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Even Store Brands go on sale... Most people know that buying store brands saves money over name brands, but did you know that even store brands go on sale? Keep you eye open for great deals on store brands and stock up when a sale hits. Some stores will even print coupons for their brands and publish them in their weekly coupon circulars. Store brands are usually available for canned goods and staples, but skip store brand convenience food. Regardless of brand, pre-packaged or individual serving sizes are almost always more expensive than homemade.

Look For a Bakery Outlet... Check your yellow pages under Bakery for bread manufacturer's outlet or thrift stores. In my medium size city, I found 5 listings. On a recent trip to my local outlet, Their weekly special: 5 loaves at $.81 each and then an additional 5 loaves free! The grocery store down the street had the same loaf of bread marked at $1.29 (a 'sale' price, no less.. regularly $1.99). There were many other items besides bread. I bought a package of tortillas, and a dozen English muffins. I avoided the snack items that, although reasonably priced, have no nutritional value and are thus a waste of our limited 'real food' budget. Besides, homemade oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies taste better that Ho-Ho's and are still a cheaper alternative.

Frugal Recipes... What makes a meal cost effective? The price of the ingredients, of course! While it may be possible to find the occasional steal on rack of lamb, you're likely to save a lot more money if you plan meaty meals around ground beef and chicken. No-Meat meals are even cheaper! Try to plan a minimum of one or two meatless dinners every week. We rotate between a white-sauce pasta, a red-sauce pasta, bean soup & salad, homemade vegetarian pizza, quiche, beans & rice, or a 'breakfast dinner' (scrambled eggs, waffles, etc).

A Sticky Situation... Summer + Kids = Popsicles! What could possibly go better with a warm day than a cold popsicle. Even though a box of store bought popsicles seem cheap, you can avoid the cost all together by making popsicles at home. And if you don't have popsicle molds lying around, don't bother investing. You can make less-mess treats by simply freezing your popsicles in a plastic cup and then digging out the frozen treat with a spoon. These Slushies taste just as yummy without any drips. The easiest popsicles are made by freezing fruit juice, but add a twist by tossing fresh fruit and yogurt or milk in the blender and then freezing the results. Frozen pudding makes another great popsicle for sweaty kids (and moms, too!).

A LETTER TO MARTHA STEWART - Written by a Real Mom

Dear Martha,

I am writing you regarding your wonderful Macaroni and Cheese recipe featured on your last TV show. As a mother of two I was thrilled to see a recipe appear on your show that my kids might actually eat! But after writing down the recipe and rushing to my refrigerator to start preparing that very special Mac-and-Cheese "par excellence" for my brood, I was shocked to discover that I did not seem to have several of the ingredients on hand! Chagrined, I was forced to substitute a few things with items I found in my own fridge. The results were simply superb, the children loved it and I felt compelled to share with you my altered recipe! I thought you might appreciate a recipe that might apply to more than the .01 % of the population who, like you, have a full staff working for them 24-7 and a personal shopper who lives to stock their kitchen. Here it is:

1. Your recipe called for 4 ½ cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese. Substitute: 4 cups cheap mild cheddar, green bits trimmed from edges. 5 slices American Cheese sandwich slices, plastic removed and torn into strips.
2. Your recipe called for 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese. What? I seem to have left this off my list. Not only that, but the supermarket doesn't carry it, and I have no desire to haul my two small children all over town looking for a specialty store that does, especially when it's just going to get melted into a mac and cheese casserole. Substitute: 5 more slices of sandwich cheese, plastic removed. 7 string cheeses, plastic removed and cubed. One liberal squirt E-Z cheese and half a bar of reduced-fat cream cheese, toast crumbs removed.
3. Your recipe called for freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese, about 5 ounces. Peco-what? See response to number 2 above. Substitute: 7 dashes Parmesan cheese from a can, plus 3 little paper packages of Parmesan cheese left over from Pizza Hut's last visit.
4. 6 slices good white bread, crusts removed. Substitute: 6 slices bad white bread (store-brand bought on special, slightly stale), crusts removed.
5. 1/4 tsp. Ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp. Ground cayenne pepper. Please, Martha, think of the children! One only has to mention the *word* pepper around them and they look at me as if I have just suggested they gargle with lighter fluid and sit down to nice meal of Flaming Matches a-la-king! Substitute: A liberal assurance to both children that there is no "spice" whatsoever in their food.
6. Another helpful hint: When the cheese sauce was bubbling on the stove, the phone rang, the cat knocked over a vase and I caught my toddler licking the salt shaker. The sauce got a little, um, over-done. Did you know that if you don't touch the bottom of the pan with the spoon, you can totally avoid any burnt bits getting into your sauce? The result is a pleasant, delicately smokey flavor with none of the incriminating black bits. You might want to feature this little trick on your next show.

Well, there it is Martha! A few simple changes and you have a recipe that's within reach of millions of normal American families with children. It's a good thing! Now that you've read my version of your Macaroni recipe, I'm sure you will want me to send along my Mommy-friendly version of Baked Alaska. Have no fear, it's on its way!

Sincerely,
Norma Q. Mommy
Everywhere, USA

Written by: Erica Hale
©2001

See Also: Budget Meal Planning // Cooking Links // Recipes