THEME NIGHTS

(Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza....YUM!!!)
Half the battle of dinner time is having a plan.  My grandmother used to have spaghetti once a week, I believe on Mondays.  She always knew what she would be preparing that night.  I loved the idea, but decided to broaden it to Pasta Night.  I wanted some flexibility.  I had other nights that received themes too.  Tuesday was Taco Tuesday, but changed to Mexican Fiesta for more flexibility and Friday was Homemade Pizza Night.  Then one day I found a new show that really inspired me, The Food Nanny.  She has a passion for rescuing dinner time and her plan uses theme nights every night.  I decided to fill in the blanks and give every night a theme night.  Now, that doesn't mean I can't make pasta on a Thursday or pizza on Sunday, but it does help my planning.  Here are my theme nights:

Monday - Pasta Night
Tuesday - Mexican Fiesta
Wednesday - Crock Pot or Hot Dish* 
(*I can't call it a casserole, for some reason my boys can't stand that name....hence, the Hot Dish)
Thursday - Soup, Salad, Sandwich 
 (or any combination)
Friday - Homemade Pizza Night 
 (if we're busy, this night generally gets pushed to Sunday)
Saturday - Grill or Wok
Sunday - Family Favorites 

Follow the side bar What's for Dinner? to see what I'm making. 

AMERICAN DISCOUNT FOODS

Two years ago, when I was first challenged with our $50/week budget, I was scrambling to figure this out and make my family happy.  It was very difficult to explain why I wasn't buying their favorites anymore - goldfish crackers, fruit snacks, cereals, etc.  I felt confident that I could feed my family, but this was a big change and I didn't want to make the boys feel deprived.  This is where American Discount Foods comes in.  It's located on Extension Road just north of Broadway Road in Mesa, AZ.  I think it's a great place to find some fantastic deals, but it's not your neighborhood grocer.  It's different.  However, if you're willing to look, I'm sure you'll find something worth getting. They have lots of food and other products that come to them from closeouts, discontinued and damaged case products.


So, back to two years ago, I was looking for ways to help the boys not feel so deprived.  Shopping here helped so much in the first few months.  I could buy breaded chicken nuggets, often at $0.99/lb and the desire for fast food meals was calmed.  I could buy pepperoni (which I haven't found for a while) and cooked sausage topping to make our homemade pizzas.  I could buy name brand individual chip bags and the boys felt really spoiled.  We didn't buy them before our budget was "GRANT"ed....SCORE!  They loved going with me during the summer since they could have a say in what was put in the cart.  One time we found Stitch cookies (from Lilo & Stitch).  They were 20/$1.  We bought 20 cookies, but the best part wasn't eating them.  One of my boys figured out that a Stitch cookie was a very valuable trade at the lunch table. It was exciting to hear what his lunchtime trading had awarded him!

Their deals change daily and you never know what's in the store.  You can go to their home page and sign up for emails.  They'll let you know what's on sale that week and when new arrivals hit the store.  Remember, when it's gone, it's gone!  Some other great items we've found at the store over the past two years include: tortillas, bread, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, greek yogurt, blue cheese, Hickman's eggs, breaded chicken patties, soups, salad dressings, steak sauce, cereal, chips, crackers, candy, sodas....you get the idea.  So, how do they do this?  Well, I'll let them answer, this is from their website:

How do we sell so cheap?

We get our food from a wide variety of sources due to closeouts, short codes, discontinued and damaged case products.  If you have shopped here for any period of time you know that most of our products are, “here today & gone tomorrow”, so we always urge our customers to stock up if they find something they like.  At American Discount Foods, you never know what you’ll find; we bring out the bargain hunter in everyone.   You will find some products around the store that are close to or even past its best by date.  This does not mean the product is bad and in almost every case you will have a hard time differentiating between the product before and after the best by date.  Here is a link to the USDA’s site and what they have to say about product dating.  http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Food_Product_Dating/index.asp. 

If you try American Discount Foods out, let me know what you deals you found.

(Reviewing stores will be a regular item on the blog.  All opinions are my own and I'm not compensated in any way for this review.)

FIRST MONEY STRETCHER....SOUP!

My family blog started with my Mita (my maternal grandma), so I think it's fitting that I start my first tip with her.  Despite loathing to cook, (which I still can't believe she disliked it so much!) she cooked everyday.  She made many wonderful meals, but we're going to start with her vegetable soup.  Soup can be as expensive or inexpensive as you like, we like it CHEAP!  Cleaning-out-your-crisper-drawer cheap, which was a perfect excuse for Mita to make it.  Do you have a few veggies that aren't as crisp as you would like....don't throw them out, they are perfect for soup.  Of course, you don't need to be cleaning out the fridge to make this.  I make a huge pot of soup that lasts for dinner and many lunches for my husband and me.

BASIC VEGGIE SOUP

The best part about this recipe is you adapt it to what you have/want in your soup.  Feel free to adjust all the veggies to what you enjoy.  For example: Mita didn't make her soup without a leek, I rarely add leek because of the cost.  If you're wanting a more hearty soup, just add some chicken or white beans to the soup.
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp EVOO
4 c. chicken broth
2 c. water
Seasonings: today I chose rosemary, thyme, poultry seasoning, pepper (feel free to use any seasonings you prefer)
6-8 potatoes, peeled and diced
8 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 yellow squash, diced, sliced or julienned (I did a julienne cut)
2 zucchini, diced, sliced or julienned

 I start by heating the pot over medium heat, then adding the EVOO and chopped onion.  Once the onion is softened, add the garlic and stir for a minute.  Next add the chicken broth, water, diced potatoes and sliced carrots and turn the heat up to med.high or high heat.

 

  Bring the soup to a boil, until the potatoes can be easily mashed with a fork.  Turn down the heat to medium and use a potato masher in the soup.  Breaking the potatoes up releases more starch and will thicken the soup.  You don't need everything broken up, just go around the pot a few times. Now it's time to add the squash.  I usually slice them, but wanted to try something new by using the mandolin to julienne them.  You can turn the heat down to low at this point.  You just want the squash to gently cook and let all the flavors come together.

 YUM!!!!

*FYI*

I buy HACO chicken soup base.  My last container was $22.50 and it makes 16 gallons.  That's roughly $1.40/gal. or .35/quart.  It's a large initial cost, but pays off!!! (I just saw the price is now $25.00 which would change the cost to roughly $1.56/gal. or .39/quart)

I purchase my vegetables either at the local grocery store on sale, on sale at Sprout's or the Superstition Ranch Market.  Check out your local farmers garden, grocery ads, or co-op for your best deal.

This was my latest shopping trip to Superstition Ranch Market.

Eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, watermelon, broccoli, radishes, pears, cucumbers, green onions, tomatoes, apples, cauliflower, red cabbage and brussel sprouts.  

All for a grand total of $13.81

LET'S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING.....A VERY GOOD PLACE TO START

Back in April 2010 our income took a big hit.  After the initial shock, we regrouped and made a plan.  We had our fixed bills that would stay the same.  Then the expendable bills, most of those would go.  Finally the variable bills were reviewed.   We decided that the grocery bill would be slashed!  $50 a week to feed our family of five.  In the beginning we had some help.  We already had a pantry and a closet stocked with food.  Though it wasn't quite a complete years supply, it was quite a bit.  This would prove to be a huge help in those first months.  Not only was the pantry stocked, but so was the kitchen.  Nice pots and pans, pressure cookers, wheat grinder, stand mixer, mandolin slicer, juicer, food processor, rice cooker, blender, crock pot, hand mixer, immersion blender and too many gadgets to mention.

As I started out on this mission (that makes it sound better....and makes me think of Mission Impossible....and that makes me think of Tom Cruise..........) I kept my eye peeled on good deals, new stores, outlets, and INFORMATION!  I spent lots of time on the internet trying to find someone doing what I was doing.  Looking for tips on how to make this work.  I was disappointed.  I found single people or couples living on $50 a week.  Occasionally I would find a family, but many of the tips didn't apply to our situation.  I didn't have my yearly budget in my hand, I had $100 every two weeks.  I couldn't, as one person offered, go buy a side of beef to feed my family for the year.  I wanted help in taking $50 cash in hand to the store and coming back with food to feed us for the week. 

Over the past two years, I've made this work.  I've fed myself, a husband, and three sons (two teenagers and a seven year old) breakfast, lunch and dinner on our budget.  We have recently added to our budget and now I have $60 a week to feed my family.  I want to share how we've done this....and are still doing this.  I hope that this blog will help others as they venture out in their own limited grocery budget missions!  I realize that your budget may not be as low as ours, but these tips, store reviews and recipes will help you curb your budget to where you want it to be.

One final thought.....GRATITUDE!  I can't live without this.  I'm thankful for our $50, now $60 a week.  I'm grateful for living in a city with competitive grocery stores.  I'm grateful I can cook.  I'm grateful for the internet.....lots of information, recipes, blogs.  While it's true that gratitude didn't change our budget, it sure helps me to live with it.  Finally, I'm grateful that I have an outlet to share this information.