Shaw's Bargain Meal week of 10/16-10/22

Lately, the only thing I've gotten excited about at Shaw's has been some interesting Catalina sales. Unfortunately, I'm almost maxed out on shelf and freezer space so I don't know how much more stockpiling it's humanly possible to do. This week has a General Mills deal where you buy $25 worth of products (based on shelf price) and you get $10 back. So that's worked out well. However, there isn't much to speak of as far as meat and produce sales are concerned.

I find that, more and more, my family has been eating vegetarian meals without anyone really noticing or complaining. One way I can get away with serving a vegetarian meal is by cooking a pasta dish with really chunky veggies, or substantial amounts of cheese, or both. This week, to stretch out the meat budget, you can serve a vegetarian pasta meal along the lines of Stringy Macaroni. I would personally reduce the amounts of cheese (for health and budget reasons), and you can substitute premade sauce like Prego (1.49 this week, and there are various coupons available.) Hood cottage cheese is 2.49 a container which isn't a wonderful price, but with the 1.00/2 coupons out there it isn't too bad. (It never occurred to me to use cottage cheese in pasta recipes before, instead of ricotta, but so many people swear by it-- I tried it in manicotti the other night and it was really good!)

Again, I apologize for missing last week's bargain meal- things have been crazy!

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 10/16-10/22

I apologize for my MIA-ness this past week... we had a death in the family and things have been a little chaotic... plus I really did not find anything particularly inspiring to write about last week. So I just didn't. But I feel like the crummy friend who doesn't show up for the 3 p.m. coffee date and then makes lame excuses afterwards. So, I am sorry.

You know how nutrition people recommend shopping the perimeter of the grocery store, where all the fresh foods are, and staying out of the middle aisles? With Stop and Shop, I have come to find that to save money, I only need to look at the front and back page of the flyer. Deals are hard to come by in the middle pages- I find that lately I just skim the middle pages quickly because I never expect to find anything good!

This week, on the front page of course, boneless pork sirloin chops are 1.99/lb. I know, I know... pork, again? But I found a recipe for a Pork and Beans Skillet Supper that sounds quick, easy, and it uses a lot of ingredients most people have in their pantry all the time. If you need canned veggies, S&S has Green Giant canned veggies on sale for 1.99 for a 4-pack, and Bush's Best Baked Beans are $1 a can. This recipe sounds like it could lend itself well to crockpot experimentation- throw all the ingredients in the crockpot, put it on low all day and see what happens. I'm a heavy crockpot user once the weather turns really cold- nothing's better than coming home to a warm and comforting meal that's been cooking all day.