Tightwad Mom's Frugal Forum

Some Substitutes For Everyday Items

2012-02-04T08:47:00.001-07:00

I should be sweeping the kitchen floor, right now, but I thought it would be more fun to share to great "substitutes" for some items I use everyday. Sorry, I don't have pictures to go with said items. I am on uber crunch time today (when am I not?). Anyway, I have recently discovered that.......

Cheap hair conditioner (accidentally bought on a grab and not look moment at the store) makes the BEST shave gel. No razor burn, no knicks, and super smooth skin.

An old toothbrush (properly disinfected in the dishwasher, so that you don't get eye cooties) is a great brow brush/ eyelash groomer.

The lid off an ice cream bucket is a great substitute for a cutting board for cutting smaller items like fruit or cheese.

Clothes pins are great for closing the tops of chip, cookie, bread, etc. bags. They keep a tight seal and stay in place!

A metal bundt cake pan is great for freezing ice rings for parties. Freeze extra punch or water into ice rings. To use just set the pan in warm water (just enough to go up the sides, not over the top) for a few minutes to release the ice ring.

These are just a few of my favorite way to reuse everyday household items.

What are some of your favorite ways to substitute and reuse items around your house ( I do love, love, LOVE handy ideas)?

Oh, and just so this post isn't totally pictureless, here is the picture of my daughter's Sweet Sixteen cupcake tree. You will be happy to know the stand was constructed out of scrap glass, and thrift store candy dishes. The cupcakes were baked with love (and sugar)!

Fabulous No Roll Pie Crust

2012-01-10T14:24:00.002-07:00

I just had to drop by today to share the BEST recipe I have ever discovered (okay, I discover great recipes all the time, but this is in the Top Five, DEFNITELY)! For me, desperation is usually always the mother of invention. Since, I am generally always trying to squeeze at least three seperate things in the same time increments, desperation is USUALLY my middle name. If multi tasking were an Olympic sport, I would be in the running for the Gold! Anyway, I digress.

I had an obscenely large amount of browning apple slices left over from a little party I hosted over the weekend (more about that later). Of course, you all know that throwing said apples away would pain me GREATLY! Unfortunately, all efforts to feed the unattractive apples to my Dear Family, backfired! Apparently, eating brownish orange apple slices did not appeal to them. On to Plan B, then! I will just turn them into pie! Oh, wait! I only have nano seconds to throw a pie together........STINK! What to do? What to do?

Allrecipes to the RESCUE! No Roll Pie Crust is one of the best inventions, EVER in my book! It as easy as can be. Spray your pie plate with cooking spray. Toss all the dry ingredients together in the pie plate. Then stir in the wet ingredients. Pat the dough along the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Fill with your favorite fruit filling. Top with a crumb crust (so the apple don't dry out), and bake for 350 degrees for 50 minutes. No chilling, no rolling, no swearing.......it's FOOL PROOF, and flaky, too. I don't think I will be going back to the old fashioned, labor intensive pie crust, any time soon.

Fool Proof Pie Crust
(makes enough dough for one 8 inch pie)
Find original recipe HERE

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons milk (I used half and half)

Follow the directions above. If you want to bake the empty crust , bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Don't forget to prick the crust all over with a fork, cover crust with aluminum foil, and fill with dry beans to keep it from shrinking and bubbling.

You may have noticed from the picture at the top of the post, that nobody had a problem eating the icky apples once it was turned into pie.

P.S, For the crumb topping, I sifted together:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Then I cut in 3 tablespoons cold butter until it resembled coarse crumbs.

Well, Hello and Merry Christmas

2011-12-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

I have been so touched by the comments and e mails many of you have sent me! It has really helped me get through a rough patch, to know that so many of you enjoy and look forward to my posts! I have not died, or worse, went over the deep end and started living a lavish lifestyle. My life has just simply spiraled out of control, and I found myself needing to focus on my family, for a while. Never fear, everyone is doing fine, and as soon as the holidays are over I will be back to share what's been going on in my life. I am also excited to share alot of fun, and uber cheap ideas that I have been knee deep in the last few months. I also want to share ways your can make healthy lifestyle changes, and not kill your budget. Plus, my son made me feel a little guilty the other day, when he asked me with some concern, "Mom when are you going to start blogging again? I liked clicking on your blog, and reading our weekly menu. Then I knew what we were having for dinner!". Apparently, he hasn't realized it has been hanging on the fridge, written on a piece of.....PAPER!

I want to wish you all a VERY HAPPY HOLIDAYS, and look forward to catching up with all my FABULOUS bloggy friends, after the New Year! I love you all, you are a great inspiration to me!

Thrift Store Fabulous

2011-07-26T14:29:00.000-06:00

I love, love, LOVE thrift stores! There are several thrift stores in my area, but lately I have found Goodwill to have the best prices. I love that our Goodwill is clean, organized, and the employees are very friendly and helpful. I also like that every week a certain colored tag is 50% off. This week's tag is red. I stopped by looking for jeans for the kids for school. I didn't find any in their sizes that would work, but I did find some fabulous things, anyway!

Today's treasures included:

A vintage quart milk bottle - $.99
A glass cake stand - $2.49 (it was a red tag item)

These two items are going to be a birthday gift.

A small vintage Pyrex container (it is going to hold sponges on my kitchen sink) - $.99
E bay for Dummies (Dear Hubby wants to start selling some of our unwanted items on E bay, and doesn't have a clue how to start) - $1.49 (it was a red tag item)
Three pairs of shorts for the boys - 2 pairs were $3.99 each, one was $1.49 (red tag)
A brand new Target Home brand fabric shower curtain (I have been looking for a new shower curtain for the upstairs bathroom. The one that we are currently using is 14 years old and pretty worn out) - $7.99

Today grand total spent was $25.13. Not bad considering the shower curtain alone would have cost at least that bought new at the store. I do love a good treasure hunt! Have you found any fabulous items at the thrift store, lately?

This Week's Menu 7/24

2011-07-24T20:00:00.000-06:00

(this week's Bountiful Basket)

Summer just seems to be flying by! I can't believe that it is the last week of July. It seems like we were just celebrating the Fourth! Sigh, now it time to start thinking about back to school shopping. My children are really not pleased every time I mention S-C-H-O-O-L. I get a collective glare of pig eyes every time that CERTAIN word comes out of my mouth. You would think it was a four letter word! Anyway, taking inventory of the boy's closet is number one on the to do list this week. This week I am also attempting to liven up the menu a little bit. I have been perusing Taste of Home and Cook's Illustrated magazine. I found several good recipes to try. I mean, I guess it's pointless to subscribe to cooking magazines if you don't actually cook any of the recipes out of them! This week we will be eating the following culinary masterpieces (snicker! snicker!):

Sunday
BBQ Chicken
Green Beans, Potatoes, and Bacon
Banana Blueberry Muffins
Water Melon
Mango Crisp

Monday
Migas ( Taste of Home recipe)
Flour Tortillas
Cantaloupe and Watermelon
Lettuce and Tomatoes
Leftover Mango Crisp

Tuesday

Three Cheese Baked Ziti (Taste of Home recipe)
Easy Breadsticks
Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Wednesday
Ham and Cheese Paninis
Slices Peaches
Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Thursday
Chicken Fried Steak with Country Gravy (Cook's Illustrated)
Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower

Friday
Leftover Night

Saturday
Grilled Hot Dogs
Baked Beans
Chips
Fruit of Some Kind

What beat the heat recipes have you been cooking at your house?

History Always Repeats Itself

2011-07-23T16:12:00.001-06:00

As I was hanging this particularly LARGE load of "delicates" outside to dry this afternoon, I was struck by the thought....

That "History is destined to always repeat itself!".

P.S. Can you tell that I live in a predominately male household?

Making Scrub Sponges Last Longer

2011-07-21T03:52:00.001-06:00

I really like to use Scotch Bright scrub sponges to wash dishes (and scrub dirty counters).

I can usually buy them cheaply with coupons (especially at Costco).

Two make the sponge last twice as long, I cut it in half with a sharp pair of scissors.

One half of the sponge is just the right size (especially for kid's size hands) to wash dirty dishes. I always place my sponges on the top rack of the dishwasher when I wash a load of dishes in it to disinfect them.

You need to keep sponges dry between uses, so that they don't become a breeding ground for bacteria. An old plastic berry basket in the drying rack works great for hold drying sponges (and the lids to water bottles, so that they don't don't fall down the garbage disposal).

This little trick my not save me a ton of money, but every little bit helps!

Baking Cheesecake

2011-07-20T08:17:00.001-06:00

I like to bake cheese cake. Cheese cake is kind of my signature dessert. I bake it for gifts, fundraisers, birthdays, and holidays (and once in awhile, just for funzies). I will let you in on a little secret..........making (and baking a cheesecake) is very easy. When I decided to conquer # whatever on my bucket list, and try my hand at making a real, live baked in the oven level 5 (in my head) dessert; I did a little research. Now I will let you in on another secret. To get a perfect cheesecake, you need to water bath it. Water bathing will give you a light, fluffy cheesecake without cracks in the top. To water bath a dessert in the oven, simply means that:

You place a rack in the bottom of a pan larger than your spring form pan. I use four canning jar lids placed in a "circle".
You place the spring form pan (or dessert mold) on the rack in the pan.
Fill the larger pan with a couple inches of warm water.
To make it easier I place the large pan on the oven rack before I fill it with water (just don't pour water on the cheesecake batter).
Always remember to step back when you open the oven door to retrieve your cheesecake. The steam build up will melt you mascara if you are standing to close (I learned the hard way!)

Water bathing will also produce a soggy, wet crust (because some water will seep into the bottom of the spring form pan). To remedy this little problem, most recipes will tell you to cover the bottom of the spring form pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. That has been my usually method, but it's kind of wasteful to use that much foil, and I have still had the soggy crust issue. However, I was reading in a Cook's Illustrated magazine (love, love, LOVE Cook's Illustrated), that if you use an oven roasting bag instead of aluminum foil, it eliminates the soggy crust problem. I tried it a couple of days ago, and it worked great. The best part is, that if you hang the oven bag up to dry when your done, you can reuse it for the same purpose; later.

Open up the oven bag (I used the large size that will hold up to an 8 pound roast), and roll down the sides of the bag. Place the spring form pan in the center of the bag. Roll the sides up a couple of inches above the rim of the pan.

Place the covered spring form pan on the rack in the larger pan. Fill the larger pan up with a couple inches of warm water. Use warm water! Cold water will cause a temperature fluctuation that affects the baking time, and it could shatter the glass pan.

It is amazing how finding a handy, dandy tip in a magazine makes life a little easier! Now that I have inspired you all to add cheesecake baking to your bucket list, you can find my tried and true recipe HERE. I guarantee that you will be the hit of the party if you "whip" one up for your next get together. Not to mention you will achieve mythical status among friends and family (No one has to know how easy it is)! Happy baking!

A Really Great Birthday Gift And Line Drying Laundry

2011-07-19T03:54:00.001-06:00

I really have a fabulous Husband! I mentioned in an earlier post that He had been hinting about my really great birthday gift. He was right, it IS really great, and just what I wanted! I was at Costco about six weeks ago and saw this fabulous stainless steel drying rack. I didn't buy it at the time thinking that maybe it would go on sale or that there would be a coupon for it in the next month's coupon book (always the cheap skate). A couple of week's later when I went back to Costco, with every intention of buying the drying rack, they were sold out!! Stink! They have been sold out every week, since! Well, on my birthday my Dear Hubby, giddily surprised me with.............. a very much sought after (by me) drying rack ( He snuck to Costco, the day after he heard me mention how much I wanted the drying rack, bought it, and had been hiding it ever since!). Of course, this week Costco has them in stock, and they are on sale, but who cares!

My present couldn't have come at a better time, because:

A) I try to line dry most of our clothes from late spring until late fall (or when snow flies, which ever comes first) to save money on the power bill. By not using the dryer, I can justify using the air conditioning ( I am not a happy camper when I am hot and sweaty).

B) My makeshift clothes line that I have been using for several years broke, and I do not have a replacement awning, yet. I don't have a place in my back yard to put a permanent clothes line, so every year I have to make do.

I have strung a clothesline around the Quick Shade awning that is sitting on our deck (to shade the French doors from the blazing afternoon and evening sun). It has worked well so far, but it is not big enough to hold more than one load of laundry. Laundry day at our house consists of way more than one load of laundry! Now that I have my new, swanky drying rack, I can hang all the shirts on plastic hangers and place them on the rack to dry (which is handy for putting them away when they are dry). It is also has plenty of rungs to hang towels, undies, and socks on.

Not to mention, it makes a great place to set the clean laundry as I take it off the line and fold it.

My clothes pin bag that I made out of an old kid's T shirt also disappeared this year, too. Luckily, I was able to find a new clothespin bag and clothespins at our local dollar store (every Tuesday they have $.88 Tuesday, so one bag and three packages of clothes pins cost $3.52).

I also read on The Frugal Girl's blog that if you toss shirts, undies, towels, and socks in the dryer on the air dry setting (which costs hardly anything to do, because heating the dryer is what costs money) for a few minutes before you hang them to line dry, they will be much softer and wrinkle free. I gave it a try and it worked great! I just toss the clothes in the dryer, on the no heat setting, while I put another batch in the washing machine. Then I remove and hang the wet shirts on hangers, and put the rest of the clothes in a basket to carry outside to hang up.

P.S. I love line drying clothes. It makes me slow down from my daily craziness, and gives me time to hold still and think. Hanging wet laundry on the line and watching it blow in the breeze is kind of like going to my "happy place".

Strawberry Freezer Jam

2011-07-18T03:34:00.003-06:00

Well, can I just tell you how proud I am of my little ol' strawberry patch!

I planted it two years ago around our back yard deck with starts from a friend's garden. Last year, it produced a small bowl full of berries. This year, it has far exceeded my expectations! Last week, it produced a small mixing bowl full of berries. Enough, to mix with rhubarb and make cobbler. This week, it has provided me with a large mixing bowl full of very ripe strawberries.

Plenty of strawberries to make two batches of Strawberry Freezer Jam. Eight pint jars worth! (Notice that I used empty peanut butter jars to store the jam. The peanut butter jars stack beautifully in the freezer.)

My hard working little patch has also been frantically sending out lots and lots of runners (baby strawberry plants).

Hopefully, next year those little baby plants will produce even more strawberries! YUM!

This Week's Menu 7/17

2011-07-17T17:28:00.000-06:00

(this week's Bountiful Basket)

This week is shaping up to be a clean out the fridge kind of a week. I have discovered numerous containers that contain all sorts of odds and ends. I am really trying not to toss food in the trash, which seems to have happened for the last few weeks. Some of our meals have gotten side tracked by last minute plans the last couple of weeks (which seems to happen quite often in the summer), and I think that is what is leading to so much food waste. I am hoping for a waste free week! This week's menu will include:

Sunday

Leftovers

Monday

Chicken Potpie

Pudding Salad

Watermelon

Banana Cake

Tuesday

Potato Sausage (Zuppa Toscana) Soup

Parkerhouse Rolls

Green Salad

Wednesday

Spaghetti

Green Salad

Melon

Thursday

Sub Sandwiches

Home Made Buns

Chips

Cucumber Slices

Friday

Vegetable Stir Fry

Rice

Fruit Salad

Saturday

Leftovers

Another boring week, but I'm hoping for a bare refrigerator by Saturday night! What is your favorite way to use up leftover odds and ends?

Every Bargain Hunters Dream

2011-07-15T19:30:00.001-06:00

Dear Daughter's BFF gave us the heads up this afternoon that Down East Outfitters was having a spectacular side walk sale! I love Down East's style of clothing, but their regularly priced clothing is not really a great deal, and usually out of my price range ( I usually end up picking them at our local thrift stores). However, their side walk sales are usually full of rock bottom prices, and to die for! Of course, we loaded up in the old Suburban and headed right over (with BFF in tow) to check out the sale. I am really, really, REALLY glad that we did. We got some amazing deals! When we arrived there were six large tables, under an awning, covered with cardboard boxes (Did I mention that my palms started getting sweaty, with excitement, from the thrill of the "hunt"?). Each box was marked between $2.00 - $10.00, and each was filled to the brim with skirts, t shirts, blouses,sweaters, dresses, jackets, pants and shorts. Dear Daughter, BFF, and I didn't waste any time. We started digging through boxes like "rats through a sewer". There were A LOT of x-small items (which really wouldn't work for us), but there were plenty of items in our sizes!

We found seven sweaters. Each was marked for $7.00. Some of them retailed for $30.00 or more.

Two jackets (both for Dear Daughter, who has a jacket fetish). One is corduroy ($10.00) and the other leopard print (Obviously; it was $7.00).

Three dressier shirts ($5.00 a piece) that will be fun paired with skirts or jeans.

Four long sleeved T shirts (the white one was $5.00 the other three were $2.50 each). which are nice for layering in the winter.

Four half sleeve T shirt and one short sleeve lace edged layering T shirt for $2.50 each. I like to layer the half sleeve and long sleeve T shirts under my scrubs at work in the fall and winter. They add some warmth without bulk.

Two camisoles ( $5.00 each) which are a must have to wear under shirts and sweaters in the winter. Bonus: white camisoles and T shirts never seem to go on clearance, so finding them for $5.00 vs. $9.99 or $12.99 if fabulous in my book.

A VERY cute wrap style dress for me ($10.00). It will be great to wear in early fall with flip flops and this winter with my black boots (and a black camisole underneath).

My favorite bargain was the black cardigan sweater that was $7.00.

One of the shoulder seams had unraveled leaving and open seam, but five minutes with my sewing machine fixed that.

What really got me excited was when I looked at the laundry care tag after repairing the sweater, and realized it is Merino wool. A wool sweater for $7.00 is a great deal. Do you know what the cherry one top of this whole sweet deal is? The price tag revealed that the silly sweater originally retailed for $88.00! Now, I'm sure I will feel uber chic wearing my "expensive" sweater!

Dear Daughter now has two jackets, two sweaters, one dressy shirt, two T shirts, and a camisole for school. I now have five sweaters, two dressy shirts, three long sleeve and four shorted sleeve T shirts, one camisole, and a dress. I usually don't buy that many clothes for myself, but my wardrobe is sadly lacking right now. Most of my shirts and sweaters are worn thin or full of holes. I used my birthday money to buy my clothes, and some of the school clothes fund to pay for Dear Daughter's. The best part is that we were able to purchase 24 items of new clothing for $130.50. Even better is that we saved $512.42! The sales clerks and our fellow bargain shoppers gave us a round of applause when the clerk announced our savings! I felt like a shopping Queen!

Right now is a great time to pick up school clothes or next year's summer clothes and shoes on end of the season clearance sales. A lot of stores are also marking an additional 20 - 50% off the lowest marked price on the clearance items, as well. Next on my back to school bucket list is finding school shoes for Child #3 and 4 on the clearance racks. Both of their feet seem to be growing at an alarming rate, and the shoes they are wearing now probably won't fit by September.

Make Your Own Mixes

2011-07-15T04:56:00.000-06:00

I taught a class for my Church's ladies organization last week on stretching your grocery budget. I based the class on this POST. I also included some links for make your own mixes, convenience foods, and spice blends in the handout I passed out. Making your own mixes and spice blends are a great way to save a little money; plus when you make your own you always know what the ingredient list is! I thought I'd share the links with all of my favorite Bloggy Friends, too. If you find something in the list below that interests you just click on the title to go to the recipe.

Spice Blends:
Dry Onion Soup Mix
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Taco Seasoning
Ranch Dressing Mix
Chili Seasoning Mix

Convenience Foods:
Home Made Pancake Syrup
Bagel Bite Pizzas
Crockpot Refried Beans
Frozen Fudge Pops
Frozen Smoothie Pops
Sweet and Condensed Milk
Granola Bars

Mixes:
Bisquick
Pancake Mix
Oatmeal Pancake Mix
Corn Muffin Mix
Muffin Mix
Hot Roll Mix
Hot Cocoa Mix
Yellow Cake Mix
Chocolate Cake Mix

Hope some of these recipes are helpful!!!!

Make Do Bathroom Accessories

2011-07-14T04:44:00.002-06:00

I really like to decorate. I love to take odds and ends that I find at thrift and consignment stores, gifts, and hand me downs, and turn them into something attractive (at least to me). In my younger days I used to spend countless hours crafting with friends to create accessories to make a "home". I don't have time to do that anymore, but I still like to rearrange and add new accessories every now and then to shake things up a little.

The bathroom is one area at our house that gets taken for granted. It tends to be pretty utilitarian in both bathrooms. After all, the men in my household don't care much for fluffy decorations in the bathroom. It's more about the reading material that is available. To pretty things up (and give my bathroom a girly touch), I grabbed some things from around the house, and used them to hold some essentials on the bathroom counter.

I used a ceramic mug from an old dinnerware set to hold toothpaste and all the toothbrushes that wander into my bathroom (why is Mom and Dad's bathroom cooler than your own?). I just turned the broken handle side to the wall. An antique half pint canning jar that I bought for a dollar at a consignment store (it didn't have a lid) holds 5 oz. paper cups. Small stoneware crocks (that Dear Hubby bought me) stores cotton balls and q tips.

A larger stoneware crock holds combs, brushes, body spray and mouthwash. Of course, the foaming hand soap pump has been refilled with water and dish soap to save money.

The boy's bathroom isn't about the pretty. It's about the essentials. Besides boy's don't care if things match or not. I did need something to hold paper cups (they tend to slop water everywhere, and I hate wet, soggy cups). An empty yogurt cup just fit the bill. If you did want to make your cup holder fancy, you could cover it with some scrapbook paper and contact paper (to make it waterproof).

Cheap, quick, easy, and pretty! The four best words when you are decorating. What are some of your favorite ways to decorate on the cheap?

Sheet Mending Day

2011-07-13T05:22:00.001-06:00

I know I have posted before about spending a little more money on "investment purchases". The theory being that certain items will last longer, and you will get more bang for your buck if you buy a better quality product. Sheets are one thing I will spend a little more money on. Usually, I can get four or five years worth of wear out of a set of 400 thread count sheets. I have had great luck buying my sheets at Ross Dress For Less (it is comparable to T.J. Maxx). I bought my last set of sheets for my King size bed about a year ago at Ross ( I think I spent $40.00 for a 400 thread count king sheet set and two extra sets of pillowcases).

Well, it appears there may be a hole in my theory! Two medium size holes to be exact! When I hung my sheet up on the clothes line, last week, to take advantage to the hot summer day I discovered this lovely hole in the fitted sheet!

Upon further inspection I discovered the second worn spot directly across from the first hole. Boo Hiss!
I wish I could blame the holes on Dear Hubby toenails, but it appears (due to placement of the holes) my toenails may also be to blame!

A new fitted sheet is not in the budget right now, so I had to figure out a way to mend the holes and prolong the life of the sheet until I can find an appropriate replacement (either at the thrift store or on a super fabulous clearance sale). Luckily, I had saved the pillow case for the last set of king size sheets. I cut the end off the pillowcase (don't worry I hemmed the pillowcase, and it is now on Child #3's standard size pillow) to use for my patches.

I measured the areas to be patched. Then I cut two patches two inches wider and two inches longer than the worn areas.

I pinned the patches on the wrong side of the sheet (the side that will touch the mattress) over the worn areas.

Next, I sewed a zig zag stitch around the edges of the patches to hold them in place. I also did this so that the patches will lay flat (we do have to sleep on them).

I cut the patches with pinking shears, so that the patches won't fray.

After the patches were securely in place, flip the sheet over so that the right side is facing up (the side of the sheet that you lay on). I zig zag stitched back and forth over the worn spots (I zig zagged over a spot and then used the reverse button on my machine to go backwards. Make sure to turn the fabric slightly after each row of stitching, so you sew over all the worn area.).

This reminds me of darning a sock. Essentially, when you darn a sock you are filling in a hole or worn spot by weaving the darning thread around and over the worn out area. That is what I was doing, filling in the worn area (and hole) in the sheet with thread.

It may not be pretty to look at, but the mended area lays flat and it was quite comfortable to sleep on.

I am also happy to report that my mending job held up well in the washing machine this week. Hopefully, I will able to get a lot more wear out of the sheet before it's time to retire it (or recycle it).

Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal Crisp

2011-07-12T04:59:00.000-06:00

The strawberry bed has provided me with a whole bowl of strawberries this week. I am pretty proud of my strawberry yield (this is only the second year that the strawberries have produced). Home grown strawberries are very sweet and flavorful.

Most of the strawberries were smallish, about the size of a quarter.

Some surprised us,and were quite large.

There were some characters in the batch. They were just oozing with personality.

There weren't enough strawberries to splint among all the eager eaters, so I combined them with some rhubarb from our rhubarb plant.

I ended up making Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal Crisp. It was uber sweet, uber rich, and uber delicious! Even the rhubarb haters ate it up, and didn't complain!

I adapted a Rhubarb Crisp recipe out of one of my favorite cookbooks, "9X13 The Pan That Can".

Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal Crisp
(makes 12 - 16 servings)

Filling:
4 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb
4 cups fresh or frozen strawberries (quartered if the berries are large)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cold butter, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Oatmeal Topping:
2 cups oatmeal
1 3/4 packed brown sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chilled butter (two sticks)

Preheat oven to 325.
For filling: in a large bowl combine rhubarb, strawberries, 1 cup of brown sugar, and 1/4 cup flour.
Spread filling evenly in a greased 13x9 baking pan.
For the topping: In a medium bowl combine the 1 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 cup flour, and 2 cups oatmeal.
With a pastry blender or hand mixer cut cold butter into oatmeal mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle oatmeal mixture evenly over fruit filling.
Bake, uncovered for 45 - 50 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is golden brown.

This recipe isn't super frugal or healthy. Almost three cups of brown sugar and 2 1/4 cups of butter does cut into the baking supplies (and we won't talk about the cholestrol), but for a special occasion I think it's okay to go a little crazy once in awhile!

This Year's Garden

2011-07-11T05:59:00.003-06:00

If you are a faithful reader here at Tightwad Mom's, you know that growing a garden is one of my favorite frugal tools. Almost everyone can grow some of their own produce. Whether it's a few tomato plants in buckets, and some lettuce and herbs in the flower beds, to square foot gardening in raised beds, or a full scale backyard garden plot. I live in a suburban neighborhood, and I do not have a huge backyard, but I have adapted to make gardening work for me. You can read more about it HERE and HERE.

Usually by this time my garden is really filling in and starting to blossom. However, this years garden has been slow in growing, and a little bit behind. We had an unusually cold and wet spring that lasted well into June. I did plant the whole garden Memorial weekend (which is about the right time to plant in my corner of Idaho), but it rained steadily for a week after I planted. It didn't help that because of my unusually busy June, I ignored my poor little garden, and left it to the wolves (er, weeds). I finally got around to pulling all of the offensive weeds this weekend, and once they were all gone, I was able to take stock of the my garden.

The yellow squash (or maybe the zucchini) plants seems to be doing well; the other, not so much. I can't remember which is which. I guess, I should have paid better attention when I planted them. Not to worry, once they start producing I will be able to tell.

The banana squash plants are doing growing well, and just about ready to start climbing the fence trellis. I decided to grow banana squash, because they are a great substitute for pumpkin, and if you trellis them produce well in a small space.

My pepper plants, however, are not doing well at all. They are pretty tiny still, and don't seem to have any desire to grow, quickly. I was really hoping that I would have a bumper crop of green and hot pepper to freeze, and use to make salsa.

The green beans are really starting to grow. I am hoping they will start climbing up their trellis this week.

Most of the carrots must have washed away in the wet weather. I have very few that have sprouted. The same with my cilantro and dill weed. I am going to replant the herbs in hopes that they will grow now that the weather is hot and dry.

The beets are doing great. Let's hope a stinking vole doesn't come help himself to this years crop!

The cucumbers are a little dicey, as well. Only four plants germinated. That will give us enough to eat fresh, but my hopes for making pickles have been crushed (for this year, at least).

The tomatoes in the back garden are starting to grow, but I don't know how well they will produce. They were twice this size last year at the same time. I may be buying tomatoes this year if I want to make salsa.

The peas that I planted way to late, loved the cold wet spring (and the shady area of the garden they have been planted in), I do believe I will have peas before to much longer.

The onions are thriving. They must have like the wet weather, too.

The lettuce and spinach are pretty patchy. Only a few spinach plants have survived. Then only lettuce that grew well, was the butter crunch. I planted the lettuce in shady part of the garden, too. I plan on planting more spinach and lettuce tomorrow.

The front garden has cherry tomato plants, Child #4's cabbage plant (that he is growing for a school project), some kale, parsley, and a few more onions. The kale is growing well. I am hoping to harvest it in a couple of weeks.

My poor tomatoes in the front garden are spindly and stunted. My big organic, heirloom tomato plant project seems to have fizzled.

I still have hope that my garden will come out of it's slump, and surprise me! I am really hoping for a long, lovely, warm Indian Summer that will allow my garden an extra few weeks to produce. My fingers are crossed!

This Week's Menu 7/10

2011-07-10T16:51:00.004-06:00

(This week's Bountiful Basket)

I have nothing exciting or new on the menu this week. I am continuing to use up food out of the freezer (so I can do a big freezer defrost before the late Summer - early Fall produce bounty begins). I am also relying on pantry staples and Bountiful Basket produce to round out this week's menu. This week we will be eating:

Sunday

Pork Roast

Sauteed Mushrooms

Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower

Steamed Peas

Monday

BBQ Pork

Homemade Buns

Green Salad

Apricot Jello (with Apricots in it so my kid's might think they are peaches)

Tuesday

BLTs on Homemade Buns

Leftover Jello

Homemade Applesauce

Wednesday

Chicken Noodle Soup

Easy Breadsticks

Green Salad

Thursday

Chicken Burritos

Crockpot Refried Beans

Fruit Salad

"Pumpkin" Pie (made out of pureed Butternut Squash)

Friday

Leftovers

Brocolli

Saturday

Grilled Hot Dogs

Pasta Salad

Fruit of some kind

I happened to get a container of figs in my basket this week. I am stumped with what to do with them. Does anyone have a great idea for using up some fresh figs?

Sprinkler Make Do

2011-07-08T04:03:00.001-06:00

Well, in true Barrett fashion, I went looking for our good sprinkler the other day (the one I bought on clearance last year, so that we would finally have a good quality one that would water a large area of lawn at one time. How I wish we had an automatic sprinkler system! Sigh!). Of course, I could only find this yellow one. It is designed to work alone (with a cap on the end), or you can connect several together with several hoses. I know there are probably eight bazillion stinking sprinklers in the garage, but I could only find this one.....without the cap on the end. Further searching did not result in finding the cap (which I am sure I put in a safe place, so I could find it when I needed it. Along with the GOOD sprinkler). In desperation, I grabbed the spray nozzle that I use to hose off dirty sidewalks, dirty children, and dirty cars; and twisted it on the end (making sure the spray nozzle was twisted completely closed). I am happy to report that it worked like a charm and the lawn got watered before it completely burned to a crisp! Desperation is the mother of .....well.....flying by the seat of your pants, but the end result is what matters.............right?

Happy Birthday To Me!

2011-07-07T05:11:00.002-06:00

Today is my Birthday. I am not really a huge fans of birthdays. Mainly because I don't like being the center of attention. Plus, each birthday seems to bring a few more wrinkles, another pound or two to my posterior, and comments from my children about how I am now middle aged. (Cheeky Little Devils). I am trying to be more positive and gracious about Birthdays. I suppose that each birthday means that maybe I have gained a little more experience, a little more wisdom, and a little more gratitude. Maybe it just means I get to pick the flavor of the cake (and no I do not want a Barbie cake, Star Wars cake, Neon Funfetti cupcakes, or a Motorcycle Riding Up A Hill cake. Just a nice Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting will be fine), or that my children will refrain from from squabbling, or being cheeky for one day (or maybe not). There have been broadly dropped hints about fabulous (well thought out) presents by my Dear Hubby, and that has my intrigued! It really doesn't matter, it just makes my feel good that my family cares enough to hint about presents, and maybe a birthday dessert I don't have to make.

The best present of all, though, is that I now have 102 FABULOUS FOLLOWERS here at Tightwad Mom's. You all are the most wonderful Bloggy Friends a girl (middle aged or otherwise) could ask for! I consider you all great friends, and I ADORE reading your comments (So don't be shy! Let me know what you think!). Your comments are the high point of my day. Thank you all for becoming followers, so that I could reach my goal of 100 faithful readers by my Birthday. It really means a lot to me that you are all so willing take a minute out of your busy lives to stop by (some of you every day), and see what going on here at Tightwad Central! I hope that you all have found something here on my blog that has helped stretch your budget a little further. After all, "Tightwads of a feather, really should stick together!"

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!!

Homemade Fudge Pops With Tutorial

2011-07-06T05:08:00.002-06:00

Saturday afternoon I finally had a little spare time to try the recipe for homemade fudge pops. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. I have to say, that I have been using allrecipes quite a bit lately, and it is fabulous (I'm sure many of you have discovered it's magic long ago. I am just a late bloomer, I guess)! I swear you can find any recipe in the known world on their website!! Anyway, the fudgesicles were extremely easy to concoct, and uber cheap!!!! I figured out that 24 fudgesicles cost $1.35. I am extremely happy about that!

Here is the recipe:

Homemade Fudge Pops

(makes 12 frozen treats. I doubled the recipe to make 24 frozen treats.)

You can also find the recipe HERE

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

4 cups milk ( I used 1% milk)

Stir together sugar, flour, and cocoa powder in a large sauce pan (I double the recipe, so I used large pot)

Stir in half of the milk into the dry mixture and whisk until completely combined and smooth.

Stir in the rest of the milk.

When the rest of the milk is completely incorporated. Heat on medium heat.

Stir the mixture constantly (so that it won't scorch) until it comes to a full rolling boil.

Continue stirring and allow the contents to boil for two minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool until warm (about 20 minutes).

Pour warm mixture into an empty (and clean) ketchup or syrup bottle. I do this because it is much easier to fill the molds.

Fill each section of the mold about 7/8 full. About 1/4 cup per mold.

When all the molds are filled, place to mold top on each section.

Of course, I discovered that several of my tops are missing ( naughty children). I had to improvise by using four small plastic knives I dug out of my stash of plastic silverware.

Place in the freezer until completely frozen ( I usually just let them stay in overnight).

To remove fudgesicles from the molds, run hot water over the molds for a minute or two, or let sit on the counter for five minutes before removing.

If you don't own frozen pop molds you can use 4 ounce or 6 ounce clean yogurt containers. You can also use 4 ounce wax coated or plastic paper cups (if you use plastic cups you can wash and reuse them). Just line them up on a large cookie sheet. Craft sticks (found at most dollar stores) or small plastic knives work great for handles. To get your "handles" to set straight, chill the fudge pop mixture for one hour before inserting them.

Fourth Of July Block Party In Pictures

2011-07-05T15:07:00.000-06:00

Warning: This post has turned into a rather long pictorial, so grab a snack or at least a beverage before viewing.

Two years ago my Dear Friend (and neighbor) and I observed that every one in our cul de sac was barbecuing with friends and family on their perspective driveways and decks. As the evening wore on, all the the separate get togethers ended up mixing and mingling in the cul de sac; while we lit off our stock piles of fireworks and waited for the city fireworks display to begin (our neighborhood is a half mile from the county fairgrounds, where they light off the annual city fireworks display. Thus, we have a spectacular view, and why we always have a large number of family and friends converge on our neighborhood). That night the light dawned for both of us, we decided that why not throw a block party! Since we all end up mingling anyway, why not start off that way with a big block party. Last year was such a hit, we decided to make it an annual event.

Since my Dear Friend and I are all about keeping our soirees on a budget, we implemented a few savvy tricks to throw a great party, but not break the bank. Our best tip is to plan well in advance, so that you can take advantage of sales and promotions at the local stores.

First, ALWAYS get yourself a partner in crime, if you are about to plan a large scale party. Of course, my Dear Friend is always up for a challenge. Everything is MUCH more fun with a friend (especially mine)!!!

We both whipped up a batch of strawberry lemonade from a powdered mix (that we bought on a great sale). To fancy it up, we added frozen strawberries and a few lemon slices. Earlier in the day, I frozen an ice cream bucket filled with lemonade to make a giant ice cube that would keep the punch cold, but not dilute the lemonade as it melted.

We, also filled coolers with ice a sodas (which we also bought on sale with coupons). A borrowed insulated drink dispenser was filled with ice water. In fact, we borrowed several table from neighbors so we had enough space for all the food and drinks.

Of course, we appointed a grill master to grill hot dogs (which we bought in June for $.50 a package on a loss leader sale with coupons). We stocked up on hot dog buns at two grocery stores that were offering $.48 packages of buns.

We used a store promo to buy fried chicken. It was cheaper and easier than buying hamburgers to grill. The promo included 50 pieces of chicken and a half sheet cake for $49.99. We ended up ordering two promos.

We turned the sheet cakes into birthday cakes for two of our guest who have birthdays. One on the 4th and one on the 5th.

We provided the meat and drinks, and asked all the invitees to bring a potluck dish to share. Potlucks are the best way to keep food costs down. Plus you get to sample lots of great food (and maybe, glean a recipe or two).

Be sure to invite some one who is talented and is willing to whip up a festive Jello mold!

Always watch the sky for the potential thunder/ rain/ hail storm that may be on the horizon. Then hurriedly form a Plan B in the back of you heads.

Gather all the guest up to hurry and grab some chow before the rain starts to fall!

Then put Plan B into effect, and drag all the tables of food (and guests) into the garage for the duration of the storm.

Now you sit the garage and visit and eat and watch the torrential downpour (and the hail bouncing off the grass).

And watch the kids that aren't deterred by a cloud burst.

When the storm blows over and the sun comes back out, again. You breathe a sigh of relief, and then you take a moment to be thankful that the rain has cooled the temperature down 20 degrees.

Soon the party is back in full swing!! Floating tub toys in the water running down the gutter.

Every party needs some entertainment. My nephew, Stewart, dazzled us with some juggling.

The teenagers roamed in a herd observing their surrounding.

The younger set preferred a little street dancing to pass the time!

And some jump roping, too.

And the boy's resume setting fire to the spent fireworks. Apparently, you must take advantage of the one day a year that you can set fires (under adult supervision), and your mother will not smack you up the side of your head or ground you!

When it finally got dark it was time to light of some fireworks (okay lots and lots of fireworks) in the middle of the cul de sac.

Sing Happy Birthday to the two birthday boys.

Serve birthday cake!

Then settle down to watch the big fireworks show from the comfort of your lawn chair, and reflect on how lucky you are to live in our great country, have the freedoms that we are blessed with, give thanks for our service men (and women) past and present who have risked or given their lives so that I can have those freedoms.

All in all it was a fabulous party and a great day. Only 364 days until it's time to do it all over, again!!!!!
Hope all of you had a great 4th of July, too!!!

Happy Fourth Of July

2011-07-04T05:16:00.000-06:00

I hope all of you, Dear Bloggy Friends, have a wonderful and safe 4th of July today! I will back tomorrow with photos of our 4th of July Block Party that I am co hostessing with my one of my most favorite friends!

This Week's Menu 7/3

2011-07-03T05:10:00.003-06:00

(this week's Bountiful Basket)

(I ordered an extra fruit pack to use for the 4th of July)

Can you believe that tomorrow is the 4th of July? Where did June go? Summer is in full swing here at Casa Del Barrett. Tomorrow I will be co hostessing the 2nd annual 4th of July Block Party in our cul de sac. Last year was such a hit, my Dear Friend and I decided to make it an annual event. I am going to take lots of pictures, so I can share how we threw our fabulous soiree on a budget. Anyway, this week's menu is a little bit boring, mainly consisting of Bountiful Basket produce, pantry staples, and meat out of the freezer. I only work six days this month vs. eleven, and since my paycheck funds the grocery budget, I will be relying on my pantry.....A LOT!
Anyhow, this week's menu will consist of :

Sunday

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Garlic Bread

Green Salad

Monday

4th of July Block Party

Tuesday

French Toast

Strawberry Sauce

Scrambled Eggs

Wednesday

Baked Beans

Baked Butternut Squash

Cornbread

Thursday

Leftover Night

Friday

Date Night

Kid's will be having Corn Dogs and Mac. and Cheese

Saturday

Haven't decided yet

We are going on a Day-cation to celebrate my birthday

Well, back to prepping food for tomorrow's celebration! Hope every one enjoys there Sunday!

Chicken Taco Salad

2011-06-30T09:54:00.001-06:00

(Crystal Light Salad and Parker House Rolls are keeping the Chicken Taco Salad company)

I got the BEST recipe from my Fabulous Friend, Kelly C., a couple weeks ago and I have been dying to make it! Luckily, I had some chicken breasts leftover over from camp that I had cooked in the crock pot, and put in the freezer for a busy day dinner. Yesterday, qualified as a busy day, so I grabbed a bag of shredded chicken to thaw out. The recipe is perfect for using up leftover chicken (although, you could cook the chicken in a skillet right before you make the salad). The salad was quick and easy to put together and was delicious!
I will definitely being adding this to my Summer mainstay recipes! A DOUBLE thank you to darling Kelly for sharing her recipe with me, you saved my family from eating PB&J!

Chicken Taco Salad

(feeds six adults)

4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
2 packages of taco seasoning mix
1 1/2 cups water
1 bag of lettuce mix (or 6 cups chopped lettuce)
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 - 6 green onions, sliced
2 cups shredded cheddar, colby jack, or mexican style cheese
1 regular size bag of nacho flavor Doritios ( I think they are 10 - 12 oz)
1 cup prepared ranch dressing

Add chicken, taco seasoning packets, and water to a skillet. Cook until water is absorbed and chicken is heated through. Set aside.
Combine salad, tomatoes, and onions in a large bowl.
Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the lettuce mixture.
Place warm chicken mixture on top of cheese.
Crush nacho flavored chips ( I did this in the bag) and pour over the top of the chicken.
Pour salad dressing over chips and mix until salad is well combined.

I added avocado of my salad (the rest of the family are not fans of avocado). Yummy!!!

This Week's Menu 6/26: The Back on Track Edition

2011-06-26T16:21:00.000-06:00

(Last week's Bountiful Basket)

I've really missed not having a formal menu written down. Accomplishing all the last minute odds and ends that accompany camping (with a large number of girls) left little time for cooking well balanced meals. We ended up piecing together last minute meals, or hitting the dollar menu. The continual trips to the fast food drive thru's definitely took a chunk out of our grocery budget ( I am not very proud of the fact, either). After spending the greater part of yesterday cleaning up the kitchen (and the pizza boxes); I'm ready to get back on track with a regular menu, and a healthier diet (fast food DOES NOT qualify as healthy).

Last week Monday I was so busy, I forgot to order a Bountiful Basket. It worked out, though, because the boy's at home didn't eat many fresh fruits or veggies. Most of the previous weeks basket is still in the fridge, and needs to be eaten, A.S.A.P.. There was also leftover food from camp that needs to be used, and I will be incorporating those items into the menu. I am also going to work on cleaning out the freezers (they need to be defrosted before the garden starts producing full throttle).So, this week we will be eating:

Sunday

Dutch Oven Potatoes

Cranberry Almond Muffins

Fruit Salad

Green Salad

Monday

Leftover Potatoes

Grilled Hot Dogs

Home Canned Peaches

Tuesday

Chicken Taco Salad (new recipe)

Chips and Salsa

Wednesday

Baked Pasta

Easy Breadsticks

Green Salad

Thursday

Turkey A La King

Buttermilk Biscuits

Home Canned Applesauce

Steamed Cauliflower

Friday

Leftover Night

Saturday

Omelets (using up odds and ends from the fridge)

Fried Potatoes

Banana Bread

Any Fruit That Needs Eaten

Anything good on the menu at your house this week?

The Camper's Survived!

2011-06-25T15:13:00.001-06:00

Dear Daughter and I are back from our week at camp, and I am happy to report that we returned home with the same number of girls we left with!!! Nobody gotten eaten by bears (they were probably scared away by all the giggling and screaming). We did have a skunk wander in one evening (brave soul), but I don't think he stuck around for long. The allure of garbage must have been short lived, once he heard the general who ha of all those girls (318 in total)! We smelt him, but never did see him; which was fine by me. There were quite a number of mosquitoes (there is a pond in the camp). Most of the campers got a few mosquito bites, but nothing serious..........except for me! Apparently, I am the equivalent of mosquito chocolate!

I am also thinking that I may be having an allergic reaction. Needless to say, I am a little itchy. Dear Hubby lost count at 60+ bites on various parts of my anatomy (including my posterior.........OUCH!).

Everyone had a fabulous time. There was lots of singing, games, crafting, eating, giggling, and jumping in the pond. We only got rained on one night, which was wonderful, because we have had pretty much a solid month of rain here. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for living in the wilderness in the beginning, I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

The menfolk also survived my absence. Largely, because the Daddy Bear bought pizza most nights ( I found the remains in the fridge). I made sure the boys got an extra good scrubbing the night I got home, so they got a good defunking, too. Now, I am trying to clean my house and restore some sort of order.

It's great to be home. I have really missed posting for the last week. I have some great posts bouncing around in my head that I can't wait to share!!

P.S. WOOT! WOOT! 101 readers!!!! What a great surprise to come home to, and there are still 12 days until my birthday. You guys are the best readers ever!!!!

Hello!

2011-06-15T15:22:00.001-06:00

(this picture has nothing to do with the post, but I like posts with pictures. My kids actually stood still for 3 whole minutes while Dear Hubby took this picture, and 3 out of 4 were smiling. That is quite a feat at our house!)

I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth. I am just down to five days until I head off to camp with all the lovely young ladies (ages 12 - 17) from church. You can read about it HERE. So, right now I am in the throws off finishing up the handouts for the dinner time devotionals, organizing camp awards, shopping for enough food to feed 34 hungry people for 3 1/2 days (On a budget, of course. I am the Tightwad Mom, after all!), digging all my camping equipment out of the garage ( kind of like digging for buried treasure), and generally adding more to do's to my list.....daily! My goodness, camping with girls is a lot of work! Apparently, they care if they change their socks, what their hair is going to look like after three days of camping, and they like to be entertained (whittling a stick and skipping rocks in the lake are NOT considered entertainment. (They much prefer crafty stuff and baking refrigerator biscuits on a stick over the camp fire.)

I also have to think of the crew of boys, Darling Daughter and I will be leaving behind. I must definitely make sure there is easy to heat up food in the fridge and freezer, clean socks and undies in their drawers, and enough toilet paper to get them through until I get back. I don't want them to end up on the neighbor's doorstep begging for a hot meal and/or a roll of toilet paper!!! I definitely don't want them turning their skivvies inside out for a second day of wear! Crazy men folk!!!

P.S. There are now 98 FABULOUS FOLLOWER here at Tightwad Central! I just have to say that all my followers ROCK!!!! You are the best bloggy readers......EVER!!!! Thanks for supporting all my frugal antics!

Wish me luck! I'm really going to need it. Surviving in nature isn't really my thing. I guess "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger".........unless you get eaten by a bear! Be back soon!

Frozen Fruit Smoothie Pops

2011-06-08T17:23:00.001-06:00

I hit a small snag in my eternal quest to eliminate high fructose corn syrup and processed foods out of our diet (and not spend a bazillion dollars on frozen Summer treats). You see, it is Summer break, and my kids adore popsicles (particularly, Otter Pops). They can go through oodles of them on a hot Summer day. I didn't feel like I could cut the kids off entirely from one of their favorite Summer fare( I am a softy like that). The problem was giving my little ol' brain quite a workout. Then the other day when I was at the grocery store I saw a display of frozen pop molds. They were priced right at $1.28 a set! I thought, why not make my own frozen pops! At least I will know what ingredients are in them.

Yesterday, as I was digging through the fruit basket, I noticed quite a lot of uber ripe fruit, and I knew there was a carton of Nancy's Organic yogurt in the fridge that need to be finished up. Hey, I could make the fruit and yogurt into smoothies, or better yet, smoothie pops!

I pureed the ripe fruit in my food processor (my blender is a little wimpy, and the processor does a better job of making a smooth puree). Then I dumped the fruit and yogurt in the blender and mixed them together. I made a little bit of a mess, at first.

But, then I realized a funnel might work better!

Once I got a rhythm going filling the molds went fairly quickly. The mold handles have a hollow bottom, and a straw so that kids can slurp up any melted juice when they are done eating their treat (pretty smart).

After I filled all the molds I put them in the freezer to set up.

This afternoon was the official taste test. All the kid's (big and little) thought they were delicious! I'm just happy that they a fairly healthy (and now my kid's are getting a serving of fruit when they are having a treat).

Of course, after I started cleaning up I noticed a couple of empty ketchup bottles that would have made filling the molds up A LOT easier! They are now filled with leftover smoothie mix to refill the rapidly emptying molds!

This week's smoothie flavor is Strawberry, Mango, Banana. The beauty of this recipe is that you can change out the fruit for whatever is on hand. Canned fruit would work great, too.

Frozen Strawberry, Mango, Banana Smoothie Pops
1 pound of ripe strawberries, hulled
5 very ripe bananas, peeled
3 mangoes, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups of plain or vanilla yogurt

Puree fruit until smooth. Add in yogurt and sugar (if desired). Blend until well combined. Pour into frozen pop molds and freeze until firm (about 8 hours. I let my sit overnight). Set molds in hot water for a minute or two to make removing the pops easier.

My kids have now requested chocolate pudding pops, watermelon pops, and just regular juice pops. Of course, I will post each of these experiments (for any inquiring mind, who wants to know)!

Repurposed "Spice" Jars

2011-06-01T03:56:00.000-06:00

A very good friend received a Dean and Deluca sampler gift box from a relative for Christmas this year (lucky Girl!). She didn't want to throw these fabulous metal tins away, and knowing I adore recycling containers of all varieties, she sent them my direction. There were fifteen metal tins inside a heavy duty white gift box (the box is down stairs in the gift wrap tote waiting to be reused). At first glance, these little tins screamed spice jars!!! I saw some similar to these at Fred Meyers but they were around $3.00 a piece. Of course, the jars were originally covered with colorful labels. I soaked the labels off, but a very sticky residue remained.

Enter some of my favorite cleaning supplies. A spray bottle of Goof Off 2 (it's a water based cleaner), baking soda, and rubbing alcohol. Goof Off is famous for removing sticky residue. Baking soda is a mild abrasive that helped scrub the sticky mess, and rubbing alcohol to remove the last little bit of residue. Never fear, they received a good scrubbing in hot soapy water, too!

It took a little bit of elbow grease (and some wrinkly fingers ), but the tins were soon sticky free.

I made sure that the jars were completely dry before I proceeded to the second part of my project. Baking racks were the perfect substitute for a dish rack.

While the jars were drying I took inventory of my spice drawer. I tossed the spices that I had not used in a very long time (I am ashamed to admit this), made a list of spices I was almost out of (to add to the grocery list), and printed labels for the blank jars.

I am trying to eliminate plastic containers in my pantry; especially for items that will be stored to a long period of time. After each jar was labeled, it was filled with the corresponding spice. I also emptied the glass spice jars (that contained spices I rarely or never use) washed them out and refilled them with spices that I use often. Now my spice drawer is organized and easy to access. Tomorrow I will be picking up a roll of clear contact paper to cover the labels (so that they will be "water proof and wipe able).

Tell Me What YOU Think!

2011-05-30T20:54:00.000-06:00

(Don't you just love when you can make your child pose for your blog?)

Well, Dear Readers, I have been mulling over the idea of maturing the layout of my blog for awhile now. When I started blogging a year and a half ago, I was basically computer illiterate. I started this blog to record some of the different ways I recycle, reuse, and make do. I also wanted a venue to record my projects and self challenges (to keep myself on task, so to speak), and a place to put down my thoughts and personality. It has been a slow work in progress, but a very rewarding one.

I never in a bazillion years, thought I would end up having so many great followers and readers! I consider you all Fabulous Friends, and I ADORE when you all leave comments! Your comments make my day! So, I am asking for your opinions!!! I want to continue to make this blog a place you want to stop by, visit, and MAYBE glean some useful information. Here are my questions:

Do you like the new layout? Is it to "Red"? Would you prefer something a little more subdued?
What topics, thoughts,recipes, or ideas would you like me to blog about?
Would you be up to joining me in a frugal challenge or two?

Please, FABULOUS BLOGGY FRIENDS, share your opinions! Even if you have never commented before, I would love to hear from you!

P.S. I have set a little goal to hit 100+ followers by my birthday (which just happens to be July 7th). If you enjoy your visits here at Tightwad Mom's Frugal Forum, please consider becoming a Follower (and boost my self esteem a little bit)! Thank you, you are all the best readers any blogger could ask for!

This Week's Menu 5/30

2011-05-30T10:48:00.002-06:00

(this week's Bountiful Basket)

First of all, Happy Memorial Day, everyone! It's going to be another crazy week. My Big Boy is going to be graduating from High School on Thursday, my kid's are finishing their last two days of school, and I am also going to be planting my garden this week (two week's of cold, rainy weather has inhibited my planting schedule).
Meals are going to be quick and easy. This week are going to be eating:

Sunday

Oven Bar B Que pork ribs

Oven Roasted Potatoes

Watermelon

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Monday

Vegetable Lo Mein

Water melon

Banana Muffins

Tuesday

Chicken Divan

Green Salad

Cantaloupe

Wednesday

Chicken A La King

Buttermilk Biscuits

Steamed Cauliflower

Thursday

Graduation Party For My Big Boy

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Chips

Salads

Cake

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday

Leftovers

Easy Peasy Skillet Chicken Rice

2011-05-26T19:18:00.006-06:00

Tonight I was in a super big hurry to get dinner on the table, before the troops "scattered" for the evening. I didn't have time to throw the odds and ends into my usual "Craperole" or Cream of Garbage soup. Then, I remembered a friend talking about a skillet recipe a friend of hers whipped up on busy, end of the month (a.k.a. end of the grocery budget) nights. I only got snippets of the conversation, so I pieced together what I could remember and improvised the rest (imagine, that!). Thus, Easy Peasy Skillet Chicken Rice was born. The beauty of this recipe is that you can improvise anything for the ingredients listed (my favorite kind of recipe). It is truly a thirty minute meal, I had it on the table in half an hour. It was pretty tasty, and there are enough leftovers to send in several lunch boxes tomorrow (for those with access to a microwave).

Easy Peasy Skillet Chicken Rice

2 tablespoons butter (or oil)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 tablespoon minced garlic (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
2 cups chopped frozen broccoli
2 cups cooked chopped chicken
2 cups uncooked white rice
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 teaspoons chicken bullion
4 cups hot water
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat butter (oil) in a large skillet.
Add onion, carrot, garlic and rice to butter. Saute (stirring often) until onion and carrot are tender and rice is lightly brown.
Add chicken, broccoli, parsley, bullion,pepper and hot water.
Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover skillet with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and rice is soft.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired, before serving

You can replace the white rice for brown rice (increase cooking time to 40 - 45 minutes)
Replace the rice for 2 cups of orzo pasta. Simmer for 20 - 25 minutes until liquid absorbed.
Replace rice for 2 cups Quinoa. Simmer for 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
Replace broccoli for an equal amount of cauliflower, peas, green beans, or corn.
Replace cooked chicken for 1/2 pound cooked ground beef or country style sausage.
Replace cooked chicken for 2 cups cooked beef (replace beef bullion for chicken bullion).

Some Of My Favorite Things

2011-05-25T14:57:00.000-06:00

I am hopping busy today (what Mother isn't), but I thought I would take a moment to reflect on the joy of simple things. In my world, simple things are what make life worth living, and bring a calm to the craziness.

Here are a few of the simple things in my life that bring me joy:

Really good coupons for my favorite beverage. Just in time for the Memorial Day sales (and to replenish my "stash". I just happen to be down to my last box of Diet Coke).

Baking a batch of Chocolate Chip cookies in the quiet hour before the kids get home from school.

Have I mentioned that laundry blowing in the breeze makes me feel all giggly on the inside. Hanging laundry givea me a moment to get my thoughts in order.

I especially love aprons blowing in the breeze (well, just aprons in general). In my opinion, aprons are the universal symbol of "Domestic Fortitude"!!!

Blossoms on the strawberries. Soon there will be delicious red berries to eat!

Spring crops ready to be harvested. Here the rhubarb is ready to be made into cobbler, or jam.

Dear Bloggy Friends, what are some of your simple pleasures?

Potato Buttermilk Bread

2011-05-23T03:24:00.001-06:00

When I baked bread for the week on Saturday, I wanted to try something a little different. My kid's like the buttermilk bread that I occasionally buy at the store. Since I had a quart of buttermilk that needed to be used A.S.A.P., I thought I would try to recreate it at home. I couldn't find a recipe that was quite what I was looking for, so I combined a couple of recipes and created my own. The bread actually turned out great!!! It was soft (from the potato flakes), had a little tang to it (from the buttermilk), and had a fabulous texture (not crumbly at all). My family ate most of a loaf for toast Sunday morning. I will definitely by adding this recipe to the bake often file!!

Potato Buttermilk Bread

(makes two loaves)

5 1/2 - 6 1/4 cups bread flour

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

1 cup potato flakes

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 tablespoons sugar

11/2 tablespoons butter or shortening

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

In a large mixing bowl combine 2 1/2 cups flour, yeast, and potato flakes.
In a medium saucepan combine buttermilk, sugar, butter/shortening, and salt. Heat and stir until mixture is warm (shortening is starting to melt, but not completely melted).
Add warm liquid to the flour mixture.
Beat mixture with a electric mixer on low for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl.
Beat mixture on high for 3 minutes.
Stir in as much of the remaining flour as possible; until a medium dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add flour in small increments, if necessary, to keep dough from sticking to the kneading surface.
Place dough in a greased bowl (turn dough over once to grease the top). Cover and let rise until double (about an hour).
Divide dough in half . Form into loaves and place in greased loaf pans.
Cover loaves and let rise until dough is one inch above the pan
Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes
Remove from loaves from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

This bread works great for toast and as a sandwich bread.

This Week's Menu 5/22

2011-05-22T17:24:00.001-06:00

Hooray! I am actually posting this week's menu on time (before we are half way through the week). I am a little bit sad, though, because I was not able to get a Bountiful Basket this week. They sold out before I could get online. Oh well, I am going to use this week as an opportunity to clean out the vegetable bins, and use some of the fruit and vegetables I preserved last fall. This week we will be having:

Sunday

Home made Pizza

Green Salad

Baklava (brought over by a Dear Sweet Neighbor)

Monday

Leftover Night

Tuesday

Baked Beans

Cornbread

Applesauce

Wednesday

Chicken Tacos

Spanish Rice

Orange Slices

Thursday

Chicken Fricassee

Mashed Potatoes

Green Peas

Home Canned Pears

Friday

Leftovers or Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Saturday

Holiday (I'm not sure what our plans are yet.)

Odds And Ends

2011-05-21T15:13:00.001-06:00

I just love a Saturday when I can stay home and get some "odds and ends" done. Those kind of days seem to be few and far between, lately. Today is also a beautiful spring day: warm and sunny! I am amazed how a sunny day just changes your whole outlook on life. My Big Boy (Child #1), roto tilled all my garden spaces for me, so this week I can lay out and plant my garden.

Don't you just love the Rock my Big Boy decorated us for Christmas this year? Who doesn't need a rock with their last name on it ?

My little seedlings are enjoying an afternoon basking in the sun! Hopefully, next week I'll be able to plant them in the garden.

I could finally start hanging the laundry outside! The last few attempts have ended up with me frantically scrambling to drag the wet clothes inside before they get rained on. Followed by my hanging them all over the house to dry. I haven't put up my official clothes line, so I have improvised for the time being.

Call me crazy, but I LOVE watching laundry blowing in the breeze!

I also baked six loaves of bread this morning . We were completely out. The toast lover's were a little put out this morning! This week I baked Buttermilk Potato Bread and Honey Whole Wheat bread.

I can hear the lawn mower running, Dear Hubby is deep cleaning our garage (a.k.a. taking a couple loads of garbage to the local land fill. It is free Dump Day at the landfill today), and the baby (Child #4) is creating a "squirrel trap" to go and catch squirrels in the neighborhood park with his buddies. I didn't have the heart to tell him that a squirrel is probably not going to go sit under a card board box propped up with a stick, and eat stale cashews, so you can pull the rope and drop the box on him. Besides, what do you do with an angry squirrel after you catch him?

Is it just me, or is life EXTRA FABULOUS today? I you are all enjoying a beautiful spring day, as well!

Prom Time

2011-05-18T08:22:00.000-06:00

I was going to post this on Saturday (the actual day of the Prom), but it's kind of hard to post on your blog when the Internet is down! Better late than never, I guess.

It just seems like I was posting about the Prom, and here it is, again! Is it just me or does time seems to be speeding up? In true Tightwad Mom fashion, I tried to cut costs as much as possible.

The kid's decided they wanted to go on a picnic for dinner rather than a restaurant meal. I provided dessert. Cheesecake was requested by one and all. Don't tell the kid's, but I didn't have time to make sauce for the top of the cheesecake. It's just strawberry freezer jam than I warmed up in the microwave for a couple seconds.

I also made the corsage and boutonniere. One ten dollar bouquet of flowers yielded one corsage and two boutonnieres with some flowers left over. I probably could have squeezed a second corsage out if necessary.

Of course, in true Mom fashion, I do have to show off how cute my baby looks. His date was so beautiful, and she is a sweetheart. He couldn't have picked a nicer girl to take.

A Prom date is much more fun if you have your buddies with you! Child #1 decided that he would rather wear a suit than a tuxedo this year. I was totally fine with his decision. I would rather invest the $100.00 rental fee toward a suit purchase. The best part is that when we went to J.C. Penney to look for one, they had a Clearance rack full of suit jackets and pants. I also had clipped a "save $20.00 off $100.00 coupon" out of the newspaper. In the end, we were able to purchase a suit jacket and two pairs of pants for $86.00. Much cheaper than even renting a tux. He did want a vest to match his date's dress, so we rented one for the night.

The kids all had a great time! If you would like to read my other post on money saving ideas of school dances, you can find it HERE.

This Week's Menu 5/17: The Will I Ever Get My Life In Order Edition!

2011-05-17T14:34:00.000-06:00

( My half of this week's basket)

For Pete sake, when it rains it pours!!! Our Internet has been down, due to a cable issue for the last five days; and the repair man has just left! It seems that when our Internet dish was installed five years ago, the installation person installed indoor only cable from the outside dish to our router. Needless to say, five years worth of weather has wrecked havoc on said cable. When the repairman showed me the cable he had just replaced it looked like a family of hungry beavers had chewed it up! I am happy to report that we are now up and running with super, state of the art, outdoor approved ethernet cable. It is amazing how much better (and faster) the Internet works when it's not trying to "move" along frayed and broken wiring. I have to tell you it felt a little bit like being on a deserted island with out Internet. I feel like I'm behind, and I have missed reading all your fun comments and blogs.....................it's good to be BACK!

Anyway, this week menu is pretty basic. Chicken still plays a major role (as I am still trying to use up the stash of whole chicken in the freezer).

Sunday

Chicken Fricasee (bumped from last week)

Steamed Rice

Watermelon

Green Peas

Apple Pie (had some sketchy looking apple that needed eaten)

Monday

Cowboy Hash ( I'll post the recipe later this week)

Watermelon

Blueberry Muffins

Leftover Pie

Tuesday

Grilled Hot Dogs

Potato Salad

Pineapple cubes

Wednesday

Leftovers for the kids (Dear Daughter's Debate Banquet tonight)

Thursday

Dad's Special (a.k.a. $5.00 pizza from Little Caesar's)

I have a meeting tonight

Friday

Chicken Enchiladas

Refried Beans

Green Salad

Saturday

Chicken Fried Rice

Cantaloupe

Green Salad (or veggies that need used up)

Do any of my Dear Bloggy Friends have some ideas to use up Chicken?

Craperole.... Oh, I Mean Casserole!

2011-05-13T03:38:00.000-06:00

( I didn't take a picture of this week's casserole, and besides it never looks the same twice. So here's a picture of my pretty blue dutch oven. After all, leftovers always look more appetizing in a pretty pot. It's all about presentation, baby!)

Dear Readers, I must apologize! Wednesday, while I was preparing my menu post, I tried to link Craperole to a previous post in the blog. No such post exists! In the seventeen months that this blog has been up and running, I have never posted the recipe for one of my most used resources. First of all, casserole was lovingly named craperole at our house a long time ago. I don't know who actually named it, but the sentiment was very clear.....and the name has stuck! Secondly, Casserole is my preferred method for using up odds and ends out of the refrigerator, and it is always a great way to stretch more expensive food items with cheaper filler foods. This recipe calls for cheese. This is, of course, optional; because it does add cost and calories to the finished project. However, I live in a household of cheese lovers. Odds are if there is cheese on top, it will be consumed with much less moaning and groaning! So, without further ado, the much "coveted" recipe for Craperole!

Catch All Casserole (a.k.a. Craperole)

2 - 3 cups starchy food; such as sliced or shredded cooked potatoes. cooked rice, or cooked pasta
1 - 2 cups leftover cooked meat; I use chicken and pork roast most often or 1 pound browned hamburger
1 - 2 cups cooked leftover vegetables (or frozen vegetables)
1/2 cup each minced onion and celery (if you have some to use up)
2 cans Cream of Something soup ( usually chicken, mushroom, or celery) or a combination of 1 can Cream f Something soup and 1 cup sour cream, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, or 1 ( 8oz) brick of cream cheese (softened) or 2 cups white sauce
1 cup shredded cheese (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute chopped onion and celery (if using) in 1 tablespoon of oil or butter until soft. In a large bowl place the starchy food, cooked meat, vegetables, and sauteed onion and celery (if using). Add in soups (or combinations), salt and pepper. Stir together and pour into a greased casserole dish. Bake covered at 375 for 40 - 45 minutes. Optional: uncover the casserole, sprinkle cheese on top and bake uncovered for another 5 minutes until the cheese melts.

Bon Appetite!!!!!

This Week's Menu 5/11: The Extremely Late Edition!

2011-05-11T08:37:00.001-06:00

(This week's Bountiful Basket, plus tortillas, and apparently my dirty laundry!)

Well, this week has turned out to be another crazy week. I don't know exactly how this happens. I suppose the quote, " Life is what happens while you are making other plans." is true. I have spent quite a lot of time with the girl's from church (who I am co directing Girl's Camp for) preparing for our week of fun in June. It is funny how a three day camping for the Boy Scouts (12 - 17) requires a pocket knife, sleeping bag, a change of socks (maybe), and 15 minutes of prep time. A three day camping trip for girl's (12 - 17) requires camp decorations, skits, songs, crafts, games, spiritual thoughts, accessorizing, and 12 weeks of planning. Oh, and glitter and glitter glue, are very necessary embellishments for a successful camp experience! We must have our bling! I am starting to suspect we are not going camping, but rather GLAMPING!!!

I have finally found a spare minute to transfer my weekly menu from the ratty piece of notebook paper hanging on the fridge to the blog (which is it's proper place, of course)! Chicken plays prominently in this week's menu, because I still have numerous whole chickens in the freezer that probably should be used up.
It's also clean out the veggie bin week, too. This week we will be having (or have had):

Sunday

Lasagna

Garlic Bread (made from leftover hamburger buns)

Watermelon

Carrot Cake

Monday

Beans, Bacon, and Red Potatoes (Mixed together. It's a favorite Dear Hubby's mom made growing up)

Cornbread

Pineapple Cubes

Leftover Carrot Cake

Tuesday

Chicken, Broccoli, Rice Casserole ( a.k.a Craperole. I cleaned out the fridge and threw them together)

Watermelon

Pineapple Cubes

Wednesday

Chicken Soft Tacos

Refried Beans

Spinach Salad

Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Thursday

Chicken Fricasee

Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower (mashed together to disguise the cauliflower from the dislikers)

Peas

Home Canned Applesauce

Friday

Grilled Spare Ribs (Woo Hoo! It's suppose to be sunny and 73 degrees)

Macaroni Salad

Orange Slices

Saturday

Leftover Night or Grilled Hot Dogs

So, Dear Readers, are any of you having something fabulicious for dinner at your house this week?

Errand Day

2011-05-04T09:10:00.002-06:00

I just finished organizing my game plan for today. Mostly, it consists of running errands (and laundry). Due to the fact, that if gas prices go any higher, I may have to sell a child (or a kidney) to afford to purchase it; I have been trying to drastically reduce our consumption. Among other things, now I cram all my errands for the week into one day, if possible. This is doable if I get myself organized before I set out.

First, I have assembled all the necessary tools on the computer desk (that I spent a half hour yesterday cleaning off, so that I could have a spot to mess up, again).

I have perused all the grocery ads (paper and virtual) for loss leader deals.

I have assembled all the pertinent coupons. Matching coupons to sales prices is one of the most lucrative ways to use coupons.

Of course, I had the help of a friend! This little bad boy is in the top five of my favorite frugal tools. It's name is the i slice, you can find your very own at a Harbor Freight near you, or HERE. I use it for cutting out coupons, cutting recipes out of magazines (and the newspaper), cutting gift wrap, trimming scrapbook paper, and opening packaging. In fact, I am so in love with it, that when I lost it last year, I ripped the house apart trying to find it, and was so depressed, that I went around in a funk for weeks. All my family members ended up buying me several for my birthday (probably so I would stop moping around). P.S. You'll be happy to know I found the original in the gift wrap box this Christmas (Oops! My bad!)

Now the plan of action has been committed to paper. I do much better staying on track (and not FORGETTING something), if my list is itemized. Every store I need to stop at has a separate list of the items I am going to buy there. The asterisks next to some of the items means I have a coupon for it. My to do list is in order, from starting to stopping point. When I have finished I will have driven a circle of the entire town. That way I don't have to back track and waste fuel.

Naturally, I have had my morning beverage to fortify my before the big trip!

Well, I guess, I had better hurry and get started on my quest. My list will take me several hours, and my little boys get home from school at 2:30pm. My great adventure, awaits....................!

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

2011-05-03T03:31:00.001-06:00

Lately, I have been experimenting with baking whole wheat, high fiber bread. This has proved to be a tricky challenge. The more fiber you add into the bread the denser it becomes. My family has issues with dense bread. They have only been eating whole wheat bread, if it is mainly made from white flour with a little whole wheat sprinkled in (the big babies). I came across a recipe for Honey Wheat Bread in this month's issue of Taste Of Homes Healthy Cooking magazine. It looked promising! I baked up a batch, yesterday, and it was fabulous! The family ate it without complaint (Woo Hoo)! I did tweak it a little bit to add more fiber ( I calculated it at 5 grams of fiber per slice). Here is the recipe that I used (of course, you can find the original recipe HERE):

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

(makes two loaves - 16 slices each)

4 1/2 teaspoons yeast

3 cups warm water; divided

1/2 powdered milk

1/2 cup honey (you could substitute brown sugar)

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon wheat bran

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed ( I like Bob's Red Mill Ground Flax Meal)

2 tablespoons butter or canola oil

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups whole wheat flour

4 tablespoon wheat gluten

3 - 3 1/2 cups bread (or all purpose flour)

Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water (add 1 teaspoon of sugar to feed the yeast). Let yeast sit for 5 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups very warm water, powdered milk, honey (or brown sugar), oil (or butter), and salt.
Add whole wheat flour, wheat bran, ground flax seed, wheat gluten, and one cup of bread flour to the liquid mixture.
Pour dissolved yeast on top of flours.
Beat together until smooth batter forms (about 3 minutes)
Stir in the remaining flour until a soft dough forms (it will be sticky)
Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead (about 6 - 8 minutes) until a dough is smooth and elastic; adding white flour as necessary to keep it from sticking.
Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a dishtowel, and let rise until double (about 1 hour).
Punch down dough, divide in half, and shape into two loaves.
Place loaves in two greased 9x5 bread pans
Cover loaf pans and let rise until dough has risen 1 inch above the rim of the bread pan (about 30 minutes).
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes or until golden brown
Remove baked bread from pans (lay loaves on their sides) and cool completely.

This Week's Menu 5/1

2011-05-01T19:26:00.003-06:00

(This week's Bountiful Basket,and assorted family member's limbs)

This week I actually took the time to plan my menu, and I am posting it BEFORE the middle of the week! Yeah me! This week I have to watch the grocery budget closely, so I have been digging through the freezer, refrigerator, and pantry to find odds and ends to use up. Besides a freezer clean out every so often is a good thing. This week we will be having:

Sunday

Hamburgers (from yesterday)

Dutch Oven Potatoes

Sliced Honeydew and Watermelon

Monday

Shrimp Alfredo with Penne Pasta

Asparagus (from last week's basket that needs to be used ASAP)

Sliced Honeydew and Watermelon

Tuesday

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy (using up the leftover patties from Sunday)

Mashed Potatoes (and Cauliflower)

Corn on the Cob

Strawberries with Whipped Cream

Wednesday

Clam Chowder

Spinach Salad

Applesauce Muffins

Thursday

Leftover Night

Friday

Berry Filled Puff Pancake (new recipe I'm trying)

Scrambled Eggs

Fried Potatoes

Nothing too glamorous. Mainly, just old standbys. My big goal this week is to use up all the veggies in my refrigerator bins. I am happy to report that the new fridge is keeping all of my produce fresh much, much longer than the old one!

Retail Therapy....Frugal Style

2011-04-30T03:39:00.005-06:00

I am constantly trying to find ways to live a Champagne (okay, Evian) lifestyle on a tap water budget. Keeping a family of six in clothing, shoes, and necessary frivolities can be a pricey venture. To get the most bang for my buck , I have become quite a fan of frugally creative shopping. There are several places I like to frequent to purchase necessary items, and stay within our budget.

Thrift Stores: You can find just about anything under the Sun at thrift stores. They are great for clothing, dressier shoes, household items, backpacks, canning jars, and sometimes furniture (usually furniture will require some TLC). This week's trip to Goodwill produced a messenger bag ($4.99), tote bag ($3.99), Pyrex serving dish ($1.99), two new glass storage container (to replace plastic ones out of my pantry $3.50 for both), Corelle luncheon plates (to replace the ones we've broken. 7 for $1.50), and a pair of khaki capri pants for me ($3.99).

Salvage Stores: We have a couple in my area. The ambiance in salvage stores may be a little rustic. Usually, organization is not always top priority, either. If you are willing to spend some time sorting through the mish mash; you can usually find treasures. Like an 18 piece set of glass Pyrex storage containers (to replace some sadly peeling plastic containers) for $20.00 ( I've already put them to good use). Salvage stores are a great place to find some non perishable food, non grocery and hygiene items, wrapping paper, party supplies, office/ school supplies, household items, clothing, and sometimes small furniture.

The prices are really hard to beat!

Yard/ Garage Sales: Even though they are seasonal, they are a great place to find ANYTHING. They are especially fabulous for finding furniture, baby items, children's clothing, canning supplies, small household appliance, athletic equipment, tools, yard equipment.

Consignment Stores: Even though the clothing items are more expensive that thrift stores, they are a great place for finding higher end brands. Consignment stores are a great place to find jewelry, hand bags, business attire, dress clothing, bridal gowns, and party dresses. Some shop also sell furniture, luggage, household items, antiques, and books. I have found lots of decorating items CHEAP at consignment stores.

Clearance Bins and Racks: I have found everything from dollar t shirts, to $3.00 stock pots in the clearance sections of almost every store in my area. I make it a point to peruse them every time I am in the store. Clearance items are great for stocking up on gifts, clothing, bedding, decorating accessories, and cook/ bake ware.

To make "shopping" trips as efficient as possible (and not cave in to "frivolous" purchases), I keep a small notebook in my purse with an every changing list of items that we are in need of. My list usually includes clothing items (and sizes) that the kid's need (or will need, such as school and dress clothes), household items to replace (a.k.a. plates, glasses.), sizes of canning jars, fabric needed for projects, baskets for gifts, and holiday items.

As a side note: I am also a HUGE FAN of swapping and bartering with the neighbors (and family). Lots of times if you let it out that you are in need of something, someone has what you need and is willing to swap. I recently traded some outgrown kids clothing with the neighbor for some cleaning supplies that she had an abundance of. Lots of areas have Freecycle. It works basically the same way. I have not participated, but I know people who are huge fans.

What are your favorite frugal shopping tactics?

Baking Day

2011-04-29T16:57:00.003-06:00

Well, I should have been scrubbing toilets and catching up laundry today. That was the plan anyway, but we ran out of bread this morning. Bread is a necessary evil at our house, so I decided to make a batch of bread. Which, of course, always leads me down the path of a baking free for all (BONUS: I watched the highlights of the Royal Wedding on the kitchen television while I baked)!

I did bake bread:

In fact, I doubled the recipe for Potato Bread, and turned a fourth of the dough into buns for tomorrow's dinner. Hopefully, it will warm up enough here, so I don't freeze to death while I'm grilling hamburgers and hot dogs.

I just happened to have a few frozen blueberries in the freezer that needed to be used. Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins seemed like the perfect recipe.

Lastly, I have been trying to tackling my baking Nemesis', lately. I can bake and cook many culinary creations, but certain things still kick my posterior! From scratch brownies would be one. Since, I am avoiding box mixes in favor of their from scratch counterparts, and brownies are a FAVORITE, I bit the bullet and had another go. This time I was actually successful (see it IS good to face your fears)!

The recipe came out of a cookbook I got as a bridal shower gift (21 years ago). This cookbook has served me well. So well, in fact, that many of the pages are covered in greasy spots and are falling out. Darling Daughter has informed that she will be inheriting it when I pass on. I did find the recipe I used on the BH&G website. You can find it HERE.

I think baking day was successful, but now I need to go finish cleaning up the mess that I made (and maybe consider scrubbing those toilets). If only cleaning up was as fun as making the mess!

Portion Control....Soap Style

2011-04-27T08:42:00.000-06:00

I have had a monumental revelation,lately! It is getting really expensive to run a household. Of course, it doesn't help that utility, gas, and food prices are on the rise, but just keeping the basic non food necessities around really adds up (especially when you have a houseful of kid's). I have stopped buy most cleaning products. Opting to use home made cleaners, vinegar, baking soda, and micro fiber cloths.I pretty much only buy the ingredients to make my cleaning supplies (much cheaper and earth friendly). I do still buy Lysol wipes (I have a houseful of males......enough said!). I have been really paying attention to cost per ounce (or count) on the personal hygiene and the household products we use. Most of the time it works out that the largest or warehouse size is the best price (praise be to Costco's coupon books). I am great at portioning out just about anything and trying to use the least amount possible to make them stretch just a little further. However, the rest of the family not so much! Their philosophy seems to be that those big bottles and boxes of , whatever, are bottomless and FREE (silly, silly family)!

So to up the ante on portion control compliance, I have had to get a little creative. If you take the guess work out of it, they will comply....most of the time!

I switched from regular hand soap dispensers to foaming soap dispensers a long time ago (the day Child #3 pumped an entire bottle of regular hand soap on the bathroom floor). Now I refill my foaming soap dispenser by filling the dispenser 2/3 full of water and adding 1/2 tablespoon antibacterial soap. Shake to mix the soap and water. Then add more water to the fill line if necessary.

In fact, most antibacterial dish soap's can be used in place of hand soap. They also happen to be cheaper the regular hand soap refills, too.

My kid's can go through a bottle of shampoo in record time. Since the majority of the people in this house have hair an inch long, they really don't need a palmful of shampoo to wash their hair (or make bubble bath). To save money on shampoo I buy it on sale, and then pour it into a pump bottle that we have been reusing for years.

To ensure that they don't use an unholy amount with each shampoo I twisted a wide rubber band underneath the head of the pump. Now the pump will only go so far before stopping. Giving them enough to get their hair clean, but not enough to waste.

The same goes for dish soap. In my continuing efforts to produce marketable members of society, I have been making my kid's wash the dishes that won't fit in the dishwasher by hand (or if they are getting a little sassy...all the dishes). I have been refilling a one liter plastic soda bottle (with a salvaged dish soap bottle lid on it) from the Costco size dish soap bottle to make it more manageable, but squeeze bottles = free for all + waste, at my house.

So now, I refill a 20 oz plastic soda bottle (with a salvaged pump lid from a bottle of hand sanitizer) from the mondo container of dish soap. Two pumps is enough soap to fill the sink with lots of bubbles!

Bar soap seems to be the Achille's heel. I have encased many bars in legs of worn out nylons. This method works great......if they remember to hang the soap up after their bath!!! I guess some things are a work in progress!

How have you, My Dear Bloggy, Friends, been stretching your household supplies? I'd love more ideas!

This Week's Menu 4/26: The "Ham"ilicious Edition

2011-04-26T08:54:00.001-06:00

As I posted yesterday, I have been lacks in planning a formal menu this month! I didn't realize how much I had become to rely on my weekly menu. I am very sorry to confess, that I have tossed to many leftovers in the trash for my liking, and I have eaten way to many pancake and ramen noodle dinners!! Both scenarios are on the thumbs down list, in my book. So Saturday, I sat down for a few minutes and put a culinary game plan together. Of course, Easter = Ham, so ham related entrees will be prominent this week. This week we will be eating:

Sunday

Spiral Cut Ham

Cheesy Potatoes

Raspberry Jello with Mangoes

Parkerhouse Rolls

Strawberry Shortcake

Monday

Leftovers from Sunday Dinner

Steamed Broccoli

Tuesday

Potato Ham Soup

Leftover Rolls

Orange Slices

Wednesday

Ham and Beans

Cornbread

Green Salad

Thursday

Skillet Ham and Pasta (Thank you One Crazy Cookie)

Pineapple

Asparagus ( I swapped my Dear Sweet Friend sweet potatoes for asparagus out of our Bountiful Baskets)

Friday

Breakfast Burritos

Honey Dew Melon

Blueberry Muffins

Saturday

Grilled Hamburgers

Veggies and Dip

Potato Salad

Hello Bloggy Friends!

2011-04-25T21:21:00.001-06:00

Hello, everyone! Never fear, I have not dropped off the face of the Earth, and nothing catastrophic has happened here in Barrettpotamia (for which I am grateful)! I have just had a very, very, VERY busy month. The old adage "Biting off more than you can chew" has been very pertinent in my life, lately. April has consisted of four birthdays, one anniversary (twenty one years, thank you very much), numerous church committee meetings ( I have found myself the new coordinator of activities for our church's ladies organization and I have been volunteered to be Assistant Camp Director for this summer's Church girl's camp), baking for our Church's annual Cake Auction ( two cheesecakes and a gift basket of home made salsa), teaching a class on Square Foot Gardening, and throw in work and the worst cold in the history of colds (total duration 22 days of misery), for good measure. I have been left with very little time to do much else. In fact, at one point I even debated giving up blogging. However, several dear, sweet readers voiced their concern over my lack of activity in the blogosphere, and that really touched me! Thank you!!! Then I realized how much I LOVE blogging, and how much I have missed it, and ALL OF YOU! Plus, if I am not blogging about my ventures in frugality, I find it much harder to maintain my lifestyle. You see, fabulous readers, you have been keeping me honest and on my toes! Oh, how I have been tempted to serve meals on paper plates, and stop at the drive thru this month! Now though, it seems I have some breathing room, again. Of course, the next couple of month's will still be busy, and some posts may be short and to the point, but "This too, shall pass"..........right?

Never fear, though! I have been keeping my frugal nose to the grind stone most of the time! I still have found time to:

Start this year's garden plants. I have discovered using a small black plastic shelf absorbs the heat from the sun and helps the seedlings to grow. The shelf is also portable so it can be taken apart and stored with the rest of the planting supplies for next year.

This year's tomato plants are coming along nicely.

So are the pepper plants. Can any one say SALSA?

Continue baking from scratch. I have expanded the hamburger bun experiment to include hot dog/ brat buns,too.

Incorporate more fruits and veggies into our diet. Bless Bountiful Baskets (check their website. Bountiful Baskets has been expanding, and they may now be in your area). Unfortunately, my menu planning has been lacking lately. This week I am back on the wagon with a written menu ( I will post it soon).

Well, there it is in a nutshell! I am a crazy women, but crazy isn't alway bad..........right?

Being Frugal = Being Green

2011-04-06T18:30:00.001-06:00

I read this GREAT ARTICLE in Relish Magazine today, and I thought it was totally in line with yesterday's post! You see Bloggy Buddies, we are being FRUGAL and GREEN!!! I guess my hypothesis that being frugal and being green go hand in hand! You can also click HERE, if you want to read some more of my thoughts on the subject.

What do you all think? Can being frugal naturally make you more conscientious about sustaining our planet?

Rethinking My Grocery Shopping Strategy

2011-04-05T09:44:00.002-06:00

(that's Grandma's beloved Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook on the right)

As grocery prices soar in my area, I have been thinking about how my shopping strategy has changed over the last several years. I still use some of my tried and true methods (tweaking them a little bit), but I have also rethought and changed others. A year ago I was a die hard coupon-er. I had my coupon binder with me at all times. I would spend a couple hours a week clipping and sorting coupons. I scoured grocery adds for match ups, religiously. If there was a fabulous deal I would scrounge for extra coupons, and buy a bazillion items (maybe not a bazillion, but close). I bought tons of cereal, granola bars, fruit snacks, pudding cups, yogurt, anything I could get cheap or free. Several months later half of those items were still on the shelve uneaten, and rapidly approaching their expiration date ( crunchy fruit snacks and soggy granola bars, anyone?). I was getting great deals, but most of what I bought was highly processed, sugar laden, and not uber healthy, but cheap!

Then at Christmas time Dear Daughter's gall bladder went kabloohey. We live in a small enough city that I knew the doctor, physicians assistant, and several nurses working in the Emergency Room the day I took her in for medical care. During the numerous hours spent at the hospital during her diagnosis and surgery (28 in all. I didn't ever leave the hospital.) I had the opportunity to visit with my medical friends. They mentioned that during the week previous to Dear Daughters hospital stay until New Year's Day six adolescents between the ages of 13 and 21 had their gall bladders removed. Most attributed the rise in gall bladder surgery to the high fat, highly processed diet that most Americans (especially teenagers) eat. That disturbed me a little bit (okay, A LOT!). I felt enormous guilt that I was somewhat responsible for the demise of her gall bladder ( I wasn't really. The pathology report informed us that her gall bladder had a structural abnormality, and would have died eventually).

I did some long hard thinking about our families diet, and started making some changes. Of course, all of my changes still had to fit into my grocery budget (which has taken a hit, as we are trying to pay off debt incurred over 2010). Increasing food prices have also made it a little harder to keep healthy eating on a budget. It has been challenging sometimes, but I do LOVE a challenge. Here are my new and improved shopping methods for eating a healthier diet, and still stay within budget:

I still clip coupons, but only for basic staples and non food items. I do still match sales to coupons for food basics: cheese, butter, dairy, cereal (less sugary varieties), pasta, meat, and produce, and non food items things like razors, shampoo, soap, toilet paper, laundry soap, lotions, and toothpaste.
I participate in Bountiful Baskets, which is a produce co op. For a weekly contribution ($16.50) I receive two small laundry baskets filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. Because the co op purchases produce in large quantities from local farms and orchards, they get wholesale prices. Bountiful Baskets is a non for profit, so they pass the savings unto the participants. If Bountiful Basket doesn't deliver in your area, check out local co op or farmer's markets in your area.
In the summer I grow a garden, eat out of it, and can or freeze the extra. I also glean the neighbors fruit trees or buy fruit from local orchards to can and make jam and jellies. If space is limited you can still grow a few veggies in five gallon buckets or pots.
Read the grocery sales ads every week. Take advantage of loss leader items by stocking up to get you by until the next sale.
Read the labels! I have really started looking at what is added into the food we buy. The less ingredients in the list the better it is going to be for you.
Buy non perishable staples in bulk. My local grocery store has a great bulk foods section. Whole wheat pasta, dried beans, dried peas, dried fruit, oatmeal, rice, nuts, and spices are all available. I store them in recycled plastic containers or glass jars in my pantry.
Stock up on perishable items on sale. Cheese (grated), butter, milk, and meat all freeze beautifully. Sour cream, cottage cheese, eggs (unless you scramble them and use them for cooking) do not freeze well, but will last at least a month if refrigerated properly. I plan my meals around these items.
Make your own convenience items. This way I can control the ingredients, and making them yourself is much, much cheaper. The internet is loaded with sites for making your own mixes. Double a batch of waffles, french toast, or pancakes and freeze them for later. Doubling a batch of soup or casserole and freeze half for later. Pudding, applesauce,or canned fruit placed into small reusable containers for lunches is far cheaper than their prepackaged counterparts.
Be you own bakery. I try to have a baking day each week, or if I am uber busy and a baked item is on the menu I double the batch. Home baked products freeze well, because they are not loaded with preservatives. I sometimes individually package muffins, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and quick breads before I freeze them, so they are easy to throw into lunch boxes in the morning.
If you don't own one, invest in a good basic cookbook (investment purchase) and use it. May I be so bold as to recommend; The Taste Of Home Cook Book or The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. Both have step by step instructions for basic cooking skills. Cooking magazines are also a great resource, and many can be checked out of the library, or split the subscription cost with a friend and share (Cook's Illustrated, The Taste of Home, and Taste of Home Healthy Cooking are several favorites).
Take stock of what's on hand and plan a menu (always include leftover night). I have found that this one little step makes it easier to avoid eating out. I also don't waste nearly as much food, because it has been incorporated into the week's menus.
Use meat as a condiment, and use other sources of cheaper and healthier protein. Cheese, eggs, yogurt, lentils, dried beans and peas, are great sources of protein.
Increase your fruit and veggie intake. Five a day keeps the doctor away! If you have some non veggie eaters in your house, hide the veggies in the food you cook. Mash cooked cauliflower right along the potatoes for mashed potatoes, Shred carrots and zucchini into muffins and quick bread. I have added cooked leftover carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and celery into spaghetti sauce. I puree the sauce and veggies in the food processor before I heat it up. What they don't know; won't kill them!

Of course, all of these steps won't work for everyone (we all have different lifestyles), but it works for my family. Since I have really started paying attention, and choosing healthier options, I have noticed that my family has not gotten sick, as often as they use to. We feel better and have more energy!

I would love to hear from you, Dear Bloggy Friends, How do you check your grocery budget in check and still eat healthy?

This Week's Menu 4/3

2011-04-03T21:22:00.001-06:00

( I don't have a picture of produce this week, so here's a picture of Child #3 with the "Big One" he caught last year)

Wow! This week flew bye! I am proud to report that Child #3 placed in the top 30 students out of 100 in the State Geography Bee on Friday! We are very proud of him!! Maybe I'll have a Harvard graduate someday, after all.

Well, last week was a strange sort of week. My Dear Neighbor and I were not able to get our weekly Bountiful Baskets (do to a glitch on the website Monday), I haven't really done any grocery shopping, and then we left town. Basically this week will be a scrape by kind of week; using up odds and ends, and making due till we get our baskets on Saturday (and a trip to the grocery store). This week we will be eating:

Sunday

Baked Ham (dug out of the freezer)

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Peas

Apple Crisp

Monday

Leftovers

Tuesday

Breakfast Casserole (with ham in it, of course)

Blueberry Muffins

Grapefruit Halves (or orange slices for the grapefruit haters)

Wednesday

Navajo Tacos (Chili from the freezer)

Fry Bread

Lettuce, Tomato, and Cheese

Thursday

(crock pot meal for family because I'm teaching a gardening class at my Church tonight)

Ham and Bean soup (using ham bone)

Cornbread

Friday

(Child #3's Birthday, so he picked the menu...definitely not healthy)

French Toast (made with Oatmeal Cinnamon Bread)

Bacon

Home Canned Pears

Orange Juice

Banana Cream Pie

Saturday

Grilled Hamburgers

Homemade Buns

Veggies and Ranch Dip

Cantaloupe

As you can see from all the links in my menu that I am sticking to tried and true recipes this week! Sometimes old favorites are the best! What's your favorite tried and true recipes, Bloggy Friends (I'm always on the look out for yummy new recipes to try!)?

This Week's Menu 3/28

2011-03-27T21:18:00.001-06:00

(Dear Hubby took the camera yesterday, so I didn't get a picture of this week's Bountiful Basket.

Here's a picture of last week's Taco Rice and Beans, instead. It was very tasty!!)

It's another crazy week here at Casa Del Barrett. Child #3 has qualified to participate in our state Geography Bee this weekend in Boise(our State capital). He and 99 other kid's from all over Idaho will be competing for the chance to go on to the National Geography Bee in Washington D.C. later this spring. I am a very PROUD mama right now! Anyway it will be a short menu this week, because we will be out of town rooting for our baby this weekend! I am also trying to use up a surplus of veggies this week, too. This week we will be eating:

Sunday:

Hash Browns

Sausage Patties

Cream Gravy

Poached Eggs

Grapefruit

Monday

Potato Soup

Green Salad

Cornbread

Tuesday

Oven Fried Chicken

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Asparagus

Wednesday

Spaghetti

Olive Garden Breadsticks

Spinach Salad

Cantaloupe

Thursday

Geography Bee

Friday

Geography Bee

Saturday

Geography Bee

A Little Tour Of My New Fridge

2011-03-26T22:11:00.000-06:00

After several months of researching, comparison shopping, and debating we finally took the plunge and ordered a new refrigerator last week. It ended up being delivered yesterday morning! I have to confess that our new refrigerator was not Choice A or Choice B. Choice A was a beautiful 26.8 cubic foot model with twin cooling, french doors, a huge fridge area, separate digital compartment controls,and a pull out drawer freezer area, an instruction manual the size of the phone book ( and a price tag to match)! It was my dream fridge ( the sports car of refrigerators, if you will), but after much measuring and debating, Dear Hubby and I realized that it would barely fit into the area in the kitchen designated for it. Translated - that means we could only open one of the french doors completely, and the other one about a fourth of the way. It would be pretty to look at, but completely impractical. Choice B was also a french door style, smaller, fewer bells and whistles (also cheaper), but it was an off brand and we were concerned about the overall quality. After this little reality check ( I can only drag Dear Hubby appliance shopping so many times, before the novelty wears off) I really started looking at the description tags above each appliance and noticed that french door style refrigerators are not as energy efficient as the Plain Jane single door models. Sigh!!! I went into Lowe's to throw caution to the wind and buy the sporty model ( must be my version of a mid life crisis), and left purchasing the old reliable (mini van) model!

Here's what my new (old reliable) refrigerator looks like in it's new home (notice that the kid's have already slapped the hodge podge of magnets and notes onto the door):

Even though this fridge is not what I envisioned, I am completely happy! We ended up buying a 24.8 cubic foot Whirlpool single door fridge with a pull out freezer. It had the highest efficiency rating of the appliances we looked at, and replacement parts will be cheaper (important to me, because I do repair and resurrect my appliances for as long as possible). This model was also recently discounted, so by combining a sales promotion to the discounted price we were able to knock the price down from $1099.00 to $841.00. Definitely under what we had budgeted!! WOO HOO!!

I have wanted to give you all a virtual tour of my fridge for awhile now, to show you all how I maintain a frugal refrigerator. Alas, I have four children constantly spilling in it, and a broken appliance light that made the old fridge a gloomy cave (and impossible to photograph), so I have held off. However, the new fridge is still pristine, so (please) let me show off!

Here's an overview of what I usually have in the fridge (look how roomy it is!):

I keep all the condiments on the door, within easy reach (and sight of the troops). Our main condiments consist of home made jam and jelly, home made pancake syrup, home made salad dressing (that's what in the second mustard bottle on the bottom shelve), minced garlic, barbecue sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. I like to buy these items in bulk (with coupons) at Costco, or matching coupons with sales prices at the grocery store. Behind the butter is a large package of yeast (it will stay fresh for a long time in the fridge).

Milk (bought at Costco), juice made from frozen concentrate (much cheaper than fresh juice and stored in a recycled plastic juice jug), and the Brita water pitcher (it is FABULOUS, by the way)are the beverages of choice. This week's juice choice is apple raspberry (bought on sale with coupons) with the juice from two cans of pineapple added to it.

A variety of baking chips bought in the bulk section of the grocery store (stored in recycled plastic containers) waiting to be baked into cookies, muffins, and quick bread for breakfast and lunches.

Of course, here are the inevitable leftovers waiting to be eaten for lunch or recycled for dinner. The 5 pound bag of cheese was also purchased at Costco. It was cheaper (per pound) to buy it in bulk. Cheese doesn't last long at my house, so the large quantity is not a worry. I try to keep sliced fruit and veggies handy for snacking.

I salvaged the shelf out of the old fridge, and am using it to keep the yogurt organized and within easy reach for breakfast and snacks.

Every refrigerator needs a catch all shelf, and this must be mine. I buy eggs in the 5 dozen bulk pack at Costco or the grocery store (where ever they are the cheapest) and transfer them into smaller egg cartons (saved from previous purchases) for storage when I get home. The mysterious jar with green beans floating in it are dilly beans. One of the by products from last years garden. The other canning jar contains home made salsa (also a by product from last year's garden).

The deli drawer is holding tortillas, lunch meat (bought with a coupon) for school lunches and sour cream. The produce drawers are full of fruit and veggies from Bountiful Basket.

Now, moving on to the snazzy new freezer compartment! Our old fridge was a 26.0 cubic foot side by side, but the freezer door only opened half way and hit the wall every time I opened it, plus the ice maker blocked the middle of the freezer (and we could never get anything in or out of it). The pull out freezer will eliminate this problem.

The top drawer holds frozen veggies, the kid's corn dogs (one of my last concessions to convenience foods), Dear Hubby's bag of ice, and a couple of bags of frozen cookie dough.

The bottom freezer drawer hold bags of frozen berries (from Costco), frozen peas (also from Costco), frozen squash puree and chopped green peppers from last year's garden, and a couple of bags of hash browns. We have a freezer in the garage that holds the rest of the garden bounty, frozen fruit, and our meat. I use this freezer to keep a little bit of every thing handy. I restock it from the big freezer.

Each drawer pulls out separately, so every thing is easily accessible. Love, love, LOVE that!!

Hopefully, you are not all bored to tears by now!!! Thanks for sharing in my joy! I know, it is a sad day when buying a new appliance is the high point of my week, but to me, a new fridge is better than a trip to Disneyland!

Thrifty Entertainment

2011-03-23T11:52:00.001-06:00

I have been feeling little philosophical, lately. It has been concerning me that prices seem to be going up all around us! Utility prices are rising, groceries (especially produce and meat) are constantly on the rise, and every time I pass the gas station it seems that it's gone up a penny or two (or three, or four......). I know I can't speak for everyone, but my families income is NOT rising with the cost of living. It gets a little discouraging that in order to cover the cost of living, the little conveniences and entertainments must be cut back or eliminated.

This week is Spring Break for my kids. Keeping my kid's entertained this week without breaking the bank has been challenging. I have been trying to think of ways that people can still enjoy having fun on a budget. There are plenty of venues that can be enjoyed for little out of pocket expense, or even free.
So far I have come up with:

Use your local library. Libraries offer magazines, movies, audio books, in addition to books. Many libraries offer children's reading hours, movie nights, book clubs, educational classes, and summer reading programs all available to the public for free. Most libraries have a monthly calender of event at the library or on their website.
Go to the movies at the local second run theater. If your willing to wait to see the latest movies for a few weeks you can see them for $2.00 to $3.00, instead of $7.00 to $10.00. My local dollar theater offers a discount night every Tuesday for a $1.50 for admission and $1.50 popcorn and soda. During the summer holiday our second run theater offers PTA movie passes. For $7.50 per person you can watch a prescheduled family friendly movie each week for eleven weeks.
Visit community museums. I live in a university town so we are lucky to have a Natural History Museum on campus. We also have a local historical museum. It's a fun way for my kid's to learn about our local history and surroundings.
Take advantage of community events. Many communities offer fun runs, family fun days, river fests, farmer's markets (with local entertainment), county fairs in the spring, summer, and fall.
Take day trips to points of interest close to you. Pack a lunch and make a day of visiting fun places close to where you live. We live within 60 miles of several reservoirs, historical landmarks, forest service camp grounds, and natural hot springs. You get out of town, but cut out the cost of long travel, extensive meals, and overnight stays.
Take advantage of the programs offered through your local zoo. In the summer zoo's offer summer classes, Zoofari's, and special family days. Our zoo offers a Boo At the Zoo just before Halloween that for a minimal fee, you can spend the afternoon at the zoo learning, playing, trick or treating each exhibit.
Make your own fun. Last summer my kids set up our old tent in the back yard and made a fort. The neighbor kid's had a blast "camping" and playing in that silly tent all summer. Let the kid's host a lemonade or Popsicle stand. The older kid's in the neighborhood would meet together every evening for "night games" (that's what they named it). They would go to each other's houses and watch a movie, play basketball, play board games or kick the can. Sometimes they would just sit in our neighborhood's common area and visit. Everyone had a 10:00pm curfew, so the "fun" didn't go into the wee hours of the morning and everyone stayed out of trouble.
Host neighborhood events. Summertime is a great time to invite neighbors and friends over to barbecue. Make it a pot luck, so that everyone shares the burden of the cost. Other fun ideas are maybe have an ice cream social, themed potluck night (Italian, Mexican, dutch over, crockpot, etc.), or dessert night.
Have a game night. My kid's love it when we play board or card games with them. Invite friends over for snacks and to play a board game.

I'm sure there are hundreds of other cheap ways to enjoy a little fun. Help me add to the list, dear Bloggy Friends! What fun things do you participate in that costs a little to no money?

This Week's Menu 3/21. The Potato Edition

2011-03-20T18:16:00.003-06:00

(this week's Bountiful Basket)

The new fridge is going to be delivered this Friday, so that gives me another week to use up more freezer items. I also discovered that about 30 pounds of potatoes that I have downstairs in my storage room (it's nice and cold down there) are starting to grow sprouts. I need to hurry up and use them before they are to mushy to eat. I will be incorporating a lot of potato dishes into this week's menu. Thank goodness the troops like potatoes; hopefully there won't be too many complaints!

This week's Bountiful Baskets was full of great produce. It is still lacking the usual lettuce (most of the lettuce crops in Mexico froze last month), but it is almost time to plant my lettuce seeds here in Idaho. If you don't have Bountiful Baskets available in your area, I would encourage you to check out other local produce co ops or your local farmer's markets. I am thinking that local resources will probably be the cheapest options for buying produce this spring and summer. This week's menu will consist of:

Sunday

Leftovers

Peach Mango Cobbler

Monday

Pork Roast

Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower

( the troops are cauliflower haters,so I boil the cauliflower with the potatoes and mash them all together.

No one has ever figured it out!)

Green Beans

Tuesday

Taco Rice and Beans

Tomatoes and Lettuce

Wednesday

Chicken and Noodles

Green Salad

Parker House Rolls

Thursday

Venison Steak

Baked Potatoes (baking extra potatoes for Friday's dinner)

Asparagus

Friday

Hash browns (made from yesterday's baked potatoes)

Creamy Sausage Gravy

Poached Eggs

Cantaloupe

Saturday

Simply Baked Pasta

(using the other half pound of sausage from yesterday's sausage gravy, instead of hamburger)

Garlic Bread (using any leftover rolls)

Broccoli

Since, grocery prices seems to increase every time I go to the grocery store and my grocery budget has not increased, I am really trying to eliminate food waste. I am also trying to stretch meat into two meals. Hopefully, this week's menu incorporates that!

How have you been stretching your grocery budget?

Pitcher Water Filtration Systems

2011-03-16T13:30:00.000-06:00

This post will probably not change the world, but I had a little Aah Ha moment and thought I'd share. I relayed in an earlier post or two that we are ordering a new refrigerator tomorrow (can you tell I am just a LITTLE BIT excited?). The new fridge I picked out does not have an ice or water dispenser on the door. I choose not to get the side by side fridge with the ice/water option for several reasons (that I'll explain in another post). My children have been greatly saddened by my decision (it's another "But all the other kid's have them" scenario for them, the poor deprived little mites!). My kid's are not big fans of drinking tap water (although that is their only option right now), and I have to agree our tap water doesn't always taste fabulous. I have also been thinking of the health benefits of filtered water, but I don't want to invest in the cost of a triple filtration system, right now. Plus, I have read several articles lately that claim most bottled water is just tap water in plastic bottles, so you are paying for the same quality water you can get free out of the tap (plus you are adding all those plastic bottles to your landfill).

I have been mulling over the idea of investing in a Brita of Pur water filtration system. Well, today I was at Costco, and in this month's coupon flier, there was a $7.00 off coupon for a Brita Pitcher Filtration System. You got a ten cup pitcher and two filters for $19.99 (after coupon). The instruction with the pitcher says that a filter is good for about two months. The coupon is also good for $7.00 off a ten pack of replacement filters (regularly $41.99; $34.99 after coupon). So, for $54.98 I was able to buy the pitcher and two years worth of filters. That averages out to about $3.49 a month for filtered water.

I am hoping the kid's will start drinking more water (and less milk and juice, since it keeps going up in price!); especially with warm weather just around the corner. We can now also fill up our resusable water bottles from the pitcher, so the are getting "bottled" water without the cost and waste of prepackaged water bottles. I am also going to fill our ice cube trays from the Brita pitcher so we will have pleasant tasting ice cubes (and I won't constantly have to remember to grab a bag of ice when I'm at the grocery store.). Dear Hubby has a thing for ice cubes in his beverages.

So what do you think, Dear Bloggy Friends? Do any of you own a Brita water pitcher? Are you a fan or foe of filtered water?

Home Made Hamburger Buns

2011-03-15T19:14:00.004-06:00

Today I made up a batch of Parker House Roll dough to turn into home made buns. I am a big fan of using this roll dough for making homemade buns. The rolls are fluffy and stay fresh for several days.They taste so much better than the store bought kind! It took a couple of tries to get the size and shape right. The first try I cut them out with a biscuit cutter, but when they rose they were still too small for the hamburger patties (Oops!). Not long ago, I was looking through a cookbook and saw a tutorial for shaping rosette rolls. I thought it would work great for shaping hamburger buns. After the dough has risen for the first rise, punch the dough down and divide the dough in half.

1. Roll the dough out into a rectangle.

2. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into sections.

3. Divide the dough into eight section.

4. Cut each of the eight sections into thirds.

5. To make each hamburger bun, lay the three sections side by side

6. Overlap the three sections to start the braid.

7. Braid the three sections together like you were braiding hair.

8. Twist the braid into a circle to form the bun. Pinch the ends of the roll onto the dough to secure.

9. Place rolls onto a greased cookie sheet, and allow to rise until doubled (about 45 - 60 minutes).

10. Bake according to the recipe. When they are done baking, you have snazzy looking hamburger buns!

Tonight's rolls accompanied BBQ Chicken, but they are great with grilled hamburgers, sloppy joes, or any BBQ style sandwich. My kid's like to use them to make hoagie sandwiches or peanut butter and jelly for school lunches.

This Week's Menu 3/13

2011-03-13T16:23:00.000-06:00

(Yeah! I got a Bountiful Basket this week!!)

Spring is slowly making it's way back to my neighborhood. We have had several days of warm (50ish), sunny weather. Dear Hubby cleaned out the gas grill and added new ceramic briquettes, yesterday. I'm hoping the weather holds, so that we can start grilling, again. I'm also excited to get ripe tomatoes in my basket this week. Tomatoes are a precious commodity right now, because of the freezing weather in Mexico that ruined 80% of their produce crops. In fact, I was thrilled for everything in this weeks basket. This week will also be clean out the freezer and use up the leftover's in the fridge week, because I should be the proud new owner of an energy efficient, blissfully quiet, non produce freezing refrigerator by the end of the week ( I'll blog more about that later.)! This week we will be eating:

Sunday

BBQ Chicken

Beans, Bacon, and Potatoes

Green Salad

Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

Monday

Eating At A Fundraiser For Dear Daughter's Debate Club

Tuesday

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Homemade Buns

Asparagus

Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Wednesday

Fish Sticks

Tater Tots

Frozen Corn

Cantaloupe

Thursday

Pork Carnitas (new Crock Pot recipe I'm going to try)

Flour Tortillas

Lettuce and Tomatoes

Pineapple

Friday

Leftover Night

Saturday

Baked Pasta

Easy Breadsticks

Steamed Cauliflower

Has anyone else noticed rising produce prices in your area?

Another Baking Day

2011-03-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Bread prices seem to be on the rise in my area, lately. Even a loaf of cheapy store brand bread is well over a dollar a loaf now. On the upside the rise in baked good prices have strengthen my resolve to continue to bake our bread (and other baked goods) from scratch. It's not always easy to find the time to "whip" up a batch of bread or rolls. Of course, yesterday we ran out of bread, so the choice was made for me. A baked a double batch of white bread. Yes, the children put a united front and requested (okay, begged) that I make white bread this week instead of wheat. Being a sucker for "puppy dog" eyes.....I caved. I also baked a double batch of banana bread to use up a half dozen bananas that went from green to black over night. The troops are banana bread junkies, so there was not a lot of complaining from them.In fact, they ate it with homemade applesauce for breakfast this morning.

In my quest to reuse and recycle what I have. I discovered that pulling apart a cereal box liner and laying it flat works wonderfully for covering my rising dough, so that it doesn't stick to the dishtowel.

If I would have been thinking clearly last night, I would have photographed it laying on top of the rising loaves of bread (Oops!!). I folded it up when the dough was done rising, and placed it in a Ziploc bag in the fridge to use next week. Using the cereal liner saved me using up waxed paper (which I have to pay for)!

Investment Purchases And Clearance Shoes

2011-03-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Once my children starting attending school, I realized that cheap shoes from Walmart or Payless Shoes were not going to hold up to the wear and tear that rough and tumble playground play was inflicting on them. We were averaging a new pair of shoes every two to four months. Buying several pairs of inexpensive shoes ends up costing more than one pair of high quality shoes. Shoe purchases have become what I call "investment purchases".

My definition of an "investment purchase" is spending a little more money on an item if the quality will a) stand up to the excessive wear and tear my family will inflict (furniture, shoes, cars, bicycles, etc.), b) it will save us money in the long run ( energy efficient appliances, small kitchen appliances, freezers, etc.), or c) it is a purchase that I want to get a very long life out of (all of the above). Most "investment purchases" can be bought on sale or even on clearance, so if you shop around, the initial investment is the same or a little bit more than you would spend on the cheaper version.

Anyway, back on topic.......shoes. I make it a habit to always check the clearance shoe racks at Ross, T.J. Maxx, Fred Meyers, Shoe Carnival and our local sporting goods stores. As the stores get their shipments of the new season's styles and colors of shoes they always clearance out "last season's models". I can usually find name brand athletic shoes, dress shoes, or snow boots for 1/2 to 3/4 off the regular price. If the price is right and someone is not currently in need of new shoes, I will buy the size bigger and put them away for later. I especially love name brand athletic shoes made with mesh (breathable) fabric. It keeps "stinky" children feet in check!

We hit pay dirt Monday night! Child #3's feet have been growing at an unusually rapid rate (for my budget, anyway), and had outgrown yet another pair of shoes. We wandered into our local Shoe Carnival, and they had a huge clearance sale going on. To sweeten the pot they were running a twenty minute Buy One, Get One Half Off promo. We found three pairs of shoes:

A pair of Conserve tennis shoes (child #3 has been coveting a pair for awhile). Original price $54.99. On clearance for $20.00 (after 1/2 off second pairs of shoes promo $10.00).
A pair of black leather flats for Child #2 (she has currently confiscated my pair of black flats, and I wanted them back!). Original price $34.99. On clearance for $5.00.
A pair of Asic running shoes (These are for me. I am trying to start running, again, and the gel soles in the Asics running shoes keep my back and knees from hurting while I am exercising.). Original price $69.99 on clearance for $35.00.

We were able to purchase three pairs of shoes for $50.00 (the cost of ONE pair of regular priced shoes). If we had paid the original prices, we would have spent $159.97! Now everyone is happy with their new shoes, and my shoe budget is not a smoking crater (which makes me happy)!

This Week's Menu........The Late Edition!

2011-03-08T13:59:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had a week where you hit a culinary brick wall? It has taken my until today to come up with a palatable menu! The silly thing is I just stocked up at the Ridley's case lot and meat sale, so we are not lacking for food. I try to set put $30.00 a month into my case lot fund (my local grocery stores average a case lot sale three to four times a year). That way it's not a strain on my family's grocery budget. Thank goodness I had a fridge of leftover's that needed to be eaten. Those leftover's kept us fed until I could make up mind! This week we will be eating (or have already eaten):

Sunday

Leftovers

Strawberry Shortcake

Monday

Took the kid's to an All You Can Eat Pizza Buffet

Tuesday

Hash browns (with leftover bacon, sausage, and onion added)

Poached Eggs

Canned Pears and Peaches

Wednesday

Chicken and Noodles

Green Salad

Sweet Potatoes

Refrigerator Rolls

Thursday

Chicken A La King

Buttermilk Biscuits

Leftover Sweet Potatoes

Spinach

Friday

Crock Pot Refried Beans

Tortilla Chips and Cheese

Green Salad

Easy Mexican Rice

Saturday

Potato Soup

Pumpkin Struesel Muffins (using up any leftover sweet potatoes)

Ridley's (Nel's BiLo) Case Lot Sale

2011-03-08T11:00:00.002-07:00

This starts the second week of the Ridley's (Nel's BiLo) case lot sale. If you haven't already stocked up; you still have until Monday March 14th. Case lot sales are a great way to start or add to your food storage. I have heard from several reliable sources than food prices are going to continue to rise this year. Even if you only purchase a couple of items it's still a great start. The following items are a excellent buys:

W.F. (15 oz) canned corn or green beans $11.72 (24 cans)
W.F. (15 oz) canned beans $12.72 (24 cans)
W.F. ( 4 oz) canned mushrooms $9.78 (24 cans)
First Harvest (29oz) canned peaches or pears $11.58 (12 cans)
Liberty Gold (20 oz.) canned pineapple $20.35 (24 cans)
Liberty Gold (14.5 oz) fruit cocktail, peaches, or pears $13.98 (24 cans)
10 pound box of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast $15.87
40 pound box of FRESH boneless, skinless chicken breasts $59.95
W.F. (36 regular or 18 double rolls) toilet paper $5.95
W.F. (24 oz) ketchup $10.44 (12 count) or $13.92 (16 count)
W.F. (7 pound) pancake mix $5.49 each
W.F. (128 oz) pancake syrup 5.49 each
W.F. (16 oz) frozen vegetables $9.48 (12 bags)
25 pound bag Pendleton white all purpose flour $5.85 each (this is the cheapest I have found flour!)
W.F. (20 pound bag) white long grain rice $9.99
Campbell's Spaghettios $6.64 (12 count) or $13.28 (24 count)
W.F. (16 oz) hydrogen peroxide or alcohol 2 for $1.00
Tide (100oz) liquid laundry detergent $8.98 each
Clorox (96 oz) regular bleach $1.44 each
W.F. seasoning packets (spaghetti, taco, stew, etc.) $6.95(24 count)
Nissin (3 oz) Top Ramen noodles $2.88 (24 packages)

Click on the highlighted store names below to see the ads.

Ridley's Nel's Bi Lo Marketplace

Saving On Medical Bills

2011-03-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

If you have been following my blog, you will know that the last year has brought my family a myriad of medical bills. Dear Hubby fell a 14 months ago and shattered his knee cap. Child #1 broke his arm and had an abscessed wisdom tooth that required removal (along with the other three), and Darling Daughter (Child #2) had her gall bladder removed right before Christmas. While I am eternally grateful for modern medicine, and am NOT eternally grateful for the expense. Since we are self employed, we have a high deductible medical insurance. However, I am grateful for that insurance! If we did not have it we would have had to pay $55,000 in medical bills out of pocket last last year!

I have discovered that if you are willing to pay your bill in full most medical offices and hospitals will offer a discount. It is usually between 5% and 15%. It saves the medical provider money if they do not have keep repeatedly billing you (and paying someone to send those bills). So far, I have saved $1.050.00 by paying our medical bills in full. All that you have to do is talk to the office manager or medical billing department at your hospital or doctor's office. Be polite, and they are usually more than happy to work with you!

Party Punch

2011-03-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

I was in charge of refreshments for my church's women's social tonight. I wanted to do something a little snazzier than just plain ice water for the beverage. After searching the internet for ideas; I came across this simple and TASTY punch. It was a hit with the ladies, and super cheap to serve to a crowd. It's not super sweet, and has a little twang to it. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it before it had all been consumed. Take my word for it it was a pretty red color, and I floated lemon slices and frozen strawberries in the punch bowl in place of ice cubes ( cheap way to make your punch, FANCY! It was a ladies social, after all.)

Party Punch

3 Two liter bottle of Diet Sprite

2 envelopes of Wyler's Cool Raspberry Sugar Free drink mix

1 - 2 (16 oz.) package(s) of frozen strawberries

1 lemon (sliced)

Pour Sprite into a large punch bowl of drink dispenser. Stir in powdered drink mix until completely dissolved. Add frozen berries to punch. Lay lemon slices on top of strawberries in the punch bowl.

This Week's Menu 2/27

2011-02-27T20:56:00.001-07:00

(last week's Bountiful Basket)

Hello there! I apologize for the lack of posts last week, but it seems that a family full of sickies and a computer keyboard that went died seemed to get the better of me. However, things are looking up. The family is on the mend, and a new keyboard has been purchased and installed. The upside of being stuck at home with the invalids, is that I only spent $6.72 milk this week. My grand total spent on groceries for the month was $484.37. That puts me $84.37 over budget, but the larder is stocked and next month I should be able to stay within my $400.00 budget.

With this week's menu I will be using up some meat out of the freezer that need's to be used. I will also be using up the rest of last week's Bountiful Basket. We will be eating:

Sunday

Breakfast Burritos

Fruit Salad

Monday

Chicken Noodle Soup (I am tossing some wilty looking spinach in the soup to use it up)

Blueberry Muffins

Tuesday

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Homemade Buns

Coleslaw

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Wednesday

Venison Steak with Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Green Peas

Thursday

French Toast

Bacon

Applesauce

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday

Pizza

Green Salad

Home Canned Pears

I seem to have an abundance of cabbage ( I got two heads in my basket last week). So, my favorite Bloggy Friends, I need your ideas! What are your favorite ways to use up cabbage?

This Week's Groceries And Menu 2/20

2011-02-20T16:59:00.002-07:00

It was another big grocery shopping week! I ended up purchasing a full basket from Bountiful Baskets this week. They have closed one of our local sites temporarily, so there are fewer baskets available for the next several weeks. I decided to get a full basket (vs. splitting one with my friend), and stretching it for two weeks. I'm hoping this will get me by until my normal site reopens. This week's basket contribution was $21.75, which includes a full basket of produce and 3 1/2 dozen tortillas.

I also took advantage of a couple great sales at my local grocery stores to stock up on a few things. At Ridley's I stocked up on Yoplait yogurt. With coupons I ended up getting 20 yogurts for $6.60 ($.33 each). Smith's is running their annual Daytona 500 promotion. If you buy ten participating items you earn a $3.00 instant saving at checkout, plus you get a $3.00 off coupon to use on your next purchase. The Oreo's, Macaroni and Cheese, Pasta Sauce, and soap were part of the promotion ($15.93 after coupons and promo's) the toothpaste, toothbrushes, cottage cheese, and eggs were regular grocery items (all were on sale). I spent $7.67 for these items.

Finally, I spent $90.41 at Costco. I also bought a 50 lb. bag of Dog Food (not pictured), as well as, everything in the picture. I was very excited because the light bulbs included an instant rebate, so the flood lights were $3.59 and the regular bulbs were $2.99. I am switching out my old bulbs for energy saving bulbs.

This week I spent a total of $135.76. That brings my total for the month up to $477.65. That puts me $77.65 over my self imposed $400.00 grocery budget. I'm not super proud of that, but this seems to be my restocking month. I will definitely have to rein in next months grocery spending!

This week's menu will consist of:

Sunday

Soft Tacos

Refried Beans

Lettuce and Tomatoes

Monday

Chili Cheese Baked Potatoes ( I will be baking extra potatoes for Tuesday's dinner)

Green Beans

Coleslaw

Tuesday

Breakfast Hash

Pumpkin Struesel Muffins

Cantaloupe

Wednesday

Lasanga

Spinach Salad

Easy Breadsticks

Thursday

Leftover Night

Friday

Pigs in Blankets

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Orange Slices

Saturday

Chicken Noodle Soup

Potato Refrigerator Rolls

Reinforcing Reusable Grocery Bags

2011-02-19T14:14:00.001-07:00

I am a big fan of reusable shopping bags. They are eco friendly, hold way more groceries than plastic grocery bags, and don't tip over in the back of the suburban. There is nothing worse than climbing up over the tailgate of the Suburban and into the cargo space to retrieve the spilled groceries that always roll into the far corner ( I'm sure the neighbors love to watch that performance!). I really love the bags I bought at Costco (they also sell similar ones at my local grocery store). They are made of a heavy duty plastic, so they can be wiped clean with a Lysol wipe after carrying meat or produce. They also have sturdy straps that won't rip off easily.

The only down side is that the are fairly large, so if you fill them up small items tend to tip in on each other. They are also hard to keep open when you first start filling them (or maybe I am just uncoordinated.). Of course, you know I am always looking for the cheapest ways to solve a problem, so I had been mulling solutions around in my head. Then, the other day I had an ahh hah moment! I was taking some empty cardboard boxes out to the recycle bin, when I realized that several of the boxes were just the right size to put in the bottom of my reusable bags.

I'm so happy! I reused a few pieces of potential garbage, now the bags sit flat while you fill them up, and the reinforced bottom is much more stable when it's full of groceries (or produce from Bountiful Baskets). I just tuck the pieces of cardboard against the side of the bags and fold the bags up when I'm not using them.

Thrift Store Fabulous!

2011-02-17T00:28:00.025-07:00

One of this year's resolutions is to live by the motto "Use It Up. Wear It Out. Make Do, Or Do Without!". I have been doing fairly well, and have been avoiding shopping (other than for groceries) in general. However, there has been recent growth spurts by several individuals in our household. Child #3 has grown taller. Child #4 has grown taller and broader (he is a big boned lad and so growth for him usually goes up and out!). Child #4 can wear Child #3's hand me downs, which is a blessing. I am sorry to say that I have not grown taller, but my pants have become unusually tight and uncomfortable ( I am chalking this up to a general lack of self control where sweets have been concerned, over the last several months). I could probably struggle through with my tight pants, but I am down to two pairs and both are getting very thread bare ( if the fabric gets much thinner; you'll be able to read the size label on my underwear. Something a well bred woman should NEVER divulge!). A trip to my local Goodwill seemed in order. I have been hitting the thrift stores in my area for several weeks, but really haven't found a whole lot of fabulous (last week I did find a pair of church shoes and two pairs of jeans for Child #3 for a grand total of $9.54). Yesterday, I hit pay dirt. All of these treasures came from Goodwill. For my boy's I found:

Two pairs of shorts for Child #4, a pair of Levi's for Child #3, and a pair of shorts for Child #1. They are even plaid which makes them even cooler ( all of these where $3.99 a piece).

Of course, back packs at my house get used and abused. New back packs were not in the Back To School budget this year, and everybody has been making do with last years (or even the year before that). Some of them are starting to sub-come to their constant use. Child #2 has been safety pinning hers together. I was able to score two today (the green one was $7.99 and the blue one was $6.99, but it was a YELLOW tag, which means it was half off this week. It ended up being $3.49). The fabulous fuzzy leopard print hat is for Child #2, who has a fondness for fuzzy and leopard print. It was $4.99, but now maybe she'll actually wear a warm hat to school for a change! The DVD was $3.00, not necessary, but it is the original version of "Belles On Their Toes", a book and movie that I love. Apparently I caved to want instead of need. The book is "The Egg and I" (copyright 1945) which is a book I love and have been looking for, for awhile (and it is a YELLOW tag item and cost $.99).

This is my favorite find today! I have been looking for a dress coat for several months now. I am getting tired of schlepping to Church every Sunday in my bright kelly green everyday coat (which I have to leave in the car before I go in, because a well bred woman does NOT wear a shiny, bright kelly green, puffy coat into the Lord's house! Plus, it clashes with all of my Sunday wear.). A new dress coat is quite out of my price range, and the thrift store has not presented an acceptable alternative........until today. This fabulous coat is dark green and black herringbone, is wool, and is a Worthington brand (very good quality). The tag had $17.99 printed on it, which I would have paid, but it was a YELLOW tag!!! Woo Hoo, baby! I only paid $8.99!! It is dry clean only, but no worries I have a Dryel cloth and a dryer, so dry cleaning isn't a worry.

For myself, I found two pairs of like new jeans ($5.99 a piece). I am of the mindset that if you find a pair of jeans that fits, you wear them until they completely fall apart. Both of these fit well, so until I shed the extra fifteen pounds of chocolate cupcakes off of my posterior; they will work brilliantly! The stretchy skirt was $5.99. In my opinion, you can never have too many stretchy skirts ( they will fit you plus or minus fifteen extra pounds). This skirt will look nice with dress boots and a black sweater during the winter, and just as fabulous this summer with a black t shirt and flip flops.

I spent a grand total of $68.26 ( $77.80 with last week's thrift store purchases) . That did make a dent in my clothing budget, this month, but considering the coat alone would have cost more than that, and I clothed three almost naked (just kidding) people. Not too shabby! I am amazed at how many new and nearly new clothing items you can find at thrift stores. You do have to look for them. Believe me, I have seen my share of Size 20 mini skirts, polyester pants, and well stained shirts; but obviously there are treasures to be found. The fashion police have yet to knock on my door, so I consider us somewhat fashionable in our second hand wear!

Baking Day

2011-02-16T08:43:00.002-07:00

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to start baking more from scratch. I came to this decision for several reasons: it's healthier (Dear Daughter's emergency gall bladder surgery in December has really gotten me thinking about all the additives in the food we eat.), it's cheaper ( I like bread with some body to it, and all the kinds we like to eat have gone up in price. I can bake a loaf for about $.67 or buy a loaf for $1.67. Plus if I have odds and ends of fruits and veggies, they can be pureed and put in muffins or quick bread.), baking for me is a stress reliever ( I know that sounds bizarre, but measuring, mixing, and seeing the end result makes me a Happy Little Camper. Plus, kneading that bread helps vent those frustrations!) Yesterday was the official baking day for the week. At the end of the morning I had baked:

Parker House Rolls

I shaped half the dough into larger rolls to be used for buns. Child #4 likes to take the "buns" slathered with peanut butter and jelly in his lunch.

Whole Wheat Bread

I have a confession! It is not totally whole wheat, yet. I figured if I exposed my family to the joys of TOTALLY WHOLE WHEAT bread suddenly, they might have a stroke. Instead, each week I am going to substitute one more cup of whole wheat flour vs. white flour into the recipe. TIP: If you make Totally Whole Wheat bread adding one tablespoon of Vital Wheat Gluten for each cup of whole wheat flour will help keep your bread light and fluffy (and increase the chances of your family eating it).

Oatmeal Cinnamon Bread

I found this recipe on The Frugal Girl's blog. I consider her a baking guru, and I haven't found a recipe of hers I didn't like. The family gave this bread a two thumbs up, in fact, one of the loaves disappeared. as soon as the kid's got home from school. It tastes just like a cinnamon roll (delish!!!). If you notice the ugly loaf in the middle, the recipe says it makes two loaves, but when I rolled the dough up to put in the loaf pan it seemed awfully large. I ended up cutting part of the dough off of the ends and smooshing them together into a third pan. If you make this recipe plan on three loaves ( I'm sure you have a neighbor or friend who would LOVE to take the extra loaf off your hands!).

As, I mentioned in this week's menu post, I used the leftover mashed potatoes from Sunday's dinner in the dough for the whole wheat bread and the oatmeal cinnamon bread. I added one cup of mashed potatoes into the wet ingredients before adding them to the dry ingredients (you may end up adding in about an extra half cup more flour as you mix the dough together). Adding potatoes into yeast bread dough helps make the bread soft, and it will stay fresh much longer. If you don't have leftover mashed potatoes, just add 1/2 cup of potato flakes in with the first cup of flour.

A Little Mama Pride and Ridley's and BiLo's (Associated Food) Deals 2/15 - 2/21

2011-02-15T08:35:00.001-07:00

First, I wanted to show off my children's ingenuity. The kids in child #4's grade in school were challenged by a local bank to create a piggy bank. Of course, Child #4 is a sucker for contests of any kind (and being nine is totally optimistic he will win any or all competitions), and has been badgering me to help him create the perfect piggy bank. I have been a little short on time, lately, and hadn't gotten around to it. Last night when I came home from my night out with my Valentine, Child #2 had pulled out all sorts of household items (a.k.a. garbage) and helped him create his piggy bank. It warmed my little ol' heart to see them cooperating for a change (maybe there is hope for them, yet!). Isn't this the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

Okay, maybe it is a face only a mother could love! The body is an empty vinegar bottle. The leg's and ears are disposable paper cups. The tail is a pipe cleaner, and the eyes are buttons salvaged from my button box. The paint came out of my stash of acrylic paint. The cost ...FREE! I was informed that he has green feet, ears, and a stripe to make him a MANLY looking pig!

Now, on to the real reason for this post. This week's Ridley (Associated Foods) deals. There are a few good sales, but not as many as I had hoped.

Yoplait (6 oz) yogurt cups (assorted varieties) $.37 each (for the first 10)
W.F. (18 count) carton of large eggs $1.77 each ($.09 per egg)
Two liters of Pepsi Products (assorted varieties) $.98 each
Angel Soft ( 9 mega, 12 double, or 24 single rolls) Toilet Paper $4.68 each
Sparkle (8 roll) Paper Towels $4.68 each
Large Box of Navel Oranges $11.97 ($.33 pound)
Small Pink Grapefruit 4 for $1.00
Jonagold, Braeburn, or Golden Delicious Apples $.87 pound

As a heads up, Ridley's and Nel's BiLo will be starting their case lot sales March 1st. Now is a good time to go inventory your pantries, so you can take advantage of the case lot sales.

This Week's Groceries And Menu 2/13

2011-02-13T19:43:00.003-07:00

(my half of this week's Bountiful Basket)

(this week's trip to the grocery store)

This week I spent $8.25 on my weekly contribution to Bountiful Basket, and $9.01 at the grocery store; for a grand total of $17.26. So far I have spent $341.89 on groceries this month. After last week's monstrous restocking trip I didn't need a whole lot of extra things. The hash browns were going to be included into this week's menu, until I realized that the family schedule this week is too hectic to incorporate the recipe I was going to make. I guess, I will save the hash browns for next week. Bananas are a staple at our house, so I always grab a bunch when I am the grocery store. This week I am going to start baking our bread again, so the mashed potato flakes will be used in my weekly bread (roll) baking.

It is a crazy week at my house with every body going different directions every night, so dinner's will be simple this week. For some reason I thought when my children got older that life would be easier.......... apparently I have been deceiving myself! :D Anyway, this week's menu will consist of :

Sunday

Roast with Gravy

Mashed Potatoes (the leftover's will be used in bread this week)

Steamed Carrots

Banana Cake

Monday

Dinner Date with my Valentine

The kid's will be having Macaroni with Tomato Sauce (they love the stuff)

Home Canned Pears

Tuesday

BBQ Beef Sandwiches (with the leftover roast)

Homemade Buns

Stawberry Banana Salad

Steamed Broccoli

Wednesday

Chicken Noodle Casserole (from the freezer)

Green Salad

Rolls

Thursday

Breakfast Hash

Pumpkin or Blueberry Muffins (haven't decided yet)

Cantalope

Friday

Leftover Night or Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Saturday

Beans, Bacon, and Potatoes (bumped from last week)

Cornbread

Fruit Salad

Have I mentioned that for somebody who used to dread planning a menu, I am actually starting to enjoy it. Our food waste has also decreased significantly since I have started consistently planning a menu each week. I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

Saving Money On School Dances

2011-02-11T21:26:00.001-07:00

(my latest floral creations)

Now that I have teenagers, especially one that has taken a keen interest in the opposite sex, school dances have become part of our social repertoire. Any one who has high school age children, knows that school dances can be major budget breakers! I don't claim to be the know it all of saving money in this area, but I have discovered a lot of ways to save a little money.

I know I have brought this up before, but making your own corsages and boutonnieres is one of the major ways to save money. I had a little hissy fit the first time I went to order a corsage for my Big Boy's date, and realized that the cheapest one I could find was $24.99 (which consisted of two measly flowers and a bazillion yards of ribbon). I found an internet tutorial, purchased basic supplies, and made a much nicer one than I could find at a florists for about $10.00. Now I watch for ribbon, corsage pins, and other supplies on sale or clearance. School Dances usually coincide with Holidays, so I can usually find flower bundles at Fred Meyer's or the grocery store on sale. An average corsage costs about $4.50 to make, a boutonniere about $.75. It makes it even cheaper share the cost of supplies with other parents that have children going to the dance. Today several ladies and I made an afternoon of it and created five corsages and three boutonieres.
If you have a daughter try dress swapping with a friend, or shop consignment and thrift shops. Check clearance racks at department stores after Christmas and after the prom season. I have seen gorgeous semi formal and formal dresses for 60% to 90% off. My neighbor just bought her daughter's dress off the clearance rack. She noticed that the zipper was broken, when she pointed it out to the sales clerk they gave her an additional 20% off. She had the zipper replaced for a minimal fee at an alterations shop. Sometimes if you let the word out you are looking for dance dresses, mothers with girls who have graduated will let you borrow, or buy their used dresses. If you are really lucky they will just give them to you.
If you have a daughter check out your local beauty school for hairstyles, manicures, and pedicures. Most beauty schools are much, much cheaper that a salon, and all their work is checked by an instructor. Another alternative is barter with a friend or neighbor that is hair savvy, to create the perfect updo.
If you have a son think about investing in a basic black suit at a thrift store. A nice suit with a cummerbund and tie look just as nice as a tux, and it's much cheaper. In my area a tux rental is around $100.00. I can buy a used suit and have it altered for $100.00 or less. You can buy a selection of basic ties at thrift stores that will usually match most dresses.
Instead of paying for dinner at a restaurant, host dinner at your house. If it's a spring or fall dance, dinner outside on the deck or in the backyard is kind of fun. It's amazing how festive your backyard looks with a few strands of clear Christmas lights strung around. Don't forget to dress up the table with pretty table linens, add a few candles, have some mood music, and place simple party favors by the plates (the last dinner dance I hosted I filled Chinese take out container from the Dollar Store with flavored popcorn and tied ribbon around the box).

This is just a starting point! I'm sure there are dozens of ways to save money. Have any of you, my dear bloggy friends, found ways to save money on your children's School Dances?

Crockpot Refried Beans

2011-02-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

Last night was Child #4's Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. This year's theme was "Fiesta". I was assigned to bring taco meat, but I live with a household of Refried Bean lovers (they are a strange lot!), who were devastated that there would not be any Refried Beans at the party ( I know, I know, they are very QUIRKY). I was just going to open a few cans of Refried beans, until I did the math, and realized Refried Beans for forty hungry people is a lot of cans of beans. I needed a Plan B! After perusing the Internet, I found a recipe on AllRecipes.com that had a four and a half star review. Good enough for me, plus, they are cooked in the Crock Pot so they do most of the work by themselves. All members of the household gave them a two thumbs up, HURRAY! I will be making them again. I did tweak the recipe a little bit ( I seem to do this a lot. I must have a wild streak in me, I didn't know about!). Here is the final product.

Crock Pot Refried Beans

(makes fifteen 1/2 cup servings)

3 cups dried pinto beans

1 cup of finely minced onion ( I chopped mine up in the food processor)

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 (4 oz.) can of chopped green chili peppers ( I tossed mine in with the onion and chopped them up more)

1 tablespoon chicken bullion

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

9 cups water

Place dried beans in the crock pot . Cover with water and soak overnight.
Drain water off of soaked beans and return beans to crock pot.
Add onion, garlic, chili peppers, bullion, and spices to beans. Stir together.
Cover with water.
Turn the crock pot onto high and cook for 8 hours. Check beans periodically. If the water seems to be evaporating (the water is below bean level) add more hot water.
When beans are soft and mash easily, drain beans. Reserve the liquid!
Mash beans with a potato masher or mixer adding in enough bean broth to get a soft (not runny) consistency. You will not use all the broth. ( I cheated and ran my beans through the food processor in small batches. I just start the processor and slowly poured the broth in the neck of the lid until the beans reached the desired consistency.)

I did some math, and one pot full of refried beans cost me $1.38 to make or $.09 a serving. A can of Refried Beans on sale is $.58 for four 1/2 servings or $.15 a serving. I did double the recipe for the banquet. This required me cooking the beans in two crock pots (beans swell after you soak them!!!). The regular recipe makes enough for dinner, with plenty of extra. I scooped my extra beans into quart Ziploc freezer bags and froze them for later. There was quite a bit of bean broth left.

I poured that into plastic freezer containers (in two cup portions) to use as a base in soup, stew, and chili.

Cream Of Garbage Soup And This Week's Ridley's (Associated Food) Sales 2/8

2011-02-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

A dear reader, Amy, posted a comment and asked for more information about Cream of Garbage Soup. If you are a long time reader you may remember it. Cream of Garbage Soup is my children's name for the pot of soup I concoct periodically to use up leftover veggies, starchy foods, and meat. Since I live in Idaho, and I am usually the recipient of several 50 pounds bags of potatoes every fall, our pot of soup usually always includes potatoes. Cream of Garbage soup evolved from my mother in law's potato soup recipe. I have tweaked it over the years to suit what I have on hand, and my family's tasted. Soup is a great way to use up leftover odds and ends. If you are interested in reading all about Cream of Garbage soup you can check it out HERE.

I'm a little disappointed in Ridley's sale ad this week. There were not a lot of super fabulous deals. I am noticing that more and more with most of my local grocery stores weekly grocery sales ads. I have started buying more basic staples when I go shopping and making more things from scratch. Well, enough of the whining, these items did seem to be a fairly good price:

W.F. (56 oz) carton of Ice Cream (assorted varieties) $2.15
Nestle Cocoa Mix (10 count) box $.85 each
Fresh Pork Picnic Roast $.89 pound
Honeysuckle White Ground Turkey (4 pound bag) $5.99 each
Fresh Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts $1.99 pound
Boneless Pork Sirloin Chops $1.59 pound
Small Pink Lady Apples $.99 pound
Tomatoes $.99 pound
Three pound bag of Clementines $3.99 each

I noticed last week the Ridley's has raised the price of Harper's Homemade Bread back up to $1.69 a loaf. I have noticed the price has increased on Harper's bread at the other grocery stores, as well. Costco still sells it in a twin pack for $3.25.

Don't forget to check out Nel's Bi Lo Market for in store specials this week.

Grocery Spending And This Week's Menu 2/6

2011-02-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

This month I thought I would post pictures from my weekly grocery shopping trips, as well as, my weekly menu. Unfortunately, I have been scrimping along for several months now, so it was time to stock up on some essential items. Yesterday's shopping trip also included extra food I don't normally buy, because Dear Hubby's brother's family has invited us to his house for a Super Bowl Party.

This is what I bought at Ridley's and Smith's on their sales. I combined coupons this sales for the crackers, canned tomatoes, cheese, toothpaste, and cream cheese (the cream cheese was $.50 each after coupons). The potato chips, some of the crackers, and two of the sour creams will be taken to the Super Bowl Party. I also bought the 5 twelve packs of Diet Coke from the previous post and 2 twenty packs of Diet Pepsi and a Shrimp Ring (all of which aren't pictured). I spent $32.41 at Smith's and $69.54 at Ridley's:

Of course, I picked up our weekly basket from Bountiful Basket (my half of the weekly contribution is $8.25):

At Winco (the cheapest grocery store in my area) I spent $109.07. I love that Winco has a fabulous bulk foods section. It makes it nice when I have to restock pantry staples.

The budget breaker this week was my trip to Costco to stock up on staples. We ran out of toilet paper, fabric softener, and garbage bags at the same time. I usually try to keep a back stock of these items and stagger what I buy each month so I don't have this problem. Oops!! I spent $105.36 at Costco.

I spent a Grand Total of $324.63 this week. That is also the lion's share of my grocery budget for this month. Luckily I have restocked the larder, and other than milk and my weekly Bountiful Basket contribution I shouldn't have to buy many more groceries.

This week's menu includes a lot of family favorites, again. That's okay, at least I know everyone will eat dinner!

Sunday

Super Bowl Party (I am bringing a shrimp ring, veggie tray, and chips, crackers and dip)

Monday

Shrimp Lo Mein

Green Salad

Leftover Rolls

Tuesday

Eating at Child #4's Cub Scout Banquet

Wednesday

Beans, Bacon, and Red Potatoes

Banana Muffins (I should have some black bananas that need used up)

Jello Salad with Fruit

Thursday

Turkey Fricasee

Mashed Potatoes

Steamed Carrots

Friday

Cream of Garbage Soup

Cornbread

Spinach Salad

Saturday

Leftovers

I hope everybody enjoys their Super Bowl Sunday. I personally am not a football fan,but I sure do enjoy the commercials.........and the yummy party food!

The Children Are Saved!

2011-02-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

Ridley's ended up having 12 packs of Coke products on sale for 5 for $14.00 (or $2.80 each). That is not a fabulous deal I have gotten them for $2.00 a 12 pack before, but prices have gone up and I did not have coupons this time. $2.80 each is much better than $3.98 each (which was plan B). Now I can feed my addiction and the children are safe from the bodily harm that may have befallen them if I ended up having to go cold turkey!!

Meal Planning

2011-02-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was e mailed a great article a few days ago, and I thought I'd share it with all my bloggy friends! This article includes simple no nonsense ways to plan a menu. Since, I must confess, that it is only recently that I have jumped on the plan a menu bandwagon, I found the ideas in this article helpful. Planning a menu around weekly sales, pantry staples, and freezer inventory is one of the best ways to keep your budget in check. Serving home cooked meals is also far healthier and cheaper that eating take out or fast food! Anyhow, go check this article:

Ten Secret For Planning Meals For Your Family

I'd love to hear from all of you!!!!!! What tactics do you use to plan your menus and save money on groceries?

Apple Cake

2011-02-02T08:47:00.001-07:00

I know that the picture of the Apple Cake isn't very appetizing, and it's probably not really selling itself, right now! If you could only smell the delightful cinnamon, apple aroma as it's baking, and taste the gooey, warm yumminess.........you'd be HOOKED! I had a bowl of soft semi wrinkly apples that I didn't want to toss in the garbage. What better way to get your family to eat potential trash than turn it into, DESSERT! Of course, I found the recipe in my new favorite cookbook, "The Taste Of Home Baking Book". I did tweak it a little, I added brown sugar in place of white sugar in the recipe,which is why the top of the cake looks like it is burned. It's totally worth it, the cake is very moist, and dense. I served it warm with vanilla ice cream for dessert, but I have to confess I ate some warmed up the next morning with half and half poured over it,and it was HEAVENLY! You could also add raisin or dried cranberries into the batter, but my family considers that highly offensive (the big Babies).

Apple Cake

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour (this would be a good recipe to use half whole wheat half white flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups diced apples (chopped mine up in the food processor)

1/4 cup nuts ( I used sliced almonds leftover from Christmas); optional

In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla.
Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add to creamed mixture. The batter will be thick.
Stir in apples and nuts.
Spread into a greased 8 in square baking dish
Bake at 350 for 35 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I 1 and a 1/2 timed the recipe and that filled a 13x9 inch cake pan.