Pay-ing Attention

How often did I hear those words from Ms. Driskel, my first grade teacher. Well yesterday, I did.

3-store comparison shopping in a nutshell. Furthest distance traveled 8 miles, where the 2 main grocery stores are. I visited Wal-Mart, Dollar General, and UGO (United Grocers Outlet). Following are some of the items and prices I discovered.
Dollar General is very clean, well organized, and most important, their food items rotate frequently. Albacore tuna $1.15 (Wal-Mart $1.14), Rice-A-Roni value size 7.9 oz (regular is 6.9 oz) - cost $1.00; light brown sugar $1.25 (Wal-mart $1.14); 1 lb. box of Barilla macaroni $1.00 (Wal-Mart $1.12). So the best deal I got here was the Rice-A-Roni and the pasta.

Wal-Mart was very busy due to the many vacationers in town. However, I did manage to have a lovely conversation with the gentleman working in seafood. I explained that I was looking for shrimp from America. (A friend recently informed me how shrimp was raised in certain countries and to avoid it.) The kindly gentleman directed me towards USA raised gulf shrimp in 2 lb. packages on sale for $7.50, a $2.48 savings. (I can turn 1 lb. of shrimp into 4-8 meals, but more on that later.) So I bought 3 packages.

My receipt from May 25, shows I bought a 10-pound package of chicken (legs and thighs) for $4.98. Yesterday, June 14, the price was $5.58. (Am I paying attention yet, you betcha!) I bought 2 packages, de-skined, cleaned, and vacuum sealed 48 pieces of chicken, which took me about 45 minutes. (Cost per piece about 23 cents.)

Probably due to the holiday weekend, many items were marked down. Celery, which had been $1.58 three weeks ago was 98 cents. I bought 2. Did you know you can freeze celery? Did you know you can clean it, cut it in to sections for snacking, place in a glass container with cold water and it will stay fresher longer? I'll chop one up for the freezer and place the second in cold water.

You can also freeze onions, peppers, and cabbage (which works well in vegetable soup). I've never tried freezing zuchini, but I'm thinking about it. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? And I know you can freeze tomatoes by simply washing, coring, and popping in a Zip-lock. Then, when they start to thaw, they are much easier to peel.

It's time for me to do some cleaning, but I'll post more on food savings in the next few days.

Please leave a comment and let us know how you found ways to shop and save this week.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Re-organizing and other stuff

A few days back, Rhonda made the suggestion of cleaning out the pantry in preparation for food storage. Being a fan of really good ideas, I decided to take her advice. It's just amazing what one finds when cleaning the pantry. And I'm not referring to the dust bunnies either. For instance, the stale crackers were placed in a ziplock, crushed with the rolling pin, and will be used in place of bread crumbs. The cheerios are now stored in a plastic pitcher which I happened to have on hand. I pulled out my Charles Chips can to store the fresh crackers. Any can with a good seal will work for this.

We've all been reading the articles on world food shortages. We've all suffered from sticker shock after each trip to the grocery store. Some of you may be calling it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but that's for your doctor to diagnosis, not me.

We've read the bad news, now what's the good news? We can do what our mothers and grandmothers did. They read weekly ads, bought what was on sale, and stocked up on sale items. They learned to cook with what was available and in season. Who doesn't remember chipped beef on toast? AND most important, they did not go shopping every other day. (All guilty of this, beep your horn!)

I thought I would introduce just a couple of ideas I've put in to practice for the last 8 years.
I put as many of my staples as possible in glass. Cardboard is not meant to hold items for a long amount of time. Most of my big jars I found at the flea market for $1.00 or $2.00. Perhaps you can check with your school cafeteria or local restaurant owner to locate some.
Recently, Wendy and I were discussing bread making. I explained that I grind my grain using a small coffee bean grinder, as I only need to grind 1 cup at a time. I add 1 cup of fresh ground to 2 cups of regular flour. I've never had to throw out any grain kept sealed in glass.

If you own a Seal-A-Meal or are considering purchasing one, I highly recommend it. I use mine to freeze meat and poultry that I buy in bulk. If I cook extra portions of soup, I first freeze it in a small plastic container, then when frozen, I easily pop out the portion, place it in a bag, and seal it. Food lasts much longer when vacuum sealed than in Zip-Locks or plastic containers.

When buying grains, rice, oats, etc. in bulk, I can vacuum seal it in a clean canning jar using the jar top attachment. By boiling a new canning lid, wiping dry, and placing it on top of a clean, filled canning jar, then vacuum sealing, it's ready for long-term storage. Usually I add 1 or 2 bay leaves when storing any grains to deter bugs which occur naturally in grains.

And lastly, if you'd like to share any of your storage ideas, your mom's frugal recipes, or grannies' anecdotes, please leave a comment.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . . .

Side Note:

After a bit of research on the internet, I found this site (http://www.specialtybottle.com) that offers storage jars sold by the case.

And if you pop on over to Lehman's you'll find this handy item, which would also work well if you use a lot of olive oil. http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=7447&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=964&iSubCat=964&iProductID=7447

Subtle works.

Thank you for all of your comments regarding the twirlies. They helped me focus on the problem I was having. It seems the black twirlies wanted to stand in front of the bleachers with a megaphone. And what was really needed, were quiet twirlies, sitting in the top back bleachers, waving a small flag . . . occasionally.

The nutmeg fabric is a Thimbleberries that I absulutely fell in love with. Well, yes, I give my heart easily. When it's quilted and done, this tabletopper will be for the fall. Perhaps a pumpkin or 2 on top, with twirlies fluttering in the background, like leaves on a windy day.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

Quilter's Candy

My order arrived from Connecting Threads. As far as I can tell, individual spools only go on sale once a year. These were $1.59 for 1200 yards. That's a 41 cent savings per spool. This is a low lint thread that allows you to clean your feed dogs and bobbin casing less often. It is 50 weight, which makes it perfect for piecing; however, I've begun using it on the back of my quilts since the quality is so high. (Usually 40 weight is recommended for quilting.)

If you're not sure what color to get, stick with the basics such as light gray, white, and beige. You'll love it, I promise!

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .

It seems like yesterday . . .

. . . that I was out in the yard playing with Tonka trucks.
Now Shorty is getting ready to go off to college
and Mr. Truck Part Allocation Engineer is able to disassemble and reassemble the real thing.
For a BIG tin full of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, this young man replaced the spark plugs (a very difficult job), changed the transmission fluid, and the radiator fluid in his Aunt's truck. I'm greatful he's able to do this for me, but I sure miss hearing the laughter of little boys.
Now I need your opinion on what color to put in the twirly black star at the intersecting corners. Should I go with gold, or red, or change everything around including the black. I surely do like that black though. It's a reproduction print that I picked up at Susan's shop recently. Hmmm, a conundrum.

Until then, keep stitchin' . . .