When I first heard about the Extreme Couponing show, I thought it was a fabulous idea- for once, television was promoting living within one's means rather than far beyond it. Ten minutes into the episode I realized how life-sucking this practice was and primarily resulted in storehouses of packaged, processed foods. Stewardship of money is important, but even more so is stewardship of time.
I am all about saving money, but not at the expense of loads of time or chemically-packed, just-add-water "food." Over the past several months, two of the changes center around lunch changes. Instead of purchasing bread, we found an inexpensive bread machine and toss the ingredients in once a week and have saved quite a bit (and it tastes better!!). The other lunch alteration that has been saving us money occurred to me when I was pricing lunch meat. To get prepackaged deli meat was $5.29/lb at best, or slightly higher from the counter. Fresh chicken breast, on the other hand, is $1.99. I buy several large packages and freeze some. Every other week, I defrost one, filet each breast in several thin slices, marinade them (usually in an Italian flavored or buffalo flavored concoction), cook them, and then store it all in a container in the refrigerator. No fillers or loads of sodium, and with a little bit of work twice a month, a lot cheaper.
The two marinades I most frequently use are as follows:
Buffalo: hot sauce, white wine, red pepper flakes, a little white vinegar, pepper, olive oil
Italian: olive oil, white wine, Italian seasoning, rosemary, thyme, and sometimes a touch of worchestershire sauce
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