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Another wonderful and inspiring article, Donna. Your budgeting has inspired me to be much more detailed in accounting for food items. Thank you.

We use A2/A2 milk, also. Normally, I have to avoid milk, but I can use the organic A2 half and half in coffee and mashed potatoes. It digests so much better and has a wonderful taste.

I am working on sewing a few skirts, as I have plenty of tops and sweaters. I, also, need to make another pair of pj's and a new apron. I can't walk into the kitchen without spraying something on whatever I am wearing, so aprons are a necessity.

I am now putting the books of genealogy together for my side of the family. It has been a 45 year research project and a labor of love. I have thrived on learning the history of the South and on studying the lives of ancestors. 

Thank you for your articles and I thank everyone for their amazing and educational comments on the forum.

I'm confused and curious about the 10% charge at checkout, which isn't something I've run into (yet) but maybe only because there are very few stores I shop at.  I know some charge credit card processing fees, but do I understand that you're talking about extra charges at checkout  even when paying cash?  Could someone please explain more about this, so I know how/where to watch out for it?

It's funny about aprons - I like them, but very seldom wear them, because I don't want to mess up my nice aprons.  Very silly of me, since that's what they're for.  Maybe I need to buy a cheap apron in a pattern I don't care for, and then I would actually wear it.  Instead I have a nice one I bought from a fair trade catalog and several that belonged to my grandma, all of which are apparently "too nice to use."

Our son and family live in your state and that 10 percent sales tax on food is rough.   I know you will enjoy Aldi when it opens.   You never know what our retired or soon to be retired husbands might take up when their time opens up.  My husband started baking all the bread and it is better than mine.  What a nice thing to have a cookie baker in the house!

When making a white sauce I often just whisk the flour into the cold liquid ingredients and cook and stir until bubbly and thickened.   Depending on what I will use it for I may stir on a pat of butter for flavor at the end.   It sure saves on butter.   

My grandmother made the most delicious fried chicken by boiling chicken and letting it cool and then just flouring it and browning it.   For us empty nesters it is a simple way to make just a few pieces of fried chicken and it is delicious.

We had allowed our pantry to grow too large so we are eating it down some.  I  only spent half my grocery budget last month but I am leaving the extra in my food budget to cover price increases on what we need to restock.  

Grandma Donna Wrote,

Tea S, I have a receipt here to explain.  For here where we live these are normally smaller chain store and they call them cost plus 10 stores.  Some people do not understand that when they shop and get surprised when they check out so they have signs in the store that say, cost plus 10%.  

We often get our sweet potatoes at this store because the sweet potatoes are better there and per pound cheaper but if you shop there for everything it is best to add up as you go that ten percent.  Donna

We had chicken and mushroom risotto with the last scraps of meat from the chicken. It had a lot of vegetables and just a bit of rice. I sautéed the vegetables with dripping from the roast chicken, the carcass has simmered for stock, so there were just the clean bones left over. 

We had rabbit rather than chicken when we were young. Dad had permission to shoot for the pot on several farms where rabbits were a nuisance. When we did our wartime rationing project I raised Californian meat rabbits, and got skilled in preparing them to cook. I did a good rabbit pie, for the Smallholders’ and Beekeepers’ buffet lunches, the pastry decorated with tiny pastry running rabbits using a cutter DD had as a child. We gave rabbit for stew the Church pensioners’ harvest lunch, and over our meal we heard a lot of memories about rationing. 

I have raised and prepared duck and chicken for the table, and cooked quail and pigeon. It requires effort and determination, and therefore the idea of wasting food seems dreadful.

Shoulder of pork is one of the more economical joints in the UK. There was a tradition of not eating pork when there was not an R in the month, the warmer months when the meat would not keep. I buy the family sized joint which is better value, and cut it into small joints for a Sunday roast suitable for two, to freeze. I cook a small joint of meat as a pot roast so it is tender and doesn’t shrink. We like leftover cold pork with a jacket potato, or in a sandwich with a thick soup. I save the fat for cooking, clarifying it so it will keep. Toast and dripping was a favourite supper on a cold day, a thick slice of bread on the brass toasting fork held to the fire. 

The meat ration for the week was by price, one shilling and tuppence, enough for a pound of basic mince or two lamb chops. When fresh meat was in short supply part of the ration had to be taken as sliced corned beef. There was a separate ration of 4 ounces of bacon or ham per person. I keep our spending on meat under £3 each a week. A small amount of meat goes much further in a stew with dumplings, a pie or a stir fry.

I try to shop and cook using the basic ingredients and quantities my Mum and Granny used. We have gone back to full fat milk, cream, and butter, to home cooked food, and avoiding Ultra Processed stuff. Our school dinners were a useful guide because they were cooked from the basic British ingredients and had to meet required nutritional standards for protein and fat, within a strict budget. We had a healthy diet. 

I so enjoy your posts, Donna, and usually think of something to comment but then I get busy and forget to comment.  In my town there is a very wonderful food bank that is available to seniors on a limited budget.  I was hesitant at first to sign up because I didn't want to take food from others who might need it more.  They convinced me that it was all right to take advantage of the service as that frees up money for other things like bills or gas in the car.  Every month I bring home a huge amount of food including meats, produce and canned goods.  I have purposed to use that food  to make out my weekly menus and only buy other things when necessary.  It's is working out well.  

I am slowly settling into my 1930's lifestyle.  I have cut way back on computer usage.  I have a lot of supplies for my hobbies of knitting, weaving, and embroidery.  I don't plan to buy anything else until I make use of what I have on hand,

My house is pretty well set in 1930's style with lots of furniture and housewares from my grandparents.  It feels really cozy and complete.  I don't own a TV or a microwave, and don't use the clothes dryer or dishwasher preferring  to wash dishes by hand and dry my clothes on a rack.  

I have a couple of questions for you readers -I am so used to the convenience of plastic "baggies" when storing food in the fridge or freezer.  I have a few glass storage containers that I've gotten over the years and I use them all the time.  I also use glass jars for food storage and I use waxed paper for some things.  But sometimes one just needs a plastic bag! What do you use in those cases?

Also, I was given a huge green cabbage the other day.  I live alone and cannot eat it up before it goes bad.  What are some things I can do to make it last or store part of it.  Any suggestions will help.  

Thank you, Donna for this blog and thanks to the other commenter's for their contributions.  I learn new things all the time!  ????

Thanks so much for the explanation and receipt photo - it is much clearer to me now, and I'm less worried about running into such a system by surprise!

I think your dish with the cheese on the pan looks and sounds delicious.   I am finally getting our budget back on track.  Between the fire and the move, things were unpredictable for a time and I don’t function well like that.  So the smoothing out is so very welcome.  By this month’s end, it should be even better. I’m not doing the study but have been trying to be mindful of certain things.  I’ve been better at remembering to wear my apron when in the kitchen.  They certainly are worth it!  It’s so many little things that addd up. I think often people want one big fix, but every little thing you show here makes a difference.  

Tea, are you in Australia?  (I know you’ve been here a long time but can’t remember.

Another excellent post Gr.Donna!  Being a singleton, I very seldom cook a whole chicken but that is how I do it also. The broth is so handy, sometimes when I am making a potato soup I use chicken broth and the milk thickened with a bit of butter and flour. I always wonder when I see people buying broth. But I realize we are all different in our methods.

I like pears with a bit of cottage cheese, I don't do mayo as I just don't like it. Your plated meals always look pretty.

Still trying to live 1930's, tonight is "Friday night at the movies" so a movie on TV. My cinema candy is 2 no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies.  I only make 1/2 recipe at a time as that is all I need.

Heavy into the picking and canning of tomato products. Will be digging potatoes this week, dug the onions this last week. Zucchini completely died but I have had some yellow summer squash.  Beets will be pickled later as they are still growing. I will roast some with bacon grease when fresh. My cabbage seem to be just sitting there, I think it is the extreme heat. I will let them grow as long as I can.

One of my renters moved out and left her beautiful garden....we will be harvesting it as I will not let it go to waste.  There are alot of different kinds of peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and a row of green beans. Whatever we can't use will be taken to the homeless shelter.

I am lactose intolerant but can handle yogurt and make my own....so much cheaper. I had been buying large bags of frozen mixed fruits for my smoothies but the bags are much smaller and have gone up over 2.00 in price. I calculated that I can buy melons and grapes on sale add on sale blueberries and make my own for about 1/4 the price. I make fruit smoothies for a brunch meal because I can't eat breakfast. It is what works for me. I add banana for sweetness and because banana keeps me from having leg cramps.

There are certain summer festivals that we go to as a family but have decided not to this summer, the prices are just too high and it has become not worth it.

My AC continues to run, it is just too hot for me to go without it. Hopefully the weather will break soon and I can open windows, fresh air is always better.

Great post, Grandma Donna. I am surprised how cheap your chickens are to buy. The cheapest here in Australia is usually $4kg for a whole bird, or about $12kg for chicken breasts. 

Weaverbird - in the fridge I generally use a bowl of some kind with a plate on top. For the freezer, I try to save any plastic bags food or produce comes in such as bread bags, rolled oats bags, dried fruit bags, fruit and vegetable bags, grated cheese bags, etc. I give them a washout and dry them. I use them to store frozen fruits, vegetables, baked goods etc. I also reuse the ziploc bags I purchase this way. They can be washed and reused time and time again. I never reuse any bags used for meat though. 

 I also keep all plastic yoghurt or ice cream containers with lids to freeze things in. They are useful for larger quantities of stock, or fragile berries and even homemade dog food. I hope that is helpful in some way. 

Weaverbird,

If you like a vinegar based slaw you could make freezer slaw. It freezes well and I love it. You can eat it as is or drain and put on meat or sandwiches.

Tea S, I just did the research on “cost plus 10 stores” and they don’t actually sound bad.  Everything in the store is priced at cost, which is what the grocer pays for it, and then the customer pays 10% at the register, and this is the profit the grocer makes.  In contrast, the average markup for regular supermarkets is 15%.  A cost plus 10% format allows small grocers to offer a variety of products and not worry about various percentages.  Of course, you don’t get loss leaders this way.  I wonder if some people don’t realize that the 10% is what the grocer is making on the sale, versus thinking it is a random surcharge in addition to prices in the store that include profit.  I rather like the idea of knowing exactly how much extra I would be paying over cost.  And cost plus 10% really isn’t much of a markup — at my son’s place of employment he pays cost plus 10% on his in store purchases, which means customers pay a lot more.

Costco has an average markup of 11%, with a maximum markup of 15% on store brands and 14% on name brand items

Wonderful post yet again! My favorite meal growing up was very similar to the cheesy chicken bake, still is. My mom would take the chicken and boil it with a whole onion and add tumeric and salt and a bit of garlic powder. Then take out the chicken and shred, while cooking rice in the broth with a can of evaporated milk in the oven in a pan (9x13) til rice is done and there's still liquid, then you layer the chicken with some of the boiled onion on, then cheese and bake again. It is sooo good!! I think I may need to make it soon! Thanks!!

Lady L., - No, I'm in the USA.

Kimberly F., - Oh that's interesting.  I feel much better about them if "cost" refers to wholesale and the 10% is the only markup.  It still seems like it would be easier for customers if the marked-up price were listed on the item, but I can see how doing it at checkout might be more efficient, and thus help keep prices down.  Thanks for the added info!  

Grandma Donna, this is another fantastic post!  I especially love how creatively you patched the vintage table cloth, with fabric in similar colors.

Our household expenses have decreased significantly since putting some of the guidelines of the study into place.  Overall we have purchased far fewer unnecessary items.  We are finding better prices on groceries, in part by changing what we are using, such as buying a less expensive variety or brand of cheese, using a different oil in baking, etc but also by finding the best prices we can (more on that later).  I have resurrected my price book, too.

We’re consistently using fans blowing on us as it gets hotter during the day, delaying when the air conditioner is needed.  We’re also eating ice and drinking ice water — it’s amazing how much ice cools you!  I grew up eating crushed ice in summer to cool off.  On the natural gas saving front, we are waiting to wash dishes until we have enough to make it worth using hot water, we’re using a wash basin, and we’re breaking the habit or rinsing in hot water after washing.  I’m also experimenting with using cooler water for washing clothing.

We’re just wearing the clothing we have.  We hang dry our laundry, which is easier on clothing.  My husband and I wear the same pair of pants or shorts several days in a row and I don’t change my shirt between tub baths unless it gets dirty.  I wear an apron to help prevent that, but it isn’t perfect.

Today we did our first big shop of August, at $248.07.  So far in August we’ve spent $271.54 for 2 adults.  Most of that has been stocking up.  To my very happy surprise, the Costco Business Center prices I mentioned in the comments of the last post are actually lower than on the Costco Business website!  I could hardly believe some of the prices.  Of course, some things we buy are the same as at regular Costco with the same prices.  Here is what we bought:

25# Calrose rice $12.99 (52¢ per pound) not available at our regular Costco

Honey Nut Cheerios 55 ounces $8.69 (15.8¢ per ounce) My son eats this cereal, price is decent

4# organic tofu $6.99 ($1.75 per pound package) Best price we can find

5# sharp cheddar cheese $14.89 ($2.98 per pound) much better than other area stores

5# mild cheddar cheese $12.39 ($2.48 per pound) much better than other area stores

6.02# whole milk mozzarella ($2.25 per pound) incredible price

5# wildflower honey $12.99 ($2.60 per pound) same as regular Costco, best price around here

2 dozen large eggs $4.69 ($2.35 per dozen) 5 dozen packages were a little cheaper per dozen but the sell by date was too soon for comfort

32 hard cooked eggs $10.99 (equivalent of $4.12 per dozen) a convenience food but there are no additional ingredients

2 quarts buttermilk $2.39 ($1.20 per quart) I could hardly believe the price

6 quarts organic whole milk $10.49 ($3.50 per 2 quart carton) I have to buy high heat pasteurized milk because it denatures the whey protein and makes it safe for me — it also lasts longer.  I prefer A2 but they were out, and I’m okay with this one

12 7 ounce cans light tuna in olive oil, no additives $24.98 ($2.08 per can, 30¢ per ounce) a good sale price for wild caught tuna with nothing but tuna, salt, and olive oil

2 13.5 ounce cans Chosen avocado oil spray $9.59 ($4.80 per can, 36¢ per ounce) we didn’t need this yet but it was a good sale.  I’ve been spraying toast with oil instead of using butter

10# can pizza sauce $4.97 (4.6¢ per ounce) I’ll freeze this in 1 cup portions and save a lot compared to buying jars of pizza sauce

42 ounce jar organic strawberry preserves $8.49 (20¢ per ounce) regular Costco price, but a good deal for organic preserves made with real sugar

3# Nabisco saltine crackers $6.99 (equivalent $2.33 per 1# box) for my son to have as snacks, I think maybe I can do better on these at Aldi so I’ll check next time

Box of 40 packs of whole wheat fig bars $18.49 (46¢ per pack) my husband and son take these with them on long bike training rides

6 large avocados $5.89 (98¢ each) half the price we saw last month

4# pink lady apples $2.99 (75¢ per pound) regular price $3.99, overall the best price I’ve seen on apples all year

2# cocktail tomatoes $4.99 ($2.50 per pound) my husband prefers these

3# bananas $1.49 (50¢ per pound)

2 large heads iceberg lettuce $2.29 ($1.15 each) not available at regular Costco

6.6# (3 kilograms) Lavazza espresso coffee beans $43.47 ($6.59 per pound) on sale, great price

I would have bought potatoes but they were wet and I didn’t like how they smelled — no point spending money on something spoiled or likely to spoil soon.  Like many others, we are stocking up on coffee because of tariffs.  I’ll be shredding and freezing all of the cheese and it will last through the end of the year at least.  After experiment with making crackers I decided to buy crackers for my son.  My husband wanted the avocados.  I try to buy one jar of preserves as soon as we open the one in the pantry.  Overall I need to create more pantry space and then I’ll increase some of what we store in the pantry.

I saw 25# boxes of vine ripened tomatoes for $17.79, but we aren’t in a position to can salsa this week.  Does anyone here freeze salsa instead

Great post thank you GDonna but can someone please explain to a UK reader what the meat cut Boston Butt is, I’m thinking perhaps beef rump?

We have gone back to eating full fat butter etc but I tend to make my own whenever I see yellow stickered cream, it freezes well and the leftover buttermilk goes to making scones for a sweet treat.

We also like a pork joint JanetW and still love a bit of dripping on toast as a treat, with marmite as well :)

Hi everyone :)

I loved this post, as one of my favourite frugal meals is chicken. I generally cook a whole chicken in my cast iron dutch oven. I drizzle a little olive oil over the bird, sprinkle over dried herb mix, salt and pepper. I stuff the vavity with a some Rosemary stalks and pour about 3/4 cup of water in the dutch oven too. Roast around about 2 hours or 2.5. When the chicken is cooked, I pour the stock that comes off the bird into a pyrex measuring cup, regrigerate, and then scoop off the fat the next day. I cube up the gelatinous stock and freeze it to use in the chicken pie roux :)

A large chicken costs me about $12.00 in New Zealand. We will eat it for dinner one night. I will separate off some meat, freeze that to use for a chicken pie or pasta dish with a savoury sauce for another dinner. I often make Farmhouse on Boones Sourdough skillet meal with some of the chicken meat, where I make a roux, add some chicken stock and milk, flour, salt and pepper, dried sage, a touch of parmesan, the chicken meat, some frozen peas, and corn, finely chopped carrot etc. Place in pie dish. Mix up Lisa's (Farmhouse on Boone) sourdough topper recipe: just google 'healthy one pot meal sourdough skillet'. If you make sourdough bread like I do, it's easy to just feed up your starter and make this simple topping. It's so delicious too. The great thing with sourdough is that it's super cheap and you don't need to purchase yeast.

We use the remainder of the chicken on sandwiches during the week. If we have a hearty chicken sandwich for lunch we will generally have lentil and vegetable soup with sourdough toast for dinner. This soup sometimes has a chicken breast in it too. I make it in my instant pot as it saves on power (not exactly 1940's, but hey it is frugal).

Blessings to you all ~ Linda

I live in the Netherlands and though meat is cut differently here from the USA and the UK, as far as I know Boston Butt is pork shoulder. 

Grandma Donna Wrote,  

Lainey T_2, Boston Butt, is pork.  It is also known as pork butt, is cut from the upper shoulder of the pig.  It is not something that Charles and I normally cook in the summer but the price has been good lately and so we have taken advantage of the price so to have some in the freezer.  We will usually cook one around the holidays and we always slow cook it outside on our outdoor cooker that smokes with indirect heat.  

Thank you GDonna and Jeanneke, it’s not an expression that we use in the UK for pork shoulder but we live and learn every day

Kimberly F,
I put my tomatoes in the freezer until I am ready to can them.  ifind it best to cut the top off (where the stem is) then put them into bags, 5 lbs in each. Just large ziploc freezer bags.
I got my cheap 25 lbs of tomatoes, but am busy all this week. so Yesterday I froze them all so they will hold until I have time, and the bell peppers have ripened.
I have never noticed a quality difference in my salsa and sauces, but the skin comes off real easy when they've thawed :)

I am mostly just cooking for myself these days but I used to make potpies frequently when my kids were little and they were a favorite.  They didn't eat meat though, so it was generally a chickpea pot pie made with canned chickpeas.  (Now I always cook my own beans from dry in the instant pot).  It was very good and I never missed the actual chicken.  I imagine that if a person was struggling to afford chicken, it would be possible to use some chicken broth in the pot pie along with the chick peas it would be very nice, save a bit of money, be a reasonable protein source and increase the fiber content as well.  

Like you GDonna, I do better with small amounts of meat, chicken, or fish but typically just a couple of times a week.  I do drink milk though.  I buy by the gallon but as soon as I open it I freeze about 1/3 in glass mason jars.  Then I unfreeze the jars in the refrigerator as needed when the other runs out.  I tend to use dry milk in baking and cooking just because it is more convenient to keep that on hand.  

I am mostly shopping at Walmart and I go every 2 weeks.  I buy a mix of frozen and fresh veg in particular and work my way through from the most perishable to the least (that means that at the end of the 2 weeks my vegetables turn to steamed cabbage, carrots, beets, and some frozen things).

As of now I’m unable to eat chicken, it makes me itchy — I miss chicken broth so much!.  But when I could eat it and my family ate it as well, I had a hard time getting them to eat less!  When we had 5 adults here 1 chicken was one main meal and then I could make broth and pull meat off the bones for a soup.  My husband would take one leg and thigh, my youngest the other, my athlete son a full breast, and then my youngest’s partner and I would share a breast (and I would usually only eat half of my half so there would be more for a soup later).

I think here in the US, the term Boston Butt (or where I am it is just called pork butt) is used to differentiate it from picnic shoulder.  I’m eating less meat now, but pork butt is one of the more economical meats because so little of it is wasted and so little is needed to make a good meal.  I slow cook it with salt, onion powder, and garlic powder.  It yields plenty of meat, plus a lot of flavorful fat to cook with, and super concentrated pork “broth” which is great for noodle dishes like ramen.  Lately it has been around $3 per pound when not on sale.  10 years ago I could get it for 99¢ per pound!

Thank you Hannah A_2!  I hadn’t thought to just freeze the tomatoes until I can use them, but now that you mention slipping the skins I remembered Heather at North Ridge Farm said the same thing in a tutorial about preserving her tomatoes in winter after freezing them at harvest.  I am such a tomato newbie since I cannot eat them.  Always before I said I would just buy prepared tomato products but now I want to save money by not doing that, and my husband is interested in doing more home food production after he retires.

Linda C, thanks for pointing us to the Farmhouse on Boone sourdough skillet recipe!  I’d never seen it before, but am always looking for ways to change up our simple ingredients based meal plan.  I think my guys would like that over a combination of beans, TVP, and vegetables, to make it different than having burritos or tacos.

This is similar to my chicken philosophy. I even published an essay about it, "How to Make a Pot Pie In a Million Easy Steps", last year!

I didn't realize that there was a food tax in some states, that's awful and it mostly hurts those that have the least. I am grateful to live somewhere that doesn't tax food. 

This is the first time I have heard of a +10% store. We mainly have Kroger affiliates here, along with employee-owned WinCo, Costco, a local Co-Op,and Trader Joes. There is also a discount chain called Grocery Outlet, but their prices are rarely less than WinCo except for on ultra processed items that I don't purchase. I do most of my shopping at Winco (or the farmer's market if I need produce), but I buy our meat at the Co-Op. It is a bit more expensive, but it is from local farmers and humanely raised, which is important to me. Members get a 15% discount every three months, so I purchase meat in three month increments unless they have a good sale on something in between. The cost means we don't eat a lot of meat in a single meal, which is probably good for us!

Weaverbird: I only have a small fridge-top freezer, which is mainly used to store only meats and the occasional leftover item. I tend to store leftovers in glass jars simply because I have so many of them. Meats are wrapped in butcher paper (the real stuff, not the plastic coated stuff), then I slide them into flat plastic storage containers with lids. I will also sometimes use foil to wrap stuff for short term freezing (less than a month). This works well for casseroles. Line the dish with foil, fill, bake, freeze, remove foil with the dish inside and wrap and place back in the freezer. When I'm ready to serve it, I can then set the frozen casserole back in the original dish to thaw before heating it back up in the oven.

As for cabbage, sauerkraut is an option. 

It also dehydrated and rehydrates very well, if you like to use it in soups, casseroles, or stirfries. You can dehydrate in the oven if you don't have a dehydrator. Rehydrate by throwing it into a soup or covering it with boiling water for a few minutes.

Yes, we eat a lot of chicken here, too. I usually make one last for four days if I don't freeze it and make the usual economical meals as have been described: sandwiches, tacos, pot pies, casseroles, and soups. It is fun to see the different meals that can be made according to where people live. 

I am also interested in making some aprons, and feel I would like to see more sewing articles on here. The tablecloth mending is a good idea, and your patch matched the colour perfectly. I like mending and sewing on buttons, etc. It would be nice to see what others sew, too.

Homemade chicken broth is like gold! It makes everything tastes better. :)

Weaverbird, when I really need a plastic bag, I just use one. I don't use many but I do use them to store my garden cabbages which last for months. I wash my cabbage, shake it dry, then wrap it in a clean, white, cotton dishcloth, doubled over, and then put it in a plastic bag. When I want some cabbage, I cut off as much as I want and put it back in the bag. Sometimes I change the dishtowel when I do that. If the cabbage gets a little darkening on the edge, I just trim that off. I've done that with store cabbages too and they seem to keep fine. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love all of the comments about sewing. 

I'm staying off the Internet for my new 1932 habit. I don't look at the economic news anymore, just some news that gets emailed to me about my husband's industry which is always bad, bad, bad, and worse! I don't even look at the commercials anymore when I watch my old movies on TV because it makes me wonder who all those sloppily dressed people are doing all of those strange things. My head is definitely in the past! :)

I've been having to remember to make my feet cross over to the sunny side of the street a lot lately. I make sure I think of the good things going on each day. 

I'm learning something that I didn't know....you can freeze in canning jars?  They dont crack or explode?  I always buy Classico spaghetti sauce when it's on a good sale because the jars make it an even better deal!   Please share any jar freezing tips.  Thanks!

If anyone has any jar freezing tips let me know. I have only froze in  a few canning jars I was okay with losing. (though they lived, I think it was the wide mouth that helped)

I dont' freeze cooked chicken though I shoudl get in that habit. It always gets dry or freezer burnt before it gets eaten. 
I think everyone is buying bigger chickens that I am. I can barely get a 4 pounder which feeds us dinner and a little leftover. 1 or 2 sandwiches worth. Then again I have 5 hungry adults to feed with that chicken :)

I need to get me some butchers paper, because just a ziploc bag does nothing for freezer burn! Then again last time I did butchers paper my meat stuck... Not sure exactly why but I have theories.
I think paper and then a solid container would be the way to go for my future meat storage. And keep things organized! Woo

We eat a lot of chicken around here, as it is cheaper than beef. Pork is nice, but we enjoy chicken more. Pork tenderloin for some reason is a great lean, versatile and cheap cut. We could get maybe 3 lbs for 7 dollars, on sale. Frozen though.
More normally we can get a pound for 5 dollars. 2 for 8 if it's frozen. Try finding beef for that price!
Pork roasts are also more economical than beef. It was a nice change last night. Roast beef has become a real luxury.
Hamburgers less so, though ground beef is now more expensive. We can get 8 quality burgers, all meat for 15 dollars. So that's a nice summer meal on occasion.
I have gone on a tangent whoops. I think I should stop myself here!!

Debby B, my jar freezing tip is don't use Quattro Stagioni jars in the freezer. They break. 

My grandmother always made egg noodles and cooked with chicken broth and chunks of chicken then served over mashed potatoes.  My mom did the same and her noodles were very good but not as good as grandma's.  I do the same and my noodles are good but not as good as mom's or grandma's!  

Noodles are also good for beef and noodles, and I've also had them simply buttered.  I make the homemade noodles when I do a ham and noodle casserole and homemade chicken noodle soup.

Noodles are simply a dough of egg and flour, mixed, rolled thin, allowed to dry somewhat, rolled and cut and then spread out to dry further. 

I store, frequently, in canning jars. The secret to them not cracking is to fill them only 3/4 full. That leaves plenty of space of headroom for expansion during freezing. We buy organic A2 milk and I freeze it in jars. Last week, I made a double batch of Bar-B-Q sauce and froze the extra in pint canning jars. To thaw them, I simply leave out on the counter for an hour then put them in the refrigerator until the next day.

I was having trouble with freezer burn before I started vacuum sealing meat. I have divided frozen vegetables and fruits and vacuum sealed those into smaller packages, also. If you don't have a vacuum sealer, double bagging the item in freezer bags helps.

Mason and Ball brand jars with straight sides can be used in the freezer, just be careful not to overfill or knock around. There are plastic caps to use in the freezer available. 
I use vacuum bags and reusable plastic freezer cartons mostly though.  

I save chicken necks and bones in the freezer until I have enough to make broth. I sometimes add onion ends or onion pieces and garlic, maybe some celery leaves but I don’t like putting whole vegetables in my broth. It feels like they got wasted. I make bone broth in my slow cooker and let it go 24-36 hours. The broth is deep golden and very flavorful at that point, then I can it. I normally roast my chicken because my husband has always hated boiled chicken. 

I can’t turn off the a/c until probably October, sadly. I have had to be without it a few times in summers and found it was very hard to sleep, I had no appetite or desire to cook so was very tempted to eat out, mold grew in my bathrooms, and food in the refrigerator didn’t last long. I am on a well so no chlorine in my water and the toilet tanks were black inside with mold. I’m in hot and humid Florida. I don’t know how the early residents managed. According to my husband’s late mother, born 1912 in Florida, food leftovers had to be eaten that day or thrown out. 

I am avoiding unnecessary expenditures and trying to save on groceries. It’s not easy but I am making some changes to cheaper options. I don’t shop for entertainment even at thrift stores anymore. It’s a slow process. I just purged my wardrobe for resale and I have aprons but one that I made from a sheet is shredding so I am going to make more from my existing fabric. 

I guess I have one more jar freezing tip. In addition to not overfilling the jars, as others have mentioned, I also put the jar in the fridge overnight to chill before putting in the freezer. 

This week pork shoulder at my local supermarket is $13 a kilo( $6.50 lb)

Here in NZ we are charged 15% Goods and Services Tax on our groceries. There has long been a call for the Govt to remove it from fruit and vegetables but it has not happened. There is much public unhappiness about the cost of food here considering most of what is grown is exported and we are made to pay the same prices as those overseas pay for our food. On the local market the exporters don't have the same costs associated with exporting their produce.

And often our products are on overseas supermarket shelves for less than what we pay.

I made noodles for dinner last night. I cooked some store noodles, saved some of the cooking water, and left the noodles in the colander in the sink while I melted some butter in the noodle pot. You could use butter and/or oil. I took some walnuts from a package of raw walnuts, cashews, and macadamia nuts that Aldi's sells, and toasted them in the butter. The cashews I use for chicken and the macadamias I pop into my mouth. :) Then I toasted just for a minute some chopped garden sage. I took the pot off the heat, added back the noodles, stirred, added grated Romano and the reserved noodle water, and stirred until creamy. I added pepper. If the cheese sticks to your spoon instead of getting creamy, that means the noodles are too hot. Cheap but filling, if you take it easy on the butter. 

A hint for pint jars -- the plastic lids from most brands of mayonnaise and some peanut butter brands will fit standard pint canning jars. So will those green shaker lids from powdered parmesan. I raid my neighbor's recycling basket for the lids :)

I am so glad that you mentioned that you use the food bank. I started using ours about four months ago, and it has helped a lot. I also felt unsure about using it because I worried about depriving someone who might have less than I do. We get a nice variety of food, but this past Friday, there was a lot of produce, which was really nice! I took the amount of fresh produce that I thought I could use up in a reasonable amount of time. However, when I got home, I started to wonder what happens to all that produce if not enough people take it, since it would be two weeks until they are open again, and the produce won't stay fresh that long. When I posted this question on Facebook, several people said that their food pantries give the produce to homeless shelters or soup kitchens. However, we don't have either of those here. Some said that leftover produce goes to farmers for their animals. It would be horrific if that happened with the produce on Friday, as some of it was even organic. Since the farmer who picks up produce probably isn't a food pantry recipient, I wondered if others who aren't food pantry recipients might be able to get produce when they have excess. It might be worth it for people to check it out. Surely they would rather give the food to people rather than animals. I am going to inquire as to what happens to our leftover produce, as I would be more than willing to take it home and can, freeze, or dehydrate it for future use. If I got enough of it, I could also share it with others. I like your idea of building your weekly menus around what you get. I have found that I have some things that I'm not getting through, such as noodles, rice, and potato flakes. I am going to have to be more intentional about using things up. I could try to think like they did in the years of rationing. They had so many of certain things, and it sounds like the rest came from your garden or unrationed foods. In the books about rationing in the UK, it was considered very important that each person ate their allotted share of the rations. I could consider what I get as my monthly rations.

As to your big cabbage, I have dehydrated it and then I later use it in soups.

I don’t freeze much in glass jars, just my bulk yeast in the house and my backup sourdough starter, dehydrated and frozen.  My family doesn’t touch these.  Glass jars are too cumbersome in the chest freezer with people rummaging around.  When I did freeze in glass jars my family would accidentally break them.

My best friends for the freezer are Souper Cubes and my vacuum sealer.  I tried a FoodSaver but it was awful so I returned it and bought a Nesco.  At first I wasn’t sure about using plastic, but I realized most of what I was replacing with my home-cooked meals already had plastic anyway.  Almost every commercially canned food in metal has a plastic coating on the inside of the can.  Even beverage cans have a plastic coating inside and it turns out they have since the 1950s!

Something I have been doing lately is replanting any empty spaces in my garden. Recently, I pulled out something that had died off, and I planted cucumbers there. It says on the back of the package that it is too late to plant them, but I planted them anyway. They seemed to come up and get growing faster than usual, and my first cucumber on the plants will be ready to pick in a few days. So, I replanted other things that it is supposed to be too late to plant. Whether they grow or not, it is probably less than .25 worth of the seeds I planted. I am starting to think about what I could have in a fall garden. I've never planted anything for fall or winter before, but I've heard that some greens and a few other things are very hardy. Since I live in southern MO, I might be able to grow some things longer than I could in other states I've lived in, such as MN and WY. I think sometimes we just get an idea of what can or can't be done, but then when we are in a new situation, we don't challenge whether we could do more in our new situation.

Grandma Donna. As always, I love your patching . I have been patching more lately because of your example.

Also, thank you for the common sense you've shared about food. We often have to eat very basic food. I have worried many, many times about not eating the 'right' way.

God bless you

Rose

I freeze cabbage in chunks and use in soups later.

Just last week I looked this up as a matter of curiosity because it came up in our conversation here at home:  Boston Butt is indeed pork shoulder.  It is called "Boston" because it was a commonly sold meat in Boston and "Butt" because these cuts were stored in big barrels that were called 'butts', so Boston Butt.  Leave it to the Americans to complicate it.  Boston Butts are generally fresh meat where hams are cured meats.

I cannot recommend enough the Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook.  This book has been reprinted many, many times but the recipes and format are the same in ALL printings.  The original copyright was 1910.  Herein are many frugal recipes that use less meat and low-cost ingredients.  I have several favorites that I have used for over 50 years in my own cookery and they are GOOD.  I will say that if you look at Amazon the book can be pricey but you can find them sometimes in thrift and antiques stores and used bookstores if you just keep your eyes open and they are worth every penny you will pay.  

As well they cover lots of basics.

We have a store here called Food Depot that is a cost plus 10%.  They are reasonable on some things and very much NOT reasonable on others.  It pays to know your prices.  BUT what I like at our store is that they have markdown areas.  A buggy mid-aisle for some of the canned/boxed items, a stand in the produce area and a section of the meat counter and they make it worthwhile to look through and see what you might use.  I just bought a dozen Pink Lady apples that looked PERFECT for $2.

Thank you for this blog! I've so enjoyed reading everyone's comments. I especially like the budgeting articles and am hoping you will share your end of the month budget balancing as you have motivated me to follow the detailed budget plan you have implemented. I have my Everything Spent book and my monthly balance book. I'm pretty surprised at how much we do spend and am getting that under control. Once again thank you for all your hard work you do on this blog! 

I can’t stress enough how important we are finding it to practice living on the retirement budget ahead of time!  Several times a week we think of an area we forgot, or we have to refine part of the budget.  I didn’t consider sunscreen when I set the budget for toiletries, because we didn’t use that much — I much prefer to cover up, wear a hat, use a sun umbrella, and stay in the shade.  I didn’t even think of it!  But my husband just had what the doctor thinks is a precancerous area on his face removed, and in two months they will look again and decide if it needs a biopsy.  Once again, she reminded him of the importance of wearing sunscreen, and I agree because he is in the sun a lot more than I am, usually a few hours everyday.

I think it is very important to include a buffer in each budget category to allow for the unexpected expenses.  This year my utilities went up more than my $25 buffer so that is a problem, but it would have been much worse had I not had the extra $25 there.  Another way to handle these increases is to put a certain amount into an emergency fund for such things.  

When doing my six-month average of expenses, I was under budget in every category.  The increase in health insurance and utilities both occurred in July so it will be interesting to see what the next three months show.  

I base each new year's budget on the previous year's averages plus a buffer in each category.  

It seems everyone is cooking a chicken this week. I had a large chicken in the freezer. I thawed it and baked it. It came out dry & somewhat tough. Next, I stewed it in the crock pot on low for 5 hours. That tenderized it somewhat. I also got a good bit of broth. I deboned the chicken & defatted the broth. I made a chicken & rice casserole with about a 1/3 of the meat. I had a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of skim evaporated milk that needed to be used. I put some veg in it. Finally, a moist tasty meal. Meat is expensive so I was determined to salvage the chicken. I still have 2/3 of the meat & 2 containers of broth in the freezer for future meals. We eat pork also. Beef is very expensive in Texas. I buy it on occasion if I can find a piece in the reduced section. Pot roast used to be a economy meal but no more.

I have just had a check around on UK prices and in our Aldi’s you can get pork shoulder from as low as £3.50 per kilo, I tend to get most of my meat from the butchers in our village as do want to support local businesses and the last price I paid there was £5.25 per kilo. I do have to drive to our nearest Aldi but can walk into the village so no petrol money spent plus I get some exercise too :)  

I do worry that if we don’t use the local facilities they will disappear and we are then at the mercy of the big supermarkets.