Monthly Archives: August 2006

Savings at the grocery store

I shop at Winn Dixie probably more than any other grocery store. I am not real big on clipping coupons. I use them if I have them though. Winn Dixie has a lot of buy one, get one free and lowered prices if you use your Winn Dixie Card. I have saved $2500 since they gave out the cards. My goal is to always save at least 25% when I check out at the register. That means that I try to stock up on the items that are on sale that I use. I might buy l0 cans of green beans this week and it usually lasts me until they go on sale again. I never pay more than $2.50 for a l2 pack of pepsis. Sometimes, I pay $l.99.

I get the sales brochures on Tuesday and go thru them and see what is on sale at Food Lion and Winn Dixie. Because I always go past the Winn Dixie almost every day it is not out of my way. Food Lion is further away from my house but I usually go by it at least once a week. If not, I ask my husband to pick up the couple items I want on his way home from work. It is important not to make extra trips to save a dollar or two and end up spending extra money in the gas tank. Then I make a grocery list on an envelope and put any coupons that will work for the items I am buying that week. Winn Dixie gives away three free items a week if you spend $25. I get them even if I don’t want them and give them away to family members.

I probably have seven large cans of coffee in my home. It was $3.92 at Walmart about a year a go. Now it is $4.92. I definitely stock up on non-perishable items. I never pay the $7.49 for paper towels but buy them on sale for $4.99. Then I buy at least two.

Scott toilet paper is great, too. The larger rolls mean you aren’t constantly changing the rolls. I am convinced it is definitely a better deal to buy Scott even though it is more expensive. I think it has l000 sheets instead of 400 or 600. I buy it on sale, too. I always keep a back up of every product I use that I bought on sale, of course.

I guess I get all “controlling costs” from managing restaurants. I know the price I pay for everything I purchase. I know when I see a good price. And I stock up.

My niece told me she doesn’t have extra money to do that but if you just start small. This week just buy one or two things extra that are on sale that you use on a regular basis.

Don’t buy things just because you have a coupon for it. I have found that I end up wasting money because I try the product and I don’t like it, or I just leave it in my cupboard and it eventually expires.

Cleaning story

I always clean the floor on my hands and knees because I just think I get it cleaner that way. One weekend I asked my daughter to clean the bathroom floor. She said, “I hate to get on my hands and knees and clean the floor.” I said, “use the mop.” She said, “we have a mop?” Makes me wonder what other things I have taught my kids to do the hard way.

It reminds me of the story of the lady cooking a ham for Thanksgiving and cutting the ends off. When her daughter asked why she cut the ends off, she said her mom always did it. When the lady asked her mom why she did it, the mom said because my pan wasn’t big enough for the ham.

Seriously, what HAVE we taught our children?

Healthier taco salad

Boy, this is a meal that you can have on the table in about 20 minutes. Now, I want you to know, I don’t necessarily make things from scratch. I use premade packages of spices for tacos and chili. I figure if I had to keep all those individual spices in my cupboard, they would probably go bad before I used them up.

I braise a pound of hamburger meat in a frying pan and drain it once it all cooked. I then add a half cup of water and the original McCormick’s Taco Seasoning packet and stir until completely mixed. Pretty much the way everyone does it, right?

While the taco meat is cooking, I set the table and cut the vegetables. I cut the lettuce up and put on each plate and then add the cut up tomatoes (lots of them). Then when the meat has cooked down with no excess juices, I add a scoop of taco meat on top of the lettuce and tomatoes. Then sprinkle shredded cheese of your choice and a spoonfull of sour cream. It makes a really nice presentation. NOTICE: no taco chips, just use the inner part of the lettuce so it will be nice and crunchy. You can certainly get out of the kitchen fast with this one because you have so few dishes to wash.

No lump gravy

Hopefully you will try steaming your meat to speed up dinner and make food tender. Once you finish cooking the meat, remove it from the pan. Even though there may be very little juices, you can still make gravy.

Use COLD water….very important. Add flour and stir until all the flour is dissolved into a two cup container.  I usually put about a cup of cold water and maybe two tablespoons of flour. Then I add about l/2 teaspoon of worcheshestire sauce (if it is beef or pork). I then add a beef boullion cube or two. It will depend on your taste buds.

I use a beef boullion in pork gravy because I haven’t ever found a pork boullion cube. It tastes great. Get the pan warm again and slowly add the flour/water mixture stirring continually. Heat on low. Be prepared to add more water as it thickens. It doesn’t matter at that point whether is water is cold or hot when you add more to thin down the gravy.

The most important thing is to add the flour to cold water and stir until dissolved.

If you make biscuits from scratch or even bread your chicken with flour, you will find the flour washes off your hands better with cold water.

Steaming meat for faster meals

If your goal is to get in and out of the kitchen fast…I have some really fast meal ideas.

Steaming your meat will make it tender and cook faster. For example, pork chops. I take them out of the freezer or refrigerator if I was smart enough to take them out the night before and put them into the refrig. I put the pork chops in a frying pan with enough water to come up halfway on the pork chops. I sprinkle some Worcheshire sauce and garlic salt and some Nature’s Seasoning and cover. Let them steam for about l0 minutes. I then cut half an onion and flip the chops over and add the onions and cover again. Sometimes, I wait until the water is all but gone and add a little butter to make the pork chop brown nicely. Other times I make gravy and let the pork chops simmer for a couple more minutes. In half an hour, your pork chops are tender and while they are steaming, you have time to make the other items for dinner. Steaming also works for chicken.

Goodwill shopping

I go to Goodwill a couple times a month. The Goodwill closest to my home puts out new stuff every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I love antiques so I am hoping to find an overlooked antique at dirt cheap pricing. I did find a silver candlelabra for $l.99 and I researched it’s value and found one just like it selling on Ebay for $l25.00.

Well, the point I really wanted to share is buying cheap plate settings. I have a set of dishes that I normally serve meals on every day. I decided to buy two plates,two bowls (for small salad) and two flat saucers ( for roll or biscuit) all of one pattern. They sell dishes by the piece there. I believe it was less than $3.00. I just wanted to add some variety to the dinner table. Since then I have bought an additional three sets of different patterns. One set is antique. Another has a very deep plate which is great for serving spaghetti or roast and potatoes that has a lot of juice. Some are expensive looking and some are just fun.

Goodwill is a great place for young couples or college kids who don’t have much money. It is also fun for us older folks who just love other people’s junk. Did you know you can buy jeans there for $5? Since it is seems to be popular for the jeans to look worn, it is perfect.

Thought for the day-“Empty Nest” and weight gain

Did you ever think that women may gain weight as they get older because they are still cooking for their family of three, four or five or more?

I was trying to figure out what to fix for dinner tonight and decided to grill some chicken and make a nice salad. I was thinking about healthy food and not a lot of calories. Afterall, tonight is Smallville night and our treat once a week is popcorn, 5 chocolate Kisses each and pepsi for our snack. I was thinking how much better I can cook for two after l0 years of cooking. When “Empty Nest” occured, I kept cooking enough for four. Of course, like a good girl who knows there are people starving in other countries, I tried to clean my plate and sometimes eat extra. I have put on 30 lbs since my kids left home. I am working to get those pounds off. I have a tread mill that I often hang my clothes on.

So, if your children are about to leave home, BEWARE of the pounds that creep onto your body. It’s not a pretty picture.

My favorite cleaning agents

After almost 40 years of cleaning…I have my favorites.

Windex (window cleaner)…mirrors, counters, linoleum floors, carpet stains…love it, love it, love it.

Tide (clothes detergent)…I have used them all or almost. I always go back to Tide. My clothes looked cleaner and more stains are removed

Dawn (dishwashing detergent)… really cuts the grease.

Barkeeper’s Friend…instead of Comet or Ajax. It has the added benefit that it takes out that orange color on your tub or sink. If you have well water, you know what I mean.

Works Toilet Bowl Cleaner…I just like this one because it is so cheap. I just paid $l.07 for a bottle. They all seem to work pretty good.

Scrubbing Bubbles for the shower. I spray down the shower and let it sit while I clean the mirrow and sink and when I go back to the shower, I just wipe it down. Less elbow grease than a lot of the cleaners out there. Be sure and spray the cleaned area with water.

Pinesol … love that clean smell. I actually clean my lineoleum floors on my hands and knees. I put about l/4 cup of Pinesol in a bucket of maybe a half gallon of water. I use a rough scrubber … like those green retangular pads…and then I use paper towels to dry the area off. I don’t like the thought of using a mop and swishing dirty water around and letting it dry. Sometimes I squirt Windex on the floor when I have a dirty spot and throw a paper down on top of it, and scrub it with my foot. Easier on the back.

I also use a bleach spray cleaner for white counter tops in the kitchen. I am still trying various ones to find out my favorite but so far, they all seem to work well.

I love bleach, too. I spray the sides of my home with it when I see that green color on the one side. I use a string mop to do some extra cleaning on the side of the house. It pretty much disappears without scrubbing though and then I just spray water on it after I let it sit for l0 minutes or so.

Keep homemade cookies soft

When I make cookies, which I love to do…lol…I put a slice of bread in the container when I am storing them and it keeps them soft. The moisture goes from the bread into the cookies and the bread becomes hard. Amazing. If I pack a couple cookies for my husband’s lunch, I throw in l/4 piece of bread. Yummy