Kim is going on a rant so you might want to tune out now.
Who buys an onion? I mean really you are at the store shopping and you say to yourself, I need an onion.
I enjoy watching vlogs, actually I enjoy watching them so I can judge them. I know this is wrong but so far I cannot stop myself. The quarantine has upset my natural good nature.(snort) I figure as long as I don't identify the vlogs I am not truly judging. See how I can justify my behavior? I am so good at that.
One so called vlog I watch has a family of 6 kids and she works full time, so does her husband and she vlogs about cleaning and family life. I know she is very busy and she seems to be crafty and talented. She also claims to be trying to show people haw to save money. She does something called a grocery haul, where she shows everything she buys at the store for her family. She also shows herself cooking meals for this large family. Here is where the judging part comes in, and shame on me; I will just say this right off.
Most of the haul is buying huge boxes of individual wrapped snacks for her kids and she does say they are allowed one in their lunches or one for a snack. But when you have 6 kids that box would be gone in 2 days. When she cooks, it is two bags of fajita meat with sauce included, she does chop up her own peppers. In my head I add up the cost of two of those meal kits and my head starts to whirl. I want to tell her to watch for the 50% off bin and buy a small roast, freeze it and cut strips of your own meat which will take about 2 minutes and cook it like you did the two kits you opened. Then make the sauce with a few spices and some cornstarch and water and a little tomatoes paste which you can freeze in ice cube trays and use as many chunks as you need. The time will be maybe 5 minutes more and 1/4 the price. Plus you will not have served your children loads of preservatives. As I drink my can of diet coke.....which tastes delicious by the way.
This poor woman's grocery bills are out of site. Every single thing is a mix or a kit. She actually had a haul where she bought an onion. She shows this as, "Well I needed an onion." She did not say what for or why, just that she had been needing an onion. My mind went into a tail spin of the worst kind. Now mind you my anxiety is through the roof right now so please be kind as I am not being kind.
Segue to Kim's grocery trip the week before Thanksgiving. We usually get our onions after we use up all we grow in our garden, by going to southern Idaho and picking them off the road as the trucks dump them. You can easily pick up 50 lbs of sweet, yellow, white and red onions in about 1/2 an hour. Or if you don't want to be a cheap scrounge like me and almost get yourself killed stopping on the Highway you can buy 50lb. bags from road side stands. Cost about $10.00 Now this year because of covid we did not go get our winter onions. So I had to buy them. On the above mentioned grocery trip Kim bought a 5 lb bag of Sweet onions, two three pound bags of yellow onions. I spent $1.67 a bag for the yellow it about killed me and $3.68 a bag for the sweets. So essentially just under $8.00 for 11 lbs of onions. This is hard when I normally get them free or I could get 50lbs for $10.00.
Now I see some eyes whirling, I see you don't try and hide. How can you ever use up that many onions? Well let me see. We will not even talk about Thanksgiving. Let's talk last week. I made a pot roast. Two large onions sliced and roasted. I made a pan of enchiladas, one onion diced and browned, I made enough Spaghetti sauce to make up 4 large pans of lasagna. That took 4 diced onions. I have already used more than one bag of the yellow onions. Actually we are down to several sweets and one yellow onion . This is in two weeks. Why? Because I cook from scratch. I know that takes a little more time but not that much more. Does it take a little more planning? Yes it does.
I loved the picture" If you do stuff, stuff gets done " blog had of her grand daughter with the carrots and potatoes as she got ready to fix a roast for her family. There were several large carrots and potatoes ready to be peeled. This is how to cook to save money. I think of this mother and vlogger and I wonder, why don't you teach some of your teenage daughters to make cookies? Or whip up a cake out of a mix which when bought on sale can be cheaper than making a scratch cake.
I just remember coming home from school with most of the neighborhood kids following me. Mom would have stacks of cookies cooling, if there were not cookies, there would be cinnamon roles, if mom was in class we would go get a bottle of home canned fruit, peaches, pears, cherries were a favorite. In the summer it would be frozen applesauce, we would chip away with a spoon. We called it slush. There was no such thing as prepackaged snacks. My mother was a horrible cook, but a great baker and preserver. Any or all kids were welcome, she was just like that.
Were we just raised different? Is this just a different generation of instant? I don't get it? I know I get on my two youngest as when I go to their houses there will be no carrots, or potatoes or onions or celery. How do you cook? I will ask this every time. Then I go out and buy said supplies and whip up a meal.
I also despise salad kits. So expansive and they have an aftertaste to me. When D#2 and her Nathan stayed with us before they go into their house, I noticed that Nathan, Schmills and Daughter all loved to eat salad. As I always have a big bag of salad greens made up I over heard Nathan say to daughter, "I love you mom's salads, they taste better." I swear these two are addicted to Costco (which I call the two hundred dollar store) When they would go I would always ask then to bring me back a bag of hearts of Romain. This is the cheapest place to get Romain lettuce but not worth me having to go to the Two hundred dollar store. Kim only has so much will power and I know my limits.
So when kids returned, with my coveted lettuce I would immediately chop it up, add about 4 large shredded carrots, slice up about 8 radishes and add any other veggie I had on hand that was fresh. All of this would be stuffed into a two gallon ziplock with a paper towels to absorb gases. Salads for a week.
Yesterday we went up to the kids as Nathan and daughter had to work at a charity event. We dropped off 4 casseroles at our youngest daughters door and waved to her and Oliver through the window. Then took a large lasagna, and homemade bag of salad up to the house and when I opened the fridge I saw a beautiful large bowl of homemade salad. Yes they are making their salads now! I was so excited. They are learning. We all want convenience, it is nice and easy. But how do you convince someone to take just a little time to save some money? Think of that next time you go to buy an onion.
I feel so much better now.
Have a peaceful and restful Sabbath.
Kim
Ha! I did, just last week. But only because Im making a special dish for my sister. I can't eat alliums (garlic and all onions), even small amounts set the Crohn's disease off. I cook all my food from scratch because of this. And I love home made salad, I make my dressing from scratch as well. I suppose kits are convenient sometimes, but regularly would be too much. Celie
ReplyDeleteYou are more than welcome to buy just one onion my friend, Crohns is nothing to mess with.
DeleteHa I have seen that blogger. I can’t seem to keep onions or potatoes! I live in Minnesota so garages etc are too cold, basement doesn’t work. I have second fridge? Everything sprouts, softens or the middle of the onion goes bad. Any good secrets?
ReplyDeleteYou have to keep onions and potatoes separate as well as apples, the gasses they give off will rot each other. Store onions in newspaper in basement if you have to. Just wrap an onion in paper and out all together in a bin or basket. Make sure your potatoes and apple don't have any bruises as they can take out a whole bag. I just use them so often that I can check on the smell if I have a rotten one. Don't keep them in a fridge too cold. Just what you can use. A cool dark environment.
Deletelol. I had four kids in four years, three months and 8 days( which is kinda what happens when an LDS gal marries a. Catholic....I digress), three were boys. I worked full time starting when the second child (daughter) was four months old. I used a crockpot ALL the time. I stuck a roast, cut onions, potatoes, carrots and a package of Lipton onion soup mix with water and let it cook all day while at work (or on weekends.) Ditto with chicken. I would take roast leftovers, add wide noodles and make a soup. With the leftover chicken, carrots, etc., I would take spaghetti noodles, and make homemade chicken noodle soup. I would cook a ham also for the kids,but that was in the oven. I made a lot of breakfast pork chops with rice, and spaghetti (it was sauce from a jar, I suck at cooking unless it is a crockpot.) I would also malee hamburger, or hamburger rice ( which was cooked hamburger, rice, onion cooked with hamburger, and lots of cheese, or hot dogs. It never occurred to me to buy those cans of rice a roni things with meat and pasta. I do not know why. That was the extent of my cooking, except for Thanksgiving turkey and cornish hens. Fried shrimp and fried catfish are popular here ( I live in catfish country and 2 or 3 hours from the coast depending on which coast) but I cannot cook them to save my life. My kids like fried okra and I cannot cook that either. I have to buy it frozen. When I divorced my husband (more than his eye roved, I digress again), mother moved down here to help me help me out with the kids. She was not a cook and would feed the kids gas station pizza all the time. Gas stations in our tiny town used to make large pizzas for take out. I kept my mouth shut because she would not let me pay her and well, babysitting beggars with four kids cannot be choosy. I did not know about salad kits until recently. I do not know how I missed that memo, but I think that they may not be popular in the boonies where I live. I never made mashed potatoes from a box until two years ago, and that was because a friend showed me how. I hate boxed mashed potatoes but do have some in food storage for emergencies. I wish my kids would eat the collards, turnip greens, pinto beans, red beans and rice, black eyed peas I grew up with but that is my fault, for not feeding them that. Now that I live alone, I eat a lot of greens and beans with rice or cornbread. My oldest son is actually a cook at a restaurant, and he used to cook for his siblings when he was tired of granny’s gas station pizza....lol. I had never had ground turkey meat until I went to my daughter’s house in Utah, and she used it in a taco. I love it and use it now. She can cook also. The youngest son is always grilling chicken, or sausage, or hot dogs for me so three out of four can cook, probably out of necessity because of my sucky cooking....lol. One kid, the middle son, cannot cook a lick. I have always bought stuff in bulk though like canned corn and green beans and the kids ate a lot of that. We do not have a restaurant in the tiny town where I live. The gas station serves bacon and biscuits in the morning and they are fabulous. Well, compared to mine.....lol. My kids always ate school lunches. I think they were probably better than my cooking....lol. I always bought a bag of onions, a bag of carrots, and a bag of potatoes, at the grocery store every single week when the kids were growing up. I would also alternate weeks between buying the roast or chicken. I would buy vidalia onions when in season because I like them the best.
ReplyDeleteI should also tell you that I did not know until I read your comment, that if I stuck a paper towel in a plastic bag with the washed lettuce, it would keep it fresh....how in the world did I not know that at age 60? I will certainly get some lettuce and try it!!! Thanks!
DeleteYes my sister in laws all had 4-6 kids in 5 years also. I made sure that did not happen to me, but I also did not think that my second one would pass and I would have an only child for 8 years. It took another 5 for me to have our 4th daughter and I was pushing the age limit. It is okay to not be a stellar cook and it is okay to buy convenience foods, after all you are a busy attorney raising kids. You also don't present yourself as a money saving vlog. Just the fact that you bought bags of root vegetables says that you cooked some.
DeleteI really should proof before hitting publish....I do this all the time in my private life.... maybe rebellion on my part from having to be so careful on job. I don’t know....
ReplyDeleterebel away my friend.
DeleteI never used any kind of mix until the last ten years and because of disability. I bought bags of onions when cooking for family. Now, I buy a bag and dehydrate so they will not be wasted.
ReplyDeleteIf I had six kids and a job, I would probably make it easy for myself. Five minutes is a long time not to have a child interrupt. So, the five minutes of chopping might take 30 minutes to finish, depending on what the child wanted or needed.
Maybe she needs someone to talk to her and show her what to do. She may have not grown up with a mother who cooks. Who knows?
I envy your onions and potatoes on the side of the road.
I don't mind this woman using convenience foods, but she does present herself as a money saver, and that she is not. She is a great mom and housekeeper.
DeleteAlways cook from scratch here, in fact making big batches (some to freeze) enables me to have a day off from cooking every so often.
ReplyDeleteHowever I have been known to buy a bagged salad when my time is limited, but always, always add to it.
God bless.
I just don't like the after taste , and I too have bought them in a pinch, but boy are they expensive.
DeleteAs a mom that worked full time, I used convenience foods about 1/4 time, well maybe 1/3. It’s not just prep, it’s all the running kids places and I had elderly parents that I helped provide care. But, I’m as judgy in my head as the next person. Have fun teaching your kids new tricks.
ReplyDeleteI remember those days of lessons, lessons, and I also remember eating McDonalds too much, so even though I wet on a rant we all do what we can to survive.
DeleteIt's very easy to judge and criticize others. I try not to, unless I have walked in the others shoes. That Mum is doing her best and should be supported by her community.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, I was judging, it is just that she presents herself as a money save and she is not. All of her shopping could be seen as consumerist, and that time could be spent cooking a little healthier.Okay judging again I am sorry, I need to get out of the house....
DeleteAs a mom of 3 kiddos who keep me very busy, a freelance tutoring and babysitting business that often goes to 530 each day and with a husband who works full time I understand where that vlogger is coming from. I will admit that especially this year I have taken to buying individually packed bags of chips and cookies as it is easier for me to grab and go for the kids and it is easier for portion control. I try to stock up when those items are on sale. Now for dinners I do use my crockpot or make semi-homemade dinners (I buy store bought spaghetti sauce but add meat, peppers and onions to it, etc. ). Not everyone has the ability to garden, can, etc. Sometimes especially for me it is taking that time that I would be spending in the kitchen to prep/cook and spending it doing some other activity with the kids (like play outside, go on nature walks, etc). We each have our priorities and try the best that we can.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you do. Actually canned sauce is less expensive than buying tomato products. I just have the luxury of growing my own and I know that is a luxury. I am not saying I never bought snack packages for my kids, but they were not as readily available when I was raising mine. You do what is good for you. You are a great mom and an inspiration to many.
DeleteWe're somewhere in between. I buy one bagged salad a week, because of laziness, for my lunch. However, I make a salad every single day for my husband for dinner (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower & any other random items in the fridge). I don't know why & I've dabbled in making my own lunch salad. Isn't it weird the mental block on such a small thing?
ReplyDeleteWe buy our onions from the $200 store, along with the majority of our groceries. However, what we buy there is typically ingredients to make meals, not snacks. I make my own protein balls, we make our own muffins, popcorn is a standard snack. But, we do keep granola bars & dried fruit on hand for a quick grab & go, and we also have meatballs & chicken wings (both prepped & frozen) ready. We do a reasonable, but imperfect job. I have one super picky eater, a husband who has to eat keto due to food allergies, & then myself & other son. It's usually the combo of those things that require me to have a few cheat options available (cauliflower crust pizza, a frozen ravioli,e tc).
When you are working full time you do the best you can. I was just ranting about the one onion. I just have never bought one onion. I take that back I did it when we were camping and I forgot to pack an onion. So ran into a small town and bought one onion.
DeleteI never had 6 kids so I am not judging her use of convenience products. It does seem that cooking from scratch is becoming a lost art, with the exception of the young foodies., Son3 is one of those and he cooks from scratch almost exclusively. He and DIL3 are currently non-working musicians in NYC and have to save money everywhere. DIY meals are one of the best places to start. Lucky for him (luckier for her) he is a really good cook
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to your son and DIL. I know having 6 kids would be a cause for her cooking method, but she does spend and inordinate amount of time shopping to save money...... just not really I am judging again.
DeleteHi Kim,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your tips. I wish you would continue to give helpful hints on cooking. You are quite an accomplished frugal cook and baker. We live in a land of convenience cooking and it is expensive and usually not healthy eating. That mother with 6 kids, a full time job and a blog sounds like she has her hands full. However, a lot of your tips could help women like her. I really enjoy your blog.
Thanks Julie. Honestly I have been thinking of doing a vlog on cooking from scratch fast. I think people assume that cooking mostly from scratch just takes too long and it really doesn't. It is all in the timing. If something is a pain in the butt like pie crusts, lasagna, sauces, cook double or quadruple and freeze. While you potatoes are boiling, you can quickly preheat an oven to 400 and whip up a double batch of biscuits and freeze what you don't eat. If you are in the kitchen don't waste your time waiting, chop up some veggies, prepare something else.
DeleteI am timidly raising my hand about buying one onion. It's for fajitas later this week. This will make you think I am bad (not really)- I buy frozen, chopped onions for most of the meals I make, but 1 or 2 whole onions if I am making a roast, etc., anything that needs sliced or quartered onion. My refrigerator grows onions. One time I left one to see how much it would grow, and it was actually trying to send the onion tops out of the vegetable bin. Only problem, they were pale yellow. Onions don't keep well anywhere in our home. I got spoiled with the frozen chopped onions during the time I had carpal tunnel for months and months and it hurt too bad to chop. They are such a savings of time for me now that I still use them, and they keep well in the freezer. Some people like luxury makeup or other things, but I consider chopped frozen onions a luxury that is worth it.
ReplyDeleteI believe I know which vlogger you wrote about and that she doesn't make a large amount of food for her family. When my two kids were growing up, they had huge appetites during their pre-teen and teen years. They were both involved in a lot of sports activities that really burn calories. Even though my kids are both grown and out of the house for 18 years, I often still cook the same amount for dinners that I used to. Now the same amount makes two big serving dinners each for me and my husband, with extra to freeze for a couple of lunch or snack meals for him. I think it would be very time consuming to cook from scratch for 2 adults and 6 kids, and I don't know if would have even been able to do it when I was young, but a lot of people do. My daughter was never much interested in cooking, but she was the best at organizing and cleaning, and used to help me so much with that. She got things cleaned so fast, it was like that old show Bewitched, where with a twitch of the nose everything was clean and orderly. I should have enlisted my son to do some cooking when he was young, but he was always busy doing other things. He is an excellent cook now, he smokes meats in a smoker, and makes all kinds of different types of food. A lot of foods that he has learned about in other countries. He's been in the Air Force for 17 years now and traveled and spent time in many different countries.
You have me starving for a great big green salad now, I will buy one onion for that, and good fresh romaine lettuce it is off of recall in our state yet. I never liked the bagged salads either, the lettuce didn't taste the same as fresh not in a bag salad. I've used the paper towel in the zip lock bag with the lettuce for years , it works like a charm.
Take care.
I am shocked I tell you, truly shocked, I know someone who is off my Christmas card list! Okay I am just joking. Isn't carpel tunnel the pits? I get is once in awhile from my arthritis and is hurts like the blazes. I could not chop anything either. But I love the idea of chopping onions and freezing. Great tip. Onions have so much sugar in them and when chopped release gases to ferment immediately which is why you would need to freeze unless used in a couple of days. Onion wine.... anyone? anyone?
DeleteI cook most everything from scratch. It is cheaper, it is healthier and it tastes better. There are so many people that go for the convenience food. I just don't understand it.
ReplyDeleteI don't either, but I think it is a time thing. Most don't realize that once you set a menu plan that you cook often, you can combine and skip many steps in your prep.
DeleteI buy one onion, LOL. I also buy the prechopped green onions and freeze them. I'm not much of a cook, so I don't use them up like you do. Does anyone comment on that Vlog with your thoughts of how she could cut down her grocery bill with your type of ideas? I'll bet others are having the same thoughts as you are LOL.
ReplyDeleteWell no I am shocked that people don't tell her this. I could be even more critical but it makes my fingers nails grow. Really one onion you should be ashamed my friend....truly ashamed:)
DeleteFresh is always better. Instant mashed potatoes is my pet peeve. Making mashed potatoes is so easy and tastes so much better. The instant ones taste like glue to me and if you watch for a sale, fresh will save you money. Since the heart attack of my husband, I tend to cook everything from scratch to avoid preservatives and excess sodium.
ReplyDeleteThat has kind of been my thing also. Hubs high blood pressure made me leery of salt, so I just eliminated those things from my cooking as much as possible years ago. I feel bad that people can't get potatoes at a decent price. I guess in Idaho we truly are about potatoes.
DeleteThe frugal habits I learned decades ago as a stay at home mom trying to feed three growing boys have stuck with me. If anything, they've gotten stronger and now I pretty much make everything from scratch. In my opinion it's healthier as well as being cheaper.
ReplyDeleteGood for you my friend, I probably would not have gone on this rant except she presents herself as this super homemaker that saves money.
DeleteLOL! She's probably just trying to keep her sanity and not slice all that meat...
ReplyDeleteAnd yummm a Diet Coke sounds pretty good right now! I usually shop just at Aldi and am very disappointed that they dropped their generic Diet Cola, which I'd grown accustomed to and now just have Diet Faygo cola... REALLY??!! As much as anyone wants to support Juggalos, I'd rather have caffeine in a pop that is enjoyable. As it stands I've been pouring the cans over ice and dumping in a little lime juice so I could get thru the box of it. I am OUT as of today so WOOHOO!! NEW POP!
There is just nothing like a diet coke. I would love to hear your daughter sing a Christmas carol or two. She should put some up on youtube we could use the joy right now.
DeleteToo funny about picking up onions on the road. Glad you didn't hit by a car though. I cook from scratch and use some convenience foods too. I buy tortillas for a dollar instead of making them. I buy tortellini at Aldi for a couple of bucks, and I really don't like making spaghetti noodles when I can buy them on sale for .50 a pkg. Cooking from scratch tastes better and is healthier, but sometimes I just want to get them fed.
ReplyDeleteI do make homemade noodles but not other pasta. I also buy my tortillas, I am not that much of a scratch cook. Although I love a homemade tortilla. I was just bitching about the fact that this vlogger presents her self as a money saver.
DeleteI think you should cut this woman some slack. Six kids and a full time job is a boatload. She's cooking at home, even though there are conveniences. It could be takeout every day.
ReplyDeleteKiki
You are right, I was snarky. She does present herself as a mney saver and that is probably what got to me. But she could be serving them fast food all the time.
Deletewe go through a bag of onions a week, can't get enough of them!
ReplyDeleteI know, Hubs has accused me of putting onions and garlic on icecream.
DeleteYes I have bought 1 onion. Depends on the time of year because our basement isn't cold enough to keep onions and the barn is too cold. I have bought one red or one white for special recipes. My kids (6 ours and 6 might as well have been) all raised on cooking from scratch with me working 3 jobs and Hubby working 2. I have 2 children I could swear my life they would have onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes the rest it would be a flip of the coin. I have ate a few of the salads, we don't buy much lettuce, we eat it in season. It will tear my Crohn's up especially with a lot of raw veggies. Being that said... I would rather see her cooking the way she does and have healthy food on the table, than the fast food garbage I see at some of my kids' friends homes that they are feeding their kids. A homesteader might think the same about how you cook and stock your pantry. I don't watch vlogs at all.
ReplyDeleteI know I was being snarky, but this woman presents herself as a money saver. I too have bought one red onion as they are way more expensive. I am sure a homesteader would judge me. Forgive me cause I think you are the bomb.
DeleteWell, I have never ever bought onions in my life😁 I'm allergic to them, can't even touch. (actually this year I have bought onions, to my parents and to my aunt, because they are high risk and I made all their shopping in spring, and I wore gloves). But being allergic to onions and somehow intolerant to poultry means I can't eat any mixes or ready meals, so I buy basic stuff and quite often in bulk.
ReplyDeleteBut IF I could eat onions and would find them scattered along a highway I would pick them up and eat them.