Easter Dinner

Of course, you know my Easter meal would be cheap because of my parsimony. I did spend money but not much. 

ham, potato salad, purple hull peas, jello salad

brown eggs dyed with food coloring and vinegar

 

 Jello Jigglers = a mess

 

I love the festivity of Jello Egg Jigglers at Easter. However, after a cursory search I could not find the little funnel to pour the Jello into the mold. If you have never seen one of these molds, it has a hinge, opens to release the Jello egg.

 

This was much messier than usual. I spilled enough to fill another egg. Red Jello was all over the counter, too, before I cleaned it up and then took the picture. There would have been yellow and green eggs, but I was not up to dealing with the mess I was making. So, red it is. Next time I make Jello Jiggler eggs, I will locate the little funnel well ahead of time!

 

Jello eggs--black cherry

 

 This meal was only for me. If others were eating, I would have cooked more dishes.

 

**things bought this week

 

ham--free

potatoes-free

eggs-free from my hens

Purple Hull peas, frozen--on sale bought two months ago

Jello--sell-by dates of 2011 and 2012, probably on sale

color--been here for several years

**bananas--on sale

apples--store sale, been here for a month

sweet pickle relish--half-price with coupon and sale, last month

dill pickle relish--half-price with coupon and sale, last year

**celery--sale on Friday

celery seed--very old container, still good

**fruit cocktail--full price yesterday!

 

As you can see, I did not have to purchase much for Easter festivities.

 

When I grew up, Jello salad was on the table for every holiday in a glass bowl shaped like an apple. So, it does not seem like a holiday unless I have a Jello salad with fruit cocktail, apple, and bananas. Mama always bought black cherry Jello and strawberry Jello, mixed in the bowl. I used the black cherry for the Jello Jiggler eggs and strawberry for the salad.

 

We always had ham, potato salad, Purple Hull Pea, green beans, and at least 3 or 4 more items. What foods other than chocolate were constants on Easter when you were growing up? The Jigglers are a recent addition just for fun.

 

Possum-On-The-Half-Shell

Armadillo in my trap

Cheap and Free Food

bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich for exbf

As usual, I am all about getting food free or at least cheap. A BLT this time of the year is so refreshing.

 

Bread: from loaf of whole wheat bread, no preservatives, $1.19

Tomato: free from chicken box on Wednesday

Lettuce: from a head that was $0.99

Bacon: from a BOGO package of bacon

All that is from raw material cost: $4.19

 

If I purchased all the items at the regular cost, the raw materials would be: $9.19.

 

I guess you might say this was a half-price sandwich. Even the mustard was cheap. I had bought the bottle of French's mustard several years ago with a double coupon. If I had had a sandwich, the Miracle Whip would have been half-price.

 

At the Grocery

 

T



At one grocery I looked in a refrigerated bin that said "reduced as marked." In there was the Minute Maid Orange Juice for $1.79. I usually pay $2.79. SCORE

At another store the next day, I bought milk again this week for $1.59 per gallon. This was the shopping trip where I needed another $4 worth of purchases to get the deal, and I purchased the brownies in the last post, an item that is sure to rise in price drastically if the Walmart price is any indication.

Chicken Box

Most of the peppers are in the kitchen to dehydrate. Exbf took divided the good tomatoes between us. The hens got ones that were not molded. I have no idea what happened to the potato.

Next few days purchases
White grapes on sale--$1.29/lb
Brown and confectioner's sugar on sale--$0.79
Kraft cheese--$2 for 8 oz
Celery--have to search for lowest price

I cannot wait to eat a BLT today. Yesterday, I was not hungry since I had just had scrambled eggs.

Your turn
Are you finding any good milk coupons? Are the Easter sales good for you this week? Were you the lucky recipient of free food for you, your chickens or other pets?

One Grocery Price Doubled

DON'T judge

I love chocolate. It doesn't have to be high end. I am no chocolate snob. I want my chocolate cheap. Cheap! However, I do have standards. I am not so parsimonious or stingy to eat nasty chocolate.

Betty Crocker is good and good enough. Yes, my homemade brownies are better. But there is a method to my madness.  Let's get on with this post as I am drooling on the keyboard on my laptop. I paid $0.98 for a pouch of brownie mix. I used the last of three or four I had bought. Since I usually just make a brownie in the cup one at a time in the microwave, this pouch can last for weeks.

As I was in Walmart this week, I decided to get another pouch of Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie. I picked it up and the price caught my attention--$1.98...gulp. The price had doubled. DOUBLED! I put it right back on the shelf.

I don't recall any other item doubling in price at the grocery store?

Tuesday night at my regular grocery store, I had no intention of buying Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies. I went around to see how much it was at this MUCH more expensive store. I could not believe my eyes. It was $1. Only one dollar. Oh, it was marked down from $1.29. There was only one hour until this week's ad expired and I was on a mission and needed to spend four more dollars to save four dollars. I will explain that in another post.

There were no items on sale and I was going to invest in something.  I now have four pouches of brownies, hopefully enough to last me for the rest of the summer.  Don't judge me. This will be so much cheaper than any chocolate treat except for baking from scratch. I know you have a stash of something. Right?

They are kept out of sight, hidden so that when I rummage around and find them, they are a happy surprise. Yes, it is silly to trick me and surprise me. But, if they were in sight, I would mindlessly consume brownies.

Save money. Live better. Huh?

Your turn
Have you found any one grocery item has doubled in price in the last three months? Are you as stunned as I am?

Oven Temperature Conversion Chart

Sometimes, but not often, I run into a reference to a temperature for the oven that I am not familiar with. I don't want to ruin or waste my food.  So, what to do? I look at this chart that I found somewhere.

Now, I cannot type  below the chart I copied from my documents.  Tell me if you will, do you still read and hear these terms instead of a definite temperature?

Very slow oven	below 300 degrees F.
Slow oven	300 degrees F.
Moderately slow oven	325 degrees F.
Moderate oven	350 degrees F.
Moderately hot oven	375 degrees F.
Quick oven	375 - 400 degrees F.
Hot oven	400-425 degrees F.
Very hot oven	450-475 degrees F.
Extremely hot oven	500 degrees F. or more

Farm to Market Roads--2nd try to Post

Even into the middle of the last century, farmers here in northern Alabama often lost their whole harvest, picked and loaded onto a truck. The loaded produce rotted on the farm while the family watched and waited. Rain made the unpaved roads impassable for days. However, even a one-day delay was all it took for a truck full of produce to be unsalable.

A friend agonized as he told me of the plight of of his neighbors' rotting harvest sitting on the idle trucks. He thought that Big Jim brought north Alabama into the 20th century. People in north Alabama still idolize Governor "Big Jim" Folsom (elected governor in 1946). Farm-to-market roads lifted people out of desperate poverty. People had hope. The roads effectively deflected one of the weather problems associated with a successful year on the farm.

We take it for granted that our food we raise or buy will have no problems traversing local roads. Food just automatically comes to the farmer's market. This week has been rainy and more is expected. As I was out driving in the rain in the country at 6 a.m., I was grateful for the vision of Governor Folsom. Read the article below for more of Big Jim's vision.
 

(By the way, I knew Big Jim. Our daughters were in the same grade and played together often.)
 

"Former Governor James E. "Big Jim" Folsom, father of Lt. Governor Jim Folsom, Jr. was inducted into the Alabama Road Builders Hall of Fame April 14th at a ceremony in Montgomery.

The Alabama Road Builders Hall of Fame was formed in 2002 to properly recognize the many individuals and companies who have contributed so greatly to the transportation construction industry in the state of Alabama. The mission of the Alabama Road Builders is to honor, preserve and perpetuate the outstanding contributions of individuals and companies that have brought and continue to bring significant recognition to Alabama.

Folsom was honored for the implementation of Alabama’s“Farm to Market” Road program. Folsom rightly understood that the entire economy of the state would be stimulated if we facilitated getting products to market in a cost effective manner. Beginning with the vision of paving 100 miles of road in each of the 67 counties in Alabama, Folsom eventually spearheaded the construction of over 18,000 miles of paved roads in the state. Folsom’s infrastructure program also constructed 217 miles of bridges statewide. (bold mine)

Approximately $650 million of federal, state and county funds were invested in the program. Historians have judged Folsom’s “Farm to Market” program as one of the most efficient and effective uses of combined state and federal funding in our nation’s history.

The legacy of Folsom’s vision is that Alabama entered the mid-century poised to attract new industry that would restructure the Alabama economy and lead us down a pathway that continues to bear economic fruit today.

The Alabama Road Builders Hall of Fame was formed in 2002 to properly recognize the many individuals and companies who have contributed so greatly to the transportation construction industry in the state of Alabama. The mission of the Alabama Road Builders is to honor, preserve and perpetuate the outstanding contributions of individuals and companies that have brought and continue to bring significant recognition to Alabama."

This information is found here.

Your turn

Can you imagine working all year, fighting the weather all year, finally picking a crop and then watching it rot in the yard? Year after year, some people lost their harvest due to the lack of roads. Farm-to-market roads exist in many states, possibly yours. Were you aware of the projects in your state? Some far-to-market and ranch-to-market roads are marked as such. Ours aren't.

47 Reasons I Like. . .

How about starting with 47 Sunday coupon inserts?

 

. . . Exbf.

Okay, I am not shallow. He does have other redeeming values that are more impressive than paper.

Who thinks I will have fun with my little scissors? Have you ever had this many new, in date, gleaned coupons fall in your lap without moving a little finger to acquire them?