Mother

That cutting board sure helps.

That is so true. We always seem to be reading His map and trying to see His path for us. Good thing He knows where we are going. Safe journey, Jeepers.

Jeepers. 👍. I was pretty sure you wouldn’t leave it to chance. By the way, I love the vision of God being your copilot.

Euphrasyne, been there done that. Mine were 18,17,16, and new born, back in 1980. By the time I got to go to the bathroom on my own I had a service dog Ho never left my side. Just wait until the grandkids come along. By then you are afraid to go alone. Since my fall I have been using short cuts in the kitchen like precut veggies, and already washed and finding it does help but I’m not sure the cost is worth it. I do like frozen veggies though.

Jeepers, I am sending prayers with you. Be safe Ine home feeling much better. um, did you turn off the water just in case?

I am envious!!! 🤢 We eat a lot of fresh produce and it is especially pricey now in the Midwest. Even frozen is costly. Organic is even higher.

While I can’t eat.a lot of the food you will be having, your Walmart list has really opened my eyes to possibilities for lower costs on the foods I can have. Walmart doesn’t deliver out here but I will sit down and compare prices from my last HyVee order and see if there would be a significant savings. Already I know I pay $1.09 each for small avocados? Twice WM. Then I might have to have a grocery challenge of my own to lower our costs. With the prices of food I was skeptical of your $20 per person per week at first but it really does look possible. 👍

MT3B, That’s a great weeks worth of menus. The Walmart buys are good but even better if you find some bargains. Will you need avocado? I have found them really pricey lately . Wondered if they were cheaper at WM. Great start!

Thanks for this thread. It will help make us all aware of our grocery spending. I actually did set myself a challenge last year to cut our grocery bills by 20% and managed to do that even though I have special diet needs. (Gluten free and etc.) I did grow quite a bit of greens, tomatoes, and beans last year but not more than the year before so I didn’t have to take that into consideration. Because I keep records of my grocery spending I was able to compare last year with the year before and found I did save about 23%. Strangely enough I believe it came about more because I was not in the grocery store very often. Since May neither DH nor I drive any longer so our DD did most of our shopping from a list and I ordered more from Amazon and other web sites. Later in the year I was able to get set up to order groceries delivered from our local HyVee grocery. Even with the delivery fee I saved because I could compare and more importantly shop online at my leisure. Here are some random thoughts. Spend less time in the store to limit impulse buys. Plan menus ahead, basing them according to the sale items for the week. Conversely, make dozens of menus and choose what fits the sales that week. If there is a good buy on what you might use in several recipes, ( like rice) buy extra and subtract that amount from future weeks Compare prices between sale items and buying in bulk. Try to stick to a list ( you will have to decide if you are going to use some of your preps like condiments or staples) Frozen veggies are much healthier but sometimes canned veggies will be cheaper, ounce for ounce, and are good for soups. (I admit I don’t care for them but keep them on hand.) Make your own pasta, bread items, wraps, tortillas, etc. Be sure to compare prices of bought to homemade. A good sale might be cheaper. I also save by growing sprouts in a jar on the kitchen sink. Designated sprout seeds are pricey but go a long long way and they are sooooo easy. I also grow sunflower and pea shoots. They only need a window sill and peas like the cold. I use dry whole green peas from the grocery store for the pea shoots. Most stores only carry split ones, which does not work, but if you can find whole ones they are cheap and will give you weeks of shoots for salads and stir fries. (You can find lots of info about sprouts and shoots online) I probably don’t have to say this but don’t waste anything. Use every part of a product. Veggie peelings for broth, root ends can be regrown to make greens, bones make broth, leftovers make lunches or breakfasts or reformulate them into another meal. Unfortunately many of these ideas take work and time. They might not always be doable for some. But planning ahead will probably be key to cutting spending. I wonder, too, if some of the Mrs S threads for stocking up cheaply might help. Maybe those by Nana? Good luck….

👍

MT3B, can I ask please that you share that challenge with us , perhaps in the kitchen forum? I wouldn’t mind trying that challenge myself though I’m not sure, with my specialized needs, I could get that low. Still, any challenge that has us being frugal would be a good one.

Cat. It is so nice to see you on. Thanks to Mr. Cat for helping.

I just made eight of those tonight, Little Sister. These were egg, sausage patty, and cheese in an English muffin. I wrapped them individually in plastic wrap and then put them in a zip lock bag in the freezer. DH can just take one out and thaw it in the microwave, add a Dish of fruit and have a filling breakfast. Or lunch or snack anytime. 🍔

You might want to save back a few in case one of yours ever needs to be replaced. Even the new owners might appreciate that. Sell him all the unopened boxes and keep the odd ones.

If DD and her family weren’t nearby we wouldn’t be living here now that neither of us drives. It is another reason to be on good terms with your neighbors. We used to but they have all moved way and new people have moved in.

🌹 I hope your day was WONDERFUL.

it’s nice to know you are here. We miss you! 🫂

Dee, do you find the scrambled eggs get tough in the freezer as hard boiled do? I haven’t the scrambled but plain fried eggs sometimes do. Perhaps it is the air mixed into the scrambled eggs that keep them tender.

Continuing for you and your family. Get well soon!

Me tooo, me toooo what Becca said.

I won’t. I swear I won’t….

Ummmm, what would be left to freeze if not the eggs in egg salad?

I DO remember those freezer boxes and still have some somewhere. I even have Tupperware ones. I bet they would work for stacking garlic bread and etc too. Freezing the bread flat first would make it easy to remove one slice at a time…. 👍

I was gifted a couple silicone “Souper Cubes” I use to freeze things. They come in different sizes but mine have four one cup sections. They come with a nice lid. The food comes out as square blocks which fit nicely in zip lock or food saver bags and stack really great. I freeze all sorts of food on cookie sheets then put them in bags for easy use. I make up sausage or other meat patties and freeze them that way before stacking them in bags. I can take out just what I need. Euphrasyne, that’s a great idea about the garlic bread! This is such a fun thread. I’m sure we have other similar ones but it’s good to revisit ides. I’m getting several great suggestions. Thanks everyone!

I do freezer meals because of my restricted diet. I sometimes do separate meals for DH so senior solo here too. I always label and date my meals but I also add instructions if needed, like oven temp if baking. I love my home made freezer meals. We don’t go anywhere unless someone takes us so no running to town for us. My energy levels fluctuate so greatly that I make them up and freeze them when I feel reasonably energetic and use them when I am too tired or unable to cook. I used a whole lot of them the first few weeks after my fall and was sooooo grateful I had them. They all need to be replaced now so your list was extremely timely. Now I can put a few different meals away?