Thrills in Stores — It’s new to me!

Anyone tried these?  Ragu pasta sauce in a pouch, $1.99 (flyer price) for 13.5 oz.  Twice the price per ounce as their glass-jarred pasta sauces.  I must say, much more transportation-efficient, but where are the savings to the consumer?

Sometimes you get so used to looking for the best deal, you miss new opportunities.  Since I had some extra time today, I used a keener eye in areas I don’t usually hit.  I was pleasantly surprised:

At BagNSave, I was drawn to a pink bottle in the condiments section.  It was way on the top shelf, above the mustards.  Woeber’s Cranberry Horseradish.  Huh!  At $2.05 for 16 oz., which is 96 servings, this might actually be interesting to try.  I sometimes see this brand on sale, but don’t recall any coupons.  In my household, this would last a long time, since only one of us uses horseradish and likes cranberries.  It would also make an interesting condiment for a party.

Cruising the “Mexican” foods aisle, I found a viable substitute for a traditionally Italian ingredient.  Tiny pastas (acini de pepe, ditalini, etc.) that are used in soups can cost up to $2.00 for a 1-lb. box, and normally a recipe only calls for a small amount.  La Moderna makes tiny star-shaped pasta (as well as very tiny shells) for just .45 for 7 oz.  You won’t have to buy a big box to sit on the shelf, and you’ll save.

I will admit that while I love shopping at Aldi, it isn’t always the BEST deal.  Today they had Uncle Ben’s seasoned rice mixes on clearance for .99.  That’s a good deal for those, if you get them.  But then at BagNSave, I checked the price at $1.39; they go on sale for $1.09 at times, and recently there were $1/2 coupons circulating.  Without a sale price, you would be able to get them for .89, and on sale, for .59 each at BagNSave.  It pays to compare, even when you get settled into “the best” place for prices.

I also noticed that Birds Eye has frozen rice under its Steamfresh label.  I did not jot down the price, but remember that it was higher than the Kroger brand.  You really, really pay for convenience, and if you’re cooking in a plastic bag, you’re getting extra “stuff” in your food.  Please be careful, folks.

Can we talk cheese?  The prepackaged, sliced, dairy section cheeses are what have worked best for my family for sandwiches, especially since only one of us tends to use it regularly.  I buy on sale unless I absolutely have to get it immediately, and use coupons or do deals if I can.  Yesterday, I found the cheapest (store) brand of Swiss slices at $3.58 for 8 oz.  OUCH!  A name brand 1-lb. package was still $6.99.  Heading to the deli section, I found the SALE price of Swiss at $6.99/lb.  I joked with the counter gal that dairy cows don’t eat that much corn, and she said, “Yeah, and they don’t really work, either.”  Nice to know the grocery people have to pay increased costs for their food, too.  So now I’m thinking that a half-pound of sale strong deli cheese, sliced paper thin, might yield more servings than any other sliced cheese.  If it’s strong, a little goes a long way.  Anyhow, today I found 8-oz. packages of sliced Swiss at Aldi for $1.99, which is a bargain compared to the other alternatives.

One thing I have become increasingly disappointed in is chewing gum.  I decided to grab a pack to get me through the next week at work.  Every brand, every single pack, even if it didn’t say “sugar free,” contained aspartame.  Without getting on my soapbox about that ingredient, let me state that I do not knowingly or willingly ingest aspartame/Nutrasweet/Equal.  So now I have no gum.  Believe me, I’ll be writing to every company I can very soon!

Good luck in your endeavors to feed your family on a budget.  I’m developing my menus with less meat, eggs and cheese.  I find RecipeZaar to be my biggest help in finding recipes and in discussing these topics.  I am grateful I have a large freezer, and that my family is flexible enough to eat whole-grain spaghetti with extra-veg marinara when they really want steak.