Surviving the Food Budget

We wanted to share some ideas that can help beat the cost of groceries these days. I am not sure what you are seeing in your area, but lower gas prices have not helped the grocery bill any. The rising cost of food, blamed on the cost of transportation, was not changed. So, we have to be as smart as the food industry.

Grocery stores all over the Ozarks run specials on meat that will soon be out of date. It helps the grocery store contain their costs, and gives the buyer a good deal. How’s that for a new Celtic tradition? We see this all over Springfield, Missouri. I am sure you will see it in your neck of the woods.
Make a list of what you need for staples. Then add what you may need to make a meal of the sale meat. If we find chicken on sale, we have a plan on what meals to make from it. We do the same with pork and beef. It takes an extra minute or so, but it is worth it.
Consider adding in some meatless dinners. We like to do eggs and toast for dinner, once in a while. It is not very Irish, but it is very hillbilly! I suspect there are others that would join me in eating breakfast for dinner. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is another perennial favorite at the Province home.
Use coupons. They save money, if you shop with them wisely. In some stores, like our Walgreen Drug, you can get extra discount on the coupons.
Watch the grocery ads in your area. We recently needed some hamburger for a pot of chili, and had a range of $1.69 to $3.29 for the same 75/25 burger. Not a bad trade off, considering we routinely shop at both stores that represented the spectrum of price.
Look for discount days at your grocery store. One of our favorite stores offers 10% off the whole bill on Tuesdays for Senior Citizens.

According to some recent statistics I read, from the USDA, the average family with teenage children spent $602.80 per month on groceries, on average. I don’t know about you, but I want to keep all that I can. If this will not work, I want to get all I can for the money!

Slainte,

Ray Province

Ray and Robin Province are the owners of The Celtic Ozarkian website, dedicated to issues surrounding life in the Ozarks. You can find us at: http://www.celticozarkian.com.
Ray is currently an IT programmer in the healthcare industry, and freelances in SEO and website development. Robin is a semi retired ICU nurse who now works in coding and compliance in the healthcare industry.

Celitc Shortbread for Christmas

Slainte,

Thought you might like to try a very simple recipe that is very traditional for Christmas in Scotland. We have, however, put our family "twist" on the recipe. It is a great treat with a warm glass of tea! Here we go!

Ingredients:

1 lb. of real butter (Dairy Farmers of America Unite!)

5 cups of flour

1 cup of sugar

2 tsp of Almond Extract

Some colorful Red and Green sprinkles for Christmas

Recipe:

Make sure the butter is soft. Just set it out on a counter for a couple of hours prior to baking.

Mix the butter and sugar throughly with a mixer. Add the almond extract and mix again just long enough to mix the extract. Start adding flour 1/2 cup at a time. Mix thoroughly. After about 3 cups of flour, your mixer may not be able to hold up, so you will have to mix by hand. When you are down to 1 1/2 cups, pour the mixture out on a clean, lightly floured hard surface and finish the process by kneeding the flour in. It is truly a labor of love!

Once your batter is thoroughly pounded to death, it is ready to bake. Place it in an ungreased, unfloured pan to a depth of 1/2". We use glass, square pans (9"x13") a lot. We also use aluminum pie pans (just for a different look!) Take a fork and poke holes all the way to the bottom of the pan. This will prevent bubbles from forming in the batter. It doesn't ruin the taste, just the presentation. Sprinkle your batter with the sugar sprinkles of choice. Bake at 350 deg. for 10 minutes, then bake at 300 deg for 30-40 minutes. When done, you'll have a lightly browned, sugar cookie type look. Cool. Eat.

The thinner the batter, the drier the cookie will get. So it becomes a matter of taste on how dry you want the batter. Dry also makes it a bit easier to dunk the cookie!

Hope you enjoy this wonderful treat.