My Eat Healthy for as Little as Possible for the Rest of the Year Challenge

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HappyDaze
Posts: 4186
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:11 am

Re: My Eat Healthy for as Little as Possible for the Rest of the Year Challenge

Post by HappyDaze »

Jackielou wrote: Sun Dec 13, 2020 9:54 am I hope you can save the stash, or at least most of said stash.
Jackie, I convinced her to give away a whole bunch of rice and she did so willingly. I truly think she panicked when covid hit and WOW - I have never seen such a stash - and she split it with her former s.o. when they parted ways - so this is only half of it!!!

Before we let any of it go to waste, we will give more stuff away - we have a food pantry nearby as well as relatives who I know would take some items. And we can take some things to my mom - my mom always knows someone who needs something and what their need is.
"All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. After all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog."

Charles M. Schultz
HappyDaze
Posts: 4186
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:11 am

Re: My Eat Healthy for as Little as Possible for the Rest of the Year Challenge

Post by HappyDaze »

Today will be some frugal eating - oatmeal with canned peaches for breakfast, lentil soup from the freezer for lunch and leftover salad for dinner. Snack at work will be sliced apple with peanut butter and some almonds.

I have not historically been a big salad eater but my daughter has a gift of taking the most ordinary ingredients and turning them into these amazing salads. She got a .99 cent salad kit at Save A Lot so it will be interesting to see what she does with it. I am not so creative.
"All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. After all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog."

Charles M. Schultz
HappyDaze
Posts: 4186
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:11 am

Re: My Eat Healthy for as Little as Possible for the Rest of the Year Challenge

Post by HappyDaze »

I went grocery shopping yesterday and the store was a MADHOUSE!!! I got things for tonight and tomorrow - you know, special snack and meal items for Christmas - cheese and crackers, chips and dip, ingredients to make more "Christmas crack". I got chicken and made crockpot ranch chicken for my daughter and her guest for dinner last night. Served with sides of mashed potatoes (rescued produce) and green beans with mushrooms (on sale .99 a lb) and cherry tomatoes.

Prices continue to amaze me, not in a good way. I don't understand how people can afford to feed a family. I scoured that busy, overcrowded store for "yellow sticker" items I can use. Picked up 4 boxes of store brand whole grain spaghetti for .88 cents each - regular price is $1.79. Got mustard greens (.99/lb) and am going to make a spaghetti dish using those and olive oil and parm. cheese and some other cheese.

Also got 6 large yellow and red peppers in the rescued produce department. I wanted some really good fancy rolls to serve the crockpot ranch chicken on - but almost $5 for 4 rolls - no way - so I got plain hamburger buns and toasted them in the oven.

There are two large chicken breasts left and I froze them. My daughter will use them or we will give them to my parents - maybe in a prepared meal so they won't have to cook. After I shredded the cooked chicken for the dinner, I boiled the leftovers and saved the broth to go on food for the outdoor cats. I removed the skins from all the chicken and boiled those, cut it up really fine and added to the broth - almost none of the 2 breasts used went to waste.

It is nice I don't have to buy breakfast items. Between my daughter's stash of oats and free cereal from volunteering at the food distributions, I am set for the whole winter.

I did buy 4 packages of tofu. The regular price has gone up to $3.49 for a 16 oz. package but they had it reduces to $1.49. Each package will be used in 2 meals for me and/or me and my daughter.

After store card discounts and coupons, I spent $78 and change. I am hoping to not go back to any grocery store before the second week of January - and hope to go longer than that if at all possible. We have canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned tomatoes, my daughter has put butter and cheese in the freezer that I can also use (I provide all the coffee, tea, sugar, toilet paper, laundry soap - basic type stuff). It has been very helpful to me that she has her stash of pasta, etc. and we share some meals each week.
"All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. After all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog."

Charles M. Schultz
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My Eat Healthy for as Little as Possible for the Rest of the Year Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

HappyDaze wrote: Thu Dec 24, 2020 11:43 am I went grocery shopping yesterday and the store was a MADHOUSE!!! I got things for tonight and tomorrow - you know, special snack and meal items for Christmas - cheese and crackers, chips and dip, ingredients to make more "Christmas crack". I got chicken and made crockpot ranch chicken for my daughter and her guest for dinner last night. Served with sides of mashed potatoes (rescued produce) and green beans with mushrooms (on sale .99 a lb) and cherry tomatoes.

Prices continue to amaze me, not in a good way. I don't understand how people can afford to feed a family. I scoured that busy, overcrowded store for "yellow sticker" items I can use. Picked up 4 boxes of store brand whole grain spaghetti for .88 cents each - regular price is $1.79. Got mustard greens (.99/lb) and am going to make a spaghetti dish using those and olive oil and parm. cheese and some other cheese.

Also got 6 large yellow and red peppers in the rescued produce department. I wanted some really good fancy rolls to serve the crockpot ranch chicken on - but almost $5 for 4 rolls - no way - so I got plain hamburger buns and toasted them in the oven.

There are two large chicken breasts left and I froze them. My daughter will use them or we will give them to my parents - maybe in a prepared meal so they won't have to cook. After I shredded the cooked chicken for the dinner, I boiled the leftovers and saved the broth to go on food for the outdoor cats. I removed the skins from all the chicken and boiled those, cut it up really fine and added to the broth - almost none of the 2 breasts used went to waste.

It is nice I don't have to buy breakfast items. Between my daughter's stash of oats and free cereal from volunteering at the food distributions, I am set for the whole winter.

I did buy 4 packages of tofu. The regular price has gone up to $3.49 for a 16 oz. package but they had it reduces to $1.49. Each package will be used in 2 meals for me and/or me and my daughter.

After store card discounts and coupons, I spent $78 and change. I am hoping to not go back to any grocery store before the second week of January - and hope to go longer than that if at all possible. We have canned fruit, canned vegetables, canned tomatoes, my daughter has put butter and cheese in the freezer that I can also use (I provide all the coffee, tea, sugar, toilet paper, laundry soap - basic type stuff). It has been very helpful to me that she has her stash of pasta, etc. and we share some meals each week.
Sheila sounds like you did some vey frugal shopping and got some great bargains.

I too wonder how families can afford to grocery shop. Sad and scary.

Great idea to sub the hamburger buns in for the expensive rolls.
When my husband was here he liked hamburger and hot dog buns but due to the gluten I did not eat them. So many times I froze them and turned them in to garlic bread when we had pasta.

Good luck on stretching your food until the time you want to in Jan. It can get very interesting when working with what is left over in you food supplies.
Janet Alliesmama
HappyDaze
Posts: 4186
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:11 am

Re: My Eat Healthy for as Little as Possible for the Rest of the Year Challenge

Post by HappyDaze »

alliesmama4 wrote: Thu Dec 24, 2020 2:40 pm Sheila sounds like you did some vey frugal shopping and got some great bargains.

I too wonder how families can afford to grocery shop. Sad and scary.

Great idea to sub the hamburger buns in for the expensive rolls.
When my husband was here he liked hamburger and hot dog buns but due to the gluten I did not eat them. So many times I froze them and turned them in to garlic bread when we had pasta.

Good luck on stretching your food until the time you want to in Jan. It can get very interesting when working with what is left over in you food supplies.
Janet, it gets interesting around here for sure! Last week I took a sheet pan, dumped a package of veggie burger crumbles on it, opened a can of potatoes from my daughter's stash and sliced those - added them to the sheet pan. Added a handful of frozen green beans, some diced onion and leftover broccoli and baked it. I told my daughter it was a "got no groceries" meal - and we both actually liked it a lot.
"All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. After all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog."

Charles M. Schultz
HappyDaze
Posts: 4186
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:11 am

Re: My Eat Healthy for as Little as Possible for the Rest of the Year Challenge

Post by HappyDaze »

Well, Christmas dinner should be interesting - because I didn't think my daughter's guest was going to stay - but he did - and I did NOT plan for a specific "Christmas Dinner". However - we have a lot of food - so nobody is going to be hungry.

I'm thinking of baking off the last two chicken breasts that I used in another meal for them and making a "spaghetti with olive oil, greens and cheese" type of dish - and turning ordinary Dollar Tree bread into garlic bread.

We have cheese and crackers, etc. for snacking and I can whip up another batch of "Christmas Crack" for dessert. WHEW!
"All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. After all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog."

Charles M. Schultz
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