Thrifty Grocery Shopping

I was reading about a family in the US called the Economides. They've written books and have a website called AmericasCheapestFamily.com which helps people free themselves from debt and living beyond their means by giving ideas on how to save money. Mrs Econo explained how she plans her meals once a month using cards with food dishes written on them. Once she chooses what her family will be eating, she then enters the information into a meal planner on her computer. From there, she plans her grocery list using the meal planner and grocery store sales flyers.

I plan on trying this soon and also had an idea to put all my favorite recipes on index cards like my grand-mother used to do. Now mind you she was a stay-at-home mom and had lots more time to kill but I'm thinking...deep freezer! Will this crazy plan work? Well I'll post a follow-up and let you know how it goes.

Here's what  I'll be needing:

1-Index cards in 3 colors for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

One side should have the name of each dish and the other should have a list of ingredients (and the recipe if there's room)

2-My favorite family recipes gathered together and written on the index cards (I'll be choosing the dishes everyone likes and will try to pick the one I can freeze)

3-a template of a weekly meal planner
http://www.vertex42.com/Files/download/weekly-meal-planner.html

4-those annoying grocery flyers I get in my mailbox every week

Herb Gardens are Going Vertical!

A great way to keep all of the herbs you're growing together is to use a low cost shoe rack (the kind made of fabric and holding about 10 pairs). I found one for 2$ at the Dollar Store, cut off the 2 lowest rows and filled all of the pockets with potting soil.

I then separated my healthy Basil, Oregano and Chive plants to give them room to grow in their new homes (pockets). You can use your own favorites. Once planted, I patted each pocket to allow for the dirt to settle and added more soil around each plant, carefully leaving at least one inch for watering (the pocket will catch the water this way).

I hung it where it would get enough sun and watered it well. Voila!
I suggest plucking some fresh herbs a few times a week to encourage the plants to keep producing and growing. Always leave a couple of leaves on each sprig so allow for regrowth.