The never-ending turkey

As most turkey fans (and chest-freezer owners) know, the best time to buy a turkey is a few weeks after Thanksgiving. I normally smoke a turkey on the holiday itself, but this year I did a breast roulade that resulted in no leftovers, s0 when turkey-clearance time came around ($1.19/lb.), I went big. Very big. Like, 22 pounds big. It was by far the largest bird I’ve ever worked with (trying to spatchcock a turkey that weighs more than a medium-sized dog is not up there on the list of tasks I enjoy), and while at the time I swore I’d never do it again, nearly a month later we’re STILL eating turkey sandwiches, turkey enchiladas, and turkey soup, and my deep freeze is packed with gallons of smoked-turkey stock. It’s hard to argue with weeks upon weeks of meals for $26.50, so yes, I will probably do it again. Read on to see how it went. (And, above, enjoy a photo of a particularly bountiful day at the Fred Meyer meat-clearance section.)

Green Pancakes

You asked for them, and here they are: The bona fide kid- and adult-pleasing spinach breakfast pancakes made famous by my food-stamp challenge article. Given that I seem to have given birth to the one kid on earth who doesn’t like smoothies, ensuring adequate vegetable consumption has been a years-long process of trial-and-error, with these being the most successful result. They don’t taste like spinach in the slightest despite being quite obviously packed with it, and the fact they’re whole wheat is barely perceptible. We always have a freezer stash of these individually wrapped and ready to just pop in the toaster (or microwave) on busy school mornings. I promise they’re cheaper and healthier than anything you could find in the grocery-store freezer aisle.

How to get rid of old spices…craftily

I know, I know…not only is this not exactly a food post, but I’m advocating getting rid of otherwise perfectly good* spices! In this case, though, two wrongs do make a right, especially if you have kids and are jonesing for a Pinterest-y activity that won’t require trashing the house after a $50 trip to Michael’s Crafts.

(*Yes, spices do go bad, and this is of particular concern to budget shoppers, both because we tend to buy in bulk and thus perhaps not repackage the spices as well as we should [i.e., leaving them in their original baggies…anyone? No? just me?], and because cooking on a budget requires adding more flavor through inexpensive ingredients like spices rather than meat or fat, and older spices = less flavor, especially if they come pre-ground. Always buy your spices whole when possible!)

Garlic and herb croutons: $0 (or close to it)

Do you make bread? Do you buy bread? Then there is no excuse for you EVER to buy those supermarket cubes of edible particle board packed into boxes and labeled “croutons.” I don’t care how lazy you are; making your own takes pretty much the same amount of effort as buying and opening a box. Obviously your results will vary based on the type of bread you’ve got to work with (as with pretty much everything, better quality materials = better quality results), but I guarantee they’ll taste better and cook up crisper than anything you’ll find at the store or neighborhood salad bar. Plus, they’re pretty much free, especially if you were going to throw out that stale bread anyway.

Groceries: week of June 11-17

It may be hard to believe, but we only spent $15.25 on groceries this week—and we’re eating a lot of meat. Beef, even. Most of this is due to making use of odds and ends left over from prior weeks’ meals and grocery trips. Cheese left over from a Grocery Outlet trip, beef and shallots left over from last week’s khao soi, tortillas left over from last week’s Mexican lime soup…you get the idea. This week’s list is, in fact, a perfect example of the benefits of planning meals out in advance: We make sure we’re using things we already have on hand and we only have to go to the grocery store to supplement.

Groceries: week of June 4-10

Have you heard this news, about the flame retardant showing up in peanut butter? Because as you may recall, I, a pregnant person, have been eating peanut butter nearly every day for lunch for the past month or so. Needless to say, I was not happy to hear this, both for obvious reasons (while I am admittedly on the upper end of the pregnancy-paranoia scale, the risk of the baby suddenly bursting into flame inside the womb has not been of great concern) and because we had just purchased an enormous amount of peanut butter last time we went to Costco. It was filling, cheap, and delicious on homemade bread, and now I’ve got to stop eating it completely. It’s most likely going to drive our weekly budget up a bit as we experiment with lunch substitutes; this week we’re going to try bread and cheese, since 8 oz. blocks of Cabot (sharp cheddar and pepper jack) are still on sale for $1.99 at Grocery Outlet.

Groceries: week of May 28-June 3

Not bad on the budget this week—only $23.19 spent on produce, dairy, and a few extras to supplement what we’ve already got on hand in the pantry and freezer. The garden is teeming with herbs and snow peas, and the strawberries should be ripening any day now, which should keep us in snacks and sorbet for at least a couple of months. See below for the complete receipt breakdown, and what everything we bought this week will be used for.

Groceries: week of May 21-27

Just a weekly budget update for those who like to see how these things work. As I mentioned yesterday, because I’m pregnant I’m having to eat larger servings than I was in the past, as well as purchase and eat more fruit, which can get pricey even when it’s seasonal and on sale. (Our strawberries and raspberries aren’t ripe yet.) Still, between avid meal planning, smart shopping, and cooking from scratch using raw, unprocessed ingredients, we’re coming out pretty much on budget. Read on for the specifics.

The past 9 months: What I’ve learned

Hard to believe it’s been about 9 months since I started this blog, and while my spending habits obviously haven’t changed, I’ve learned a lot and had to make some adjustments. For those also trying to live on $35 a week or just looking to figure out a way to keep the budget down without going insane, here are 6 not-necessarily-intuitive things I’ve learned since I began:

How to make fresh herbs last for a month or more

It’s happened to us all: You buy a bunch of parsley or cilantro, use about a quarter of it, and three months later find yourself excavating a bag of green slime from the bottom of the crisper. At our supermarket herbs average anywhere from 49 cents to $1.99, which, for a one-time use, adds up fast. Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way.