Lately my main goal at mealtime has been using up what’s in the canning cupboard. This week began like most others: I planned to open and use all the jars I’d set out the previous Sunday. Except for one jar of pasta sauce, I managed to empty them all.
Here’s a look at the meals I served last week:
Home-canned beef stew. We only have one jar left, so note to self: can at least 24 jars this summer.
Home-canned split pea and ham soup. I want to can more of this as well.
Copycat Panera tomato bisque — I didn’t can this, but I usually have it at least once a week for lunch.
Turkey pot pie served with pressure-canned carrots.
Pasta salad with pickled peppers and pickled asparagus. I also used a jar of zucchini relish in tuna salad that I made during the week.
I didn’t use any canned goods for this dish, but I still have five dozen eggs to use up.
Quesadillas with home-canned salsa and homemade tortillas.
Then St. Patrick’s Day arrived and The Kiln Guy and The Chef joined us for lunch.
We served corned beef with cabbage and potatoes, and had an Irish apple cake that was just okay. I also offered meat pies, pasties, and sticky toffee pudding I made in a King Arthur Baking School class. We all agreed the sticky toffee pudding was the best — recipe coming soon.
For leftovers we had corned beef with glazed canned carrots.
Another night we had leftover corned beef with potatoes. That wrapped up our meals for the week.
Now for the shopping update.
I usually glance at the Shaw’s and Hannaford sale flyers and then toss them aside, thinking there aren’t deals worth driving for. This time there actually were a few good sales — enough to make me sign up for a store loyalty card for the first time since moving to New England nearly five years ago. I wasn’t thrilled about giving out my email or phone number, but I clipped the digital coupons and went shopping.
Here’s what I picked up on the first trip:
Shaw’s total: $17.64
$3.26 Corned beef brisket ($1.27/lb with digital coupon)
$4.07 Corned beef brisket ($1.27/lb with digital coupon)
$1.06 Cabbage 6.24 lbs ($0.17 with digital coupon)
$3.94 Two 5 lb bags of potatoes ($1.97 each with digital coupon)
$1.97 Onions, 3 lbs ($1.97 with digital coupon)
$1.67 Frozen peas, 1 lb (not a deal but used a coupon)
$3.88 Granny Smith apples, 1.91 lbs ($1.77/lb — not great but used a coupon)
$1.49 O organic black beans (not a deal but paired with coupons)
– $1.00 off any O organic product (beans)
– $1.00 off any produce item (apples)
– $1.00 off any frozen food item (peas)
Final: $17.84 after deals and coupons.
The new ad dropped on Friday (St. Patrick’s Day) with a one-day sale on corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage. I clipped more online coupons, did the math, and went with the HH to pick up a few more items.
Shaw’s total: $20.47
At the store the sale-priced corned beef was already out of stock and the digital coupons I’d clipped earlier didn’t automatically apply at checkout. The cashier stayed calm, I showed the ad, and a team member manually entered the coupons so I could leave with everything I’d planned to buy, except for the corned beef.
Items and discounts from that trip:
$1.09 Cabbage, 6.42 lbs ($0.17 with digital coupon)
$5.91 Three 5 lb bags of potatoes ($1.97 each with digital coupon)
$7.94 Two 24 oz Italian sausages ($3.97 each with digital coupon)
$1.49 O organic beans
$1.50 Oui yogurt
$3.99 Bagged avocados
$3.94 Two General Mills cereals ($1.97 each with digital coupon)
$1.62 Pears
$1.99 8 oz cheese
– $1.00 off O organic product (digital coupon)
– $1.00 off any yogurt purchase (digital coupon)
– $1.00 off bagged avocados (digital coupon)
– $1.00 off two General Mills cereals (digital coupon)
– $5.00 off any $25 purchase (digital coupon)
Final: $20.47 after deals and coupons.
I told the HH the only other grocery purchase I plan to make this month is a gallon of milk—unless another unmissable deal shows up. For now, it looks like potatoes and cabbage will be staples on our plates for a while.
How did you do at the stores this week? Find any good deals?
~Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries: $38.11
- Total Spent on Groceries in March: $54.79
- Total Spent on Groceries in February: $101.14
- Total Spent on Groceries in January: $167.33
- Total Spent on Groceries in 2023: $323.26