were all given to us for free. Now I will keep some soaking in my fridge for when I run out of almond milk.

Recipe of the Week

Slow-Cooker Butternut Squash Soup


Ingredients:


2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 6 cups)

1 large apple, peeled and chopped

½ cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon pepper

32 ounces chicken broth

½ cup heavy whipping cream


Directions:


Spray 5 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. 

Add all ingredients except whipping cream.

Cover and cook on High for 4 to 5 hours.

Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. 

Stir in whipping cream.

Cover and cook on High for about 5 minutes until heated through.


Photo of the Week


What’s for Breakfast


Pizza Eggs (Bailey's Favorite Eggs), Yogurt, Oatmeal, Leftover Pizza. Beverages included multiple cups of Herbal Tea (I used my tea bags more than once to save money) and Hot Chocolate to stay warm, also freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit juice for the vitamin C.


What’s for Dinner


Monday & Tuesday ~ Meatloaf, Soup Beans, Pickled Beets, Glazed Carrots, and Sliced Oranges. I used two pounds of ground beef to make the meatloaf, which is enough for more than two meals and lunch. 

When I was inventorying my canned goods on Sunday, I accidently dropped a jar of spaghetti sauce on the floor and the lid popped, so I stored it in the fridge. Rather than use ketchup in my meatloaf, I used the spaghetti sauce and it turned out well. I try my best to avoid food waste even with an accidental jar mishap. 

The soup beans were left from Sunday night dinner. I soaked two cups of dry beans overnight and then cooked them in the Instant Pot the next day. It makes enough for dinner for two nights and some for lunch one day too. 

We ate all the pickled beets I made, but I saved the pickling juice and just added another can of beets sans the juice to make more pickled beets. It saved me money not to have to use more vinegar and sugar. 

Wednesday ~ BBQ Chicken Drumsticks, Butter Beans, Celery Sticks with Ranch, Pickled Beets, Orange Slices. I made my own BBQ Sauce and Homemade Ranch Dressing

Thursday & Friday ~ Tuesday evening I put four cups of dried pinto beans on to soak for dinners the next three nights. On Wednesday, I cooked the beans in my Instant Pot and I also put a pound of hamburger in the refrigerator to thaw overnight. 

This first night I made Bean & Cheese Enchiladas, and served them with Corn and Orange Slice, which I also served on Friday night. 

Friday ~ The second night I used more of the beans to make Chili. I also peeled and roasted a butternut squash to make soup.  

Saturday ~ Cracker Barrel ~ I had an errand to run, so got out of the house for the first time this week. Bailey and I decided to use the Cracker Barrel gift card from Dad. She had the Maple Bacon Chicken with Hash Brown Tator Tots and Apples while I had the Sunday Chicken with carrots and broccoli. All served with buttermilk biscuits. 

Sunday ~ Breakfast for Dinner ~ Sausage, Fluffy Baked Omelet, Sausage Gravy, and Sliced Oranges. I will use the Swaggerty's sausage we bought recently for $1.58. I'll use half to make four sausage patties and the rest to make the sausage gravy. Eggs were 18 cents each and I used the free to us almond milk, so no cost there. Flour was 25¢ worth for a total of $2.91. The sliced oranges added $1.00 to the cost. 

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


18 comments:

  1. You got a lot done during the cold that kept you in. I have been obsessed with eating bscb cooked in oven bag, chopped and covered in bbq sauce along with a huge bowl of coleslaw. Of course, I have other vegetables, too. I have resisted the urge to put the bbq and coleslaw on a bun.
    Tomorrow will be the end of the chicken and most of the vegetables. So, I need to cook something else. I want spaghetti and soup, not together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The chicken sounds delicious, Linda. And I also love Cole slaw. Someone, I think it was Jackie, made a baked spaghetti last week and that sounded really good. I need to cook today too as we don’t have any leftovers.

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  2. The Prudent Homemaker has a section on how to eat beans daily without repeating. Lots of ideas. I think it is so wonderful that you are using up your Dad's pantry. He would be so proud. I did the same after my parents passed and thought of them often. I think it helped me heal. Thinking of you!

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    1. Oh, that is so neat that it helped you to heal. Thank you so much. The Prudent Homemaker is a great resource. I'll be sure to look on her list for eating beans daily. :)

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  3. Your beans will keep a loooooong time! If you have the option to vacuum seal them in glass jars they will keep even longer. The best thing about having all those beans is that they are wonderful ways to extend other proteins by adding them to various dishes.https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/cooking-dried-beans/
    I use this site occasionally for inspiration

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    Replies
    1. Oh, thank you for the link, Anne. I'll be sure to check it out and I do have access to a vacuum sealer, so I will definitely work on that. What a great idea, thanks. :)

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  4. Looking forward to reading how you use your dried beans. I'm trying to use beans a couple times a week since I bought lots when covid started and there were so many shortages. I figured we wouldn't starve if we had dried beans. ;)
    Yum on the butternut squash soup; your recipe sounds tasty. I've been adding some coconut milk when I make it since my son seems to have trouble with dairy. I haven't tried making almond milk before, so thanks for the tip.
    Hope you have a good week. I think it is finally going to warm up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I am thrilled that it is supposed to be warmer this week, Kathy. It was a little bit better today. I will take what we can get. LOL Coconut milk sounds good, I'll have to give that a try sometime soon.

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  5. I used to use Instacart but it got so expensive that I stopped. I have Walmart+ and Kroger Boost and that's really all I need. If you can get Kroger delivery where you live they have a digital coupon available on their website through March 12 for 50% off a yearly plan (new or renewal) which makes it about thirty dollars. I've never had any major problems with Kroger delivery and the few minor issues were resolved quickly. Their customer service has been outstanding for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, how neat that you are able to get Kroger delivery! We are too far away for that from Kroger, unfortunately. We are even too far away for Walmart delivery, but we still have a Walmart plus membership because it pays for itself with the free shipping. I just love Kroger, it's the best.

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  6. Really, there is nothing like cold weather that keeps one in to get lots done. Warming up a bit here so I have been out for a couple of short walks.

    God bless.

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    1. Oh, how nice to be able to go on a walk, Jackie. Bailey was outside walking today too.

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  7. Oh yum! It all sounds good and good way to utilize your indoor time. So glad it is to get warmer this week. That is a lot of beans. I thought I had a lot - but you have me beat! Great savings.

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    Replies
    1. LOL, Cheryl. Once I added Dad's beans in with mine, I knew we had a bunch. LOL

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  8. Belinda,
    I keep beans forever just in canning jars, using lids and rings. Put the jars of beans in the freezer for three days to keep weevil and other eggs from hatching, killing the eggs. Plus, a pantry moth cannot get at the beans. Older beans will get harder but soften just fine by cooking longer. Don't salt until the end. Once a jar of beans is kept in the freezer, it is ready for the shelf.

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    Replies
    1. That is a great idea too, Linda, thank you. I freeze all my sugar, flour, and cornmeal overnight at the very least for this reason.

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  9. Your menu sounds delish! We love beans like you and they do help make a meal. Love your ideas!

    ReplyDelete

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