[QUOTE=Earth Angel]thanks for the responses!
I do quiches, and other bakes with eggs...also dairy and am feeling that if I could cut down our dairy use as well as eggs we could be more frugal with our grocery bill.....
Real organic maple syrup is all we buy...but it is really expensive, worth it but expensive!!!"
I have found that pure olive oil, butter, EGGS, and pure maple syrup, all of which we go through in quantity, are available at a great cost savings at costco or sams clubs, if you have one near by. I also do all of my cooking and baking from scratch and so buy flour (white for the occaisional pastry/gift and/or w.wheat)and sugar in bulk, too. These things, unfortunately, are not organic in these quantities. King Arthur Flour sells organic flours in bulk, but the shipping makes the cost savings shrink quickly. I much prefer cooking with organic products, but we're so strapped right now that if I don't grow it organic, and/or I can't find it in bulk at Whole Foods Market, we can't, just CAN'T afford anything but the kid's rice milk and my 1/2 gallon a week of cow's milk. I make menus 6 weeks in advance. In the spring my local fruit market sells premium hams (usually $8/lb)for $2/lb. I buy several of them, cut them into 4 lb chunks and freeze them. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we can get turkey for about $.50/lb. I buy several and freeze them. Costco has the best everyday price for pork loin, whole OR cut into chops. I buy a couple of them to have on hand, and then watch the sale fliers every week at the local grocery stores (there are three major chains within 3 miles of our house) for other meat specials. About every six weeks or so, I can get buy one pound, get two free ground turkey, which comes to about $.99/lb. I buy ten to fifteen pounds. I buy my noodles bulk at costco. I buy lentils, rice, beans bulk organic at whole foods. I have a roast one day, make a soup or stew from leftovers one day. I make breakfast one day (eggs really are inexpensive, if you buy in bulk, we buy 3 doz @a time). Got a bread machine for our wedding, and make our own bread 2x/week. Make morning glory muffins or homemade oatmeal,bear mush, steel cut oats (bulk), homemade english muffins, or toast, and fruit for breakfast. Cereal from the store is just not cheap enough! Have leftovers from dinner for lunch (dh never goes out unless a supplier is buying!), often using spare meat from the roast, if we're in the mood for a "cold-cut sandwich". Also, my kids LOVE soup, and will eat just about anything if it's IN soup, so I often make an extra pot of soup for their lunches. We have a vegetarian meal twice a week. Make homemade pizza every friday (buy pizza cheese on sale every six weeks), using homemade dough (it's really easy). The last day, we spend every other week at either my parents or his for a "family dinner" with the grandparents. I use a really great combo of cookbooks, and rotate recipes, so we don't get bored. There's a great program on our computer that allows me to type stuff onto a calendar, and I type the menu and then print it out. Saves time, saves the 5:00 phone call asking "okay honey, what do you want for dinner..." helps save money at the grocery store. The point of this was to say, the warehouse stores CAN save you money if you buy certain products and are diligent about getting in and out with only what's on your list. We REALLY save on the things I listed above at costco over grocery store prices. Good luck!
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