Country School

Ways to Save In The Kitchen

I finally have all my kids in bed.  Time to take a moment and regroup.  I've been thinking a lot about going back to our ultra frugal ways again.  It seems like I stray from time to time as we get busy and we don't absolutely need to make the pennies scream.  But we are back to screaming pennies right now.  Because of the two new additions I am not able to work from home right now.  That's just the way it goes.  I lost two weeks to be with Debbie and then we added to the family right after that.  OUCH!

So here are my ways to save:

1. Plan, Plan, Plan -- Make a Menu. 

2.  When making a meal, I try to make a double batch and freeze one when I can. This not only saves me money but time as well.

3.  Crockpot cooking.  I swear I can throw a bunch of stuff in to the crockpot and it always comes out tasting great.  Kind of a "stone soup" affect.

4.  Keep a container in my freezer to add leftover bits of veggies to through out the week.  When it gets full this is one of the things I use to throw in the crock pot to make a great pot of stew or soup.

5.  I save all my ham bones for future soups like split pea, beans, etc...

6.  At least 3 times a week we have split pea, chili, beans, or bean soup.  It costs just pennies to feed 10 of us at times. 

I am out of steam so I need to grab some sleep while I can!