Of coupons, discount cards....and all the very "aunty" ways to save $$$

Groceries aren't cheap in the states. When we first arrived, we were spending almost USD100 per week on grocery (just for the 2 of us) and it did scare us a little.

But we started to learn the tricks of saving money after awhile.

Discount cards

First, the number 1 must-have item is a store discount card. Most supermarkets offer them for free if you were to just fill up a simple application form. With the discount card, you'd enjoy "member card" prices on grocery items....and usually, discounts for gas too. For example, for every $50 I spend on groceries, I'd get $0.10/gallon off gas.

Store brands

Second, all supermarkets would've their own store brand items. And most of the time, the store brand items would be priced much lower than other "branded" products. Of course, not all store brand items are of good quality.....so you'd need to check around which store brand items are the best quality & value for money.

Shop with eyes wide open

It's usually a case where Supermarket A is good for certain items while Supermarket B is good for others. So we don't just shop blindly at one place all the time but would check out different places and their ongoing promotions on a regular basis to determine which is the best place to shop for that particular week. My neighbour and I would also share information on where's having sale for what. When I see stuffs on sale that she might also need, I'd sometimes help buy on her behalf....or alert her to it so that she can check it our herself.

Stores selling overstocks or budget chains

We found great stuffs at great prices at shops selling overstock products like Ocean State Job Lot and other budget chains like Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, Walmart etc. Shops like Ocean State Job Lot are worth checking out every week as the product turnover is very high and new stocks are being replenished very often. There'd always be something new almost every week and you'd never know what you're gonna find there! I've bought Crocs, Idiot's-books, branded sweaters, sleepwear, shoes, calendars etc all at ridiculously low prices. For cheap branded clothings & shoes....TJMaxx and Marshall are the first few places that I head for.

Cutting Coupons

Another method to save money is cutting coupons. You'd find product/store coupons in store mailers, newspapers, online and via email. It takes great patience and really good planning & organisation skills to maximise the use of these coupons. I've to admit that I'm very bad with the coupons 'cos first of all, I'd always forget to bring them when I'm doing my shopping...then by the time I get to try to use the coupon, they'd have already expired! Although I've a coupon holder....all the coupons would be in such a mess that it'd take me forever to rummage through everything to try to find the right coupon. I'm slowly getting better at it now...and RG would help by reminding me before we leave the house each time to bring the coupons.

Rework processes and buy in bulk

I used to plan my meals first before heading out to the supermarket to buy the ingredients necessary to cook those meals. I realised that a better way to save money is to see what's on sale at the supermarket and to work my meal plans around the discounted items. It might require some creativity at times (especially if the only things on sale are avocados & kale!) but it ain't too hard once you are used to it.

And also, I'd buy in bulk when the items that we use/consume on a regular basis are on sale. For example, the V8 juices were on a fantastic discount (almost 40% off) recently and so we bought like 8 bottles as we drink it on a daily basis. I've also been buying meat in bulk and would divide the entire portion into smaller meal portions in ziploc bags before putting them in the freezer. Sometimes, I'd split some of of the bulk items i.e. rice/vegetables with my neighbour and we'd share the cost. That way, we both spend less but actually end up with more.

Shop online

I buy stuffs like books & printer ink cartridges online regularly. The prices are usually much cheaper than buying from the stores and there's usually no sales tax for online purchases and the items get delivered to my doorstep. There are also special discounts for regular customers like me which make prices all the more attractive....and it's so easy to re-order at just a click of the mouse. And many of these online shops have tie-up promotions with other partnering vendors. I actually got full year subscriptions to 4 magazines of my choice for FREE when I bought some ink cartridges online! How great is that?

These days, my grocery bill is just a fraction of what it used to be for the same amount of food or perhaps even more! It definitely pays to shop smart and it's good to know that the same amount of our money can go much further now. All these sound a tad "aunty" and uncool lor....but well, a penny saved is a penny earned! So go ahead and call me an AUNTY! =P

Hae-bee makes the mee goreng complete....

While I had made mee goreng on numerous occasions since we've arrived in the states....somehow they didn't taste so good.

Today, I made it again but this time, I used my secret ingredient - the hae-bee that KayJay had sent to me....and it was PERFECT!!

I had blended the hae-bee with some sambal chilli and garlic in a electric food processor and added that to the rest of the ingredients.

Finally, a mee goreng dish that's almost truly authentic (ok, apart from the yellow mee which I really can't find anywhere!).

I've packed a small tub of mee goreng for my neighbour - topped with some fried egg & bah-kwa as she was asking me what on earth is bah-kwa.

Homemade Bak-kwa....

When you don't have something and you really want it...what do you do?

You make it yourself....duhh!

So today, I tried my hands at making bak-kwa (asian pork jerky).

I found several homemade bak-kwa recipes online and adapted bits and pieces of the various recipes into one single recipe purely based on intuition and trial-&-error. I also used some of the methods that I recalled from a TV program which I had watched several years ago on how the bak-kwa sellers actually made their bak-kwas.

I bought slightly over a pound of minced pork at the supermarket yesterday.

I added to the minced pork 1-1/4 tbsp of fish sauce, 1 tbsp of ABC sweet soy sauce, 3/4 tbsp of light soy sauce, 3/4 tbsp of chinese cooking wine, 1/2 cup of fine sugar, some chilli powder & 1/2 tsp of cooking oil into the minced meat and stirred with a wooden spoon for a couple of minutes till very well mixed.

While preparing the minced pork, I had already preheated my oven to 260F.
While several online recipes had recommended to spread the minced pork onto baking paper.....I remembered watching bak-kwa vendors used the back of baking trays for spreading the minced pork onto. So I greased the back of my baking pan with spray-oil......


....and then i scooped cupfuls of the minced pork and slowly pressed the pork onto the surface of the baking tray...i used my palm to spread the pork out into a thin even layer right to the edge of the pan.


Since there was some minced pork left....I tried the other method of spreading the pork onto a piece of baking paper. Then I popped the 2 trays into the preheated oven.

I left the pork to bake at 260F for about 20-25min. Then I increased the temperature to 350F for another 20-25min. At this point, the edges of the bak-kwa might start to char so if it starts to char too much....you'd have to either reduce the heat or take the trays out.

After 20-25min at 350F.....I took the trays out from the oven 'cos the edges were starting to brown. I decided to flip the bak-kwa over and pop them back into the oven for another 10-15min just so to ensure that both sides are properly cooked.

When fully cooked, remove the trays from the oven and let the bak-kwa cool for awhile before cutting them into pieces. The bak-kwa that was cooked on the baking pan was more evenly browned whereas the one on the baking paper was unevenly cooked. So I'd definitely use the baking tray method the next time.

Here's my homemade bak-kwa....ready to be eaten!! =P~

I made a batch that's slightly less burnt so that I can freeze them and put them on the grill to cook further when we are ready to eat them.

Not too bad for my first attempt. At least RG is eating it enthusiastically even though he's not a big fan of bak-kwa. He doesn't like his bak-kwa sweet....so I had made mine slightly more savory.

The next time, I'd consider to substitute the sugar with agave nectar which is a natural sweetener for healthier bak-kwa! =) And I'd make the bak-kwa slightly thicker to give it a better bite. Lastly, i'll probably use more chilli oil or chilli sauce for extra spiciness.

While bak-kwa can be as expensive as SGD56/kg during Chinese New Year period...it only cost me less than USD8/kg to make them. It's quite a lucrative business selling bak-kwa!!!

Spaghetti sauce....

RG was the one who came up with the idea. I just executed his idea using a card, a plastic sheet & the spaghetti sauce label.

It's gonna be his fancy nameplate on his office door. Looks very pop-artsy isn't it? I think it's pretty cool.

Hope it'd bring some laughs when people walk past RG's office.

Choc-ful Cake - A Cheater's Recipe

I hate the "synthetic" taste of cakes that are made from ready cake mixes. And it's so not cool to say that you've used store-bought mixes instead of baking it from scratch....especially if your aim is to impress with your home-baked goods.

But hey, baking is easy....it's the measuring of ingredients and the washing afterwards that is difficult. So once in awhile, when you are too lazy to do too much or when your in-laws are visiting with very short notice, I'd say it's ok to cheat with ready mixes as long as the cake doesn't taste like synthetic crap.

Ingredients:

1 packet (18.25oz) of chocolate cake mix

1 packet of low-fat instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup of low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup of corn oil

1/3 cup of low-fat milk

4 eggs (beaten)

1/2 cup of coffee (dissolve 1.5 tsp of instant coffee in 1/2 cup of warm water)

1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F

Add cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, milk, beaten eggs and coffee solution into a mixing bowl and blend with electric mixer at medium speed till well mixed.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Grease a bundt pan and pour the batter in and level.

Bake for 50-55min or until an inserted toothpick comes out quite clean.

Leave the cake to cool for at least 1.5hr in room temperature before turning it out.

You can tell whoever that you are trying to impress that sour cream, coffee & choco chips all go into the cake to make it pop. And they'd probably jump to their own conclusion that you've made the entire cake from scratch =P ....and they would never be able to guess that you've used cake mix 'cos it wouldn't taste of it at all.

The cake is good on its own.....but you can dust the cake with icing sugar or drizzle a chocolate glaze on top if you want to wow further.

And to wow super big time, you can slice the cake in the middle after removing it from the bundt pan and sandwich fresh cream & strawberries in between before topping it off with a chocolate glaze!

Super easy.....super impressive results.

Pi the panda....

I'm Pi (pronounced as "pie" and not "pee") the panda and I love pretty flowers!

My blooming Paper Whites....

I bought a set of Paper White flowers planting kit in early December for $5 which came with 4 flower bulbs, 1 plastic container & dirt. I planted the bulbs, watered them regularly and have been patiently watching the shoots grow....

And then the flower buds started to develop.....

The little Paper Whites ready to pop.......

Finally.....the pretty little ones starting to bloom in their full glory.....