Dear Tracy, Please remind Luvd_Lioness that I pray for her well-beign daily.

Yes, please, do stock up with your Food Stamps, wich I understand are only temporary.  As I've recommended before, baking supplies would be a priority if I were you. Also cheese -- just be sure before freezing to slice it or cut it into cubes or grate it.  (Otherwise it gets too crumbly when thawed.)

Love in Him, Deb

Dear All, I went to Whole Foods today with the intention of finding a veggie for the centerpiece of my Thanksgiving meal.  It turned out that sugar-pie pumpkins were 70cents-off/lb.  SO, after I say my prayers @ 4:30PM & read my Torah, I'll sit down with some Indian vegetarian cookbooks (I took 2 more out of teh Library today) & will have until my 5:30 bedtime to find a good recipe for the pumpkin.  I already made one about 6 weeks ago, but I did nnot like it much.

Anyhow 3.89lbs of the pumpkin cost $5.02.  I also bought fat-free yoghurt, 2 quarts, $2.49; a banana for 32cents (89cents/lb); organic scallions for 99cents; 5 fresh sardines = 5 entrees for $2.87; 3 jalapeno peppers for 81cents; &, 3 lemons @ 69cents (the best price yet this year).  Finally, I bought Ezekial brand English muffins.  Each type is after a different verse of Scripture.  I bought Genesis 1:29, which contains 4 kinds of sprouted seeds & 13 kidns of sprouted grains.  This cost $3.49, & I chose this type because it was cheaper than the others, which were $3.99.  At the register, Genesis rang up @ $3.99, so I got a refund at the service desk.  The clerk just gave me the 50cents back in cash, so my Food Stamps EBT balance is a little confused.

I spent $18.46.  I have left in Food Stamps $51.22 until December 1st. 

Yours in Him, Deb

Dear All, I went to Cala today -- Tuesdays are good since they give a 55-&-up senior discount of 5%.  There wasn't anything Kosher in the bin today.  I went in to get 2 12-oz packages of white mushrooms to freeze, @ $1.50.  I also saw baking powder on sale @ $1.99, & it was on my list since I have less than 2T left in the old tin.  I also bought 3 small Granny Smith apples @ 69cents/lb.  I spent a total of $5.49 on my EBT. 

I have left in Food Stamps $45.73 until December 1st.  Yours in Him, Deb

 good price on your apples!

 I spent $62 at Aldi's today getting baking supplies for Christmas baking- 4 lbs butter, 2 salted, 2 unsalted, pecan halves and chopped pecans, walnuts, sugars, choc chips, milk choc chips, canola oil, baking cocoa, real vanilla,  also a bunch of yogurt, 5 assorted cheeses, mushrooms-both canned and fresh, margerine, two kinds of cream cheese, raisins, oyster crackers, marshmellow creme.  

So, in the past 7 days I have spent $226 out of my $393 food stamps, most of the stamps.  So now will be eating out of the freezer and pantry.  Will be purchasing milk, eggs, bread, and cheeses with the rest of the stamps, until Dec. 13.  The state said they would cut them off as we didn't have a letter from dh's last employer, saying he wasn't working there anymore, although he had submitted a paycheck from this state saying he worked 10 out of 12 days.  I asked if they thought he was still traveling 300 miles round trip to work those other two days, it didn't make sense to me they would need a letter , actually from a third state.  

I will call them Tues or Wed next week, to see if they need any further info.   

It's nice to have my baking supplies bought.   

Dear Tracy, Thank you re the apples price.  I only eat fresh fruit every few days.  If I want fruit in between, I eat a couple of dried apricots.  They go on sale @ Walgreens or @ Rite-Aid every month, cheaper per serving than any fresh fruit that I could buy.  The other thing that I "eat"/drink every other or 3rd day is watered-down juice.  The juice I buy is organic & is purely one flavor, say pomegranate or sour cherry, & it's both economical AND taste-enhancing to cut it with lots of water (about 1/4 only of the juice).

Love in Him, Deb

PLEASE, Tracy, Give the powers-that-be at Food Stamps anything they ask for, ASAP.  Your children need the grcoeries!  You said in a recent post that you thought you can stay on through Feb; well, if your husband is laid off again, you might be eligible even longer. 

The easiest way to get a letter from dh's last employer is for YOU to write the letter, as if by the Personnel dept (phone to find out the applicable person's name) & then fax it to them & ask them to sign it & return it to you by fax.  (You'll need to attach a cover letter, explaining that you need their signature on the letter in order to get Food Stamps, & that it is most time-sensitive.)  Most print shops will be glad to call you when your returned fax comes in, just give them your phone number.

Love in Him, Deb

Deb- they should have everything they need now.  

Re: fruit, and your post about yogurt, yogurt is cheaper here, I'm sure, because we are close to those nice Wisconsin cows.  There are dairy farms here, also.  This is why it keeps amazing me that your produce isn't cheaper.  I keep wondering if there isn't a farmer's market or something similar that would accept your stamps.  Here we have one farmer's market that will do the debit at a booth and give you wooden tokens for the dollars.   It's a ways away, but was good to go.  Have you tried eating bananas?  They are inexpensive, and the potassium is good for anyone on meds, it helps balance the free ions. Sometimes I just eat a half banana, put the other half in the fridge for a day with the peel folded over, it stays fine for a day or two.  Another cheap fruit is oranges, if you select the smaller ones, you will get several servings.  Applesauce on sale is also a good fruit buy, and lasts a long time in the fridge.  

Just some thoughts, it seems you should be able to have more delicious fruit!  

Dear Tracy, I'm so glad that Food Stamps has all of the requisite paperwork now!

As to our food choices, I would rather have fresh veggies than fresh fruit.  I am satisfied with the fruit selection that I have now.  I have plenty in my freezer if I'm in the mood to make an apple crisp, for example. 

Our Farmer's Markets do accept Food Stamps, but the prices are identical to those @ Whole Foods, whereas yuo don't get the service that you do @ WF.  (For example, WF will always cut up produce -- or fish, for that matter -- for me.  It is routine for them to give me a quartered sugar-pie pumpkin -- no charge.)  Also, I would HATE to ahve tokens left over -- I DO NOT want to feel that I must buy something that I don't need just in order to use up the tokens.  I tryto be an economical spender on my groceries -- just because the Government pays for my food would not excuse me.  It would be quite different if I had a family, & wouldn't have to worry about produce going unused.  My freezers are full now, praise the L-rd!

ALso, there are certain foods that I never buy becauase I can easily cook/bake them myself.  In this category fall pizza -- & APPLESAUCE.

Please please understand that we just have different cooking needs, & tghat is why your good advice feels inapplicable to me.

Love in Him, Deb

Dear All, Did I EVER score big this morning!  I went to Cala/Ralphs/Kroger 1st.  I knew that peanut oil (16 oz) @ Whole Foods cost $6.99.  Instead, I paid $3.79 @ Cala for 24 oz. 

Then the mark-down bin @ Cala had multiple 7-oz jars of freeze-dried coffee (like Taster's Choice) @ $2.99 (NOT a typo!).  I bought 2.

SO, I spent $9.77 @ Cala, bringing my EBT Food Stamps balance down from $45.73 to $35.96.

Then I stopped @ GNC.  Using a freebies coupon, I got an energy bar free.  (I never heard of Detour Low Sugar/caramel peanut, but it sounds good.)

Then I went to Whole Foods.  I got 2 pomegranates @ $2 (after coupon).  I also got a humongous bunch of celery with tops @ $1.69.  And I got more whole-grain English muffins (I'm trying the other kind that Ezekiel makes @ the same $3.49 price; I don't want to try either of the $3.99 kind.).

SO, I spent $9.13 @ WF, bringing my EBT Food Stamps balance down to $26.83 until a week from today, 12/1. 

Yours in Him, Deb