How Much Money Could You Be Saving.....

in the Kitchen if you would only plan better and use up leftovers and here's a big one shop at home first.

If we would implement these 3 steps we could all save a lot more money. And now a days that is a much needed plan for most of us.

Here are a few tips to get you started on your path to saving more in the kitchen.

1. make a menu,make it as detailed as you can.

2. when making your menu start using leftovers in your menu plans and make a it a habit.

3. see how many meals you can make out of a chicken,ham,roast,ect to make those food dollars streeettccchhhh.

4. Don't let those leftovers sit in the refrigerator and become a science experiment. Use them up,you have already paid for that food,went through the time to make it and serve it,don't waste your time and money by letting it go to waste.

5. When making your menu and shopping list,SHOP AT HOME FIRST!!!! Start with day one,if you keep your inventory up to day this is a very simple job if not it may take a little more time but it's worth it. Hint:keep your inventory up to date and accurate to save you more time and money. I like to get my lists and my menu notebook with the sale adds and coupons,sit down and take the needed time to get a good detailed menu and shopping list. If you need any help on how to do this check out this article I wrote with details broken down just how to do a detailed menu and shopping list.

By first shopping at home and using up leftovers when making making your menu. You will save so much more money. Then when making your shopping list you will only need to add what you need or of course if the grocer is having an awesome deal on an item your family uses then by all means add it to your list, if it fits within your grocery budget. Now if you find an awesome sale and you have coupons to go with that item,you can get an even bigger deal and can use this strategy to stock up until the next sale.

Now all these tips and tricks will do you no good if you go over your grocery budget or don't set one. Figure out how much you have to spend at the store,if you are spending to much cut it back some until it's at a low enough rate that is still comfortable for your family size but not as much as you spending. Use your savings to save up for bulk buying or to pay off debt or put into savings.

Here is another article I wrote that you may enjoy and find helpful. What I've been doing to keep food costs down.

I would love to hear what you all are doing to cut back or streeetttcccchhhh those food dollars!!!!

Menu Monday

Monday - sals steak,mash potatoes,green beans

Tuesday - smoked sausage,mac & cheese,apple sauce

Wednesday - pancakes and eggs

Thursday - Crockpot Roasted chicken,mash potatoes,gravy,corn

Friday - Cream of chicken,buttermilk biscuits,leftovers

Saturday - Chicken casserole,left biscuits

Sunday - Leftovers

Menu Monday

I heard that quote from thehappyhousewife and thought it was cute.

Sunday- nuggets,mac & cheese,green beans

Monday - quick been strog. homemade rolls,salad

Tuesday - crockpot roasted chicken,mash potatoes,gravy,carrots

Wednesday - Steak burgers,french fries,cucumber salad

Thursday - crockpot chicken and potatoes , salad, buttermilk biscuits

Friday - Pork chops,fried potatoes,sliced peaches

Saturday - grilled chicken breast,french fries,green beans,cucumber salad

I am using up as much as I can in our freezer. I'm really trying to use up the older stuff first.

I have been doing GREAT!

One of my goals for saving money and living frugally was to get a cap on our grocery bill. I was spending from 170.00 to 215.00 a week on groceries for our household. Now this did include household items and pet supplies but still it was much much to high and it was my goal to get it down.

So I thought I'll go a little at a time. I thought I'll get it to 150.00 a week, this was the budget that I was planning on anyway and I was over this each week. So I thought this was a good place to start. I had no plans to go any lower as I thought this was a good limit for my family of 5,2 dogs and a cat. Thinking that was fair and that I could swing this easily.

Well now lets fast forward a month and a half and I'm proud to tell ya'll that I have met that goal. As a matter of fact I met that goal and well I thought why not keep going. I wanted to see how low I could get that grocery budget without going to tight. Now I am going to tell you I am far from perfect with this and I'm still getting the hang of all this but I'm really doing well.

I have surprised myself with how well I am doing. For the past 3 weeks I have spent less than 100.00 dollars for all that we need here. Now given that I am well stocked here at home. I buy things when they are the lowest I can get them for and if I have coupons to go with that oh so sweet deal that makes that deal even sweeter!!!!

Stocking up this way,we have stocked up on meat for our deep freeze,can foods,boxed foods,dish detergents,shampoos,deodorants,mouth wash,toothpaste,soap,ect. You get the picture! I find that stocking up this way is saving us hundreds of dollars.

Why didn't I get the hang of this a long time ago! All the money we could have saved!!!! Well no sense in crying over spilt milk,just pick up and move on with my new sense of empowerment as I stock my shelves with rock bottom sale items! Just the thought of it makes me happy and want to jump for joy (if I could actually jump ).

I'll close this for now with thoughts of rock bottom line sale prices dancing in my head!!!! Oh how I love saving money.

God Bless,
Tammy

I'm making strives!

I have had the conviction to change how my family eats. I use to make our bread,buttermilk,spreadable butter,yogurt. On top of eating more fruits and veggies and whole grains. Well since being down with my back for so long,I opted for the quick convenience of prepackaged convenience foods. As a result we don't feel as well as we normally do.

So in my quest to change my families eating,I'm making small steps. I can't make our bread just yet as I can't be on my feet for very long before pain sets in,but that doesn't mean I can't make a difference in the small steps I take.

Last night's dinner was something my husband wanted to fix all week and was not on the menu until Saturday but being the flexible gal I am,I switched my menu days. No biggie.

So we had BBQ LiL Smokies,grilled smoked sausage,fried potatoes,and as our vegetable I feel and sliced a couple of cucumbers and added just enough Italian dressing so you taste it but not so much that it gets messy on our plates.

A little history here,my kids have never really liked cucumbers but last night was a new page in the Channel Family healthy eating adventures. They loved them! While my pickiest eater in the house Little C was leery of even trying them. She finally gave in once she realized she couldn't leave the table until she at least tried them. Sooooo she did and I heard.... Hmmmm. I asked her so you like them. She looks at me and said NO! Then at the rest of it. She didn't eat all I put on her plate but she tried them (big step for her) and she liked them ok enough to finish the slice she started on.

Baby steps will get you there!!!!

God Bless,
Tammy

Honey Mustard Chicken

This is becoming one of my families favorite ways to eat chicken. I got the original recipe from Love In The Kitchen cookbook.

I use leg quarters for this recipe.

4 to 5 leg quarter
3/4 c honey
1/3 c yellow mustard
2 TBS paprika
1/4 C butter melted
1/8 tsp pepper

Place chicken in baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle chicken with pepper.

In small bowl mix all above ingredients except of course the pepper. Once well blended,pour over chicken.

Place in oven that has been heated to 325* and let it bake for about 40 to 45 minutes turning over 1/2 through cooking. You'll know it's done when the juice run clear.

The chicken will have a nice golden color,it's so good.

The Grocery Game

Since reading her book, I decided to give The Grocery Game a shot. That means that I will be moving my shopping day to Tuesday mornings instead of Monday's. I'm anxious to see how much this will save us. I do a lot of stocking up shopping as it is now so I'm curious to see if this will bring our spending down even more while increasing out stock.

Time will tell!

God Bless,
Tammy

Menu 2/25 - 2/28

Wednesday - Soup Beans,corn bread

Thursday - Beef Roast,creamy mash potatoes,peas,green beans and sliced tomatoes

Friday - Open Face Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches,leftovers and sliced peaches

Saturday - Beef and potato stew,buttermilk biscuits

I am using only one meat item from our freezer this weeks. The rest of this weeks including tonight's dinner was made using leftovers.


God Bless,
Tammy

What I've been doing to keep food costs down

One thing that I have always been so bad at and that is using up leftovers. With the cost of food so high I am making myself use them up. I aim to not throw away anything that can be eaten. That's like throwing your hard earned money in the trash.

With meat,I divide it up into one serving per person in our household. If John is going to take some in his lunch then I add a serving for him. This way I'm getting more meals from packages that I buy. I normally get the largest package we can afford to get,when I find it at a really good prices. Right now in my freezer I have several packages of chicken,a whole chicken,a large roast,pork chops and that's just off the top of my head.

I can make tons of meals from the chicken,it's such a versatile food that it adapts easily to most recipes. The roast can become 3 different meals, meal 1 the roast with fixings. meal 2 open faced hot roast beef sandwiches and meal 3 beef and potato stew with biscuits. Using the last bit of the roast for the stew.

I do the same with ham. I'll have the ham dinner for meal 1. Then have ham slices with sides for meal 2 or ham and mac & cheese casserole, and for meal 3 soup beans using the bone and any bits of ham I have leftover.

It's my goal to use as much as I can before moving on to another. This way I'm wasting less and our food is going longer.

So my goals look like this....

1.shop and get the best price for everything we buy. Using coupons when I can as often as I can.
2. putting the food away properly as soon as I get home. Using my vacuum sealer to seal the meat in portions appropriate for my family size.
3. making my menu and sticking to it
5. using up all of the food in the menu so I'm not wasting food
6. Making more than one meal from what is on my menu whenever it is possible to do so.
7.shop at home first and use your shopping trip to stock up more.

Using these tactics is helping keep my home well stocked with food and my grocery bill under control. Not to mention using up what we have before moving on. It takes some control and you have to be determined to do this but it's easy to achieve if you set your mind to do it and just do it.

God Bless,
Tammy

I stocked up a bit this week

When John and I went shopping this week I took advantage of the sales at Kroger and stocked up on some meat items and can items. All in all I was only $10.00 over our budget of 150.00 a week for groceries. I was pleased. I saved almost 61.00 in coupon and Kroger savings. I'm really getting into this whole coupon thing. LOL I love watching the amount fall and owing so much less when I have to pay.

So now my pantry is nice and stocked with lots of veggies and can foods. The freezer is getting there too. Just the way I like it. A few more good sales and it should be well stocked as well.

Do you use coupons to help cut cost? Do you do pretty well?

One thing I noticed lately is that in our area there are now more coupons in the Sunday's paper than there normally is. I even noticed a new coupon provider in there this past Sunday. I hope this is a regular thing. That on top of getting coupons loaded to my Kroger card from
http://pgesaver.com and www.shortcuts.com I am able to stack my coupons to get the most off my grocery total.

If you are not a coupon user I urge you to give it a try. Start small and slow and soon you will get the handle on it and you'll be surprised of how much you can really save if you are a careful shopper.

God Bless,
Tammy

Menu 12/8 -12/13

Monday - chicken nuggets,mac & cheese, corn

Tuesday - spaghetti,garlic bread,salad

Wednesday- (wrestling meet) hot dogs,mac & cheese,applesauce

Thursday - crockpot teriyaki chicken,noodles,green beans,sliced peaches

Friday - quick beef stroganoff,pineapple chunks,cream peas

Saturday - oven fried chicken breast,mash potatoes,gravy,green beans,cream corn

P.S. I will post in a bit about our week and I have some pictures to share with you about Brandon's wrestling meet on Saturday.

A Little About Honey

I use honey more often over sugar in my baking,because it's natural and doesn't reek havoc on your insulin levels like sugar can. I found this article a long time ago on http://www.thefamilyhomestead/ and kept it to read when I need to.

A Little About Honey

If you are trying to use less refined white sugar in your diet then you may want to consider using honey.

It is one of the oldest forms of sweetener and is the only truly natural sweetener that needs no other processing done to it, other than removing it from the hives.

Honey contains some B vitamins as well as minerals. It is easily digested and has fewer calories than sugar for an equal amount of sweetening power.

When purchasing honey be sure to buy it raw. Raw honey has not been heat treated to kill off all the nutritionally good things. If you suffer from allergies to pollen than consuming raw honey from a local source can help to build immunities to those local pollens.

Honey that crystallizes is normal and is a good sign that the honey has not been processed. If your honey crystallizes simply set the container in warm water for 10 to 15 minutes and it will thin out again.

When you are using honey for baking it helps to measure oils first and then measure the honey in the same container. This helps the honey not stick and slide out easily.

You can use your favorite recipes and replace the honey with sugar. I would suggest using a ½ cup to ¾ cup honey for every cup of sugar called for. Also you will need to reduce the amount of liquid in your recipe by about ¼ cup.

Here is an easy and tasty recipe using honey:

Honey Muffins Yield: 12 muffins

2/3 cup honey
½ cup orange juice
1/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour, freshly ground
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
½ t salt

In a medium bowl combine honey, orange juice, butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix this very well. In a smaller bowl combine dry ingredients and mix well. Put the dry mixture into the liquid and mix until just moistened. Fill muffin cups about 2/3rd’s full. Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes or until nice and golden.

Crystal Miller

Burgers Hot of The Grill

Hamburgers
By:Tammy Channel

We enjoy grilling burgers out on the grill. Here's my recipe it's a huge hit at our house.

2 lbs hamburger
3 TBS garlic powder
1/8 C. Worcester sauce
3 TBS onion powder

Drop hamburger,garlic powder,onion powder and Worcester sauce in a mixing bowl. Mix well with hands. Take a chunk of hamburger,about the size of 2 golf balls. Form in ball in hands and the press into a patty. I like to make mine a little thin so they don't shrink up as bad on the grill.
Place on hot grill cook until juices run clear when pressed with spatula.

**Hint**
I often make up a triple batch of burgers then freeze them. I put them in freezer bags normally 4 to 6 per layer,then put a piece of wax paper in between each layer of burger to prevent them from sticking together when freezer.

Let's Talk Inventory

Nowadays it seems like we are facing higher costs in every aspect of our lives. It's more and more challenging to keep costs at bay but all the more important. One of the biggest expenses we all have is our grocery bill. With the costs of food rising higher and higher it's wise to conserve and save to keep costs down.

One way is to keep your inventory up to date. Know what you have and use it up first. A well stocked pantry can be a life saver when your funds are low or the bills are high. If you know what you have on hand and keep your inventory up to date you can throw meals together quicker. You won't miss any ingredients because you will know what you have and don't have and know what to get or not get and this alone can save you money.

How many times have you went to the grocery store and come home and realize you forgot a vital ingredient for a dish you need to prepare that night because you assumed you had it. If you had a good running inventory this would not have happened. It's really easy to keep up but yes it's a little work to start. I print off pages from http://www.cindysporch.net/kitchen/kmain.shtml she has cute little inventory pages for the pantry,fridge and freezer and they are free. You must have adobe reader to get them for they are in pdf file form. She has a link to download it for free is you need it.

I do mine as follows......

Ok say that I have 12 cans of cut green beans

I list it...

Cut green beans - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

now when i use the up I put a mark or an x in the space when I need to make my grocery list I look at my inventory sheets and if I see I'm low on an item by how many blank spaces I have left then I know i Need to stock up on that item and do so.

It's a little work to start but it's worth it in the long run. If you have to start slow do one shelf at a time it's ok at least your doing something that is going to benefit your family and your finances.

Honey Nut Twists

1 package (1/4 ounce size) active dry yeast
1/4 C warm water
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs butter,melted
1 C sour cream
1 egg
2 1/2 C flour,more as needed

**Glaze**
1/3 C packed brown sugar
3 Tbs butter,melted
3 Tbs honey,warmed
3 Tbs heavy cream

**Filling**
1/3 C butter,softened
1/4 C finely chopped nuts
1/4 C honey

In a mixing bowl,combine yeast and water,let stand 5 minutes. Stir in sugar,salt and butter. Add sour cream and egg,beat until smooth. Add 1 1/2 C flour. Blend at low speed until moistened. Blend 3 mins. at medium speed,scraping bowl twice. By hand,stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface,knead until smooth and elastic about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl turning once to grease top.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size,about an hour. Combine glazed ingredients,spread evenly in a 13x9x2 inch baking dish; set aside. Punch down dough roll into a 24x9 inch rectangle.

Combine filling ingredients,spread over dough.
Fold dough lengthwise over filling,forming a 12x9 inch rectangle. Cut lengthwise into six 9 inch x 2 inches pieces. Twist each piece loosely and place over glaze in baking dish. Cover and let rise until double in size,about an hour.

Bake @ 350*F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Invert plan onto a large platter: let set 1 minute before removing. Serve warm or refrigerate overnight.

I don't remember where I got this recipe but I think it was a recipe email list years ago.

Cheesy Potatoes

I made this the other night and it was a hit with everyone but J but he hates change anyway. LOL

Cheesy Potatoes
By:Tammy Channel

2 1/2 pounds potatoes,peeled and cut
water enough to cover the potoatoes
1 tbs salt


Peel the taters and cut them,rinse them off and toss them into you pot. Cover them with COLD water and add your salt. Let them cook until soft,I poke mine with a fork to teste the doneness,when they break apart easily and don't stick to the fork they are done.

Remove pan from heat and pour potatoes to a colendar to drain off the water. Place in a large mixing bowl or your mixer bowl. Turn on to start mashing to taters.

Add a stick of butter,cut up, and continue mashing. Then add 1 cup of evaporated milk and keep going until it's all mixed in.

Then add 4 oz of cream cheese cut up and let it keep stirring and mashing until the cheese is completely melted into the taters.

Serve with your favorite main coarse and a side of homemade ww rolls.

MYO:Spreadable Butter

By: Tammy Channel

2 sticks of butter(not margarine)
3/4 - 1 cups of canola oil (not vegetable)

Set the butter out to come to room temperature.

Place them in your mixing bowl (I used my kitchen aide,but I'm sure you can do this with a hand mixer as well)

Turn on the mixer on the lowest setting to allow the whisk to start breaking up the butter. Slowly start adding the oil 1/4 of a cup at a time until completely mixed.

Pour into a storage container,labeled and stick in the refrigerator and let it chill.

This will be much thinner than you are use to seeing when you buy spreadable butter in the store. This will not be the case when it's chilled, it will set then and be just like what you remember. It tastes great to!

Use canola oil because it's a heart healthy oil, you could probably use olive oil as well for this but I've never done this due to the stronger flavor of olive oil. The canola oil has a very mild flavor and works really well for this.

Hint: If you would like to make the type of butter they have at The Texas Roadhouse. Then just add 1 tsp of cinnamon at the end of your mixing and let it blend well with the butter. Then follow the above directions.

Productive Wednesday

Good afternoon everyone. The cooler temperatures are still with us but the sun is out and nice breeze is blowing making it very nice to hang the laundry to dry.

I have had a pretty productive day today. I got most of the household chores done early and 3 loads washed before noon. I'm not taking a break to blog for a bit while eating a sandwich. I have the pinto beans cooking and will make the dinner rolls very soon. I'm thinking of maybe putting some cheese and a bit of garlic in the middle of each roll as I'm preparing them. If I do it I'll let you know how it turns out.

B cut his half of the grass already and we are now waiting for J to get out there and get his half done and the weed eating.

I've had a couple of questions asked by commenter, I'm going to address those on this post.

Laura asked why I'm using the wringer washer and not my automatic washer. My automatic washer's motor went bye bye. And instead of going into more debt to go right out and buy another washer, I had that old wringer washer that I've used a few times in the basement and checked it out to see if it was still usable. Needless to say it was and is and thank the Lord it is. We are saving for a new washer, I really want a front loader because it uses less energy and such than the top loading ones do,so that's what we are saving for. Until then it's me and the wringer washer. LOL

Ianelle I didn't address the dad's in my post about girls and modest dress because I was speaking from the point of a mother and a woman. But I agree with you the dad's should step in and do something. If you would like to read the post here it is What's Going On!

Menu 6/15 - 6/21

Breakfast

cereal
scrambled eggs,toast
waffles,sausage links
oatmeal,toast
cocoa wheat's

Lunch

leftovers
grilled cheese
sandwiches

snacks

sandwiches
fruit
veggies
yogurt

dinner

Sunday - Grilled bacon cheese burgers,chips,watermelon

Monday - BBQ Chicken legs,mac & cheese,green beans,watermelon

Tuesday - Grilled pork chops, french fries,tossed salad,cantaloupe

Wednesday - Sausage patties , scrambled eggs,toast,sliced strawberries

Thursday - Italian pinto beans,ww dinner rolls,salad,cantaloupe

Friday - Crockpot honey glazed chicken breast-mash potato bake,green beans,grapes

Saturday - Little C's b-day party - hotdogs on the grill,chips,corn on the cob,bake beans,cake and ice cream.

This weeks grocery shopping

It went well. I spent 188 and some change but I did some stock up shopping. Kroger had a pretty good sale going on some stuff so I took advantage of it. I got a killer deal on pork chops .99 a lb and I got 2 large family size packages and paid less than 10 bucks for the both of them. YEAH! I'm hoping this trend continues for a couple more weeks so I can get our inventory built up again.


God Bless,
Tammy