Kitchen

[phoenixbrd]

@qvcaddition   Can you purchase grains and beans at your food bank?....nourishing, inexpensive and filling.  

You are not alone....twice this week, I've encounter conversations with fellow senior citizens that shared they are having trouble meeting their utility bills due to increased costs.  I'm hoping that you are able to take advantage of the suggestions offered in the forum.  

Stay safe, stay strong.💕

[Pook]

The only thing I do is pay with a cash back card.

[Nathan Grandma]

We shop mostly at Costco, never varying off our list, Aldi, what we can't get at Aldi and Walmart, what we can get at Costco or Aldi.  We buy mostly frozen vegetables because we never eat the fresh ones quick enough before they go bad, only salad stuff fresh.  Try to eat biggest meal of the day at lunch because sometimes I don't want to cook dinner.  Dinner is sometimes a bowl of cereal or cheese and crackers.  Publix is major grocery chain but we now rarely go there, prices are high unless buying BOGO. Making pizza and bread at home, only going out as a treat and mostly for something that we can't make at home with such as sushi.  Boring, yes but it is what it is.

[ECBG]

Since we no longer get all of those coupons from magazines, and we don't take the paper since it has become so policical, I have always planned my weekly menu around the grocery store's specials for the week.  I also pick up several of items on sale because i designed this house with a walk in pantry, and we have a freezer.

At times, I'll order a case of things like Hunts Recipe cut tomatoes from walmart.

I'll also go to Sams Club.

[lynnie61]

I try to eat my main meal at lunch time.  I do shop the sales when chicken  and pork are on sale.  Eggs, way up in price, but still a value protein wise.  I make homemade soups all year long.  When I make a big pot, I freeze it in quart containers.  Aldis and BJs is where I shop.  If a see a great sale item at another store and I’m near there, will pick it up.   

When we eat out, my meal is usually only half eaten, and eat the rest the next day.  With the prices of everything up, up, up, I hope those that need assistance will visit the food bank.  We have several near us, and many use it, it can be a lifesaver to those that need it.  The drive up food banks have slowed here, but during the height of the pandemic, there were many weekly drives.  They gave generous boxes of canned foods, dairy and fresh produce.  

We try to have very little waste.  Ripe fruit goes in a smoothie, veggies in a stir fry or omelet.  Over ripe bananas goes in banana nut bread.  Most can be repurposed.  

[september]

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@Pook wrote:

The only thing I do is pay with a cash back card.

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Same.  I use my Cap One credit card for everything.  Convert my rewards to Amazon dollars, to purchase things I regularly buy from Amazon, anyway. 

[house_cat]

Excellent, thoughtful tips.  Thank you.

I've only been to Aldi's once and was not impressed, but that was in a different part of the country.  Judging by the responses here, I think I'll give it another look-see.

I've been planning a weekly menu for decades, and that helps, but my choices are usually more by whim than based on sale items.  I expect to have more time to peruse the ads online once I retire, so I think I'll start planning based on what's on sale.

[wagirl]

Geez--this is hard--I guess my suggestion is to plan a menu and then stick to it. I have such a hard time doing that very thing. I recently had to downsize to a very small apt with a very tiny kitchen and my refer/freezer is very small as well. Can't buy much to freeze when there is a good deal. Used to buy alot for my freezer and then "shop" my freezer---miss that alot!

[Othereeeen]

@qvcaddition 

Please check with your Office of Aging or agency for aging in your state or community...they go by different names in different states....maybe someone at your church or food pantry can direct you..

If you have NO savings left, you may qualify for SNAP ( food stamps) in your state...have your son check. You probably paid taxes all your life, now is the time to ask for help.

There are low cost NEW plans for internet access too....based on income. ACP Program I think it's called.

There's no shame in asking for help. Please do...

[Othereeeen]

My Walmart here in W. PA has 10 pound bags of chicken leg/thighs for 66 cents per pound. They are Purdue chicken parts that have torn skin or the end of the leg bone may be broken off....who cares? No one will look!!! These parts can't go in the pretty packs of Purdue chicken parts....but I don't buy them for looks!!!!

They were 59 cents a pound pre-pandemic so that's not a bad price even today.

I love dark meat chicken so I eat a lot of it...I roast enough for several days of eating.

I use EVERYTHING up.

I repurpose anything I can. 

I think those of us older people ( I'm 66) who had parents who grew up in the Depression or soon after, or lived thru WW2 where rationing took place, were taught some very valuable skills:

How to cook or bake.

How to make every scrap count.

How to shop for value.

How to plan meals ahead using what one has or can add to.

How to cook a LOT at once for leftovers, frozen or for tomorrow (only use your energy source ONCE instead of each day...gas or electric....)

Yesterday I mistakenly cooked a cucumber like a zuchhini...I grabbed it quick and sliced it up as I realized my error...but guess what? I cooked it, put butter, salt and pepper on it and it tasted fine!!!

One day a week I have an egg meal....I buy jumbo eggs and a lot of the time there are double yolks. Add some cheese or a leftover cooked veggie and voila! Dinner!

I love to cook for myself because I know what's in it. And I don't eat as much as I used to. And I now eat my main big meal at lunchtime, and a little something at night. I find it controls my weight better too..another benefit!

Today I washed Ziploc bags and I reuse saran wrap if it hasn't gotten too messy ( I try not to touch the food with it if possible...)

I am potting seedlings today from my styrofoam egg carton started seeds ( tomatoes, zukes, cukes) into little containers I've saved for that ( From cherry tomatoes and chicken livers that my cats eat). No more buying stuff I already have and can reuse....( like peat pots). 

I plant ALL my flowers from seeds now. I'm limited by what the deer don't eat...so I direct seed cosmos, nasturtiums, and zinnias. So far, the deer avoid them. Cheap and a lot of color and they like poor soil if that's all you've got! they come up fast and have a lot of color.

Some ideas from PA!!!!