“food” Archive

On this page you will find the search results for the search term that you queried.

We’re So Frugal The Ants Don’t Like Us…

I caught a tiny black ant crawling across my kitchen counter last week. My favorite thing to do is bleach my countertops so I knew his search for food there was like trying to find water in the desert. I wiped him away and tossed him in the trash.

A few days later, there were more. I caught about 10 or so scouting my pantry. They didn’t congregate. They weren’t crawling in any specific direction, just searching for good snacks.

Since I cleaned our pantry a few months ago and saw the amount of food I was wasting, I hardly buy anything. Grocery shopping is organized and limited to items on my list. There are no snacks. No chips. No cookies. Nothing but canned goods and tightly sealed bags of baking supplies.

In the past, when I caught the scouting ants, I knew I was in for it. I’d have to throw away food and spray pest killer.

Um. Not this time.

Apparently there is so little food in my house, the ants called it a day and moved out this morning. On to greener pastures and fuller pantries I guess.

Who knew living frugal would annoy the ant population?

Posted by Beks on November 30, 2011 at 6:19 PM in food, Home Ownership, Living Frugal | 5 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Lazy Cooking Wastes Money?

My sisters make everything from scratch. They don’t buy pizzas. They don’t buy frozen dinners. They don’t buy packaged cookies. I’m not even sure if they’ve ever purchased a loaf of bread.

I figured this craziness was genetic. A rare strain inherited from my mother who used to grind her own wheat for fresh bread in the morning. I, on the other hand, take after my dad who could pull out a fork, open a can of cold Chef Boyardee, and call it dinner.

I mean really, NORMAL people don’t bake everything right?

I went to a friend’s house over the weekend. She had invited my husband and me over for hamburgers and fries. I watched in amazement as she carefully molded ground beef into patties, peeled and sliced potatoes, and pulled fresh buns from the oven. We drank homemade Kombucha and devoured fresh cookies after dinner.

She started talking about saving money and how they lived on less because she cooks everything from scratch. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that while, yes, I make dinner at home each night, the closest I’ve come to making cookies from scratch in months is slicing them off a premade roll I bought with a coupon.

Am I the crazy one here? Are all of you out there baking away while I’m buying hamburger buns and crackers instead of making them?

Posted by Beks on October 25, 2011 at 5:00 AM in food, Living Frugal, Saving Money | 27 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Goodbye Grocery Budget…

I never go grocery shopping by myself with the little guy but decided to try it out on Wednesday afternoon rather than wait until the weekend for hubby’s help. I gave myself a huge pat on the back as I was able to complete an entire week’s worth of grocery shopping.

Then came Thursday’s power outage.

I had purchased mostly dairy and meat products… the very things you need to throw out after a power failure.

I practically cried on Friday as I threw out the precious contents of the refrigerator.

We’re living on a really tight budget since I’m off work for 3 more weeks so I can’t go out and replace anything I bought. Soooo….

looks like we’re living off canned goods and pasta this week.

Thankfully, our box freezer in the garage was locked and held it’s temp. We were able to keep our frozen stash of discounted turkey meat and chicken. Whew!

Posted by Beks on September 13, 2011 at 5:00 AM in food | 13 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Time to share those cheap recipes!!

Inspired by my new, extra tiny grocery budget, I did a Google search a few weeks ago to add a few different meals into my rotation and discovered these great recipes:

http://family.go.com/food/pkg-budget-recipes/cheap-dinner-recipes-pg/

I posted quite a while back asking readers to share their cheap, easy, healthy dinner recipes. I got such a great response, I thought I’d do it again.

Do me a favor, share your inexpensive dinner ideas! My savings account depends on you!

Posted by Beks on September 8, 2011 at 11:59 AM in food | 12 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Saving Money on Organic?

If your grocery store is anything like mine, the section labeled ‘Organic’ seems to grow every week. We have organic fruits and veggies, organic frozen foods, organic rice, organic beef, and on and on. I’ve read articles telling me which food items to buy organic and which ones are a waste but I still have no idea what ‘organic’ really means! While waiting for my organic Amy’s microwave meal to heat (purchased on clearance from Target), I read an article about understanding product labeling posted in our lunchroom.

The article helped me feel more informed about what labels mean AND helped me to decide which labels meant more to me… and which ones I don’t care about. ‘Organic’ foods are EXPENSIVE. You should decide if it’s something you want to invest your grocery dollars in.

Check out the article HERE

Posted by Beks on May 19, 2011 at 5:00 AM in food | 2 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Freebies!!

The folks at E-mealz contacted me about their Family Week promotion this week. If you stop by their website, they are offering free menus including grocery list & prices, complimentary desserts, as well as family activities & games – and aren’t we all fans of freebies?? So if you are on the fence about trying E-mealz, stop by their website this week and enter your e-mail address for your free menu (including dessert!). Don’t worry, this sharing of your e-mail address won’t sign you up for pharmaceutical sales or the Nigerian lottery – I promise.

I’ve been signed up for E-mealz (yes, I pay for it. E-mealz DOES NOT pay me to promote it) for a few months now and I absolutely love it. If you’re anything like me, you are frequently in a rush and generally buy a plethora of frozen dinners. There was always a little embarrassment whenever the grocery checker rang up my purchases. It was a pretty big spotlight on the fact that I didn’t make time to eat right.

Now? I shop in the produce and meat/fish sections more than anywhere else. I haven’t purchased a frozen dinner in months and to be honest, I feel a little smug when buying $35 in fresh food while the person in front of me buys 20 frozen dinners.

But I totally understand if the plan doesn’t work for you. My sister, a raw vegan, can’t use the plan and my other sister’s husband has certain food allergies and is also unable to use it. There are others, God bless you, who already prepare good meals every night and don’t need the help.

For those who signed up in August, let me know what you think. I’m interested in your feedback!

E-mealz is still offering 10% off to BloggingAwayDebt readers if you use the code: bawaydebt
The discount code expires on October 15th. So hurry up!

The folks at E-mealz sent me a sneak peak of the menus (yum! – but it’s a secret!) and a Press Release (below).

“Let’s Celebrate Us”

The family is such an important part of who we are and where we belong. Within our families we have purpose, goals and dreams that we intend to make come true. Family Day, A Day to Eat Dinner with your Kids®, recognized as a National Day of Observance the last Monday of every September, speaks to the primary importance of family connection around the dinner table. We love Family Day® so much that we want to extend the celebration for the entire week of September 27th.

Regular family discussion around the dinner table is an important part of family life as well as a key element of healthy development during childhood. Research suggests that family dinner conversation builds language skills, critical thinking, and relationships and lessen the chance of substance use in our children. Often in our daily lives we forget to take the time to continue to learn about our loved ones. The E-Mealz family is inviting every family to celebrate during “Let’s Celebrate Us” Family Week. Any size and type of family can enjoy five nights of “Dinner Dialogue,” “Gab and Games,” free dessert recipes and a fun-filled activities for everyone.

There is a fundamental logistical problem that interferes with dinner for most busy households…it’s 5 o’clock and there is nothing in the pantry to cook. E-Mealz purpose is to make dinnertime feasible and the grocery budget manageable for every busy family.

E-Mealz was created as a simple organizational tool for big and small families, couples, empty nesters, and roommates from every corner of America and around the world as well. Any family, with or without children, can be encouraged to continue to learn about our spouses, significant others and children.

Communication is the key to relationships, which largely involves asking questions to learn more about each other and connecting on a regular basis. E-Mealz has provided fun, food and games to encourage all types of families to engage and enjoy each other’s company. E-Mealz challenges everyone to carve out time for “Family Week” to focus on dinner as a regular evening ritual and the uniqueness that makes each family special. So, E-Mealz invites you to join us throughout the entire week of September 27th celebrating and strengthening families across the country.

Posted by Beks on September 27, 2010 at 5:00 AM in food | 3 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |

Week 2 of No Dining Out…

This week wasn’t as bad as I expected. I’ve been planning meals a week in advance and have been able to trim our unwieldy grocery budget. I go into the grocery store with a plan and stick to it! Well… except for the 99 cent bag of red licorice. We all have our vices.

This was the first week we had to expose our ‘no dining out’ policy to friends. Hmph.

My husband and I joined my brother and his wife while they searched for a new home. After a few hours of driving neighborhoods and meeting with realtors, we were starved. My brother drove down a fast food laden street and said, ‘Where do you guys want to go to lunch?’

My husband gave me ‘the’ look. The look that said, ‘You came up with the no dining out policy, therefore, you should explain it.’

I flubbed out something Yoda-ish, ‘We can’t…uh… 60 days of no dining out… money…tight…save, trying to …err…uh…home, eat at.’

‘OK Captain Crazy’ he replied, paused, then added, ‘We need to save money too since we’re buying the house. Good idea – well, what I could understand of it.’

We’re getting there. A little bit at a time. Sure folks think I’m nuts but since I’m so close to the debt free finish line…

I could care less.

Posted by Beks on July 16, 2010 at 5:00 AM in food, Life Experiences, Saving Money, Ways I Save Money | 19 Comments »
You can leave a response or trackback from your site. |