I’m going to turn 65 in March. Consequently I’ll be eligible for Medicare. This whole Medicare adventure has been stressful for me. I tend to freak out about things anyway (really, Carol?) and this Medicare milestone has been fuel for my “now what do I do?” thought processes.
The actual Medicare enrollment was painless. The government sent me a card that in effect told me that I would be signed up for Medicare automatically, and if I don’t want it I should tell them. That was easy.
The tedious part has been choosing a Medicare Advantage Supplement that will help pay the bills that Medicare doesn’t cover, and also provide drug coverage.
The insurance companies try to be helpful and bombarded me with mailings detailing their plans…over and over again. It’s been overkill, and adds to the confusion.
There is a Medicare website which helped me to understand what my options are and gave me tools to narrow down my choices based on my needs.
I realized that it’s important to me to stay with my Doctor and clinic. It’s not so important to stay with the pharmacy I use now. I then had to peruse the provider lists of the supplements I was considering. The ones that don’t have my Doc in their network get the heave ho.
I found a plan that works for me and sent off the enrollment form the other day. It was kind of scary. I don’t know why. It just makes me nervous. The good news is that if I made a bad choice I only have to stick with it for a year and I can change during the next open enrollment.
Now I’m enrolled and all set up, I hope.
Eating Healthy and Frugal Shopping
For years I’ve read about how to save money on groceries. I’ve known for a long time that I spend too much at the grocery store, and a few months ago I decided to use some of the tips I’ve read and heard and try to lower my food costs. The basic necessities have skyrocketed in price. Things like dairy products, coffee (yes, it’s a necessity), and bread. But I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.
I’ve discovered that trying to eat healthy has been a step in the direction of cutting costs. In fact, trying to eat healthy has resulted in the cost savings that we’re experiencing. I know that some will argue that healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables are expensive, but what I found is that by cutting processed foods out of our diets as much as possible, we have stopped spending our money on things like processed cold cuts, chips, soda, Lee’s beloved Little Debbie snacks. I don’t buy canned, boxed, and packaged foods much any more and I’m selective about the ones I do buy. We also eat less meat, with at least 1 meatless meal per week, and smaller portions when we do eat meat.
I should mention that I’m not much of a coupon clipper. I do use store coupons and the occasional manufacturer’s coupon for items I would be buying that week anyway. I don’t use coupons for anything that isn’t already on my list and I don’t stockpile.
Here are the significant changes that have resulted in lowering my food shopping costs.
1. I start by making a weekly menu plan for our dinners. This is key! I use the store ads (I have 2 grocery stores where I can shop here in Small Town, USA) and shop at whichever store has the best deals that week. I don’t drive from store to store. I plan our meals based on what’s on sale. I use a weekly menu plan sheet that I found online and printed. You can Google ” printable menu planner” and find one that you like. The completed menu for the week is posted so that I can look at it the night before and remove whatever I need from the freezer. I never have a “what am I going to make for dinner?” moment any more. Lee enjoys being able to look at the menu to see what he’s getting for dinner.
2. Our lunches are always leftovers from the night before. I plan to have leftovers. Sometimes I make enough to freeze another meal, especially if I’m making soup or a crock pot meal. I never buy any processed meats for lunches. If there’s nothing left over from the night before, I always have tuna in the pantry and eggs and cheese in the fridge so I can make sandwiches.
3. Breakfast savings came from cutting out the purchase of frozen breakfast foods and most cold cereals. I make waffles, pancakes, and french toast and freeze what we don’t eat for another breakfast meal. We eat hot cereals. I don’t buy as much cold cereal as I used to, and what I do buy is whole grain, no added sugar. I know that lots of folks skip breakfast. We don’t. Lee works hard on the farm and needs that morning meal. I’m diabetic and can’t skip meals.
4. Snacks are an area where we really see the savings. Lee loves his snacks. Do you know how expensive granola bars are? Now I make my own and Lee likes them so much better than the store-bought ones. I don’t buy cookies, I make them…but not often. We bought a food dehydrator and I’m in the process of learning how to dry foods and make healthy snacks. Apple, banana, and sweet potato chips. Fruit leathers. Kale chips. I’ll let you know how it’s working out.
5. I don’t impulse buy. I have a list and I buy only what’s on the list. I’ve gotten good about keeping a list in progress and I always add items I’ve run out of immediately. When I make my list for the week I already have it started and don’t have to try to remember what we need. I buy for 1 week and don’t try to stock up on sale items other than staples that I like to have on hand all the time.
I think I’ve hit all the high points. I realize that not everyone has time to cook everything from scratch. I’m fortunate that I’m home all day, every day and I have lots of time to prepare our meals. I don’t want to give you a dollar figure or percentage regarding my savings, because I’d like to watch it for a year or so to give it a fair trial, but I’m happy to report that my grocery bills have gone down a lot and are consistently lower than they were a few months ago.
Asian Flavors
I love so many of the asian foods and I especially like finding recipes that let me indulge my tastes without excess fat and carbs. The three recipes I have today are tried and true, and delicious.
I made this yummy appetizer for Christmas and it was a big hit. It has the familiar flavor of traditional crab rangoon, without all the grease of deep frying. Ours turned out a bit soggy on the bottom so I would follow the alternative directions to bake the won ton wrappers for a few minutes before adding the filling to finish baking. In this recipe the ratio of filling to wrapper is higher, a definite plus. The tops of the wrappers got crispy and crunchy but we were OK with that.
BAKED CRAB RANGOON
1-6 oz can white crabmeat, rinsed, drained flaked
4 oz neufchatel cheese, softened
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup light mayonnaise ( no Miracle Whip allowed!)
12 wonton wrappers
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix 1st 4 ingredients.
Spray 12 muffin cups with cooking spray. Place 1 wonton wrapper in each cup, extending edges over sides of cups.
Fill with crab mixture. Bake 18-20 minutes.
OR….Bake the wrappers in the muffin cups at 350 for 5-7 minutes, then fill and bake an additional 6-8 minutes.
Serve warm or cold. Recipe from kraftrecipes.com
This soup is so good. It’s very light, healthy, and satisfying. If you want a heartier soup, add some asian noodles.
ASIAN MUSHROOM SOUP
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
5 cups low sodium broth, beef or vegetable
1 1/2-2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced (shiitake or portobello)
1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
salt to taste
fresh chopped green onion for garnish
Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan and add ginger and garlic. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Lower the heat and add mushrooms, stir frying for 2 minutes. Add broth, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add rice vinegar and sesame oil. Stir well. Serve garnished with green onions on each bowl.
Makes 4 servings. Recipe from dlife.com
This last recipe is one that I would happily eat weekly. The only thing preventing that is the sodium content. I did modify the recipe to decrease the sodium. You can do that or not. 
You can substitute white wine for the sake, and because I live in a tiny town with small local grocery stores, I had to sub anise extract for the star anise, but it worked just fine.
What could be easier than putting it all into the slow cooker? It’s traditionally served on white rice, but I prefer brown rice.
SLOW COOKER SHOYU CHICKEN
3 1/2 lbs chicken thighs
1/2 c brown sugar, firmly packed (or 1/4 c Splenda brown sugar blend)
1 cup soy sauce ( light would lower the sodium content)
2 1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c sake
2 inches ginger, crushed
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 star anise (or 1 tsp anise extract)
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbls cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 c water
Chopped green onion for garnish
Place all ingredients except corn starch and 1/4 cup water in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Mix corn starch with water and add to pot. Continue cooking 30 minutes. Serve on rice, garnished with green onions. This recipe came from cookinghawaiianstyle.com
