Monday, September 7, 2015

Trying To Keep On Food Budget

Yesterday I stocked up on Thai jasmine rice which is our favorite.  This bag should last us up to two years.  Why would I even consider buying an 18.1 kg (40 lbs) for two adults?  It all comes down to dollars and cents and  trying to keep our grocery budget on target.  If I buy little bags of jasmine rice for $7 per shot which is the going rate here for this normally expensive rice I would easily surpass the entire cost of this bag within a couple of months.  

We eat rice approximately once per week.  This bag was on sale for $26.88, regularly $31.98.  Yes, 18 kg of rice for less than the cost of a meal out.  Of course, I have to store it and don't have a lot of room but definitely will find an indoor clean dry spot for this.  I keep an old large pickle jar full in the pantry for immediate use.  At some point in the near future I am going to invest in a food grade bucket with lid often found in survivalist stores for storage of this rice.  Unfortunately, I haven't come across any stores selling those and to ship one through Canadian mail it would cost a fortune so I will stick with the current system.

No matter how things go in the food budget this year I know I have plenty of rice to eat.  It is kind of like having money in the bank.  A couple of years ago I finally figured out how to make perfect rice every time:  2 parts water to 1 part rice, bring water to boil with 1/2 teaspoon of butter (optional but use real butter if doing so) with lid off.  When boiling add rice, stir with wooden spoon.  Leave boiling lid off for a couple of minutes until most but not all liquid is gone. Shut off heat and move to a cool burner and place lid on.  Leave for 10 minutes without removing lid.  Do not walk away from your kitchen area as rice boils over pretty easy, but the butter helps with that. At that point your rice should basically be ready to eat.  And don't worry, if you accidentally let it cook too long to where it sticks to the bottom of the pan but isn't burnt simply add another little bit of water and put it back on the burner for 1 minute then remove to rest for 10 minutes.  Rice is very forgiving and there is certainly no need for a rice cooker, only a saucepan with a lid.  Regular rice is very fast to cook and takes only a couple of minutes more than"minute rice".  No need to waste your money on that.  It also reheats well for use in soups and casseroles if there is any leftover.

The house renos got a bit further along this week as the dishwasher arrived (a day late) and got installed.  We also picked up the new microwave and hubby spent the better part of 2 days repairing/painting/caulking the baseboards back into place.  That is one part of the reno that we did not count on how much time it would take.  Hubby also replaced the pump that removes water from the AC unit after the part arrived exactly on time from Amazon.  $100 saved on installation there and it took him less than 1/2 hour to do it.  We rehomed our microwave to Mom as her microwave was on its last legs and took forever to heat anything up.  She was very appreciative.

All of these little things add up - a penny here, a penny there.  

26 comments:

  1. When I buy rice in bulk, I store it in my freezer. Keeps forever. Otherwise, it'll get bugs. No matter what I did.

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    1. I have been lucky, no bugs at all. Others are also suggesting the freezer though.

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  2. We do the same thing you do with the jasmine rice. We store most of it in food grade buckets and then transfer it as needed to a large container that we keep in the kitchen. I hate to run out of anything!!

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    1. I always try and keep rice, pasta and potatoes in the house. It is incredible what you can whip up when there isn't much else in the cupboards.

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  3. I love rice! I may try your recipe, as my husband makes it a slightly different way & I've never gotten the hang of making it myself. I'm with you - trying to make some adjustments to our purchasing so we can reduce the grocery budget. We went WAY over in August, so I need to get creative.

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    1. I am trying to buy some things cheaper too - like pancake syrup. Hubby likes an expensive one but I switched and he didn't even notice - 1/3 the price!

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  4. We buy 4.5 kilo (10 lb) bags of basmati rice. I think it's about $13. But because we travel in the motorhome, we don't want anything bigger.

    Your rice making recipe is essentially the way Ruth does it...perfect rice every time!

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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    1. You certainly don't have a lot of storage except in the summertime so 10 lbs sounds very reasonable.

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  5. Not sure what we purchase rice for. But I know we have it more then once a week.
    Coffee is on

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    1. I love rice - but not brown. I have tried many times, just don't like it!

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  6. I wish I had room to store something like that!

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    1. I really don't but manage to figure it out every time. Once I have a foodgrade sealable bucket I could even store it in a closet in the spare bedroom.

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  7. We use basmati rice but never purchase in bulk after having a terrible problem with weevils in the past. We buy the top quality stuff from the Asian supermarket on the corner and its pretty cheap.
    I cook mine the same but never with butter. xxx

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    1. I wish we had an Asian market around here :) Part of small town living I guess

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  8. You can get a food grade bucket and lid at a beermaking or wine making store. They're not very expensive, if I recall correctly. It's been a while since I bought mine :)

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    1. What a smart woman! I shall check that out this week - definitely a great idea.

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  9. I buy in bulk and use it slowly too. It is crazy to spend sometimes twice as much for a smaller container.
    You are getting to the end of your rehab. You almost make me want to start tearing out the downstairs bath. Almost.

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    1. I hate every minute of it. I does look nice though.

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  10. my husband is a handyman too. Its not his job, but he is very handy, and is always fixing stuff that would cost a fortune to pay for someone to fix, Our pool thermometer, our water heater, our air conditioners, electrical stuff, plumbing stuff. He saves us thousands every year by knowing how to do the work. I am so grateful! Oh and bulk, yep, buy in bulk when it makes sense for us.

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    1. Hubby is handy with some things, others not so much. We only tend to take on the easier jobs. I can usually figure out visual things a lot quicker than him though...shhh don't tell him I said that.

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  11. I will only buy what I have room to store easily. Rice is one of those easy store items, so I buy it in 10 pound bags or larger. I have found brown rice seems to get weevils easier than white, so I make sure to break it into smaller packages to live in the freezer for a couple of months before it is stored in larger storage buckets. Kind of a pain but worth it in the long run.

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    1. I only like white rice, can't stand brown so maybe that is why I have never had bug issues. I wonder why the brown gets them and not the white.

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  12. I love brown rice and its nutty flavour, and you are right, real butter makes it better. I like to east leftover rice warmed up for breakfast with sugar, cinnamon and milk. Yum! - Margy

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    1. Real butter makes EVERYTHING better! I do like rice pudding, must make some!

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  13. I don't like brown rice either! Basmati is my favorite and I buy in bulk. I keep it in my extra freezer. I pre-make rice on a weekend in batches of four and store that in the freezer for quick dinners.

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    1. I thought we were the only ones! PS I can't stand kale either - nor spaghetti squash but that is for another time...

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