A Few $ Saving Tips

Yeah, so.. Bean Week turned into Beans For Two Days. ha.
We got sick of them.

My husband gave me $400 cash for groceries this month. My goal is to have at least $100 left over.
I've found that I spend less $$ when I have cash. That helps.
I bought three whole chickens. I froze two immediately, and cooked one. We canned the broth, and cut up the chicken, then froze it. I'll have chicken pieces, and free broth.
We eat leftovers for lunch, and lots of rice. Although we eat brown rice, I shop around for the best price per pound. We also eat a lot of quinoa, but I had that in stock, so that doesn't count. Quinoa has a lot of protein in it. It is excellent for my big eater.
We have a gluten-free boy and a dairy-free boy, so we have to spend extra for those specialty items.
We also have two deer in the freezer. It's in different forms: ground, stews, steak.. so we don't buy beef.
I meal plan. I try my hardest to stick to it. I plan my meals and make my shopping list after I've checked my pantry.
If we need anything extra in between shopping trips, we get it from Aldi.
Oh, I shop at Aldi first. Then Trader Joe's. Then Wegmans. Wegmans is awesome! It's a regional store. Anyways, cheapest first.

Those are just a few tips that I've been implementing this month for my shopping trips. I'll let you know how my spending went when this month it finished.

January Meal Plan

Maybe I like to make things difficult.
I don't know.
But I like to plan my meals a whole month at a time.
At first it takes a while to get started on it.
Then, before I know it, I'm taking meals off because I thought of a better meal.

L likes yogurt every morning for breakfast. Every. Single. Morning. R likes applesauce. Breakfasts are easy peasy. Lunches are usually leftovers, sandwiches, or something else creative. {*cough, ramen noodles*}
Dinners are the hard part. My husband is picky and doesn't like too much of the same food too often. Sundays I like to use my crock pot.
In case anyone is looking for ideas, I thought I'd post my rough draft:

1. {New Year Day} Pizza
2. Something not planned out :P
3. Crock pot lasagna
4. Enchiladas
5. Apple cinnamon pork loins {Frozen last month}
6. Venison stew over rice
7. Taco soup
8. {Lost my list, and can't remember what we ate} 
9. Cheesy crock pot chicken over rice
10. {Birthday party-pizza}
11. Hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes
12. Crock pot lasagna
13. Chili *BEAN WEEK*
14. Chili haystacks
15. Bean burritos
16. Chili pizza
17. Mexican lasagna
18. Venison stew
19. Cheesy crock pot chicken over rice
20. Corned Beef - Husband's favorite meal for his birthday
21. Leftovers
22. Italian cheesy chicken casserole
23. Hamburger gravy over rice
24. {Out of town}
25. {Out of town}
26. Creamy chicken
27. Enchiladas
28. Goulash
29. Chicken spaghetti
30. Leftovers
31. Balsamic chicken over rice {Frozen last month}

Meals in bold indicate crock pot used. I use my crock pot a lot. I have a few of them. In fact, I don't even know how many for sure. :) 

Some of these recipes are are posted. Some will be posted. Stay tuned. :P

Hamburger Gravy Over Mashed Potatoes

So I had a whole month's worth of meals planned out. 

Then, in typical Gabi fashion, I lost it a few days ago. ;)

Luckily I found it today. 

 Tonight I made hamburger gravy over potatoes. Yum!

I think I made this once or twice  few years ago. I couldn't remember exactly how to make it, and didn't have a recipe written anywhere. 

I just kind of had to wing it. 

I had a little helper who needed his own spoon. He actually does a good job.

First off, I browned my ground venison. Now, my husband has told me many times that when you use venison, it needs to be seasoned well.

I added some garlic powder, minced onion, salt, pepper, and some basil for the fun of it. 

I only had unsweetened coconut milk, sweetened almond, and vanilla almond milk. So, my choice of milk was obvious. {I used the coconut milk.} - add about a cup, maybe another 1/2 if it looks like it needs it.

I mixed a good amount, about 1 1/2 tablespoons, of rice flour in about 2 tablespoons of warm/hot water, and stirred it into my mixture. 

It was brought to a boil, and simmered for about 5 minutes, until it thickened.

Serve over mashed potatoes. 

Depending on how you prepare your mashed potatoes, this could be dairy-free. 

This was my 2-year old's bowl. He didn't finish it, by the way. My 11-month old ate more than this. :P

This is a great "cheap" meal. I didn't have to buy anything for this meal. Everything was on hand. I love those kinds of meals. It tasted great, too. 

Soaking your Beans

This is my first time buying dry beans. 

But...

It's cheaper.

And I'm all about that.

"Canned beans are cheap enough, why bother?"

Because when you're seriously trying to save money, every little bit helps.

It's actually really easy. Put your beans in a big ol' pot, cover them with water, swish it around, drain, cover them with water again, and bring them to a boil. Bring the temperature down, and check on them every half hour or so. The water evaporates, so you have to keep adding water. Once they get soft {like the canned kind} drain them and rinse. 

 

Mine are still in the strainer, cooling.

I put a bag {16 oz. each} of pinto, black and small red beans. 

So.... yeah, it made a lot. 

~

I thought I was being all smart.

I'm having taco soup for dinner tonight. {recipe to follow}

The recipe calls for one 15.5 oz can of each of the beans.

so I got out my measuring cup and measured about 15.5 oz, and put it in the pot. 

There wasn't much left in the bags, so I just threw all the beans in, and I figured I'd freeze the leftovers. 

Anyways, I put it on the stove, but by the time I brought it to a boil, the beans had definitely grown. I added more water, because it had all evaporated already. 

My pot was almost filled to the brim, and I didn't want to make a huge mess, so I had to switch to my largest pot to avoid catastrophe. 

I said all that just to say... start out with a much bigger pot than you think. 

Also, 15.5 oz of dry beans is way different than cooked beans. Measure after cooking them :)

*Edit: My husband told me the beans tasted better than they usually do! See? It's not just cheaper!