Tag Archives: Costco

May 16 2012

Quick Tip: Storing Bulk Hard Cheeses


I’m a big fan of bulk shopping at Costco. Even though we are only a family of four we go through a lot of groceries. We eat almost exclusively home-cooked food –three meals a day, every day. That adds up to a lot of cooking and groceries in a month!

One of the things I buy in bulk is hard cheeses. I usually buy Romano because it’s less expensive than Parmesan.  This wedge was about $9, compared to $15 for a similar sized wedge of Parmesan. I use it to top spaghetti, in lasagna and on home-made pizzas.

The large package may seem like a lot of cheese, and it is, but it will keep for a one to two months if stored properly.  This is how I do it:

I cut the large wedge into 5 smaller wedges. These are the size you would find in a regular grocery store.

Then wrap each wedge in tightly in plastic wrap.

Then place inside a zipper bag (with the date written on it)

I left the small piece out to use in making two lasagnas that night. Why make one lasagna when you can make two, right? One went into the freezer to be used next month.
Do you buy cheese in bulk? How do you store it? Let me know in the comments!
Feb 3 2012

Making Bulk Shopping Work

One thing that stuck with me from Kathi’s book was keeping a well-stocked pantry. When I don’t plan ahead I find myself running to the store every few days to get things.

The new strategy I’m going to try is planning meals for two weeks at a time. I will start off the month by planning the meals, then making a Costco run and fill in with trip to the grocery store. It would save me a huge amount of time and money to only be shopping twice a month.

In preparation for this plan I’ve started a spreadsheet to figure out what kinds of things I need to stock up on at Costco, what the package size is, and how much it costs.  This lets me figure the cost per unit so I can know if it’s a deal or not.  I used my past few receipts to get my list started.  I’ll print it out and take with me to fill in the things I don’t know yet.

The trick to making this work is to buy things that last forever (dried pasta, sugar) and the things we use a ton of on a regular basis (4 lb bag of shredded cheese, anyone?).  I have to be careful about things like giant tubs of sour cream, fresh veggies etc, that although a good buy, will probably expire before I use them all. I found out the hard way with a three pound bag of broccoli. What was I thinking? I made broccoli soup, to try to use some of it up.

I will still buy most of my fresh produce at the regular store, and things that I need in small quantities. It will be a change to plan ahead but I think it will really help make my days run smoothly. I’ll let you all know how it goes, and of course post my menus/recipes to share!

 

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Aug 24 2011

My New Crock Pot

Isn’t it great? My mom got me a new crock pot for my birthday! I cracked the insert for my nine-year-old cooker I received as a wedding gift.  I tried going online to order a replacement insert but unfortunately they don’t make the kind I had anymore.

I can’t wait to get something cooking in there.  It’s an extra big cooker – a 7 quart which will be great for making large batches of soups and stews.  It also came with the cute little pot on the left – for serving hot dips. I checked my bread pans, and one will fit inside so I may even try making some bread with it.

On my “to cook” list:

  • French Onion Soup
  • Beef Stroganoff
  • Chili
  • Apple Butter

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Mar 31 2011

The best pasta sauce! (And it happens to be low-carb)

This sauce is from Costco and it is so yummy!  It’s called Victoria White Linen Collection Marinara. It comes in large jars (40 oz.) and amazingly only has 1 gram of sugar.  If you haven’t checked your pasta sauce for sugar content, you might want to do that.  What is average?  In my checking of various brands at the grocery store I’d say 8 gram is common.  The best I’ve found in the store is about 5 grams of sugar, and the worst – over 12 grams!  They had a sale on a particular brand, a very good price, but it was just too high in sugar so I didn’t buy it.

For whatever reason, the two Costco stores near me don’t carry this sauce.  I had my mom bring me a few jars on her last visit so I could stock up!  Look for it the next time you’re in Costco, and I did find it on Amazon.com if you shop there.

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Mar 11 2011

Frugal Friday – Do you save money at Costco?

I love looking at all the fun stuff at Costco.  There’s always something new.  But how does Costco compare to coupon shopping?  I used to think that Costco had great prices, but now I don’t – not as far as groceries are concerned.  Yes, there are things at Costco that can’t be beat – such as prices on big ticket electronics, uncooked tortillas and Kirkland toilet paper.  But for a lot of everyday items like shampoo, toothpaste, and lunch meat I can do better with coupons.

Yes, couponing is more work and more planning, but you can save a lot of money!  Check out this article from the Krazy Coupon Lady for more reasons why you should consider dumping Costco (or at least shopping there only for a limited number of items).  Happy saving everyone!

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