Rediscovering Aldi's Food Store

Or: Recovering Our Grocery Budget

"Whatever happened to my budget for groceries?" I wondered recently as I suddenly became aware that my grocery expenditures had skyrocketed...paying at least a third more last month than what was in my grocery budget.

Was it the fact that working part-time, homeschooling a high schooler, and giving moral support to adult kids is taking up a lot of my time? Definitely this has entered in...especially along with being stressed by all the news going on around me. But does running to our neighborhood supermarket every day for an item or two, and instead picking up $30 worth of "stuff", really save me time? Nope. Not really. Does it really relieve my stress? Nope. Not really.

For years now, we've been shopping at three stores each Friday in order to get the best buys. (It's a family outing, with even my macho young men pitching in.) But adding those daily trips to the most expensive store was counter-productive. So I decided this was the first place to cut. One "extra" trip to a store for perishable staples per week should cover it (and help us "recover it").

Enter Aldi's. I began doing my "extra" trip at Aldi's, where I've been getting good prices on milk...and other foods. As I started my periodic evaluation of prices, I found out that I can pay considerably less at Aldi's now on most of the food items I've been able to get at our Wal Mart or Sam's Club stores. I hadn't realized how much food prices had gone up. Now I'm paying yesterday's Wal Mart prices at Aldi's. And the funniest thing is that my 15 year old, worse-for-the-wear minivan looks out of place amid the newer-model luxury cars and SUVs in the Aldi's parking lot.

I've been gradual about adjusting where I buy what items, and yet, already this past week, I was only five dollars over budget on groceries. Hurray! And we haven't even changed our basic eating habits.

I'd like to invite you to join me...not necessarily at Aldi's. Maybe you don't have one in your area. Maybe you don't want to try generic brands (in spite of the double guarantee). But it never hurts to re-evaluate our buying habits and the prices we are paying. If you do, I hope you have as much fun as I've been having.


P.S. You can read Maureen Wittmann's Ten Tips on Saving Money at the Grocery Store.

Healthy Snacks for a Healthy Diet

Have you ever been out driving, maybe for a doctor appointment or other long errand, and needed a snack? Since I have a tendency to low blood sugar, there have been times in my life when I knew I better eat something before I drove much further...for the safety of everyone around me. So I would stop into a grocery store. Now, when blood sugar is dropping, it's a little hard sometimes to figure out what to eat. You only want one. You can't cook it. You don't want too much sugar.

In case there is anyone who ever has a similar puzzle...or just wants to have a pick-me-up that's not too high in fat, sugar and calories, I wanted to share with you three recent ideas that I found, when I wasn't "under the blood sugar", that would provide a good snack any time, but especially when I am out and about and feel that fuzzy-headed feeling.

The first one is Special K Bars. They are cereal bars and come with a slight flavor of chocolate, strawberry or chocolate. I think I figured the cost per bar at around 5o cents. Total fat is 1.5 grams, saturated fat 1 gram, sugar 9 grams, protein 1 gram, calories 90.

Another is YoCrunch flavored yogurt with toppings in a little cup attached to the top, which costs about 99 cents where I live. Too expensive for a daily food item but great for something to pick up the blood sugar when one finds a need. (It's a good idea to keep plastic spoons in the car.) The strawberry yogurt with granola has: fat 2 grams, saturated fat 1 gram, sugar 27 grams, protein 6 grams, calories 190. The blueberry yogurt with Grapenuts (TM) has: fat 1.5 grams, saturated fat 1 gram, sugars 25 grams, calories 190. I don't know if this particular yogurt is available everywhere, but other yogurts can usually be found in individual sizes, too.

When I'm feeling like eating chips, I try to talk myself into a little bag of pretzels. The small bag controls serving size and the pretzels are lower in just about everything than the chips...although pretty high in salt. Utz brand 1 oz. bag (for 25 cents at our local supermarket) has: fat 1 gram, saturated fat 0 grams, sugar 1 gram, protein 2 grams, calories 110.
Hope someone may find something here helpful.

Country Bean Soup

Country Bean Soup

This soup is pretty quick to make.

2 cans Great Northern beans, 15 or 16 oz. each, drained
1 can potatoes, 15 oz., diced or sliced

1 cube or teaspoon chicken bouillon
1 ½ cups chopped celery
¾ cup diced carrots
½ cup chopped onion

Sauté the vegetables in a little vegetable oil.
Add some water and the bouillon, and simmer until vegetables are tender.

Combine with the Great Northern beans and potatoes and heat through.
Serves 4 to 6.

Teen Tea

Teen Tea

I’m calling this Teen Tea because my three boys are teens; however, there’s nothing here that wouldn’t be good for children. I just haven’t tested it on the taste buds of children.

3 tea bags of naturally caffeine-free fruit tea
(such as Celestial Seasonings brand Tangerine Orange Zinger,
Wild Berry Zinger, or other brand or flavor of tea)
1/3 cup sugar
2 quart pitcher
Water

Fill the 2-quart pitcher with water.
Put 3 tea bags in the water, and cover the pitcher.
Let sit at room temperature for about three hours.
Squeeze the tea bags against the side of the pitcher with a long spoon,
and then remove the tea bags.
Add the 1/3 cup sugar and stir.
Chill in refrigerator.

This is easy for me to remember: 3 tea bags, 3 hours, 1/3 cup sugar (not 3 cups! Ha).

Using name brand tea and name brand sugar, at regular price, I figured the cost at just over 7 cents per 8 oz. cup or about 56 cents for the pitcher. Of course, I buy generic sugar, and buying the tea on sale provides even more savings. This is cheaper than soda pop or juice drinks, without the harmful chemicals. And they’re even getting “good stuff” such as rosehips and hibiscus.

Speaking of Chocolate

Richer Cocoa

Love that Starbucks Cocoa! Umm. I used to try to duplicate it at home, but without success. But I did learn how to make a richer cup of hot chocolate. Very simply. Very cheaply. I make up my hot chocolate from generic hot chocolate powder mix, but then I add about a teaspoon of instant powdered milk and stir. Now it doesn’t taste like water. It tastes like hot chocolate!

Sometimes (when it's not Lent--smile), I also add a squeeze of Nestle's syrup.

Meatless Split Pea Soup

This is probably the most economical dinner my family has. I figure it makes up for the relatively expensive pizza night! (That's frozen pizza from Sam's club, though.)

This is my method for cooking pea soup when I have an afternoon to work around the house and go back and forth to the kitchen. I have also made pea soup concentrate for my freezer and made the soup from that, or made pea soup in the crockpot. But the following method works better for me than any of the other methods I've tried. (That's better, as in tastier.)

Soak 2 cups split peas (about a half pound) in 12 cups water for several hours in a large pan (I use a Dutch oven). The peas will absorb much of the water as they soak. Add some more water if needed, a little more than enough to cover the peas but not too much; as if you were boiling potatoes. (You can always add more water later, but it's hard to redeem watered-down soup.) Bring almost to a boil, stirring frequently. Simmer.

While the peas are simmering, chop and add 2 cups of a variety of finely diced vegetables of your choice, such as onion, bell pepper, celery, or carrots. Continue to simmer and stir until the peas are tender and the carrots and celery can be cut easily. Mash the peas with a potato masher or a spoon. If soup becomes too thick while you are cooking the vegetables, you can add more water, a little at a time. You will probably need to do so.

Add salt to taste (I start with 3/4 teaspoon). I like to add about 1/4 teaspoon thyme in my pea soup.

Take a look again at the consistency. Dip your spoon in the soup and let it flow off the spoon back into the pot. If you already know and love split pea soup, you will know what consistency you want. If not, my recommendation is to get it as thin as a rich gravy (a rich gravy for potatoes, not a thick gravy for biscuits). But in my opinion, the consistency is definitely a matter of personal taste.

I like to serve split pea soup with biscuits. And for the ones in the family who want meat with their soup, I will sometimes warm and chop a few weiners, and serve them in a bowl like a garnish.

This recipe serves about six people. If you want to make more, you can double the amounts. Good luck and God bless.

Meal Plans & Grocery Lists

Years ago I read a book called Sidetracked Home Executives, written by Pam Young and Peggy Jones, two women from my own home town of Vancouver, Washington. The best idea I got from them was to have an ongoing week plan for menus. Chicken on a certain day of the week (however you might like to cook the chicken that particular week), Beef another night, Leftovers another night, and so on. It made it so much easier to plan the menus each week.

Over the years I have tweaked the plan. I find it so much easier if I don't have to sit down each week and plan what chicken dish we will have on Monday, what beef dish we will have on Sunday, and so forth, and then have to look up the various recipes and list all the ingredients needed for each meal. Instead I made a master plan for two weeks, with two master shopping lists to go with the menus. Before it's time to shop, I simply go through the appropriate shopping list and check inventory. If it's on the list and we have it, I cross it off. If we don't, we know we need to buy it. With this plan, I have sometimes made my list for the week in as little as five minutes.

Our tastes and needs will be very different from someone else's, but just to demonstrate the idea, here is my dinner plan for two weeks:

Week 1
Sunday-Spaghetti
Monday-Nacho Chicken Casserole
Tuesday-Country Bean Soup
Wednesday-Tuna Noodle Casserole
Thursday-Bean Burritos
Friday-Pasta Extravaganza
(that's a pasta dish with cheese
and tomato sauce created by two of my sons)
Saturday-Clam Chowder, Homemade Bread

Week 2
Sunday-Stroganoff
Monday-Chicken Chow Mein
Tuesday-Split Pea Soup, Biscuits
Wednesday-Macaroni & Cheese
Thursday-Chicken Rice Broccoli Bake
Friday-Fish, Potatoes
Saturday-Pizza (frozen pizzas from Sam's Club)

Potato to the Rescue

Meal planning used to be my nemesis. With one family member who has gastric reflux disorder, someone who has a strong gag reflex for certain textures, and the need to be thrifty, it was always a challenge to figure out what to serve for seven days' worth of meals. Enter the baked potato.

I could plan a meal that would suit almost everyone. The one who couldn't eat it could have a baked potato (or two). He could even make it himself. (And yes, in my family, it often is a "he"!).

A baked potato can be served with the same salad or vegetable that everyone else in the family is eating, but the potato itself can also be individualized regarding protein and condiments. Some have cottage cheese on the side. Some have shredded cheese on top. One son even adds ketchup to his potato.

Meal planning is so much more fun now!

Can You Believe...Sulfur?

Before you begin reading this post, let me say that I do not give medical advice, and nothing in here should be misconstrued as medical advice. (I hope that's a good enough disclaimer. :) ). I am not in any medical profession, nor do I have any interest in any vitamin or food supplement company. I just want to share with you something that's been a terrific help in my life. And it came about almost "by accident"...well, I didn't plan it, but maybe God did.

Sulfur! That's what comes up from those springs at Yellowstone Park, isn't it? That's what you read about being in the bowels of the earth..and what some authors use to represent hell. Sulfur. The smell of rotten eggs. When someone recommended that I take MSM, a sulfur compound, I remembered DMSO. A couple decades earlier, I knew someone who was taking DMSO and smelled of sulfur at public meetings. Uh, uh; no way was I taking this stuff!

But somehow I found out that MSM is formulated differently from DMSO and it doesn't make you smell like sulfur at all. And the capsules don't smell like anything; they go down easy. Okay, so far I've told you what it's not: smelly. Now I should tell you why I'm talking about it.

One day, several years ago, I woke up with my toe hurting so badly I could hardly walk. I was sure I had fractured it. The doctor examined it and said, "Gout." Hmm, I hadn't done any of the dietary "things" that might cause it, but who knows about nature and disease. But when the x-rays came back, the office staff called me and said, "It's not gout. It's just arthritis." I said, "Just?" She said yes, arthritis can be very painful. Oh yeah. "Just" simply meant it's nothing to worry about or treat. A friend said to me, "PLEASE try taking MSM." Okay, if you put it that way.

I began taking one capsule every day. Of course, my acute flare-up with my toe subsided, and of course, being a skeptic, I figured it would have anyway (and quite possibly it would). But I just kept taking my capsule of MSM each day.

Suddenly one day something dawned on me! I hadn't had a cough for months! I hadn't had a cough since I began taking the MSM! From childhood I could set the calendar by my annual coughs, that later turned into semi-annual. More recently I had begun having them at least four times a year, usually lasting about six weeks each. Sometimes I'd go to the doctor: no bronchitis or pneumonia or anything, "just a cold". But then I'd go to the grocery store and begin hacking and gagging so much that people would avoid me or ask me WHAT I was going to give them; why I was there and not at home or in the hospital. (I kid you not. People asked me that.) When I was diagnosed with dust allergy, I began taking allergy shots, but quit taking them... long story. After stopping the shots, the four-times-a-year prolonged coughs had resumed. But now they were gone.

So why would sulfur, "an important component of joint cartilage and other body tissues", according to my bottle from GNC, have anything to do with allergies? It was the only thing I had done differently, the only thing in my life that had changed. And then I remembered that allergies were one of the topics in the book I'd borrowed from the library, The Miracle of MSM: The Natural Solution for Pain, by Stanley W. Jacob, M.D.

I'm not sure how I would have gotten through the other stresses of the past four years - while coughing (and hence, not sleeping). Who would have thought that I could keep my allergies at bay for about ten cents a day? I am SO grateful to God, and to my friend, for introducing me to MSM. So I decided that I really ought to share my story. If you have arthritis or allergies, or know someone who does, I suggest you get this book and read it.

Two cautions I would like to mention. First of all, if I had a medical condition that required checking before taking drugs, I would also check before taking a new mineral supplement. Also, I remember reading in The Miracle of MSM that if you are on a blood thinner, you shouldn't take MSM on a regular basis...or was it in the higher doses the author recommends? I would have to read the book again. (And I have now requested it from the library again.) You see, I am not recommending that you run out and buy the bottle and start taking MSM. I am recommending that you get the book and read it. :) (You may be able to get it from your public library.) Then decide for yourself what you think is best.

Emergency Dinner

For weeks now, my dear husband has been working so many hours that the company has actually been bringing dinner in to the office for him and some others.

This afternoon I got a call, that he was coming home for dinner tonight! Terrific! But oh, I've been putting together "whatever" for the kids and me...and you know, I just couldn't have macaroni and cheese on Mardi Gras, anyway. However, I'd already planned to go to the mall to get a battery for Peter's talking watch, and to spend my Penney's gift card. I was looking at two challenges: I didn't have the food to make a great dinner, and I didn't have the time to do it in. So when Peter suggested I get chicken from the grocery store deli, it sounded good to me.

But when I finished at the mall and got to the grocery store, I didn't see any cooked chicken. So I headed over to the other grocery store down the street, where I saw a big sign, "Rotisserie Chicken available from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., guaranteed." I looked at the clock: 7:15. I looked at the display: enough chicken to feed one or two people.

On the way to the second store, I had passed a Subway, and that thought came back to me now. Ah, ha. Now that was an idea! I could do that at home. I looked at the bakery shelves and actually saw something labeled "Sub buns". I picked up a couple packs of store brand deli meats, and some Swiss cheese on sale. I had lettuce and condiments at home. It was expensive, as at-home dinners go, but it cost us about half what it would have cost to get the same amount of food at a sub sandwich restaurant...even before the drinks and chips that no one asked for, since we were at home.

Mother Daughter Casserole

I call this Mother-Daughter Casserole because I was inspired by a childhood favorite, "Classic Green Bean Casserole" and my mother's recipe of a few years ago, "Ethel's Special Quick Casserole". (Okay, Joe, it isn't a LOT like your favorite dinner in Grandma's little cookbook, but it's good and it's simple.)

2 lbs. lean ground beef
2 cans (10 1/2 oz. ea.) cream of mushroom soup
2 cans (14 1/2 oz. ea.) cut green beans
1 pkg. (28 oz.) frozen mini Tater Tots (registered tradename of Ore-Ida) or other brand seasoned, hash brown potato puffs
1 can French fried onions (6 oz.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground beef. Mix drained ground beef with the soup, green beans, and Tater Tots.

Put mixture into a 13 X 9 X 2 inch pan (or a 3 quart casserole). Cook for 30 minutes. Top with the French fried onions and cook another ten minutes.