Menu Plan Monday

I have a renewed love for my crock pot since last weeks menu plan. Basically I got up in the morning last week, made breakfast, stuck dinner in the crock and worked in my garden all day. The kids fended for themselves at lunch and I felt like I got a kitchen vacation.

So this week I'm putting a few more crock pot meals on the menu. Plus I got some free rhubarb so I'm making a yummy rhubarb pie this week. And in an effort to use up some of those bananas in the freezer, an Apple Banana Cake that looks moist and scrumptious.

Breakfasts

Breakfast Bars and banana smoothies

Pancakes with homemade syrup

Easy Cinnamon Buns and fruit

Oats with apples and almonds

Fresh Fruit Fiesta Bars

Cranberry Scones

Leftover Pancakes

Dinners

Pantry Soup (leftover chicken carcass from last week) and Easy Sesame Bread sticks

Cabbage Casserole, Peasant Bread, Amish Rhubarb Pie with No Roll Crust

Mozzarella, Basil, and Tomato Quiche

Crock pot Pinto Beans and Rice, green salad, Sweet Cornbread

Seven Layer Rice Casserole, green beans, Apple Banana Cake

Slow Cooker Sausage and Potato Casserole, Sliced veggies and dip

Leftover Night

For more great menu plans go see an amazing list HERE.

Weekend Link Luv

You know, I try to avoid getting all worked up about the latest thing "the experts" are telling me are bad for me. Part of the time they take it back in a few years and other time's I just think, "I have so many OTHER things to worry about that I'm just going to do my best to be conscientious but try not to obsess." So when I hear about all the movements (only organic, only bottled water, no meat, cow milk is bad for you, chemicals in our drinking water, pesticides in our food....it could go on and on) I get overwhelmed. If I left it to the "experts" I'd have nothing left to eat, drink or wear and my blood pressure would be through the roof. So I pick my battles and try to do my best with what I have to work with.

And I have no desire to go off-grid and live a self-sustained life in the boonies. Cuz guess what, we've probably tainted the soil and air there too.

So my latest chosen battle is a concern for store bought produce that could possible have pesticides on the skin. I've been eating lots of apples lately and every time I reach for one I think I need to wash it before I sink my teeth into it. But what the heck do I wash it with? Water and a good scrub from a towel just doesn't seem good enough to kill any pesticides that might be on the skin. Hand soap seems to just add to the problem and I'll be danged if I'm going to buy some expensive wash just for my fruit. I don't even buy expensive wash for my own skin.

The answer to my problem? Why, this awesome link of course. A little lemon and vinegar in a spray bottle? Perfect. THAT, I can do.

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap

I'm bushed. It's been a fruitful, but long and busy day away from home. I'm putting my feet up and popping in some ER to watch with the hubs. I predict I'll be asleep in 15 minutes. So no recipe from me today. I've so enjoyed visiting all the yummy recipes that you share each week so I know we won't go without.

So please remember to link directly to your post (not your homepage) and include a link back to The Grocery Cart Challenge.

I'll attempt to put Mr. Linky up but he's been having difficulties lately. If you don't see it just leave your link in the comment section.

Excuse Me While I Pat Myself On The Back

I finished my garden fence today. This was no small feat since I was on my own building it. It's way beyond my ability level to build stuff but I did it and I've been breaking my arm patting myself on the back today. It's definitely a girl fence but if it keeps the elk and deer out than I'm a happy girl. I should finally be able to get all my plants in the garden tomorrow.

Been cooking this yummy Crockpot Mac & Cheese today for the rest of the family while I'm off tonight helping a friend run through a dress rehearsal for her dance studio. (See my recipe in my previous Menu Plan Monday post.)

Hope your day has been productive!

Never Judge A Book By It's Cover...Or A Banana By It's Skin

My local grocery liquidator doesn't actually get all their fresh produce sold before it starts to look a little worse for wear. Often you'll find boxes of produce stacked outside their warehouse door, free to the first taker before they toss it in the dumpster. (Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Megan!)

Now, anyone with a little kitchen experience and a frugal mindset knows that just because fresh produce isn't pretty anymore doesn't mean it's garbage. I grabbed up a 20 lb box of bananas and 6 sad looking ears of corn for FREE the other day and drove home with a geeky smile on my face.

The bananas had black spots on them but once they were peeled they were soft, white and sweet underneath. Definately not something that you'd want to just eat raw but they had a huge potential for baking and smoothies.

I chopped them into chunks and froze them on trays. Then scooped them into freezer bags for smoothies. If I decide to make some banana bread or muffins, I'll just thaw out the right amount of chunkage in the microwave and continue on with my recipe.

The thing about over-ripe bananas is that they are very sweet with all kinds of natural sugars. Sweeter than a fresh peeled green banana. Just perfect for sweetening baked goodies and cutting back on the white sugar content. And usually if they are overripe they are cheaper or in this case free. So don't pass them by the next time you see them marked down at your local store.

And the corn? The husks were dry and crinkly but I shucked 'em and cooked up the ears today for a pre-dinner snack and they were sweet. Didn't even need to slather them in butter and salt.

So ask your local grocer what they do with their unappealing produce and you just might find yourself with some goodies.

Weekly Shopping Trip

Last week I tried out a soymilk recipe and had so much fun doing it. Unfortunately my husband said it tasted like white water. Back to the drawing board. I'm going to try a new recipe and give it one more shot before I concede to the Soymilk industry.

I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, I have a gallon of "white water" in the fridge that I've been using up in pancake batter and muffins. I just don't have it in me to waste it.

Plus I'm left with a bunch of the leftover soybean pulp called Okara which I'll be using to make some mock crab cakes for lunch sometime this week. I'll be loosely following THIS recipe.

So this is how the shopping trip went today...

S & S Liquidators

Cottonelle TP $4.99

Ziploc Bags $1.99

2 bags of coffee $5.00

2 cans chili $1.18

2 cans Spaghetti Sauce $1.00

Grocery Outlet

Cotton Swabs $1.99

Green Beans $.69

Whole Chicken $5.49

Shredded Cheddar $1.99

2 lbs Sea Shell Pasta $1.49

2 lbs Spaghetti $1.69

Milk $1.99

Vanilla Soy Milk $1.99

Salsa $2.49

Win-co

White sugar $2.74

2 cucumbers $.96

Strawberry Yogurt $1.78

Apples $1.93

Bulk Sea Salt $.14

Roma Tomatoes $1.64

Bulk Oats $.38

Ground Turkey $1.58

Margarine $.78

Bulk Garlic Power $.88

Vegetable Oil $1.48

Brown Sugar $1.28

2 lbs carrotts $.98

Bananas$1.93

10lb Potatoes $2.28

Grand Total $55.73

If you'd like to share your shopping trip, please link directly to your post, not your homepage and please include a link back to The Grocery Cart Challenge from the body of your post.

***Sorry guys. Mr. Linky is having some problems that are beyond my control so just leave your link in the comment section.

Menu Plan Monday - Crockpot Week

I have a busy week ahead of me where I'll be gone 4-5 evenings, leaving my family in the hands of my trusty crockpot.

Greatest invention EVER!

Breakfasts

Strawberry Banana Smoothies

Yogurt Parfaits

Pancakes with homemade maple syrup

Oats with apples and brown sugar

Poached eggs and toast

Cranberry Struesel Muffins

Leftover Pancakes

Dinners

Spaghetti, green beans

Pot Roast with carrots and potatoes, Peasant Bread

Homemade Mac & Cheese, Marinated Veggie Salad

Crockpot Baked Potato Bar with salsa, sour cream, chili, cheese

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken and green salad

Pantry Soup, Buttery Bread Machine Rolls

Leftover Night

Check back tomorrow to see if I stuck within our $60 for 6 people budget. For more great menu ideas go HERE.

Weekend Link Luv

Just in case you're staying home this weekend instead of joining the massive vacation exodus here's a few links to check out.

Are you a list maker, an organizer or just have OCD? Check out springpad for an amazing array of free online notebooks to organize everything from a shopping list, party planning lists, babysitter info and more. There are easy to use and pretty.

I'm dying to make a matching set of re-usable grocery totes. Am I crazy for wanting a cute matching set of bags? Here's a simple looking tutorial that I've bookmarked for when I get some spare time. Ha! What's that?

Well, if this isn't the ultimate in recycling I don't know what is. Nike has a program where you donate your old worn out tennis shoes, they grind them up and then reuse them to make sports surfaces and other consumer products. You can read more about it here.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Dried Beans Versus Canned Beans

I love it when I hit on something big when it comes to saving money. It energizes me! Thrills me! Yeah, it's a bit nerdy but I'm ok with that.

I was reading Michelle's blog at Leaving Excess and she was talking about buying dried beans and how much money it saves.

I knew that. And I do it. But alot of times I forget to soak and cook them and I don't have any ready to go when a recipe calls for it. But she mentioned that she takes the time to soak and cook them, and then stores them in her freezer in 1 1/2 cup "can" sizes so they are always ready to use.

So simple! So Genius!

So last night I pulled out every bag of beans in my cupboard. No more excuses. I soaked them and then boiled them up this morning. And this very minute I'm scooping them into freezer bags. Never again will I be without beans for my last minute recipes.

So what's the cost breakdown? Just how much money will you save? (Hold onto your hats.)

One 1 pound bag of beans is usually about $.50. When cooked up I had 4 "cans" worth of beans. I figure canned beans usually cost me $.79 at my local discount store.

4 Store bought cans - $3.16

4 Dried "cans" - $.50

HUGE SAVINGS!

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap - Summer Treats

It was a nice sunny day today so the kids wanted popsicles. Normally I have lemonade or some other form of juice on hand to add to my great popsicle mold. But today I was out. What I DID have was a fresh batch of homemade yogurt so with a little creativity we came up with this yummy and much healthier treat.

Frozen Yogurt Pops

1 cup of pureed fruit (I found a can of pineapple in the back of my cupboard but berries or banana would work great too.)

2 cups plain yogurt

1/3 cup honey

To make your fruit pureed just process in a blender or food processor. Then add the other ingredients and blend. Pour into popsicle molds. If you don't have popsicle molds use some sort of short narrow glass. (dixie cups, sippy cups without the lid, juice glasses) Cover the top with plastic wrap and poke a popsicle stick through the center of the plastic. Place in freezer for a few hours. For quick release run the molds or cups under warm water and twist to release.

If you're looking for a great summer popsicle mold look in my left sidebar under "I Recommend" for a good one. (It's a blue box right above the code for my button.)

Frozen Banana Pops dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts, rice crispies, or granola are a goodie for us too! Check THIS recipe out to make your own. These are a great use of overripe bananas!

Do you have a recipe you'd like to share?

Please link directly to your post, not your homepage and include a link back to The Grocery Cart Challenge somewhere in your post.

Haircuts At Home - No You Won't Scalp Them

We have lots of hair at our house and we're healthy enough that it grows at a fast rate. The boys could easily get a haircut once a month while my daughter can go longer since her hair is intended to be long. It's those short haircuts that take more maintenance. For a good hairstylist at a high end salon we were paying $30 a head including tips.

For the kids alone that was $120 every 4-6 weeks. Not to mention $60 in cuts for Chris and I as wells as $80 every few months to keep my gray hairs under wraps.

We were sinking in hair expenses.

So we decided to cut back. My hair is long curly and forgiving so I put my years of watching my stylist to use, and held my hair at the same angles so I could layer it myself. Then I bought $3 boxes of self administered hair color. Not salon quality but it passed and didn't look like I was doing it myself. I went from $500 a year to $24 a year.

But the kids and Chris were another story.

Even at the quicky haircut places we were paying $60 total for the other 5 family members. It worked out to be about $500 a year in hair care. I knew I could do better.

So a while back, for about $35 dollars I bought a Wahl clipper set (see my right sidebar under "I Recommend" for the one we use) and armed with the how-to's that came with my set I learned how to cut the kids hair for free. The more I did it, the better I got and soon with the help of a little book called Scissor and Comb Haircutting (also in sidebar) I became brave enough to try the scissor and comb cuts.

So now that the book and the Wahl clippers have paid for themselves, it costs nothing but time to get haircuts. For the boys that like the clipper cuts, it's 5 - 7 minutes. For the people who like their hair longer with a scissor cut, it's about 10 minutes per head, and for my home cut and color, it's $3 and 45 minutes.

That's a serious savings!

Here's some before and afters from today's haircutting extravaganza.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

And did you know that you can compost the hair? Use it up, baby!

For more great tips go see WFMW.

Free Entertainement!

You know, I just love free stuff.

If you haven't heard about it yet, Regal Cinemas does a wonderful thing for nine weeks during the summers. Every Tuesday and Wednesday morning at 10 AM they have free kids movies. It's first come, first serve but it's FREE! It starts in June so go HERE to get all the details and to see if there is a participating theatre in your area. Then mark your calenders and stuff your purse full of dollar store goodies (because it costs too stinking much to buy their stuff) and enjoy a family movie.

Weekly Shopping Trip

My favorite stores were having some amazing produce deals this week. As summer approaches and the weather gets warmer we rely a lot on fresh produce to feed us because it requires no cooking. And no cooking means I can keep my house cool. (Yeah, we have no air conditioning) Also when warm weather hits we eat lots of salads; green salad, pasta or rice salads, veggies marinated in a homemade balsamic dressing, and then just add bread to finish off the meal. During the winter my cheap meal is soup, during summers it's salads. And living in the climate challenged state of Washington I can easily be serving a winter soup meal and a summer salad meal in the same week.

So weird.

S & S Liquidators

Organic raspberry preserves $.99

100 packs Equal $.99

2 cartons of powdered milk $1.99 each $3.98

2 bunches bananas $1.00

8 kiwi $1.00

8 apples $1.00

1 avocado $.49

Ranch dressing $.99

Asian dressing $.49

5 roma tomatoes $1.00

Franz Bread Store

3 loaves country white

1 loaf blueberry struesel

1 loaf low-carb $4.70

Grocery Outlet

2 cans green beans $1.18

fresh cilantro $.44

Parmesan $1.99

Win-co

Ketchup $1.98

half and half $1.28

Vanilla Ice Cream $2.18 (not pictured)

4 lbs ground beef $5.98

Chicken Breasts $5.68

Celery $.94

Bulk sliced almonds $.95

Bulk shredded coconut $.27

Margarine $.85

2 cucumber $.96

Bulk Rice Crispies $.72

2 limes $.44

Bulk dried cranberries $.79

Bulk soy beans $.75

Leaf lettuce $1.48

Bulk peanuts $1.58

Mango $.68

Pita Pocket Bread $1.68

Bulk brown sugar $1.04

5 dozen eggs $3.98

Grand Total 54.45

Would you like to share your shopping trip with us?

Please make sure to link directly to your post, not your homepage and make sure to include a link back to The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Menu Plan Monday

Well, since last week didn't quite go as planned I'm recycling some of the meals I had on that menu. A few will be different. I have company on Tuesday night so I have a special meal planned then. And I'm trying something a little daring on Thursday night, Chicken Mango and Rice salad. We'll see what the kids think about mango, avocado and cold rice.

hmmmm.

Breakfasts

Fruit and PB Toast

Pancakes

Oatmeal with apples and brown sugar

Granola Bars

Eggs and Toast

Apple Pan Goody

Leftover Pancakes

Dinners

Pot Roast, steamed rice, and green beans

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, fresh veggies and dip, apple dumplings with vanilla ice cream.

Crockpot Falafel with tomatoes and cukes.

Chicken Mango and Rice salad with Peasant Bread

Creamy garlic penne pasta and sauteed veggies

Pantry Soup and Peasant Bread (using leftover veggies, pasta and beans)

Leftover Night

Check back tomorrow to see how my $60 shopping trip went and to see more menu plans go HERE.

Weekend Link Luv

While on our vacation we enjoyed the pool so much and were surprised that as much time as we spent in it, we didn't get the normal dry flaky skin and fried hair. Come to find out it's a salt water pool. No chemical chlorine in sight which I thought was pretty fascinating. So if you own a pool and want to try a more natural (and I'm guessing cheaper in the long term) alternative, HERE's a link to check out.

HERE's a great post on frugal gift wrapping. It's very creative and has some amazing ideas. If you're a gift giver, you might want to check it out.

My husband is lactose intolerant so if he ever wants a glass of milk for the rare bowl of cereal or to wash down a chocolate craving, he reaches for a glass of vanilla soy milk. But the good stuff is really expensive. I came across this video that teaches how to make your own from whole soybeans, which I can find in my bulk bins for mere pennies. I can't wait to try it. HERE's the video of you're interested.

Have a great weekend and don't forget to check back for Menu Plan Monday to see what's cooking this week.

Summer Workshop Registration Open!

If you're a local and interested in attending my Summer Workshop on lowering your household budget, registration starts TODAY! I'm only offering the class to 12 people at a time so I can actually have conversations and interact with everyone instead of just lecturing. I think we're going to have lots of fun, laughs, and good food. So if you're interested call now to get in before it fills up!

Here's the link.

Enter To Win $5000 Smackeroos!

My editor at the newspaper I write for let me know about this great contest going on so I thought I'd pass it on to you.

FISHING FOR FRUGAL RECIPES
WINNER CATCHES $5,000 
 
 


Calling all creative and cost-conscious cooks! Regal Springs Tilapia, the world’s largest producer of the mild-tasting, popular fish, is searching for the best family-friendly tilapia meal for no more than $15. Six finalists will receive cash prizes. The grand prize winner receives $5,000 and may appear on the company’s website and promotional materials. The contest begins May 15 and ends August 1, 2009.

Anyone in the 50 contiguous United States and District of Columbia who is over 18 and enjoys cooking fish can enter the contest. Recipes must be original and meals must include a tilapia entrée, salad and vegetable or fruit to feed a family of four for no more than $15. The judges may consist of professional chefs, restaurateurs and managers in the food service industry. Winners will be notified by email and announced on the website by Sept. 1. Judges will base their decisions on the following criteria: creativity, ingredients, thoroughness of instructions, and other such criteria as may be determined by Regal Springs Tilapia. For complete Contest requirements, Official Rules and to enter the Contest, log on to http://www.regalsprings.com/.

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap

Well we just made it back from our frugal vacation with money left in our pockets. That's always a good sign. Since I really haven't had to cook for the week I'm just going to turn this over to you, with all your great recipes. Have at it, ladies.

Please feel free to grab the graphic above. Make sure to link directly to your post, not your homepage and please include a link back to The Grocery Cart Challenge.

More Frugal Vacation Fun

Still having fun on a budget. Maybe this will help you get creative with your own vacation fun.

Carousel ride - $3.50

Who says shopping has to mean spending?

Trying on hats, taking pictures, and laughing our heads off - $0

Playing with toys in the toy store - $0

One bag of taffy $5

Feeding the seals - $5 for 5 buckets of fish guts and chunks

Our one meal out - $54 including gratuity (Found out it's so much cheaper when everyone had a little snack about an hour before. We all drank waters and then ordered the food we wanted without restriction. But because we weren't all ravenous we didn't order giant amounts.) Normally a meal at a nice restaurant for six of us is around $80.

Swimming in the hotel pool at least twice a day - $0

And of course Nickelodeon off and on through out the day.

A few funny comments...

"Mom, I feel bad for people with cable because they just play the same thing over and over."

"Mom, what's a twinkie?" (I'm obviously a crappy parent if my 5 year old has no idea what a twinkie is. Note to self...add twinkies to grocery list purely for educational purposes.)

Keep Vacation Expenses Down

View from the balcony of our 50% off condo

While we are on our mini vacation I thought I'd post about how we keep costs down when we travel.

Go somewhere within driving distance. If it only takes a few hours to get there by car then you are saving so much on the cost of flights, rental cars, and baggage costs at the airport. Especially if you have a larger than normal family. Check out the Internet for destination spots that are within driving distance from where you live. National parks, monuments, beaches and historical sights are a great place to start. And choose something with an outside feature. If you're choosing touristy locations then expect to rack up the dollars. The temptation is usually too hard to resist.

Go somewhere before the actual travel season starts. Usually motel prices are lowest before Memorial Day Weekend and as soon as the vacation season hits, prices double or triple. We managed to get a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo for 50% off because of the off-season. Motels are just trying to stay afloat during the colder months.

Ask about discounts when booking your accommodations. Some motels offer discounts from Sunday -Thursday's. Some offer discounts if you stay a certain number of nights. Some have online deals that they don't freely let you know about unless you ask. I almost paid full price for the room we are in this week because I was too intimidated to ask about the deal I saw on the Internet (and they didn't offer to me). But the minute I asked, I got it. They aren't going to just offer up a discount if they don't have to.

This is nicer than our actual house.

Choose accommodations that have free activities. Is there a pool, game room, or fitness center that you can use for free? Are there free games, movies or puzzles offered to guests? Chris is spending some of his days at a conference while we are here and I'm with the kids. Totally works for us. I like being independent and he likes deep study and learning. We'll meet up later. In the meantime I have kids to entertain and I don't want to spend any money. We don't have a pool or cable TV at home and can I just say Yippee? Because it's a special treat for the kids, we've spent all day bouncing between Nickelodeon and the pool. Next we'll hit the beach and search for driftwood and shells. After that, we'll take a hike at a local scenic state park. How much is this costing me? Nada! How much fun are the kids having (even the teens). A ton!

Heading down the elevator to the pool.

Always get a room with a kitchen. Seriously. If we ate out for all the meals while we are here it would cost more than our condo. It's at least $60 for us to eat one meal out. My kids eat alot and I'm not willing to eat at McDonald's for every meal. I brought easy to prepare foods and we get to eat on our own schedule without fighting the crowds for a table at an overpriced restaurant. I'm saving at least $700 dollars on meals and I only spent a little under $80 to bring our own food.

Pay Cash! It's just not even worth it to take a vacation that you'll be paying interest on for the next 2 years. Don't do it. If you can't pay for it, you don't really need it. Save up, use your tax return, make cheap choices...whatever it takes. Vacations are fun but they really aren't a need. So make sure your financial priorities are in place.

I hope these ideas help as we all get ready for summer vacations!

For more great tips go visit WFMW at We Are That Family.

GCC Shopping Round Up - So Much For This Weeks Menu

You might have read my wonderful menu plan from yesterday. I spent a good hour or two on it, late into the night last night. It has all kinds of good recipes in it. I was actually looking forward to cooking this week.

And then...

When I rolled over in bed this morning and said to my husband, "I don't want to open my eyes unless I'm going to see the beach when they open." He said, "Pack your bags." There are some definite perks to sleeping with the boss.

So I scrapped my beautiful shopping list and bought vacation food. Serious junk.

I admit, it was fun.

I found a suite big enough for the six of us at a 50% off rate. I Made sure it had a kitchen so I could cook our meals and save on restaurants, although I'm sure we'll have one celebratory dinner out. And then bought easy to prepare food. I considered taking my crock pot and the ingredients for all the meals I had planned but I'm not that hardcore. It IS a vacation. And we haven't had one for a few years. ( Some of the groceries are for the days this week that we'll still be at home. And to any bad guys out there, we have a house sitter that is a policeman. You don't want to mess with him.)

Breakfasts - cereal and milk
Lunches - Sandwiches with lunch meat and deli cheeses, fruit, juice
Dinners - Canned chili, soup, bagels

Snacks - summer sausage and cheese, fruit, chex mix bars, candy

S & S

4 packs of juice $7.96
4 bags of snack candy $5.56
6 boxes of cereal $6.00
2 small cans chili $1.18
3 cans soup $2.97
1 large can chili $1.99
2 boxes of chex bars $1.98
2 bags Starbucks coffee $5.00
2 summer sausage $3.00

Franz Bread Store

2 loaves bread and 3 bags of bagels $4.70
3 bags of hoagie rolls $4.90

Win-co

Turkey Pastrami lunch meat $3.58
Turkey breast lunch meat $2.94
Swiss cheese $4.33
Margarine sticks $.69
Cheddar cheese $4.48
5 dozen eggs $3.98
Canola oil $2.03
Bananas $2.05
Bulk oatmeal $.68
Margarine $1.98
2 gallons milk $3.96
Apples $2.81

Grand Total $79.15

If you'd like to share your shopping trip this week, please link directly to your post, not your homepage and don't forget to include a link back to The Grocery Cart Challenge.