Monday, July 14, 2008

The working of a frugal mind

Last night I cut broccoli from the garden and got it ready for the freezer. Since I was using cottage cheese containers (I'll take out the individual portions and put them in a large freezer bag later), I had just a few pieces of broccoli left over, which I put in the refrigerator.

So today I had to buy a few groceries and as I was walking past the frozen dinners section, I happened to see a container of broccoli, rice, chicken and cheese. It looked so good that I was really tempted to buy it... then I remembered: I had broccoli at home.

There was also leftover chicken... and there is nearly always cheese. There was a serving of rice in the freezer.

It was almost a free meal, since most of it was leftovers and there wasn't a lot of any one thing. It sure was good, though.

It isn't always easy to make your mind go from "just buy it," to "just make it," but it's worth the discipline. I saved almost four dollars on one meal. Multiply that times the three times I go grocery shopping each month, times a year: $144.

That will buy a month's worth of food, plus. A "free" month's worth of food is OK with me!

4 comments:

  1. I've taken to window shopping in the frozen entree aisle at my local store. Like you, I've been able to put together great meals from 'planned overs' with ideas from the frozen foods section. Bellen

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  2. That's a good idea, Bellen. I never thought about doing it on purpose! :)

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  3. Boy that does sound good Pat. I check the frozen food section, just to gleen ideas too! Especially when we go to the States ( northern Idaho). There are so many more frozen foods to choose from! Many I've never even seen before. I'm sure that your home made entree had more flavour than the frozen one , as you can make things to your own taste.
    And free, planned overs are great for stretching our ever shrinking budgets.
    Thanks for the reminder and ideas.

    T'other Pat

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  4. There was more for another meal, too! I don't know about tastier, since I haven't tasted the frozen kind, but I'm pretty sure mine is healthier, since I didn't put anything but food in it. :)

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