<p>I used to make my own pizza dough…hard to find the time for that now.
If I order pizza, it is because I had a late day, or my youngest has fussy eating friends ( the kind that eat pizza , chicken nuggets or Kraft Mac and Cheese only )
They are going to try some new foods now, if they stay at our house , but not my kalamata olives :)</p>
<p>The OP’s discussion point has morphed into some very intensive pizza posts.</p>
<p>We have a Save A Lot grocery store in our little one-light village, which is like an Aldi, that I have been visiting quite a bit lately. I know from working at a utility that a lot of times a food canner/distributor puts different labels on the same stuff (like canned goods, soups, etc), so I am buying the same stuff for half the price of the big grocery chain label in a lot of cases.</p>
<p>Once the ground thaws I will be tilling for my first vegetable garden in years! What I don’t grow I will visiting the farmers market for right before closing when they reduce prices to move their goods out. Also - I find a lot of good meat deals on Sunday mornings after church, so I am stocking the freezer that way.</p>
<p>If you have them in the area, bread thrift stores are a great way to save a lot of money on bread/bagels/etc. I go to a Pepperidge Farm Thrift Store near me (bread is about 1/2, 2/3 price of grocery store). It’s not old bread or anything – they just get it when there is an overabundance. I’ve shopped there for years. </p>
<p>Also Produce Junction (not sure if they are all around or just in NE?) is unbeatable for veggies/fruits (& eggs). My hub had a giant vegetable garden for a few years – in our particular case, with the cost/time investment, it would have been much cheaper to get everything from Produce Junction (but, of course, that doesn’t take into account the fun/accomplishment/camaraderie [he did it w/neighbors]). :-)</p>
<p>Rachacha, good tip about farmers market right before closing–will try that!</p>
<p>HangingTomato.com has upside down planters. I just ordered 4 to grow tomato, zucchini and herbs. I will hang them on the porch. All of my planters will have vegs instead of flowers.</p>
<p>I will not go so far as “Freegan” though. Ever.</p>
<p>Has anyone here used those upside down planters?</p>
<p>They are intriguing.</p>
<p>overseas-- I’m making that no knead bread too. Only real expense is running the oven. Is this the recipe you use? <a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU</a></p>
<p>I tend to shop and stock up on sales. I don’t buy alot of prepared foods. I enjoy cooking and making most meals from stratch. It also is alot cheaper to make chili than to buy chili. Suprizingly good chili reciepe last night …“pork and bananas” plantains. 
Sounds weird but was really tasty… Food Network website has tons of receipes… </p>
<p>Anyway, if it ever got warm and sunny here in the nw, I hope my container garden comes in. I have a couple lettuce/mixed greens bowl planters that when going produce enough salad basics for the summer. 6 or7 tomato plants for July to Oct. Herbs and a few other veggies for varieties. </p>
<p>I have found that staying away from the prepared foods aisles in the grocery store helps your budget alot. Most meals take a half hour prep and half hour/hour cook time.</p>
<p>Barneyfife–do you mind if I ask how big your container garden is? That’s something I’d like to do. Seems more managable than a huge, regular garden. Do you use ordinary, large pots?</p>
<p>Actually I use a variety of containers. For tomatoes I use mainly the brightly colored big round tote bins (2 nylon rope handles) you find at most places that cost around $7 normally, but go onsale for under $5. I put a couple holes in the bottom and place them on a wheeled pot platform. They hold about a big bag and a half of potting soil. I plant tomatoes in the center and mulitcolored carrots along the outside (purple, white, red, orange, yellow). The wheels are nice because I can chase the sun a bit longer. </p>
<p>For my salad greens I use a couple shallow wide planter bowls. They are about 9-12inches deep in the center. I over seed them and snip baby greens throughout the spring and summer. </p>
<p>The rest are just different planter pots. A big one for rosemary bush, a couple smaller thyme bowls, a pot of sage, oregano, spearmint and dill. I would like to add lemongrass this year. I try and find speciality variety veggies that look great on a plate and cost to much to buy in the store, so growing them makes good sense.</p>
<p>Thanks, Barneyfife! That does sound easy & workable. I’m always hesitant to make the commitment to in-ground plantings, lol. Like the containers a lot better! Would be fun to snip off fresh greens for salad as the summer/spring progresses. :-)</p>
<p>Containers are a bit easier to tend to for sure. It’s kind of nice to pull up a lawn chair and garden a couple feet off the ground rather than kneel down. Also a bit cleaner. When we had a decend summer (a couple back) I had a really nice fresh produce stand on my back deck. Tomatoes, carrots, greens, cucumbers, leeks and fresh herb seasonings for beef, chicken, fish, pork and pastas. </p>
<p>And if you get tired of growing veggies and herbs, switch back to flowers.</p>
<p>Grocers Tout ‘Sales’ Even as Prices Climb</p>
<p>[Grocers-Tout-Sales-Even-as-Prices-Climb:</a> Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/104783/Grocers-Tout-Sales-Even-as-Prices-Climb]Grocers-Tout-Sales-Even-as-Prices-Climb:”>http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/104783/Grocers-Tout-Sales-Even-as-Prices-Climb)</p>
<p>my favorite way for them to raise prices is to shrink the size of the package. the jar of pasta sauce I recently purchased was 24oz, had been 26 oz. Good thing it was $0.67</p>
<p>Now I’ll be looking to stock up on sales of the larger sizes while they are still on the shelves. </p>
<p>Ok, now everyone can tell me how they make their own sauce… I am just one person and no big freezer…</p>
<p>^^with fresh tomatoes or canned?</p>
<p>canned. I’m not particular about my food. I don’t have any favorite brand of anything. </p>
<p>Where my son could tell the difference btw heinz and hunts ketsup, to me, if I can squeeze something red out of the bottle, I’m fine.</p>