Category: Every Day

Last night we used up some chicken that I had frozen from a B.J.’s rotisserie chicken that I purchased for $ 4.98 a couple of months ago. I made gravy and put the chicken dices into the gravy to heat it up. I served it on rice and added some broccoli as a side dish. Hubby actually went back for seconds which he rarely does. He said it tasted so good. It’s an easy way to make a quick tasty dinner from leftovers. Those 3 pound rotisserie chickens from there or Sam’s Club are a great deal. I can not buy a raw chicken and roast it for the same price. And in case you haven’t seen how I keep them hot when I come home from the store, I just put them in my crockpot on WARM and throw the juice from the container over the top of it. It will stay warm and very moist till you eat. Many times I will buy 2 of them and cut the meat up into pieces and freeze it in dices, food saver it into portions, and put it into the freezer. Then I put the carcasses and skin back into the crockpot, cover with water and cook it all day or overnight to make chicken broth. I either pressure can it to put on my shelf or freeze it in a couple of jars if I am going to use it up within a few months. Why buy chicken broth in a carton or can when this is so much tastier and free.

We love ice cream. Who doesn’t? But because of diet restrictions, we can’t eat a lot of it. For years I made homemade peanut butter keto ice cream. It was delicious and low carb. However, then the price of heavy cream skyrocketed. I refused to pay the price they wanted for it. I had to go pick up scripts for Hubby the other day and I quickly went back to dairy to check out the price on it and eggs at Walmart. To my surprise, the 16 oz. heavy whipping cream(GV) was on rollback for $ 2.96 and dated the beginning of December. I grabbed 4 of them and I will make ice cream soon.

The recipe I use is: 1 and 3/4 cups of heavy whipping cream, 2/3 cup of allulose SF sweetener, 6 Tbsps. of Jif No Sugar Added peanut butter, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. I put it all in a wide mouth quart mason jar and have Hubby shake it until everything is well combined. Then we freeze it overnight. It is so delicious!

We also love pizza. When we lived in AZ, we used to joke about how no one in AZ could make good NY pizza. Our first search when we moved back here was to look for a good pizza parlor. We stumbled on one when we would go north to check on our home being built. One of the owners made the best NY pizza and we would stop and get lunch on our travel. It was well priced too. Well, due to illness in their family, they had to sell the restaurant. The new people that own it, make the worst pizza ever in my estimation. That started our search for another place. Domino’s is up the street from us but their pizza is awful. The last time we had pizza from Pizza Hut we were very disappointed. We have tried every pizza place in our area. They all disappointed and the price for takeout pizza has gotten ridiculous anyhow. So we tried to keep frozen pizza in our freezer. We have not found one that Hubby likes.

When my children were growing up, I always made homemade pizza. I actually have made it for over 55 years using a crust recipe that I had. But as we have aged our taste buds are different and we no longer like that crust. So we buy a package of two Naan bread from Aldi that gives us two pizzas. It used to be $2.99 but has risen to $ 3.49. It makes a great pizza crust. We use our own spaghetti sauce or even an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce which we spice up with Italian seasonings and powered garlic. I am just a mozzarella cheese lover but Hubby likes pepperoni, green olive, and mozzarella cheese pizza. So I make the pizza half and half. I am willing to try making a homemade crust again if anyone has one that they love. Just leave it in the comments if you want to share it. Otherwise the cost of using the Naan is very reasonable and sure beats the cost of buying any pizza out today.

To sum up, we will not being buying pizza or ice cream. We will make our own. Halo top and other low carb ice creams are very expensive and don’t taste very good.

We buy fresh fruit in season, frozen or canned fruit when it is not in season. I freeze strawberries in June and blueberries and peaches in August when they are in season at the lowest prices here. We have a cherry tree in our yard that gives us pie cherries. I freeze them. This year the birds ate them when they were not quite ripe yet. They must have been very hungry. Hopefully that will not happen again. But I do have 2 gallons in my freezer from 2024 which are perfectly good. I make both peach and strawberry jam. This time of year when apples are in season, I buy them between $ .99 to $ 1.49 a lb. I will pay a little more if Hubby wants a delicious or Honeycrisp apple. But not a lot more. I keep a produce drawer in my freezer just for apples. They keep for months. We use them in Waldorf Coleslaw Salad, in oatmeal, and mainly as a snack. Our preferred snacks these days are apples, a bowl of strawberries with SF whipped cream, bananas, a handful of blueberries, SF pudding, popcorn or party mix.

I went to Top’s the other day just for the loss leaders. I got that loaf of Wonder bread that I talked about prior for $ .99, bananas for $ .47 a lb., butter for $ 2.99 and a dozen eggs for $ 1.49 a lb. The eggs and bread coupon were e-mailed to me by Top’s.

I never got to Aldi’s because I was exhausted after waiting in line for 45 minutes for Hubby’s scripts. I will be going there today.

I hope you all have great day!

We will continue to only buy what we need at loss leader prices. If you keep a price book you will always know when a sale price is really a great sale price. For example, in my area, the lowest sale price for chicken breasts is usually between $ 1.79 and $ 1.99 a pound. I can get it for $ 1.49 a pound in bulk at a meat market or bulk food meat market like Camillo’s or GFS. But that is rare and I don’t have the space right now for bulk chicken. We still have about 20 pounds in our freezers. However you will not find me buying them at $2.99 or $ 3.49 a pound on sale any more. And I will never pay $5.-$7. a pound when they are not on sale.

I use this kind of thinking on almost everything I buy. I don’t buy at full price. If you know that chicken goes on sale at rock bottom prices twice a year, then that is when you stock up for what you will need for a 6 month period. If your budget is low and you are barely making it each month, take $5.00 to $10.00 a month and set it aside to accumulate for a rock bottom purchase. Hubby and I do not eat a whole chicken breast. You only need 4 ounces for a meal. So I will slice a chicken breast lengthwise in half and we will each eat a half. Sometimes the breasts are huge so we will cut one into 4 portions and eat just one portion at a meal for each of us.

Onions are on sale right now at Aldi’s for $ .99 for 3 lbs. Thanks for that tip Belinda. I will get 2 bags and peel and slice them, put them in food saver bags and freeze them in meal size portions. They are ready whenever I need them and the onions don’t go bad in the pantry. Being only 2 people we do not go through onions or potatoes quickly. Hence I have found ways to make them last. I hate food waste.

She also told me that fresh cranberries are on sale at Aldi’s for $ .99. So I will get a few bags to bake with during the next year.

Last year when celery was on sale at Thanksgiving, I made a mistake. I tell you this so that you don’t make the same mistake. I bought a bunch of celery for about $.69 a bag. We use a lot of celery in soups, stews and other dishes. I diced up the celery into small chunks and froze it. When I would put it in my soups and stews, it would disintegrate. This year if I see a good price, I will only buy 2-3 heads that will keep in the fridge.

We have a bit of store bought bread and rolls in the house right now. I keep it in the freezer because we don’t normally go through it quickly. However, I need more than I have to make French toast for family this weekend. Top’s has a super coupon to get a loaf of white or Italian bread for $ .99 this week. Since it is senior discount day today, I will buy that loaf for $ .93. I am too busy this week to make bread. However next week, I will start making all of my breads, rolls, English muffins and tortillas. I know that I can make them cheaper than buying them. I will track what I spend when I do it and let you know the cost.

We use a lot of tomato products. I have stockpiled quite a few when they go on sale. Most I bought for around $ .50 – $.79 in the last few years. We paid even less for tomato paste. I also have many jars of tomatoes that I canned that we grew in pots in previous years. Hubby makes homemade tomato soup using them. I make spaghetti sauce with them and use them in a variety of soups and other dishes. I will not have to buy any this coming year.

When peppers were in season June though August, I bought enough to slice up and freeze until they are at rock bottom again next summer. I put them on a sheet pan and freeze them and then put them in a food saver bags. I just pull out what I need when I make stir fry or fajitas.

I no longer buy fresh milk. I buy quarts of shelf stable milk at Dollar Tree for $1.25. Hubby and I would not go through a quart of fresh milk before it went bad. Once I open one off the shelf and put it in the refrigerator, it keeps quite a while. For those of you worried about the preservatives not being good for me, don’t worry. I am headed towards 80 and have eaten many my whole life. I am still here. 🙂 I always have the option of adding water to canned condensed milk too. I buy that kind of canned milk this time of year when it is on sale. I have plenty right now.

We have some canned soups in our stockpile. We will use them up and then only make our homemade soups in batches that we can freeze. They are much cheaper and taste so much better.

I need to finish this for today. We have to go vote and get back here for our landscape crew to show up. Hubby needs to tell them what to do. We always have them do plantings and the spring clean up every year. Hubby usually cleans up the gardens in the fall. But it is now too much for him and I have everything else to do. So we reached out to them about 8 days ago and they are coming today to do it. It will be another costly bill but necessary. We are so glad that we saved all our lives to be able to afford to hire people when need be.

I also have some grocery shopping to do. I will be back with a post tomorrow.

We will do everything we can to save on groceries during 2026. Prices are astronomical and I think they will go higher. Can anyone afford beef anymore? Ugh. None of us have to wait until 2026 to get started. I have been doing the best I can with the time and energy I have the past few months. But I will be going hardcore from now on.

So Hubby and I have been having many conversations on how we will save money on what we use. To start we will discuss the Thanksgiving deals that I mentioned in a recent post. We now have purchased two turkeys, a Butterball at $ .97 a lb. and a Shadybrook at $ .84. a lb. Both of them I bought at Walmart. If I have room, I would like to buy one more Butterball. If I don’t have the room, I will get one and roast it, strip all the meat off, and food saver it into portions to freeze. That will take up less room than a whole turkey. I also am a canner, so I could can the meat which could stay on my shelf for 2-3 years. I can get a free Butterball at B.J.’s if I spend $150. in one trip this week and redeem the coupon the following week. I did this deal last year but I will pass this year. I do not have enough items on my running list to spend that much money there. Spending on things I don’t need just to get that turkey would be a waste. Plus I like to give as little money as possible to the big corporate world these days. We are having family for Thanksgiving so one Butterball will get roasted. The other one I have will get roasted over the winter in 2026. The same with more that I might buy. You will never get cheaper meat than this. I use turkey in place of chicken many times during the year. This year that is really important because chicken prices have sky rocketed. BTW, turkeys will keep 2-3 years in your freezer. If you cook them up and portion them out into food saver bags the meat will last a year. My food saver was the best purchase I have ever made. Buy it on Black Friday sales when they have the cheapest prices of the year.

I will not be buying any more turkey broth or chicken broth because I make my own from the bones and skin. It is so easy to just put all those things in your crockpot and cook it overnight. Then I can it. You can also freeze it. It is the cheapest you will find it in the store all year at Thanksgiving. If beef bone broth goes on sale, I will buy some. I only use it to make beef barley soup. I do not have many beef bones during the year to make my own.

We like to have stove top stuffing on hand to use as a side or to stuff chicken breasts or pork chops. We also need some to stuff the turkeys when we cook them later in the year. I always add sausage to stuffing so we try to buy the rolls when they go on sale and freeze them. I have 16 boxes of stuffing in the pantry. They are dry goods that do not go bad and they will last us 1 year.

Pickles and olives should be going on sale so I will check and see how many I have and fill in what I need for a year.

Cranberries both canned and fresh should also be at rock bottom prices. I have plenty of canned but only 2 bags of fresh in the freezer. So if see a good price I will get more fresh. I use them for cranberry orange muffins and bread over a year’s time.

Canned green beans and corn are on sale right now for $.50 a can. I always make sure I buy enough to fill in my gaps for the next year. I did that a week or so ago so we are stocked. We also have frozen corn that I took off the fresh ears in August.

This the time of year that butter is the cheapest. I have not seen it go on sale anywhere yet. There is a super coupon for Cabot at Top’s this week for $2.99 limit one. I will pick that one up. We will see what Aldi’s has in their ad this week. Otherwise, Sam’s Club has the best price per lb. when you buy a package of 4 lbs.

I have all the things to make gravy when I cook the turkeys. I need some fresh potatoes. They are on sale now for $1.99 a lb. for a 5 lb. bag. I will get 10 lbs. and store them in the garage in a cooler with a blanket around it. They will keep a few months.

Pie crusts go on sale but I will be making all of my own. Canned pie filling goes on sale so I will see what I need to fill in my gaps. I use these for crisps too during the year.

I am the only one who likes sweet potatoes so I have a few cans to get me through the next year. That is about all that I would stock up on except baking goods and I have all of them. I also have enough Chex mixes to make party mix.

When hams go on sale for Christmas, I may get a couple if the price is right. Hubby likes to slice them on our meat slicer for sandwiches. I like chunks for casseroles and thicker slices to fry up to have with my eggs in the morning.

We spend a fortune on drinks in this house. We have a lot of soda right now. But when it is gone, it will become a treat not an every day thing. I gave up Diet Coke and other sodas 2-3 years ago. They are so sweet that I can’t stomach them. I do like cherry limeade and a 1/2 shot of gin when I have a drink before dinner. I will no longer buy either when the gin is gone. Hubby loves Southern Comfort but he is giving that up too. Hubby is hooked on soda and peach iced tea but he can drink less of it. We are going to start drinking more water which we can flavor ourselves with lemon or lime. All of these drinks are so expensive that they are not worth it.

We are continuing to eat out of our freezers, refrigerator, and pantries. Most of the canned food was purchased right after the pandemic started. The meat is around a year old in the freezers. The refrigerator is mostly condiments, dairy, fruit and vegetables and cheese. If I had my way the condiments would be history. I hate most of them except for mayonnaise.

That is it for today. I will continue this post tomorrow. I need to get some beds stripped and wash the sheets, one room cleaned, and check the prices of my Top’s list for tomorrow to make sure the sale items are not cheaper elsewhere.

What are you saving on right now? Have you gotten any turkeys at a great price?

I apologize for not getting back to all of you last week. I just caught up on your comments on my last post. I have been really busy getting ready for company. My son owns his business in the Adirondacks with another person.. His name is Travis and his partner is Codie. Whenever he comes out this way, he comes by to see us. That is happening tomorrow. We are so looking forward to their visit. As Hubby says, they are family!

I have also been busy helping Hubby with some things for the holidays. Plus, I am getting ready for my second son’s 50th birthday which is in November. After his celebration that night, we are having West stay with us for 3 days to give my son and his wife some time off. We are looking forward to having West since he has not stayed overnight here in a couple of years. He is so busy with sports and other teen things. Then my other son is coming here to spend Thanksgiving with us. So I have been preparing for his visit.

Well, that is enough of the excuses.

I went and did some shopping last week at Aldi’s. I had not been shopping there very often. But I knew that they had good bread prices. I stocked up on hamburger buns( $1.39) which we also use for chicken fila type sandwiches that I make. We make pizza on their artisan flatbread($3.99). It only takes 9 minutes to bake and is delicious. Hamburgers were on our menu last week and the chicken sandwiches we are having tonight. The brioche buns($3.85) we use for chicken salad sandwiches and egg sandwiches. I made egg, sausage, and cheese McMuffins for us on the English muffins($1.59) to have for a few breakfasts last week and this week. I know how to make hamburger buns and bread. But I need to learn how to make the other items. When the holidays are over, I will work on that. All breads are so much cheaper to make than to buy. My total for these and the pecans($3.49) and 3 pack of peppers that you see in the picture below totaled $ 16.70.

Next stop was at Walmart, where I found 2 marked down salads. The green goddess ranch salad kit was $1.54 and made a nice lunch for me one day last week. The Southwest salad kit($2.63) is still good and we will have it with ribeye pork chops on Thursday night. I was surprised to find them. I usually don’t see many markdowns in Walmart. I got 1 frozen Birds Eye corn and 1 green beans for $ 1.00 each. My total was $ 6.71.

My last stop was Top’s where I used a Super Coupon to get the 2 liter Coke for $ .59. The Top’s chicken stock was $ 1.99 and the Crystal Light which is Hubby’s favorite peach tea was on sale for 2/$5.00. My total for Top’s was $7.63 plus tax and a $.05 deposit on the soda bottle.

$31.12 was not a bad shopping week. All meals were eaten from our stockpile last week.

I almost had a catastrophe last week. The chest freezer door got left open for a couple of hours. The only thing that defrosted and I lost was a piece of haddock. Fish especially when it is on top thaws quickly. The rest of the food was just fine. We will be checking it twice from now on to make sure it is closed.

How was your shopping week?