Frozen whole turkeys can be stored in the freezer for at least 12 months, so November is a great time for stock up on these frozen birds. Many grocery stores even give FREE turkeys away with certian purchases so watch out for the best deals.
Why stock up on turkey? Well there are just so many different meal options for left-over turkey. You can make oven roasted turkey the first day, then have enough meat left over to make a week’s worth of dinners and lunches - thus saving you money on your grocery bill.
I have noted before the advantadges of owner a chest freezer. That way you can buy at least 3 frozen turkeys at the rock-bottom prices that November brings. Use one for Thanksgiving and plan delicious leftovers for that week afterwards. Use one for Christmas and the other one to be used in the next coming year.
Leftovers don’t have to be boring. Look for reciepes online for turkey:
- Casseroles
- Soups
- Sandwhiches
- Stir-fries
- Unique Rice Pilafs
- Quiches
- Pot Pies
- Pasta dishes
Plan ahead for delicious varieties of dinners that will excite your family…and you pocket book!
Are you a hot breakfast person? If so, then you probably already know how the cost of going to the McDonald’s Drive-Thru or an Einstein bagel sandwich can slowly eat away at your wallet.
If you crave a hot breakfast in the morning then consider freezing large batches of the breakfast items you make at home on the weekends. That way you can cut calories AND cost….my favorite combination!
Below are Michelle’s (Budget Girl) favorite breakfast items that freeze and reheat very well:
- Breakfast Burritos: This delicious quick and easy meal is simply a soft flour tortilla with pre-cooked breakfast foods wrapped inside. Feel free to play around with different recipes. After you are done making your batch, place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet or dish and freeze them completely. After they are frozen solid, place them in a freezer zip-loc baggie. Just reheat in the microwave when you are ready to eat.
- Homemade Silver Dollar Pancakes, waffles and French toast: I love to make dozens on silver dollar pancakes for my family on Sunday morning. I freeze any left-overs in a freezer baggie to eat later in the week. Just place them in the toaster and add syrup, nuts, fruit or whip-cream to add some variety. Much cheaper than buying boxes of Eggo Waffles.
- Breakfast sandwiches: Use scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, or cheese to assemble your sandwiches ahead of time and freeze. Feel free to experiment with using you use english muffins, bread, bagels or pancakes to assemble your sandwich.
- Quiches: Just grab a pie shell and fill with your favorite breakfast items like eggs, bacon, sausage and onion. Bake it and after it is cool, wrap it in place wrap or foil to freeze.
When freezing foods, I suggest using the Reynold’s Handi-Vac or the Zip-loc vacuum bags. They are fairly inexpensive and sucks out any air in the bag to prevent freezer burn.
To save money on fresh produce from the grocery store, it helps to pick items that are plentiful during the current season. Below is a list of food items that you will usually find on sale or at a low price during the month of October. Keep these great picks in mind when planning your dinners this month:
- Pumpkins
- cranberries
- oranges
- sweet potatoes and yams
According to Mary Schroeder, a health and nutrition educator at the University of Minnesota:
Orange vegetables are good sources of beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, potassium and fiber. Sweet potatoes are one of the few non-fat foods that contain vitamin E. These nutrients are important for vision, bone growth, healthy skin and cardiovascular health. Orange vegetables also contain antioxidants and phytochemicals that can reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer.”
So eat and up!
If you have a family and like to shop in bulk from warehouses like Costco and Sam’s, than investing in a deep freezer would be a smart idea.
If your budget is a little tight, consider buying one second hand from classifieds sites like Craigslist.org I purchased a quality freezer from a woman who was moving and no longer needed it. It was only 3 months old and it was less than half the price of buying it retail.
When buying meat in bulk, you can seperate it into portion sizes and store them in plastic freezer baggies. I like to use the Reynolds Handi-Vac. Its fairly inexpensive and sucks out any air in the bag to prevent freezer burn, but any quality freezer bag would work fine. Use a permanent marker to label dates on your bags to remind you to use an item before it goes bad.
Ground beef can go for about 3-4 months, Chicken 9 months and Fish 3 months. There is also a handy food storage list on the Reynolds website.
Check out my article containing a complete list on how to save money on your grocery bill.
images from germes-online.com and reynoldspkg.com
There are several good strategies on how to save money on groceries, but keeping track of every sale, coupon and clearance item can take a lot of time and effort. Well saving money just got easier at thegrocerygame.com which can help you save hundreds of dollars over the course of a year. This is definitely a site that every girl on a budget should have booked-marked under her “favorites.” It is like a virtual grocery shopping assistant.
According to the website,
“When you play, you’ll get a weekly list (called Teri’s List) of the lowest-priced products at your supermarket matched with manufacturers’ coupons and weekly specials — advertised and unadvertised. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, and presents it to you in a straightforward format.”
And for only a $1 for a four-week trail, what do you have to lose? Afterwards, you can purchase a subscription for $10 every eight weeks. Happy shopping 
