Canada Nesties
Melozia
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Menus
Good morning ladies! I had the BEST weekend! We took the boat and a whole whackload of kids out to the lake this weekend and had a total blast! I am exhausted though, but it was exactly the distraction we needed...so much fun.
Just a note about last week's menu items: the corn salad was super refreshing and a big hit camping (we took leftovers for the weekend), and the teriyaki beef kabobs were really tasty.
Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday: BBQ Flank Steak w/ Chipotle Mayo w/ tossed salad;
Tuesday: Leftovers;
Wednesday: Spinach & Feta Turkey Burgers w/ grilled asparagus;
Thursday: Leftovers;
Friday: BLT Salad w/ Basil Mayo Dressing.
Re: Menus
Monday : Roasted Red Peppers penne with pesto
Tuesday : Jerk Chicken and rice
Wednesday: Homemade bugers and corn on the BBQ
Thursday: lemon and dill salmon with summer veggies
Friday: roasted veggie wraps
Sunday: Grilled veggie pizza
Monday: Gazpacho topped with avocado & sauteed zucchini & eggplant
Tuesday: Beef & porcini sausages and salad
Wednesday: Broccoli & mushroom frittatas
Tuesday: Pasta and tomato sauce
DH is away for work for the next couple of weeks, so I get to cook for me!!
Mon - Leftovers from whatever I have from lunch today with the girls.
Tues - Portabello mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese and artichokes
Wed - Gyoza and Miso Soup
Thurs - Parmesan Pea Risotto
Fri - Spaghetti and Chicken Meatballs
Sat - Pork Szechuan Wraps
Sun - Calzone and salad
Mon (stole this idea!) feta-spinach-turkey burgers w/ tzaziki sauce, spinach salad
Tues, chicken stirfy on torfu shiritaki noodles (if I can find them!)
Wed: penne w/ crab and rose sauce
Thu: ribs or something else good on the BBQ, asparagus and rice
Fri: we are going to medieval times!
Sat: chicken mole, re-fried beans
Sun: burgers w/ mushrooms, sweet potato fries
I have gone a little crazy the past couple of months with recipes. I'm now on a budget! Any budget conscious ideas? I'm trying to slash my grocery bills by half.
Monday: Multigrain spaghetti with turkey sausage, onion, peas, red peppers, broccoli
Tuesday: Chicken scallopine and quinoa pilaf with roasted zucchini and eggplant
Wednesday: Beef stir fry with brown rice
Thursday: Sauteed chicken and kamut penne in an eggplant/mint/rose sauce, garden salad
Friday: no idea yet
How much do you want to spend? Our weekly grocery bill averages $100-$140 (but that also includes food for lunches and, about once a month, laundry soap, and toiletries). I, too, need to cut down every so often and I find lots of quick, easy, and inexpensive idea on the Kraft website.
I used to spend between 120-170 per week on groceries. Absolutely unnecessary... Now we're aiming between 60-under 100 per week. I'm starting to cook like my MIL! Scary...
Nat, not sure if there is a Fortino's near you, but boneless skinless chicken is $6.57/kg this week, which is less than 1/3 of regular price. Usually a good sale is $11/kg or under. Stock up!!! I specifically went to Fortinos for groceries this week becuase the chicken was such a good deal. I try to buy all meats in bulk when it's on sale and usually by the time I'm running out there is a sale on somewhere again for it. I'm not really on a tight budget but I'm cheap so that's what I do. You can plan your meals based on the sale. There is no use going to multiple grocery stores per week but you could go to a different store each week. Ie. one week Food Basics, next week something else. I find each store has different staples at cheap prices, so I stock up on them while I'm there.
I know you like to eat exotic type foods, so if you're buying herbs or something specific for one meal, try to plan another meal so you use up the herbs so nothing is wasted. To stay on the budget you may not be able to buy the fresh fish, great steaks etc unless they are on sale. I find fish is the most expensive fresh thing. You can do quite a bit with frozen fish. anyways I have more ideas but I'm kind of rambling
Considering that you like to eat fresh fish and meats, I am not sure that your budget will stretch as much as you'd like it to. I agree with the previous poster, frozen may be the way to go. Don't forget that marinades with an acidic base are great for tenderizing inexpensive cuts of meat, and freezing also tenderizes them.
If you want to get your budget as low as $60 the key will be planning, making smart buys, and taking advantage of sales and discounts.
I remember Erin doing a bunch of budget slashing a while back on her grocery bill (and I believe she got it down quite a bit). She may still have the tips lying around that she used! Good luck Nattie
thanks for the tips, girls!
Andrea - there IS a Fortino's not too far away (in Ancaster). I will definitely take advantage of that chicken sale!
ya I went from $175ish down to around $100. I switched from shopping at Loblaws to Superstore (staples like milk, butter and eggs are definitely cheaper, and lots of other things are too). I started making meals with leftovers (lazagna, meatloaf, stews, hams, roasts, whole chicken) which average to a lower cost per meal. I started looking at the sale flyers online before making my menu, then pick meals according to what meat is on sale. I'd get coupons from save.ca and try to wait to buy stuff (like shampoo) until it went on sale as well, so I'd get double savings. I'd stock up on items that we use all the time, like cases of coke or paper towel, when it's on a good sale.
However, the bad news is that I didn't keep up my low cost shopping. It's been slowly edging up to about $150 again, even with still doing everything that I said above. Though lately I've been buying more lunch stuff and extra food so that Erik wouldn't have to eat out as much, which means there's less spending elsewhere, so overall better. But still, I wish I could get back down to $100 again, it's just really tough.
We spend about $150 every 2 weeks. We plan on our meals based on what is on sale when I am making the list. If roasts are on sale I buy a few of them, use 1 and freeze the rest. Same goes for other meats. We only buy meat when it is on sale. For chicken you can save a lot of money and get more bang for your buck if you buy the bone in chicken. We got a pack of 5 huge breasts (like double the amount of meat on a typical boneless) for under $6. Unreal.
If I am buying something like say dill to make a recipe I find other recipes to be able to use the dill up so it does not go to waste.
Nat - boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale at A&P/Dominion/Metro too. Pretty sure you have one of those around B town, don't ya?
how do you prevent things from getting freezer burnt? If I buy much more than 1-2 months ahead, stuff gets really badly burnt. We only have a fridge/freezer combo, not a deep freeze (if that matters).
We don't have a deep freeze either. Just the freezer under our fridge. We have never had a problem with meet becoming freezer burnt. We keep it in the same package it came in for the most part. The exception would be chicken and pork tenderloin. For those we separate into individuals and wrap them in saran wrap (really tightly) then we put them in a big freezer ziplock bag. I suck all the air out with a straw as I seal it.
For things we have made (like say meatballs, chili etc) I put them in a ziplock bag and have never had a problem.
I also don't keep stuff in our freezer for longer than a few months. So if I buy 2 roasts I am going to use one right away (not freeze it) and then use the other one probably within 6 weeks. To me there is no point in keeping stuff in the freezer for over 2 months. Things like meat are always on sale so I don't find the need to go crazy and buy 10 of everything when it is on sale.
Some things that have helped to cut down our grocery bills:
- shopping every 2 weeks (we spend between $140 - $150) instead of each week
-menu planning
- buying our dry goods at places like Price Chopper, Food Basics etc.(cut down our bills by about 20%)
- buying meat in bulk when it is on sale - we will only buy it from the market or a local winery that has their own cattle and sources from local farmers, even though we are trying to cut back there are some things we won't compromise on
- at least trying to use generic brands on various items (if the quality sucks we go back to the name brands, but for some it makes no difference)