Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello, all... I'm going to skip the bargain meal post this week because I'm away for the weekend, and we all know what bargain meal every sale is pointing to this week... our Thanksgiving Feast! I don't plan on doing much other cooking this week- I'm going to haul a couple of pre-cooked meals out of the freezer and keep things easy while I get ready for the big day. And of course, there will be leftovers galore after that. I hope everyone has a happy, safe, blessed and TASTY Thanksgiving!

(scared turkey picture by Scott Bauer source ARS license Public Domain)

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 11/13-11/19

This week at Stop and Shop, there are still frozen Shady Brook Farms turkeys for .47/lb! I have to tell you, I am so glad I went ahead and roasted a turkey last weekend. It ended up making enough white meat for 6 meals, enough dark meat for my husband to snack on all week, and a whole gallon of delicious broth- for less than five dollars. I will share with you a recipe I tried this week-- I wanted to use up potatoes because I had 2 big bags of potatoes in my cupboard. I made Turkey Potato Tetrazzini, following this recipe here, but with some changes. I made my own "cream of turkey" soup using this recipe here. I didn't end up using all the cheese that the recipe calls for- I just mixed a little parmesan into my cream of turkey soup and put a little shake of parmesan between each layer of potatoes. Finally, I used carrots instead of broccoli. I served it with a side of vegetables and some cranberry sauce (hey, it's on sale left and right so why not eat it?)

At the same time, I made a whole batch of more traditional turkey tetrazzini with spaghetti and froze it up for later. I am finding that it's almost as easy to make 2 dinners at a time than only one, and it saves me so much time later! The only downside is, I hope that we aren't all sick of turkey leftovers before Thanksgiving even happens. I'll definitely do my best to try to space out our meals throughout the winter, without forgetting about all that turkey that I froze!

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal 11/6-11/12- Turkey Day!

I know it's not actually Thanksgiving. I just feel a little silly because I've been roasting a turkey today. Stop and Shop has Shady Brook Farms frozen turkeys on sale for .47 a pound which, if I'm not mistaken, is an amazing price. I don't think meat can be much cheaper than that unless they're giving it away. So I bought a little 10 lb. turkey for less than $5 last night- I left it in a cooler in my car because it was 29 degrees overnight- and started roasting it early this morning.

• Directions on how to cook a turkey from its frozen state without thawing it first are here. I have to say, it was very easy to do and much less messy than dealing with a nonfrozen, slimy bird. The only tricky part is making sure that you remove the giblets and neck partway through cooking, because you can't get them out when it's frozen solid. My 10 lb. bird took about 6 hours to cook and the turkey was very, very moist and tasty.
• When the turkey was roasted, I let it rest for a while and then cut off all the useable meat. I'm not a fan of dark meat but my husband will eat it, so I saved all those parts separately. The white meat will be frozen to use in recipes (I'm thinking I will make Turkey Tetrazzini and Turkey and Rice Casserole.) Then I cut up the carcass and used it to make stock, which is still cooking right now. Once it's done, I'll freeze that in containers as well.
• Between the meat and stock it looks like this turkey will provide at least 5-6 meals. Not bad!

I'm glad I ended up doing this because we're having Thanksgiving at my parents' this year, so we won't have our own turkey to get leftovers from. Of course, this wouldn't be a bad time to buy your Thanksgiving turkey, if you have the freezer space (I sure don't). I wasn't sure how I would like the Shady Brook Farms turkey, but it was very tasty (they do season it with brine or something because it's a tad salty, but not bad.)

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 10/30-11-5

This week, Stop and Shop has White Gem Homestyle Roasting Chickens on sale for .99/lb. I've seen better, but it isn't a bad price. A 5 lb bag of All Purpose Potatoes are 1.77- again, not great, but not awful. (If you live near Shaw's, they have 5 lb. bags of russet potatoes for .99 this week!) Try a roast chicken and potatoes recipe- here's a suggestion that sounds good.

Asparagus is on sale for 1.77/lb, which is a great price for asparagus. I have tried to like asparagus because my husband really likes it, and I found that the skinnier, more delicate asparagus is tastier to me. I found directions here on cooking asparagus in the microwave, which was really easy and they came out tasting very good.

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 10/23-10/29

Since we're all completely sick of pork chops on sale, yet again (I'm sure you've stocked up plenty and you have enough pork in the freezer to last until Valentine's Day, at least) why not breakfast for dinner? My kids love "egg pie" and it's their favorite dinner request these days. They don't even mind when I throw in some veggies- even spinach (eek!) and kale (gasp!) have passed muster. A dozen eggs at Stop and Shop are $1 this week, and Stop and Shop Bacon is $1.77 for a 12-16 oz. package.

• "Egg pie" a.k.a. my version of quiche is pretty easy.
• I often make it without a crust, but if I do use a crust it's something improvised (I've used stale crackers or a thin layer of Bisquick mixed with milk pressed on the bottom of a greased pan and baked a few minutes ahead of time-- and you can also use leftover rice or slices of bread.)
  
• Then I chop up veggies, ham, bacon, whatever, and sprinkle it over the crust (If I'm not using a crust, I will pour in the eggs and then add the veggies or whatever).
  
• I often make my quiche in a 9x 9 glass dish but it goes pretty fast- 13 x 9 would be better for more than 4 people. (Make sure to spray with nonstick cooking spray)
  
• I whisk my eggs together with just a little milk (I use 5 eggs for the 9x9 pan- you could probably use a whole dozen for the larger pan.)
  
• Then I pour the eggs in the pan, add any extras if I haven't already, and sprinkle cheese over the top. I have used all kinds of cheese, even American cheese from the deli broken into bits, and they have been fine.
  
• I bake it at 350 for approximately 25-35 minutes (the deeper the eggs are in the pan, the longer the baking time.) When a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, it's good to go!

With a slice of homemade bread and some salad, this is a very satisfying- and frugal- meal!

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.)

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.

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!

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 9/11-9/17

This week at Stop and Shop, broccoli is a great deal at .88/pound. Boneless Center-Cut Pork Chops are 1.99/lb, and Success Rice is 2 for $4 for both white and brown rice. I totally heart Success brown rice- regular brown rice takes 45 minutes to cook, and it is really nice to be able to cook up nice healthy whole grains in a matter of a few minutes. There were $1 off coupons for Success Rice a couple weeks ago, making the rice only $1 a box- there are also printable coupons here.

With these ingredients you could try this recipe for pork-fried rice. I also might make a pork stir-fry. I always have the ingredients on hand to mix up a stir fry. Using a little vinegar is a trick I learned from Erin at $5 dinners... it keeps you from having to use a ton of soy sauce and having really high sodium in your recipe as a result.

Easy Pork Stir Fry

3/4 lb. pork loin, sliced into thin strips
3-4 cups cut-up vegetables of your choice (broccoli, peppers, onions, carrot strips... anything)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp flour
pepper to taste
2 cups cooked brown rice

1. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the pork until the outsides are no longer pink.
2. Put the vegetables in with the meat and turn the heat to medium-low. While veggies are cooking, mix up the sauce. Add all liquid ingredients together. Stir in the ginger and then stir in the flour gradually, breaking up any lumps. Pour sauce over the stir-fry and keep stirring.
3. When pork is cooked through and veggies are tender, remove from heat and add pepper to taste. Serve over rice.

One thing about my cooking is that I never make dinner with measuring cups- I've been mixing up my own tasty stir-fry sauce for eons but I have only a rough idea of how much I use of each ingredient. So please feel free to adjust amounts- if your sauce seems too sweet, add a little more teriyaki; too salty, add more orange juice.

I was very flattered last night at my daughter's open house at school- she had a poster taped to her desk with all of her "favorites." Under "Favorite Smell?" She wrote "My mom's cooking." Which is too funny, because she's a very picky eater! She says she loves the smell, even if she doesn't want to eat what I'm serving. Oh well.

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 9/4-9/10

I haven't been posting as much because I'm back to work and getting back into the routine of the school year. I'm actually kind of excited about going to Stop and Shop this week... even though 3.99 is way over my normal per-pound cost for meat, my hubby loves steak tips soooo much I will have to splurge and get some of those. Corn on the cob is a great price (12 for 1.99) and it won't be long before corn season is but a distant memory... There are other good prices on meat and produce this week, so check your flyer to see what you need to stock up on.

Obviously, some late-summer grilling will be a part of most people's weekend plans, but for something a little different later in the week, try cooking up some greens. Collards, kale and turnip greens are .69/lb- a "Real Deal" that will last for a while. ( I have found kale to be a very versatile vegetable- I use it in place of spinach. It has an interesting flavor and a little more texture than spinach.) Jones Naturally Hickory Smoked Ham Steak is 1.99- a recipe to try is Delicious Greens and Ham with some nice crusty bread. Also, Countryfine Italian Sausage is 1.99/lb- you could cook it up with the greens as well- it makes a surprisingly tasty dish. And it's amazing how a big pile of greens shrinks when you cook them.

Happy Labor Day!

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal, week of 8/28- 9/3

Stop and Shop has redesigned its flyer in such a manner that I find completely distracting... all over the place there's a tacky little logo that says "Weekly Specials!" and in other places there's another logo that says "Real Deal!" And there's green highlighting in random places, and the whole effect is just very busy and confusing and unpleasant. And the deals at Stop and Shop are no better than usual (I much prefer Shaw's, if you haven't noticed...)

I was almost going to throw up my hands about the Bargain Meal of the Week because there didn't seem to be much of anything on sale, but when I looked at the flyer again I got inspired. Avocados are .99/lb, corn is 8/1.99, and plum tomatoes are also .99/lb. These ingredients are what you need to make Swan's Summer Soup, a cold, gazpacho-like soup. I love having soup for dinner because that means I also get to have bread for dinner- and I (and my whole entire family) just really love bread.

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal, week of 8/21-8/27

I apologize for my lateness in getting my bargain meals up. My kids are out of the house for a few days and I spontaneously decided to purge all the clutter, trinkets, trash, and Barbie shoes from their bedrooms. It ended up being a monumental task... I am basically done, but I have a mountain of perfectly good useless stuff to donate to Goodwill. Anyway...

Hrm, guess what's on sale at Stop and Shop? Pork chops again, 1.99/lb (and grapes again, .99 lb.) What on earth can we do with that? Well, I am learning not to be surprised when I find recipes that involve odd combinations of ingredients. When I typed "pork" and "grapes" into Allrecipes.com, I got a list of possible recipes (some involved grape juice, some involved grape tomatoes, but some involved actual grapes! Imagine that.)

One recipe that sounded good, and do-able, with some substitutions, is Pork Tenderloin with Honey Grape Sauce. The recipe calls for a 2 lb. pork roast that you grill, and then you make a sauce with the grapes that you pour over it. Obviously, you can just cook the pork chops any way you like, and then make the sauce. The recipe calls for red grapes rather than green grapes, but it's certainly worth giving a try with green grapes. Most of the other ingredients are common pantry staples, and if you don't have something you can always substitute (chop up a little onion in place of shallots, or use ground ginger instead of fresh.)

To serve with it, you can make a box of Rice-A-Roni, $1/box this week, and whatever vegetables you have on hand. I bet the grape sauce would be very nice poured over rice!

On Vacation...

No bargain meal this week- I'm on vacation. Be back next week!

Strawberry Balsamic Chicken: S&S Bargain Meal of the Week

So, my thought process when trying to come up with bargain meals is, "What meat is less than 1.99 a pound?" and "What in-season produce is on sale this week?" Then I'll do some curious Googling and try to come up with an interesting way to use those ingredients that doesn't seem too time-intensive or use a bunch of crazy ingredients (because it's tough to be a frugal cook who is looking for unusual ingredients every week.)

This week's recipe seems to be a step up from the simple family meal- it sounds like it would be nice to serve for guests. But, you know, you should never serve a new recipe for guests- you always have to try it out yourself first. So why not try this out on your family? With boneless chicken breast on sale for 1.79/lb and strawberries on sale for 3 for $5 ($1.67 per 1 lb. container,) Strawberry Balsamic Chicken sounds perfect. Another key ingredient is strawberry yogurt; S&S brand yogurt is on sale for 8 for $4 (.50 per container.) Since you need 4 containers, this isn't going to end up being a $5 dinner, but for a fancier meal, it's still quite affordable. Most of the other ingredients are pantry staples, and if you don't have a particular herb or spice, you can just omit it. (I have parsley growing on my doorstep, but not mint, so I'd probably leave the mint out.) I won't have a chance to try this recipe this week- we're going on vacation- but I definitely want to try it out soon. Let me know if you try it and like it!

S&S brand Garden Salad is 1.29/bag, so you can serve that with whatever veggies you might have around, and some bread or rice would round out the meal. Not a $5 dinner, but not too shabby!

Learning to like eggplant! Stop and Shop Bargain Meal

I have never been a huge eggplant fan, but I am trying really hard to like it, and to learn to cook it in tasty ways. It comes in handy when there aren't any great deals on meat to be had. So far, me (and the kids) prefer eggplant as an accent in a baked pasta dish. Eggplant is .99/lb this week at Stop and Shop, as is (good ole) zucchini & summer squash (we will definitely miss the zucchini/ summer squash sales in the dead of winter.)

Baked Pasta with Eggplant Parm Nibbles

1 medium eggplant
1/2 tsp salt
Bread crumbs
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cups chopped veggies of choice (I choose... zucchini!)
1/2 box pasta (ziti, penne, rotini all work well)
1 jar pasta sauce or 2 15 oz. cans of tomatoes in some form
1/2 cup shredded cheese

1. First, you need to prep the eggplant. Erin gives a beautiful description on how to do this here. Basically, peel the eggplant, chop it into small pieces, put it in a colander, sprinkle a little salt on it and let it drain for a while (30 minutes to an hour.) You can prepare more than one eggplant this way and freeze some for later.
2. Meanwhile, prepare pasta according to package directions and chop up your other vegetables.
   
3. Heat the olive oil in your skillet to medium high. While it's warming up, take a bowl of bread crumbs and roll the eggplant in the crumbs, a few at a time. I find that the crumbs stick to the eggplant just fine without dipping them in egg or anything, but you could do that if you wanted. Then you want to saute your eggplant pieces in the oil until they are golden brown. You could probably get much crispier pieces if you deep-fried them, but I don't really fry things.
   
4. When the pasta is done, mix it in a 9 x 13 baking pan with the sauce and/or tomatoes. Stir the vegetables and the cooked eggplant in as well. Then top with cheese and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Serve with corn on the cob- it's on sale for 12 for 1.99 (about 17 cents an ear!)
   

What is "London Broil," Exactly??? S&S and Shaw's, week of 7/24-7/30

Stop and Shop and Shaw's have this symbiotic relationship (or maybe they're just trying to compete with each other) where they often have the exact same stuff on sale, especially meats. This is one of those weeks. Both flyers feature something called "London Broil" on the top of the front page, so I decided to do a combined post for both stores. Stop and Shop is 1.79/lb, and Shaw's is 1.99/lb. Both good prices, but if you have the choice, of course, head over to Stop and Shop. But the question in my mind is, what on earth is London Broil? As I mentioned before, as a bargain grocery shopper I have made it my business to try all kinds of different forms of meat when they are on sale. So, I did some research about this so-called "London Broil."

First of all, I learned that London Broil is not a specific cut of beef- it is a cooking method for meat that would be otherwise tough. Basically the meat is marinated, you can broil it or grill it until it is medium rare (cook it any more and it will be too tough) and then you slice it across the grain at a 45 degree angle.

So I noticed that Stop and Shop is selling "Top Round" as London Broil, and Shaw's is selling "Shoulder Steak"- both different cuts of meat. Both come from the front of the animal, so they get lots of work when he is walking around- therefore they're pretty lean and have to be cooked carefully to be tasty. I found this handy-dandy chart that is really helpful- it shows all the different cuts of meat and explains how to cook them.

I'm not too keen on the London Broil idea... my husband and I both prefer our meat cooked a bit more than medium rare. So I wanted to know what other ways will work with these cuts of meat. It sounds like it is good for:

• slicing thinly and marinating- to use in stir-frys, fajitas, salads, etc. The key is to cook quickly over high heat.
• Some people suggest grinding it yourself, to make a lean ground beef. Or cut into cubes for chili.
• If you aren't going to cook it hot and fast, you need to cook it slowly... preferably in a slow cooker. It sounds like it is tasty in the crockpot- just throw it in with some vegetables, some form of liquid, and set on low all day.
  
• A burrito filling- put the meat in the crockpot with taco seasonings, a can of chiles, a can of tomatoes and a diced onion- cook on low all day- the meat should be easy to shred when it is cooked.
• You can also cut it up and cook it in a crockpot soup.
  

If you decide to grill the London Broil this week (I might even try it- I might try cooking it a little longer than suggested, and if I don't like it, I can put it in the slow cooker,) you definitely have to marinate it. You do not need to buy anything at the store to marinate your meat! There is plenty of stuff at your house that you can use. I always mix up a random marinade from things I have around the house... some suggestions of things you can use-

• a little bit of oil wouldn't hurt, especially a lean cut of meat
• any salad dressing
• vinegars
• wine or beer or cola
  
• condiments- ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce
• juice- apple is great with pork, orange is great with teriyaki and ginger
• soy sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, hot sauce...
• herbs and spices

Obviously, don't mix all of these things together or it will be gross- but you can play around and experiment with flavors that you know you and your family like. Make sure you cut the meat into meal-sized portions and freeze the rest- you don't save money if you cook 3 pounds of meat for a family of 4.

If you're shopping at Stop and Shop, you can pick up some elbow macaroni (Stop and Shop Pasta is .75 a box) and make a pasta salad. For pasta salad, I generally cook 1/2 the box of pasta and then add whatever vegetables I have handy (peppers, carrots, celery, tomatoes all work well.) Then you can mix it up with some salad dressing (ranch or Italian work well- Ken's Dressing is $2.00 a bottle if you don't have any at home) and maybe a little bit of mayo, and season with pepper and salt to taste. If you have cheese, nuts, leftover bacon, olives, etc., all of those things would be tasty additions. If that's too complicated or you're in a hurry, you can pick up a box of Suddenly Salad for 1.50 a box and let Betty Crocker take care of the pasta salad-making for you. There isn't much on sale for fresh vegetables this week- if you don't have anything at home, Green Giant Canned Vegetables are $1 a can (I bet the S&S brand is cheaper than that, though.) Also, Romaine hearts are 2.50 for a bag of 3, and I find those go a long way- I can get a whole week's worth of salads out of 3 Romaine hearts.

If you go to Shaw's, you can get corn for .33 an ear, which isn't great but isn't awful. And the Fresh Express Complete Salads are B1G1 free- there was a printable coupon out a couple weeks ago that would make this a great deal but I can't locate it now- if you printed it out, you have some close-to-free salad! If you need to pick up a starchy side, the Shopper's Value White Rice in a 20 lb. bag is 9.99, which is about .50 a pound, and should go a very long way. (Alas, I try as much as possible to use brown rice- I wish they had that in a 20 lb. bag on sale!) An easy rice side: cook the rice according to package directions, and then dump in a can of whatever non- condensed soup you have around and heat it through (drain off any extra liquid if it's too runny). We have so much soup that we've picked up on sale- that's an easy way to use it up.

Happy Shopping!

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal, week of 7/17-7/23

Stop and Shop actually has some good deals this week! Ocean Spray Cranberry juice is 3/$5- that price is practically unheard of for a 64 oz. bottle. Too bad the sale doesn't include the 100% juice varieties... :-(

2 lb. packages of strawberries are 2.99 (as opposed to the 1 lb. package that costs 2 for $5- so you basically get an extra pound for forty-nine cents?)

But what I am really excited about: Butterball Thin & Crispy Turkey Bacon is 10 for $10 for a 12 oz. package. I don't often buy bacon but it's such a great way to add flavor to meals- I think the price is right at $1. (Let's hope it tastes good, though! I've never tried this kind before! Oh, the adventures of bargain shopping!) <>

With the White Gem Boneless Chicken Breast on sale for 1.79/lb, bacon, and some pantry staples (grab some Prince pasta on sale for 10 for $10 if you're out of pasta,) you can make this chicken pasta dish that sounds tasty and very simple.

Or, if you're sick of pasta, try cooking up your favorite vegetables (zucchini is on sale- again- for .99/lb, and corn is 8 for 1.88- about .24 an ear) and crumbling a few pieces of bacon over it (see this recipe for ideas). You can grill up some chicken and serve some Near East Rice Pilaf (10 for $10) and you have yourself a nice summer meal.

My daughter, who is a major bacon fanatic, will be happy to know that it can be frozen, so we can stock up... the USDA recommends storing it for 1-2 months for best taste, but it's safe to store longer than that. <>

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal, week of 7/10-7/16

Okay. So far, I have put the Stop and Shop circular in the recycling bin twice- by accident, I swear. But I think it's my subconscious telling me that I'm not all that excited by the deals this week.

I am moderately excited by the 2 for $3 Kellogg's cereal deal, except that the only cereals I'd buy are Blueberry and Cinnamon Pecan Special K. And much to my chagrin, I only have one coupon for Blueberry Special K... all the rest of my Kellogg's coupons are for Mini-Wheats. The other frustrating part of this deal is that you could use it for the Kellogg's Fuel for School Rebate (buy 10 items in a single transaction, save $10), except that the cereal sale is "limit 4." There are other participating products on sale, like Pop-Tarts, Morningstar Farms, and some Keebler products, but nothing that I'm too excited about. Oh well, the rebate goes through September 30, so I am sure I will be able to hit a good cereal sale before then.

The $5/$15 meat coupon is available again, good through the 16th, so you might be able to use that to get some okay deals on meat this week. The pork and chicken on sale this week is bone-in, which a lot of people are okay with... me, I am a big baby when it comes to things like bones. So I will probably skip buying meat at Stop and Shop this week. As far as produce is concerned, B1G1 free lettuce might work out to be a good deal- as crazy as it sounds, B1G1 free sales annoy me because I often have no idea what the non-sale price is- it could be a great deal- or not. Otherwise, nothing much.

Most people are pretty lucky in that when their regular grocery store is lacking in deals, they can always go to a different store. But what if Stop and Shop is your only store for miles around? I found out recently that my local Stop and Shop has very low prices on dry beans and lentils, lower than my local Walmart. I got a pound of lentils there for eighty cents. You can pick up zucchini & summer squash for 1.29/lb, which isn't too bad, especially if you only get a couple. The rest of the ingredients are usually already in my pantry. This is my favorite thing to do with lentils-( I submitted it to All Recipes for approval, but they haven't approved it yet...) but I will share it with you.

Italian Lentil Stew

1 tbsp olive oil (.10)

1 tbsp minced garlic (.10)

1 medium onion, cut into large chunks (.30)

3 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces (.40)

4 peeled carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces (.30)

1 cup dry lentils (.40)

3 bouillon cubes (.15)

4 cups water

2 cans (15 oz) diced Italian style tomatoes (1.00)

1 bay leaf (.01)

1/2 cup small pasta (like bowtie) (.05)

1 medium zucchini, cut into large chunks (.50)

1 medium yellow squash, cut into large chunks (.50)

1 tsp dried basil(or to taste) (.01)

1/2 tsp dried oregano (or to taste) (.01)

Ground pepper, to taste (.01)

Grated cheese (romano, parmesan) for garnish (.50) (Approx. $4.34 for a meal that makes a lot of leftovers)

1. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Saute celery, carrots, onions, and garlic, until onions are clear.
2. Meanwhile, rinse lentils. Put water, bouillon, bay leaf, and tomatoes in a large pot on medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onions and lentils- simmer for about 7 minutes.
3. Add pasta and let cook for 3 minutes- then add zucchini and squash- cook until tender but not mushy. Add oregano, basil and pepper and remove from heat- let sit for 30 minutes, covered.
4. Serve with a topping of grated cheese. This dish goes great with a nice crusty homemade bread.

My husband is a big meat n' potatoes fan- he is tolerant of occasional meatless meals, but without meat he becomes sad... :-( He tends to make fun of foods like couscous, lentils, sprouts, etc. But he absolutely loved this. The key is to cut the vegetables into really big chunks, so they feel nice and substantial in your mouth. This makes a lot of leftovers- the squash & zucchini tend to get sort of mushy on the reheat, but it don't bother me none.

Happy shopping!

Stop and Shop Bargain Meal week of 6/3-6/9

Stop and Shop has some exciting produce buys this week, again- they're repeating their 12/1.99 corn sale, and the 4 for $5 blueberries sale of a couple weeks ago. (I bought 8 pints of blueberries last time, ate one, froze a couple, and made 5 pints of jam.)

This week Countryfine Italian Sausage Links are 1.99/lb and green and yellow squash (the vegetables formerly known as zucchini and summer squash, people!) are both .99/lb. Now there are a variety of creative and interesting things you could do with these ingredients, such as zucchini soup or stuffed zucchini or something. What I would probably do, when faced with these ingredients, is a simple pasta dish. Prego pasta sauce is 2 for $4 this week, and Stop and Shop Pasta is still 5 for $4.

When making sausage, I like to remove the casing before cooking- I think it's too tough otherwise. Then I cut it up into 1-inch pieces and cook it over medium heat. I saute it with whatever vegetables are handy, add about 2/3 of a jar of pasta sauce or a can of diced tomatoes, and serve over pasta. Add some homemade bread and you've got a meal. Total cost: Under $5