Bargain food!

WELL, since I haven't been blogging much, nobody's been reading much (nary a comment!) But I thought I would start posting random stuff....just for fun and just in case anyone out there is checking up on us! There won't be as many photos, but there might just be some inspiration......or real treasure! To start, I have been worning on this frugal lifestyle thing for ...well, all my life. It is so ingrained in me that I seldom am out of bargain mode. Now don't get the wrong idea, I am very frugal, but I'm not always so effective! I don't regularly prepare or plan and that seriously handicaps my attempts at frugality. So I am working on being more intentional.

Enter.....crock pot! I have 4 "crock pots" if you will, one is actually an 18 quart roaster...new...that I love! Two are 5 and 6 quart respectively and one is tiny and holds about 6 cups, (when you are going through the prep to put stuff in a crock, why would you only do 6 cups!?!?!) Anyway, Bart bought some pork ribs on sale at the Piggly Wiggly when I was sick last week, we only used half of the $5 pack and froze the remainder. I hadn't made it to the grocery since getting well, and I was stumped for a dinner idea. The boys had their last track meet, and I thought if Icould put something in the crock...it would be nice to have it "done" when we got home. So I quick defrosted those ribs (big fat ones with short bones,) threw them in the mini crock with some barbeque sauce and left for track. The house smelled wonderful when we got home! I made a batch of rice (and used some of the liquid from the ribs,) microwaved some cauliflower in cheese sauce I scored on sale and dinner was on the table in 20 minutes! As we enjoyed the meal, I started to mentally calculate the cost of dinner (as I usually do,) and was surprised to find that it cost less than $6 for the four of us! That is less than the burger Bart ordered for lunch!!!!

Now when it comes to food, I like a bargain, but I also like ease, simplicity and a lot of great flavor! So do my boys. Our grocery budget is one of those things I just haven't gotten a good grip on..... while I am still on the prowl for food bargains, we like to eat .... well, expensive stuff and usually large quantities of it. But the crock pot ribs got me to thinking about a change ...... We can still eat well, enjoy our food and not have to suffer through huge casseroles that never end in order to save money. I just need to start being more intentional about our food choices and quantities. So the crock pots are going to get used more, and especially that little 6 cup cooker! It is just the right size for us to have a reasonable sized portion of something fabulous, and so very underappreciated!

Bon Appetit!