Buying in Bulk...

I did my grocery shopping last week. I made up a meal plan for two weeks of meals and made my grocery list to go along with it. I often go to the Amish store which sells foods in large quantities and at great prices. For example: I buy oatmeal for .59/lb/ I got a 7.25lb bag of rolled oats for $4.28. I separate it into gallon freezer bags and keep it in the freezer. I pay .49/lb for flour I can get a variety of flours at that price but I like the pastry flour the best for baking. I buy raisins and dried cranberries at less than half the price at the grocery store. lunch meats and cheeses are the same quality or better than the grocery store. And I can take my own jugs and fill them with apple cider vinegar...I just think that's fun!

Now I don't buy in bulk only because it's a money saver, I have to buy large quantities because I have a large family. Well, some of the homesteading blogs would laugh with their eight to twelve kids, but I feel we are a large family. I feel it even more when all their friends are over for dinner and my family of six becomes ten or more!

Now that I have teenagers...I hide food. I put labels on my cheese that say ...I'm using this for a meal, don't eat it as a snack!!! Keeping snacks around is crazy. I bake a few batches of muffins and throw a bunch in the freezer. A few days later I check the stash and there are two muffins left. Now if they were getting heavy and laying around I would shut off the oven but they're not! They play outside, one runs, the others build forts and rabbit traps(they don't ever work, so he can keep building them) One dances to her music...then their friends come over, and they terrorize each other...It's fun. But then they eat and their friends eat and then after dinner they want a snack or a snack before dinner to hold them over. It's crazy. But as long as I can buy in bulk I can afford to feed them all.

I do watch what they drink. We hardly ever have soda. It's Milk, Water or Tea. And I do complain about the milk because I have to buy it at $4 a gallon. I have decided to put a limit on the milk purchasing. I was spending $16 a week on milk alone. Don't tell me it's not worth raising a goat. I think it's cheaper to feed the goat than buy milk 52 weeks a year!

Which brings me to my goats...I'm excited one of my does, is due in mid Feb and my dairy doe is due the first week of March. I love baby goats! I'm trying to talk my hubby into going into strictly dairy goats. We get the milk and can sell or eat the the kids...that does sound mean, but I grow them up to eat them.

Ahh but it is getting time for them to come home for school so I need to make up a snack because they will be starving!