DH was hungry for pie on Monday when he left work and stopped at the grocery store and bought a Marie Calendar's banana cream pie. It's his favorite if you remember from his birthday. I think he thought he'd have help eating but DS isn't a big sweet eater and DD2 needs to be in a pie mood. Anyway, he grabbed their store add, labeled Inflation Busters. The ad was filled with loss leaders. The pie and the ad made me think of my pantry goals for the year.
Goal 1: Stock up loss leaders and gradually shop from pantry just buying fresh dairy, meat, produce, and bread as needed. This is a strategy others have used forever and I used to be better at. But...it brings me to goals 2.
Goal 2: Use few convenience and cheap ( unhealthy) items in meals. When you see the ad, first, you'll see a lot of the loss leaders are for convenience unhealthy foods that should be used sparingly to not at all. It's very tempting to reduce our grocery budget by stocking up this way, but we will pay later. I do listen to the good feedback from you all.
Goal 3: To decrease costs and improve health, master a few more kitchen skills. Two specifically, pie crust and dinner/ bread rolls. Pre- made our crusts are expensive for what they are, flour, fat, salt, water. What other skills do you possess that help you make healthy(ier) versions of meals?
I look forward to working with my daughter in her garden. I've never been successful at keeping at it, but with her beautiful raised beds, it feels like it'll be less taxing. She wants to learn to can more produce. I really only know jam and tomato products. Together we can learn other more ambitious ways to extend her produce. We may invest in a vacuum sealer, but probably just use freezer bags for some things that don't need canning. We both have free sources from friends produce, or pick your own farms at good prices. I guess that becomes Goal 4: Preserve locally grown produce.
There's little from the ad I'll buy, but the canned tomatoes, vegetables, chicken and tuna jump out. There's non food items too at good prices to have on hand, paper towels and toothpaste. Sprinkled on other pages are some good deals as well. Shopping nearby saves me gas and temptation to hit other stores too. Do you have any pantry goals this year?
Towards the end of last year, I did a 5 item freezer challenge. It worked well, and didn't feel as overwhelming as "use everything up", and was more specific than just a general goal. I'm going to try that again. The goal is to use up 5 irregular items from our freezer or pantry. I've given some thought to a few things, but need to make a plan for the rest, particularly for January.
ReplyDeleteI might be able to do that challenge. We've got some odds and ends that could push me to be creative.
DeleteI bought those reusable freezer bags last year on Amazon and they are great!!
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to master gluten free bread that I will also like, husband is celiac. It is almost $10 a loaf for some brands that are half the size of regular loaves.
Home baked gluten free if you can master will be a huge win. I'll follow to see how you do and what recipes you like.
DeleteI'm so glad to hear you working on less packaged food and more from scratch. It's cheaper and it's better for you. It takes a bit of planning but really isn't much of a time burden. YAY on making your own bread too. For a while I was having so many stomach issues I was beginning to think I was gluten intolerant. After an elimination diet and a specialist I found that I wasn't really allergic to any whole ingredients but had issues with so many chemicals in the food. Especially glyphosate. I've been making all of our breads for years and have no more issues. Just let me know if you need bread recipes, I have a ton. Have a great day Sam!!
ReplyDeleteI really need both quick bread and yeast recipes that don't take a lot of kneading. It's just hard on my hands.
DeleteI'm pretty good at shopping for sale stuff (I'm boggled at how cheap some of that stuff in the ad is!), and then supplementing with fresh fruit, produce, and dairy as needed. My panty goals would be to not buy things I don't use, like the two boxes of taco shells sitting in my cupboard, or the canned flavoured tuna (it was on sale, and we didn't like it). Cooking goals: make more soups and stews! It's easy to give into the lure of convenience/premade things, but it's so much healthier to make it yourself. Good for you for setting these goals, Sam!
ReplyDeleteI have to throw a tin of noodles a my daughter came home with last spring. She never ate over the summer now, she's not eating much like that so off it will go. Boxed items are really not the same as from scratch.
DeleteSkills in the kitchen? I learned from my mother to cook meals from scratch. I learned how to wash and sort dried beans, how to wash and cook all sorts of greens, bake pies, make crusts, can, freeze, gather eggs. Yes, even washing and sorting beans is a skill. Doing it quickly so it is not a burden takes time. Plus, I had to overcome a visceral fear of chickens.
ReplyDeleteHowever, at this point and in my present lack of ability to stand long, I would rather take a beating than make a pie crust!
Plans include recycling more in addition to not buying so much to be recycled. Plus, I am still decluttering, inspired to do more since someone comes to clean every two weeks.
I can do these things too, but got complacent. Now it's about our health. I don't want preventable issues.
DeleteI am trying to use up as many things as possible in my freezer and pantry before buying new. Things get pushed to the back and forgotten!!
ReplyDeleteThat is my trouble too, especially in the freezer.
DeleteI think I’ve always been a pretty savvy shopper, but usually I just shop at Walmart now for the convenience. I do need to get better about checking the ads for loss leaders and produce and meat specials. The ham tetrazzini recipe that I made the other day was solely because I had half a box of thin spaghetti that kept falling out of the cupboard. And then i discovered two open boxes of lasagna noodles so I was searching for some vegetable/white sauce/non-ricotta recipes on Pinterest. I also have quite a few canned apple pie fillings. Definitely need to clean up the stock pile around here of odds and ends and concentrate on keeping more stock of our more frequently used items. JoAnn
ReplyDeleteI hate investing in Walmart but sometimes it's the option we have. I like our local store but literally, items can be double in price. How we, they have great produce, meat, and deli so if ai do loss leaders, I can splurge it n other parts of store. I want to use and keep more basics as well. I'm glad your ham Tetrazzini was good. I have frozen ham and often have leftover of spaghetti noodles.
DeleteForeign food packaging fascinates me, I can't resist a wander around the aisles of a supermarket when i'm abroad. I loved looking at that leaflet.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of pastry (or sweet things) but Jon likes the occasional pie when we have windfall apples which I make with my invented healthier pastry using olive oil instead of lard/butter or marg. It's crisp and works well plus no saturated fat.
We shall continue as usual, a Waste Not box every week and making up recipes in which to utilise the contents. xxx
I love a good grocery store wander as well. I and others bring back coffee from foreign grocery stores for me. I fear that pie is going into waste that he bought. I don't need it!
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