food | Prudent and Practical

July 3, 2009

Can You Really Save Money on Popcorn?

Filed under: food — Tags: food, save — K @ 3:10 PM

D and I love watching movies. On the weekends we watch a few since we have a lot in our collection that we haven’t seen. We usually purchase on-sale popcorn at the store for our movie time, but recently D made it with a blower-style popper when he was back home. It brought back childhood memories and the smell was just devine! If you read my Father’s Day article, you’ll know that I got him a popper for the special day. We’ve been popping so much corn now, even during the week, that I was wondering about the cost of it. Here’s my grocery store study…

Team “Kernel”

Iowa State Popcorn from Brandmeyer Popcorn Company = $1.29 for 2 pounds of kernels (27-2 tbsp servings)
The cost comes to $0.05/serving!!!

The Competition

Orville Redenbacher = $3.98 for 6 microwavable bags = $0.66/bag or $0.22/serving
Blast O’ Butter = $2.97 for 6 microwavable bags = $0.50 per bag or $0.17/serving
Store brand (Hy-Vee) = $2.82 for 6 microwavable bags = $0.47 per bag or $0.16/serving

The Verdict

In the microwavable popcorn bags, there are approximately 5.75 tablespoons of popcorn kernels or 34 tablespoons per 6-bag box. According to the box, this comes to about 18-2 tablespoon servings (I know the math is a little off!) – you can see the cost per serving above.

The recommended amount to pop in our popcorn maker is 1/2 cup aka 8 tablespoons or 4-2 tablespoon servings.

I know what you’re thinking – “K, obviously the Iowa State kernals win over the microwavable stuff!” Well, I’m going to take it one step further. I just bought the popcorn maker. How long will it take for the popcorn maker to pay for itself???

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June 16, 2009

Delicious Homemade Ice Cream

Filed under: food — Tags: DIY, food, kitchen, natural, saving money — K @ 12:38 AM

: Image via Wikipedia

Last Father’s Day I purchased a 1.5 quart Rival ice cream maker for D. We’ve (I’ve) made ice cream an average of once per month over the past year. We’ve made mostly vanilla – both quick and old-fashioned (custard) recipes, Oreo ice cream, and even a few different vegan recipes.

At the same time, we have frequently purchased ice cream at the grocer such as store brand and Blue Bunny, but realized it’s not “real” ice cream. If you look at the front of the carton, it usually says something like “Vanilla Flavored Ice Cream.” These often contain the dreaded high fructose corn syrup and a plethora of hard-to-pronounce words. I’m assuming that Breyer’s vanilla and Haagen-Dasz brands are more expensive because they don’t have these things.

The following recipe is from the Rival 1.5 quart ice cream maker’s guide:

Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

1/4 cup sugar ($0.13)
1/8 tsp salt (cost not calculated)
1 3/4 cup whole milk ($0.47)
2 eggs, beaten ($0.15)
(Heat the first three ingredients together in a pot. Add 1/2 cup of mixture to beaten eggs and mix. Add this mixture back to main mixture. Chill for 2 hours.)
1 1/2 cup whipping cream ($1.27)
1 tbsp vanilla extract ($1.16)
(Add the cream and vanilla to the chilled mixture and stir together well. Add to ice cream maker and chill according to manufacturer’s instructions.)

I even used a couple organic ingredients! Although I’m addicted to sweets and vanilla, I thought that 1tbsp vanilla extract was too much in this recipe. I will try using less next time.

DOLLAR$ & CENT$

Total cost = $3.18 / 12 half-cup servings (1.5 qt.) = $0.27 / serving
Breyer’s: $3.39 / 12 half-cup servings (1.5 qt.) = $0.28 / serving
Haagen-Dazs: $3.89 / 3.5 half-cup servings (1-ish pint) = $1.11 / serving

Of course, my cost may be different then yours. I could cut the cost if I purchased the dairy in bigger sizes (not 1 qt. sizes) and used all non-organic ingredients. When I look at the final cost, I think, “It’s not much cheaper than Breyer’s, more costly than Blue Bunny and store brand, and I have to prepare it.” But then I realize: the ingredients are natural and there are absolutely no preservatives or corn syrups in it, and that’s important to me.

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June 3, 2009

Save up to 50% on Groceries… I’ll show you how!

Filed under: food — Tags: bargains, discounts, food, shopping — K @ 12:18 AM

: Image via Wikipedia

If you need a little extra help with groceries, there are a couple different ways to get more bang for your buck without applying for food stamps or obsessively couponing.

The following two programs offer discounted groceries with no strings attached. The food is purchased from the same companies that your local grocery stores use. They are not giving you old, outdated food.

1 – SHARE Iowa began in 1992 and states in the local paper: “If you eat, you qualify!” You’re expected to do two hours of community service in exchange for the discount. The volunteering options are many! You could do some work with your church, help the SHARE program, knit for a non-profit group, or even call a sick neighbor. They currently serve around 8000 Iowan’s per month, but would love to serve more! (Note: There are many other SHARE programs in the US – not just Iowa!)

2 – AngelFood Ministries is a nationwide program that was founded in 1994. The main difference between this program and Share Iowa is that you do not have to volunteer. This group also takes food stamps. Their main “box” is $30 but is worth approximately $65 based on the national average price of food, and will feed a family of four for one week! There is no limit to the number of boxes you can purchase.

Here’s what’s available for the month of June (descriptions can be found HERE):

Signature box – $30
Senior Citizen’s / Convenience box (10 heat and eat meals) – $28
Allergen free box – $25
Seafood box – $35
7 lb assorted meat/grill box – $23
4.5 lb Meat and Chicken Combo box – $22
11 lb. Chicken Combo box – $22
Fresh Fruit and Veggie Box – $22
“Latin Flavors” Fruit and Veggie Box – $22

3 – Grow your own fruits and veggies from seed and make baked goods from scratch. This is by far the cheapest way to get food!

4 – You may find some good deals from vendors willing to barter more if you visit your local farmer’s market late in the day. As I was leaving a large downtown farmer’s market, I was handed three loafs of bread from a vendor. I refused at first to which he replied, “Please take it for free, I have so much left over today and I don’t have room for it at home.” It was delicious!

So, that was just a small list to get you started. If you have any other ideas you’d like to suggest, please do so!

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May 26, 2009

Save $7 or More Off Your Next Dine-Out

Filed under: food — Tags: bargains, discounts, eating out, entertainment, food, meal, restaurants — K @ 12:33 AM

: Image via Wikipedia

Due to the rising costs of food and entertainment, many Americans are cutting back. With Restaurant.com, you don’t have to! Restaurant owners are always looking for new customers and they use Restaurant.com to attract them with the discounted certificates. Therefore, the restaurants listed in the directory are local or regional – you won’t find Applebee’s or Red Lobster on there!

Restaurant.com offers discounted dining certificates in the amounts of $10 (cost $3), $25 (cost $10), $50 (cost $20), $75 (cost $30), and $100 (cost $40). You print the certificates off at home, making it a convenient way to save money – no wasting money on shipping or waiting for a gift card to arrive. No wasting time at the restaurant either… they offer many menus online, so you can check out the selection before you get there!

If you’re needing ideas for a birthday or anniversary, you can purchase the dining certificates for someone else. The code to print off the certificates is sent to directly to their email box.

There are stipulations to the certificates. You can’t use more than one certificate at a time, you can only use one certificate per month per restaurant, and it’s up to the individual restaurant whether or not alcohol can be purchased with the certificate. The restaurants can also choose whether or not they want to honor the certificate at certain times. Please call ahead and let them know that you will be using one.

The certificates do frequently go on sale and a Google search will render many different discount codes available, so make sure you check that out.

If you’re worried about credibility, Restaurant.com offers a guarantee on their site and they’re accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

*** Enter discount code: SPECIAL at checkout and hit apply to save an additional 80%! Offer valid from 5/26/09 at 5:00AM PST to 5/31/09 at 11:59PM PST. (That means… $25 certificate for only $2 !!!)

Now make this a date night and go see a movie!!!

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April 13, 2009

Quick and Delicious No-Egg Pancakes

Filed under: food — Tags: food, health, kitchen, meal — K @ 11:31 AM

Every Sunday D and I try to make a special breakfast. Since yesterday was Easter, our Sunday “ritual” was even more important. As we gathered the materials needed for pancakes and omelets, we realized that we had used the last two eggs for a cake the other night. Neither of us wanted to go all the way to the store for just one ingredient, so I started researching options.

What I found was “5 Minute Vegan Pancakes” at Recipezaar. I’m pretty good for trying new things, so I had no problem with “vegan” pancakes, but D did. Our only choices were vegan ‘cakes or no ‘cakes at all so I made them anyway.

There are only 6 ingredients in this tasty recipe…

1 cup flour – I used whole wheat
1 tablespoon sugar – I used organic unrefined sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup soymilk- I’m assuming cow’s milk would be fine if you don’t normally have soy around
2 tablespoons vegetable oil – I used EVOO and it worked fine; you could also use applesauce
Optional: Mixed oats, berries, apples, nuts

You simply mix the dry ingredients then add in the wet ingredients and mix well. Cook as you would for “normal” pancakes.

The Verdict:

They look like regular pancakes, are fluffy like regular pancakes, but do they taste like regular pancakes? Even my meat-a-tarian hubby thought they were delicious. You can’t taste the soy in them and it makes for a thick but fluffy pancake. I would suggest adding more milk to thin the mix, because they are very thick – that could have been because I used whole instead of white flour. I also added in a little bit more sugar. You obviously don’t need eggs to make scrumptious pancakes – we’ll definitely be making these again.

To see the original recipe, visit “5 Minute Vegan Pancakes” at Recipezaar.

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