$6.00 + $0.50 for 2 zucchini
A few days ago we drove by a little stand at the end of someone’s driveway and I was so happy to see homegrown tomatoes for sale that I had the HH turn around so we could go back and buy some.
$2.00 a pint. It seemed like a pretty good deal to me. We picked up 2 boxes of tomatoes and 2 peppers for a whopping $6.
Better that the money went directly to the grower than through a chain of companies if you ask me. We also bought 2 small zucchinis from another little stand on the way home for a quarter a piece. Zucchinis for a quarter! Now that’s a deal.
$5.49
The biggest scam of the week was 8 hotdogs and 6, yes, SIX buns from Scammaford. Tell me this hot dog – bun scenario isn’t some big conspiracy that corporate isn’t in on. Well it is!
Although when I was a kid, I think it was 12 buns to 10 hot dogs, or maybe it was the other way around, I don’t know. All I know is hot dogs and hot dog buns have never been sold in equal amounts as long as I’ve been paying attention. It makes me crazy.
You know what else makes me shake my head? Gross food. Who is buying this? Junk food is bad enough, but there is a reason they keep making this stuff. Gag.
Meanwhile, back at home…
I had cooked a pound of dried beans the previous week and hadn’t gotten around to using all of them so I portioned the extras into zip baggies and tossed them in the freezer. I love doing this and it’s such a huge money saver.
I have found that when I cook a pound of dried beans, it usually yields about 5 – 6 cans worth of beans. And usually, the pound of dried beans is less or equal to the price of one can bought at the store.
That’s a BIG savings!
Beans, guacamole and salsa make a super quick and tasty meal if you ask me.
And while a meatloaf may take a little longer to whip up, it will last for days which is always a bonus around here as we’ve been busy with so many other projects lately.
I also whipped up a simple pasta salad with some of the peppers from the roadside stand.
And a quinoa salad too. The HH isn’t as crazy about quinoa, but I love the texture of it. I like the way the grains pop in your mouth, sort of like Pop Rocks but totally not. Remember Pop Rocks? 😉
Pop Rocks and soda. A winning combination if there ever was one.
Saturday night beans. With a few weenies thrown in.
Hot hot dogs with yellow mustard for the HH.
The weather around here is supposed to be really nice this week {cool mornings and in the upper 60’s in the afternoon} so I’m not sure what I’ll be making for linner.
Maybe we should just head on over to Bailey’s Orchard and load up on apples and squash.
Soup always seems like a good idea, especially this time of year. But I don’t know. Have you thought about YOUR meals plans for this week? Maybe I can steal one of yours.
Have a good one,
~Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries $11.99
- Total Spent in September on Groceries $50.43
- Total Spent in August for Groceries $13.04
- Total Spent on Groceries for July $376.89
- Total Spent on Groceries in June $41.56
- Total Spent on Groceries in May $288.51
- Total Spent on Groceries in April $35.36
- Total Spent on Groceries in March $82.28
- Total Spent on Groceries in February $101.14
- Total Spent on Groceries in January $167.33 {this includes buying groceries on Fair Isle}
- Total Spent on Groceries in 2023 $1,163.08 for our $100 a month grocery budget for 2
J in OH- IO says
How do you get your pound of beans to still hold their shape after cooking? I soak a pound of beans overnight – then drain and cook in crockpot. They always get too mushy. I put beans in HH lunch salad and use canned since they hold their shape. Would like to know how you make a pound of beans so they still hold their shape like canned beans. Thanks!
Elle says
You’re cooking them too long. I do mine stovetop and they always hold up. Black beans 45m. Pinto/Red beans about 90m.
J in OH-IO says
Thanks for the times you cook beans and I will use stove top next time!
Mel says
I cook mine in the crockpot but don’t soak beforehand. I use this method:
https://www.budgetbytes.com/how-to-kick-the-can-of-beans/
J in OH-IO says
Thanks, Mel! I will also give this one a try since I like the crockpot method.
A farm girl says
Hi Mavis, A few days ago you posted a question about the price of avocados. And I meant to respond but didn’t get around to it but here goes. I’m sure you understand that food is a commodity, a product grown for profit. And sometimes there are evil forces involved, especially in the case of avocados. I’m copying a portion of an article from The Guardian regarding the production of avocados: ” Mexico is the world’s biggest producer of avocados. Exports of the “green gold” from the state of Michoacán, which produces most of Mexico’s avocados, were worth $2.4bn last year.
Now, the risk analytics group Verisk Maplecroft has warned in a new analysis that Mexican avocados risk becoming the next “conflict commodity”, akin to “blood diamonds” in Angola and Sierra Leone and conflict minerals in the Democractic Republic of the Congo.
The analysis examines a range of factors contributing to the increasing risk profile of Mexican avocados, including the growing involvement of cartels and the associated violence, as well as the use of forced and child labour in farming.
It also examines illegal deforestation, illegal logging and forest-clearing for cultivation. The environmental situation has been exacerbated due to cartel activity, “as criminal groups clear protected woodlands to make room for their avocado groves”, according to the report.”
There’s a saying in farming that human civilization depends on 6 inches of top soil and “adequate” rain. Let’s hope for that for next year!!!
RobininSoCal says
Another option if available in your area is avocados from California. Today at Aldi they were $.67 each. I know they will be more expensive outside of California, sorry 🙁
Today, California is the leading producer of domestic avocados and home to about 90 percent of the nation’s crop. Most California Avocados are harvested on approximately 50,000 acres from Monterey through San Diego by about 3,000 growers.J
Kath says
Thanks for this!
Rosemary says
I made a 5lb ham on Saturday and we have been eating that. I had mac & cheese as a side dish with the ham on Saturday and on Sunday, I made a box of Caribbean Rice and tossed in a bunch of cut up ham. There was enough left over to freeze for another time. Hubby made himself ham and eggs. I will probably make Herb & Butter noodles today to go with some ham. Whatever ham is left over, I will most likely freeze.
I had gotten the ham this past spring (around Easter) – it was on sale. The rice and noodles were bought as BOGO at Publix during the past few months and our chickens give us the eggs. So, all in all, they were pretty inexpensive meals.
Holley says
It’s still getting up into the 80’s during the day here but the nights have been glorious! So not quite soup weather yet down here. I’m stuck on what to make for supper lately too! Although meatloaf does sound good!
Ashley Bananas says
I’ve been stocking up like crazy lately. I have noticed the prices of certain goods have just sky rocketed. Canned goods were about .50 a can before at Walmart, and now the Walmart brand canned goods start at .64 cents, and some brands and labels are going upwards of a 1.75 a can. I was shocked. A can of green beans or corn shouldn’t cost almost two dollars. At that rate you can buy fresh.
This week was good for stocking up on things like frozen pizza, which with my teen it’s always good to have around. Now the fun part, eating what we’ve already bought!
Julie V says
I have leftover beef in salsa verde and rice. And I have a vegetable stir fry in peanut sauce. Also, I saw a recipe by Mary Berry for Tomato Mushroom Rarebit that I want to make while I still have a few tomatoes left from the garden. And I am considering making some Green Pumpkin Soup.. I think it’s a Hungarian or Eastern European recipe that I found online last year and enjoyed..
suzanne says
I followed your link to Ina Garten’s leek and potato soup. Oh boy what a rabbit hole. I thought I’d make the soup to see if it was worth growing leeks for next year. Well my local Fred’s sells leaks at 5 apiece and the recipe called for 4 of them. I’m just going to wait tell you make the soup and take your word for it but leek seeds are on the list for next year. Avocados were just 89 cents though but I’m not a fan..
Janelle says
Mavis, I just started laughing about your hot dog and hot dog bun rant. My mom and I love Father of the Bride and there’s a scene where the dad starts removing some of the buns in the grocery store from the bags and talking about a conspiracy between the hot dog people and the bun people. It’s one of our favorite scenes in the movie.
I live in Canada and ours always used to be 12 packs of hot dogs and buns so I had no personal experience with this until I was in the US one time as an adult. Then my mom and I had a good laugh about it.
Mary Ann says
We buy Hebrew National hot dogs. They come in packs of 6 these days, so that would be perfect to go with your 6 pack of New England style hot dog buns! (Hubby is from Massachusetts and he misses those buns.) Our hot dog buns here in California come in packs of 8, so yep, they don’t match up. I think some other brands of hot dogs come in packs of 10 (Oscar Mayer, Bar S, Farmer John, etc…). I’m 62 years old and hot dog and bun package amounts have never matched up!
Wendy C says
Right now I am eating veggie-beef soup, pulled from leftovers I have stashed in the freezer. The tomatoes were canned from our garden last summer. This year’s garden was a bust. But, the soup, with some leftover cornbread mixed in, (also pulled from the freezer) is so good. Tonight we are having porkloin, baked potatoes, and green beans.
eliz says
When you don’t have homemade, what is your favorite store bought salsa?
Mavis Butterfield says
I like the Costco brand salsa. 🙂
Catherine says
Love the hot dog bun rant. I went on one myself this week. Hot dogs and buns come in packages of 8 each here in the Midwest. But someone in my household eats the buns for sandwiches if we are out of bread. Ugh! Once that happens the buns and hot dogs are uneven and as an accountant that drives me nuts.
Sue says
Buying and supporting locals are the best.
I have one large farm close by that will deliver to me because she has to pass my house. Just ate my last homegrown tomatoes yesterday and I will miss those so much. Just starting carrots, spinach and lettuce in my raised beds.
You are so right about the junk now in grocery stores, just walk and look at all the different cereal. Crazy!
Angelia Johnson says
Last week we got a steamer. The old kind with three levels. And so far I really love it. So we made miso salmon, sweet potatoes and maple carrots. It was wonderful. We have pot pies in the freezer, and more fish and veggies. This week I am making chicken breaded and mashed potatoes, and brussel spouts, chicken artichoke and spinach creamy pasta, fried chicken sandwiches with apple coleslaw, fish, spinach risotto, and salad, fish and chips for Friday..
J in OH-IO says
Fish and chips sound really good!
Helen says
Here in Australia you can buy the frankfurts in packs, but if you go to the delicatessen they’re sold by weight so you can pick whatever quantity you want
Rosaleen says
Hot dogs VS buns. Well, unless we are feeding company, we just fold a slice of bread around hot dogs. The buns are just too much bread and too many carbs. Skipping the buns means one less thing buy, store, etc.
Rhea Strauser says
For glammed-up take on the folded bread/hot dog thing – spread whatever floats your boat on one slice of bread, place the hot dog diagonally across the bread. Fold the bread diagonally over the bun and secure with toothpicks. Broil until browned on one side, flip over, and broil the other. Remove toothpicks before serving. We call them “hot dog toasties”.
Caution, if you use cheese on your toasties, be sure to put them on foil before broiling. Makes a huge mess if you don’t. Care to guess how I know that little fact??
Cindy Brick says
Mavis, HH had better get your “Bonne Maman” advent calendar quick — it’s being advertised as wonderful on CNN!
https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/gifts/best-advent-calendars
We’re in the process of buying a house in Fort Garland, CO, three hours south. So I am trying hard just to eat down the freezer and canned goods, so we can schlep less in November when we move. Only we keep running out of stuff to go with the freezer and canned goods, like cheese and eggs…I do have an Easter ham in there, too.
Jenny says
We are having a roast. We save the juice for French dips. Leftovers are used for vegetable beef soup, hash fried with cubed potatoes, and for nachos or bbq beef. I enjoy looking at your weekly meals. Have the best week!
Terry McA says
My brother tends to eat hot dogs and hamburgers without the buns, so I freeze the extras for the next meal or two.
This week it has been cooler and rainy, so at the beginning of the week I used the ham bone I had in the freezer to make white bean and ham soup. I’ve also made a wonderful lamb stew, so we have been alternating those recently. Today, I might actually cook, so it will be bacon cheeseburger bisquick casserole, and friday it will be salmon with roasted potatoes.