If you have gone to the gas station or grocery store in the last couple of weeks, you might be having sticker shock. You, like many people, probably have been wondering how do you hedge inflation? We could go into a lengthy financial breakdown that would address all your financial needs, but we are going to keep it simple. Most families are feeling inflation the most at the grocery store, especially if you have a growing or large family and we provide some solutions today.

We have been here before as a nation and many times in rougher places with inflation high and unemployment high also. Right now, we have growing inflation but one of the lowest unemployment rates in decades. So, that is the good news, but that doesn’t help your wallet at the grocery store. We are going to give you some great tips about how to beat back inflation at the grocery store today.

Bust Food Cost Inflation with Leftovers

Most of us have good intentions when we go shopping each week, that we will use everything we have bought and not waste any food. This is easier said than done with work, family, and so many responsibilities that demand your attention. Food waste is a huge problem for the environment and I know many of you compost, but wouldn’t it be great for your family’s food budget if you didn’t waste any food each week?

I know many of us have memories from childhood of meals made from leftovers that tasted really bad, this could cause an aversion to using leftovers for cooking! You can be very creative with leftovers and if actually spark creativity and save you money each week at the grocery store. We are going to show you how to get creative with leftovers!  I write recipes for some of our clients, so using leftovers from a meal to create another tasty meal is a creative endeavor for me and fun!

Delicious Meals From Leftovers

If you are ready to start lowering your food costs and you also want to stop wasting food, read on. The tips we share with you today will not only stop food wastage for your family, but it will also help you reduce your food costs substantially! With food costs going up at crazy levels, the timing couldn’t be better for how to creatively use leftovers. I’ve put together a list of great ways to use leftovers but also some not-so-common facts on how to store food so that it extends the shelf life of the food you have bought.

I hope to motivate you to cook some mouth-watering meals with recipes for some really good meals, from French Toast to one of the best calzones you will taste this side of Italy! I suggest taking this on as a creative task, having fun with it, making it like a game to save money, taking notes about what works and what doesn’t, and what your family’s favorite meals have been from your stash of leftovers. Let the savings begin!

Leftover Bread Tips

Bread is something we all have on hand for our families, Sometimes the bread you have on hand gets ahead of you and we share some great ideas of what to do with leftover bread below:

• Make croutons out of leftover sourdough bread.
• Use any leftover bread as an extender for meatloaf.
• Did you know that you can freshen leftover sourdough bread by spritzing it with a little bit of water and then putting it in a low-temperature oven for 10-15 minutes?
• Put any kind of leftover bread except bread with fruit or nuts in a food processor and make your own breadcrumbs. You can always add your special mix of seasonings to your breadcrumb mix also.
• A few day-olds French bread makes for great crostini, since it is toasted very well and slathered with your favorite fixings, it will come out just fine and make for a wonderful appetizer or companion to soup.
• Try your hand at making bread pudding, it’s especially yummy on these cold winter days for dessert or a special treat for breakfast.
• Make French Toast and from bread that is going stale, especially sourdough bread for a really good breakfast or a dinner if you make Monte Cristo sandwiches.

Leftover Cheese Tips

Kids and adults love cheese, but sometimes you have cheese that is getting near its pull date and we give you some really good ideas on how to use leftover cheese below:

• Fondue is a great way to use up leftover cheese and kids love fondue young and old. There are many varieties of cheese that make tasty fondue, you just want to choose easy melting versions, such as swiss, gouda, Gruyere, Fontina, or Cheddar.
• Make up a batch of macaroni and cheese, either the stovetop version or the baked version.
• Make twice-baked stuffed potatoes with leftover cheese and vegetables nearing their pull date.
• Avocado and grilled cheese sandwiches are filled with protein and are a great way to use up leftover cheese.
• Make eggs au gratin or any vegetable mixture with an au gratin sauce, it’s a great way to get picky eaters to eat veggies.
• Make a batch of blended cheeses, the French call it Fromage Fort, try blending your leftover cheeses with garlic, wine, and your best-loved herbs for a flavorful cheese spread.

Leftover Ham, Turkey or Chicken Tips

If you make a large meal on the weekend, baking a ham, chicken, or turkey it’s so simple to use the leftovers during the week to make some wonderful meals. We give you some good ideas below as to what to do with leftover ham, turkey, or chicken:

• Make chicken or turkey tortillas soup, it’s also a great way to get rid of extra tortilla chips before their pull date.
• Make your favorite chicken or turkey soup recipe using leftover cuts from your meal or submerge the whole chicken or turkey in a big stockpot and let the boiling water do the job of removing the last of the meat from the bones plus giving you a really hardy base stock for your soup.
• Make chicken, turkey, or ham sandwiches. Our kids love leftover chicken, turkey, or ham sandwiches.
• Make chicken or turkey enchiladas, this is one of our favorite use of leftovers any time and they freeze so well.
• Make breakfast burritos from your leftover meat or burritos for lunch or dinner. Our kids feel any meal is a great time for burritos and it really lets you use leftover meat effectively.
• Make a stir-fry with your leftover meat and use up some of your leftover vegetables at the same time.
• Make a batch of sushi, a great way to use leftover rice and vegetables.
• Make chili with your leftover chicken or turkey.
• Leftover ham makes a great addition to mac and cheese and really increases the protein in the dish.
• Break out the lentils or split peas and make a great soup with leftover ham.

Leftover Rice Tips

I don’t know about you, but many times I over calculate how much rice I need for a side dish and then I’m left with lots of leftover rice. Here are some tasty ideas to put your leftover rice to good use:

• One of my kid’s favorite breakfasts is rice crullers. Rice crullers are a southern breakfast treat made from leftover rice. Since rice is one of the main ingredients you can use up a lot of rice this way and make a breakfast treat that everyone will love.
• Make rice pudding, you can use up both white and brown rice this way. You can make your rice pudding without sugar by using maple syrup or honey as the sweetener.
• Vegetable fried rice uses up not only your leftover rice but also can make a clean sweep of your refrigerator of any vegetables that are nearing their end of life
• Chicken or turkey and rice soup is a winter favorite and uses both your leftover meat and rice in one great filling soup.
• Brown rice burgers not only taste good, but they are good for you.  These are great warm or cold used in sandwiches after the fact and use a huge amount of leftover brown rice and they are good and good for you!

Leftover Vegetable Tips

Leftover vegetables or vegetables nearing their end of life in your refrigerator can be used for a number of great-tasting meals. Plus, we give you some storage ideas about avocados that you probably haven’t heard before below:

• Did you know that you can freeze avocados? I didn’t know this till recently even though I have cooked for years. When you don’t think you’ll be able to use your avocados, remove the pulp from your avocados and put it in a bowl, use an ice cream scoop to scoop up your avocado and put it on a cookies sheet, put it in your freezer till the avocado balls are firm, and then decant to a plastic bag for storage. Your avocados won’t turn brown and you can use the mixture when you need it with only a few minutes out on the countertop to be able to use the avocado in a number of dishes or on sandwiches.
• Make a vegetable smoothie from your leftover vegetables. Just add your favorite liquid, maybe a frozen banana, throw in some berries, and protein powder if you wish, and you have a great-tasting and nutritious smoothie.
• Make vegetable soup. Such a tasty soup and it uses up your leftover vegetables and gives them new life in a soup that warms you up.
• I made my first spinach enchiladas this last week because I needed to use up spinach before the pull date and they were so good! So, give vegetable enchiladas a try for using up leftover vegetables even if you aren’t a vegetarian.

We understand you know Shed Windows and More as a building supply company for home hobbyists, DIY builders, and small construction companies, but we are also a company of families like yours that work on tackling inflation for our family’s wellbeing. You can always count on us for great customer service and fair prices for your building needs but we will also throw in some good content from time to time to address larger issues we are all facing to try to help you out. For us at Shed Windows and More, it’s all about community and working together!

The post How Your Family Can Beat Inflation first appeared on Door.

The holidays are fast approaching and this brings a mixture of happy feelings and stress to many people, especially this year. Why more stress this holiday season? Between COVID-19, inflating prices, and the usual mix of holiday expectations this could be a very stressful holiday season. Since we are a family-owned business and family and holidays are close to our hearts, we want to give you some great ideas on how to spend less, enjoy more, and have less stress this holiday season!

Creative ideas for Holiday Gatherings

We are fast approaching Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s celebrations and each of these holidays usually has people gathering together, eating, and drinking. The price tag for these gatherings plus the time and effort that is involved can be huge-ask any working woman. It takes a lot of juggling, planning, and money to put on a holiday party. The ideas we give you can be used for any get-together, but these ideas work really well for reducing holiday spending while reducing stress.

• Potluck dinners are a great way of reducing time, effort, and spending on holiday gatherings. Potlucks take a huge amount of time out of holiday meals while letting everyone at your gathering shine with what they contribute from their kitchen. Also, potlucks tend to bring people together in a more connected way since everyone is contributing and has a chance to share from the kitchen dish that they do best.
• Progressive dinners are another way to reduce time, money, and stress over cooking for a crowd. Whether you are celebrating with your neighborhood or family a progressive dinner where one part of the meal is hosted at a different house or location is a great way to spread the fun around.

Spend Less & Have More Fun this Holiday Season

I know many people feel they are extending their debt levels during the holiday season by trying to meet theirs and other people’s expectations. Truth be told, most people don’t need more stuff cluttering up their house. Being conscious of what we are giving people and making sure it’s making a meaningful contribution to their life is probably more important than a big box with a huge bow to open during the holidays! We share some cost-saving and stress-busting ideas below:

• Give the gift of Local Services. This has a threefold benefit, it supports local businesses, it gives a service to a friend or relative that they might not buy for themselves, but would really appreciate, and it can be used when the person most needs the service.
• Shop Thrift Stores. Other people’s past treasures can yield some amazing gifts for the holidays. From rare books to vintage apparel, from the perfect kitchen gadget to an incredible signature purse, they can all be found at thrift stores. Repurposing, reusing is a great way to help our environment and give a meaningful gift at the same time.
• Make a List and keep to it. Lists help you stay on track and not overspend and save you time as a bonus.
• Create a Gift Exchange instead of buying gifts for each person. Toss names in a bowl and choose a name for each person attending. This allows the person to get a well-thought-out gift of some value instead of a bunch of tiny gifts that might make their way to the landfill.
• Have your friends and relatives create a Santa’s Gift List of the items they would love to receive during the holidays. Have everyone share their gifts by email before Thanksgiving. These gift ideas can be used for a gift exchange or for individual gifts. So much easier and less costly in the long run to get someone something they will really enjoy!
• Use your Reward Points that you may have racked up on your credit cards. Cashing in those rewards points can really help trim the holiday gift budget.
• Clean Your Closets, kitchen, and garage, you may find hidden items that would make the perfect gift for someone in regift to.
• Bake Bread or Cookies for a holiday gift. As an added treat includes the recipe written out for the gift recipient. Wrapping your homemade baked goods can also be part of the gift, keep it festive and reusable!
• Make a Coupon Book. Creating a coupon book for a person can be a very individual and special holiday gift. You can tailor the coupon book to the person’s specific needs, be it babysitting, car washes, meal preparation, a haircut, or teaching something you know that they’ve wanted to learn!
• Use Cash, Not Credit Cards. It’s amazing how much more conscious we are of what we spend when we have to count out cash instead of just sliding a credit card into a card reader. You might find by paying cash that you spend a lot less this holiday season.
• Focus on Gratitude. Especially at Thanksgiving, it’s important to focus on what we are grateful for, but it’s a great habit to start and keep up throughout the year. One of the most meaningful gifts I ever gave my dad was a list of all the attributes I received from him and everything I have learned from him through the years. He has kept that list for years and pulls it out many times and it always brings a tear to his eyes!
• Avoid Self-Gifting. I know it’s tempting, but hold off on buying gifts for yourself no matter how good of a deal and focus on just your list this holiday season.
• Shop Garage Sales. You not only help someone else create some holiday cash, but you can also find some wonderful deals that would make the perfect gift for someone you love.
• Shop Facebook Marketplace, it can be a wonderful source for local deals that would make a great gift for someone on your list.
• Shop the Holiday Fairs. Holiday fairs are a really great way to buy local and purchase gifts that are handmade and special.
• Book Your Travel Early. Booking early or booking on off days around a holiday can make a difference of hundreds of dollars in your final cost of visiting friends or relatives at a distance.
• Purchase Gift Certificates to their favorite stores or local establishments.
• Make Memories by giving someone a photo collage of special moments or people in their life. Put together a scrapbook or photo book online of memories for a person you love. Both of these gifts will keep giving through the years.
• Use Your DIY Skills to make a unique gift for someone you love. Better yet, for someone who isn’t as handy gift them some of your time to do upkeep on their house or build something they would enjoy!
• Keep to a Budget. Set your budget for the holidays and keep to it. Approach the holiday season budgeting like a board game you are trying to win and give yourself a small treat for staying within budget and making it around the board this holiday season without breaking the bank!

Especially if you are buying for a DIY enthusiast on your gift list, purchase a Shed Windows and More Gift Certificate for them this holiday season. No gift wrapping, no mailing costs, and their gift certificate is emailed directly to their inbox.  For a DIY project person, a gift certificate for items they have wanted or needed for their next building project is a great gift that keeps giving. We are grateful for each of our customers and the builders that rely on us for their building supplies and we wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season.

The post Save Money & Stress Less During the Holidays first appeared on Door.

The days are getting shorter and fall is coming, change is in the air. After the last year or two, most of us realize that change is something we can depend on these days. But change can be challenging with a family, cooking, and pets. After we thought COVID-19 was waning and we all sighed a collective sigh of relief, with the new variants afoot, we are all dealing with change again. For those of us that also deal with distinct seasons, we are used to having food on hand in our pantry, but for people in more temperate climates, this is not something that they usually plan. Many of us have been reminded how important it is to have supplies on hand so we are well prepared for emergencies in the last few years.

Maybe it’s living out in the country most of my life or having a large family, but having a well-stocked pantry was just something we did to minimize trips into town and to make sure we had what we needed on hand for family meals and guests that would show up at a moment’s notice. For years we have used a portion of our outdoor shed for food, paper products, and pet food storage; it frees up a lot of room in our kitchen pantry. Also, our shed is much more accessible for unloading those 40-pound bags of dog food!

Another benefit of having a well-stocked pantry, it cuts down on quick runs to the grocery store which helps the climate. It’s nice to be able to make a meal and know that you will have the ingredients on hand that you need. Our emergency food pantry list that we share with you below will help you thrive during bad weather, power outages, and other unexpected things that happen in life. Because it’s always good to have a little control when storms, power outages, or illness disrupt our lives. We give you a list below that covers water, food, pets, paper goods, supplements, and more so you know you are prepared for a great meal or an emergency.

Stocking Your Emergency Pantry

Consider some important details when stocking your pantry for everyday use and emergencies because it’s important to choose foods that your family will eat. We encourage you to use a black permanent marker to write the pull dates on items where they will be visible. Also keep in mind that most foods are fine well past their suggested sell date, so you can give yourself some wiggle room. We have a list inside our pantry door of what is in our pantry and quantities. This list comes in handy for keeping track of what is in your pantry and when to restock.

Be sure to take into account your family’s special dietary needs, such as gluten or dairy-free, or allergies when stocking your pantry, and adjust our sample list accordingly. We will put your pets on our list too and don’t forget about prescription refills. Refilling any prescriptions or having each family member with enough prescription, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and supplements that they might need for a two-month stretch is important.

Other Emergency Supplies

Other than the food, paper goods, prescriptions, supplements, and pet food there are some items that can make life easier in an emergency. If you are lucky to have a gas stove, be sure to keep some lighters on hand to light your stove. If you have an electric stove, buying a small propane camping stove to use outdoors in emergencies allows you to cook most of your food.

Keep in mind that you can use your outdoor gas grill as an oven, it’s our favorite way to make pizza to grilled fruit! Also, having on hand, flashlights and battery-powered camping lanterns are a must. If you live in an area prone to power outages or extreme weather, a backup generator can make life so much easier. Be sure to have an inverter generator for your refrigerator and computers, they don’t do well on traditional generators. Also, dual fuel generators give you many options and bottled propane is much easier to store than gasoline which can go bad over time.

Your Food Pantry Basics

Please keep in mind your families needs when stocking your pantry, but below we go over what we think are some good basics to have on hand for cooking a meal when you haven’t had time to go to the store to having emergency food supplies on hand:

• • • Canned fruits, and vegetables, be sure to have a manual can opener
    • Canned salmon, chicken, and tuna-you can whip up some easy skillet meals to casseroles with any of these ingredients
    • Quick oatmeal, nutritious, filling, and easy to prepare
    • Pasta, rice, and whole grains
    • Canned beans such as pinto, black, garbanzo, or kidney beans, make for a good base for soup or to add to your skillet meals
    • Canned tomatoes for stew, soups, and skillet meals
    • Lentils and split peas-great protein source, filling, and great to add to soups or stews
    • Vegetable, chicken, and beef broth, I prefer bullion in jars, but some people prefer cartons
    • Potatoes-always a staple
    • Onions
    • Evaporated milk and powered milk-both can be used in a lot of recipes
    • Boxed milk or oat, soy milk
    • Dried fruit like cranberries, blueberries, apricots, raisins-all make a quick snack with nuts
    • Nuts, such as almonds, cashews, and walnuts-keeping these in the freezer keeps these fresh for a long time
    • Salt, pepper, and spices
    • Powdered peanut butter-this organic wonder is available both at Costco and Amazon
    • Protein bars
    • Dry cereal and granola
    • Crackers and pretzels
    • Dried soup mixes
    • Nut butter, jelly, or jam
    • Baking staples such as sugar, flour, honey, oil, etc.
    • Basic comfort foods such as candy, cookies, instant pudding, coffee, tea, and powdered creamer

If you are fortunate and don’t experience a power outage during emergencies you can also stock up on some staples that you can keep in your freezer and refrigerator:

• Eggs
• Butter-it can be frozen by the way
• Cheese, many types can be frozen
• Fruits and vegetables
• Yogurt
• Meat, chicken, or tofu
• Bread-it can be stored in the freezer and thawed as needed
• Pizza dough stores well and can be frozen-great for pizza and focaccia

Water & Beverages

Probably one of the most important items in your pantry will be water and beverages, staying well-hydrated is important whether it is hot or cold. You should keep enough on hand to last each person in your family at least a week. Be sure to keep some of your favorite beverages on hand also. Also, many times in emergencies water gets contaminated, so having a water purification pitcher at home can help so much in an emergency. The cost of water purification pitchers has come way down and can be purchased locally or on Amazon starting at about $30.

Stock Up on Pet Food & Paper Products

Be sure to remember your pets when it comes to stocking enough food in your pantry for an emergency. So this entails having dog and cat food on hand that would last at least 2 weeks, and kitty litter if your cat is an indoor cat.

We all learned last year how important it is to have some paper goods on hand. Remember to stock your pantry with paper towels, toilet paper, tissue paper, plastic bags-if you use them, plastic wrap, kitchen bags, garbage bags, paper plates, and plastic utensils-both of which come in handy during a power outage. Also, be sure to have enough of your personal products on hand to last at least 2 weeks if you can’t get to the store or deliveries have slowed.

Some of us use our pantry for stocking up, others have a cabinet in their garage, while other people find keeping part of their outdoor shed for emergencies supplies allows their kitchen pantry to stay uncluttered. Especially if you store your pantry items in the garage or outdoor shed, it would be handy to keep a list on hand of everything that is in our emergency food supply in your kitchen. When the person uses the last of an item, put that item on the grocery list for this week’s grocery shopping-this makes it simple to keep your pantry up-to-date and stocked for cooking fun and emergencies too!

Keep your outdoor shed well ventilated with louvered windows if you are using it for food storage and if you live in a humid climate a dehumidifier does wonders for keeping what is inside your shed in good shape. Many of the finishing items we stock at Shed Windows and More can help create a great place to stock pantry items and keep them easy to find in your outdoor shed or garage.

The post Emergency Pantry Solutions for Great Cooking & Being Prepared first appeared on Door.