Returning from the Sales

I went to our local grocery store and we purchased various grocery items on sale. One of the items I purchased was a couple cartons of 18 count eggs. I figured I'd try a format of egg preservation that I heard about. It was aired on "Doomsday Preppers" and in the show the woman was putting up into storage eggs by taking and rubbing cooking oil onto the shells to coat the eggs.

Now this may sound odd, but I remember years ago, as a little girl my aunts having eggs that they insisted we not wash. We could "rub" the dirt and droppings off, but we weren't to get the eggs wet. They always talked about how it would destroy the protective coating.

Well this recent episode reminded me of those old comments from my childhood and I thought, perhaps my aunts knew something about what they were speaking. After all both of them sold eggs throughout the county. They always had eggs, regardless of the season.... so clearly they knew something about having laying hens and eggs year round.

So today, I decided to try the concept. If I'm able to extend the life of the eggs by even a few weeks. This would increase my saving greatly since it would mean that when eggs are on sale, I could stock up. We use eggs for breakfasts and for cooking ingredients in various recipes, so eggs are a staple that really deserves some budget adjustments.

Its sort of odd this year to be buying eggs, since a year ago, I had hens laying more eggs than I could cope with. But its a good lesson in frugal spending.

We also purchased other food items we tend to use regularly, including our favorite pre-made spaghetti sauce. I not only purchase name brands, I also like to purchase the less expensive versions and use them as bases for other dishes. I find this to be far more economical then producing my own spaghetti sauce from scratch when it comes to buying each of the ingredients from the store and mixing them into my own version at home. Buying however either the name brand versions or generic store varieties when they go on sale, in larger numbers just makes sense.

By catching the sales and stocking up during the sales, I may end up going home with 5 jars of spaghetti sauce, but its added to numerous boxes of various pastas that I purchased in previous sales situations. The result is I'm pinching those pennies and stretching my purchasing power.

Another area people often fail to consider is catching the sales when fresh produce are on sale. Yes, its true you can only eat so many green peppers in one sitting, but it doesn't mean you can preserve those green peppers or onions or cucumbers or other fresh veggies in your own gourmet pickle recipe or freeze them for later use (depending on the vegetable).

One method you might consider testing out is Brine-cured pickles. You can find recipes for brine-cured dill pickets or even sauerkraut. You might even consider making your own salsa or chutney. The sky is the limit and with produce in season, especially those that come into "season" in other parts of the nation and thus being placed on sale at our local stores, you can push your family's budget and add a bit of gourmet to your frugal dietary habits.