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.

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal, week of 10/2-10/8

This week at Stop and Shop, roasting chickens are .99/lb, strawberries are $2 per container, and Romaine lettuce hearts are 2.50 for a package of 3. If you roast a chicken, you can use some leftover meat as part of a strawberry chicken salad; add some red bell peppers at .99/lb for additional flavor and crunch. It won't be long before fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables are a distant memory, and most people probably won't feel like eating salads anymore. I know I go for months in the winter without touching salad (of course, we eat cooked vegetables as a side.)

Shaw's Bargain Meal, Week of 10/2-10/8

This week at Shaw's, pork loin is 1.69/lb, which is a really good deal... check here for some suggestions on what to do with pork loin.

For this week's Bargain Meal, take advantage of the "can-tastic" sale this week and the Shaw's Boneless Chicken Breast that's 1.99/lb- Southwest Chicken uses chicken, a can of corn, a can of tomatoes, and a can of beans. The recipe calls for making it with a skillet, but some reviewers made it in the slow cooker and it sounds like it would be perfect made that way. Serve it with hot rice or rolled up in some tortillas. Yum.

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal of the week 9/25-10/1

This week at Stop and Shop, both Perdue Ground Turkey and 80% Lean Ground Beef are on sale for 1.99/lb. I was trying to think of something interesting to do with ground meat, and nothing really jumped out at me because the produce sales aren't anything too exciting this week. But I noticed that Dannon yogurt is on sale for .40 a container, and wondered if there wasn't something you could do with ground meat and yogurt.

Lo and behold! We have Middle Eastern Pasta with Yogurt and Pine Nuts. The recipe suggests subbing slivered almonds for the pine nuts- you could probably substitute any nut, and I have read that sunflower seeds are a good substitution as well. The recipe looks very simple and easy! If you are out of pasta, Stop and Shop brand pasta is .80/ box this week. Serve with some veggies on the side and you have a nice frugal meal.

Shaw's Bargain Meal week of 9/25-10/1

Wow, is it really almost October? Time flies crazy fast.

When I checked out my Shaw's flyer, I was most excited about the 2.77 New England Coffee (I have some coupons that made it 1.77- boo-yeah!)- not because I am a coffee drinker, but my husband is, and he works the night shift, and he becomes grumpy and sad when all there is to drink in the house is generic coffee-in-a-can. (I'm sorry, baby!) So I stocked up on Cinnamon Hazelnut aplenty and he'll be all happy and wishing he married me all over again when he comes home tomorrow morning to find it. Fifty nine cents a pound for apples is good, too, and I picked up some spinach for .99 .

But what I didn't really pay attention to, is the .99 "Fresh Pork Picnic Shoulder." Now, the un-frugal part of my brain reads that and thinks, "Ugh, random cheap cut of meat. No thanks." But on my frugal journey I've learned all sorts of worthwhile things about random cheap cuts of meat, mostly involving the crock pot. So I did a little research and found some ideas on cooking a pork shoulder here and here. Basically, the shoulder roast does have a bone in it because it's part of the pig's foreleg, but it's supposed to be one of the most flavorful cuts of pork, and is really popular for making BBQ pulled pork. You can check out more details here.

The other thing about this, is that this week there is a coupon for free onions, carrots, and potatoes when you buy any pork or beef roast of 3 lbs or more. The ones that are featured in the ad are 2.99/lb- not that great of a deal if you ask me. But the pork shoulder is also considered a roast and therefore should be part of this deal... which would be a pretty great deal if you ask me. If you try it out before I do, let me know if it works.

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 9/18-9/24

My family loves lasagna but it isn't often that I have all of the necessary ingredients all together at one time. Lasagna noodles are hard to find on sale, so I've never had the chance to really stockpile them. Once in a while I find ricotta cheese on sale and when I do, I buy several and freeze them. For me, it is usually better/easier/cheaper to make some form of Pasta Lasagna to get my baked pasta and ricotta cheese fix.

This week, ricotta cheese is 2.99 at Stop and Shop- which isn't a fantastic price exactly, but with .99 pasta sauce (Francesco Rinaldi- I like their "Sweet and Tasty Tomato" sauce) and .75 pasta (Prince pasta, all varieties- except baking and flavored) it can make an affordable meal. You can stretch the ricotta using my grated zucchini method that I alluded to here, and that would make the cost per meal a little cheaper. This recipe calls for meat and some additional cheese- I wouldn't make a special trip to buy additional ingredients but use whatever cheese and meat I might happen to have around the house- another reason why lasagna dishes tend to be pricey is because people end up buying 3 different kinds of cheese and different meats and everything else. Just baking some pasta with layers of sauce and ricotta, with maybe a little bit of grated parmesan sprinkled on top, is going to be very tasty with a nice little salad or side of vegetables.

And I'm glad we're getting into cooler weather again, because I don't need to feel bad about making "comfort food" all the time. This is the season for it!