Saw a bit on Good Morning America today showing a family who spend less on groceries for 6, in a month, than I do in two weeks. They cut coupons and price shop. As Matt pointed out, what do they spend on magazines and newspapers to get all these coupons? In our own case, the only coupons we seem to get are for things we don't use or eat anyway, or how much laundry detergent can two people use? It didn't say what they buy generally, but the mother described buying chuck steak and grinding it yourself. No problem there except she mentioned including all the fat - not so healthy a choice. I rarely buy stuff which has been prepared which one often gets coupons for and which
may be less expensive. North America seems to live on Kraft Macaroni and Cheese - I have seen people with shopping carts absolutely loaded with the stuff. Yes I know, not everyone buys it, but.... We prefer to try and buy foods in bulk from the wholesale stores, so we can freeze it or make up dishes and then freeze them. We also put all our change in piggy banks although since we moved into an apartment, we don't save so much because our quarters (25 ¢ coin) all go to the laundry money.
Talking of coins, that was something confusing when we first got to Canada, I went out to buy a
newspaper from a box one day and it told you how many dimes and quarters (or whatever the combination was) were required, I hadn't a clue of course. Turned out that you have quarters, dimes (10 ¢) nickels (5 ¢) and pennies (1 ¢) - these days we have Loonies ($1 coin) so called because its reverse side has a loon on it and Twonies ($2 or two Loonies).
This picture taken from Life in the Minivan Lane. We can't save Loonies either because we use them for the laundry too.
I promised crèpe fillings today and here is one.
Cheesy Ham and Mushroom Crèpes
Serves: 6
Source: Cooking Light - May 1994
Photo from Cooking Light.
Ingredients: 1 tsp margarine
1 cup chopped onion
4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (12 oz.)
3/4 cup plus
2 tbs evaporated skimmed milk, divided
1/2 cup beer
1 tbs cornstarch
1-1/4 cups lean ham (6 oz)
1 cup (4 oz) Swiss cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
12 Basic Crepes
Melt margarine in a large nonstick skillet. Add onion and saute 2 mins. Add mushrooms, saute 2 mins. Add 1/2 cup milk and beer, cook 3 mins.
Combine cornstarch and 2 tbs milk in a small bowl, stir well and add to skillet. Bring to a boil and cook 1 min stirring. Remove from heat, stir in ham, 1/2 cup cheese, salt and pepper.
Spoon 1/4 cup mixture down center of each crepe and roll up. Place seam side down in a baking dish or individual gratin dishes. Sprinkle remaining cheese evenly. Drizzle remaining milk over crepes. Cover and bake at 350 for 15 mins. Uncover and bake another 15 mins or until thoroughly heated.
Have a great day.
Saw a bit on Good Morning America today showing a family who spend less on groceries for 6, in a month, than I do in two weeks. They cut coupons and price shop. As Matt pointed out, what do they spend on magazines and newspapers to get all these coupons? In our own case, the only coupons we seem to get are for things we don't use or eat anyway, or how much laundry detergent can two people use? It didn't say what they buy generally, but the mother described buying chuck steak and grinding it yourself. No problem there except she mentioned including all the fat - not so healthy a choice. I rarely buy stuff which has been prepared which one often gets coupons for and which may be less expensive. North America seems to live on Kraft Macaroni and Cheese - I have seen people with shopping carts absolutely loaded with the stuff. Yes I know, not everyone buys it, but.... We prefer to try and buy foods in bulk from the wholesale stores, so we can freeze it or make up dishes and then freeze them. We also put all our change in piggy banks although since we moved into an apartment, we don't save so much because our quarters (25 ¢ coin) all go to the laundry money.
Talking of coins, that was something confusing when we first got to Canada, I went out to buy a
newspaper from a box one day and it told you how many dimes and quarters (or whatever the combination was) were required, I hadn't a clue of course. Turned out that you have quarters, dimes (10 ¢) nickels (5 ¢) and pennies (1 ¢) - these days we have Loonies ($1 coin) so called because its reverse side has a loon on it and Twonies ($2 or two Loonies). This picture taken from Life in the Minivan Lane. We can't save Loonies either because we use them for the laundry too.
I promised crèpe fillings today and here is one.
Cheesy Ham and Mushroom Crèpes
Serves: 6
Source: Cooking Light - May 1994
Photo from Cooking Light.
Ingredients: 1 tsp margarine
1 cup chopped onion
4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (12 oz.)
3/4 cup plus
2 tbs evaporated skimmed milk, divided
1/2 cup beer
1 tbs cornstarch
1-1/4 cups lean ham (6 oz)
1 cup (4 oz) Swiss cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
12 Basic Crepes
Melt margarine in a large nonstick skillet. Add onion and saute 2 mins. Add mushrooms, saute 2 mins. Add 1/2 cup milk and beer, cook 3 mins.
Combine cornstarch and 2 tbs milk in a small bowl, stir well and add to skillet. Bring to a boil and cook 1 min stirring. Remove from heat, stir in ham, 1/2 cup cheese, salt and pepper.
Spoon 1/4 cup mixture down center of each crepe and roll up. Place seam side down in a baking dish or individual gratin dishes. Sprinkle remaining cheese evenly. Drizzle remaining milk over crepes. Cover and bake at 350 for 15 mins. Uncover and bake another 15 mins or until thoroughly heated.
Have a great day.
