I get those looks a lot- when my cart is full of 6 boxes of Eggo Waffles, 6 boxes of Macaroni & Cheese, 6 bottles of laundry detergent and two green peppers (they were marked down).  “What DOES that mom feed her kids?” I know the shopper behind me thinks.

What they don’t know is that for dinner that night we had scratch made mashed potatoes, biscuits, corn on the cob, Grilled BBQ Chicken and buttered carrots.  Yep, we didn’t use a single thing that I purchased that day.  In fact, most of the items I buy each week aren’t used for several weeks, except perishables like milk, bread and eggs.

That’s the blessing of a stockpile and coupon shopping- you buy items because they are a great deal NOT because you necessarily need them right now.

How to Build a Stockpile You Can Cook From

• Start with the basics.  Know the items you routinely use in your meals.  For my family it is canned or frozen vegetables, rice, pasta, pasta sauce, cheese, canned tomatoes…the list goes on. These are the items you want to stock up on.
• The basic meal formula in my house is protein + veggie + grain + fruit.  The Protein is usually beef, pork or chicken.  The veggie staples in my house are potatoes, carrots, corn, and beans.  The grain is usually rice or bread and the fruit is whatever was on special in the produce department.  Knowing this formula lets me avoid having a meal of nothing but grains- but to balance the dinner plate by keeping a full pantry of all these ingredients.
• When one of these items hits a rock bottom price- either by sale alone or combined with a coupon- I get as many as I can within the coupon and store policies.  This allows me to stock up on that staple item and avoid paying full price for it.  Example: Over a year ago, Food Lion ran a store brand promo.  We were able to get canned tomato sauce, canned corn and beans for $0.25 a can.  That’s a fabulous price.  I got enough to last me 2 years (until those cans expired).  We are just now using the last of these products.   I haven’t had to buy any of those canned items for over a year.
• Utilize your Freezer.  Freezing marked down produce and meat is a great way to build a stockpile of frozen goods.  Even bread, milk and creamer can be frozen!

Cautions

• If you haven’t tried the product, even if it’s a good deal, don’t go crazy.  We had a deal for super cheap Herdz Cooking Sauces.  I got several of every variety- we ended up not really liking them.  My homemade sauce was much better.  I was glad I hadn’t gotten carried away and purchased too many.
• Check expiration dates.  Stocking up on taco shells is one of my favorite deals- Taco night is a family favorite.  Being careful to check the dates of the shells to be sure I don’t overbuy is one thing I have to remind myself constantly!
• Keep the stock rotated.  Putting cans of beans with an expiration date of 3 months out in front of the box that expires next week is the quickest way to have a worthless stockpile.  Take the time to rotate the new products behind the old ones!

How to Meal Plan with A Stockpile

• We don’t weekly or monthly meal plan- we daily plan.  The night before or the morning of – I take out all the dry ingredients for the meal, I put all the items I need from the fridge on the top shelf and I thaw the meat in the fridge.  That way everything I need is all together and I don’t get to 30 minutes before supper to find out I don’t have the stewed tomatoes I thought I did.
• You can do the same if you weekly meal plan.  Make your plan and set a staging area in the pantry or cabinet for all those dry ingredients needed for that weeks meals.  Each day prepare the items for the next night- thawing the meat, etc.

I cook semi-scratch meals for my family almost every night.  We rarely eat out and we don’t eat prepared frozen dinners (with the exception of a frozen pizza here and there).  Here are some of my family’s favorite meals- all easily stockpiled!

• Grilled Chicken with Veggies
• Sausage and Squash Bake
• Chicken Enchiladas
• Beef Tacos
• Pepper Steak Stir Fry
• Cheesy Chicken Rolls
• Breakfast for Dinner
• Chicken with Pasta
• Pot Roast
• BBQ Pulled Chicken
• Shredded Beef Sandwiches
• Grilled Chicken Sandwiches
• Grilled Cheese & Soup
• Baked Potato Bar
• Chicken Quesadillas

Share your tips for building a stockpile worth cooking from!

As a freezer fanatic – I freeze everything.  I stock up on meat and put it in the freezer.  However, I can’t stand making burger patties out of thawed ground beef.  Maybe I’m weird but it never seems to make good patties- they seem chunky.

We love our burgers but I don’t want to be stuck paying full price for ground beef when the craving hits.  So I premake the patties and freeze them. Here are my tips from trial and error!

Form the patties and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
Freeze until solid I left mine in overnight.
Place in the Food Saver bags and vaccum seal.
Use a patty maker to make uniform patties (mine has gone MIA so I had to freehand these)

If you try to vaccum seal the fresh burger patties, the pressure will turn them into big lumps of meat instead of patties (trust me!).

Freezing them before vaccum sealing keeps the patties in shape.  To cook- just thaw out overnight and cook as usual.

If you don’t have a Food Saver –  as a stockpiler I highly recommend having one of some sort!  I use mine regularly for freezing meats, produce and even rice!  It’s great for even freezing leftovers.

PRess N Seal wrap is the secret if you don’t have a food saver!

I started couponing before it was “cool”- long before “that” show came around.  And I made (and continue too make) LOTS of mistakes.  Some cost me a little, some cost me a lot and some were just embarrassing!

Here are the biggest ones I remember:

–Being Embarrassed to use coupons: When I first started couponing it honestly wasn’t “cool”.  In fact, I felt “poor” using them.  The funny thing is that I was RICHER for using them and we WERE poor!  We were 2 kids -barely 19, married and barely making the rent that was less than most people’s car payments!  But I still felt like people were judging me.  “She can’t afford that at full price, poor thing. She has to use coupons!” As time went on and I realized that instead of spending $75-$100 a week we were spending $25-$50 a week and weren’t running to the store every other day for things I forgot- I stopped caring what people thought!  Luckily, new couponers today won’t experience it as badly as us “old-timer” did.  Today, couponing could even be considered “cool”.  Don’t ever be embarrassed to use a coupon.  My cash is multi-colored and that’s okay.

–Not checking my papers: When I first started couponing, I didn’t want to be “stuck” with a newspaper subscription so I’d run up to the grocery store and buy papers out of the vending box.   BIG MISTAKE. You put your quarters in and then realize that none of the papers have inserts or they are missing inserts.  Now I get my papers delivered and if they are missing I can call and they will credit me or redeliver the incomplete papers.  If you want to buy your papers in person each week, go into a store that carries them inside.  Then you can verify all the inserts are there before paying.  Each Wednesday we post the expected inserts so you will know what to look for.  Getting home after spending $1.50 and only getting 1/2 the expected coupons makes for a sad Sunday.  [Read more…]

Whenever cheese goes on sale the same question pops up “Can you freeze cheese?”  The answer is YES!

Packaged shredded cheese is the easiest to freeze but many varieties do well once frozen.  Almost anything can be frozen- but how it is when it thaws is generally the issue.  Cheese comes out wonderfully.

How to Freeze Cheese:

Shredded:
Simply place in the freezer in it’s original, sealed bag.  Recommended freezer time is 6 months however I’ve used cheese that has been frozen longer without any issues with thawing.  To thaw, place in the refrigerator overnight or place on the counter while preparing a meal.  Within 30 minutes it is generally thawed.  If cooking the cheese you can use frozen.

Sliced:
If packaged you can put it directly in the freezer.  If it’s fresh sliced cheese (like from the deli), slice and separate with wax paper and then freeze using a food saver. If you try to vacuum seal soft cheese without freezing it will become misshapen.

Block:
Block cheese can be frozen directly in it’s packaging however when thawed it is very crumbly and slicing isn’t suggested.  Grating frozen cheese is a much better use of frozen block cheese.  Instead of freezing blocks, if you want it sliced- slice it first and then freeze it as you would sliced cheese.

Cream Cheese:
Cream cheese changes consistency when it thaws. You probably won’t want to spread it on your bagel when it thaws out- but you can cook with it. To freeze in packaging, vacuum seal it or wrap tightly in plastic wrap.

Find Cheese Coupons.
Find Cheese Sales.

See how to freeze coffee creamer!

This is an often asked question when we grab a good deal on coffee creamer- “Can you freeze coffee creamer?”

The answer is YES!  You can freeze coffee creamer.  In fact, it is super easy to freeze- just put it in the freezer.

When you are almost out in the fridge- take the frozen one out and put it in the fridge.  After about 24 hours- shake it really well to break up any ice and to blend it back together.

I’d suggest using it within 7 days or so.  If you don’t need it for coffee- try making French Toast with it!  It’s the BEST french toast ever!

Need Creamer?  Check out the current sales here.

Need a coupon?  Check out the coupons here.

We’ve had a few members of our Facebook Group report that their freezers died recently.  Unaware of it, their frozen foods began to thaw!  In fact, last week my sister’s fridge died and she didn’t notice until the ice began to melt!

In fact, it’s happened to me TWICE.  Our freezer was in the garage and somehow my kids unplugged it while chasing a ball or looking for roller skates.

The result the first time was the picture above.  Actually it was TWO full trashcans of frozen foods.  My heart was broken.  The second time I was much luckier- nothing was ruined.

You can see my freezer story here.

A blown fuse can cause you to trash an entire stockpile!    Accidents happen and things get unplugged but catching it early is better than having to waste all that food & hard work!

Here are my tips for avoiding losing your entire freezer:

• Set a day a week to check your freezers, extra fridges- anything you don’t look in on a daily basis.

• Get a wireless thermometer.  You can put the thermometer in the freezer in the garage and keep the dashboard in the kitchen.  You don’t even need to look at the dashboard- it has an audible alarm that will alert you if the freezer or fridge temperature passes the temperature you set.  For under $30 the piece of mind that hundreds of dollars of food is safe- worth it to me! (Thanks for the tip Stephanie!)

Need help organizing a chest freezer? Here’s how I do it!

Feeding a family of eight every night can be difficult.  Between school pickups and homework and work here on MSM- life is hectic and getting a home cooked meal on the table every night can be tricky.

Taking a family out to eat can be expensive and thrifty moms know that cooking at home is much more frugal than even calling out for pizza.

Here is my biggest secret to getting dinner on the table even on the craziest of days: My Freezer.

When I do make a meal I often double it up and put half it in the freezer (sometimes cooked and sometimes just prepared).  It makes life so much easier on those crazy nights.  Here are a few of my favorite meals to freeze extras of!

• Fried Chicken: Bread as normal and freeze uncooked.  Thaw and fry/bake.
• Lasagne: Freeze uncooked.  Thaw and bake as usual.
• Rice: Cook and Freeze.
• Sausage StirFry: Prepare and Freeze Uncooked.  Thaw and cook as usual.
• Enchiladas: Prepare filling, roll into tortillas. Freeze individually.  Thaw, cover with sauce and bake as usual.
• Shredded Chicken: Boil with onion, pepper and salt.  Drain, shred and freeze.
• Shredded Beef or Pork: Slow cook with broth, onion, pepper and salt. Drain, shred and freeze.
• Chili: Cook as normal and freeze.  Thaw and reheat.
• Macaroni & Cheese: Cook pasta, mix with cheese of choice.  Freeze.  Thaw and cook as usual.
• Bakes Pasta with Chicken: Cook Pasta and grill chicken.  Slice chicken, mix with cheese (or sauce) and pasta.  Freeze uncooked.  Thaw and freeze.
• Taco Meat: Cook beef and add seasonings as usual. Freeze.  Thaw and reheat.
• Hamburgers: Make patties.  Freeze individually.  Place in freezer bags.  Thaw and grill as usual.
• Meatloaf: Make meatloaf as usual, Freeze Uncooked.  Thaw and bake.

A visit to a fast food restaurant can cost us $45!  Even calling for pizza can be $30 or more.  Making dinner at home can be so much less expensive, but it’s not always the easiest thing.  Using my freezer makes it easier and less costly.

A few tips:

• The Dollar Tree has a great selection of disposable aluminum pans.  These make it easy to go from freezer to oven quickly.
• A Food Saver is my best friend.  It makes the food last so much longer in the freezer.
• Keep a list of what’s in there.  That will make it easier to know what you have on hand.

Share your tips with us!

Just a quick tip that works for me!

When I find a coupon that matches to an upcoming sale (like some of the great winks I posted today!) and I print it – I place it in a plastic envelope that has 2 dividers: Grocery Stores and Drug Stores.  I place the coupon into the corresponding portion.  Then I know exactly where it is when the sale begins and I am making my list!

P.S. If you aren’t part of our Facebook group you want to join!  We post a lot of sneak peeks in there early!