Couldn’t agree more with this post.
Growing up with a mother who couponed like a fiend made me forever averse to creating a grocery list centered exclusively upon sale items. Not only is the process tedious and time-consuming, but it also forces you to buy larger quantities of food than you need. All of these extra items then must either be […]
via Shopping Sales & Looking Beyond The Coupon — The Thrifty Gourmand
It was hot this week, really hot. I am so glad we have been focusing on our “Summer Electric Plan.” We had one oven baked dish this week. All the other dishes fell within the cooking methods the meet our “Summer Electric Plan” methods. (No Cook, Grilled, Slow Cooker, Microwave, Quick Stove Top)
Unfortunately, we had a really crazy weekend and had to skip grilling. The good news is, the meat we were going to use is in the freezer. So no worries. We can grill this week or next.
Normally, the weekends are ‘fluid’ and we don’t really have menus planned this past week though we did. Well that backfired a little. This past week we ended up with a really busy weekend. We have friends who are moving (sadness) and helped them pack up. As a result a couple of our menu items have been shifted around from what was originally planned for.
We had planned to ‘bulk’ grill Friday night and carry several of those items forward during the week. We will instead be doing the grilling Monday evening. As a result we shifted the meal we had planned for last Friday to Monday. That is why you won’t see any items for those dishes in the shopping list below.
Here is what we have to look forward too:
This week we have a full week of dinner menus. Normally, the weekends are ‘fluid’ and we don’t really have anything planned. That means we usually end up eating out at least one meal. Usually Sunday.
Well this week summer is forecast to be hitting hard and that means the A/C will be running full tilt. So we need to start planning now for that huge electric bill that will be coming shortly.
So this week we have several new crock pot (or slow cooker) meals at the beginning of the week and we will end the week by grilling, in fact we will be ‘batch’ grilling the meat for several meals for the weekend and next week come Friday.
Here is what we have to look forward too:
This week we again deviated just a little from our “Summer Electric Plan.” We found a great deal on a ham this week. Even though it does require using the oven to prep it the first day we were able to use it for several dishes later in the week. Some things are just worth it. Ham is one of those things
Besides that we were able to make up for it with several ‘no cook’, microwave, and crock pot dishes during the week.
What is nice is that we are finding that even though we are using these alternate cooking methods we aren’t really having to sacrifice flavor. All of the dishes we had this week were delicious.
People love coupons, in fact one site reports that anywhere for 81%-96% of Americans report using coupons. If that is the case we are in the minority, but why? Clipping coupons is usually the first thing that comes to mind when people think of saving on the grocery budget. Why don’t we use them more? Continue reading “Why my kids don’t allow couponing”
This week we deviated just a little from our “Summer Electric Plan.” We did a little more stove top cooking than in previous weeks and even fired up the oven. However, it was a holiday week so we made up for it a bit by grilling a large brisket and using it later in the week for other meals too.
The really cool part was that we took the opportunity to invite some friends over when we smoked the brisket and they shared some really great dished with us.
Bacon Wrapped Corn
Smoky Haricots Verts and Mushrooms
Basil Cherry Tomatoes
We found a great deal on a ham this week. Even though it does require using the oven to prep it the first day we will be able to use it for several dishes later in the week. Additionally we will help make up for it with several ‘no cook’ and crock pot meals during the week..
Have you ever heard of Yummly?
Have you ever wanted to save a link to a recipe you wanted to try? It’s kind of a hassle to do it in your browser. With Yummly it is really simple just look for the ‘Yum button’ on the post and click it and save it to your own collection. I just installed a button 
on my site. You’ll find it at the bottom of each post. Even if the site doesn’t have such a button you have the option of installing a button on your favorite browser too. This allows you to capture links to just about any recipe you find on the web. NICE.
Its a really great application for capturing recipes you find on the web, actually one of the top. I’ve been using it for some time to capture recipes from all of the web. Other sites exist to do similar things but Yummly is purpose built for recipes and has a great community to go along with it. It is the only one I have found that allows you to include or exclude specific ingredients and perform searches according to your particular diet preferences.
Recently, though I found out that it is possible to become a ‘publisher.’ Hopefully by doing so it will make it easier for those outside the WordPress community to find the recipe’s you and I have found so enjoyable.
With the 4th of July holiday this week I have a vacation day so I thought it would be a great day to smoke a brisket. It also fits in with trying to save electricity by cooking out. The brisket will also come up later in the week. This week we will be doing some slow cooker meals.
This last week we actually began to see our efforts to save electricity reflected in our bill. Yay 🙂
inspired by ingredients, smells and Travels, vegan & vegetarian
Your diet doesn't need a name or a belief system... just enough nutrients.
Cooking with imagination
Because it is all about sharing moments and creating memories
Travel & Lifestyle Blog
Food & Culture
Easy Japanese recipes, plant based food and travel
Jaques Kitchen 