Things I am curious about

[derdriu]

Since I can't think of enough things to update with that are not: 1.) in the air or 2.) fully figured out in my brain-space, I will ask all of you a question which I am constantly curious about.

What ways do you save money on food/groceries? What things do you buy? What do you make yourself? What things have you found are cheaper to buy or

Comments

[knittinggoddess]

I like making my own bread, but I don't always make the time and effort--plus, it has a nasty tendency to mold faster than I can eat it. (TJ's is too far away for me.) I'll make my own granola on occasion, and always make my own pie crust. Generally though, I don't make complicated dishes, whether from scratch or prepackaged. Ok, I lie: I'll buy prepackaged foods from the sale rack, especially at the kinda-natural-foods store near work. (They have LOTS of organic and local stuff...and also sell Chilean Sea Bass. Go figure.)

Eggs are my main protein source. I don't eat as many veggies as I should, though when I do, I buy them in small bunches and usually make soup or stir fry out of the limp remains. My kitchen almost always contains apples: they're crunchy, healthy and cheap, even when organic.

My big secret is Fubonn, the Asian grocery on 82nd. Cheap spices, sauces and frozen foods, as well as decent quality, inexpensive kitchen supplies. I find they don't have very good produce though. Prepackaged produce is rarely a good buy.

[knittinggoddess]

Also, make a big batch of cookie dough and freeze it! It's perfect for those cookie cravings. Cookie dough is less likely to be forgotten in the fridge than things like bread or edamame. (Oh, my poor edamame.)

Have you seen Wasted Food Blog?

[derdriu]

Pie crust is one of the best things I realized I could make easily and cheaply. It works for Thanksgiving leftovers pot pie and yummy desserts.

Yeah. The more I consider large batches of cookie dough, the better I think the idea is.

I also ALWAYS forget my edamame! Then I feel -so- bad when I rediscover them, wasted.

I will say that Boston just totally sucks for cheap, organic/local food. I've managed a system for obtaining it, but it just doesn't hold a candle to Portland. Ah well.

Thanks for the link, I will definitely be checking that site out.

[hank_stamper]

I eat a ton of nutritional yeast, which is definitely an acquired taste, but amazingly good for you. It's 50% protein, 25% dietary fiber by unit volume, and then has tons of other vitamins/minerals on top of that. It's very expensive, so I buy it in bulk. I eat tons of it on pasta in strange combinations, but it goes great with lentil-y, bean-y things, too. Highly recommend.

[hank_stamper]

It's not as very expensive when you consider its nutritional value.

[derdriu]

You know... I always have a ton of nutritional yeast on hand because I LOVE it in popcorn. It now occurs to me how dumb I've been to never really think about putting it in much else outside of stir fry and popcorn. I will definitely try it.

My aunt was also extolling the nutritional virtues of seaweed in beans/lentils. One leaf does amazing things, apparently.

[linettasky]

Nutritional yeast is GREAT on buttered toast.

[derdriu]

I do half and half with frozen stuff. Corn, peas, whole green beans and some veggie mixes I will do frozen. Frozen peppers, though, I've found to be horrible. They fall apart -and- taste weird. Oh and frozen spinach... my mother ruined that for me forever.

Granted, I always prefer fresh stuff. It's just definitely not always an affordable option.

[derdriu]

Do you have some particularly good/cheap recipes for casseroles and soup? I feel like I always gravitate to the ones that want a lot of fancy, expensive cheese or some hard-to-find vegetable.

The freezer is a tool I should really utilize more than I do, I'm thinking.

Man, if it weren't for TJ's, I think we'd die. I went into this crazy health kick post-college and I don't eat partially hydrogenated oils, corn syrup/aspartame/icky sugars, or msg-and-its-many-psuedonyms. This makes me feel GREAT, but makes eating a little trickier sometimes. TJ's is awesome for things like bread and some packaged food that doesn't have all the bullshit in it, while still being affordable.

[cupacoffey]

My focus recently has been on eating better, with cost as a secondary consideration. Though, being that I'm me, I'm still cost conscious and maybe still have some things to share

[derdriu]

Tell me more about this egg-rice? And the refried beans?

I do scrambled-egg-in-rice instead of cereal to save money. S. hates it, so he eats cereal, but we buy far less of the $3+ cereal with me eating cheap-ass, filling rice n' eggs. This is boring, though. Your egg-rice sounds exciting.

I have learned how to be ultra-ridiculous while ultra-poor, health-conscious and socially responsible. Many stores = best overall.

[cupacoffey]

My response to you here got long, and perhaps of interest to a wider audience, so posted in on my own journal. It's an unlocked post, if anyone who's on your friends list but not on mine was reading this and is interested in knowing.