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.
My Frugal Week
On Tuesday I went to Aldi to pick up some red peppers, and blueberries, both fresh and frozen. I also went to Gordon's to pick up a number ten can of black olives on sale for $9.99.
On Saturday evening I went to People Helping People for free vegetables. This week's selection included more Napa cabbage, lettuce, kale, yellow squash, radishes, and fennel. Some of these things will be dehydrated like the dill and fennel, which is already in the dehydrator.
Before coming home I stopped in at Food City as they had their 32 ounce bags of cheese on sale for $5 with a limit of two. I also picked up some bananas from the reduced produce rack.
On Sunday I prepped the free produce to have with dinners this week. Washed and cut everything up and worked on dehydrating the dill and fennel to use later.
Recipe Of The Week
Since I had the kale from the Mennonites, I decided to use it to make this massaged kale salad, ,which was a big hit with Bailey.
Kale Salad
Ingredients:
1 to 2 bunches of kale
Dressing Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup water
1/8 cup lime juice
2 cloves garlic
1 inch fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons tamari
6 pitted dates, soaked in water if not soft
kale, about two bunches
Directions:
In a high-powered blender, combine all the dressing ingredients.
Process until smooth and creamy.
Remove the large, thick stems from the kale.
Chop the kale leaves and place in a large bowl.
Pour dressing over the kale.
Massage dressing into the kale with your hands. (I used gloves)
Refrigerate any unused dressing
What’s for Dinner
Monday ~ Cheeseburgers
Tuesday ~ Grilled Chicken Salads
Wednesday & Thursday ~ Chicken Tacos
Friday ~ Chicken Enchiladas
Saturday & Sunday ~ BBQ Chicken, Savoy Cabbage & Onions, and Caramelized Sweet Potatoes.
We finished the savoy cabbage and onions on Saturday night, so on Sunday I made the kale salad posted above as our vegetable. It’s a very different dish from what I grew up eating, but it’s pretty tasty. Bailey really liked it.
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
~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27
Sounds yummy! Lots of fresh veggies.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kale recipe. I may give kale another chance. :)
have a great week.
Than you, Kathy. The kale is very earthy and green, so I totally understand. LOL
DeleteI hope you have a great week too!
Maximizing groceries and not wasting is probably my best strategy right now. I'm sure hoping I get veggies from my own planters/ garden beds to defray a bit. I'm just being mindful of every expenditure. Is it needed orctrujy add valueto my life? If not then I'm skipping. .
ReplyDeleteThat is a great strategy to have, Sam. I hope you're feeling better. That is a good mindset to have and will help you with your goal to being mindful of each expense. You are an inspiration to many. :)
DeleteDear Belinda, you are doing well, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteI usually buy Savoy cabbage, I don't think 🤔 I have tried the one you mentioned.
Your cheeseburger 🍔 😋 meal sounds delicious. Thank you for sharing, and I hope you have a lovely week ahead. 😊
Thank you, Linda. We really like the savoy cabbage, so its nice to have for meals. I hope you have a lovely week too, thank you. :)
DeleteI am not overly fond of kale, but we do have it occasionally. I will try the peanut dressing on it.
ReplyDeleteYou are fortunate to be able to snag veggies at no cost.
I am like Sam and just try to have waste limited just to get the biggest bang from our grocery expense. This week is a use it up week before our trip.
Those use it up weeks are so good for pantry management too, Anne.
DeleteLike others, avoiding waste is a key priority for us. If you haven't tried massaging kale, it makes a big difference. Sounds silly, but really improves the texture. M grilled chicken & made rice yesterday, and we had another teen over for dinner. It went over well, which means less for leftovers. Glad to see his friends start to reappear back at the table. I also made some haphazard snacks when his roommate & mom stopped by to pick up some of the items Nick had from their dorm room. - Hawaii Planner
ReplyDeleteMassaging the kale was new to me, but I'll definitely be getting more kale for this salad as they offer it to me on Saturday nights. It was a really nice addition to our menu this week.
DeleteNice on the deals and the freebies! Meals all sound yummy.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cheryl.
DeleteInteresting Kale salad recipe. Lucky you to get all those lovely veggies free. We are having Chicken tacos a couple of days this week.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Oh yum, chicken tacos are one of our favorites here. :)
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