Saturday's Saving Tip: Make your own frozen waffles/pancakes!

Okay, so mornings are busy and getting up earlier than everyone else to make a home cooked breakfast is just not me.  Now, I can whip out a spread on a Saturday morning.  But a weekday morning?  Nuh-uh.

So, I usually have a box of toaster waffles or pancakes in the freezer for the mornings when a banana or cereal is just not acceptable for Bug.  But why pay $2-$3 for a box of frozen ones at the store when you can make your own at home for a fraction of the cost?


Here's what you do:

Saturday's Saving Tip - Diluting Your Kids' Juice

Have you seen the Mott's for Tots Apple Juice?  The one with 50% less sugar?  You know why it's 50% less sugar?  Because it's 50% more water.  It's just watered down apple juice.

I have always diluted my son's juice, whether it be apple juice or some other flavor (like a Juicy Juice Apple Strawberry flavor or something.)

Monday's Money-Saving Recipe - Homemade Frozen Pancakes

Okay, so I happen to LOVE my pancake recipe.  And it's not a big secret.  In fact, you've probably seen it.  It's right there on the back of the Bisquik box.  :)

• 2 Cups Bisquik
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extra

Saturday's Saving Tips - 50 Uses for Vinegar

Did you know there were so many uses for vinegar?  Drain cleaner, athlete's foot remedy, glass cleaner, weed killer, buttermilk substitute, laundry booster, etc. etc.

It's very cheap to come by and can come in handy for a lot of things!

Browse this list to see what you can use vinegar for:

Monday's Money Saving Recipe - Super Cook!

I am now in love with this little faceless man in a chef's hat!

Super Cook is a new recipe search engine that finds recipes you can make using what you have on hand!

You can type in an ingredient and it will give you a list of other ingredients.  Simply click on the additional ingredients that you have and it will narrow down the recipes.

Anytime you can cook a meal using what is already in your pantry (fridge, freezer, etc) you are saving money!

Monday's Money Saving Recipe - Taco Salad

I know, Taco Salad doesn't sound like a money-saving recipe.  But at Secrets of Mom, she has a Taco Salad recipe that is a "stockpile recipe", which means she uses items from her stockpile to make it.  And anytime we can cook something using stockpiled items, that's saving us money!!!  Plus, this recipe sound absolutely delicious!!

The recipe includes stockpiled ingredients as well as fresh ingredients.  But she also shares how to forgo the fresh ingredients if necessary.

Check out the whole recipe here:  http://secretsofmom.blogspot.com/2010/09/food-storage-friday-taco-salad.html

Monday's Money Saving Recipe - Potatoes and Cream

Today's Money Saving Recipe comes courtesy of Dede.  She posted a recipe for Potatoes and Cream and it sounds delicious!  I can't wait to try it!  Winn-Dixie had potatoes on sale this week so I stocked up so I could try this recipe.

You can read the whole recipe as well as other ideas for the "sauce" at her post here:  http://dedeland.blogspot.com/2010/09/frugal-friday-creamed-potatoes.html

Saturday's Saving Tips - Saving on Produce

Saturday's Saving Tips - Saving money on produce

There are ways to save on everything you purchase.  Today we're talking about fresh produce.

Saving on produce can mean growing your own.  Before you start picturing rows and rows of vegetables on half an acre behind your house and start saying "I can't do that!", hear me out.  Growing some of your own produce can be as simple as a couple tomato or bell pepper plants in pots on your back porch.  See?  How easy is that?  Less than $10 worth of plants can easily save you double or triple that amount in a growing season.

But that's just one way to save on produce.  We're going to talk about saving on produce in the grocery store.

• Red bellpeppers are the most expensive bellpeppers on the produce aisle.  Try substituting yellow or orange to save a little.  
• Overripe bananas are often put in sacks and priced cheap (half or more off per pound).  My son loves bananas and eats one for breakfast almost everyday.  They also make great snacks.  I'll grab up a bag with 4 or 5 overripe bananas knowing that we can easily finish them off in a day or two.  Overripe bananas are also good for baking breads with.  Grab some and bake up some banana nut bread for a quick breakfast or to pack as a special treat in lunchboxes!
• Buy vegetables on sale in bulk that freeze well.  Broccoli, carrots, celery, okra and squash are vegetables that I freeze.  Carrots and celery I chop up and freeze to easily add to soups later (no need to thaw!)  Okra and squash I slice up and freeze to fry later.
• Buy in season and on sale.  Plan your meals around the produce that's on sale.  I love a good BLT.  So if tomatoes and lettuce are on sale in the same week, we are likely to have BLTs twice that week!  Same with potatoes.  If 5lb bags of potatoes are on sale we will have roasted potatoes, boiled potatoes, potato soup and potato salad until the potatoes are gone!
• Get coupons!  If you've followed the blog long, you know about the Contact Us program.  I've received produce coupons from Chiquita and Dole!
• Avoid pre-sliced fruit trays or containers.  They cost more than if you bought the fruit yourself and sliced it.

Share with us!  How do you save on produce?  Do you have any good recipes for when you've stocked up on produce?

Monday's Money-Saving Recipe - List of all Recipes

Here is a link to all the recipes featured on Monday's Money-Saving Recipe:

• Black Bean Burgers
• Catalina Chicken
• Cheese Dip
• Chicken Parmesan 
• Chicken Quesadillas 
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Easy BBQ Chicken
• Fish Stick Tacos
• Homemade Donuts
• Homemade Garlic Bread
• Italian Tuna Melts
• "Kid Friendly Quick Meals"
• Ranch Potato Fries
• Refried Beans
• Salmon Patties
• Spaghetti
• Tin Foil Dinners
• Watergate Salad
• Yummy Burgers

Monday's Money Saving Recipe - Using your slow cooker & Pot Roast

I was unaware that you can cook almost ANYTHING in your crockpot (slow cooker) until recently.  The only thing I used to cook in my crockpot was pot roast, rotel dip and the occasional soup.  My sister-in-law just recently made fall-off-the-bone ribs in her slow cooker.

If you go to Google and search "name of recipe" + crockpot, you can find out how to cook almost anything in your crockpot!!

For example I searched:  "Meatloaf crockpot" and "chicken casserole crockpot".  Both brought tons of results!

What's great about the crockpot is that it uses less electricity (less $$) than the stove or oven and it heats the house up less saving on air conditioning (less $$).  That's a blessing in Alabama where we reached triple digits this past week!!


One reason I haven't used my slow cooker much though is because I hate cleaning it.  Until I found the Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners.  These things make crockpot cleanup a breeze!  Just remove and throw away!  Now I have no excuse to not use my crockpot!










Here is how I make a roast in my slow cooker:

Add roast and season (salt, pepper, garlic salt and thyme).
Add water to cover.
Dice potatoes (I like to use New or Red Potatoes) and add.
slice carrots and add.  Or if you don't keep fresh carrots on hand much, I just wait until the last 30 minutes of cook time and add a can of sliced carrots
Cover with lid and cook on low all day (morning til dinner time) or high (lunch/early afternoon til dinner time)

Saturday's Saving Tips - Freezing Foods

• When you find shredded cheese on sale, stock up!  You can sprinkle some cornstarch inside to prevent sticking and then freeze.
• Find out how to freeze bread here.
• When family-sized packs of ground beef go on sale, grab a couple extra packs. Divide them into one pound portions and put them in plastic freezer bags (I also wrap mine in foil first - just for good measure) and freeze them. They are good for up to 3 months.
• If you always have meatloaf left over, freeze individual slices. Need a quick lunch for work or school? Grab a frozen slice and some bread. It'll be thawed by lunchtime for a delicious meatloaf sandwich!
• Check out this deliciously frugal recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup that can be frozen!  Make a big batch.  Eat some now, freeze some for later!  Do you make vegetable soup?  Did you know you can freeze that too?  You can double your recipe making two meals at once!

Saturday's Saving Tips - Make your fruits and vegetables last longer

I hate buying fresh foods and having to throw them out because they've gone bad before I can use them up.  I've compiled a list of tips that I've found to help maximize what you can get from your fresh produce:

• Fruits and Green and Red Bell Peppers keep best if you remove them from the plastic bag you brought them home in before placing them in the crisper drawer
• Tomatoes need to be taken out of the plastic bag once you get home with them.  Leave them out on the counter.  Cold is not good for tomatoes
• For zucchini, cucumbers, green beans and grapes, place a paper towel in the plastic bag you brought them home in but leave the bag open. The paper towel will soak up extra moisture and prevent rot. The paper-towel treatment also works for lettuce, but close the bag.
• Onions, Garlic and Potatoes can be stored in the pantry.  (I personally keep mine in the basket drawers on my kitchen cart.)  Store onions separate from other vegetables.  The onion fumes make other vegetables rot faster.

Hope these tips help!  Feel free to leave your own tips in the comments below!

Saturday's Saving Tip - Freezing Bread

My mom froze bread when I was growing up.  She would buy it near dated at the discount bread store and freeze it.  Loaf bread, hot dog buns, hamburger buns, french bread loafs, dinner rolls, etc.  I never thought it was weird.  I do it now. In my adult life I've encountered people who think it's weird.

Here are some tips for freezing bread:

• Store bought bread can be frozen for 2 weeks in the wrapper from the store.  Longer freezer storage requires better wrappings and removing all the air from around the bread.
• A 1 pound loaf takes about 3 hours to thaw at room temperature.  Leave the loaf in it's wrapper until thawed.
• You could thaw in the microwave.  I use the defrost setting for 30 seconds at a time.
• Slices can thaw in 5-10 minutes at room temperature uncovered on the counter
• Sliced bread can be toasted without thawing. 

These are great tips now that most Dollar Tree stores sell bread that is within a few days of it's freshness date for $1!  (You can also get bread at discount bread stores if there are any in your area.)

You can stock up on cheap bread and freeze it until you need it!

For more bread freezing tips and information (including freezing homebaked breads) go here.

Monday's Money Saving Recipe - Easy BBQ Chicken

I forgot to pick out a recipe for today's post.  So I'll just tell you what I fixed tonight and how it's frugal. 

I'm making super simple BBQ Chicken.  Chicken in a baking dish, seasoned with salt and pepper, topped with BBQ sauce and baked on 450 degrees for about 35 minutes or until done.

See, I told you it was easy!  I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts when they are BOGO at Winn-Dixie.  So my 1 lb of chicken I used tonight cost me around $3. 

Here are my side dishes and how much they cost me (with frugal shopping, of course!):
Beans (50c) and shells and cheese (50c) and half a box of Texas Cheese Toast ($1).

So for about $5 I made dinner for 2 adults and 1 child with enough leftovers for my husband to take his lunch to work tomorrow.

Saturday's Saving Tips - How does your garden grow?

I have always planted a tomato and bell pepper plant on our back porch every spring.  Those are the two vegetables that I use the most.

This year I have expanded my back porch vegetable garden to include green beans, chives, cilantro and parsley.

Growing your own vegetables is a great way to stretch your budget and get nutritious fresh foods into your diet.  If I had more time to tend to them, I would plant more.  I slowly want to increase the amount of fresh food I grow for us.  But it's going to take baby steps.  ;]

For today's tips, here are some helpful (frugal) ideas for your garden!  A lot of these utilize "leftovers" (garbage and waste) so it makes it very good for the environment too!

Frugal Fertilizing Tips

Banana peels are rich in potassium which is an important nutrient for you and your garden. You can use them several ways to fertilize your plants:

Add them to your compost pile if you have one (I can't bring myself to make a compost pile...ewwww...)

Place or bury them directly around your plants.  This is what I do.  I place a piece or two of the peel in the pot with my tomato and bell pepper plants and put a little of the soil over it.

If you have a certain place that you plant your garden every year, in the off season when nothing is planted, throw the peels in that area and let them decompose there.  It adds nutrients to the soil that will be there when it's time to plant!
Dry the peels, by laying them on a screen in the yard to dry out. Grind dried peels in a food processor and use in your mulch to give new plants and seedlings a healthy start.

Sprinkle used coffee grounds or tea leaves around your plants.  Lots of nutrients for them to absorb!

Save your eggshells and crumble into your garden. The calcium is very good for your vegetables.

Fertilize your plants with Epsom salts. Mix it into your soil around the plant (not too close or it will burn the plant roots). For tomatoes, use 1 Tbsp for every foot of height, water in well.

If you boil eggs, let the water you boiled them in cool and then water your plants with it!  The water is filled with a nutrient from the boiling eggs that will help your plants!

Other helpful frugal garden tips: 

Popsicle sticks make great labels for your plants. Write the name of the plant on them with permanent makers.

An old ladder can be the perfect trellis on which to grow climbing plants such as beans or peas (or if you're a flower gardener- hibiscus, hummingbird vine, climbing roses, wisteria, etc.)  Just plant it in the ground.  Also old wooden window frames can be utilized this same way.  I've seen these at yard sales before.  Not only would these make great trellis' but also interesting decorative garden items!

Make a trellis using some twist ties and the plastic 6-pack rings. Use the twist ties to join together as many of the 6-pack rings as you want or need. Attach the trellis between two stakes also using twist ties.  (Or if you have a back porch garden like I do, attach it to your porch railings!)   When you are finished with it you can just roll it up and use it again next year. 

Use the foot section of old pantyhose and put soap inside and hang from your outdoor faucet. You can clean your hands and not take the mess inside! You can also do this with a mesh bag (like you use to wash your pantyhose in).  You'll need a little bit of string to tie it to your faucet.

Frugal Food Tips - make your own buttermilk and more

Make your own buttermilk

I hate buying buttermilk because it always goes to waste. I only use it to make salmon patties and biscuits and I don't use that much even for those recipes. Here's a way to make buttermilk when a recipe calls for it:

add 1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk and let it sit for a few minutes.  stir and use!

Other ingredient substitutions

Ever have a recipe that calls for something that you never have because you never use it except for this one recipe you just found??  Happens to me all the time!  Here are some ingredient substitutions you can make with things that you have on hand:

1 cup corn syrup = 1 1/4 cup white sugar plus 1/3 cup water OR 1 cup honey

1 cup of half and half = 7/8 cup milk plus 1 Tbsp butter

1 cup heavy cream = 1 cup evaporated milk OR 3/4 cup milk plus 1/3 cup butter 

 

1 cup light cream = 1 cup evaporated milk OR 3/4 cup milk plus 3 tablespoons butter 

1 tsp cream of tartar = 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar 

1 cup self- rising flour = 7/8 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt 

1 clove garlic = 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder OR 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt--reduce salt in recipe 

1 cup beef or chicken stock = 1 cube beef or chicken bouillon dissolved in 1 cup water 

1 cup vegetable oil (for baking) = 1 cup applesauce OR 1 cup fruit puree *healthy bonus!*

1 cup wine = 1 cup chicken or beef broth OR 1 cup fruit juice mixed with 2 teaspoons vinegar OR 1 cup water 

1 cup yogurt = 1 cup sour cream OR 1 cup buttermilk OR 1 cup sour milk

Monday's Money Saving Recipe - Chicken Tortilla Soup

I have to give Melissa at Melissa's Bargain Blog full credit for this.  She posted this recipe and it sounded cheap, easy and delicious.

We had it for supper last night and it was cheap, easy and delicious!

What I love about it is that most of the ingredients (chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, & Rotel) are stockpile items.  Those are canned goods that I buy up when I can get them for cheap or free so I always have plenty on hand (the recipe calls for three each of the broth and soup and one rotel).  And I always buy packs of chicken when they are BOGO.  Which makes the recipe cheap!

It's a crock-pot recipe with straight-forward ingredients (open can, pour in crock pot) which makes it easy!

It makes a ton, and you can easily increase the ingredients to make more.  The extra can be frozen.  that makes it frugal and time-saving!  (two meals in one!)


Oh yeah, and did I mention it was DELICIOUS???  :]

Check the recipe out here.

Monday's Money Saving Recipe - Homemade Garlic Toast

We LOVE Texas Toast and Cole's Garlic sticks.  But, that stuff gets expensive and takes up a lot of room in the freezer.  :) 

We love homemade toast and it's so simple but I'm surprised at how many people I know have never tried or thought about trying it!

This is great for those leftover slices of bread that just aren't fresh enough for a sandwich.  I've also used hamburger or hotdog buns that needed to be used before they went bad.  Because, hey, saving money is about not letting anything go to waste, right?

All you do is take your bread, spread butter on the slices (if you use hamburger or hot dog buns, butter the insides).  Place on a cookie sheet butter side up, sprinkle on some garlic salt and broil for about 3 minutes or until the edges are just browned.  (Careful, they will burn fast).

My husband also likes it without the garlic salt.

Monday's Money Saving Recipe - Homemade Refried Beans

Contray to popular belief (and the way some of us were raised), you do not have to have meat to make a meal.  Although my dad and my husband would likely disagree.  Must be a man thing.  :)

However, when I serve Black Bean Burgers, my husband never realizes he's not getting meat.  Isn't trickery wonderful?  Or frugal?  Hehe...

Rice and beans should be 2 ingredients any frugal cook should have on hand at all time.  Rice and dry beans are fairly inexpensive and stretch your dishes further.  I've always bought canned beans, but I vow to change that to save more money.

Dede posted a great recipe that I can't wait to try.  She makes her own refried beans from dry beans instead of buying canned refried beans.  Canned refried beans are 99c to $1.19 a can usually.  A bag of dried beans is going to cost around 50c - 75c and makes more than you would find in a can.  What a  savings!  :)

Here is a great post on some of her favorite rice recipes too!

Frugal Food Tips

I found this incrediably cool website that helps can help you find recipes based on what you have in your stockpile or fridge that you need to use!  I had made a big pot of frozen black eyed peas and we were tired of them but I didn't know what to do besides throw them out.

I searched for "What to do with leftover black-eyed peas" (on Swagbucks, of course!) and I found this website here.

You enter 1, 2 or 3 ingredients that you need to use and "Voila!"  Recipes appear!  I have so many ideas for black eyed peas now.  I never thought of black eyed peas as an ingredient before, only a side dish!

I see this as a useful tool to prevent wasting food! 


Need frugal recipes?  Try: