Saturday, November 04, 2017

Living the Pantry Lifestyle - Tweaking the budget

This time of year is when I tweak my grocery budget to buy those items only available before and during the Holidays. 

So this week when I went to the grocery store, I bought two more bags of cinnamon chips since they look like they will only be available on the Holiday kiosk at the end of the aisle.  I bought one more pound box of store brand butter for the freezer, three bags of cranberries on a preseason sale, and ummm... Halloween candy.

Yes, I know I said I wouldn't but my husband's favorite candy bar is Snickers and he especially likes the small packages so he can have a snack and not leave a half eaten bar of candy in his dresser drawer to draw ants (ask me how we know!).  So I bought two packages for his stock up at 50% off and one package of M & M Peanuts at 50% off.  Which, when I arrived home, reminded me why I do not keep M & M Peanuts in the house... so little will power when it comes to them.

By putting these items back while they are available, I will have them on hand when they aren't and I'll be ready for Holiday baking.  As with the butter, I put the bags of cranberries in a gallon size Ziploc bag and pop them in the freezer.  They freeze very well, I just made an orange cranberry quick bread a few weeks ago with a bag of cranberries I froze last Thanksgiving.

There are items available at a good price right now that store well for an emergency.  For instance, some kinds of summer sausage and salami that are sold in the grocery store aisles have a pretty long expiration date.  As long as you keep an eye on the Use By date, they will last without refrigeration.

I remember reading that Velveeta purchased non-refrigerated will last without being refrigerated until the Use By date.  I honestly don't know if being refrigerated first hinders that or not.  But I have had Velveeta last quite a long time (before the Use By date) on a kitchen shelf.  I only use it for a few recipes off and on but it is something I like to have on hand. 

I use it for my broccoli cheese casserole (I have tried other cheese and it doesn't taste the same) and for my favorite hamburger dip. It was my go-to party food served with corn chips when my daughter was in college. 

Mentioned in this Post
Orange Cranberry quick bread (and pumpkin bread)... here.
Broccoli cheese casserole (and my mom's dressing recipe)... here.
Hamburger dip... here.

5 comments:

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

I stock up at this time of year too, on baking items that are often only available at the holidays. I'm sad that Aldi did not have cappuccino chips this year.

Cheri said...

I don't understand this concept of a half-eaten candy bar? :)

copperswife said...

Our trip to Costco yesterday saw a few holiday items make their way into the cart. So happy to just pop it all into my freezer and know that it will be available later.

Vee said...

Cinnamon chips, not pumpkin chips! I try to think of a few extras for the holidays. Not sure that I’ll be doing much hosting; however, that is a choice, right? I can do the inviting, too. Glad that you found some favorite candy on sale. I found candy corn...not even that much of a fan, yet it is still dwindling.

Kathy T. said...

Cinnamon chips are hard to find around here. I love to make Cinnamon Scones with them. When I find them I stock up too!