"Variety is the Spice of Life" and Other Tips and Tricks

 

Happy March, my friends!

We made it through February, which I consider a "blah" month, but I perk up during March because the days are longer and I can feel the promise of sunnier days. 

This week I've been at home, for the most part, and that always means more time in the kitchen. I've figured out that I can cook a lot on the days I'm in the mood and that way we can have a variety of options as the week goes on. 

I felt energetic one day so I made a delicious chicken salad using 2 cans of chicken, mayo, grapes, apple and lots of spices (even some Ranch dressing mix). Then I made a batch of Picadillo Taco meat, which is simply ground beef, seasoned for tacos, and cubed potatoes. I also add onion to mine. HERE's an official recipe, if interested. Those two dishes were enough for several meals and I still had meat to put in the freezer for later.  

For dessert this week I made my butterscotch cake, which I've shared here before. It's simply a boxed Butter Cake, made according to the box, and then add a bag of Butterscotch chips into the batter and bake. The chips always stick to the pan, no matter how well you grease it, but that's kind of what makes this cake so delicious. The cake is super moist and then the chips are crunchy. It's a great combination and so yummy. 

I also finished baking the rest of the chocolate chip cookie dough, which I started on Sunday when the girls were here. Well, the girls are coming today, so they now have some cookies to snack on. They will be so excited.

As I was cooking the meals on that one day, I was thinking back to my young mom days, when I was always looking for creative and new methods for grocery shopping and cooking. I remember the Once-a-Month cookbook, that laid out all the meals for you and even supplied the grocery lists, as well as instructions on what to cook, when. 

I also religiously followed a blog called Money Saving Mom (Crystal Paine) and she had many recipes and instructions on filling the freezer with mixes and casseroles. 

I had so much fun back then, trying new methods, buying books like Dining on a Dime and reading other books on how to save on groceries. 

I didn't use YouTube back then, or I could have really learned some things 😅 but I had a lot of resources on my book shelf and I would try all the things that sounded like they would save me money and time. 

There was even a place in town called The Main Dish, which was like a commercial kitchen of sorts. You placed an order of what meals you wanted to create, and then you went there and they had all of your ingredients chopped and ready to put together. I had two friends that loved to go too, so we would all go and make a month's worth of meals together. 

Each person had their own industrial food table, with supplies and utensils. You had a list of meals you chose to make and you would go to the freezer and get the ingredients for that meal, take them back to your table and put the recipe together in an aluminum pan. Then you would cover it in plastic wrap, label it, and stick it in your own cooler you brought from home, ready for your home freezer. 

It was so much fun, but they eventually shut down, due to rising costs of groceries, even back then. 

But, I learned something during that time...never fill your freezer during hurricane season. One summer we were hit with a big hurricane that called for an evacuation and I had to load up all of my freezer meals and take them with us, because we knew the power would go out during the storm. Thank goodness I did, because the power was out for an entire week that time and I would have lost all of that food. Live and learn 😅

Now that we are empty nesters and my husband usually only eats one big meal, it's been an adjustment on how to cook. I freeze a lot of stuff, in small portions, so I can pull something out for lunch or an early dinner. I'm getting used to it and it's becoming our new normal, so it's not too bad.

I did recently do a big grocery trip and haven't been to the store in at least two weeks, at this point, with the exception of going to Walmart for paper goods.

I like to go to Walmart at the beginning of each month and stock up on all the non-food items we need, such as paper goods, toiletries, pet food, medicines, and anything else that we use on a regular basis, that isn't food. This allows my weekly shopping to only consist of food, which helps me control my budget a little better. The jury's still out on shopping bigger, less often, as far as food goes. I like the fact that I'm not running to the store each week, but then again, have found that I missed something or we run out of something, quicker than I estimated.

I think my preference is to do a monthly non-food haul and then weekly food shopping on a smaller scale. This is easier to keep up with and allows me to buy milk and fresh items weekly. 

Whichever way you choose to do your shopping and cooking, it's always fun to try new methods and new ways of doing it. "Variety is the spice of life!" Remember that saying? 😀

But seriously, variety keeps us from getting bored or in a rut, doesn't it? And who knows? You might discover something that really works for you!

Well, I'm off to start the day. I hope your weekend is fun and exciting or slow and relaxing...whichever you choose.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!