My pantry

With all of the sites available on how to coupon -- there is not much need for me to explain how to do it all. However, I can tell you the things that I often buy and keep an eye out for. I will tell you that I shop wierd. I might buy 40 jars of pasta sauce today and then not buy pasta for 3 months. However, I have enough pasta left from last time I bought it that I have enough to get by on.
These are the things that I rarely find free, so I buy them at Save A Lot or Aldi:
Cream of whatever soups
canned mushrooms (often on sale at Walgreens for .39 though)
Canned Veggies - almost all kinds
Saltines

I look for sales on these items:
Milk
Eggs
Cheese

I go to the day-old bread store for these items:
Garlic bread
hamburger/hotdog buns
hoagie rolls
sandwich bread (if it is on sale for .25 a loaf)
**I will buy 3 months worth at a time and keep it in the freezer

For meats:
Sandwich meats are bought with coupons
Hotdogs, breakfast sausage are bought with coupons (mostly free)
Bacon -- I buy a 10 lb. box for $14.90 and break it down into bags for the freezer -- cheapest way I know and it lasts for months
Chicken -- other than whole chicken, the only way I buy chicken is leg quarters in 10 lb bags. (see below for "pickin chicken" method)
Shrimp -- I only buy when frozen bags are bogof
Turkey is only bought during the holidays -- with the great sales
Ham is just like turkey

Pickin Chicken
Buy the 10 lb. bag of chicken (usually on sale for .49/lb.)
Put in a stock pot and cook until done.
Pull out of the stock and let them cool
Put the broth (once cooled) into a clean gallon milk jug -- use it for up to a week!
Pick off the skin (discard or I feed it to my dogs -- they LOVE it), pick all the meat off the bones and lay it on a sheet pan. Slide it into the freezer, occassionally stirring it so it does not freeze into one big sheet. Once frozen, put into zip bags and use to add to soups and casseroles!

I will try and get up some of my pickin chicken recipes soon!