I Can't Believe I Did It...

I canned chicken. Yup. Boneless skinless chicken breasts were on sale for $1.57 a pound last week. This was a first for me - I usually get my chicken breasts at Costco for $1.99 a pound or more, but I figured this was the time for me to jump into the world of "Meat Canning." It sounds disgusting, but I've heard over time it saves you copious amounts of cash, and that it's actually very tender and delicious, particularly in soups and casseroles. Plus, it would help me add one more notch to my Canning Belt. So I did it.

So my 2 kids (ages 1 and 2) and I went back to the butcher's corner at Albertsons, and I asked the lady how much of it I could buy. She said a case. I asked how much that was. 40 lbs. I did some quick mental calculations and wasn't sure I had the freezer space nor stamina to freeze and can that much chicken, so I asked for half a case. 30 minutes, 2 eye pokes for my youngest child from my oldest, and a few other grocery items later I was back at home with more chicken breasts than I had ever owned in my life.

After cutting away the fat I froze half, and then used these instructions to can the rest. Much to my surprise, canning chicken is the easiest thing I've canned so far. Except for applesauce maybe. But honestly, there's not a whole lot of prep and the hardest part for me was making sure I sterilized my kitchen afterward. But that's an issue any time I cook chicken.

Now my freezer and pantry are stocked with plenty of chicken for anything I need, and it makes me sooooooo happy to know I spent 3/4 or less on a staple food for us!

*FYI - 10 lbs. of chicken breasts gave me enough chicken for 7 pint size jars, plus enough leftover for our dinner that night :)

Nothin' Beats Free

Spent: $5.28
Saved: $18.69
% Saved: %79

Since my local Fry's was doubling/tripling/and even quadrupling coupons up to $1.00 this week, some of the above items were free. Which made all of the above cost me $5.28. I needed something to get me out of my recent coupon slump. I just haven't had the motivation, and this was a nice little jump start. Plus, it made me feel a little better about my splurge at Kohl's last week (at least I got Kohl's cash for my purchases.... right???)

AZ Cereal Lovers

Just a tip - Albertsons has some great deals on cereal and snacks this week, combining a promotion (buy 6 boxes, get $3 off) with coupons (printable and from the newspaper).



Directions for Grocerysmarts Website:
Check out the AZ Grocerysmarts link on my sidebar and choose Albertsons from the drop down menu. Then click "Start" in the upper right corner, and then click the star by "Stock up scale" and you'll find the great deals already highlighted for you.

Reflections on Canning

I've just finished my first "Canning Season." I played sports competitively through high school and into college, and I'm not sure which takes more sweat, work, and dedication - sports, or canning??? Actually, I'm pretty sure it's sports, but while canning I wondered a few times. Here are my thoughts so far on the topic:


Higher Quality? Most definitely... a major motivating factor for me, actually. Store bought peaches don't come even close to these babies:



Sense of Accomplishment? Unbeatable. At least for me. When I now look into my cupboards and see pretty rows of yummy peaches, pears, applesauce, jam, apple butter, tomatoes, and salsa, all done by me (with some help of course) I am dang proud. Plain old store bought cans don't give me that feeling (unless I got some amazing deal on them), and they sure don't look this pretty.





Cheaper? Maybe, but probably not when you take into account the cost of equipment (jars, canner, jar lifter, etc.), energy (gas/electricity/your physical stamina!) or time (time is money, right?). And while I'd like to think that growing my own produce in my garden would make the cost even cheaper, I've realized that growing a garden requires a ton of time, energy, and money to water/upkeep too.


Final Analysis:

While probably not cheaper (unless you already have the equipment and happen to get your produce for free from a neighbor or something), if you enjoy a challenge, and get a thrill out of seeing pretty jars of food that you know were deliciously prepared by you, canning may be a frugal success for you. If not, grab a few extra cans at the store :)

Homemade Produce Wash

Today's Frugal Success: Homemade Produce Wash

Store bought: $6.99/bottle
Homemade: Pennies, literally



I don't buy organic produce. As much as I would like to I still can't justify the cost. So until I get our garden going (in the planning phase right now) I buy produce at the grocery store, and then rinse it myself, hoping to at least cut back on some of the pesticides.

Well, the other day I was in the produce section at my local Fry's and saw a display of produce wash for this very reason. I was excited until I saw the cost... $6.99 for a bottle. So I did a little research today, and lo and behold, Passionate Homemaking, a blog on my sidebar with lots of frugal and natural ideas, had a recipe! So I made it today and thought I'd share my frugal success with any readers who may still check occasionally after my sporadic blogging lately!



Recipe (from Passionate Homemaking)

3 cups filtered water
3 Tbsp white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp baking soda

Mix ingredients together in a spray bottle. Spray it on fruits and vegetables. Rinse well with cold water. You may also combine in the sink to dunk your produce if you desire to wash in large batches. This tonic is not recommended on mushrooms as they will absorb the flavor.

Adding a bit of lemon juice or 3-4 drops of grapefruit seed extract can give it an extra boost!

One other tip: I labeled my spray bottle "Produce Wash" and then wrote the recipe right under so I don't have to look it up next time I refill.

Financial Plan Pro

My good friend just developed a new program for managing personal finances. We got to serve as "beta testers" for the program and were highly impressed. So much so that we've adopted his system for managing our own personal finances.

To get the word out he is allowing people to download it for free. So check it out:

Financial Plan Pro

Potty Training

(Not my kid, by the way. Although I would be very happy if he was doing more of this)

We started potty training this week. I have to be honest. I didn't think it would take this much out of me, and I figured all my current frugal ideas would somehow get blogged about. But really, my brain has turned to mush. So you will have to bear with me and be patient (as I'm learning to be....) for any new frugal successes or frugal ideas or anything else semi-coherent.