Q&A: ...Should I Stop Stockpiling?

Question:  My stockpile is pretty full and my freezer is at it's limit, should I stop stockpiling?

I actually felt this way last summer.  I had a full pantry including 20 boxes of cereal, 4 canisters of oatmeal, cans of green beans, bags of beans, etc.  Our financial resources were very slim and I decided I'd make meals from our pantry and not buy any new pantry items.  We focused on purchasing milk, cheese, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables.  We did this for two months with no problems.  Then all of sudden, we were slap out of everything.  It sort of happened all at once!  I took for granted my pantry, assuming we still had certain foods when we didn't.  I felt like I did before I started couponing. 

If your stockpile is relatively full, I wouldn't stop stockpiling altogether.  Instead, purchase two of each sale item during the slim months.  Even if you can purchase only one of the sale item, it will keep you from becoming "Mother Hubbard's Cupboard".  I realized this a little too late and had to jump back into full swing purchasing my normal 4 of each sale item.  Our grocery budget didn't always allow it, and I started going over budget for the first month.  After the initial month, everything started leveling off and was back to normal.   

In the end, you have to do what works best for you.  This is only from my own experience.  

Enjoy!

Q&A: Do you use a Menu Planning System or Program?

photo credit

A while back a friend sent me a message on Facebook asking me about menu planning:

Do you use a menu planning system or program?

My answer is: Nope.

Sometimes I think it might be easier to plug the information into a system or program, but I'm way too much of a control freak to allow something or someone to plan our meals.

So how do I plan?

Remember, I'm a couponer first and foremost.  This allows me to stockpile rice, pasta, spaghetti sauce, frozen vegetables, canned green beans (this is my husband's only real vegetable he'll eat and he prefers them in the can), cereal, oatmeal and peanut butter (to name just a few of the basics). 

I stockpile proteins at certain price points:

• Chicken breasts (with skin and bones, I think they are more flavorful) when they are on sale for $.99/lb or less.  I usually purchase 3 or 4 packages (each package normally has 3 large 1lb chicken breasts).  
• Ground beef is rarely on sale, but the best price I've found was at our local Food Depot for $1.49/lb and I purchase 8 lbs.  
• Fish fillets at $2.99/lb, I can find this at Food Lion and Aldi.  
• Pork Chops are indeed rare for us.  Sometimes I check the reduced bin at Food Depot or Kroger.  They'll have it marked down to $1.99/lb or less and I'll get a couple of packages.  
• Pork Roasts are perfectly priced on sale for $.89/lb or less.  
• My goal price for whole chickens is $.79/lb but I've paid $.99/lb when I was in a pinch. 
• When I find Beef Roasts on sale for $1.99/lb, I'll pick one up.

Each month the grocery stores offer these items on sale.  Some things are seasonal, like ground beef, but for the most part, you'll see the prices dip once or twice during the month.  When you've decided what is the best price for you to pay for something, you should stockpile enough to get you through the month.  Most stores cycle prices every 4-6 weeks.  So you'll want to pick up enough at the best price until the next time it's on sale.

I find spending about 30-60 minutes once a month, can reduce the stress of "what's for dinner" throughout the month.  It saves on your budget, i.e. eating out, impulse buying...these can add up. 

The next step is to review what's in your freezer and pantry from the previous month's purchases.  Some find it easy to keep a list of what's in the freezer so things don't get overlooked.  Once you've used that item, mark it off your list.

To make it even easier to plan meals, I specify certain types of meals for specific days of the week.  Printing a calendar helps make this easier for me, but you can use a calendar you keep on your wall or in your purse.  Check the calendar for special occasions, gatherings, date-nights, out of towners and what not.  Mark the calendar so you'll not have to plan meals for those nights.  

Monday - Crock Pot Meal/Chicken

Tuesday - Leftover Meal/Soup

Wednesday - Breakfast for Supper

Thursday - Tex Mex/Bean Night

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - Try a new recipe/Dinner Out

Sunday - Crock Pot Meal/Family Favorites

This changes monthly, but Wednesday and Friday are almost always the same.

I have several cookbooks I reference for new recipes.  I also regularly check food blog carnivals, you can find delicious tried-and-true recipes with detailed instructions on how to prepare the dish.  You can find a list of those carnivals at the bottom of most of my recipe posts.  And of course, I love the Food Network, and often get inspiration from the many chef's recipes.  Sometimes I need to tweak the recipe to feed my family, but it gives you starting place.  

So that's it in a nutshell.  I hope you'll give meal planning a try if you're not already doing so.  I would suggest starting out with a simple weekly plan so you don't feel overwhelmed.  Once you get that down pat, you can try to be a little more adventurous by planning 2 weeks worth of meals.  After that, you'll be ready for monthly planning.  It's really not that hard, in fact, I'll have been planning our monthly meal plan for an entire year come December!  And I can tell you, it's been working for me for a year!

Enjoy!

Q&A Saturday: Purees - How Do You Use Them?

Mandy asked:

I love my "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook. I have a bunch of pureed veggies in my freezer now that I should probably try to use up soon. I'd love to know how you use things like purees in your recipes - a future post perhaps? hint, hint. :-)

Thanks for asking Mandy!  I love to answer questions y'all might have, so ask away!

First of all I have to tell you I love love love my Magic Bullet (and No they didn't pay me to say that!)  My Momma bought a two-for-one special on TV and gave us one as a gift.  I've used it for everything from purees, smoothies, salsas, guacamole, baby food, spice grinder...it's amazing and totally worth the money.  And this is what I use to make all my purees.  They come out smooth every time.

I do love the Deceptively Delicious cookbook.  In fact, my cousin is the one who told me about it a couple of years ago.  I've only used it to make a Blueberry Crumble which utilized pureed spinach.  And believe it or not, I really could not taste it after it cooled down.  Before then though, oh yes, you could smell the spinach...  I also made the Brownies using the pureed spinach.  It was good too.  But you have to cool it down, even put it in the fridge.  It's very dense and cake-like.  

Pureed spinach has made it's way into my Baked Ziti and really any time I remember to use it, I'll add it to spaghetti sauce.  It changes the color from red to a rusty color.  Not really bad at all and it tastes the same, only more healthy.  

I've also finely chopped spinach so it could masquerade as "parsley" in a turkey meatloaf, meatballs, and hamburgers.  Yes, please don't tell my hubby!  He really thinks it's parsley!

Pureed cauliflower has been known to show up in the mashed potatoes.  I pureed frozen cauliflower and instead of adding butter, I poured the puree in, mixed it up and then added just about a tablespoon of butter.  It was really good and my husband had no idea!  It tasted remarkably good too!

Pureed butternut squash is a favorite of mine.  I love to add it to muffins, pancakes and breads.  I also love to sneak it into my kids' macaroni and cheese.  I'm trying to get away from purchasing the "blue box" mac and cheese, although my kiddos LOVE it.  When it's nearly free at the store, I do buy it for them and use this method of adding the butternut squash.  Before adding any milk, pour in about 1/2 cup pureed butternut squash and then adjust the milk and butter.  I'm going to tinker with this using a homemade cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese, I'll let you know how that turns out.

Pureed applesauce is delicious as a substitute for oil in most recipes as is pureed prunes (just use baby prunes in the jars).  I use applesauce in a homemade pancake recipe that is not only healthy but it's super delicious!

How about you?  Do you use pureed veggies in your meals?   

Q&A Saturday: I didn't get my coupons, now what?

Carrie asked, "Do you know where it's possible to get the Sunday inserts if you miss a week?"

This has happened to me before.  I purchased the newspaper but the inserts had already been taken out!  It's sad but true.  

There are a couple of solutions:

1.  Hit the "green store"!  That's right, go dumpster diving in recycle bins.  You'd be surprised how many people toss out their coupons.

2.  Visit the library.  Your local library may carry a variety of newspapers.  However, the smaller newspapers may not carry all of the coupons that the larger ones receive. 

3.  Purchase whole inserts online.  There are a couple of places to purchase whole inserts online:

• Coupons & Things by Dede
• Collectable Coupons
• Hot Coupon World also lists other clipping services and/or trading sites
• eBay.  Be careful when purchasing coupon inserts from eBay.  READ the entire auction carefully.  Also make sure the seller has good feedback.  Purchasing from sellers with a high volume can result in good and bad service.  I try to pick someone who is middle of the road and have never been dissatisfied.

Hope that helps!

Q&A Saturday: Once-A-Month-Cooking

Recently I received a question about Once-A-Month-Cooking from my cousin's wife, Sarah:

"I saw a little while ago that you did a oamc day. How did it go for you? I am thinking about trying it myself, but wanted to get your thoughts. And, if it went well did you get the actual cook book for oamc? Or were you able to find enough meals on line?"

These are great questions and I thought it might be beneficial for everyone who follows this blog to know the answers.

I've been participating in Baking Day/Freezer Cooking Day/OAMC Day for just a few months now.  I learned about this wonderful idea from Crystal at Money Saving Mom and Jessica at Life as Mom.  I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't stumbled upon their blogs.  After my first OAMC day, I was hooked!  I knew right then and there this could be a huge time-saver for me.  In fact, I love it so much, I start planning the next month's OAMC day two weeks ahead of time.  

I started out creating weekly meal plans and after I did the first OAMC day, I realized having a monthly meal plan in place would be easier to plan what to actually cook or bake on OAMC day.  I used what pantry items and freezer items I had purchased the previous month and planned accordingly.  Just before OAMC day, I create a time table to keep me on track so I utilize every available minute.  I wash up all my kitchen towels in preparation for lots of messes.  I try to organize everything in the kitchen so the plans will come off without a hitch.  But, as many of you know, where there are children, comes changes even for the best laid plans.  

To help out with planning meals, I decided to break it down by days:

Monday: Classic 3 Course Meal (meat, starch, veggie)

Tuesday:  Casserole

Wednesday:  Breakfast for Supper (cheap eats for sure!)

Thursday:  Soup

Friday:  Pizza 

Saturday:  Tex-Mex 

Sunday:  Crock Pot meal

Using this plan has made it easier.  Instead of trying to figure out 28-30 meals, I just need to focus on two casseroles (I double each one and we eat them twice for four meals).  Four soup meals, Four pizza meals, four crock pot meals, four breakfast for supper meals, four classic meals.  It doesn't seem to be as overwhelming when I look at it from this angle.  

As for my favorite online sites for research, I love these:

Crock Pot 365 - She cooked in her crock pot for 365 days and created a cookbook about it!

Once A Month Mom - She is currently writing a series about OAMC.  A definite must-read.  She includes a monthly meal plan (for the following month so you can purchase what you need when it's on sale during the current month), grocery lists and recipes.

These are some of my favorite sites for freezer recipes:

Frugal Menu Mammas

Soopermom's Dump Chicken Pages

Freezer Supper Swappers

30 Meals in One Day

I've borrowed one book from the library:

Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer: Great-Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead  by Susie Martinez, Bonnie Garcia and Vanda Howell.

I've also requested these and still waiting on them to come in at the library:

Once-A-Month Cooking, Revised and Expanded: A Proven System for Spending Less Time in the Kitchen and Enjoying Delicious, Homemade Meals Every Day

Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites: More Great Recipes That Save You Time and Money from the Inventors of the Ultimate Do-Ahead Dinnertime Method

I got a couple of yummy sounding recipes from the Don't Panic Cookbook, and I'm going to be trying a couple of them next month.

I can't wait to get back into the kitchen in a few weeks!  I hope you'll join us.  If you have a twitter account, you can follow the hashtag #oamc to see what everyone else is cooking and planning.  Some bloggers link their recipes they plan to use too, which is always a great way to share.  In fact, last month, Jess at Cupcake Mommie's Menu shared her yeast roll recipe.  I baked two batches last month and we've been eating the rolls this month.  It's the best recipe ever, YUM! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  I love to hear from all y'all!

Enjoy!