Stockpile for the week of 5/29/09 - lunchbreak

So I'm back from Monument Valley (and the reason this post is so late) and I'm thinking how hard it was to find decent food and wishing I'd ignored the family and brought along some cans of things and a can opener. Would've saved us a boatload of money and me a few extra pounds.

Given the greasy spoon and sugary fare I've been subjected to the last few days, this is what jumped out of this week's grocery ads and clocked me over the head with my Arizona Travel Guide:

Campbell's chicken noodle or tomato soup - 50c/each at Fry's (buy 12)
Banquet Pot Pies, 50c/each (buy 12)
Fry's brand Macaroni and Cheese - 33c/each - (buy 12)

Tina's Burritos - 25c/each at Food City - (buy 24)

Total for the above $24

Why those items? All could have been made in the microwave and stored in the refrigerator provided at the overly-expensive hotel we stayed at.

Sigh.

And we wouldn't have needed $24 bucks worth of the stuff either. I just suggest it because it will provide a lot of easy cheap lunches over the summer.

Along with those items, I'd stockpile the following:

Hunt's tomatoes, I like the chunky kind, 14.6 oz - 50c/each, also at Fry's (buy 10)
Hatch diced tomatoes with green chiles, also 50c/each, also at Fry's (buy 10)
4 dozen eggs at Fry's at 77c/each

Why?

I like canned tomatoes. You can do a lot with them. The ones diced with the green chiles are begging to be scrambled with the eggs into Huevos Rancheros.

Come to think of it, I could've made the Huevos Rancheros in the microwave also.

I say 4 dozen eggs because I think it's a good idea to keep 4 dozen on hand. Eggs turn up in a lot of for scratch recipe and while they are often on sale, they are not ALWAYS on sale. I refuse to pay more than $1/dozen for eggs and have found that 4 dozen is enough to get me through any dry spells.

So that's another $10, plus the eggs - hmmm...eighty times four equals two dollars and forty cents less three times four or twelve equals...$2.28.

I think.

Close enough. That's about another $12 added to the $24 dollars which equals $36. I'd spend the remaining $14 on the chuck roasts and steaks at Bashas at $1.57/lb. $14 is enough to purchase 9 pounds. Have 4 pounds of it ground up into hamburger, ask the butcher to run another 2 pounds of it through the cubing machine and marinate and food saver the last 3 pounds. Use a lemon or lime based marinade to make it tender.

Voila! $50 for a boatload of food.

While you're at it, notice that Basha's is selling cubed steak for $3.99/lb right next to those chuck roasts. Pat yourself on the back for being so frugally smart.

Now sit back and google 'ground beef' with 'canned tomatoes' and see what kind of recipes pop up. Probably a lot of quick and easy ones involving noodles and chedder cheese. Make a bunch of it and FoodSaver for future dinners.

You are going to be sooooo popular with your family.

I'll post another stockpile post on Wednesday!