How To Rehabilitate Your Grocery Bill (Like I Did!)

Like many people nowadays, we well mainly me, are watching our pennies closely at our house. The one area I have the hardest time with however is grocery shopping. Well, not so much the shopping part (*grin*) but the saving money/sticking to a grocery budget/ part of it all. Might I just say in my defense that trying to keep two active munchkin-yet-growing-every-second boys, a 13 year old very busy girl, and a grown man who likens eating to breathing,  full while also sticking to a budget is just not on my list of skills and expertise?

Lucky for me, Daymon Worldwide ( the world's leading Private Brand expert ) feels sorry for my lack of coupon-ing and saving money skills. Because of me, (seriously, I really think I get full credit here!) they have made it their mission to show us moms that we can make perfectly delicious meals using store brand items many times in place of those expensive name-brand items. And they asked me to test out some of their recipes (See--I told you it was all about me!)

So the first recipe I tried out on my guinea pigs, er family, was the Breakfast Smoothie. Now remember, my mission was to use only store-brand items in the recipes.

Breakfast Smoothie
(Makes 2 smoothies)

Half a Banana
4 -6 frozen strawberries
½ c plain yogurt
½ - 1 c orange juice
1 Tbsp Flax seeds
1 Tbsp whey protein powder

In a blender add the banana, strawberries, yogurt, and orange juice. Blend until smooth. Add the flax seeds and whey, blend until evenly distributed and enjoy!

This cannot get any easier, right? And I used store brand orange juice and yogurt as instructed. The result? Very happy smiles and messy faces. This recipe is going to come in so handy for those dreaded school mornings that have once again descended upon our household!

 Mix it up a bit using other fruits -- whatever you have will work but here are some options:
Fresh blueberries, frozen raspberries & pomegranate juice
Fresh strawberries, frozen peaches & orange juice
Fresh bananas, frozen mango, & pineapple juice.


Next on my agenda was trying the Salmon Salad Sandwiches ( I am a registered Salmon fanatic, ask anyone that knows me.)


Salmon Salad Sandwich

4 sandwiches
(2) 6- 7-oz cans boneless, skinless wild Alaskan salmon, drained
1/4 c minced red onion
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
4 tbsp reduced-fat cream cheese
8 slices pumpernickel bread, toasted (so I opted for the 12 grain bread here instead--didn't think the kiddos would go for the pumpernickel)
8 slices tomato
2 large leaves romaine lettuce, cut in half

Combine salmon, onion, lemon juice, oil and pepper in a medium bowl. Spread 1 tablespoon cream cheese on each of 4 slices of bread. Spread 1/2 cup salmon salad over the cream cheese. Top with 2 tomato slices, a piece of lettuce and another slice of bread. If you don’t like pumpernickel try a nice hearty 12 grain bread.


This was delicious. I probably was the number one fan of this recipe, with the husband a close second. The kids tended to pick out the salmon filling and left the bread...but then again my kids do that with most sandwiches.


My bottom line? I enjoyed both recipes fully, fed my family some yummy stuff, and saved money using store brand items for both recipes.  And want to know what I really loved? No coupons were used in this money-saving experiment!!

I do not get along well with coupons. Just saying.

Disclosure: I was asked to participate in these recipe reviews by Daymon Worldwide and Role Mommy. While I was reimbursed for the ingredients purchased, all opinions and taste results expressed in this review are completely my own and that of my family. Others may have different opinions and experiences.