Coupon Binder Tutorial

My Litter of Six is a wonderful blog to subscribe to for grocery store sale/coupon match ups.

She offers lots of advice and great ideas for frugal shopping.

Right now she has a detailed Coupon Binder Tutorial on her web page and is giving away a coupon - loaded binder.

Go check her out. You'll learn something I promise.

More With Less

This morning, I needed to find a recipe for a bread to make to go along with a meal to take over to a young mom who has just had a baby. Time is short, as usual, so I needed something quick, but felt it was also important that it be a healthy bread. So I turned, as I have time and again for the past twenty-five years or so, to a beat-up little cookbook in my kitchen utility cart drawer. You know what I mean when I say it's pretty battered. It cost me so little but I have got more than I bargained for out of this small investment. In fact, it has lived up to its title in a way different than was the intent of its being named as it was. This cookbook may be in your kitchen, but if not, I strongly urge you to make sure that it is before too long. Trust me, it will be worth it. I thought about the folks who come to this blog and felt I should take a few minutes out of my day to do a quick post to talk about it, knowing if I don't do it now I'll forget all about it and will never get around to it. I am pretty sure you ladies are of the sort who would appreciate it. I have marks and food stains all over pages in this book, and ditto the sentiments of a quote I found on another website about it:

"As I turn the pages of my More-with-Less Cookbook, the spots and stains and drips and smears tell me the value of a particular recipe. I call it my “scratch and sniff” cookbook. If the page is full of markings (food or otherwise), the recipe is most likely a good one, a tried and true favorite!"
— MKB, Newton, Kan.

What is this cookbook all about? Coming from the Mennonites, it was published in 1976 and addresses the North American problem of "consuming more and more food made up of wasteful calories and unnecessary packaging." It's full of recipes and suggestions on better and more nutritional eating habits while consuming less. I like it that the author was making an offering of ways for us to live more simply and "joyfully" while being concerned about the needs of a hungry world. This is a subject close to my heart, and I only wish I were more diligent in being less wasteful and more concentrated in my efforts to feed myself and family in such a way as to leave more for the needy. I would like to think I was making more of a contribution at least, and this cookbook is a nice tool in my hand to do that. If nothing else, it could at least help me to save money, and maybe some of that which I saved could be sent off to help feed hungry children?

Think about it. Perhaps you have been wondering if there were more ways you could make a difference. Maybe a purchase of the More-With-Less Cookbook would be a start. Honestly, I don't think you'd be sorry if you did. You can purchase it here at Amazon. You can also read more about it's philosophy here.

Thanks, gotta run!

Grinding your own Meat

This week in the news they have featured a young woman who contracted E-Coli from a hamburger patty. She is now paralyzed from the waist down. The meat in her hamburger had been ground from 3 different sources in the U.S. plus one source from Uraguay.
Of course her paralysis is a rare and extreme case, but people get sick each year from e-coli. It could be mild intestinal pain to life-threatening and in some cases death.

E-coli can be contacted thru many sources such as ground meat, eggs, berries, spinach. Basically anything that could have contact with animal waste or run off.

So, the reason for this post is (remember Susan's Food Grinder post)....You can actually grind your own ground meat at home. Find a cut of meat you like and do it your self. You can use a grinder like Susans or you can place the meat in small chunks in a food processor and pulse to grind it. For hamburger patties it is usually better if there is some fat on the meat. It helps hold together better.

You can purchase a less expensive cut of beef and grind it yourself. You will save money and feel better about knowing the ingredients in your ground meat.

Use That Extra Bread

This is a followup on Kristie's post about having extra bread and other items as a result of buying in bulk at places like Costco. For us, it's BJ's, but the same applies. We often have lots of bread around no matter where we shop; it seems my family members often have times when they don't particularly want what's here for one reason or another. One of my favorite healthy recipes is the one I posted once as a sneaky nutrition post on my blog . I promised Susan I would post it here too, because it is indeed a great way to use that extra bread that's not quite so fresh anymore. I sometimes have made it to give to folks when our church makes meals for a household with a sick mom or new baby or just to help out for some other need. Good for breakfast, lunch or dessert, and very nutritious, with or without the wheat germ. Enjoy!

Applesauce Bread Pudding

1. 7 to 8 slices bread, white or whole wheat, or some of both. (Number of slices may vary, depending on size of slices.)
2. 3 eggs
3. 2 cups canned skim milk, undiluted
4. 2 cups unsweetened applesauce
5. 1/2 cup sugar (or less) [I use Splenda for my family. Husband diabetic.]
6. 1 tsp. vanilla
7. 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
8. 1/2 tsp. salt
9. nutmeg
10. wheat germ (about 1/4 cup)
11. raisins, if desired

a. Spray a shallow baking dish and break up the bread into it.
b. In a bowl, mix eggs, add milk, then stir in applesauce.
c. Add sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt to egg mixture.
d. Stir in wheat germ and raisins, if desied.
e. Pour the mixture over the bread pieces.
f. Sprinkle nutmeg over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees until set, about 35-45 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

HAWAIAN BANANA NUT BREAD

This blog is about being frugal and being wise and using the things God provides for us in a wise way. Being good stewards. One of the many ways to do that is being alert and taking advantage of what God opens up to us. Hence, this recipe, but it's so much more than about the recipe!!!

Last week, when I was preparing the Pimento Cheese spread I had to run to the store and buy a jar of pimento and a loaf of bread. As Mickey & I went rushing into the store, (seems we are always rushing these days!!!!) we passed the produces area and I noticed they had riper banana's by the sack full. As we sped by I told Mickey, "remind me to stop and look at these before we check out.

(click to enlarge)

Upon inspection here was a 3.76 lb. bag of ripe bananas for $1.39, or $.37 per pound.

Very interesting!!!

Looking closer...yes they were ripe but not over ripe and not particularly bruised. Gotta buy these and make some Banana Nut Bread!!! I love to keep baked sweet breads in the freezer so that when ever someone comes I have something sweet, yet 1/2 way good for us, to serve them with coffee. I try not to keep too much sweet stuff sitting around the house because we eat it!!! and we surely don't need to be doing too much of that. I have found that I can take a Banana Nut bread right out of the freezer, slice it and serve it on the spot. Sometimes I'll warm the slice for a minute in the microwave.

SO......as a consequence of being alert and being aware of good buys I was able to prepare all these loaves of one of our favorite sweet breads. I baked 3 batches and baked one each morning before the house got too warm.

The above two views are the first days loaves. In the second picture you can see I've cut off the ends.......we had to sample and see that they were good!!! Right???? One large loaf and 3 small loaves. Notice the odd shapes of the 3 small loaves. Here's why.....I have the small aluminum disposable plans......BUT I do not dispose of them......I use them over, and over, and OVER again. Just wash them out, kind of "reshape" them and store until next time. When I say I am frugal......I am frugal.

Well, I have probably used these pans for a couple of years, and after the shape of these loaves I decided it was time to go get 3 more disposable aluminum baking pans!!!

Here are day 2's 3 medium size loaves still in the pans to show you the pans. I got these three pans for $1.28.

Day 3's 3 medium size loaves from the new pans.

Now, for the recipe. I call it Pineapple Banana Nut Bread but the official title is Hawaiian Banana Nut Bread. I got this recipe in the 1980's from a girl I worked with. It had come from her mother. I have many Banana Nut Bread recipes but this is by far my favorite because it is so moist.

HAWAIIAN BANANA NUT BREAD

3 c flour

2 c sugar

1 t salt

1 t soda

1 t cinnamon

Combine and mix the above 5 ingredients.

Then combine together:

3 eggs

1 1/2 C oil

2 C mashed banana

8 oz crushed pineapple

Combine dry and wet ingredients until moist.

Add 1 c pecans or walnuts and stir.

Spoon into 2 or 3 greased bread pans

Bake @ 350 degrees 60 to 70 minutes.

Back to my bag of banana's!!! There were 15 banana's in my $1.39 bag. I used 4 bananas in each recipe or 12 bananas. I had 3 left - used 1 in a fruit salad I made out of an apple, orange, 2 slices of cantaloupe, coconut and the banana. By the way, it was yummy!!! Then we each had a banana to eat for breakfast with milk and sugar one day.

Be alert to the bounty the Lord offers us ... be frugal ... and ENJOY!!!

Two Recipes Using My Food Grinder

As promised yesterday on Show & Tell I am sharing 2 recipes that I made using my food chopper/grinder.

Roast Beef Sandwich Spread

I do not have actual quantity sizes to give you. since the object of this spread is to use up whatever size piece of left-over roast beef you have.

The small piece I had left over from our Sunday dinner was about 4" x 2 1/2". I simply ground up the roast beef and added; chopped green onions, pickle relish and mayonnaise thinned with 2% milk. It looks rather plain and bland but let me tell you, it was delicious. I stored this in a plastic container and we had several days of wonderful Ground Roast Beef sandwiches for lunch.

This is a very frugal, tasty and nutritious sandwich spread.

Pimento Cheese Spread

Recipe:

8 oz cream cheese - $.99 (bought on sale)

8 oz cheddar cheese - 3 for $5 = $1.66 (bought on sale)

32 oz velvetta cheese - $4.49 (bought on sale)

6 oz jar pimento - $1.34

mayonnaise

1. Let cream cheese come to room temperature. Place in large mixing bowl and stir with large spoon until smooth and creamy.

2. Cut cheddar & velvetta cheeses into small pieces for grinding.

3. Alternate grinding cheddar & velvetta into the bowl with cream cheese.

4. Add some of the pimento as you go along.

5. Mix mayonnaise thinned with 2% milk as needed. I mixed a small amount about 1/2 way through. I mixed another small amount and added at the end to make it creamier.

Using my purchase prices and adding an additional $.50 estimate for the mayonnaise & dab of milk the total cost for 10 cups of spread is $8.98 or $.90 per cup or $.11 an ounce

The cost of prepared store pimento cheese (with all the ??? things listed on the ingredients) was 14 oz for $2.79 . That would make it $.20 an ounce.

SO.... my home made comes to $1.54 for 14 oz. versus the store bought for $2.79 for 14 oz. A savings of $1.25 or a 44 1/2%. Plus mine is so much healthier without the added ???? ingredients. Since we have to pay sales tax on grocery purchases I also saved an additional $1.06 taxes I would have paid on my 10 cups.

Now I call that frugal!!!

I took 1/2, or 5 cups, to the church this week for the 50 people who gave of their time and love for Vacation Bible School and I took a plate of it, surrounded with various crackers to Bible study Tuesday night.

Lunchmeat savings

I came across this great way to save on lunch meat and just had to share. While watching Good Morning America one morning, they had a segment on saving money at the grocery store.
Those segments always intrigue me so I made sure I paid attention. They had this family on...you know the family of six who only spends $300 per month on groceries blah blah blah....
One of the suggestions is that you purchase a cooked ham and have them slice it at the deli counter. If you shop at the deli counter you know ham or turkey can run up $8.00 a pound.

Sooo, I decided to try this. Back in the meat section like where the bacon and pre-packaged lunch meats are I found a fully cooked package of Jennie*-O Turkey Ham. It weighed two whole pounds. It was $4.99. I thought that was really good $2.50 a pound. I went back to the deli with my 2 pound turkey-ham and asked the nice young man behind the counter to slice it thin for me and he kindly obliged. So if you and yours like ham sandwiches for lunch...try this for some $$$$ savings.

Remember go to the deli to get it sliced not the meat counter.

Just a small idea...

...but one that adds up over time, especially if your family eats a lot of cereal like mine does.

You know how there is always lots of bits and crumbs left in the bottom of the bag ~ here are a couple ideas to use them.

1. Keep them in an airtight jar and add to them each time you finish a box of cereal... you can use the crumbs to replace some of the flour in a muffin or pancake recipe, or use it as a muffin topping.

2. This idea is from a children's cookbook. You can make layered breakfast parfaits, with yogurt, fruit, and leftover crushed cereal. Pretty, yummy, and best of all, healthy!!

Waste not, want not, right??? *smiles*

{Please join Frugal Fridays over at Life As Mom for more excellent, frugal tips & ideas.}

Doesn't hurt to ask!

Several months ago I was making a pass through the meat department around 7 p.m. at Al*bert*sons to see if the ground beef was on sale. Now, I don't know about you, but it just chaps my hide to buy ground beef at $3.49+ per pound. So I just decided it wouldn't hurt to ask if they could give me a better price. The meat guy said, "Sure we need to move it out tonight so you can have it for $1.49 a pound". After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I said I'd take the rest of it. He continued to tell me that because of store policy they have to throw away the remainder of the ground beef every night. Guess what time I go to the meat department? I've lucked out several times since then. Sometimes it has depended on who's working that evening. One evening I didn't even have to ask. The guy just said if I wanted the rest of the ground beef, he'd give it to me at that price.

I don't know if this is their policy across the board, but it sure doesn't hurt to ask, right?!

The other deal we get here is at the dollar store. The Dollar*Tree has a contract with Sara*Lee for bread. This bread isn't day-olds (nothing wrong with that anyway). The expiration date is not for up to a week out. This includes the 100% whole wheat bread (which, btw, doesn't have corn syrup), multi-grain bread, bagels, and raisin bread all of which retail for up to $3.99. Also they have pita bread, hot dog and hamburger buns. All of these freeze well. (But shhhhhhh! this is a secret! I don't want those nasty hoarders stealing my bread!) ;)

Again, I don't know for sure if this is everywhere. I do know they do this in the Phoenix area.

Hope this helps.

Great week to you all!

Seedlings

It's that time of the year in most parts of the Country to get seedlings started for the spring garden.

I'd like to show you a way to reuse and recycle toilet paper tubes to make a seedling container.

1. Cut the toilet paper tube in half.

2. Make four snips about a 1/3 of the way up the tube across from each other

3. Fold in towards each other to create a little container.

4. Place your soil and seed in the container.

When it is ready to go into the garden you can plant the container and all.

Here is a picture of how the bottom of the container would look.

Some seedling I started for the fall last year:

You can also write the date you planted the seed and the type of seed it was on the side of the container. I use a spray bottle to keep them moist.

Give it a try and let us know how it works for you.

Food Costs tips

Okay, here we go!




1. 
   
   Do not throw out ANY left over food. Find some way to use the left overs; in another meal or some other way.



2. 
   
   Expanding on #1 above: put all little "dabs" of vegetables in a bag or container in your freezer and add to them each time, even if it's just a spoonful of corn or peas, etc. When you make vegetable soup or a stew, etc. you can add the contents of this container.



3. 
   
   You can do the same with a "dab" of fruit and then add them when you make a fruit salad.



4. 
   
   Use a rubber spatula. I find this to be one of the thriftiest tools in my kitchen. Scrape out every last bit of any and everything in a jar, a can, or the sides of mixing bowls. It is amazing how much food is left on the sides and wasted.



5. 
   
   Try not to buy items in plastic squeeze bottles because you cannot scrape them out as above.