Reclaimed Food Show and Tell

February 19, 2013 9 Comments

It was a fantastic week in the reclaimed foods department at my local market. Fantastic!

We were able to salvage:

2 personal watermelons
2 cantaloupes
3 heads of lettuce
1 banana
8 apples
3 pears
6 pounds of potatoes

Wahoooo! Talk about a nice variety of free food.

The chickens were pretty happy with their chicken scraps as well. Fresh melon, soft pears, lettuce, and grapes too.

And wait, is that a wee bit of kale I see next to Hilda’s foot? Life is good.

Oh, and guess what? Yesterday, we collected 9 eggs. NINE! In one day. It appears our backyard egg farm is up and running again. I’d say scrambled eggs and at least 1 “breakfast dinner” a week are back on the menu.

Sweet diggety!

Peace Out Girl Scouts, have an eggcellent day.

~Mavis

Would you like to see what else we have brought home over the past 11 months?

Head on over HERE to read all the past stories and to see all the pictures.

Filed Under: Chickens, Reclaimed Food, Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: how to find free food, Mavis, one hundred dollars a month, Reclaimed Food, Weekly Shopping Trips

Mondays with Mavis – How to Feed Your Family for $100 a Month

February 18, 2013 8 Comments

There were plenty of garden chores this past week but I still managed to squeeze in a few quick shopping trips while I was out running errands. This year has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, I’m already at $400+ for the year and we are only 7 weeks into it. I’m not too worried though, I suspect that once the garden starts producing we’ll have so much fresh food to eat I’ll just be running to the store for milk.

Or at least I hope so anyway.

Here is what I bought at the grocery store last week:

Costco – $15.49

The problem with shopping withe teenagers is that they want stuff like chips and ham for their lunches. It’s hard to zip in and out of Costco for bananas when there is so much to look at. Luckily I like to give in every once in a while and say yes.

Fred Meyer – $6

Fred Meyer had their milk and orange juice on sale last week for $1 a 1/2 gallon so I stopped in and picked some up. Monkey Boy loves their chocolate milk and orange juice.

Mr. Produce Guy- FREE

Free produce? Heck ya I’ll take it.

Albertsons – FREE

I popped into Albertsons yesterday to snag a few freebies. I find myself going there less and less for coupon deals because we just are not buying boatloads of processed foods anymore. I can’t wait until I’m shopping almost exclusively out of our backyard. Only a few more months to go!

Bartering with Francisco – FREE

I don’t know about you, but I love to barter with my neighbors. Whether it’s a cup of sugar or a pantry full of food, I think it’s major fun.

How did you do this week? Did you find any sweet deals out there?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $21.49
Total Spent This Year $408.05
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $627.79 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees and 15 yards of soil}

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

Filed Under: Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: Mavis, mavis butterfield, mondays with mavis, one hundred dollars a month

Bartering with Mavis – Francisco Cleans Out His Pantry

February 17, 2013 8 Comments

Last night my neighbor Francisco sent me a text:

Francisco: We are purging our cabinets are you interested in some non vegan goodies?

Mavis: Should I come over right now?

Francisco: Give us 15 if you are free

Mavis: K will do

So I quickly ran to our the pantry and found some loot. Please take special notice the the frozen log of polenta. Mrs. Hillbilly traded me that last summer. The vinegar, razors, soap, cereal, soba noodles and sesame ginger rice were all free. I think I paid $.25 for the whole wheat pasta.

This is what Francisco had to barter with. It was a take all or nothing sort of thing since he was clearing his pantry of all non vegan products. So I didn’t inspect things {re: expiration dates} too closely and happily took everything he offered. The highlights of course where the Dove chocolates and the mini containers of olives, cookies and crackers he had received over the Christmas holiday in a gift basket from a client.

However if you look closely, you will totally notice the roasted red pepper soup. I gave that to him last fall and you can see it here in this video. Hilarious! What makes it even more funny is that Mrs. Hillbilly gave it to me. So mark my words, the next time I trade with Mrs. HB I’m going to try and barter back the soup. Ha!

I did pass on his box of tofu eggs though {OH MY WORD- can you say gag me with a wooden spoon?}. Believe it or not, I do have my limits of what I will eat. Even it’s free.

Here is Francisco with his new, cleaned out, vegan friendly pantry. Clearly he is not a prepper. But that’s okay, if there is an emergency and he needs more than a 3 day supply of food, I’ve got him covered.

Peace Out Francisco, it was fun bartering with you.

~Mavis

The Prepper’s Pantry: Building and Thriving with Food Storage

Filed Under: Bartering, Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: batering, francisco, Weekly Shopping Trips

Shopping with Mavis | Albertsons Double Coupon Shopping Trip

February 17, 2013 13 Comments

While I was out running errands this morning I stopped by Albertsons so I could stock up on a few things. Mostly I went out for the free Activia yogurt. I love using yogurt in smoothies. I also picked up some free Uncle Ben’s Rice cups and gum for the kids and a couple boxes of free cake mix as well.

Here is what my Albertsons Double Coupon Shopping Trip transactions looked like:

Transactions 1 & 2

Activia Multipack – $2.00
Used {6} $1/1 Activia Multipack, exp. 3/3/13 (SS 01/13/13)
Final Price: FREE after Double Coupons

Transaction #3

Stride ID Gum – $1.00 *Only 3 are pictured
Used {3} $1/2 Stride ID Gum coupons {2/10 SS}
Final Price: FREE After Double Coupons

Transaction #4

Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Cups – $1.00
Used {3} $1/2 Uncle Ben’s Rice Cups Coupons {1/06 RP}
Final Price: FREE after Double Coupons

Transaction #5

Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix – $1.25
Used {3} $0.50/1 Duncan Hines Signature Red Velvet Cake Mix Printable Coupons
Final Price: FREE After Double Coupons

I had also wanted to stock up on some free Planter’s Trail mix {see deal scenario below} but the store was out of stock so I think I’ll check back in a day or two.

Planters Trail Mix {6 oz} $2.00
Used {3} $1/1 Planters, Jar, Canister, Bag or Multi-Pack {01/27 SS}
Final Price: FREE after Double Coupons

What about YOU?

Will you be going to Albertsons this morning? What are you planning on stocking up on this time around?

~Mavis

Filed Under: Albertsons, Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: $100 a month, Albertsons, albertsons double coupons, Mavis, mavis butterfield, one hundred dollars a month, Weekly Shopping Trips

Reclaimed Food Show and Tell

February 12, 2013 26 Comments

There was a big variety of free fresh produce for both the chickens and my family this week in the 3 reclaimed produce boxes we picked up from Mr. Produce Guy. This whole reclaimed produce thing started last April {you can read about it HERE} and after doing it for about 10 months now I can only imagine the amount of money we’ve saved.

It still amazes how much food is wasted in our country {40% by some accounts} and makes me wonder what people growing up during the great depression would have thought about it. Crazy stuff if you ask me. Spending the time, money, and resources to grow food, only to throw it away seems pretty lame, but it happens.

Here is what I picked up from Mr. Produce Guy this past week:

We used some of the lettuce last night for tacos, and I’ll probably make lettuce wraps and a salad with the rest. As for the apples, they’ll be going in the dehydrator this morning for apple chips and the strawberries will be frozen to use later in smoothies. The radishes will be great for snacking, and I’m sure I’ll find something to do with that wee bit of reclaimed spinach.

Any ideas?

Have you approached your local grocery about picking up produce that’s headed for the dumpster? Any luck? Any tips for others trying to do this?

~Mavis

Would you like to see what else we have brought home over the past 10 months?

Head on over HERE to read all the past stories and to see all the pictures.

Filed Under: Reclaimed Food, Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: how to find free food, Mavis, one hundred dollars a month, Reclaimed Food, Weekly Shopping Trips

Mondays with Mavis – How to Feed Your Family for $100 a Month

February 11, 2013 10 Comments

This past week was a really busy one in the garden, but I still managed to find a few grocery deals. My appetite for grocery shopping has totally taken a back seat lately and I don’t really mind one bit. It’s nice not to have to spend a lot of my time scouring ads and looking for deals when I can just stock up on what we really need instead of chasing the deals every single day of the week like I used to. Change is good. Here is what I picked up this past week.

Tacoma Boys – $2.99 Tacoma Boys still has Fugi apples on sale for $.60 a pound, so if you are driving by Tacoma anytime soon be sure and stop by and grab a few {or a case}.

Oroweat Bread Outlet Store – $5 Monkey Boy and I ran errands last week and stopped by the Oroweat Bakery Outlet in Tacoma. We stocked up on wheat bread and bagels for $1 a loaf/bag. If you’ve never been to a bread outlet before, you should give it a try as they are a great way to save a little dough.

QFC – $6.79 Monkey Boy was with me when I stopped to buy milk. I picked up a half gallon of local milk for The Girl and I and a gallon of store brand milk for the boy.

Bartering with Mrs. Hillbilly Mrs. HB called on Saturday morning looking for exactly 3 hot dog buns and she brought my poor deprived children some Granola Thins for their lunches as a trade.

Amazon – FREE A while back I redeemed some Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards and went ahead and ordered some Kashi Crackers and diced tomatoes with the gift cards. I didn’t can enough tomatoes last summer so this year I’mm need to up the anty {I’m thinking about 100 pints at least to get us though a whole year}.

Frieda’s Specialty Produce – FREE So far I’ve made Roasted Purple Sweet Potato Wedges with Rosemary and Thyme, and I’m looking forward to trying some new polenta recipes. I’ve never cooked polenta before so I’m not sure what I’m going to make with it yet. But check back a little later today and you’ll see what I made with those yummy new potatoes.

Albertsons – FREE I know there was a ton of deals to be had at Albertsons with double coupons on Sunday, but I really wasn’t interested in a lot of it. I was however able to pick up free tortillas, free Kikkoman soy sauce and free Arrowhead Mills cereal though with the following coupons though. Save $1.00 off La Victoria Tortillas Save $1.00 off Kikkoman Soy Sauce Save $1.00 off Arrowhead Mills Cereal

Home Grown Lettuce – FREE We harvested out first batch of homegrown lettuce last week!

Mr. Produce Guy – FREE Apples, pears, grapes and celery were all FREE last week thanks to Mr. Produce Guy and our reclaimed food boxes.

How did YOU do this week? Did you go crazy at Albertsons, find any awesome deals somewhere else, or stay home because of snow? Mavis wants to know.

Total Spent This Week $14.78

Total Spent This Year $386.56

Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $195.79 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, and 6 Fruit Trees}

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

Filed Under: Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: Mavis, mavis butterfield, mondays with mavis, one hundred dollars a month

Reclaimed Food Show and Tell

February 5, 2013 7 Comments

Apparently everyone and their brother bought fruits and vegetables for Super Bowl party platters over the weekend because there were only 2 boxes of “chicken scraps” this week.

However, I was pretty hopeful when I saw the 2 reclaimed produce boxes. Once I started going though the fruits and vegetables though, I noticed the lettuce was all wilted, the grapes were soft and the majority of the pears were super mushy.

But, on a positive note, I scored some free celery, apples for the kids lunches, a few pears for snacking and a good sized bowl of firm red grapes. Beggars can’t be choosers, and I get that. So I was happy with what I was able to get for free.

Black Fatty and her crew on the other had are no so picky.

Wilted lettuce, mushy pears, and overly ripe cantaloupe are right up their alley. I keep telling myself with all the fruits and vegetables I plan to grow this summer, I’m going to need a pig. But I’m not sure if Black Fatty and the others would approve. After all, they are the most spoiled chickens in suburbia. And if we brought home a Mr. Bacon, all his rooting noises might just be to much for them.

Well see.

Peace Out Girl Scouts, have a great day.

~Mavis

Would you like to see what else we have brought home over the past 10 months?

Head on over HERE to read all the past stories and to see all the pictures.

Filed Under: Reclaimed Food, Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: how to find free food, Mavis, one hundred dollars a month, Reclaimed Food, Weekly Shopping Trips

Mondays with Mavis – How to Feed Your Family for $100 a Month

February 4, 2013 3 Comments

This past week was a pretty boring one in the grocery department. Mainly I stayed home and did a lot of baking and made a bunch of crock pot meals from what we had on hand so I could spend my time in the garden rather than in the kitchen.

Grocery shopping is funny, some weeks there are a ton of deals and it’s seems like you are buying everything under the moon, and other weeks you just feast off the contents of your pantry.

I think popping into the grocery store several times a week is so ingrained in our culture, we can’t imagine what it must have been like for the pioneers {or the Ingall’s} to have shopped only a few times a year for their groceries.

But then again, they were buying real food, in bulk, and harvesting all their vegetables from their backyard gardens.

QFC – $7.35

QFC has an awesome Mega Sale going on right now where you can pick up 2 free can of S&W Beans this week plus extras for $0.29 a can {go HERE to find out how} as well as Hunt’s diced tomatoes or tomato sauce for only $0.49 a can.

QFC – $10.58

Did you buy chips last week for the Super Bowl? Well, the HH and Monkey Boy were complaining that we had no “good” food in the house. While I was out buying milk, I picked up 2 bags of Lay’s so they could devour them like a bunch of wild animals in like 3 minutes flat. I don’t mind picking up chips for when I can get them for free or even $0.50, but when I have to waste $4 on them, it makes me a little crazy.

Harbor Greens Market – $2.99

We are all out of potatoes so I picked up a 10 pound bag for $1.99 and some avocados for $0.50 each so I could make guacamole dip for the boys.

Mr. Produce Guy – FREE

Lettuce for BLT’s and tacos, apples for snacking, bananas for smoothies and peanut butter banana bread, and I dehydrated all the mushrooms and plan to use them later in a soup. Free produce rocks people! You can read about how I am able to pick up free produce each week HERE if you don’t know how I do it already.

How did you do this week? Did you come across any super awesome deals?

~Mavis

Total Spent This Week $20.92
Total Spent This Year $371.78
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $81.90 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree!}

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

Filed Under: Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: Mavis, mavis butterfield, mondays with mavis, one hundred dollars a month

Shopping with Mavis – My QFC shopping Trip

January 31, 2013 1 Comment

QFC has some pretty good deals this week so stopped by and picked up a few items. Even if you don’t clip coupons from the Sunday paper you can score S&W Beans this week for $0.29 a can {with the printable coupon below} as well as Hunt’s diced tomatoes or tomato sauce for only $0.49 a can. These are stock up prices so if you are running low, now is the time to buy.

Here is what my transaction looked like:

{2} Barilla Pasta - $1 each
{3} Mom’s Best Naturals Cereal – $0.99 each wyb 5 mix and match promo items
{5} Activia Yogurt - $1.49 each wyb 5 mix and match promo items
{7} S&W Beans - $.49 each wyb 5 mix and match promo items
Used {5} $1/1 Activia, 4 pk 01/13 Smart Source insert
Used {1} $1/5 S&W Beans Printable Coupon
Used {1} $1.50/3 Mom’s Best Naturals Printable Coupon
Used {1} $1/2 Barilla Plus, Veggie, Whole Grain or White Fiber 01/06 Smart Source insert
Final Price: $7.35 out of pocket

Will you be stocking up at QFC this week?

~Mavis

Filed Under: Weekly Shopping Trips Tagged With: QFC, Weekly Shopping Trips

Reclaimed Food Show and Tell

January 29, 2013 11 Comments

I was going to sit here and tell you I didn’t keep the cantaloupe melon because all the bottoms were soft and mushy. And how the majority of the grapes had brown spots on them, and how after a long weekend I didn’t feel like picking through them for the potential keepers.

I was also going to mention that although there was an entire case of lettuce, I only kept a few heads for my family, and divided up the rest between our chickens and Girly Girls, and that the mangos looked a little iffy so I passed on salvaging them for smoothies.

I think I was going to complain.

But once the pictures were on my computer screen, my mind went immediately to the book I had finished on the plane ride home from Denver. The Glass Castle. Have you read it?

It put a whole different perspective on the fruit and vegetables I had kept.

I bet if the Walls children had come across these same 3 boxes of discard produce, they would have sat there and ate every single piece of their bounty. And here I was, giving most of it away to our pet chickens.

~Mavis

Head on over HERE to read all the past reclaimed food stories and to see all the pictures.