7 Tips for Feeding Teenagers Without Breaking the Bank

Images courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net

 I was chatting with a woman at a networking event recently when she happened to glance at the cover of my book and exclaim “I spend $400 a *WEEK* on groceries – I have two teenagers to feed!”

Now, when you do what I do for a living, a lot of people confess their grocery bill to you :) and this is one of the largest grocery bills I've yet encountered in my neck of the woods. The thing is, I really got the feeling that she felt there was no way she could do better than that. I run into a lot of moms who appear to accept without question the fact that their grocery bills are going to be out of control during the years they're feeding teenagers (especially if they're blessed with boys!)

While it certainly takes more focus to keep your food budget under control during these years, it's entirely possible to do so without resorting to beans and rice every day! I recently shared that our per-person food costs are the same as they were 20 years ago, and I'm now feeding 14 and 16 year old boys (a.k.a. perpetual eating machines). All of the tips I provided in that article apply to feeding teenagers, too.

Here are a few more thoughts on feeding this budget-challenging age group:

1. Junk food is a luxury, not a necessity! Nothing runs up a grocery bill faster than piling tons of snack foods into your cart. I know the pressure can be on to keep the house stocked with pop, chips, and other munchies (especially if there tends to be a whole gaggle of boys hanging out at your house like there is at my place!) I've made it clear throughout my boys' lives that we just don't buy those foods, except very occasionally for birthday parties and the like (after all, not only are they expensive, they're not the healthiest choices, either!) Now that they're teens, when they complain that we don't have pop and chips, I remind them that they are welcome to spend their OWN money on those items if they want them that badly. We always have plenty of popcorn around for stove top popping, and I will buy a bag or two of my favourite good-quality organic tortilla chips when they go on sale, so there are always inexpensive alternatives available to them.

2. Keep beverage consumption under control: Teenage boys are thirsty critters and if you're not careful, they can guzzle away several dollars a day in juice, sports drinks, pop, etc. As mentioned above, we just don't buy pop except as an occasional treat. Teens do love fizzy drinks, and we now have two inexpensive and healthful homemade options in our house: water kefir and kombucha (for those of you who are skeptical that your teens would go for something this "alternative”, I offered a glass of lemon ginger water kefir to a close friend of my boys the other day, and as I was walking away I hear him say to them, “I wish my mom would make stuff like this!”). We have a limit of a 4 ounce glass of juice each per day, and 8 ounces of milk (we get tons of other dairy in our meals). I have trained my family to drink lots of water so when they're thirsty it's the first thing they reach for.

3. Go easy on the meat portions: Just because they are “growing boys” (or girls), it doesn't mean they need insanely-sized portions of meat. Four ounce portions are about the maximum I typically serve at a meal. Yes, they will still get enough protein! Dietary surveys have shown that even teenage boys easily meet their protein needs (in fact, they typically get about double the protein they require) so don't feel like you need to provide massive meat portions to make sure they're adequately nourished.

4. Stock up on inexpensive, high protein snacks: While there's not much likelihood your teens will be deficient in protein, providing some lower-cost high protein snacks will help them feel full longer so they won't eat everything in sight. Scrambled eggs or omelettes, toast with nut butters, sunflower seeds, and roasted chickpeas are all great options that work well in our home (and the last two are great portable snacks for teens on the go). If you have a few minutes to whip together a batch of Chocolate Powerballs, your teens won't even realize they're having a nutrient-rich snack, they'll just think they're enjoying a chocolatey treat :) This recipe is actually simple enough that your teens can make them by themselves!

5. Get into the bread making habit: We typically go through a loaf of bread a day in my house these days, and that can really put a dent in your grocery bill fast! Even if you're buying sale-priced bread, you can save over $40 a month by making your own. It's very simple and convenient to do so using my Whole Wheat Refrigerator Bread Dough (seriously, I don't know what I'd do without this recipe.) No bread maker required! Added bonus: You can use this dough for pizza crusts and to make homemade "pizza pockets", which will make your teens really happy while keeping your budget in check :)

6. Make your own yogurt: If you have a lot of yogurt lovers in your house, it's well worth the modest effort to make your own yogurt, too. You absolutely don't need a yogurt maker or any special equipment to do so – I use this method and my complete detailed instructions can be found in my book (I've had MANY people tell me they had success making yogurt using my method; they are always so surprised by how easy it is!)

7. Granola is your friend: I've heard many horror stories about teenage boys polishing off an entire box of cereal for a bedtime snack. Boxed cereals are another budget-buster, and aren't very nutrient-dense for the cost. Homemade granola is much more filling and nutritious – especially when paired with some homemade yogurt and/or some fresh or frozen fruit, it's a very satisfying snack. My basic granola recipe is so quick and easy, we often get a batch in the oven while we're cleaning up the dinner dishes.

Hopefully, I've convinced you it's not necessary to just throw up your hands in despair and resign yourself to spending $350 a week on groceries during the last few years your kids are at home.

Do you have any great tips on feeding teens on a budget? Or maybe a challenge I haven't addressed? Let me know all about it in the comments!

 

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Rising Food Prices *DON'T* Have to Mean an Increase in Your Grocery Bill!

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

In the last 3 years or so I have seen many, many articles in the newspapers and online discussing the rising costs of food. Depending on which sources you look at, there are reports of staple food items like milk, bread and eggs increasing by up to 69% in the past two years alone.

Reading statistics like this can cause a lot of anxiety, if, like many of us these days, there's not a lot of flexibility in your food budget. And most of these articles leave you feeling like there's little you can do to cope with rising food costs except try to funnel more of your monthly budget towards them. Here's the interesting thing, though - the weekly cost per person to feed our family hasn't increased in 20 years.

Yes, you read that right. 20 years. 

Back when I was in graduate school in the early-to-mid 90's, my husband and I spent on average about $50 per week on groceries for the 2 of us, or $25 per person.

Currently, we average right around $100 per week for our family of four, or, yes, *still* $25 per person. And that's with 14 and 16 year old boys who are pretty much perpetual eating machines. Also, while we don't buy exclusively organic, we do regularly buy a number of organic foods, compared to 20 years ago when we didn't buy any at all.

If food costs have gone up so much in just the past couple of years, how on earth is it possible that we're still spending the same amount per person as we did 20 years ago?!?

There are a lot of reasons for this. One of them would be that while our food expenditures were certainly modest 20 years ago, we weren't the hard core uber-frugal food shoppers we are today.

The other major reason that our average per-person cost hasn't changed in 20 years is that there are a LOT of things you can do to help decrease your food expenditures, and most of them have been routine for us for many years.

7 Things You Can Do To Keep Your Grocery Bill From Rising

1. Make sure you're buying foods on sale at their rock-bottom prices.
While the *regular* prices of many foods has increased significantly, interestingly, the rock-bottom sale price has not risen nearly as much. Stockpiling foods when they go on sale at their rock-bottom prices has always been a big part of our savings strategy, and it's helped insulate us from rising costs.

2. Ditch unnecessary (and mostly unhealthy) extras.
If you're feeling really pinched, now is the time to stop buying pop, chips and other high-cost, low- nutrient foods. You may want to rethink cold cereals as well - in my opinion you're not getting very much nutrition for the high price (there are plenty of other things to eat for breakfast - try homemade granola or muffins, toasted homemade bread with peanut butter, leftover cornbread, French toast, oatmeal or eggs just to name a few!)

3. Decrease your food waste
The average North American family throws out 25% of the food they buy. This is heartbreaking for many reasons, but when every food dollar counts you need to get this number as close to zero as possible. Eat leftovers as soon as possible, and regularly assess fresh foods so you can freeze them before they spoil if necessary. Store and rotate bulk-purchased foods properly so you'll use them up before they go bad.

4. Buy in bulk
Buying staple foods in large quantities often leads to big savings (up to 50% or more). Some of the items we buy in 10-15 kg quantities are flours, oats, cornmeal, rice, coconut and raisins. We also buy 30 lb boxes of ground beef from a local supplier at an incredible price!

5. Seek out alternative food sources
This one often happens naturally when starting to buy more bulk foods. If you're used to shopping at one or two stores for all your food needs, there's a good chance you can be getting much better prices on some things elsewhere. No one store (even a discount store) has the best prices on everything! Combining this strategy of purchasing food from a variety of sources plus the previous strategy of buying in bulk means you can achieve significant savings *without* having to spend more time grocery shopping.
 
6. Make friends with low-cost, high-nutrient foods
I don't think it will be a surprise to anyone that beans are at the top of that list, but they don't have to be considered a punishment :) There are plenty of delicious meals that star this frugal food staple; try Chickpeas with Potatoes & Peas, Spicy Black Bean Bake, West African Style Baked Beans or Sausage and Lentil Stew, which stretches 2 sausages to feed 4 people! Carrots, green peas, eggs and sunflower seeds are a few other great examples of high-nutrient budget-stretching foods.

7. Build your skills
Making as many foods from scratch as possible will shave lots of dollars off your food bill. Learn to make your own bread and yogurt (no special equipment required!) or grow some of your own food (you can even swap some of it with your neighbours). None of these is particularly difficult or time-consuming, especially once you've mastered the basics.

Yes, these are all basic principles of feeding your family well on a tight budget. At a time when so many families are struggling with their food expenditures, more and more people need to learn these strategies. So, if all of these suggestions are "old news" to you, please pass them on to someone else you know who would be grateful to learn these concepts. And if most of these ideas are new to you, you may find my book, Cheap Appétit: The Complete Guide to Feeding Your Family for Less Than $400 a Month (While Eating Better Than You Ever Thought Possible) to be a valuable resource!
 

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Finally - A Cooperative Grocery Store in Hamilton!

The Mustard Seed, Hamilton's first cooperative, non-profit grocery store, opened its doors for business this past Friday.

The store opening has been eagerly awaited by many Hamiltonians, but especially by the many volunteers like myself who spent countless hours over the past two years working to help make this happen!

The store was abuzz all opening weekend, with over 1000 folks dropping by to check the place out and shop for tasty local treats.

While there are still a lot of rough edges to smooth out, there are plenty of little details that give the store a personal, local touch.

Shown below: the produce section (large photo) and (from top to bottom) the barn doors made by a Mustard Seed member from reclaimed wood; a lineup of shoppers waiting to pay for their groceries, and the whimsical sign for the restroom.

One of my very favourite design touches at the store is all the photos of local food producers hanging on the walls. What a great way to bring to life exactly where our food is coming from and the people who are growing it for us!

Of course, I was also thrilled to see my book nestled on the shelves at the co-op. And particularly pleased to see it tucked in beside the More-with-Less cookbook, one of my longtime favourites. I grabbed this photo from the Mustard Seed's Facebook page - there are a ton more photos there  if you want to see the whole process of creating a grocery store.

It was really fun to walk around the store and be able to say "I helped put up those shelves", "I helped paint that" and on and on.

Of course, while the look of the store is important, the food is the main reason for the co-op's existence. Over the coming weeks and months I think the selection of products and producers will evolve quite considerably with lots of input from members. At the moment there is a fair amount of product purchased through distributors; as we connect with more smaller local producers I expect there will likely be a shift towards carrying more items from these types of businesses.

I'm most excited about being able to easily source more local and/or organic produce to supplement what I grow myself. I'll now have a consistent source for organic lemons, something I've often had trouble tracking down elsewhere. And the organic green onions I bought on opening day were a heck of a lot fresher than the ones I've been able to buy at other local grocery stores (not to mention I was able to get a smaller bunch so I can use them up before they spoil!) As we move into spring and the local growing season begins, the produce section is sure to be the highlight of the store.

Do you have a local co-op grocery store? What's your favourite thing about it?
 

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A Tale of Two Price Points: One Example of The True Cost of Convenience Foods

All photos in this post courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Anyone who's been to one of my presentations or workshops (or read my book) knows that I'm always harping on about calculating per-pound (or per kilogram, depending on your preference) costs for food items. For many types of foods, it's a big eye-opener to see just how much more you're paying for a convenience-type product versus buying the whole, unprocessed food.

There was a good illustration of this recently in the sales flyers, so I thought I'd share it here as an example of why you shouldn't buy into the convenience product paradigm.

This example is for a really basic food that is a staple in most frugal households: carrots. On the same week, there were two different "deals" available:

 
At first glance, store #2's offering seems like a pretty good deal to a busy mom who has to pack school lunches: single-serving bags of precut "baby" carrots - no effort required, just drop a bag of carrots in the lunchbox and you're done - and only 25 cents per individual serving package! Processed food manufacturers are clever, and they price point items so they *seem* like a good deal - just $1 to save the trouble of having to do it yourself!

Let's take a closer look, though, and calculate out the per-pound cost for each deal:

 Suddenly, things aren't looking so great for deal number 2: It's over NINE times the cost of deal #1! But it's SO convenient, right?

Well, let's see :)

I went into my kitchen and weighed out a pound of carrots on my digital scale. I then got my husband to time me while I peeled them and cut them into sticks. Total time? A whopping 4 minutes!

With this information, we can easily calculate the "hourly wage" of slicing our own carrots. We're saving $1.59 per pound doing it ourselves, and the task takes 4 minutes, which means you could complete it 15 times in an hour. That works out to an hourly wage of $23.85 ($1.59 x 15).

That's a pretty good return on your time investment, considering that that is $23.85 an hour with no taxes or deductions (if you've ever calculated what you actually earn per hour from a "real job", you'll know that's a pretty decent rate of pay).

This type of return for time invested on food-related activities is typical. In fact one reader of my book calculated that she saved $300 on groceries in one month by spending 5 hours using some of my techniques and strategies - an hourly return of $60 an hour! I don't know about you, but I've never earned close to $60 an hour after taxes and deductions from a "real job" and I have a Masters degree :)

What this clearly demonstrates is another point I always try to drive home: Most people considerably OVERESTIMATE how much time convenience foods are saving them, and severely UNDERESTIMATE how much extra they are paying for that little bit of convenience.

Those little bags of prepackaged carrots also spoil very quickly (since they're peeled and have a lot of exposed, unprotected surface area). Not to mention the fact that they have a horrendous amount of packaging per total volume of carrots (outer bag plus 4 inner bags). The 10 lb bags of carrots keep very well in my experience (we often buy 3 or 4 of them in the fall when they go on sale and keep them in our second fridge in the basement). If you don't have a lot of storage space, you can split a bag between 2 or 3 families to create very manageable amounts.

The moral of the story? Investing little bits of time here and there on he right types of food-related activities has a HUGE payoff. It really is worth it to do it yourself! 

SOME EXCITING NEWS: I have a brand new website at cookwithkaren.com! Don't worry, the blog will still be here and I will still post on it regularly. If you're looking for more information on my book, menu planning service or classes & events, this will be the place for you to go. And I'll be starting to send out a Cooking with Karen newsletter once or twice a month as well (you can sign up for that on my homepage or just go HERE).

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Top 5 Food Deals July 19-25, 2013

Photo by Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Welcome to this Friday's roundup of the "Top 5" food deals in my area for the coming week. While some of the deals will be exclusive to the Hamilton area, many of them will be available throughout most or all of Ontario, depending on the stores involved in a particular sale. Sale prices end July 25th unless otherwise noted; Freshco sales end July 24th.

Here are my picks for this week:

1. Pork chops
Pork loin chops are on sale for $1.88/lb at Metro and pork butt chops are $1.99/lb at Fortinos.

2. Blueberries
Pints of blueberries are $1.44 at Food Basics and 2/$2.88 at No Frills. This is the time to buy lots extra and freeze them!

3. Dried fruit
Bulk dried cranberries are $2.99/lb at Fortinos (less than half price!) and a 200 g package of dried apricots is 99 cents at Freshco or $1.00 at Food Basics

4. Ontario green beans
Fresh green beans are one of my favourite summer vegetables! Of course, none of the ones at the store can compare with my fresh-from-the-garden ones, but if you're going to buy them, this is the best time of year to get them fresh and local. They're $1.99/lb at Fortinos.

5.  Plums
Ontario golden plums are $3.99/1.5 L basket at Metro and Fortinos. Red and/or black plums (US) are on sale at Freshco for 99 cents/lb, at Walmart for 97 cents/lb and at Food Basics for 98 cents/lb.

Happy shopping! 

Want ALL the best weekly deals, plus menu plans and grocery lists based on what's on sale and in season? I have just launched a new, super-affordably-priced weekly budget menu plan service, featuring the best weekly deals and seasonal foods in Southern Ontario. You can read more about it here. I have a free sample menu available, which you can check out here! 

 

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Top 5 Food Deals July 12-18, 2013

Photo by Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Welcome to this Friday's roundup of the "Top 5" food deals in my area for the coming week. While some of the deals will be exclusive to the Hamilton area, many of them will be available throughout most or all of Ontario, depending on the stores involved in a particular sale. Sale prices end July 18th unless otherwise noted.

Here are my picks for this week:

1. Chicken
For the second week in a row, there are great deals on chicken. Chicken legs are on sale for $1.47/lb at No Frills and chicken drumsticks and thighs are $1.99/lb at Metro.

2. Skippy peanut butter
Again, for the second week in a row, a really low price for peanut butter! This time it's Skippy for $2.99/kg at Fortinos.

3. Ontario sweet cherries
$2.98/lb at Food Basics or $3.99/lb at Fortinos

4. Ontario cucumbers
67 cents each at No Frills and Walmart

5.  Avocados
$2.45 for a pack of 5 at No Frills.  

Happy shopping! 

Want ALL the best weekly deals, plus menu plans and grocery lists based on what's on sale and in season? I have just launched a new, super-affordably-priced weekly budget menu plan service, featuring the best weekly deals and seasonal foods in Southern Ontario. You can read more about it here. I have a free sample menu available, which you can check out here! 

 

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Top 5 Food Deals July 5-11, 2013

Photo by Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Welcome to this Friday's roundup of the "Top 5" food deals in my area for the coming week. While some of the deals will be exclusive to the Hamilton area, many of them will be available throughout most or all of Ontario, depending on the stores involved in a particular sale. Sale prices end July 4th unless otherwise noted.

Here are my picks for this week:

1. Chicken and Pork 
Chicken drumsticks and thighs and pork loin chops are all on sale for $1.88/lb at Food Basics

2. Kraft peanut butter
$3.44 for a 750 g - 1 kg jar at Metro or $3.99 at Freshco

3. Blueberries
$1.44 a pint at Freshco or 3 pints for $5 at Metro

4. Lettuce
Ontario romaine, green or red leaf lettuces are 67 cents each at Food Basics

5.  Fresh pineapples
$1.50 each at No Frills.

Happy shopping! 

Want ALL the best weekly deals, plus menu plans and grocery lists based on what's on sale and in season? I have just launched a new, super-affordably-priced weekly budget menu plan service, featuring the best weekly deals and seasonal foods in Southern Ontario. You can read more about it here. I have a free sample menu available, which you can check out here! 

 

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

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Top 5 Food Deals: June 28-July 4, 2013

Photo by Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Welcome to this Friday's roundup of the "Top 5" food deals in my area for the coming week. While some of the deals will be exclusive to the Hamilton area, many of them will be available throughout most or all of Ontario, depending on the stores involved in a particular sale. Sale prices end July 4th unless otherwise noted.

Here are my picks for this week:

1. Avocados
$2 for a pack of 5 at Food Basics

2. Cracker Barrel cheese
$4.44/500 g brick at Fortinos or $4.99/500 g brick at Metro

3. Bulk dried cranberries
$2.99/lb at Fortinos. They are usually $6.99/lb!
 
4. Lettuce
Ontario romaine, green or red leaf lettuces are 99 cents each at Fortinos

5. Que Pasa Tortilla Chips
Selected varieties are on sale for $2.99 at Fortinos (425 or 454 g bag depending on variety). These are an excellent quality tortilla chip made in Canada with organic corn. They have a very fun "O Canada" variety which is a mix of red and white chips (the red ones are dyed with beet juice). Perfect for your Canada Day celebrations (we will be having Taco Platters - yum!)

Happy shopping! 

Want ALL the best weekly deals, plus menu plans and grocery lists based on what's on sale and in season? I will be launching a new, super-affordably-priced weekly budget menu plan service next week, featuring the best weekly deals and seasonal foods in Southern Ontario. You can read more about it here. I have a free sample menu available, which you can check out here! 

 

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

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Top 5 Food Deals: June 21-27, 2013

Photo by Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Welcome to this Friday's roundup of the "Top 5" food deals in my area for the coming week. While some of the deals will be exclusive to the Hamilton area, many of them will be available throughout most or all of Ontario, depending on the stores involved in a particular sale. Sale prices end June 27th unless otherwise noted.

Here are my picks for this week:

1. Fresh pineapples
$1.44 each at Food Basics

2. Local strawberries
$2.49/quart at Fortinos - this is not much more than we pay per quart when we pick them ourselves!

3. Dried apricots
99 cents/200 g package at Food Basics and Metro. This is an excellent price for apricots; I was skeptical how the quality would be the first time I saw these come on sale for this price; however after trying them I think they are just as good as the ones that I buy from the Bulk Barn.

4. Salad greens
Ontario romaine lettuce is $1.00 each at Freshco and spinach is 97 cents/bunch at No Frills and Freshco (Freshco sale prices end June 26th)

5. Shrimp
The odds are pretty slim that I would be featuring seafood two weeks in a row in my weekly picks - but it just so happens that I am! Last week it was a great deal on lobster, this time it's raw zipperback Pacific white shrimp for $5.99/lb at Fortinos. These will sometimes go on for as low as $4.99, but this is still a great deal at $5 off per pound! I have been buying these shrimp for a while now (when they're on sale, of course!) and my whole family has commented on how great they taste. 

Happy shopping! 

Want ALL the best weekly deals, plus menu plans and grocery lists based on what's on sale and in season? I will be launching a new, super-affordably-priced weekly budget menu plan service in early July, featuring the best weekly deals and seasonal foods in Southern Ontario. You can read more about it here. I have a free sample menu available, which you can check out here! 

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

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My New Budget Menu Planning Service is (Almost) Here!

Illustration courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Ever since my book came out, I've gotten lots of questions and comments from readers. For some people, the book was all they needed to take control of their family grocery budget and meal planning (like the folks who have left wonderful reviews here and here). Other people have sent me comments something along the lines of "I love your book, and it has a lot of great ideas, but I just can't seem to pull it all together when it comes to coordinating my grocery shopping, menu planning and cooking."

If you consider yourself in that second group that still struggles with figuring out what to cook for dinner and making sure you have all the food you need without spending a small fortune, I have some exciting news: I am launching a new budget menu planning service that will make your life SO much easier - for a very small cost.

Imagine this arriving in your inbox every Friday afternoon:  

•  A complete menu plan for the coming week, featuring foods on sale and in season in Southern Ontario. 

•  You'll have all the recipes in one place, plus a complete shopping list so you'll never discover you're out of a key ingredient halfway through cooking dinner again! 

• The grocery list will also tell you where all the best sale prices are that week for the items you need, and even tell you what other items are on sale at "rock-bottom" stock-up-now prices so you don't miss a great deal. 

If this sounds like something that would revolutionize meal time at your house (or at least take off a whole lot of pressure) I have a free sample menu available that you can check out to see just what you'll receive every week as a subscriber. You can either check it out here or email me direct to request a copy. I've already let a few friends take a look at it and the feedback I've gotten has been along the lines of "Wow!" and "I really love this!". 

I'm also committed to keeping this service extremely affordable; I really want everyone who could benefit from it to be able to sign up! A 3 month subscription is just $22.50 ($7.50 a month), 6 months is $39 ($6.50 a month) and 12 months is $63 ($5.25/month). I want to make this a really excellent value for all of you and I don't think you can get a more detailed plan for this price.

If you'd like to subscribe: Simply email me and let me know how many months you'd like to subscribe for (3, 6, or 12) and how you'd prefer to pay (PayPal, email transfer or cheque) and we'll get it all set up. The first set of menu plans will be going out to subscribers on July 5th!

Wouldn't it be nice to never worry about what you're going to make for dinner again?

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Top 5 Food Deals: June 14-20, 2013

Photo by Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Welcome to this Friday's roundup of the "Top 5" food deals in my area for the coming week. While some of the deals will be exclusive to the Hamilton area, many of them will be available throughout most or all of Ontario, depending on the stores involved in a particular sale. Sale prices end June 20th unless otherwise noted.

Here are my picks for this week:

1. Lactantia butter
2/$5 at Metro - this is the third week running that name brand butter has been on sale for a great price. I can't remember the last time I saw butter on sale for $2.50/lb!

2. Ontario red or green leaf lettuce
$1.29 each at Metro, $1 each at Freshco (Freshco sale ends June 19).

3. Ontario asparagus
Ontario asparagus is $1.97/lb at No Frills again this week and $1.99/lb at Fortinos

4. Ontario zucchini
Ontario zucchini are now available and on sale this week for $0.99/lb at Fortinos

5. Live lobsters
Lobster is not something I buy too much of on our food budget :) However, this week they are $5.99/lb at Fortinos, half the regular price. Seeing as how it's Father's Day this weekend, this would be a great way to treat the dads in your life.

Happy shopping! 

Want ALL the best weekly deals, plus menu plans and grocery lists based on what's on sale and in season? I will be launching a new weekly budget menu plan service in early July, featuring the best weekly deals and seasonal foods in Southern Ontario. I now have a free sample menu available, so email me if you'd like a copy! 

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

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Top 5 Food Deals: June 7th-13th, 2013

 

Photo by Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last Friday I kicked off a new series featuring the best food deals from the weekly sales flyers. Every Friday, I will be posting a roundup of the "Top 5" food deals in my area for the coming week. While some of the deals will be exclusive to the Hamilton area, many of them will be available throughout most or all of Ontario, depending on the stores involved in a particular sale. Sale prices end June 13th unless otherwise noted.

Here are my picks for this week:

1. Armstrong cheese
$3.66 for the 500 g bars at No Frills - this is an extremely low, rarely-seen price for this product, so it's a good time to stock up!

2. Lantic sugar
 2 kg bags are 2/$3.00 at Food Basics. This is another rarely-seen low price, so it's the perfect opportunity to stock up for the upcoming jamming season.

3. Asparagus
Ontario asparagus is $1.97/lb at No Frills

4. Sweet peppers
Ontario sweet peppers (red, orange and yellow) are $1.99/lb at Fortinos

5. Oasis juice
$1.99 for the 1.75L carton at Fortinos. This is another great price that doesn't come along too often, so stock up!

Happy shopping! 

 

Want ALL the best weekly deals, plus menu plans and grocery lists based on what's on sale and in season? I will be launching a new weekly budget menu plan service in early July, featuring the best weekly deals and seasonal foods in Southern Ontario. I'll have a free sample available starting early next week, so email me if you'd like a copy! 

 

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

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Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

Top 5 Food Deals: May 31-June 6th, 2013

 

Photo by Grant Cochrane/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I have a growing number of people asking me to post the best weekly food deals. I am finally responding to that request starting this week. Every Friday, I will be posting a roundup of the "Top 5" food deals in my area for the coming week. While some of the deals will be exclusive to the Hamilton area, many of them will be available throughout most or all of Ontario, depending on the stores involved in a particular sale. Sale prices end June 6th unless otherwise noted.

Here are my picks for this week:

1. Cracker Barrel Cheese
$3.99 for the 500 g bars at Metro - this is an extremely low, rarely-seen price for this product and is only available Friday, Saturday and Sunday

2. Sweet Cherries
$1.97/lb at Food Basics, organic cherries are $4.99/lb at Fortinos

3. Boneless pork loin
$1/lb while supplies last at No Frills (as part of their $1 sale)

4. Lactantia butter
$2.99/lb at Fortinos

5. White or yellow potatoes 
$1.99/10 lb bag at Fortinos

Happy shopping!

DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

Is Your Olive Oil the Real Deal?

Photo by m_bartusch, FreedigitalPhotos.net

One day last week I was happily surfing the net, reading about a variety of food-related topics, when I stumbled across something I found rather dismaying: this article on olive oil fraud. Not only are many brands known to be guilty of this practice (there is a list of offenders here, but it's way out of date), two of the main brands I buy are either convicted or suspect. Both of these brands clearly state on the label "100% Pure Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Cold Pressed". Apparently I'm pretty late to the party on hearing this news, as some of these articles go back a decade, but there's been a resurgence of discussion on this topic in the past year or two.

Why the big concern? Other than the fact that I don't like being duped, two of the oils that olive is often illegally diluted with are soybean and canola, both of which are genetically modified. I also found some reports that hazelnut oil is sometimes used, which is pretty alarming for people who are dealing with nut allergies! And as olive oil is one of the main oils we use, I would really like to make sure I'm getting the real thing.

What's an olive oil lover to do? I found a list by Tom Mueller (an olive oil expert) HERE which is a very good starting point for finding an affordable, authentic oil. Three of the oils that should be easiest to find in Canada are Costco's Kirkland Toscano, Whole Foods' California 365, and O-Live (the latter is supposed to be available in stores across Canada, although I don't think it's available anywhere I regularly shop - Canadian readers, if you find it, let me know where! It's supposed to be available at Winn Dixie, Shop Rite, Big Y and Krogers in the U.S.). The Corto brand is also mentioned as being available at Costco, although it may be harder to find. And, just to add to the confusion, the blog author later states he does NOT like the Whole Foods 365 in this interview! For another opinion, you can check out these ratings for the best tasting olive oils over at the Huffington Post; however most of the oils on their list seem to have been dissed elsewhere in discussions of olive oil quality ::sigh::

As a note for those of you who usually buy organic oil, it appears that even though you're paying more, the oils may not be as good a quality as the brands listed above. The "supermarket picks" post I've linked to above mentions that although the Kirkland Toscano is a good choice, the organic extra virgin olive oil is not good quality. The author also later mentions in the comments that he has found the Spectrum organic olive oil to be poor quality as well: "The Spectrum Organic EVO I've tasted has been rancid, fusty and otherwise highly defective." 

Are you getting a headache yet? I sure am! I am very far from an olive oil connoisseur, so I'm glad to have found a good expert source that can provide sound advice on this topic. I will be checking out Tom Mueller's book, Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil (yes, that's an Amazon affiliate link) for more information on this issue.

It's enough to make me wish I had a local farmer I could buy olive oil from (and if you're in an olive-oil producing region, I'm sure that's your best option!). For the rest of us, it appears to be a world of frustrating, conflicting information as to which brands are the best choices. I have not yet made up my mind which one of the "recommended" brands I'm going to try first; although the very reasonably priced Kirkland Toscano ($11.99 a litre) may finally sway me to get a Costco membership!

Do you have a particular brand of olive oil you use and know to be high quality? If so, please share it with the rest of us.

Want to know more about the specific food products I use and where I buy them? Check out my new "What's In My Pantry" board on Pinterest.  I will keep this board updated with current information on what products we use, where we're buying them, and how much we're paying. It's a work-in-progress, and you can find it HERE.

DID YOU KNOW? I now have an events page! Come find out where you can catch up with me at a signing, seminar, workshop or food demo HERE.

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking

My Ever-Changing Food Landscape

As my reputation for being "that frugal food lady" has grown, so have the number of questions I get about where we buy our food, what products we buy, and how much we are paying for specific items. So many of the details of our food purchasing have changed in the last year since my book came out, it's a bit mind-boggling! I'm also getting questions about whether I can still get the same prices as the ones shown in the "Sample Monthly Food Purchases" section of my book, since they are from purchases made in 2010.

In response to that last question about what I'm currently paying, the short answer is that for most foods I'm still able to get the prices I've quoted in my book. For a few foods, I'm actually getting better prices now than I was in 2010. For example, I'm now paying around $1.60 a pound for grass fed ground beef from a family farm when I buy it on sale in a 30 pound box; I was paying $1.99 a pound for sale-priced grocery store ground beef. I've also started buying real "farm fresh" eggs (free range and organic fed) for $2.50 per dozen, just slightly more than the cost of sale-priced grocery store eggs (more details on that here). There are definitely some food items for which the price has increased significantly: I was able to get milk as low as $2.99 for 4 litres back in 2010, now the best price is usually $4.29. The "rock bottom" price for peanut butter was $1.99 per kilogram, now it's around $3.88 (I don't follow this price too closely any more as I've started buying locally produced organic peanut butter). Orange juice was 89 to 99 cents for a 355 mL can of frozen concentrate, now the best price is $1.50 for a 295 mL can - they increased the price *and* decreased the can size. Also, the cans of frozen concentrate used to always be a better deal than cartons of fresh juice. That has changed and now over 50% of the time we're getting a better deal on juice in the carton.

One thing is very clear - there are no cut-and-dried, static, "forever" solutions to buying good food at great prices. That is why I try to focus on teaching people the basic principles of how to approach buying food on a small budget, because the specific details of what that looks like will probably change over time. Also, because food costs vary so much from one region to another across North America, what's inexpensive for me might be outrageously priced for you! I've had some people tell me that they can't find deals anywhere close to what I have shown in my book, and others who can get much better prices on certain items. In general, food is significantly more expensive here in Canada than it is in the U.S., so my American readers can probably find better prices for many foods than I can.

Since the local food movement has gained so much steam in the past few years, in most towns and cities there will be new options emerging on a regular basis. That's why I recommend getting tuned in to the food scene in your area, whether that's through a food co-op or a "local food" or other similar group, so you can get the latest news on potential food sources.

As my own "food landscape" expands and changes, our family's food acquisition strategies look quite different than they did even a year ago. While I do post updates here on the blog about new ways we are buying food, I know it's nice to have information all in one place rather than trying to wade through a whole series of blog posts to find what you're looking for. To make it easier to find current information on what foods we're buying and where we're buying them, I'm developing a couple of resources that I hope will be helpful to you all:

A "What's In My Pantry" board on Pinterest. I will keep this board updated with current information on what products we use, where we're buying them, and how much we're paying. To check it out, go HERE.

A supplemental e-book that will discuss in detail all the changes we've made in our approach to buying food over the past year since Cheap Appétit was published. This will be available for free to everyone who's purchased my book, and I'm aiming to have it ready to share by the anniversary of my book launch at the end of February. Don't worry, there will be a big announcement when it's available :)

Has the way you buy food changed a lot (or a little) in the past year?

Love what you read here? Find out how you can help support this blog. 

Want to stay connected in between blog posts?

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest 

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter

Click HERE to like Abundance on a Dime on Facebook and get updates and tips on living frugally

Click HERE to like Cheap Appétit on Facebook and get updates and tips on frugal eating and cooking