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
