[rmalik]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Then move away from processed food. It is a false economy. I can make pizzas for a week for the cost of a sack of flour, some canned tomatoes and herbs, and some milk. (Mozzarella is easy to make). Or for the same cost I could buy ONE frozen pizza.

There is very little in this world that is less expensive when purchased pre-made.

I will look for some websites that promote healthy scratch cooking! Thanks.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by rmalik

I will look for some websites that promote healthy scratch cooking! Thanks.

The problem you will probably find is that you don't have the equipment, skills and basic resources to make this happen. It will likely cost MORE to cook healthy in the short run.

You'll need a good knife, a few good pots and pans, herbs -- preferably in a windowsill herb garden, and a lot of practice and reading. If you would prefer to "watch" than read, I would youtube anything Alton Brown did -- except his beer brewing episode, which is utter rubbish.

There are scads of youtube tutorials from "how to mince herbs" to "how to make stock" to "how to make a roux." Stuff you'll need to know.

But whatever you do, DON'T just pull up a recipe from the Internet, follow it, and call that "learning to cook." If you learn how to make a braise, you can braise damned near anything. If you follow a recipe without learning what you're doing and why, then all you can do is that one recipe.

[rmalik]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

The problem you will probably find is that you don't have the equipment, skills and basic resources to make this happen. It will likely cost MORE to cook healthy in the short run.

You'll need a good knife, a few good pots and pans, herbs -- preferably in a windowsill herb garden, and a lot of practice and reading. If you would prefer to "watch" than read, I would youtube anything Alton Brown did -- except his beer brewing episode, which is utter rubbish.

There are scads of youtube tutorials from "how to mince herbs" to "how to make stock" to "how to make a roux." Stuff you'll need to know.

But whatever you do, DON'T just pull up a recipe from the Internet, follow it, and call that "learning to cook." If you learn how to make a braise, you can braise damned near anything. If you follow a recipe without learning what you're doing and why, then all you can do is that one recipe.

Thanks for the tips. I already have a Vitamix, which I love. I do juice for my family but tend to lean toward convenience food when it comes to cooking. Growing up in the south, I sustained on a lot of "soul" food growing up. When I moved to Chicago, I met a lot of vegan and vegetarian people who have shown me different and delicious ways of eating to live.

[topaz420]

Originally Posted by rmalik

I'm becoming intrigued with couponing. My sister does it, not to an extreme, but enough to have her pantry filled to the brim. I'm watching Extreme Couponing on TLC and it looks interesting and fun. Does Nevada have double coupons? Is there tax on food items?

Yes, I have "extreme couponed" in Vegas. Not to the extent of the TV show, but I have gotten 60-75% off of a cart - at Whole Foods, no less!

I follow simple rules for couponing:

- I only buy things I would buy anyway
- Try to stack whenever possible (1 store coupon + 1 manufacturer's coupon)
- Sit on the coupon until item goes on sale
- Get multiple copies of the good coupons (more on that later)
- If it's a killer deal, buy as many as you can store/use by the expiration date

There are so many couponing sites, but I try to only buy organic stuff, so these are the ones I frequent the most:

Organic Deals & Coupons - Organic Coupons

and

Healthy Life Deals

^ this one has great examples of how to stack coupons and real-world shopping trips.

Also, this site rewards you for simple green pledges, and is used to earn many of the coupons from the above two sites:

www.recyclebank.com

Also, if you check my posts I wrote a long description of how to circumvent those online websites that only want to let you print one coupon.

Finally, my local Clark County Library holds a free "Couponing 101" class where people gather to learn about coupons, share tips and coupons with one another. It was Centennial Hills branch. Don't know if any others do it.

Good luck!

[NLVgal]

Here are a couple links you might find handy. Coupon Mom's site does most of the work for you in terms of combining sales and coupons. Great for things like toothpaste and razors.

Coupons | Free Grocery Coupons & How to Coupon Tips | Coupon Mom

Here's a site for cooking that I really love. The balsamic steak and cherry tomato recipe is to die for. I reduce the leftover marinade and use it as a sauce. She also has a lot of money saving scratch recipes that would be ScooLV approved.

BrokeAss Gourmet, The premier food, wine and lifestyle blog for people who want to live the high life on the cheap.

Balsamic-Glazed Ribeye with Pan-Grilled Tomatoes and*Basil - BrokeAss Gourmet

[von949]

Originally Posted by LacedButterfly

Not to mention from what they say on the show it's a full time job.

Yep, most definitely. What average person has 6 computers in their home with multiple IP addresses so they could print up coupons that have an IP address download limit?

Saw one episode where a lady would go to family, friends and neighbor's houses just to print up coupons that had a manufacturers print limit.

Another lady that had to stock up on 10s of thousands of blank printer paper to print out all of her coupons. Then have multiple Internet providers to beat the system along with having her husband and all the kids take time out of their day to go with her to lug 5 carts worth of toothpaste, bars of soap and ketchup around.

Then there was the one person that spent over 3 hours shopping and another 2 hours debating which coupons were valid, expired or questionable.

Is it all worth it???????




Sent from cell...

[scociny]

I don't understand those people, one episode I saw they were going in the recycling dumpsters and the one lady had her kids in there helping! how could these people possibly use all of that toothpaste, deodorant, etc before it expired. They seem like grocery hoarders to me. If it were me, I would go to the store and load up my van and take it all down to a food bank/homeless shelter. I do ok with coupons, I wish stores doubled coupons, but then maybe their prices are higher so you really aren't saving much. It's been years since I have seen doubling but like someone else already said, I try to wait for an item to go on sale and use the coupon then. It used to be easier in the past though, coupons have a much shorter time that you can use them it seems.

[rmalik]

Originally Posted by topaz420

Yes, I have "extreme couponed" in Vegas. Not to the extent of the TV show, but I have gotten 60-75% off of a cart - at Whole Foods, no less!

I follow simple rules for couponing:

- I only buy things I would buy anyway
- Try to stack whenever possible (1 store coupon + 1 manufacturer's coupon)
- Sit on the coupon until item goes on sale
- Get multiple copies of the good coupons (more on that later)
- If it's a killer deal, buy as many as you can store/use by the expiration date

There are so many couponing sites, but I try to only buy organic stuff, so these are the ones I frequent the most:

Organic Deals & Coupons - Organic Coupons

and

Healthy Life Deals

^ this one has great examples of how to stack coupons and real-world shopping trips.

Also, this site rewards you for simple green pledges, and is used to earn many of the coupons from the above two sites:

www.recyclebank.com

Also, if you check my posts I wrote a long description of how to circumvent those online websites that only want to let you print one coupon.

Finally, my local Clark County Library holds a free "Couponing 101" class where people gather to learn about coupons, share tips and coupons with one another. It was Centennial Hills branch. Don't know if any others do it.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences with me! I have bookmarked and cannot wait to get started. Some of my friends are starting to understand the value of couponing and share their savings with excitement.

[rmalik]

Originally Posted by NLVgal

Here are a couple links you might find handy. Coupon Mom's site does most of the work for you in terms of combining sales and coupons. Great for things like toothpaste and razors.

Coupons | Free Grocery Coupons & How to Coupon Tips | Coupon Mom

Here's a site for cooking that I really love. The balsamic steak and cherry tomato recipe is to die for. I reduce the leftover marinade and use it as a sauce. She also has a lot of money saving scratch recipes that would be ScooLV approved.

BrokeAss Gourmet, The premier food, wine and lifestyle blog for people who want to live the high life on the cheap.

Balsamic-Glazed Ribeye with Pan-Grilled Tomatoes and Basil - BrokeAss Gourmet

Wow!!!!! Thank you!I love the coupon mom!!!!

[rmalik]

Originally Posted by von949

Yep, most definitely. What average person has 6 computers in their home with multiple IP addresses so they could print up coupons that have an IP address download limit?

Saw one episode where a lady would go to family, friends and neighbor's houses just to print up coupons that had a manufacturers print limit.

Another lady that had to stock up on 10s of thousands of blank printer paper to print out all of her coupons. Then have multiple Internet providers to beat the system along with having her husband and all the kids take time out of their day to go with her to lug 5 carts worth of toothpaste, bars of soap and ketchup around.

Then there was the one person that spent over 3 hours shopping and another 2 hours debating which coupons were valid, expired or questionable.

Is it all worth it???????




Sent from cell...

Yes, very extreme! I saw an episode yesterday where a pregnant woman and her family had spent 10 hours!!!!!!! in the store. In the end she was very upset that she had to pay .56 for hundreds of dollars worth of stuff....and, she broke them down into twenty-three separate transactions!!!