The Ice Cream Conspiracy

It used to be that when we went to the store and bought a carton of ice cream, we came home with half a gallon of ice cream. Then a few years ago some of the big names such as Dreyer's/Edy's and Breyer's reduced the cartons to 1.75 quarts. Once everyone made the adjustment to a smaller quantity for the same price, they raised the price. At some stores now, one of those brands can cost $5.99. Ouch.

Last month as I was trying to decide which flavor to buy for my daughter's birthday, I noticed that some of the cartons were only 1.5 quarts, while some of them were the "old" size of 1.75. Today I read that the big names are almost done phasing out the "larger" cartons in favor of the new size.

This turn of events made me even more pleased that we can make our own ice cream. My husband calculated that one batch of ice cream costs about $2.50 and makes 1.5 quarts. This is a much better price than the store bought stuff.

There are two regional ice cream companies in the area which still advertise that their cartons are "Still A Full Half Gallon!". They are both good ice creams, but the price of them is much more than making our own, so we will just stick with that.

More Grocery Bargains

I was at Kroger this evening to pick up some pita bread. (I haven't been able to find pitas anywhere else, and I am just not up to trying to make them from scratch.) Since the pitas were near the produce I decided to see if there were any good deals to be had.

Were there ever. I was able to get more than seven pounds of organic bananas for 0.99 total. They were on the ripe side, but definitely not over ripe. That was a much better price than the non-organic bananas which were lime green.

Next, I noticed that all the berries were marked $2 a carton. (This may not be a good price where you live, but it is here.) When I inspected them, fully expecting them to be over ripe and slightly slimy, I saw some of the most beautiful berries outside of Whole Foods I have ever seen. I was able to get fresh blueberries, raspberries and blackberries for a great price. Normally I only look at the berries with longing, but today I was able to bring home a healthy treat for my family.

Grocery Bargains

I had such an exciting time at the grocery store this evening that I just had to relate my experience. :) Yes, I am a nerd to get excited about saving money on groceries.

I hate what our grocery bill often looks like and usually check out all the grocery circulars each week to see if there are any deals that work for my family. Oftentimes there are not, since we don't buy processed foods very much.

This week however, Kroger is having some sort of pre-Super Bowl sale where if one buys eight select Kraft or Nabisco products there is a seven dollar discount at checkout. Normally, the names Kraft and Nabisco scream processed foods, and sure enough, most of the select items are highly processed. However, one of the select items was Philadelphia Cream Cheese. They also had in on sale for one dollar a package.

For one dollar I was able to buy eight (8!) packages of cream cheese. One may ask, what does one do with that much cream cheese? Well, I wondered that myself for a brief instant, but then I had an answer. I have a very yummy cheesecake recipe that I want to make before Lent begins which calls for five bars of it. I will still have three left, and I know I will use one of them for something or other. Even if I never end up using the other two before they go bad, I will still have saved more than if I had bought the five bars on their own.

While I was at the store I also looked for the apples that were on sale. Though I couldn't find them, I did notice a sale on grapefruits for 33¢ each. I bought six of them. They brought the total for my grocery bill to $3. Three dollars for fourteen items. Even my husband was happy. He said, "Boy, they must have lost money on us." I guess that is why they call them "Loss leaders".

Starbucks Frappuccinos

Although neither my husband or I are coffee drinkers, we both like an occasional frappuccino from Starbucks. Between the milk, sugar, and chocolate or caramel syrup, the coffee flavor is diminished enough to enjoy it.

Given, however, that these cost more than three dollars each it is a rare treat for us. The blogger at It's Just Money was also lamenting the cost. He linked to this nifty site where they have a basic frap recipe as well as several Starbucks recipes which can be downloaded as an ebook. Similar recipes can be found here.

The best imitation frap site looks like it can be found at GourmetSleuth.com. It has a large collection of imitation Starbucks recipes which include other drinks and sweets that either are or have been sold there. I am sure that with all these options, my husband will be happy running the blender to taste test some of them.