Having meal plan is a great way to stay on the ball throughout the week. It also helps you save money.

As I mentioned last week, I’m trying to do more baking. Not only does it save money and let us choose the ingredients, but it also tastes soooo much better. Especially these homemade hamburger buns.

Here’s what we’re eating this week:

13. Hamburgers on Homemade Buns, Rice and Bean Salad, Green Salad

14. Anniversary Dinner! We’re having the same meal we had on our wedding day.

15. Quesadillas, Veggie Dippers

16. Grilled Chicken, Rice Pilaf, Vegetables

17. Sandwich Bar with Baguette, Broccoli Slaw, Fruit

18. Pizza Night

19. Grilled Chicken, Cheesy Potatoes, Salad

What’s cooking at your house this week?

For more meal planning inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday each week.

Meal Planning: May 13 – 19 is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher

The month so far has just been a whirlwind. With a visit from the grandparents, freezer cooking, and an out-of town trip, not to mention everyday life of school and hockey, I’ve been moving, moving, moving.

And now, I’m tired.

This week I took a break from major shopping and cooking, trying to get us back on track after a few days of tornado-like life.

Hubby did go shopping while I was out of town. I meant to post it while I was gone, but there just wasn’t a lot of time.

Yes, they ate like bachelors the entire time I was gone. And the kids were refusing to eat out when I came home. Success! Hubs commented that my experiments have worked. The kids (and he) prefer healthier fare. Yeah!

Total spent on bachelor food: $30.

Here’s how we fared once I got back:

Trader Joe’s

TJ’s is our go to stop for convenient, healthier items. After dinner on date night, we loaded up on dairy, eggs, cereal, crackers, bread, yogurt, nuts, rice cakes, soy sauce, coconut milk, sunbutter, cocoa, jam, and ahem, bachelor chocolate pretzels.

Total Spent: $70

Abundant Harvest Organics

We had the box delivered to the house this week in an effort to have a calmer week. So nice to have that convenience! I paid a little more than usual, but with gas prices what they are, it might just work out to a regular thing.

Can you tell spring is here?! Look at all that. Lots of apriums, peaches, sugar snap peas, chamomile, mint, cabbage, oranges, onions, squash, strawberries, lettuce, turnips, potatoes, and fava beans. It’s going to be fun to experiment with this load!

Hubs commented how refreshing it was to eat an aprium. He’s not a huge “soft fruit” fan, but that’s because we’ve been relegated to grocery store produce for most of our lives. These taste different. And he was ready for that taste of spring.

Total Spent: $46

So far this month we’ve spent $537.

Grocery Geek: Tired Week is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher

Baking your own bread can save you a tremendous amount of money.

At the end of March, I set out to audit my grocery spending. I wanted to make sure that I was doing what I could do to stop up any leaks in our budget.

One of the conclusions I came to was that I spent a fair amount of money on bread. If I could make my own bread, perhaps I could shave a few bucks off the budget. So, I spent the month of April working on my home baking skills. The result was some more money in the bank and some tasty home baked breads.

It’s not as hard as you think.

Don’t feel like you need to slave away over a hot oven to make home baked bread a reality. Here are some tricks to make it happen.

1. Use a bread machine.

I have a love/hate relationship with my stand mixer. I love it for bulk batches of cookies and mashed potatoes, but I don’t feel super confident making bread dough. Truth is, I just don’t like the mess.

A bread machine makes it so much easier. Since the shape of the bread machine bread is a little funky, I often just use the machine to make the dough. Then I transfer it to traditional bread pans or, more often, form it into rolls or hamburger or hot dog buns. This works wonderfully for me.

Some of our favorite doughs to mix up in the machine include:

• great tasting pizza dough
• focaccia
• homebaked pita bread
• hot dog and hamburger buns
• cinnamon rolls
• french baguettes
• pumpkin onion rolls
• whole wheat pretzels
• easy garlic bread sticks
• and The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook has an honored spot on my bookshelf

2. Make quick breads.

As much as I love my machine, you don’t have to have a machine to make great bread. In fact, quick breads don’t even need rising time. Just stir them up and bake. See? Quick.

Believe it or not, some thinly sliced quick breads can also work for sandwiches. I think a carrot or zucchini bread would be a great base for chicken salad. Biscuits work well for breakfast sandwiches.

Some fave quick breads:

• spiced carrot bread
• cheese and herb biscuits
• zucchini bread
• pumpkin coffeecake with pepitas

3. Try Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

My most recent successes have included the doughs described in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. When I first reviewed the book awhile back, I was a little skeptical about the flavor. But, now that I’ve spent a solid month working with the different recipes, my faith is renewed.

Even moreso once I crunched the numbers! Based on the price of unbleached bread flour that I buy at Walmart and the minimal amount of salt, yeast, and oil that I might use in a recipe, I calculated that it costs me $0.25/loaf! This figure doesn’t include the cost of electricity.

But that doesn’t really matter! For a quarter a loaf, we can eat eight loaves for the price of one from the store!

To make this Artisan Bread in 5 method work for our family of eight, I mix up a double batch of dough (enough for eight loaves) every couple of days. I usually bake four loaves in a day and yes, they are consumed that day.

Keeping a box of this dough in the refrigerator at all times has helped me make pizza or focaccia or pretzels in the blink of an eye. No need to plan ahead.

And lack of planning is really what costs us money. Well, that and laziness. And no time. And well, motivation.

But, I’m totally sold on this method, and particularly the Olive Oil Dough. Yum! I made focaccia rolls with it for sandwiches that were out of this world.

Baking my own bread is helping us save money — and still enjoy great meals.

Do you bake your own bread?

Bake Your Own Bread to Save Money is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher

Smoothies for $2? Sign up to get your coupons from Jamba Juice.

Jamba Juice has always been a favorite for our family. I continue to order the Pina Colada smoothie from their old menu. They always make it for me. And we’ve found that it’s a pretty cheap treat for our crew. Two people split each smoothie and the folks at Jamba are always happy to put it into two cups so each kiddo can have his own.

So, smoothies for $2?! That’s a dollar per kid. Definitely, a good cheap eat. Well, drink.

Sign up to be a Jamba insider to get your coupons.

I Want My Two Dollars (Smoothie) is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher

Homemade granola is easy to make and a great way to save money on breakfast fare. Flavored with maple and vanilla, this recipe is a hit at my house.

My family loves cold cereal. That is clearly one of their comfort foods. It used to be that I could pick up boxed cereals for less than fifty cents a box after sales and coupons. Those days are long gone.

And while the price point, if it still existed, would certainly be tempting, I know that I can make more nutritious breakfasts with a little planning and elbow grease. Homemade granola is one that fits the bill around here.

This version is sweetened with real maple syrup that I buy at Costco or Trader Joe’s as well as a bit of brown sugar to offset the cost. Vanilla extract gives it a beautiful aroma and flavor while dry roasted almonds add some crunch. I add the nuts per serving to accommodate our nut allergies, but you could add one cup to the entire batch if you prefer.

I prefer clusters of goodness in my granola. What I’ve found is that pressing the granola into the pan helps these clusters to form. Limited stirring helps the clusters to stick around. Allow the granola to cool completely and it should crunch up.

This granola is great with milk, in a yogurt parfait, or on it’s own. Hubby has been known to eat it by the handfuls.

Store the granola in the pantry in an airtight container or freeze it for longer shelf life.

Recipe: Maple Vanilla Granola with Almonds

Ingredients

• 5 cups old fashioned rolled oats (do not use quick oats)
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup oat bran
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup dry-roasted, unsalted almonds

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 ° Line a rimmed, half sheet baking pan with a silpat mat or parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, and salt.
3. In a small saucepan, combine the syrup, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Heat just until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Pour the liquid over the dry mixture and stir to coat. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly, pressing the mixture firmly.
5. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Break into clusters and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before packaging in an airtight container.
6. Store in an airtight container. Freeze for longer shelf life.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 45 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8

Breakfast is in the bag!

Include this granola in a breakfast kit to take on vacation or to gift to a friend. Include:

• a bag of granola tied with a bow
• a pint of fresh berries or a bunch of bananas
• a quart of yogurt or milk
• a bag of favorite coffee or a packet of tea

Maple Vanilla Almond Granola is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher

Mother’s Day is quickly approaching. Plan an easy yet festive meal for the mothers in your life.

Can it really be that Mother’s Day is upon us?! As you may remember, Mother’s Day is one of the FishMama Trifecta. Mother’s Day, our anniversary, and my birthday all fall into one 15-day period. Whoohoo. Don’t worry, I won’t let it go to my head.

Mother’s Day is a great time to celebrate the moms in your life — as well as the women who have served to nurture and grow you over the years. I’ve been blessed with a number of women like that. Someday when money’s no object, it would be fun to gather Mom, Aunt Cass, Gramma Marilyn, Cathy, Madame Stephenson (my high school French teacher), Michele, Jamie,  Janel, and Jessika all in one room for a very fun Mother’s Day meal.

These great women have contributed to who I am today. I am forever grateful that God put them in my life.

Here’s are some of the things that I would serve for our major chick fest:

Orange-Ginger Marinated Chicken

Caesar Salad

Potatoes Alfredo

Garlic-Parmesan Swirl Biscuits

Raspberry Cream Cups with Pretzels

Mother’s Day Meal Ideas is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher

I’m still amazed at how well a little scrimping helped our grocery budget last month. Of course, finding a math error in your favor doesn’t hurt either. Sheesh. Apparently, I need to brush up on my math skills a little bit.

Anyway, I’m glad to know we’re ahead of the game a little. My sister suggested that I stick it in our France fund. I’m wondering if my kids and husband might appreciate a few boxes of cereal and little yogurt cups more! Ha! Perhaps we’ll split the difference. Nah, I’m going to let it offset the next time I go over.

Since it’s the beginning of the month, it was time to restock the freezer!

Every few weeks I like to do an extended cooking session of make ahead and freeze meals. This has become such a wonderful help to our family life that I even wrote a cookbook about the method. It will be available in your local book stores this fall, but you can preorder it on Amazon if you’re so inclined.

My grocery shopping this week reflects this mission to feed the freezer — and my family. I made a cooking plan and then set out to divide the grocery list among the stores with the best deals on those products. That took me to several different stops. I put the produce box on vacation so we could catch up with what we already had and clear some real estate in the refrigerator.

Here’s how it broke down:

Walmart

Walmart is my place for random purchases. But, it’s also typically the place for a low price if I don’t know of a sale or good deal elsewhere. They also sell bags of this unbleached and non-bromated flour, so I bought ten pounds of it, along with beans, soap, travel size toiletries, paper plates, and cooking oil.

Total spent $28.

Vons

Vons is giving my old favorite, Ralphs, a run for its money. Since I signed up for the Just for U program, I’ve been really amazed at the good deals. I can log into my account and load discounts onto my card. This week butter and Tillamook cheese, both hormone-free, were calling my name. While I was there I grabbed whole chickens, tri-tip, and pork ribs on sale as well as a myriad of fresh produce.

Total spent $99.

Costco

Costco is a dangerous place. You have to be as gentle as a dove and wily as a fox. I went with a list and tried to stick to it. Among my purchases: yeast, chocolate chips, vanilla extract, lots of tortillas, turkey breast, mozzarella, milk, frozen potstickers, chips, crusted and diced tomatoes, oil, and carrots.

Total spent $187.

Trader Joe’s

Trader Joe’s holds a dear place in my heart, especially for convenience foods. Since I knew I was going out of town for a few days without the fam, I knew I needed to leave enough convenient, fun food to please the masses. I bought cereal, crackers, rice cakes, kefir, yogurt, and a few odds and ends.

Total spent $77.

Obviously, this is a lot of shopping. But, with freezer cooking and four days with Mom out of pocket, it was necessary for sanity and convenience. But, the freezer is full and my purchases for the rest of the month will be for produce and dairy and maybe a co-op order of flour.

So, I think we’re good.

Total Month to Date spending: $391.

Grocery Geek: A New Month & a Full Freezer is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher

Having a meal plan is a great way to get a head start on the week. You gotta eat, right? Plan for it.

spicy chicken rub

Today I’m in the air and airports heading home to my fam after a few days away. I do this very infrequently, but I know that our regular schedule has been interrupted and that it will take a few days to get back on track. So, I’ve planned some easy dinners to accommodate that.

Thanks to freezer cooking, many of these items are ready and waiting in the freezer. I just need to thaw them a day or two before hand. Quesadillas, sandwiches, and pizza come together quickly. While I may not quite be back into the swing of things, at least dinner will be.

6. Quickest Chili in the West, Chips, Veggie Dippers

7. Pasta with Red Sauce, Tossed Salad with Feta and Peperoncini, Buttermilk Cornbread

8. Quesadillas, Rice, Beans, Salad

9. Grilled Chicken, Quinoa Pilaf, Salad, Homemade Baguette

10. Sandwich Bar with Focaccia, Veggie Dippers, Fruit

11. Pizza Night

12. Grilled sausages, Lemon Roasted Potatoes, Vegetables

What’s cooking at your house this week?

For more meal planning inspiration, visit Menu Plan Monday each week.

Meal Planning: May 6 – 12 is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher

Spring has arrived! And with it come a variety of spring vegetables to toss into the soup pot.

Getting a weekly produce box has really grown on me. It’s also grown me as a cook. I’ve been compelled to try vegetables and fruits that I might never have purchased at the store. The culinary world is bigger than I once thought it was.

Oh, in my newlywed years I read Bon Appetit faithfully each month and tested all kinds of great recipes. But, it wasn’t until the last couple years that I started experimenting on my own. Having a box of strange vegetables thrust on me each week has prompted me to learn and grow. Pea tendrils and leeks are some of my very favorite new friends.

This soup isn’t all that unusual, leeks, potatoes, carrots, and asparagus all play a role. Do some peeling and chopping. Give them a warm bath in a pot of chicken broth. Add some seasonings. Whiz by with the immersion blender. Voila! You have a beautiful soup bursting with the flavors of spring.

It’s delicious on its own as a starter, or to accompany soup and salad as a main meal. Bon appetit!

Recipe: Spring Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 cup leeks, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 large potato, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 large carrot, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 pound asparagus spears (about 5) cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 to 6 cups chicken broth
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a large heavy pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Reduce to low and cook the leeks and garlic until the leeks are tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the potatoes, carrot, asparagus and 4 cups of the chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
3. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Alternatively, you can blend the soup in batches in a food processor.
4. Add more chicken broth, if desired, to achieve your preferred consistency.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

Spring Vegetable Soup is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher

Looking for good cheap eats in California? I’ve got you covered with reviews of the best restaurants and food shops to enjoy on a budget.

As you know, I’m a California girl. While my parents are both Minnesota-born and bred, they moved west in 1967 when there was a teacher shortage in the Golden State. They stayed.

And now they’re both afraid of snow.

Can’t say I blame them. The weather in “most” of California is pretty delightful. I was born in a suburb of Los Angeles and have lived here for almost my entire life. Except for a brief sojourn in Kansas City, this has been home.

I’ve lived in the desert and at the beach. I’ve vacationed in the mountains. And even where things are desolate, there’s beauty to behold practically everywhere. See?

And I don’t even own Photoshop.

Contrary to popular belief, everything is NOT expensive in California. Sure, gas and land, certainly are. I do a happy dance when fuel costs drop below four bucks. And we’ve yet to find our dream home at a price we feel comfortable with.

In fact, lots of things are priced very competitively with other places. We don’t spend that much more on anything (except gas and rent) than we did when we lived in Kansas.

I love this great state of mine. It’s home. And it’s pretty. And there’s good food here.

Which leads me to my main point. Good Cheap Eats are at the heart of California. Oh, sure, you can go eat at some expensive hoity toity restaurant in Beverly Hills. But, who does that?

Not me. We’re just normal folk who live here, despite what you see on TV. And normal folk need good cheap eats.

So, I’ll be sharing more specifics about Good Cheap Eats in California — as well as the rest of the continent — over the coming weeks and months. I’ve got a great series of restaurant and food shop reviews all laid out. We’re starting in good old Cali because that is where I started, of course. But, don’t worry. We’re going to travel around.

Whether you’re anticipating a move, planning a vacation, or are simply curious about life in the Golden State, I’ll be sharing great sources for Good Cheap Eats in California.

Have you been to California? What’s your story?

Good Cheap Eats in California – New Feature! is a post from: Good Cheap Eats. All rights reserved © Jessica Getskow Fisher