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| Before |
I brought over the kitchen trash can and started tossing. It felt so much better to look into the spice cabinet afterward. The small bottles of spices are in the basket. See my cute mason jar salt dispenser? I know there are lots of people with much more beautiful and organized spices, but this works for me. I can turn the lazy Susan around to find what I need. This cabinet is located to the left of, and right beside the stove.
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| After |
I found some spices in there that I didn't realize I had and had planned to buy. One was dry mustard and luckily it was still in date.
Then after church on Sunday I stopped by Dollar General and Food Lion and replenished my spices. Dollar General has the best prices on basic spices, but you won't find many that you need there. At Food Lion the spices are pretty expensive. I couldn't find Cumin at Dollar General, so I looked in the Hispanic Food section at Food Lion and found a large bottle for only $1.39! There was a huge selection of spices at great prices in this section. I will check them out further when I have more time. This is a tip given to me by Little Pen Pen.
Here's what I purchased at Dollar General. Some of these things aren't spices, but I listed everything, just for informational purposes.
McCormick Meat Tenderizer - $3.00 (could probably find a better deal, but we don't use a lot of this)
Baking Powder (large can) - $1.15
32 oz Beef Broth - 1.60
Paprika - $1.00
Lawry's Seasoned Salt (large bottle)- $1.95
Oregano - 1.00
Parsley Flakes - $1.00
Vanilla Flavoring (imitation) $1.00
Cream Soups - 50 cents
I love that now I can find what I need much easier when cooking. When I am making a new recipe, I know whether or not I have all the spices called for.
Here are some good "stock up" deals I found at Food Lion: (prices good through today)
My Essentials Peanut Butter, 1.16 each (bought 4) (Some will go in our emergency food storage and some will be donated to the food pantry)
28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes - $1.00 each (bought 4)
VanCamps pork and beans - 47 cents each (bought 4)
Bush's Great Northern or Pinto Beans 50 cents each (bought 4)
Pompeii Olive Oil - $6.00 (bought 2) (this will last us for a long time!)
12 oz sandwich ham - $1.64 each (bought 4, the date is good through October)
3 lb yellow onions - $1.79
2 16 count packs of Borden sandwich cheese $5.00, get a dozen eggs free. Eggs are $1.87, so after deducting that, each of the 3 items were $1.04 each. One pack of the cheese is pepper jack flavored and the other is sharp cheddar. We can always use eggs and cheese, so I considered this a good deal. The use by date of the cheese is a very long time. Eggs are good for 4 to 6 weeks after their use by date, so we will have no problem using them.
My goal is to stock up when the prices are at their very lowest. I don't think you will find peanut butter much lower than $1.16 each very often. Then we can go shopping in our pantry, instead of buying things as needed at the grocery store at full price. I am also slowly putting together a price book so my middle aged brain can keep up with what actually is a "stock up" price!
Soon, I'll be doing a post listing my "stock up" prices.
2 comments:
I like your spice organization. I have mine in a big tote under the cabinet and pull out the whole tote. I have to go through every so often and throw away old ones, too. It's sad that we have to buy such a large amount to use one tsp or so...LOL. I think the only spice I never throw away is cinnamon and chili powder. I'm still amazed at how much less the mexican spices are... ha ha.
I'm in favor of stocking up...I have been doing it for sometime. I call it my "Hard Times Pantry". I don't know if you do this, but when I buy something, I mark the expiration date, with a black marker, on the top of the can and again on the front. That way I don't need to find my reading glasses to check my dates. I keep the older dates in front. Looking forward to you price lists.
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