I have several blocks of parmesan cheese that I need to grate. I will get out the grater and put the cheese in freezer bags. I don't want to waste the cheese plus it will taste better than the pre-grated stuff. It is less expensive for me to purchase cheese this way than to purchase cheese that has been grated.

I've been horrified at the rising cost of grated cheese at Harris Teeter for national brands as well as the store brand. By my taking the time to grate my own blocks of cheese I'm saving $$$ and flavor. Thanks to people on DS, I know that I can freeze the cheeses that I've grated.

Thanks to my cooking classes, I can make my own sauces using cheese and canned tomatoes. This keeps me from buying the sauces in a jar. I have champagne tastes and I really like the flavor of the expensive sauces. However, I'm too tightfisted to spend the big bucks on the expensive sauces.

Now if I can just get myself in the habit of following a recipe in one of my cookbooks, I can cook chicken breasts ahead of time and freeze them so that I don't have to purchase Perdue Shortcuts, I'll be eating healthier and cheaper.

My food chore this week is to salvage pumpkin meat.  I did the larger pumpkin over the last 2 days.  I'm waiting a few days for my shoulder to stop aching (when did I get so out of shape? LOL) and then I'll do the smaller pumpkin.  I get enough pumpkin puree to keep us in pumpkin muffins, bread, pancakes, pudding, and pie for the winter.  I alternate with other frozen foods like zukes and bananas so we don't get pumpkin-ed out or banana-ed out.  I get about 12 cans worth of pumpkin puree plus a batch of seeds to roast from 1 pumpkin that cost $4.  $4 would only buy me 8 cans of pumpkin puree at the store.  It's a decent savings even though it does cost me time.  But really, what else do I have but my time right now?  I'm not working so I feel I should be doing the little and the big things to save money.

When we go grocery shopping I usually buy 2 stalks of celery, a head of lettuce and multiple cucumbers. When I need them, I wash and cut all the celery and put it in a gallon size zipper bag. When I need the lettuce I wash the entire head, put it in the salad spinner to get the excess water off, and then put it in a gallon size zipper bag with all the air squeezed out. I also pick grapes off the stem, wash them and put them in a container and slice up the whole pineapple and put it in a container with some lime juice to keep it from browning.

When Thanksgiving comes, I'll prep the turkey the night before and put it in the fridge, ready for the oven the next day. I'll also peel all 5 pounds of potatoes and put them in water, ready to cook the next day. I'll probably also make some of the treats beforehand and put them in the freezer until needed.

Jill

On Friday afternoons, I bake muffins or sweet breads. I usually have some too-ripe bananas, apples, applesauce and now some pumpkin. And if the boys are lucky, I may throw some mini-chocolate chips into one batch (along with some flax seed but they don't know about that!).

I like to do this easy type of baking and my boys often help with the process. I make enough for breakfasts for the weekend, quick to-go snacks to take along and then some quick breakfasts during our busy week. If I'm going to see my dad, I put 6 or so in a bag for him to have.

I try and do a variety or at least vary my muffins or breads week to week. This helps keep us from grabbing fast food breakfast on the way to work (DH weakness) or hitting the donuts in the breakroom (both DH and I have this at our work). The boys are happy with a muffin for an afternoon snack so I can keep away from chips, etc. And we keep very little dry cereal in the house so on the weekends when we are all home, we can have something almost healthy for breakfast, especially on those Sunday mornings when we have early church activities.

I do keep some muffin mixes on hand and like to buy them on sale--like 33 cents each. But I try to maybe add a bit of flax seed, applesauce or mashed banana to them for some healthier options. But I've realized it only takes 5 minutes more to actually make my home-made muffin/bread recipe. I just need to crack eggs, measure flour, salt, baking soda and powder and add my fruit. Not too hard, LOL.

Virginia Needlewoman:

I have several blocks of parmesan cheese that I need to grate.

 

When I find these on sale I put them in the freezer whole. When I need some parmesan I will open one of the packs and grate it frozen. Reseal in a zipper bag for later. I find for me it's easier to it this way and I've never had a block of it get freezer burned.

cyn