August 2011 Preps, Halfway Through!

I know some of you have seen this and some of you haven't. This is the quick pic of our canning. There was 1 full case to the side that I coudn't include in the photo because I didn't want the table to bow lol.

We've been canning since March 20th and have given away about 20 jars. But we still have 22.5 cases of canned food. It is the best addiction ever and it puts your mind at ease to look at the "food room"

Lemon Juice and Acetone...keep it on the shelves, keep notebooks too folks.












I really try to buy domestically made stuff.













Last week this chicken was only 1.89 a lb. But this last WEEKEND boneless skinless breast was only $1.49, the drumsticks and thighs were only .68 cents a lb. UNBELIEVABLE.









Tonight we also went to purchase more ground chuck (our local store here does 90%lean for chuck) and it was holding at $1.88/lb. All I know is that I have this feeling that prices are going to hike astronomically because our prices here are UNBELIEVABLY cheap.







Canning Chicken is one of my favorite things out there. I like how it looks, how it makes the house smell and how it tastes.










I already reviewed this. Just click on the receipt below so you can feel the amazement.












There's my jardiniere and peaches in the background. I just have to keep it up.












Proof is in the Pudding.

Click on it twice to enlarge the pic.













Walgreen's is getting harder and harder to hustle.

Contact Solution: 8 bucks with instant $8 rebate
BPA free baby spoons: $1.09 clearance
Lindt Choco Truffles: $1.50 each
Aquafresh Whitening: $1.29 clearance
Johnson 500pc Q tips: $1.99





I recently started watching youtube videos on how to make your own laundry soap. Last week while I was out shopping I was just keeping an eye out for Fels Naptha/Octagon soap. I didn't find any here in the West Valley so I stocked the Lirio laundry bars (white for whites and yellow for coloured clothes)

The fels is only $1.39 at Food City in the East Valley and the 400g lirio is only .89 cents


The borax was about 2.60 a box and the washing soda is close to $3 a box. Even just having this much would make at least 110 gallons of laundry soap following the most basic recipe.









We stopped by Wally World to pick up my briquets for my brother. Well Mr.Man and I habitually cruise their clearance. Well I saw this coconut oil but I said it's still pricey. Well as we walked away from it this little Asian lady made eyes at him and said What do you Want Hunny I will mark it down for you! He said I will take these for $2...she said Ohhh only $2.50 is my Max Hunny. He said, "I'll TAKE em"




I was helping my brother organize his pantry, house and garage and I found this 25 compartment organizer thrown in the corner of his 3 car garage. I noticed the corner just needed a bit of duct tape and said Hey Can I take this and he said take it.

I'm going to use it to divvy out my first aid kit a bit. The other week Mr.Man got a pretty deep thumb cut and I had to dig inconveniently.


I had that $8 coupon for walgreens. So I went in there to use it before it expired. I found these baby wipes 3 - 100 packs for only $2.50. I also found Keri Lotion for 5.99 with a $5 rebate. Next to Cetaphil and Jergens, Keri is my next choice. I ended up paying $4.78 and they gave me a $5 instant rebate. LOL.

The white choco nestle chips were only 95 cents each at the local dollar store.



Hydrogen Peroxide was only 99 cents a quart at the 99 cent only store. That is one of the best prices I've seen for 32 ounces. We still have a few cases of hydrogen peroxide so I figured 5 quarts would suffice.








We went to the East Valley to drop off some canned stuff and things I got for the Father In Law while I was in Asia. I was really pushing my luck asking Mr.Man to stop at the Asian store when he barely got off a flight from a 4 day bachelor party. But he's a good sport and he went.

The sake was only $6.47 a bottle but they only had 2 left. I also picked up shredded seaweed, wasabi powder, toasted black sesame and salt, green tea incense and good rice flour.

While contemplating what to can I decided to throw a batch of creamcheese brownies for the boys and girls at Arizona Shootersworld - since they are SO nice to us.









While that baked I went outside to push the cucumbers aka WEEDS around - and don't you know I found a cucumber. A nice big 8 inch one that was happy to see me...









I looked again and saw this 5 inch one...













And sleeping under the other side was one more.

It's not much but at least our ghetto garden finally yielded something. I just wanted to can SOMETHING from our first gardening attempt. Looks like I'm gonna get my chance. Thank you Bees for working and thank you Mr.Man for not giving up!

August Haul...About half way.

Back in the saddle from being overseas last month. I've been home about 3 weeks and it feels good to be back and preppin.

Pork tenderloin was only 1.76/lb. This one piece made approximately 4 pints. I like pulled pork sandwiches so I put this up. I know some of you are not fans of pork but we are. End of conversation.





93% lean was only 1.96 a lb from Fry's market as well. In other areas they might be known as Kroger's. We bought 3 chubs which is 6 lbs. 6 lbs made about 8 pints. Truth be told the biggest chunk of our canned proteins is chicken and lean ground. Lean ground is super flexible recipe wise or even as is for dirty rice.

Once Mr. Man returns with my camera I will be doing recipes on various canned meats including spam, canned ham and the like.



Here is the finished result from canning the pork and chicken.












Seedless grapes were only 77cents a lb and Rainier (THE BEST) cherries were only $1.99 a lb from the usual $5/lb. I am seriously considering canning cherries but I need a cherry pitter. The last time I dehydrated cherries my fingers were blue for a week from removing the pits.








Carrots: 50 cents/bag
Bellpepper: 4/$1
Bolillo Rolls: 5/$1











Half and Half organic salad: $1 each
Cauliflower $.50 cents each
Various Revlon makeup: 99 cents.

Now I know what you are saying makeup? When I see nice neutral colors in good brands like Revlon or L'oreal for less than a dollar - I put them up because even during the War women will trade for cosmetics. Believe that.





The vegetables above made this jardiniere. I really like jardiniere. Sometimes I'll even chop it up and put it in sandwiches instead of pickles.

Mr. Man is a bit heavy handed with the herbs but they tasted really good in the end. With him there are no mistakes in the kitchen - just new recipes. HAHAHA.






Bellpepper 4/$1
Plums 2lbs/.96 cents
Green Onion 3/$1
Cucumber 6/$99 cents
Jalapenos 4lbs/$1
Beef Roast $2.99/lb (very little fat)
Chicken Bouillon 99 cents

All this is for eating and prepping. Mostly for prepping lol.




Someone told me it is against federal law to put hormones in your chicken. So the label of no hormones is an enticement. However I will say that Chicken from Sprouts Market has the best texture, the best smell and the least fat of the chicken breasts that I buy around town.

Their Chicken (boneless skinless) are only $1.89/lb on sale. Other markets have it between $1.47-$1.67/lb. For the difference of approximately 30 cents I will pay for the higher quality.


Peaches were on sale the previous week 4lbs for $1 and last week at 3lbs for $1.

12 lbs was the first batch i bought $3
18 lbs was the 2nd batch i bought. $6

These were good both canned and fresh. And at those prices even if no one in the house did like them I would just put them up and trade them with someone in later days or even include them in Christmas tins with cookies.



12 lbs sliced made 3 pints plus 2 quarts plus 2 bottles of peach syrup.

I always withhold and can the syrup because fruit syrups are always good to mix with green tea or lemonade. And properly stored a syrup will not mold unless it is exposed to air.







18 lbs peaches quartered made only 7 quarts preserves and 2 quarts syrup. Unbelievable. I really thought it would take more than that. I will tell you this - I had to bust out the biggest pans I had to boil these for 1 minute and it was a pain. I would suggest you raw pack them and get the syrup super hot then boil water can them. It was a mess but a delicious mess.






I was running low on lemon and lime juice - so I popped by the 99 cent only. The lemon juice there is 25% juice and the lime is actually very good. I also stopped by Wally World for pure acetone (for my nails UH HUH) and the composition books were only 40 cents. In our preps we also include paper, pens, pencils, because those are simply things we cannot make and you may have to teach small children how to write or do math or science so it is good to have.




Here is confirmation that it's made int he USA and is good until June of next year - but truth be told it never lasts that long in this house.











Here is a close up of the chicken package













$1.89 a lb. It still can't be beat. What I don't understand is this temporary drop in prices on everything here in AZ. It's quite deceptive because I talk to people around the country and they are definitely not getting the same benefit as the prices we have here. I am taking advantage of it but since the fiasco with Wall Street I intend on buying even more this week to can and store.






8 lbs fresh makes about 8 pints canned. I am very cautious not to overstuff them coz I feel it is a waste of time when you lose a seal. We have used our chicken in various ways but that will be highlighted in another blog.









Always on the hunt. These brownie mixes were only 69 cents a piece at Albertsons. Yeah you heard me. So I bought all the ones they had left on the shelf. I buy the small boxes of baking soda for my cookies because I like the lift from a fresher box. I bought corn tortillas because I can't keep up with how much they eat around here. The pectin I got for $1 with my latest coupon. Now the Jars and lids...well that's another story.

Jars: 5 bucks a case and 99 cents a box of lids!


Here is a picture of the receipt for any disbelievers. This is what happened...the girl I always pick (Jess) to check out at Walmart knows that I price match and use coupons. She asked if the jars had any price matching. I said well,"you should just put them at $5 like the clearance at Fry's and the lids are normally 99 cents..." Well don't you know she did match it.

Click on the pick to enlarge.

Observe it says CASH. I try to pay cash for preps purchases so no one can dig around in my data. As for membership cards those are all dummy names and phone numbers.

The 25 lb sugar never goes on sale. However the price has held for the last 6 weeks at 13.78. This girl had the nerve to tell me that the 4lb bag was on sale for $3. Hahahaha. Ain't that something, I had to tell her that would make it about $18 for 25 lbs and that did me no good. Math folks.

Like I said - Mr. Man took off with the digi cam for the shotgun wedding so the other preps I was able to purchase so I will just put them on by the end of the month



Walgreen's is getting harder and harder to hustle.

Contact Solution: 8 bucks with instant $8 rebate
BPA free baby spoons: $1.09 clearance
Lindt Choco Truffles: $1.50 each
Aquafresh Whitening: $1.29 clearance
Johnson 500pc Q tips: $1.99

They have really tightened up on the use of the rebates. Before you could use the rebate on the next purchase which included separating your purchases and paying for the 2nd half of your items with the previous rebate. Now they no longer allow you to apply your rebate until the following day. So I'm going to have to break up my purchasing - I can't wait until the weather cools down so I can just ride my bike down there. I have no intention of wasting gas just to save a few bucks. In truth if you do it right they end up paying you 25 cents to a buck to take that stuff out the store.

Keep Preppin' Folks...It's getting bonkers out there!

June Wk 3: Haul Update

Discernment: noun; the ability to judge well. I'd like to say that I have pretty good discernment, sometimes it's painful to be able to discern things because then people annoy you. Discernment is something that you should practice. To discern does not mean to judge people, it means the ability to weight potential outcomes or possibilities. To be able to discern quickly is a skill that will serve you not only in prepping but in many aspects of your life. If you can reflexively that situations are bad you are more apt to make a fight or flight decision faster than that random person next to you.

I mention this because I realized today that I have shopping discernment. Haha! That sounds funny but it's really true. I remember when Mr. Man and I first met and he used to always come along to do the shopping because we both worked late and it was extra time we could spend together. He always said when I went into shopping mode I literally got a game face and I somehow gravitated towards the deals or better purchases. I used to just laugh and wave it off and today - I really found some random things that you don't normally find.

Someone once asked me if I only prep what is on sale. Because we were able to complete our list of staples now we can add other items, but initially I suggest that a target goal be met for staples prior to using sales exclusively for your preps. But the deals I've got in the last week are ridiculous; today I was only supposed to hit 2 stores but something inside me said - try Walgreen's at this location and then my produce guy text me (see below). I know it sounds ridiculous to say that a person can have deal instincts - but you can.

Try your clearance rack discernment - Hit a clearance area of the store and give it a quick glance up and a quick glance down. See if anything catches your eye. If nothing catches your eye then scan the shelves like you would a book. That is when you find something that you didn't realize that you could use or put up for a rainy day. Anyone can go to a shelf and pay regular price for stuff - but if you can go through 50 -100 feet of clearance shelves and find a steal in less than half an hour - you are almost a pro - haha.

I was really looking for more sockeye salmon but I didn't find it - instead I found these things: vaporizer, sunflower seeds, aluminum tape, fly paper, sewing kit refills, and organic powdered red tea with powdered lemon and powered honey - Yada yada yada...maybe that will put some of those with their Organic Prepping high and Mighty bullshit on the SHUTTUP.

Anyway - it was all 99 cents each




My sister and I also stopped by dd discount across the street. I guess it's some kind of clearance center affiliated with Ross. But I was able to find a candy thermometer for only 2.99 and a granite ware cake pan for only $1.99









Hard to believe anything is made in the USA in a clearance store anymore...












Next we stopped by Marshall's because my little sister wanted a bathing suit from there and I actually found this square ceramic bake-ware for $5 - and it's made in Portugal: Oven and Dishwasher safe. This thing will be awesome for the solar cooker








I picked up some Aunt Jemima Instant Oatmeal - no high fructose corn syrup or any of that mess. not a bad deal: $1 a box - I think it has 10 or 12 servings inside of it.










Mom 1 took my cheesecloth so I went ahead and bought a few to keep in the cabinet - these were also $1 each.











DD discount had these multitools for $3.99. They are not the best like a leatherman or whatever but they will do for now. But it is a simple multitool, a swiss army style knife and an LED light keychain.









Whatever the case - it is a good price.













Before we went to Poppa In Laws for Fathers Day we stopped by the 99 cent only by his house to pick up a few things for him and I happen to find these organic coconut flour and whole flax seed - (all of it expires 2013 if that matters at all)...you know the drill - everything was 99 cents. I'm going to add Flax to our daily diet because we have 20 lbs of it put away already.






It's so awesome to find this because I have some recipes for it specifically. Funny how people sit all high and mighty about their "SACRIFICE" for an organic lifestyle and all that bullshit and I'm snatchin up stuff left and right for a penny.









Monday we stopped by Costco and Safeway to fill out Mom and Dads prescriptions. On the way home I said hey lets stop at this Walgreen's and check it out we never go to this one. Well I happen to find prenatal complete vitamins for 5.24 each PLUS they were buy one get one - that is 500 pills for 5.24 LOL.







They also had this ocuFresh eyewash for 1.99. It has 6 or 7 individual eye washes and an eye cup or something. I figured it wouldn't hurt to add it to the first aid kit.










Here's a receipt for all you disbelievers lol.













I happened to stop at one more walgreens on an alternate route home and they had these individual superglue things for only 80 cents. Pretty cheap huh. Then I got home and my tasters choice samples were there Yippee.









I also picked up another bottle of b-12 for 16.99. I know it sounds expensive but outside of Costco they are charging the same price for less than half the amount of pills.

Sickening how they charge so much for vitamins - and all the good ones cost the most --- no wonder people sit around and just be sick.






Last stop Safeway for my Dad's meds...I was trolling the store for mason jars and they didn't have any - but they sure did have these Pyrex with lids for 4.25 or something like that.










Here's another receipt for you disbelievers. That ain't my name on there - I use a dummy number from our childhood home. I use dummy numbers for all my discount programs, with dummy PO box addresses, and dummy emails - I've been doing it since 1997 like that ever since I worked on a data warehousing project.







Today's buys were pretty good:
Rice, long grain: 4lbs/$96 cents
Pinto beans: 4 lbs/$.96 cents
Mangoes: 6 pcs/$.96 cents
Liquid Pectin: 99cents each
Peanut Butter: $1 each
Coconut Milk: 99 cents each
Key Limes: 3lbs/$1






Strawberries: 88cents/lb
REAL Bacon Bits: 1.29 each
Sara Lee whole wheat: $1 each
Morehouse German mustard: .99cents each

I don't even know how to tell you I do it except it's a combination of memory, scanning and instinct. Just put yourself out there.






Jars with Coupon: $7
Sugar: $13.58 / 25 lbs.

Hard to believe sugar is actually down 20 cents since I last got it. But I will tell you this - at Costco sugar is now close to $16 for 25 lbs.








After I picked up Mom's request for Diabetic Robitussin I stopped at the Walgreen's for a rockstar energy drink and I noticed they had a clearance aisle.

Well wouldn't you know -they had these 60 watt light-bulbs for just 75 cents. 12 light-bulbs for 75 cents! That's nuts.






Mr. Man is adamant in always saying that we get light-bulbs for our preps because next year they will start pushing the blinking fluorescent from GE that are supposedly energy saving. 1) florescent lights give me a headache. 2) Florescent make your complexion look like shit no matter what color you are. 3) Yuck

I got 6 light-bulbs last prep mission for 75 cents and thought that was a good job but 12 bulbs is a great job.










Couple more things today:
Kerr lids and caps in small mouth size - I'm going to start carrying small mouth ones for the purpose of gifting them lol. The Lindt chocolate was only 2.27 and the Ghirardelli chocolate was only 1.12. The toothbrushes were $1. and the coffee filters were just 88 cents a pack. I also found another candy thermometer but this one I am mailing to a friend. And I found a strange little "finger cutter" for $2 and post its were only 50 cents. I also picked up another set of 3 funnels for $1 - these ones are really good quality. And I figure it doesn't hurt to have funnels.

This is my steal of the day!

Thank you to my Produce man - now I have to bring him cupcakes - because no good dead goes unpunished. haha.

He always sends me texts when he has something he thinks I'd like = last time he sold me Asparagus at 99 cents a kilo. Today he told me he had overstock of the organic baby spinach.




Well first of all I love Earthbound because they are near my hometown. Earthbound is based in San Juan Bautista, California. I also like this kind because it is crunchy enough to eat and not chalky at all but it is also strong enough to cook with...and that is rare for an organic.








Oh boo hoo hoo on the Organic Purists...Let's see you grow 17 lbs of Organic Spinach for a mere $16.50. Looool yeah you heard me it was about .97 cents a lb. Bwa hahahha.

1 lb: house eats
13 lbs: for canning
3 lbs: for dehydrating






It's not very cute is it - but it's very yummy to us. That's it, that's my whole story --- that's week 3 of the preps for this month. I wasn't really planning on doing much since I leave in a week but if you are given a blessing and an opportunity then by all means you have to rise to it. Can't be sitting around the house painting your toenails and eating ferrero Roche can ya?

:)