I spent $139 at the commissary yesterday for food. I'm not sure this will cover all the days my parents are here, but it is a good start. I was hoping to keep it to $100, but I did put some extras in my cart. I do expect these items may help stretch my initial meal plans. We have a lot of fresh food we need to make sure to use up so none of it goes to waste.
Speaking of waste, I had to throw out two things yesterday that were past their prime. One was some milk that according to the package only expired on the the 9th, but had clearly turned days before. So glad no one tried to drink it! The waste probably amounted to 1 cup of milk. The other item was some sour cream, maybe two or three tablespoons worth. I was going to use it up in our taco dip last night but it definitely wasn't worth eating any longer.
Curbing food waste is a sure way to avoid wasting money and food. I know I toss out far more than we need to, so this Uber Frugal Month is a reminder to keep up on the expiration dates, and make an effort to use up before things go bad. Part of that starts with buying only what you know you will eat before something expires.
Yesterday, I ate the abandoned pasta micro meal that was in the freezer. I added the zucchini from the night before to it, so it was very filling. This morning I ate the waffle no one else would claim. I added peanut butter to it that I scraped out of the jar with a spatula. A lot can come out of a jar when you scrape it out. Today, I will eat the leftover taco dip we had for dinner last night, along with the last of the watermelon.
Looking back at my original list of foods to use up it seems I have used up almost half of the items, with portions of others. If I can get rid of the sauces and marinades this month that will help quite a bit.
And....my neighbor just stopped by with produce from her garden. I now have a large pepper, two roma tomatoes, a pint of cherry tomatoes, three jalepenos, two banana peppers and four of some other kind of pepper! What a wonderful blessing. My mom and I will have to figure out how to use up all the peppers while she is visiting.
Have a frugal week! Use it up before it goes to waste!
Grocery Shopping & Using Up More Food
July 11th, 2017 at 02:28 pm
July 11th, 2017 at 03:04 pm 1499785440
July 11th, 2017 at 03:09 pm 1499785792
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/16967/fruits-and-vegetables/vegetables/bell-peppers/?page=2
The research insists frozen vegetables are as nutritious as fresh, some like carrot [carotene] is higher. Flash frozen, they are cost efficient, particularly on sale as loss leader, no waste. Cook only the amount needed for the number of servings intended or recipe requirements. There is no benefit to seeing fresh fruit or vegetables get droopy and rejected in the fridge.
July 11th, 2017 at 04:03 pm 1499789008
July 11th, 2017 at 07:38 pm 1499801911
In the fall when we have more bell peppers than we can use, I chop them and freeze the pieces in a freezer bag. I add to soups, stews, and casseroles. Snafu has a great site listed too.
I have had milk go bad before the date and my parents said sometimes if you have storms, the pressure changes things. I don't know if that is an old wives tale or not, but we usually had storms when that would occur. It wasn't like you lost a gallon though and you didn't do it on purpose.
July 11th, 2017 at 09:24 pm 1499808286
July 12th, 2017 at 01:16 pm 1499865370
The food is like a drug?
July 16th, 2017 at 11:32 pm 1500247933