There was a segment on the news a couple of weeks ago about Spam. Although the economy is pretty dismal right now, the workers at the Hormel plant are working overtime, churning out more Spam than ever before. A little research showed that on one day shift, nearly 150, 000 cans were produced!
A high-school classmate of mine posted on FaceBook that he worked a total of nearly 90 hours last week! With all of the layoffs, cut-backs, etc., what company is that busy??? He works in the Armour-Dial plant outside of town...which makes such favorites as vienna sausages.
I have been thinking a lot about this in the last day or so. More and more people are cutting back and really making an effort to feed their families more economically-minded. Spam and vienna sausage-type products are cheap, meat-based replacements for more expensive lunch meats, etc. But you got to admit, they really aren't that good for you in terms of content and ingredients.
Every week, I wait for Tuesday afternoon for the grocery ads to come out. Then I check prices, review my coupons, and stock up. For instance, shredded cheese is 99 cents a bag this week at Hy-Vee... and shredded cheese freezes fantastically! I will probably buy at least 10 bags and throw in the freezer. Imagine all of the homemade pizzas, quesadillas, lasagna, casseroles, etc. that can benefit from a good cheese stash ☺ Being a one-income family, I am working hard and doing my part to feed these guys well!
So... what am I getting at?
My idea is to start a separate, recipe-related blog. I would choose a category, such as "side dishes", each month. Then the members could post recipes related to that category. They could be family recipes, tried-and-true favorites, something you got out of a magazine, etc. Then, throughout the month, we could try the recipes that appealed to us, take photos of our results, and give our family's reaction or rating. The recipes should be family/kid friendly, with practical ingredients. With garden bounties right around the corner, that would be a bonus to incorporate into the recipe suggestions!
My idea is to start a separate, recipe-related blog. I would choose a category, such as "side dishes", each month. Then the members could post recipes related to that category. They could be family recipes, tried-and-true favorites, something you got out of a magazine, etc. Then, throughout the month, we could try the recipes that appealed to us, take photos of our results, and give our family's reaction or rating. The recipes should be family/kid friendly, with practical ingredients. With garden bounties right around the corner, that would be a bonus to incorporate into the recipe suggestions!
At this point, I haven't quite decided on the blog format and the technicalities. First and foremost, I want to see if I have a group of people large enough to make this happen!
So... who's interested?
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6 comments:
Sounds fun to me! I won't even go into spam... My boys loved those sausages as babies, last week Nicole saw they were on sale in a sotre ad and went nuts, she said she loved them too!
I agree with Kimberly, sounds fun. I must admit to being a food snob when it comes to canned meat. My mom enjoys canned ham (a step up from Spam) and Ella loves it too. I just can't bring myself to buy it :)
I think a lot of people these days jump from one extreme to another. Say, they go from eating out 4 nights a week to eating spam to save money. I realize some people may need the Spam, I'm just saying people sometimes forget that there's a happy medium.
I agree, Paula. We might eat out or get a pizza once a week, if that. It is a big expense! Places, such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, are so expensive anymore...You can pay upwards of $30 for a family-size meal! I can buy chicken leg quarters cheap, (sometimes as low as 39 cents a lb), fry or shake-n-bake them myself, make some mashed potatoes and pan gravy, for probably less than $5 total!
And as a clarification...recipes need NOT be centered around canned meat products ;-) However, if you wish they can contain them.
Paula and Kimberly, I am so glad you both are "in." I would like to get at least a total of 10-ish (or more) people to start with. It doesn't have to be anything formal...I think it would just be a great fun adventure and fellowship with my "bloggy" friends who tend to have similar interests with one another :-)
KFC family meal for $30?! I'm lucky to get a bucket of just chicken for that much. That's what frustrates me sometimes with other blogs that try to help people save money on meals. You guys in the States have so many places to get food at such a range of prices. Here all the chain stores sell at about the same price and don't do the markdowns that the stores down there seem to.
I don't know why it's so expensive to eat out. Heaven knows the farmers aren't getting rich. Restaurants take advantage of increases. Once in a while the dairy guys get a couple cent increase (per litre) in their quota income and restaurants put the price of milk up by a lot. Some restaurants charge as much for a 10oz glass of chocolate milk as the entire 2L carton would cost!
I certainly would be up for this! I and my partner are vegetarian, and I think sometimes people forget that they can branch out and do a couple of meals a week without meat in them and save a bunch of money and some calories! I would be happy to share some of our all time favs!
I've been reading your blog for a while and not commented before, sorry!
Keri, thanks for commenting! I would love to learn about some vegetarian dishes. Okay... that makes 4 (including me). I'm thinking we need around 10 to make this worthwhile. Anyone else...?
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