Posted on 05/13/2008 7:06:40 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
>>Yes, I know. I always give my older sister a hard time about drinking Starbucks coffee. I tell her I can drink coffee for a month for the $10.** + she spends there daily<<
Oh my goodness! Why would she do that? I have a really nice coffee pot. It was a big 50.00 at Walmart. You can find them cheaper. I set it up at night and get fresh coffee for myself and dad in the morning.
Sam’s club had Maxwell House for 8.00 for a 3 pound can. Even if one buys a really plush cup and takes flavored cream (I drink mine black) it’s way less than 10.00 a week!
We got yogurt and fruit, some nice chops I'm about to grill and freeze, chicken breasts, burgers, hot dogs, regular sausage for grilling, yummy asiago and spinach sausage and some predone stuff , like Dad's Philly cheese steaks that he loves. The only thing I can't seem to get there is frozen spinach, go figure.
It's not hard, but it is work to process and actually COOK.
And in season, we pick our own fruit which is fun!
Is that you Cindy McCain?
Oh wait. You live in Florida. Well, of course you have roadside stands year round. Did you think everyone did?
I live alone and am disabled. At times it's difficult to keep from throwing food away no matter how much I hate to do it. I finally decided I'd do a little experimentation to see if I could keep things fresher and quit wasting quite so much.
Oh wait, I live in Oklahoma where we have some pretty cold winters, maybe not 20 below but trust me I'm not exactly looking for roadside stands or farmers markets even now that it's spring. Too soon for fruits and most vegetables since they were only planted after the possibility of the last frost.
Let's see, growing up, traditional wisdom had it watermelons weren't viable until at least the end of May and were best beginning July 4th weekend. Now, living very near the watermelon capitol of the US if one is interested in such brands as Black Diamonds, I find we normally can begin to find local melons around late May-early June. Matter of fact I believe that's close to when Rush Springs, Ok has their annual watermelon festival.
EAT FOODS WHICH ARE IN SEASON! It also helps to take a page from old fashioned food storage techniques. Back in the olden days there were these things called root cellars. Now, I don't have a cellar so after a little thought I improvised.
Root cellars are cool.
Root cellars are dark.
From what I understand there's not a lot of air circulation in a root cellar.
Hmm, what do I have around my home which might substitute as a root cellar? Eureka! I have an electric stove with a drawer below the oven where the broiler pan is typically stored. Closer to ground level and heat rises so it's cooler. Hmmmm! Potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, certain hard squashes, sweet potatoes. I found my root cellar! Take off the perforated top of the broiler pan, carefully place my in season produce in the bottom portion of the broiler pan. Lightly cover with one of my 14 in. everyday pans to help provide a little additional insulation for when I use my oven. Use the top of the broiler pan on the other half of the oven drawer for those veggies I think might appreciate a little (very little) air circulation and use another light weight largish skillet to cover those veggies.
I pulled a potato out for dinner last night and there were no eyes growing, it wasn't soft, no black spots. Still have 3 more potatoes to use and as the weather is warming up I'm going to need to use them up pretty quickly. The white onion I used hadn't sprouted yet nor had the 2 white and 1 red still left. After doing a quick check, the shallots were in great shape as was the garlic. I had one sweet potato left over and I'll probably use it next week for sweet potato fries. Need to replace the carrots as I use those pretty often. I need to see how pulling the root vegetables up into the oven proper will affect their longevity. It's time for me to pull my large toaster oven out as well as the rotisserie and place them out in the "florida" room where I can use them down there and not heat up the rest of the house. Homemade rotisserie chickens...yum!
I'll also use my rice cooker for making meals such as roasts, chicken and rice dishes, mac n cheese, sausage and sauerkraut as well as whatever other dishes I can come up with. Steamed in-season vegetables in the rice cooker, yep. Roasted asparagus, tomatoes, broccoli, onions, carrots and whatever other fresh veggies which are either cheap or on sale will be cooked in the large toaster oven downstairs.
Before I know it I'll have fresh dewberries. I have a FoodSaver so when I see fresh fruits and/or veggies on sale or being sold alongside the road I'll follow the FS's instructions and freeze them.
I only wish I would have been feeling well enough to put in a few tomato plants, pepper plants and a few herbs which didn't make it over the winter. I do have plenty of lemon thyme and golden thyme as well as oregano and Italian parsley. I'll miss my variety of basils, chives and cilantro.
Print off coupons from different places on the internet, shop the sales, look for coupons for items you do use in the Sunday paper. Look for bargains at the dollar stores for things like canned chicken or tuna. Canned salmon is cheap and can be made into salmon patties.
And so on and so forth!
My wife got into one of those Gevalia “coffee of the month” deals some time ago. She would buy four or six speciality flavors for special occasions. We got two free coffee makers with the first order.
A few days, they called her and told her that for some reason they never got a delivery verification and said another order was on the way. We ended up with four coffee makers and 12 lbs of the coffee.
We get the 3 lb cans of coffee at SAMS club too. I drink mine black and strong. That special house roast is very good. I like the Yuban dark roast that is less than $10.00 at SAMS.
>>We get the 3 lb cans of coffee at SAMS club too. I drink mine black and strong. That special house roast is very good. I like the Yuban dark roast that is less than $10.00 at SAMS.<<
There was a lady grinding beans today at Sam’s club.
Heaven!!!
Paper or plastic?
Of course, with the soaring prices of winter white truffles, I have to eat my risotto plain most days, like a regular schmuck.
Come on over here, DUmmie, cause we're milking your thread for all it's worth.
I’m sure 99% of the DUmmies won’t shop at either of those places: Sam’s Club is owned by Wal-Mart, which is an EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVILLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! corporation (i.e., won’t kowtow to the unions), and Aldi is beneath them.
My folks (yes, I do live with my parents, but I do work as a professional, contribute to the household budget and don’t live in the basement) shop at SC when it’s major grocery purchases (rice {cultural staple}, oil, eggs, etc.) and Aldi and the nearby Schnuck’s (STLer) for repetitive purchases (bread, milk, canned foods, etc.). Sometimes we do go to a Latin or general ethnic store for products from the old country, but that’s about it.
These morons refuse to shop anywhere other than the Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe’s, and that’s the reason they’re paying half a paycheck for a cantaloupe. Political statement, and everything.
Right after my previous reply, I made a beeline to the indoor farmer’s market I mentioned. I bought six ears of corn for a buck and then two 1-lb sausage rolls for a buck each. I would have bought more but then remembered about the 3 lb. bag of smoked bacon I can get this Sunday for just 3 bucks.
It's prohibitive. I've had to switch to a lower grade of balsamic for my vinaigrette because I refuse to compromise when it comes to cheese--it's Parmigiano-Reggiano or nothing.
We all have to make sacrifices in these hard times.
>>My folks (yes, I do live with my parents, but I do work as a professional, contribute to the household budget and don’t live in the basement)<<
I should have clairified this.
Contributing to the household budget means that you are not living with your parents, it means you are renting a room. Did it for years, even took on the electric bill myself when times got tough.
If you contribute, you are not who I am speaking of.
I’m with your parents.
You’re so funny!
If you're going to pay that much for corn, it should be screened for mental disorders.
You haven’t check your exchange rate lately. Canadian $ is on par with US $ now.
Some of it is even made from yesterday's cigarettes.
That's what the bidet is for, sheesh don't these prople know how to use that "extra toilet"?
I go to Whole Foods once a month, I have to get some organic produce for my parrot, none of those Shop-Rite vegetables for her.
Yes, but have you seen what passes for crunchtastic these days?
(The link will take you to one of my favorite Onion articles ever.)
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