Sunday, August 12, 2012

Shopping Coup

We went to the annual Buffalo BBQ at the city park today. After we were done, we stopped by the grocery store.  I rarely go in there because it’s the only one in town and there is no competition.

But timing is everything.  The greengrocer had just put out a whole bunch of marked down produce. So, I loaded up with everything we could use.  I headed towards the checkout counter with a little trepidation. 




What a beautiful sight!

Mike had gone for cat food and pop.  He was already checking out by the time I got there. In the not-too-distant past, he would have made me put all but one bag of each back, but this time he didn’t bat an eye about it. the man behind me eyed my produce and asked if I was having a big chili-fest.  “No,” I smiled. “This is all going into the dehydrator.”

My ticket came to $12.56

  • 3 packages tomatoes @ 49¢
  • 4 packages tomatoes @ 29¢
  • 5 bags bell peppers (5 /bag) @ 1.19 / bag
  • 5 bags jalapeños peppers @ .49 / bag
  • 2-pound bag green beans @ 39¢
This is how you beat the rising cost of living when the income doesn’t match.  One of the things you need to aim for is a year’s supply of groceries on hand at all times.  This way, you only need to spend money on food when it is substantially marked down.

Tonight when it cools down a bit, I plan to put up the jalapeños in the FoodPantrie. No heat or electricity to run that one. Some will be sliced cross-wise, some will be sliced length-wise, and some will be dried whole.  These are for Mike, as I don’t eat them.

Tomorrow morning before church I will take the peaches out of the dehydrator, blanch the tomatoes, and toss them into the machine.  I’m thinking I will either chunk them for sauce or maybe slice lengthwise. Haven’t decided yet.  I know there will be little bits and pieces, these will be pureed for sauce.

After lunch we’ll steam the green beans for lunch. Then I will address the bell peppers. I’ve got about 25 peppers. I’ve never tried this before, but I think I will remove the tops and seed a few to dry whole.  Did this will poblano peppers and they worked fine.  I want to use these for stuffed peppers.  The rest I’ll cut into strips for stir-fry and such.

4 comments:

  1. Excellent deal on the veggies. How would you put the whole pepper on the tray, standing up or laying down?

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  2. I'm really interested in hearing more about drying the whole peppers for stuffed peppers, its a great idea! Would you mind posting details when you're all done? If it works I'll be doing a few loads too, because who doesn't love a good stuffed pepper for dinner? I followed you on facebook and am so glad to be able to come here to your blog... Your information is so useful! Thank you for doing this, Kathy

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    Replies
    1. Have you seen my other blogspots on peppers? I have dried a variety of types of peppers, some whole, some prepped for stuffing. So far, I haven't tried actually stuffing them. Too many other projects at the moment.

      But I'm thinking the way to do it is to use all dehydrated ingredients: dehydrated cooked ground beef, dehydrated cooked rice, dehydrated onions, etc. Figure out the ratio of ingredients. These can be mixed togethehr and packaged.

      When ready to use, rehydrate the ingredients, stuff the peppers, cover with sauce and heat as usual.

      Like I said, I haven't tried it yet, but I'm pretty sure it will work.

      The exciting thing about dehydrating foods is that it is such a great avenue for creativity.

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