Bulk Bins for the Win

Shopping at WinCo's bulk bin section is one of my favorite ways to save on groceries. There isn't a WinCo close to us, but when I make a trip up to visit my mom, I make a stop in to refill my pantry. Beans, grains, pasta, baking supplies, tea bags, spices, and treats can be bought in any quantity at a huge bargain, so I can really stretch my budget.

Today, I spent $108.44, including $29.80 in ground beef (I'll share how I prep it later this week!), $8.98 in olive oil, asparagus for $.98/lb, and *lots* of rice and beans!

Beans and lentils are almost always cheapest out of the bulk bins, but I was a bit surprised to find that a 10 lb. bag of rice in the aisles was cheaper than bulk rice. I bought the 10 lb. bag for $4.54, whereas the bulk bin was $.54/lb - making 10 lb. $5.40. Occasionally, the packaged product is on sale or has a coupon making it cheaper as well. If you're shopping in bulk, always double check that the packaged version isn't a better deal!

Our everyday oatmeal  breakfast is made with steel cut oats, bought in bulk for $.63/lb.

 When baking goods go on sale around the holidays, I can often find a 4 lb. bag of flour for under $2.00, but I've never seen it as low as the everyday price of $.35/lb at WinCo.

 Refilling my spice containers out of the bulk bins is one of my favorite ways to keep my meals flavorful on a budget. Today, I completely refilled an empty container of cumin for $.42.

Bulk tea bags! It doesn't get much cheaper for this variety. I get chamomile, lemon ginger, orange spice, chai, peppermint, green tea, and earl grey here.

Frozen spinach is so versatile, and SO cheap! I especially like adding it to my beans, sausage and greens soup, to meatloaf, and to quiche.

I stock up on orange juice concentrate at $.99 a frozen can, and we drink about one each week. I've also used this in orange chicken recipes.

Using the pantry principle to grocery shop, I have a set price point I won't spend over on particular items. I shop to replenish my stock rather than for specific meals, so it's helpful to know where I can get the best deal on things I buy regularly so I can restock and stay on budget. 

Do you have stores with bulk bins in your area? What are your best finds? 

A Stash of Granola Bars

Starling stopped by a Grocery Outlet on his break the other day. He texted me from the store, asking, "Is $.99 a good price for Kind bars?" I said it wasn't great for a bar, over our budget.

Oh, he clarified: it's for a box of four peanut butter breakfast bars.

In that case, yes, $.99 for 4 bars is a good price! How many boxes do they have? 15 boxes. Exactly what's left in our monthly budget (we have a penny left for January!) and we're all set for snacks for the next few months.

Meal Prep Monday: Many Ways with Ham

This week, our prepped meals feature the ham I bought after Christmas, when they were marked down so much the stores were practically giving them away.

Step 1: Bake the ham. While the ham was baking, I took advantage of the already running oven. This saves both time and resources, using the same hot oven for multiple meals, even ones we're not eating right now.

I tossed in a few sweet potatoes, still in their jackets and straight on the rack. These would go into our lunches, below. Step 2: Prep breakfasts Next, I made up a batch of high-protein muffins for breakfasts with a coupon score - $.75 for a package of Birds Eye Steamfresh Protein Blends, California Style bean, grain, and veggies, mixed with 4 eggs ($.14 each) to bind it all together. This made 6 muffins at $.22 each. I'll add free oranges from the neighbor's tree, and each of the three kids will have breakfast of 2 muffins each for $.44. If I found more coupons for this mix, I'd definitely make these again, but I'm not likely to pay full price for the mix. I also used the time to make a batch of oatmeal in the Instant Pot, with applesauce and apple pie spice.

Step 3: Prep lunches with cooked hamOnce the ham was finished baking, I packed lunches for my spouse and me: a variation of this ham and pineapple dinner  with sweet potato and diced jalapeno for heat, peas on the side, and ham and pineapple fried rice, peas included. Dried fruit and some candies from a holiday gift basket round out the meals. These are each under $.50 a serving.

Step 4: Pack up the hamWith breakfasts prepped and lunches packed, I went to work feeding the freezer with meals for future weeks, so we don’t burn out on ham eating it all at once! A little ham gives a lot of flavor and really stretches, so most of it was diced to add to soups and casseroles. This is one of my best money saving tips: serve meat as an accompaniment rather than an entree.

We ate ham, green beans, and cornbread for Sunday dinner, have packed lunches with ham, and there are 9 packages of diced ham for upcoming meals, so our 11 lb. ham made for 11 meals for 5-6. I'll be using the rest of the packaged ham, one a week for the next 9 weeks, to make:

• Western Quiche - a pie tin filled with spinach, potato, diced ham, onions, and ready for the addition of whipped eggs.
• Beans with ham and collard green soup, following the beans with sausage and greens method.
• Creamy potato soup with ham
• Split pea soup using the ham bone
• Mac and cheese with ham and peas
• Broccoli, ham, and rice casserole
• Sliced ham for grilled ham and cheese sandwiches
• Another round of the ham and pineapple dinner - it's tasty!
• The rough bits were added to a pot of green beans and cooked until the beans were soft and hammy. We had them for dinner but have another batch for another night. Yummy!
  

Eggs with broccoli and sausage: a dinner two ways

Last week, I found three packages of sausage on manager's markdown for $1.75 each, and two had peelie tags for $1 each. The three packages came to a total of $3.25. Each package was then $1.08 and serves 6. That's definitely in my budget!

This week, we have an extra kid with us, and I broke out one of the packages for dinner of eggs, broccoli, and sausage. It's not in our regular menu rotation, but our guest has some food aversions and I'm adjusting not just to fit him into the budget but to serve things he can enjoy as well.

Tonight, my family had an egg, sausage, and broccoli casserole. I fried up the sausage, then sauteed an onion in the sausage grease. I love the extra flavor the onion gets when I use the meat drippings to cook it!  Our friend had eggs, broccoli, and sausage, not touching. We all had a glass of orange juice on the side. The cost broke down to $4.25 for dinner for 6 people, or $.70 per person. Not too shabby! 

Sausage: $1.08
12 eggs: $1.49
1/2 bag of chopped broccoli: $.49
1 onion: $.20
1 frozen orange juice: $.99
Dinner that everyone said was delicious and make again: PRICELESS! 

Making the most of manager's markdowns

Find your manager's markdown section and start your shopping there.

Recently, I found 1 lb. boxes of "stuffing mix" - diced onion, celery, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme - marked down to a quarter apiece. I bought 12 for $3.00.

Since I couldn't use them all before they would go bad, I sauteed 9 packages of them (making my kitchen smell like Thanksgiving!) and froze in meal-sized portions of 1 cup each. Cooking them helped them take less space in the freezer and saves me time when I'm getting ready to cook them into winter soups and casseroles. I got 10 baggies out of 9 of the containers. The other 3 mixes were used while still fresh.

Awhile back, I was buying bananas while the produce manager was restocking and pulling the slightly-too-brown bananas. I asked what they do with the (perfect to my taste) spotted bananas and he offered to sell me the entire box for $2. I snapped that up and froze the bananas for months of smoothies and banana bread.

Ask your store's butcher when markdowns are put out and if possible, shop around that time. I routinely find meat at or close to its sell-by date but still perfectly fine, marked down by at least 50%. I buy it even if we can't eat it that night, because it can be frozen for months after the sell-by date.

Frequently found on a shelf at the back of the store, I often find scratch-and-dent products that are perfectly edible but have less-than-perfect packaging. You can even use coupons on these products if you have them!

What has been your best mark-down find?