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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 21 2006 at 10:54am | IP Logged
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Sure thing Hollee.. I'll work on that for you.. need to find some of my info on it (I write stuff down so I don't have to remember, then I have to track it down again or refigure it out  )
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: Oct 21 2006 at 3:49pm | IP Logged
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We cut down a great deal on meat consumption, buy mostly sale items in bulk and shop monthly for main groceries, all of which save us a lot of money in that dept. I joke with my family about using meat mainly as a condiment, since I tend to use only a half pound of meat for most recipes that would call for a whole pound or more. Last time I purchased roasts on sale ($1.89 lb.), I cut them in thirds or quarters (most were about 2 lb.), repackaged and froze them.
Tonight I'm making beef barley soup with a 1/2 lb. portion of a roast, adding diced canned tomatoes, carrots, onion, garlic and basil. Tasty and very economical...it smells so good right now!
We also eat a lot of dried or canned beans...lots of protein and so many kinds to choose from. Cannelini, black turtle and garbanzo are a few favorite beans in our household! For chili, we like to mix a lot of different beans together. I also add wine vinegar and brown sugar to liven up chili! Beans really are a very versatile and inexpensive food.
Cooking from scratch doesn't take that much extra time, and is truly rewarding for you and your family. Some of my best memories from childhood came from watching my grandmother and mother cooking for us, or having them teach us to do the same....it's hard to get that from a box or a restaurant.
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Oct 21 2006 at 6:55pm | IP Logged
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Our family's favorite soup is lentil...
We sauté a leek (white and some green parts, well rinsed and thinly sliced) along with the carrots, onion and celery normally used. Add a dash of nutmeg as the soup simmers. Yum. (On splurge days, sprinkle crumbled feta cheese on top...)
One real cost-saver for us is baking bread from scratch. I have the book "Rustic European Breads from Your Bread Machine," and it's pretty much the only book I use. (Dh loves baking bread and has several other books, but he's seldom home to bake.) One baguette is $1.69 in the grocery store...guaranteed I can bake it for less.
We also make our own pasta sauce (tomato). If you want the recipe, PM me, please...and then be patient, as we're going on vacation this next week/10-days...
It definitely pays to invest some time ("sweat equity," as Habitat for Humanity calls it!) in the kitchen. You can really save money, especially if you can also shop sales/bulk. Whenever we move, I make up a grocery price book (idea stolen from The Frugal Gazette) for the things I buy all the time, so I know every store's usual prices. Then I have something to look at when sales come up. (I do this with gasoline and other "must have" items, too.)
I have trouble getting my kids to eat beans, but they'll eat things like chicken soup from scratch, chicken and dumplings, etc. and they LOVE lentil soup. Don't ask me why!
Great thread...
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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rm4mrfrus
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| Posted: Oct 21 2006 at 7:59pm | IP Logged
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Thanks so much everyone...I'm copying and pasting and taking notes! I put some books on my wish list too!
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Hollee married to dh in 94,
ds(96), dd(97), ds(00), ds(02), ds(03) and dd(05)
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Erin
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Does anyone know of a way fo making Spag. Bolg without tomato base? We have narrows ds11 headaches to tomatoes, dd5 is begging for spag bol. and I need to find a receipe to make for him to have with the pasta while we have ours.
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Seven Little Australians
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: Oct 22 2006 at 9:02pm | IP Logged
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Erin, I'm not sure what Spag. Bolg is, but a good idea with pasta, for those who can't tolerate tomatoes, is tossing the warm pasta with butter or margarine, then adding some kind of seasoning (like a garlic pepper blend) and a nice cheese (we prefer a blend of asiago, parmesan and romano). We call any combination of plain pasta with seasoning and cheese "Pasta la Vista". Not sure where we came up with the name, but it's a regular stand-by for lunch around here, especially on Fridays.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Oct 22 2006 at 10:19pm | IP Logged
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This is a great thread. So many wonderful recipes! As winter sets in we do lots of soup! A couple of years ago I got the cookbook entitled Twelve Months of Monastery Soups  . We had soup at least twice a week. It was really fun to try all the different soups in the cook book and my grocery bill really went down. My kids weren't always too thrilled. They aren't big "veggie soup fans", but they each had to eat a small amount of soup and I made sure there was homemade bread (well, sometimes it was homemade) and cheese and raw veggies, fruit or a salad.
I'm wondering what you all do for lunch? I think that is our most expensive and unhealthy meal of the day. I have really fallen into the BAD habit of fixing convenience foods for lunch just to save time. The kids have Macaroni and Cheese from a box, hot dogs, mini frozen pizzas, grilled cheese sandwiches and other fat/salt/chemical laden foods  . It's hard because they are really resistant to change in this area, but I have to do something. What healthy, inexpensive, quick (I know, I'm asking for a lot here) things do your kids have for lunch?
Becky
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Erin
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| Posted: Oct 23 2006 at 5:24pm | IP Logged
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Here is a favourite snack here, a receipe created by ds11 who is a fantastic cook. 
Dominic's Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
4 cups of SR Flour
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
1 cup of milk (may need to add a little more)
6 heaped tablespoons of cocoa
1 packet of choc chips.
250g of butter
2 teaspoons of baking powder.
Mix sugar and butter, beat eggs and milk, then add dry ingredients.
This is VERY rich Makes a generous 4 dozen large muffins.
I'll post more when I can.
Servant2theKing wrote:
| Erin, I'm not sure what Spag. Bolg is |
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Spaghetti Bolgnaese or mince and spaghetti (I think you call mince ground beef). You brown the mince and then add your tomato flavour. This varies for families, I add a can of tomato soup and 1 pot of tomato paste. Or you could add a can of tomatoes. I have an Italian friend who makes their tomato sauce from scratch. As ds can't tolerate tomatoes I'm now stuck 
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Erin
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Erin
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| Posted: Oct 26 2006 at 7:33am | IP Logged
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Does anyone know what the equivalant of Granola is in Australia? Is this what we call Toasted Muesli?
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Erin
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Mary G
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| Posted: Oct 26 2006 at 7:51am | IP Logged
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That's what they called it in Europe so I would say, Erin, "yes, it's Muesli". We Americans have to rename most things and then everyone assumes we invented it
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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Topic: Cost cutting recipes?
