Green Panda Treehouse

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I already passed the word to my husband and my co-workers, so I decided to spread the word. Dunkin Donuts is giving away a free 16oz Iced Coffee drink today from 10am-10pm.  I am planning on grabbing one after work as I have a lot of work to do tonight.

The following is a guest post by Green Panda’s husband, Blue Panda:

When going to a potluck dinner with friends or to a watch a big game, we naturally like to bring something tasty. Of course, we don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on it. Fortunately, one of our favorite appetizers is pretty easy on the wallet.

The dip is simply known as sausage dip, and while it may not look like much, it always has everyone coming back for more… if there’s any left.

Ingredients:

• 1-pound roll of sausage (I like to use Italian sausage)
• 8-ounce pack of cream cheese
• 1 small can of Ro-Tel tomatoes (or diced tomatoes with chilies)

Preparation: Brown the sausage and drain it, then throw everything together and heat until the cream cheese melts. It’s ready.

The spiciness is controlled by the sausage and the type of chilies with the tomatoes. I’ve found that Italian sausage and mild chilies strikes right balance, at least for us. (I’ve also heard of a variant that uses beef, but I haven’t tried it.)

Usually, we make a double portion and throw everything in a slow cooker to melt the cream cheese. The slow cooker makes it easy to carry and keep it warm whereever we’re taking it.

How does it stack up, price-wise?

• Cream cheese: $1-2
• Tomatoes with chilies: about $1.30
• Roll of sausage: $2-$4
• Chips: about $3.50

We usually go to Wal-Mart and the double portion ends up being about $9-$10, plus a bag of chips. That can serve up to 15 people as an appetizer.

Do you know of any recipes that give a good bang for the buck?

Photo Credit: striatic

I try to save money with the grocery bill. We usually spend $200 a month for two people.

My husband I do a major grocery shop a Wal-Mart about once a month. While the prices can be good, the parking and crowds can be a turn-off.

Just last week a friend introduced us to their Dollar Tree. I’ve been there before and browsed some of their groceries, but wasn’t too excited. This Dollar Tree was larger and had a reasonable grocery area. I shopped there last week and was able to get some deals that were cheaper than Wal-Mart.

This lasts us for the month, with the exception of milk and bread. We just pick that up on our way home.

Since we finished our grocery shopping yesterday, here’s a general list of what we bought and where:

Dollar Tree (all prices are $1 unless otherwise noted)

Bread

• (Honey Wheat @ Wal-Mart is $2.29/loaf)

Frozen Section

• Pizza Bites
• Italian Icees

Juice

• 3-4 Sips (Wal-Mart’s comparable juice is about $1.29 now and they don’t have a lot of variety of flavors)

Spices

• Lemon Pepper
• Garlic Salt

Misc

• Rice
• Green Tea Bags

Wal-Mart

Meats (I buy the big packs and split them up into 4-6 meal sizes)

• Ground Beef
• Pork Chops (I prefer center cut)
• Fish (Tilapia, Whiting, Salmon)
• Pork Shoulder for Roast
• Lunch Meats (Honey Ham)

Frozen Foods

• 8 Bags of Different Stir-frys
• Spinach
• Green Beans
• *My aunt gives me some vegetables like sweet potatoes or carrots. She’s always looking out for us. *
• Pizza (for the’ too tired to chew days)

Juice/Drinks:

• Orange Juice
• Lime-Ade
• 100% Juices (Cranberry, Grape, Apple, etc)
• What’s on Sale Juices (Sometimes we find some good deals) This week we got Pineapple Juice.
• Milk

Misc.

• 8 Yogurts (Vanilla, Strawberry, and I think Key Lime Pie.)
• Ice Cream (Cookies and Cream to Be Exact)
• Cheddar Cheese
• 2 Salad in a Bag (Mixed Greens)
• 1 Bag of Red Potatoes
• Red Beans
• Soups (Tomato, Chicken and Rice)

I guess I should’ve changed this post to ‘How We Shop’. The total came out to $150. I know I forgot some things, so I’ll probably update it later. I’m so tired and from this cold/flu/whatever it is, that I’ll leave it be right now.  

What does your grocery list look like? Where do you get your groceries? How often do you shop?